It is a given that pretty much most of us have been living a monastic existence lately. There have not been a lot of social gatherings, going outdoors is still pretty much frowned upon, and people are still in the mindset that staying home is the best way of keeping safe and avoiding the virus. That is well and good and in fact, a lot of people have already shifted a lot of their social activities to fit the “new normal”. Why risk getting infected by meeting up with friends when you can still see them virtually by just setting up virtual meetings? Performers are now holding virtual concerts that you can enjoy and attend wherever you are in the world as long as you have an Internet connection. Now, there is no need to celebrate birthdays with everyone in attendance in a posh venue when you can just post pictures of your celebrations at home on social media.

So, while the world is not particularly active in the social scene, everybody is making up for it by somehow still …

So 2020 is just giving us one blow after another. There’s the COVID-19 pandemic that has had large segments of the world population on lockdown, which has led to most of us to work from home for fear that we can get the virus. Then, civil unrest ensued as those demanding for racial equality took to the streets despite lockdown orders, only to be compounded by those who are protesting the strict lockdown measures such as the closing of businesses and wearing of face masks when in public. One thing is for sure, though: All these developments have surely done a number on our mental well-being.

Because most of us have been stuck in our houses, all sorts of activities have been confined in the various parts of our residences. Meals can be taken anywhere without set times, kitchen counters have become a common site for video conferences, and watching TV shows have transferred from the living room to the bed, just so that we can squeeze one more episode of The Crown or Money Heist. And yes, for most …

In our uncertain and joyless times, everyone seems to look for and cling to anything that would click. A form of escapism? Most definitely. But then, with everyone subject to the very oppressive situation brought about by the pandemic, then yes, we can feel a bit entitled and get our entertainment in any way possible. In our case, these days, that source of entertainment can simply be stated in four words: Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Those of us who are in the loop when it comes to news but do not own any Nintendo Switch have surely heard of it in passing. After all, you may have most probably heard of Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood actually interacting with players whom he met in the game in real life. Yes, this is Coin Master (have you seen Jennifer Lopez ads of the game where she looks for people who attacked her village?) in real life. But not only Elijah Wood has gotten addicted to this game – other celebrities like Oscar-winner Brie Larson and Chrissy Teigen have also …

In our current situation, one of the most important things to master is putting files online. When most of us, if not everyone, is working from home and only armed with an Internet connection, it is inevitable that sharing of important files and documents is one skill that everybody should already be a master of. After all, hasn’t it been more than five months and running since the world started this anxiety-driven quarantine where everybody needs to practice a safe distance from everyone else? So by now, we would have already developed a deep appreciation towards devices and apps that allow working from home to be that easy and convenient. Who knew that such things like uploading, sharing, and downloading files would become second nature to us, as essential as knowing how to participate in a videoconference (something which we should be skilled with even outside work because Facetime-ing, Skype-ing, or Zoom-ing relatives from across the country and the world is such a welcome relief) or wearing a face mask and practicing social distancing when outdoors.

One of the most …

Because most of us have been stuck at home, we can’t help (or rather we don’t mind anymore) but be overly informed of everything. By the time we wake up, among the first things we do would be to grab our phones. Once we have successfully unlocked the screen, it is 100% sure that you get drowned with all the information you will encounter. You get updates on how many people in the US and every single country in the world have become positive of the COVID-19 virus, how many have recovered, and how many have perished. You then get told of what your friends are up to, how many plants they have decided to grow, how many of them have signed up for Black Lives Matter initiatives, and how many vacations and nights out have been hidden from you as people are finally posting throwback pictures in abandon.

So, while you read your news alerts and social media feeds, you get lost and fall into a rabbit hole of news and information and before you know it when you …

Not exactly sure if this is COVID19 related or not, but Google in the first week of August announced that it is in the process of closing its music platform, Google Play Music. Currently, Google Play Music users can stream music, as well as purchase full albums or single music files from the platform. Unfortunately, this will not be the case anyway as Google has rolled out a schedule for the impending closure of its music platform. In the last weeks of August, the Music Manager function of Google Play Music will not allow users to buy, pre-order, upload, or download music from Google Play Music anymore.  Then, by October, the Google Play Music app will be rendered useless already as users cannot stream music from the app anymore. By the end of that month, Google will cancel subscriptions at the end of their subscribers’ billing cycles, so they should have already migrated their Google Play Music library to a YouTube Music account or use a Google Takeout account to successfully migrate files. What will only be allowed until December …

If there’s anything the COVID-19 pandemic has made us do, that is it has further indulged us in our obsession with that one app that has helped us in maintaining our sanity in these troubled times – the all-powerful and absolutely entertaining… Netflix! The pandemic may have shrunk our world as most of us experienced being on lockdown at any point in the past three months, but thanks to Netflix, it didn’t feel like we’ve not “seen” the outside world as the streaming app exposed us to so many TV shows and movies not only from Hollywood but from all corners of the world. Admit it, you grieved as Nairobi met her untimely death in her team’s second grand robbery outing in Money Heist. Of course, who wouldn’t want to consider staying in the spectacular Hotel del Luna even if we are pretty much alive? Moreover, what made Netflix tick to most users is that when a Netflix Original program premieres, all the episodes are already available on the same day. Honestly, who can say no to a Netflix marathon? …

So, how was your 4^th of July? Did you celebrate our nation’s independence day with such fun and revelry as you used to. I bet $100 you did not. Don’t worry, you’re not alone. July 4, 2020 will be marked in history as an Independence Day that Americans celebrated indoors. Did that sound sad? Yes, it is. For sure, so many of us had to content themselves with scaled-down celebrations that pale in comparison with past celebrations. Well, July 4^th came and went and I am sure so many of us have regrets on how we celebrated Independence Day.

But then, there might still be some more holidays to come with everyone still in the comforts of their home while the threat of coronavirus still rages outdoors. Let’s not hope for that to happen, but if projections are correct, we will still have the pandemic until the vaccines go into production until September, which means we will most certainly spend Labor Day in the pandemic period.  So, with that in mind, let us remember the lessons we learned …