January 2009
37 posts
Linux and the mainstream..
An interesting read on The Register http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/01/26/dziuba_linux_desktop/ Engineering isn’t holding Linux back from the desktop. We all know that it’s better software than Windows. What’s holding Linux back from the desktop are user expectations and IT freetards who compensate for their own non-accomplishment with passive-aggressive superiority. Your ...
Network - I'm mad as Hell - 1976
Such prophetic words, with great resonance these days… the film dates from 1976. Posted via email from Movies, Videos, Clips, Trailers | Comment »
Oscar 2009 Nominees
Full listhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7842438.stm Here is the shortlist for the 81st Academy Awards, which are being held at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles on 22 February. Best picture The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Frost/Nixon Milk The Reader Slumdog Millionaire Best director Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire Stephen Daldry - The Reader David Fincher - The...
Two sentenced to death over Chinese tainted milk...
Two men were given the death penalty for their involvement in the contaminated milk scandal in China. More hard sentences are expected, and the former boss of the company was given life imprisonment. In my view, something had to be done, but I am, and have always been against the death sentence. There was no criminal intent, this was a case of, severe, negligence. I mean, they knew what they...
Follow Obama's inauguration
If you’re anything like me, you’re planning on watching the live Inauguration of President Obama. It’s a good thing we’re in Europe, so you can follow it either at work or just after leaving. Right now, i’m watching it on Euronews, via Livestation.com software. But if you don’t want to install anything then joost.com is a good option. Go Obama! Posted via...
Violent protests in Vilnius, Lithuania
The riots of recent days in Riga are now spreading to neighboring Lithuania, where a riot broke out today after a peaceful demonstration was taking place in front of the national parliament building. One begs to ask, will the same happen here in Tallinn? http://www.delfi.lv/news/world/baltics/article.php?id=22953015 http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/22135/ What began as a peaceful...
Euronews report on Baltic states' economies
Very interesting, and simple, report on Euronews about the current state of the Baltic economies. Unfortunately I can’t find the link on the Euronews.net website yet It should be somewhere here: http://www.euronews.net/en/europa/reporter/ Posted via email from Joao Rei’s ramblings | Comment »
Ken Robinson on creativity and education
“If a man speaks his mind in the forest, and no woman hears him, is he still wrong?” Posted via email from Joao Rei’s ramblings | Comment »
Protests in Sofia, Bulgaria
In what has now become a “fashion” in many Eastern European countries, Bulgaria’s capital Sofia is the latest to stage violent protests against its government. The goal of the protesters is the same everywhere, the dismissal of the current government that many see unfit to rule, corrupt and inept. The recent gas crisis in the country may have propelled many to the streets,...
Validation - Short movie
Very good short movie Posted via email from Movies, Videos, Clips, Trailers | Comment »
The End of print newspapers
Interesting article on The Atlantic Magazine , about the financial troubles that The New York Times is facing, and discussing the possibility of many newspapers going all digital. In the end, it’s mostly about what we, as consumers, are willing to pay for news these days, and the answer seems to be… zero, nada. We want it all and we want it for free, oh and we want it now! The...
Atheists strike back in London
800 buses are riding the streets of London with these posters in them. The report is from The New York Times LONDON — The advertisement on the bus was fairly mild, just a passage from the Bible and the address of a Christian Web site. But when Ariane Sherine, a comedy writer, looked on the Web site in June, she was startled to learn that she and her nonbelieving friends were headed straight to...
Humboldt County
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No EU money for Helsinki-Tallinn tunnel
According to a recent article on the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat , there won’t be any EU money for the feasibility study that both Helsinki and Tallinn applied to for the underground tunnel between the two capitals. The mayors of both cities are now considering continuing with the studies using their own money from the local government’s budget. Posted via email from Joao...
Eight years of Madoffs under Bush
A great article by Frank Rich of The New York Times. It’s impressive how we have all become numb to the train wreck that was the Bush Administration, and even when new evidence emerges, no one seems to care anymore. THREE days after the world learned that $50 billion may have disappeared in Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, The Times led its front page of Dec. 14 with the revelation...
Aftermath of the riots in Riga
News of the riots in Riga reached the international media early this morning. The BBC has footage of the events on its website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7827708.stm Apparently the same as available on the Delfi TV website: http://tv.delfi.lv/video/e4UHB1gQ/ And more photos of the events: http://www.tvnet.lv/zinas/galleries/gallery.php?gid=577340 According to the BBC,...
Protests in Riga turn ugly
It turns out the protests in Riga turned a bit more violent this evening. According to reports from some of my local friends, the police was unable and unprepared to control the demonstration, and what started as a peaceful gathering, has now turned into a full scale riot. Pictures are available at the website Delfi.lv, and some movies as well, but the demand for those has been so huge that it is...
EU bans pesticides for farming.
Here’s what’s wrong with the world today. The EU (actually the EU Parliament and the MEP’s) voted to ban 20 types of pesticides, or pesticide ingredients from being used by EU farmers in agriculture. The Commission welcomed this as being a good way to start the new year with a regulation that promotes health and the environment. However, if you read most of the news on this, the...
Protests in the Latvian capital, Riga
As reported some days ago, a protest was scheduled for today in the Latvian capital, Riga According to the latest reports, they were expecting around 20.000 protesters , but the numbers come out closer to 2.000 according to Defli.lv You can follow the event in a live feed from Riga . Of course this being Riga, and not Athens, nothing much will come of it, and tomorrow everyone will be back at...
EU turns 50 - MSNBC / AP view
As a law student in Lisbon in the late 1960s, Jose Manuel Barroso passed around an illicit copy of “Je t’aime, Moi non plus” a heavy-breathing French tune of a lovemaking couple that Portugal’s fascist dictator had banned as too racy. “I could not buy the books I wanted. Or listen to the music I liked,” said Barroso — today the European Union’s top...
Made In Romania
Here’s a movie I want to see. Can’t find a trailer yet. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0963177/ Posted via email from Movies, Videos, Clips, Trailers | Comment »
Success
Posted via email from Joao Rei’s web junk | Comment »
Don't take the car!
Posted via email from Joao Rei’s web junk | Comment »
Googling might be causing Global Warming
According to an article on the British Times Online Physicist Alex Wissner-Gross says that performing two Google searches uses up as much energy as boiling the kettle for a cup of tea. Performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea, according to new research. While millions of people tap into...
Science Comedian
Brian Malow is a very good Science Comedian Posted via email from Joao Rei’s ramblings | Comment »
Local Networking sites
Businessweek has an interesting article that discusses the success of small local networking websites, in markets where Facebook and MySpace are trying to get in. A very interesting observation about the Dutch Market: Hyves had 5.7 million unique visitors in November, compared with Facebook’s 585,000 and MySpace’s 566,000. And in October, nine months after MySpace announced a...
Goodnight Irene
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0835828/ A Portuguese movie that does not suck. I had the pleasure of watching this movie in the Tallinn Black Nights movie festival (poff.ee) and was quite amused by it. Very good images of Lisbon. Toby writes on http://www.cambridgefilmfestival.org.uk/films/2008/goodnight-irene/reviews/ For me, this beautifully understated and deceptively simple film was the...
US Army deserter seeks asylum in Germany
Interesting news on Reuters some time ago about a US soldier who refused to return to Iraq and is now applying for asylum in Germany. The main argument was that while in the US he was not aware of everything that went on in Iraq, and now that he is in Germany he sees the war with different eyes. FRANKFURT (Reuters) - A U.S. soldier who deserted his unit to avoid returning to Iraq has applied...
Second hand shopping turns fashionable
Maybe it’s just the current economy crisis, but an ever growing number of people are turning to second hand shopping to keep a more frugal lifestyle. The thing with second hand shopping in many of the post-Soviet countries is that it is still associated with a certain stigma. That of old “babushkas” who have little to go by and go to the second hand shops out of necessity. That...
Riga - Violent protests scheduled for Jan 13
Things are starting to look dangerous in the Latvian capital, with protesters asking for the violent overthrow of the current government. With the president refusing to call for early elections or dissolving the parliament. People now look increasingly weary of the current inept government and are looking for ways of overthrowing it. RIGA - The Latvian security police have launched a criminal ...
Beer is now cheaper in the UK than in Tallinn
According to a news piece on balticbusinessnews.com , the prices for most consumer goods are still more expensive in Tallinn than many European capitals. A new survey shows that although food prices in Estonia have been falling since the second half, food is still relatively more expensive in Tallinn than, for instance, in Budapest or Prague. Postimees quotes a survey made by the Estonian...
Joe "the plumber" becomes a war correspondent
Joe the Plumber is taking on a new job. The Ohio man, who became famous during the U.S. presidential campaign after asking Barack Obama about his tax plan, is heading to Israel as a war correspondent for a conservative Web site called pjtv.com. Dubbed “Joe the Plumber” by McCain’s campaign, Samuel “Joe” Wurzelbacher was held up as an example of an American worker...
Sugar for my honey
For my girlfriend, who always adds a bit of sugar in her (delicious) cooking. So, I come from a place where salads don’t have sugar. In fact most things don’t need to have sugar added. Unless you want them sweet. That’s why we don’t add sugar when cooking any main course. We do have great deserts and pastry, and those get the “royal-sugar” treatment....
UK Scientist want your brain!!!
According to the BBC, there is a shortage of brains for research. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/01/06/brain_appeal/ If you have no use for your brain, you know where to donate it now! Posted via email from Joao Rei’s ramblings | Comment »
Fail!
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Antartica
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The Bush legacy, now in an easy to read book
Sadly, this wasn’t meant for kids, but reading through the 52 pages, one does get a sense that the book has in mind the type of people that don’t like to read that much. It is filled with pictures, and the “Did you know?” boxes are very childish. http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/bushrecord/documents/legacybooklet.pdf Posted via email from Joao Rei’s...