1Blocker installs a local VPN profile to perform on-device security checks of all internet connections other apps make. No traffic or data is sent to our servers. Firewall blocks outgoing network traffic to some domains using open-source domain lists maintained by the filter community. It operates at the network level, so you will stay protected no matter what app you use.
> Monzo’s culture of customer obsession allowed it to use the crisis to thoughtfully build a beloved consumer and SMB product that has changed personal finance in the UK
Monzo built its engaged customer base before Covid. Since Tom Blomfield left it is more focused on monetising customers. That's what Monzo needed to do but the article is spinning the truth
> The banking experience has not evolved to match modern consumer
expectations.
Monzo was a breath of fresh air when it launched. Competitors have caught up a lot — even Amex have a great app with instant alerts now
> Banks do not incentivize better money habits. Their profit models
rely on upselling and non-transparent fees that typically penalize
the most vulnerable customers.
Monzo is obsessed with upselling. The Plus and Premium products include such innovations as mobile phone insurance and "25% off a home workout membership"
When Monzo was taking off, the coral coloured card was a fashion statement. Warhol once said everyone buys the same Coke - from the President to a bum. Now Monzo wants to encourage people to pay a subscription to get an expensive card that nobody would recognise. I don't think they understand themselves anymore and they are definitely not trying to "incentivize better money habits". This article would have made more sense years ago.
Smart move by them, just because someone can build an app doesn't mean they should. The amount of VBA stuff kicking around in enterprises is a nightmare!
E.g “Spot the fire hydrant” - oh, it’s those things that cops drive over in Hollywood movies. I don’t know if other counties have them too but it seems distinctly American and this capatcha is oddly common
NZer here. The captures are usually American places with American themes.
I have definitely seen the "fire-hydrant" one, and we don't have fire hydrants (they are underground below well marked covers that are illegal to park on or placed where you can't park).
And coming from a first-world Western country, I have definitely been flummoxed by at least one that was too American for me to decipher. I feel sorry for anyone that doesn't watch American media.
I am from India, not using VPN. Except for storefronts, everything I get looks like from US-traffic lights, cars, buses (including yellow school buses), cross walks etc.
It's possible to export the code to text files. MZ-Tools [1] can do it, or use VBA directly [2]. Xtrail [3] is popular in Finance companies but I haven't used it personally
Have you read Religion for Atheists by Alain de Botton? You don’t have to be an atheist to enjoy it but it does have an interesting view on the void that you mentioned.
In some places there are even “church”/gatherings for non-religious people called Sunday Assembly
To be honest, I really suck at traveling. It was a great experience to live in so many different cities around Europe, but there weren't many actual activities involved. Mostly looking around, going on long walks, and eating local food. Nothing like those Instagram travelbloggers who travel densely and intensely. Frankly, I barely even talked to anyone.
The years weren't a total loss, since I did release a reasonably complex tablet app (with $10k sales) plus a bunch of smaller, less profitable ones. But it took me 3-4 times as long to develop them as it would have any competent engineer, at least based on the stuff that gets posted to HN.
I still want to keep working on myself and break through to the other side of productivity, but sometimes it feels like I'm just circling the drain. My personality is such that I can lift my head one day and find that entire months have disappeared out from under me.
