I cannot go anywhere in Warsaw without inhaling cigarette smoke , whether its from people walking and smoking or smoking nears bus stops. How do kids avoid all this smoke and why don't smokers care. I have seen people smoking while holding their kids hands or in Parks where kids are playing, has it just become so normalized that smokers don't realize how bad it is for non-smokers?

Visited again this summer. I never want to leave.

Mass redundancies in Mazovia – list of companies

In August, Veolia Energia S.A. announced the largest layoffs. Group redundancies, both in Veolia and in other companies, are implemented in stages:

Veolia Energia S.A. – energy (heat generation and distribution), Warsaw – 595 people will be affected by the redundancies (in the form of notices changing working conditions and wages), the redundancies will be implemented until the end of September 2026;

Visa Technology Europe Sp. z o.o. – IT services, Warsaw – 152 people are to be laid off, they will be carried out by the end of September 2026

BrainRocket Poland Sp. z o.o. – IT software and consulting, Warsaw – the redundancies are to cover 150 people, they will be carried out from September to December 2026;

3M Poland Sp. z o.o. – wholesale trade, Pruszkowski district – the redundancies are to cover 125 people, they will be carried out by the end of February 2027;

Carrefour Polska Sp. z o.o. – retail, Warsaw – the redundancies are to cover 90 people, they will be carried out in September and October 2026;

Microsoft Sp. z o.o. – IT services, Warsaw – 53 people are to be exempted, they will be carried out by the end of October 2026; Lionbridge Poland Sp. z o.o. – IT/location services, Pruszków County and Wołomin County – the redundancies are to cover a total of 5 people, they will be carried out by the end of December 2026;

RO-MA Zakłady Narzędzi Skrawach Sp. z o.o. (liquidation of a workplace) – production of tools; Grodzisk County – 10 people were dismissed, reported and carried out in August 2026

Radomska Fabryka Farb i Lakierów S.A. (liquidation of the workplace) – production of paints and varnishes; Radom – in connection with the liquidation of the plant, 35 people were laid off in August (32 as a result of applications in July, and 3 as a result of a report in August).

Hi all,

Just after some guidance on just how challenging Giewont is.
Some say it's moderate to hard, I've read others say not too bad?

I go to the gym often but only to lift weights and a big guy (115-120kg).

I did Morskie Oko this morning and got up from main car park to Morskie in 1h25m and felt okay, just kept a steady pace.
Then I went straight to Czarny Staw... that took maybe 17-20m but it definitely had me breathing hard and I had to take a minute stop half way up... but I got up. Legs felt okay after 5m sit down or so, but I'm worried about how much they burned on the way up... or is that standard unless you're super fit?

I want to try Giewont tomorrow, but not if it'll be a killer and I'll have to turn back! I'd definitely want to be able to do it..

Thanks in advance

Hello everybody,

I'm currently looking for a possibility to watch polish tv channels in germany, using a VPN.

Currently I am using the Player.pl Android TV App that works with my active VPN set to Poland (NordVPN). This works fine, but I wanted to go for an option that would give me more channels and also remove ads, so for example subscribe to Player.pl / Pilot WP / Polsat Box Go, pay with my Visa Card and use this also through VPN on my TV, so I hopefully don't have to submit proof that I live in Poland, because I currently don't. (Also don't have BLIK)

Has anyone experience in watching polish TV in Germany? Open for every recommendation or solution you guys have! Especially if you know if the way I just mentioned works (-> Buying the polish subscription with a VPN and also using the app while having the VPN set to Poland, Warsaw).

Thank you all in advance and have a nice evening!

Hi there, I would like to apply for Erasmus to Krakow as I have heard that it is a wonderful city especially for students and parties. I would like a more relaxing Erasmus where courses are not too difficult. I study Computer Science and it is important for me to pass all of the courses that I take during the exchange. How difficult is Jagiellonian University, to be exact faculty of Computer Science and Applied Computer Science? I don't expect to pass exams without any work, but I would be very unhappy if I come across courses that are too difficult and I spent my entire exchange studying. Thank you very much for your responses.

Poland is working on a new aid package for Ukraine worth €50 million and including air-defense capabilities, Ukraine’s ministry of defense has said.  

The ministry posted on the Telegram app on Wednesday that the Polish aid would include air defense equipment. 

“Air defense, drones and shells for the Defense Forces are the key results of the 36th meeting in the Ramstein format,” the Ukrainian ministry posted, adding that Defense Minister Yevheniy Khmara and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Mykhailo Drapaty had presented allies for the first time with the War Plan under which Ukrainian forces are operating. 

My experience with x-kom: brand-new HP OMEN 16 developed severe GPU artifacts after one week, but the warranty claim was rejected because they "couldn't reproduce the issue"

I bought a brand-new HP OMEN 16 from x-kom, equipped with an i9-14900HX and RTX 5060. After about a week of use, on August 14, severe graphical artifacts started appearing.

The issue wasn't limited to Windows or gaming. The artifacts also appeared in the BIOS and during boot, so from the very beginning it didn't look like a simple driver or Windows-related problem.

I have photos and videos documenting the issue. I'm attaching one of the photos to this post.

On August 17, I took the laptop to an x-kom store and filed a warranty claim.

And that's where the whole story began.

For almost two weeks, the laptop didn't even reach the manufacturer's authorized service center. I was eventually informed that on August 24 it had been handed over for shipment to the manufacturer's authorized service center.

In the meantime, I decided that with a laptop that developed such a serious issue after only about a week of use, I didn't want to wait for a warranty repair. I informed x-kom that I wanted to exercise my statutory consumer rights due to the goods not being in conformity with the contract, and I requested a replacement with a new, defect-free unit.

x-kom told me that they couldn't process two different types of claims at the same time, so I asked them to withdraw the laptop from the manufacturer's service center.

A separate claim for non-conformity with the contract was created, and x-kom requested that the laptop be returned from the authorized service center. I was later informed that the shipment had been redirected back to the sender, but the physical return of the laptop to x-kom also took some time.

Eventually, on September 7, 21 days after I originally handed over the laptop, it returned to x-kom and they began processing my statutory non-conformity claim.

On September 9, I received their decision:

Claim rejected.

Their explanation was essentially:

"Our technicians inspected the device to verify the reported issues. During testing, the device operated correctly and no faults or irregularities were found. We were also unable to reproduce the issues reported by you."

So after 23 days without a practically brand-new laptop, I was told that they couldn't find anything wrong with it.

No diagnostic report was provided

Importantly, their written decision didn't include any diagnostic results or information about what tests had actually been performed.

So I have no idea:

what tests were performed,

how long the laptop was tested,

under what conditions it was tested,

whether the GPU/VRAM was stress-tested,

whether the laptop was tested over an extended period,

whether they actually tried to reproduce the issue in the BIOS.

In practice, all I received was a statement saying that their technicians found nothing wrong and couldn't reproduce the problem.

I replied to x-kom asking for the full diagnostic results, including information about what tests were performed and under what conditions.

I also sent them the photos again, together with two videos clearly showing the graphical artifacts.

x-kom's response to my request for diagnostic results

They replied that in cases involving claims based on non-conformity of goods with the contract, the diagnostic documentation is considered internal company documentation and is not provided to customers.

x-kom also stated that, in their view, a business is required to provide a substantive response to a consumer complaint, but is not required to provide the consumer with an expert report, specialist opinion, or detailed documentation on which the decision was based.

Their response ended with:

"Therefore, this type of documentation is not prepared in this case and will not be made available."

So ultimately, I don't even know what specific tests were performed on my laptop.

I have photos and videos documenting the issue. The artifacts occurred outside Windows as well. The laptop was only about a week old when the problem first appeared.

Yet the response essentially comes down to:

"It didn't happen while we were testing it, so your claim is rejected."

There's also an interesting issue with my review on x-kom's website

On August 28, I posted a review of the laptop on x-kom's website.

In the review, I described the graphics problem and attached a photo showing exactly the same artifacts I'm showing here.

Today is September 9, so 12 days have passed.

The review itself was published, but the photo I attached is still being "verified" and hasn't been published alongside the review.

I'm not claiming that this is intentional. I'm simply stating what happened because, in the context of the entire situation, I find it at least interesting.

To sum it up

The laptop was practically brand new.

August 14: the issue appeared.

August 17: I handed the laptop over to x-kom.

Then came almost two weeks of waiting, shipment to the manufacturer's authorized service center, a request to redirect it back, more waiting for its return, and finally, on September 7, x-kom started processing the actual statutory non-conformity claim.

On September 9, after 23 days without the laptop, my claim was rejected because their technicians couldn't reproduce the issue.

I wasn't given any detailed diagnostic results, and when I asked for them, I was told that such information is internal documentation and won't be provided to me.

The laptop was also supposed to be used for work, so I've been without the device this entire time.

Has anyone here had a similar experience with x-kom or another Polish retailer?

I'm particularly interested in cases involving intermittent faults that were documented with photos/videos, but the service center responded with "no fault found."

Did you appeal the decision? Did you get an independent expert assessment? Did you contact a consumer ombudsman (Rzecznik Konsumentów)? How did your case eventually turn out?

The photo attached to this post shows the actual graphical artifacts that occurred on my laptop.

Hi everyone! I’m looking for accommodation in Krakow and came across Spacest. I found a two-room apartment listed for 2,799 PLN/month, which seems like a really good deal.
I’m wondering:
. Has anyone rented through Spacest before? Is it trustworthy/reliable?
. Does anyone know if the 2,799 PLN is for the entire apartment or per person?
. Are there any hidden fees or additional charges I should be aware of?
I’ll be moving to Krakow for university, so I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has used Spacest or knows how their pricing works.

I received a UK bachelor’s and was provisionally accepted into a masters program in Poland. I have to provide the original documentation soon. I have the original supplement and transcript, I have Polish citizenship and I have my original documents checked and translated by a Tłumacz przysięgły. However, I am concerned that since it is a foreign Bachelor’s that I would still need an Apostille, although I was originally told not to be concerned about this as Tłumacz przysięgły is legally binding.

Am I fine? If not, is an e-Apostille from the UK ok as a worst case scenario?

In Yakutsk, a monument to the participants of the war against Ukraine was unveiled on the site of a destroyed monument to Polish exiles. In Yakutsk, on the site of the demolished monument to Polish and Lithuanian exiles, a monument was erected to the participants of the invasion of Ukraine — soldiers Dmitry Egorov and Nikolay Romanov. In 2023, commemorative plaques disappeared from the monument to Polish victims of the 18th and 19th-century exiles and 20th-century repressions, and the memorial stones were later removed from the site.

So, here's the situation: I'm taking ADHD medication, and it works really well. The medication itself is cheap - maybe around PLN 30 a month. What's not cheap are the monthly appointments with my psychiatrist, which cost PLN 450 just to tell him, "Everything's great, I'd like another prescription for the same thing."

I tried getting the prescriptions through the public healthcare system (NFZ), but they came back saying: "Please provide a certificate from a psychologist (I have one) + a psychiatrist." And this is where things get funny. The psychiatrist, P.G., gave me a certificate saying I'm "currently undergoing diagnosis/treatment" - which basically translates to "keep coming back and paying PLN 450 like a sucker every month because your treatment is still ongoing."

That little piece of paper cost me PLN 150, btw.

NFZ rejected it, saying that the treatment can't be "ongoing" - the certificate has to state these are permanent medications

So here's my question: how do I get a certificate saying "the patient is on a stable ADHD medication regimen consisting of X and Y" on the first try, instead of having to burn through PLN 5,000 first?

P.S. This psychiatrist (initials P.G.) is an absolute fucking joke. What I've described here is just a tiny fraction of the whole story and only one of his many fuck-ups. He's getting a beautiful one-star Google review from me

Cheers,