Preamble I took the opportunity of this post to play around with AI-driven automatic translation tools. Therefore, two different English versions of this blog are available. In summary, I followed this process: First, I wrote the post in EnglishThen I rewrote it in ItalianI automatically translated the Italian text into EnglishBefore publication, I reviewed both … Continue reading Workless Society
Living the Cozy, Comfortable Decline of Europe
How distant it seems the time when the Italian Renaissance maestros set the standards by which any artist would have been measured since then. When the French revolutionaries established the principles on which modern republics and liberal democracies are rooted. When the British built enduring physical and cultural infrastructures all over the lands of their … Continue reading Living the Cozy, Comfortable Decline of Europe
Are You Looking for a Salary or What?
In this post, I discussed how it can be difficult for my generation to talk to millennials and Gen Z-ers, especially in regards to work-related matters. I had the chance to confront such communication issues again in this other post, where I focused on the recruiting process of Millennials. Now I would like to make … Continue reading Are You Looking for a Salary or What?
No Space for Emotions in Sports Any More?
June 14th, 1998. Around 4:00am. I'm glued to the TV and I'm going to witness history in the making, but I am not yet aware of this. He steals the ball from Malone. He slowly and patiently crosses the mid-court line. The game is down the stretch, in the clutch, but he's not in a … Continue reading No Space for Emotions in Sports Any More?
The True Lure of Money
I'm pretty sure that the title of this post has made most of my readers think immediately of private jets, flamboyant sports cars, and luxury mansions. In this article, however, I would like to talk about a different flavour of lure associated with money, yet even more intriguing and fascinating, at least for me. Pretty … Continue reading The True Lure of Money
Equity Crowdfunding and Start-ups
A couple of years ago, I wrote a post about start-up companies. In that post, I expressed some reservations I have about the world of start-ups, even though I generally welcome the creation of new, innovative companies. Since the publication of that post, I have had the opportunity to invest a small amount of money … Continue reading Equity Crowdfunding and Start-ups
Communication and Employer Branding: How Employers and Applicants Switched Roles in the Internet Era
Last September, I had a thought-provoking meeting with a representative of what I call a "social recruiting company". I use this expression because this company—which I will refer to as SRC for convenience—exploits a social media-like communication approach to implement an innovative and ingenious business model. By the way, it was clear from the start … Continue reading Communication and Employer Branding: How Employers and Applicants Switched Roles in the Internet Era
Saudade and Identity
Saudade is a deep emotional state of nostalgic or profound melancholic longing for an absent something or someone that one loves.source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudade Portuguese is a language known for its intrinsic musicality (Important update: my friend Matteo pointed out to me that this it true for Brazilian variant only). When you listen to a person speaking … Continue reading Saudade and Identity
An Imaginary Trip to the USA — Chapter I: Introduction
Throughout the years, I have had the chance to meet several American people in person or online, with whom I have had numerous conversations. Often, we have talked about our respective countries because this has been one of the topics we have been interested in. We have usually asked each other a lot of questions … Continue reading An Imaginary Trip to the USA — Chapter I: Introduction
Losing the Edge
Manager: a professional who achieves set objectives by organizing other people's work. Recently, I had an interesting conversation about management with my good friend, Matteo. Specifically, we discussed the role of the technical manager in modern companies. Matteo has a deep technical background and is a great engineer. Currently, he is experiencing a stage of … Continue reading Losing the Edge
The Art of Trading Off: How Engineering Has Affected My Ordinary Life
In this post, I talked about the creative side of engineering. Surprisingly, that is not the only one. In a nutshell, this is what engineering is all about: https://youtu.be/egWvQuT5TCU Simply put, you have to achieve a technical goal with a set of available resources (time, people, money, etc.) and within a deadline. That's it. Most … Continue reading The Art of Trading Off: How Engineering Has Affected My Ordinary Life
Cursed Engineers
On March 23rd, I attended a public talk in San Daniele del Friuli, a town that is famous worldwide for its delicious ham. The main guest was the writer Elena Commessatti. The event was organized by Leggermente, a cultural association which aims to promote reading.[1] The organizer devised a compelling formula for such events. Basically, … Continue reading Cursed Engineers
Millennials and Liquid Leadership
Don’t criticize, condemn, or complain. --Dale Carnegie A leader is the one who is able to create a world to which people want to belong. --Robert B. Dilts Frequently, I hear about people of my generation, Generation X, and baby boomers complaining about the fact that they struggle to communicate with millennials. I also have … Continue reading Millennials and Liquid Leadership
Italian Creativity
The readers of this blog know well that I am not afraid to criticize my country. When I do this, it's because I really wish we could sort out its dysfunctionalities. The first step to take is, therefore, to recognize these difficulties. Nevertheless, I'm also aware of the positive peculiarities that still make Italy unique. … Continue reading Italian Creativity
Northeast Italy Looking for a New Societal Balance
Northeast Italy is where I live. It is famous for the successful economic model that it implemented during the last decades of the 20th century. This model was characterized by a myriad of small, very flexible companies that adapted quickly to the market. In combination with the competitive devaluation policy carried out by Italy before … Continue reading Northeast Italy Looking for a New Societal Balance
The communication as a form of power
Being an engineer, I have several friends who fill similar technical positions in the companies they work for. Quite often, we have the opportunity to talk about our jobs. One of the questions that rises more frequently is: in general, why do the sales guys earn more money than the technical people? Obviously, the thought … Continue reading The communication as a form of power
The aspiring Industrial Data Scientist and the Italian bureaucracy
Several months ago, I decided it was time to increase my expertise to cope with the challenges posed by the Industrial Internet-of-Things (IIoT) and the Industry 4.0. These new fields of the Information Technology represent a sort of natural evolution of my current profession, as the Internet is playing a more and more important role … Continue reading The aspiring Industrial Data Scientist and the Italian bureaucracy
Euro, or not Euro: that is the question
In June, I attended a public talk about the Euro currency. Two speakers were invited representing two opposing opinions with regard to the Eurozone: the senator Paolo Guerrieri and the professor Alberto Bagnai. Even though senator Guerrieri thinks that adopting the Euro was an error, he claims that Italy should not leave the Eurozone now. … Continue reading Euro, or not Euro: that is the question
Teamwork and communication
In 2016 I attended a course about the communication strategies in politics. Although it dealt with some specific techniques used in this context, the basic mechanisms it illustrated are valid for the communication in general. The course was held by a mental coach who has specialized to work with politicians and work/sports teams. Therefore, I took … Continue reading Teamwork and communication
The typical day of the embedded systems engineer
To relax, I occasionally read a web site which talks ironically about basketball. It is called "La giornata tipo", "the typical day" in English. Many of the articles you can find there describe hypothetical average days of basketball teams and players. These hypothetical days are littered with invented facts that exacerbate the flaws of the … Continue reading The typical day of the embedded systems engineer
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