a lot or news in portuguese

Society:
In Portuguese: Drug addicts paid to be sterilized.:
-Toxicodependentes pagos para serem esterilizados. Uma abordagem desesperada e chocante... Será a única resposta? Está certamente na area cinzenta da moralidade...
And still on the morality issue:
-Morality: Don't be afraid – science can make us better. Another fascinanting text. Some times new scientist surprises me :)
Another follow up on the morality issue: Sam Harris says that what is "right" is what promotes well-being. "The world religions will land somewhere near astrology, witchcraft and Greek mythology on the scrapheap. In their place we will have a thoroughgoing understanding of human flourishing, which will include even the most rarified and traditionally "spiritual" states of human consciousness."
-The Death of ACTA. I wish it was the news about it's actual death, but instead it is only a music track. I'm not a hip-hop / rap fan, but the lyrics are very interesting.
"
...
I'm just a citizen that's teaching you a lesson
for restricting my freedom of expression
Yes, and deep packet inspection? squeeze that up your rectum
If your postman did that to you you'd be having him sectioned
arrested for meddling in your private affairs
But it's only online, right? so why should we care?
Because digital rights should be applicable right
here in real life, and we're not criminals, right?
...
"
Medicine:
-Homem "sem rosto" do Rossio remove tumor de 5,5 quilos. Um caso médico fascinante... Pena que não está em inglês para poder partilhar com mais gente.

Humour:

So good to see so much improvement... I don't usual post must about Portugal

Medicine:
-Changes caused by smoking block tumour-fighting genes. Not only does it stink, now you have the scientific proof that it prevents you from fighting cancer cells that you might acquire throughout your life.

Science:
-First person treated in milestone stem cell trial. It was in America, I didn't expect that... I was expecting a more liberal country in Europe to take the first step in this matter. Anyway, I sure hope for the sucess of this experiment, and not only that the patient recover from his/her injuries, but that a treatment is deemed safe.
-Chile rescue thanks to multi-national ingenuity. This is just amazing :) it's days like this that make the world seem a better place.

Society:
-More Countries React To ACTA; Brazil Says ACTA Is Illegitimate. Though Brazil complains mostly about medical supplies and not electronic content. Here it is in Brazilian Portuguese: "Brasil ataca acordo de ricos contra falsificação".
And following this complain: Isn't It Unfortunate That We Need A Special Mark To Indicate Works That Are Already In The Public Domain? "The public domain is supposed to be the rule, with copyright the exception... but the fact that we need such a mark shows how far to the other extreme we've gone". I am concerned about this issue, since apparently no one else is!

Portugal:
Fico contente por poder colocar algumas coisas positivas que pode observar.
-Madrid pôs a América Latina a votar Portugal. É bom ver o nome de Portugal a ganhar posição.
-Pensões superiores a cinco mil euros vão ser taxadas. Acho bem... já que têm a possibilidade de contribuir para a sociedade desta forma.
-Assinado protocolo para pôr reclusos a limpar florestas nacionais. Acho produtivo. Espero apenas que nenhum recluso tenha a ideia de fugir aos seus deveres, morais e práticos.

and because I need to laugh....

Medicine:
-Discovery could ease cancer pain. A breakthrough could lead to drugs to alleviate the pain experienced by cancer patients.


Humor:
And because I need to laugh....
-The Devil's Dictionary, 1911
"patience, n. A minor form of despair, disguised as a virtue." (Ambrose Bierce)

"If good things come to those who wait, I figure I ought to be in for a big payoff someday soon!" (Brian Lee Jones)

"The professional arms himself with patience, not only to give the stars time to align in his career, but to keep himself from flaming out in each individual work." (Steven Pressfield)

Science & Technology... always going forward...

Technology:

Cool gadget: Moppel LED Bendable Light Figures. A nice christmas present for gadget freeks, but these Moppels don’t really put out a LOT of light, so paying $25 for them might seem inflated. They are fun to have hanging around your desk for novelty sake though.

This is hilarious: For $150 You Can Get Head From a Porn Star. “Simply connect the USB cable to your computer and in just moments you’re synched up to the hot sex on the screen. Feel every flick of her tongue, every clinched muscle, and every tremble of her body as she comes.” LOL With pictures and video!!!!

And just to think that a few years ago we were talking about sex toys plugged to the computer for virtual / cyber sex... Now it's a reality.

Science:
-Innovation: Robotic faces… for humans. "The face is an area where natural-appearing active prosthetics would be particularly welcome," they write in a recent patent application. They believe their approach provides a solution, and report having tested it successfully on cadavers.
-'Anti-phobia pill' breaks link between memory and fear. I've heard of this before, but now it's reality.
Reliving the memory triggers a release of adrenaline, reinforcing the memory still further. Since propranolol blocks adrenaline receptors in the amygdala, doctors believes it may also block this reinforcement process and break fear association.
-Diamond no longer nature's hardest material. It's been confirmed, Wurtzite Boron Nitride (WBN for friends) and Lonsdaleite are harder. The first can withstand 18% more stress than diamond, and lonsdaleite 58% more.

Society:
-Christopher Hitchens: Religion belongs to the fearful childhood of the race. A very good interview on his book, "God is not great". Now released in french.
-Banned from Britain, Dutch campaigner against Islam. Even though my personal views on religion are not those of love affection, I can not agree with extremism...

-Follow The Pirate Bay Trial on Twitter. The largest court case in file-sharing history will start in Stockholm, Sweden. The Pirate Bay will try to keep the public updated every day, with help from the community and through Twitter.

Medicine
-Cannabis linked to testicular cancer. This is not to be considered good news, just a call for attention. I'm glad I don't smoke anything...

Humor:

Last post for some time....

Environment:
-"Bamboo" car runs for 50km on single charge. "Bamgoo", an electric car with a body made out of bamboo, is displayed in Kyoto, western Japan, November 14, 2008. The sixty-kilogram single-seater ecologically friendly concept car, which measures 270 centimeters in length, 130 centimeters in width and 165 centimeters in height, is developed by Kyoto University Venture Business Laboratory, featuring bamboo articles in the Kyoto area.

Society:
-'Lost' Beatles track could finally be heard. In the 40 years since its recording, "Carnival of Light" has acquired near mythical status among Beatles fans who argue that the existence of the track provides evidence of the group's experimental ambitions beyond their commercially successfully pop career. Sounds interesting ;)
-Introducing PRONTO, the condom for the new millennium! When using an ordinary condom, first you have to tear the pack open, often using your teeth. Then you have to take the condom out of the pack – this is a slippery business at the best of times. Next, you have to figure out which is the right side up, before you can unroll it. By the time the condom’s on, the mood is halfway out the window...
This solution here is simply brilliant.

Science:
-Six ways to build robots that do humans no harm. No terminators here...
-Why Europe should build its own crewed space vehicle. Very interesting article...
-'Interplanetary internet' passes first test. An interesting futuristic project... :)

Medicine:
-Woman receives windpipe built from her stem cells. Medical progress...

And this is my last post before I go away for some time :D I'll be busy and good news will follow once I'm back. Have fun...

A lil' bit of everything

Society:
-A beautiful cultural blend: African kimono. Wander past a certain kimono store in Aoyama, Japan and center stage in the window is a riotous splash of canary- yellow cotton, with bright cubes of grass green and swirls of earthy brown. A tribal red-and-black obi tied high around the waist completes a perfectly styled kimono that on close inspection evokes not the misty mountains of Japan but the searing heat of another world: Africa.
-Counted out: World’s worst boxer throws in the towel after 256 defeats. I have to give him the credit for persistence.
-Rome hosts Vatican-Muslim summit. Muslim and Vatican officials are holding historic talks in Rome to establish a better inter-faith dialogue and defuse any future tensions. It's the first good thing I see this pope doing.

Economy:
-Fungal diesel could revolutionise fuel production. Analysis of the vapour showed it to be rich in hydrocarbons found in diesel, such as octane.

Science:
-Cloning 'resurrects' long-dead mice. Healthy mice have been cloned from cells from dead mice that had been frozen for 16 years, raising the possibility that endangered species could be cloned from old carcasses that have been tossed in freezers, rather than from living cells frozen using elaborate techniques.

Medicine:
-Pimped up T-cells seek out and destroy HIV. Hope?

Humour:
-DIY Plant Twitter Kit. One day I'll build one of these....

A day for love....

Society:
-The girl with the flower in her hair on the subway. This is a little romantic story... really cool :D Good luck Patrick and Camille.
-The 5 most laughable terms of service on the Net. This is just silly... but in the case of facebook, I'm reconsidering where to post my photos... I already posted some nice photos there but I accidentely gave them the right to: "an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, excerpt (in whole or in part) and distribute such User Content for any purpose, commercial, advertising, or otherwise, on or in connection with the Site or the promotion thereof, to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, such User Content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing."
By the way: My photos from London and Scotland. Yes... in Facebook. Don't worry it wont happen again.

Portugal:
-Triplo salto para o infinito dourado. Ei... afinal tivemos uma medalha de ouro! :D

Medicine:
-Milestone reached in search for deafness cure.

Technology:
Cool patents: Crash attenuation system for aircraft AKA Helicopter airbag.
Solar system positiong system AKA Space GPS.

Arts:

skate - shot on red - 120 fps from opus magnum prod. Cool video.

After some "journalism blackout"...

Me: <- this is a silly topic name, but I had no other way to refer to such stories...
-Patent delays frustrate inventors. It's not a good news... it's another thorn in my shoe. A very positive thing happend a few weeks ago. I finally registered my very first patent! :D But to get it approved and certified... it might take years :s

Medicine:
-HIV 'locked out' of sabotaged cells. With no "door handle" to hold onto, the virus can no longer infect the cell. It's not a cure, simply an ideia that might lead onwards...

Society:
-Producer Eric Wilkinson thanks pirates for "stealing" his film. The producer of the independent film “The Man from Earth”, wrote an email to RLSlog in which he thanks them for the free promotion they gave him. “In the future, I will not complain about file sharing” he wrote, “when I make my next picture, I just may upload the movie on the net myself!”. This example once again illustrates what a powerful promotion tool filesharing networks are, especially for independent productions with a small budget.
I saw the movie and it is indeed very very good.
-"Terrorist" Watch List Hits One Million Names. This is hillarious! :D Not exactly a reason to celebrate, but it just to show how stupid and senseless this so called "War on Terror" is. It sounds even more like an inquisition....
-Society's role in Kato's crime. Tracing killer's lonely path from exclusion to Akihabara rampage.... Very interesting article, of a bad scene in Japan.

Technology:
-Water-Powered Car Demonstrated in Japan (Video). Developed by Genepax in Japan, this commuter vehicle is able to travel at 80km/h for one hour on just a single litre of water. Hoax or reality?
-Dirt-repelling tube promises cheap, pure water. The technique is based on the discovery that water-attracting materials seem to repel impurities, leaving a layer of pure water near their surface.

Portugal:
-EasyJet já vende online, viagens Lisboa-Madeira. A nova rota começará a 27 de Outubro. FINALMENTE!!! :D

A comeback after the party

Hello everyone... well, anyone who reads this anyway...
Not only was my very first photo exhibition a topic in our local news paper, the Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, they also used one of the photos I took to publish it. :D You can see the papercut right here -->
But continuing with other news, besides the narcisistic "me", I finally compiled the best news in almost every topic that I have, for you to update your knowledge and remember that things are not so bad as the media says they are.

Arts:
-Best Mountain Photos of 2007 Announced. This one was my favourite.

Technology:
-Now Nissan's Pivo concept car can drive sideways too. Unlike the first Pivo, it has no axles. Instead it has four separate electric motors, allowing the wheels to turn further than a conventional car.
-World's smallest four-seater car takes centre stage. It was one of a series of small and 'green' cars on display at the show where manufacturers were anxious to display their environmental technology. This news is somewhere between the technology issues and the ecological ones. But since I also post the Pivo, I placed it under Technology.
-Playstation3 helps robots see. "We aim to put all the speech and vision recognition into a working robot, so we need real-time performance,".

Science:
-University of Michigan research: New plastic is strong as steel and transparent. It's made of layers of clay nanosheets and a water-soluble polymer that shares chemistry with white glue.
-NASA aims to put man on Mars by 2037. "We are looking at the moon and Mars to build a civilization for tomorrow and after that,".

Ecology:
-2007 ozone hole ‘smaller than usual’. The ozone hole over Antarctica has shrunk 30 percent as compared to last year's record size.
-Photo in the News: "Ugly" Albino Ratfish Captured. They are still out there.

Medicine:
-Clinics to grow human eggs. The procedure, which is being pioneered by two British fertility clinics, involves taking a piece of ovary tissue from a woman and "banking" it in a laboratory until she is ready to start a family.

Society:
-Mugger in Germany foiled by blind judo expert. The 17-year-old threatened the blind man, then punched him in the face, at which point the martial artist flipped him and held him down until police arrived.

Portugal:
Portugueses no pódio das Olimpíadas Ibero-Americanas de Matemática. As Olimpíadas Ibero-Americanas decorreram pela primeira vez em Portugal, com a participação de cerca de 90 crânios da matemática, com idades entre os 15 e os 19 anos, apurados entre os melhores dos seus países. Uau... nem sequer sabia que havia tal coisa...

YES!!!!! It is finally prohibited to smoke in Baden-Württemberg!

Society:
Yesterday I went out for a drink in an Irish pub here in Heidelberg. And where I was used to eat tons of someone else's smoke together with my Guinness, I found a smoke free environment and a bunch of non smoking signs. I got curious and I asked... which sweet soul had the ideia of turning O'Reilys smoke free? And it was the state.... :D How sweet of them.
So I went home and checked the german news:
-Raucher müssen draußen bleiben. In drei Bundesländern treten heute umfassende Nichtraucherschutzgesetze in Kraft. In Baden-Württemberg, Niedersachsen und Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ist der blaue Dunst ab sofort aus Gaststätten, Krankenhäusern, Schulen und Landesbehörden verbannt. Endlich!!!!!!
This means I can go out for a drink at night and save my nose. :D

With more good news, the regular way:
-Spanish unemployment hits near 30 year low. The National Statistics Institute said that part of the fall was due to more Spanish women joining the work force.
-British troops pull out of Northern Ireland after nearly four decades. After thirty-eight years the British Army is to pull out almost all its troops from Northern Ireland.
-Britain will take troops out of Iraq regardless of US, says PM. Gordon Brown has paved the way for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq by telling George Bush he would not delay their exit in order to show unity with the United States. Two good decisions in my opinion.
-Ivorians burn guns for peace. The gun burning ceremony is meant as the symbolic start of the disarmament process.

Medicine:
-New gene therapy tools for inherited blindness identifed. Still a long way to go until we have the therapy itself, but it's a step forward.

Techonology:
-I-Limb a gripping invention. A new hope.

Science:
-Newsflash: Time May Not Exist. Simon Saunders, a philosopher of physics at the University of Oxford. “The situation is so uncomfortable that by far the best thing to do is declare oneself an agnostic.”

Ecology:
-Real green homes of the future showcased. Legislation in the UK means all new houses built from 2016 will have to meet strict energy efficiency standards.

Humour:
And since I am happy with the non smoking policy:

Some really good news, except in the portuguese smoke ban...

Medicine:
-A jab to halt Alzheimer's could be available within a few years. The jab, which is now being tested on patients, could be in widespread use in as little as six years.
Potential cure for HIV discovered. Let's see the outcome, I hope they are right.

Science:
-First artificial life 'within months' . I don't have a "Frankenstein Complex", so I support it.

Society:
-Irish unfazed by smoke-free pubs. The ban has been a huge success, offering long-term health benefits to both workers and customers. According to a recent survey, more than one in five Irish smokers has been smoking less since the ban came into force.
And what is the Portuguese response???? -PS e PSD Will approve new tabaco law. Lack of balls that was, a minor or insignificant change... Still, a change...

Portugal:
-PS e PSD vão aprovar unidos nova lei do tabaco . Não é a boa noticia que esperava. Estes F.D.P. de politicos o que estão a dizer é: "dá aos pequenos restaurantes, bares e pastelarias a possibilidade de continuarem a ser locais de fumadores." P*** que os pariu! Deviam ser todos não fumadores, bolas! E quem quisesse fumar que vá para a rua!
-33 empresas portuguesas e 20 moçambicanas aderiram ao Convénio Global da ONU. Descrito pelas Nações Unidas como a maior iniciativa internacional do sector privado a favor de uma conduta ética e socialmente responsável.

Humor:

I really like that computer....

Technology:
-Spintronic logic gate promises computing advance. Another news on what we could achieve, but not on what was achieved.
-Switchable hologram promises memory boost. A device that stores holograms using a liquid crystal film controlled electronically has been created by researchers in Singapore.
-Microsoft unveils table computer. This is one of the coolest things ever!
Video:



Medicine:
-Biologists make skin cells work like stem cells. Will this finish the debate about stem cells? I don't think so...
-The genetic revolution. The discovery of genes responsible for seven of the most common illnesses offers hope to millions of sufferers

Ecology:
-Denver targets global warming. Recycling plays a crucial role in Denver's plan.
-Nuke power not so clean or green. Although I don't totaly agree with Helen Caldicott, one thing needs to be considered: "nuclear power produces large quantities of global warming gases because millions of tons of rock and ore need to be mined to get the uranium out of the ground. And it has to be crushed, using more fossil fuels. [...] uranium is enriched at Paducah, Ky., where they have two 1,500-megawatt filthy, old, coal-fired plants to produce the electricity to enrich the uranium. Also, 93 percent of the CFC 114 gas released in the United States is through leaking pipes at that plant in Paducah.
-Irrational incandescence. A standard incandescent light bulb costs around €1, says Theo van Deursen, chief executive of Philips Lighting, and uses €15-worth of electricity a year. A low-energy one costs €5-6 and uses €3-worth. The payback on investing in a compact fluorescent bulb, therefore, is less than a year. Yet low-energy lighting makes up only 30% of Philips's sales.
-G8 leaders close to agreement on emissions. China and India needed in post-Kyoto deal. Of course these are all old news, and their resolutions are as set as a Dandelion under a storm.
-The tiny orphaned possum that was rescued after his mother was killed by car. Not a wild life, but still a life.

Society:
-Model Gisele Bundchen opposes condom ban. I agree with her.

Portugal:
-Casamento 'gay' no Tribunal Constitucional. Gay? Não deveria ser lésbico???....

I love this house, if it was mine I would fill it with bonsais :D

I love this house...

Technology:
-First police ‘drone’ takes flight. I know many of you think this is a bad thing to control people, but in an unsecure area, I do feel more safe to be watched over. I would still prefer a couple of police officers on the scene but...
-Unmanned laser surveillance is millimetre perfect. Another news on safety and monitoring.

Society:
-"Hooked" anti-smoking ads spark record complaints. I think it's a good ideia anyway...
Coin toss decides Philippine poll. A positive point for democracy. You can have a country, without civil war, that decide who is going to take the high chair next.
-22 May 2007 - Europe’s Space Policy becomes a reality today.
-Mars bars get veggie status back. No animal products in chocolate!
-Dubai gardener gets 6,900 pounds for never being late. Nazier, who took sick leave only once to undergo surgery. Way to go Nazier! Congratulations, you just proved that it still pays off to be honest.

Ecology:
-One in six European mammals on the brink. It doesn't sound good, but the report also contains two pieces of good news: the return of the European bison and the Alpine ibex, a type of mountain goat. Both were on the brink of extinction but have recovered, thanks to efforts to re-introduce them to their wild habitats. There are now 1800 bison in Eastern Europe.
-Schwarzenegger accuses government on warming. "It's bad enough that the federal government has yet to take the threat of global warming seriously, but it borders on malfeasance for it to block the efforts of states such as California and Connecticut that are trying to protect the public's health and welfare".

Medicine:
-Nanomedicine Opens The Way For Nerve Cell Regeneration.

Arts:
Images from the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum. Beautiful masterpieces in gardening. I leave here some fine examples of their living scultures. I also want to add that finally my beloved mapple has recovered from a severe dehydration. :D No I'm not blaming you Inês... but I must say that the dry stem on top with little red leaves underneath gives it a beautiful touch. Pictures will follow when I have the time.

Third stage update... Complete!

The third stage update is complete! :D Now both blog, website and portfolio have the same layout. I kind of like how it looks now, but more importantly is that now I can update the layout any time and it will be coherent.
So now with the news report!

Technology:
-How do you deliver a parcel down to Earth from space without using a rocket engine and fuel? The answer is YES2.
-Radical Engine Redesign Would Reduce Pollution, Oil Consumption. The homogeneous charge compression ignition technique would make it possible to improve the efficiency of gasoline engines by 15 percent to 20 percent, making them as efficient as diesel engines while nearly eliminating smog-generating nitrogen oxides.

Medicine:
-Vegan couple found guilty of killing their baby through a soy-only diet. Healthy living my ass... This is definitely not a good news, but it may have good impact in society by opening their eyes into their lifestyles and specially their imposition uppon others.

Ecology:
-Victoria's Secret mends fences with eco-activists. "Our relationship with ForestEthics is a true partnership, a true collaboration. We want to contribute to forest sustainability and we are not turning back from that." Amen!

Society:
-Top 10 Futuristic Luxury Hotels. This is way cool, and one of them already exists.
-Vendors’ Removal Brings a Venezuelan Gem Back to Life. It's rare to find anything positive in the New York Times, let along refering to Venezuela!
-According to the Al Jazeera newspaper: Ramos-Horta wins East Timor vote. But it was the independent that stated: Nobel laureate pledges to fight poverty as East Timor president.
Anyway, it's good to know. Viva Timor Loro Sae!
-Spying in the Death Star: The AT&T Whistle-Blower Tells His Story. This is a good one for the conspiracy theorists. It gives them reason.
-Drivers may be banned from smoking at the wheel. mmmm
-Kicking the habit - the EU fight against smoking. it has been three years since Ireland became the first EU country to ban smoking from its pubs and restaurants. And since then, other members have followed their example.

Humor: An ode to my Grandparents

Portfolio Update!

Finally! My first lightroom galleries are on-line!
After some long weeks, working in hiding, lurking around the net to find a decent template, costumizing it.... well, I know it doesn't look much, but it was a big effort.
I will look into customizing even further, so that it resembles more and more like my webpage.
Now on with the news!

Technology
US satellite to test missile defence technologies, and they where complaning about the chinese test when they knocked down a satelite.
Green nanotechnology is easy. "There is no need to compromise—you can get greener technologies, lower cost and higher performance simultaneously"
Paper-Thin Flatwire Disappears Under Paint. Wired world is now flat.
Condemned To Google Hell. What a scary story...

Society
A new university for women is opening in Riyadh! Now this is good news, but Saudi Arabia still remains a country where women cannot vote, drive, dress as they like or go where they please.
Can Europe combat terrorism and maintain human rights? I think so, what about you?
China to Force Rain Ahead of Olympics. I have got to see this.

Medicine
Lost memories could be restored by 'rewiring' brain.

Science
Mystery prehistoric fossil verified as giant fungus. It's a big big world....
But this one is bigger: Found 20 light years away: the New Earth.

Economy
Under $3000: The Race To Build Really Cheap Cars. I bet the chinese will invade the market with this... imagine going to a 1€ chinese store and buying a cheap car for christmas :p
Now I am concerned about the environmental impact of such iniciative...
Affordable solar power brings light to India. Since 2003, the $1.5 million programme has helped 16,600 Indians living in the southern state of Karnataka buy solar power systems for their homes and small businesses.

Humor
Today's post will reflect my cheeful mood in photography :D