Egor Kretalov

Spotify and I have a complicated relationship. The music catalog is solid, recommendations are usually on point, and the UI is clean — I’ll give it that. Daily Mixes and Discover Weekly are still some of the best algorithmic playlists out there. But man, there’s a lot that holds it back. First, the app feels heavier than it should be. Lags randomly on desktop, and the mobile version eats battery like it’s on a mission. Also, the fact that some features are weirdly inconsistent between platforms (like queue management or library sorting) is just... why? And don’t even get me started on podcasts. Mixing them with music in the same interface was a mistake. I listen to one episode, and suddenly half my home feed is flooded with stuff I didn’t ask for. No way to opt out properly. It’s just messy. Still using it, mostly because I’ve built so many playlists over the years and I know where everything is. But if something better comes along with proper library control and less noise — I’m out.

Jira is one of those tools you kinda love and hate at the same time — and I mean that in the best possible way. It does what it promises: keeps issues tracked, workflows organized, and the team (mostly) in sync. Once it's set up right, it's solid. Powerful, flexible, and surprisingly good for managing even weird non-dev tasks if you customize it enough. But — and here’s the “not-quite-5-stars” part — the UI still feels clunky at times. Too many clicks to do simple things. The performance can lag when you’ve got tons of tickets or complex filters. And don’t get me started on trying to onboard new team members without them staring at the screen like it's a spaceship dashboard. That said, when it works (which is most of the time), it really works. The automation rules, integration options, custom fields, all of it makes sense once you’re deep in the ecosystem. So yeah — 4/5. Not perfect, but still the best in its category. Just be ready to wrestle with it a bit before it bends to your will.

I didn’t expect to use ChatGPT this much, honestly. At first it was just quick code checks or drafting emails — now it’s practically my sidekick for half the stuff I do. Need to parse some weird logs? Drafting policy docs? Figuring out how to regex something I haven't touched in a year? Done in seconds. It’s like having someone around who always has the answer (and doesn’t mind explaining it twice when I’m too tired to get it the first time). What I really appreciate is that it doesn’t just spit out info — it thinks with me. Helps break down problems, map out steps, even sanity-checks configs or scripts before I try them in prod. That level of back-and-forth? Game changer. It’s not perfect, sure — sometimes I have to nudge it in the right direction — but even then, it's miles ahead of googling through forum posts and Stack Overflow rabbit holes. At this point, if ChatGPT went down for a day, I'd probably have to take a walk and rethink my workflow.

I don’t usually leave reviews, but Tila deserves one. What surprised me the most wasn’t the feature list (though yeah, it’s wild how much it can do), but how usable everything is. You’d expect something with this many functions to feel bloated or gimmicky. It doesn’t. It just works. I’ve used it to automate boring tasks, clean up reports, generate quick visuals for internal docs, even test out code snippets — all without needing to jump between 5 different tools. It’s fast, responsive, and doesn’t get in the way. Also, the little things — like background cleanup for images or throwing together a voiceover for an explainer — save hours when you’re on a deadline and just need something good-enough-now. It’s not flashy, and I love that. It’s quietly powerful. A real “get stuff done” workspace.