Make me a genious

My Brilliant Brain: Make me a Genious. This is a documentary which shows how the art of chess can improve a child's mind for her to increase her cognitive capabilities enormously. In fact This documentary almost make me think that limits are virtual, if one starts at the right time, at the right age! Also the way as memory acts as the angular stone of our intuitive thinking and give us that right 'feeling' when we are faced with a problem requiring fast and elegant solutions. Very good documentary.

On the Road revisited...

About 2 months ago I've finished reading Kerouac's On the Road. Now I give you the link to the work of Stefanie Posavec, who gave a graphical look to the masterpiece.

For what I've understood, she takes all chapters of the book and counts the number of paragraphs. Next she counts for each paragraph the number of sentences, and so on. In the end she creates plots which represent these informations. As an example the figure below, by changing direction, she is changing sentence, and the length of a sentence is given by the number of words it contains.

Her analysis can be done to any book, but that's not the question, nor anything about On the Road. It's the originality of this analysis and her amazing plots that surprise me.

You can see her analysis with more plots at http://www.notcot.com/archives/2008/04/stefanie_posave.php. You can also find her site by checking http://www.itsbeenreal.co.uk/index.php?/about-this-site/.

What We Still Don't Know. Great!!!

Another great documentary!!!

What We Still Don't Know. This is the title of a documentary divided in three parts. Presented by renowed astrophysicist Sir Martin Rees, it deals with those questions that science still cannot explain. It follows the tracks of the recent scientific findings and ends in earthbreaking hypothesis.

It starts with the episode Why Are We Here?, which only by itself worths seeing this.

Are We Alone? continues by working on the changes in existing life somewhere on the universe (besides earth), but also on the almost impossibility in meeting these alien life.

Are We Real? The cherry on top of the cake. For me, the best part in this documentary.

Achtung! Richard Dawkins strikes again.

More one excellent documentary from Richard Dawkins, the renowned biologist who is also a fierce crusader with rationalism/atheism (to the point of fanaticism ;p) stamped in his banner. Sometimes he goes a bit too far in is mission, making science look like a religious belief, but is worthy of respect because he is one of a kind, solitary in his path but supported by the pillars of logic, reason and eloquence.
Doesn't matter if you believe in something or if you're atheist, agnostic, communist, fisherman, just climbed the everest or you've just arrived to the south pole... you should see these documentaries because even if you disagree (which, by the way, it's scientifically extremely healthy ;) ), you'll always learn something!

The Enemies of Reason - Part 1

The Enemies of Reason - Part 2

Chaos Theory: application on life

Today I got news that say I should move on... In fact, that's what I've keep trying for the last times, but it looks the harder I try the more stuck I stay in the past... Well, this has served as an inspiration and after a bit of coding, here it is (don't misunderstand me, I just made the plot, this is Lorenz attractor)... Unfortunately, about the attractor that rules my life, that remains uncharted territory.

Naked Lunch - excerpt 1

I'm reading Naked Lunch... William S. Burroughs masterpiece, and it's something. I will just put here an excerpt that I found bashing:

In the city market is the meet cafe. Followers of obsolete, unthinkable trades doodling in Etruscan, addicts of drugs not yet synthesized, pushers of souped-up Harmaline, junk reduced to pure habit offering precarious vegetable serenity, liquids to induce Latah, Tithonian longevity serums, black marketeers of World War 3, excisors of telepathic sensitivity, osteopaths of the spirit, investigators of infractions denounced by bland paranoid chess players, servers of fragmentary warrants taken down in hebephrenic shorthand charging unspeakable mutilations of the spirit, bureaucrats of spectral departments, officials of unconstituted police states, a Lesbian dwarf who has perfected operation Bang-utot, the lung erection that strangles a sleeping enemy, sellers of orgone tanks and relaxing machines, brokers of exquisit dreams and memories tested on the sensitized cells of junk sickness and bartered for raw materials of the will, doctors skilled in the treatment of diseases dormant in the black dust of ruined cities, gathering virulence in the white blood of eyeless worms feeling slowly to the surface of the human host, maladies of the ocean floor and the stratosphere, maladies of the laboratory and atomic war... A place where the unknown past and the emergent future meet in vibrating soundless hum... Larval entities waiting for a Live One...

in William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch, chapter "The Market",
Harper Perennial (Harper Collins Publishers)

Consumidores de productos macrobióticos ... beware! Beterraba Contagiosa ...

Tenho de partilhar isto! Infelizmente, embora isto se tenha sucedido à sensivelmente 1 hora atrás, não consigo relatar a conversa que ouvi na integra, no entanto vou tentar.
Cheguei à paragem do autocarro perto de minha casa quando ouvi 3 homens que lá estavam na conversa, com o famoso sotaque portuense este:

"... não compreendo, porque deve haver gajos que têm SIDA ou hepatites outra coisa qualquer, e vão meter a merda deles la no campo. E depois compramos essas comidas biológicas e como é? Aquilo deve vir infectado? Ou como é que é? Por isso e que não confio nessas coisas..."

Infelizmente não consegui ouvir mais porque tinha de me rir (não às gargalhadas) mas... De facto é preciso ficar preocupado porque agora tudo faz sentido... vacas loucas, doenças contagiosas, até a gripe, é tudo devido à beterraba que um gajo compra na Dona Rosa! E no meio disto tudo, faz-nos pensar, que se não fosse a ASAE o país já tinha adoecido todo!!!

P.S.: Isto não é um ataque da minha parte aos portadores de uma doença (seja ela qual for),
os quais respeito profundamente. Peço também a clemência para estes velhotes (os que ouvi a terem esta conversa), porque pronto, tenhamos bom senso.

P.S. 2: O nome Beterraba Contagiosa está oficialmente (ou quase) protegido por uma lei qualquer que impeça o seu uso para nome de qualquer banda ou agrupamento musical a partir de agora.

On the Road ...

Finished reading Kerouac's "On the Road". Here is a book that opens our minds, a fresh luff of air indeed. The experience he relates are worthy of envy. In the end, it's a difficult task the one of leaving to know the world. Why? Because to know you must cut your safety net, you must leave the controlled environment of some nicely planed holidays. What I think Kerouac tries to transmit, beside many other things, is that the act of discovery can come only sided with the act of adventure... And how can you do this when you have booked a flight to after go to your booked hostel to visit only what you were scheduled and told to see, not the real stuff but a distorted image of it...
Yasss, what Kerouac tries to tell is for us to depart , released from our responsible social fears, and live the trip, live that road which lies between you and your destination, to walk, hitchhike, drive, simply travel there without schedules... in sum, to be spontaneous!
The end unfortunately leaves us facing 'the departure', and sweetly made me remind of all people that have passed by, leaving me their imprint, and are now gone; or maybe not gone but far away, too far. But that's just life, just the deep realization of time, isn't it?

Pensamentos 2

"Cumpre-nos, no uso dos princípios, assemelharmo-nos ao pugilista, não ao gladiador. A este basta-lhe deixar cair ao chão a espada para ser logo morto; o outro dispões sempre dum bom soco; basta cerrar o punho."

Livro XII-9,

"Se não é conveniente, não o faças; se não é verdade, não o digas: pertençam-te todas as iniciativas!"

Livro XII-17,

em Marcus Aurelius, "Pensamentos",
Biblioteca de Editores Independentes.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"While following our principles, it's demanded of us that we be similar to the boxer, instead of the gladiator. For the later, it's enough to let his sword fall in the ground to be immediately killed; while the first always has the change for a new punch; only needing to close his fist."

Book XII-9,

"If it's not convenient, do not do it; if it's untrue, do not say it: may all the initiative belong to you!"

Book XII-17

in Marcus Aurelius, "The Meditations".

Debugging

"The more closely you look at one thing, the less closely can you see something else."

attributed to Heisenberg...

Caos natural

Muita da ordem natural tem sua pedra basilar no caos. Não acreditas?
Pensa nos cristais de gelo; analisa como se formam, sempre com diferente aspecto, e apercebe-te que nenhum deles é igual a outro. No entanto és capaz de reconhecer e perceber imediatamente que é um cristal de gelo!
Queres mais um exemplo? Pensa agora nas árvores, cuja variedade é imensa e dentro dessa variedade cada uma é única. No entanto és capaz, não só de reconhecer um pinheiro como um pinheiro, como também reconheces a família a que uma árvore pertence!
Pois na natureza é tudo idêntico. Tudo revolve à volta de padrões, os quais temos a capacidade inata de os reconhecer. Assim acontece não só com o pequeno mas também com o grande, são padrões que governam o universo, não a exactidão.
Ainda dúvidas? Queres mais um exemplo? És humano. Imagina outro humano a teu lado, em tudo tão diferente de ti, no entanto em tudo teu semelhante.
Assim são os desígnios do caos.

CVR

Pensamentos

"Se um facto exterior te causa aflição, não é ele que produz essa perturbação, é o juízo que formulas sobre ele. Mas tal juízo, de ti depende eliminá-lo num segundo. Se o que te aflige é algo atinente à tua disposição de espírito, quem te impede de corrigir a tua maneira de ver? Da mesma forma que te apoquentas por não realizar o desígnio qu se te afigura racional, porque não redobrar de esforços para o executar, a não andar para aí a gemer?"

em Marcus Aurelius, "Pensamentos", Livro VIII-47,
Biblioteca de Editores Independentes.

Questões estratégicas no futebol português

Quem me conhece sabe que não gosto de futebol, e tirando o jogo ocasional em que de facto presto atenção, no fundo o meu único intuito está na cerveja e tremoço, e não no jogo. No entanto não pude deixar passar esta, que coloco aqui, de tão boa que está.

P.S.: A quem é do Benfica, tente ver de uma perspectiva neutra e achar piada, porque até está bem feito... Deixem-se de clubismos! Já chega.

My results on the quiz: What philosophy do you follow?

Well, nice quiz... only one big problem: the wuthor is assuming a guy is religious, or has a religion. Some 5 questions would assume that. For a person that would not believe in God, or even could believe but wouldn't believe that the scriptures would be the 100% word of God (and not even the law of God, since it resembles more the law of men), then how can you disagree or agree with things you can't have an opinnion... Well, but here it goes:

What philosophy do you follow? (v1.03) created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Hedonism Your life is guided by the principles of Hedonism: You believe that pleasure is a great, or the greatest, good; and you try to enjoy life’s pleasures as much as you can. “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die!” More info at Arocoun's Wikipedia User Page... Hedonism 95% Existentialism 85% Justice (Fairness) 65% Utilitarianism 50% Kantianism 45% Divine Command 40% Strong Egoism 30% Nihilism 15% Apathy 5%

Indiana Jones 4

Well, what can you say about this movie? Like almost all recent Spielberg movies, Its only to see in theaters. I mean, if you see it this in your house, it will not be such a good experience. This is bad, since with the older Indiana Jones movies, it doesn't matter if we see them on the theater or on our TV screen, it's the same: cool entertainment. But I'm dispersing about this movie. With this I wanted to say it's a nice experience, like seeing Transformers or War of the Worlds: very nice on the theater screen, but I never want to see them again outside of it... So probably I will skip Indiana Jones 4 when its on TV on a Sunday afternoon.
Now about the movie itself, I though it was a weak plot. Yeah, with all Indiana Jones we have something esoteric happening, like the Ark of the Covenant releasing electricity, or some indian guy removing the heart with his bare hands, or a Crusader with 700 years old... Yeah, they all have these unreal stuff, but come on, it's like, 2% of the movie, not 20%. And I'm not including the nuclear explosion. In fact, that was the part I mostly liked in the film, since it had that cheesy connection to the Ark of the Covenant from the first movie. When I saw the warehouse in the theater, I almost though 'they want the ark...'. But returning to the subject, Aliens??? come on... surely Lucas could come up with something better... I mean, Indiana Jones is a arqeologist right. I know there exist lot's of speculation in people about aliens and the South American ancient cultures, but that's it, speculation. Surely they could come up with something different. The Indiana Jones I was expecting to see would have more to do with facts than fantasy.
Now, the rest of the film is very forced and predictable. Who had not though, when Shia LaBeouf refers to his mother, in Marion from the first movie? And the part when she says it was his son, come on, that was so predictable. I was really hoping for that not to happen, not that Shia LaBeouf wouldn't be a good successor, but due to the cliché!!! About the action, the movie has lots of action, and very viewable, but extremely unrealistic. Yeah, jumping from a plane in a rubber boat and surviving is not very realistic, or the several snakes scenes done in the first movie, but in this film, almost all the action is impossible. In a jungle, with almost no roads, have a sword fight on top of a vehicle going 50 km/h... And the shocks, crashes, etc. It's totally unrealistic. If the other movies where like that, this would not be negative... But the fighting scenes in the other movies are realistic. Even the famous scene with Harrison Ford going under the truck... It was filmed, there where no effects, and he had rib injures after that. This in fact is a problem of CGI, and particularly of the latest Spielberg/Lucas films (taking out the Munich). They have so much CGI available and they put it in almost every tough scene (...otherwise it would be difficult to shoot), that somewhere they've stopped asking: Is this possible? Could this really happen? Is this bullshit? (the other day I've made a post about Shoot'em Up with Clive Owen... this is the perfect example of a movie where they put the impossible and try to pass it like real).
To end, I heard there will be an Indiana Jones 5, which will also be the first double sequel to another well known set of films: Indiana Jones meets Starwars: the raiders of the lost Lightsaber. Oh yeah, now you will be able to see Indiana learning the way's of the force with Yoda.

On animal rights and sterilization: the other side

I believe many people would like that animals have rights and that there would exist laws concerning their welfare. In fact in some countries this exists and I'm also in favor of that. But It also looks like that the most active participants of this are animal owners (I mean, the domestic ones).
I should warn now that I don't have pets, that my mother always told me pets should be free and have their own lives, not their owner's lives and I also don't stand for the sentimental bullshit that some people come to me saying 'you don't know the joy of having a pet' or whatever. I know people who owns animals and In this question (as in all) I try to be rational and pragmatic when possible.
I find most confusing when people who speak for animal rights and that they are sentient beings, thus possessing will, are capable of sterilize them, some without any moral or ethical problems. I mean, isn't that hypocrisy? To say they have a will to choose a path, however they should submit to their owner's will and be sterile? Doesn't sound right to me. Of course, what most pet owner's I know would say: 'it's a matter of public health'. Well, I agree, the society is more important as collective entity than any individual entity, and thus even in life and death the society is more important. In fact, speaking in Darwinistic terms, the sterilization of an animal or human is a genetic homicide. So, in terms of public health, because the society is large enough to have a power of life or death over an individual (even if the society does not enforce it), it can say 'sterilize those animals'. Nevertheless, I don't think this is the motivation pet owner's have in mind when sterilizing them. I think this public health thing acts more like an excuse than a motivation, a pretext to the fact that it would be nice not having the cat pissing the floor to declare territory when in puberty. And who wants to have the dog horny around, or being afraid of suddenly realizing the bely of our female animal is increasing. Yeah, people don't want to be responsible for those things, those 'natural' things. All they want is a fur ball that moves and is funny. They don't really respect animals nor their natural will (and genetic mission), they want fur balls, and they will go to the point of saying 'my pet is more happy in being with me, even if he is sterile, than of living on the street. It's better for him.'. I have heard this sentence in the past, and I'm not kidding. These owner's are totally sensible for animal suffering, but not with animal rights. Who says otherwise is being hypocrite. Come on, nobody in it's perfect mind would think 'maybe I should put my son sterile, if I do this, he will never have puberty problems'. Having said this, if a owner just comes here saying 'you can't compare a children with a pet', then I hope he also says he doesn't agree with this whole thing on animal rights.
I could go on, but I've just exposed my point on the subject, and maybe I will continue on another day. But I must say that for me, the only difference in pet sterilization (due to the unwilling of the owner to cope with the animal puberty and nature), and the infamous 'bonsai cats' (some serious sick shit of having cats inside bottles during their growth to have them become small for the rest of their life's), is on the animal suffering, because on the philosophical question of respecting the animal will and nature, it's the same: these people want fur balls, not animals.
My advice: let the animals be free and live their own lifes.

Grande documentario

Este documentario, de seu nome "Notícias de uma Guerra Particular", tenta mostrar os diferentes lados da situação violenta vivida no Rio de Janeiro: a perspectiva dos policias, dos traficantes, e dos moradores das favelas. Vejam isto (está em português...)

Clive Owen at his best

This is a great movie! For those who may have seen just a bit, it sure sounds strange. I mean, who would see this if not an Rambo fan or something like that?... If you think that, you've got it totally wrong!

This is a kind of parody to the shooter's films where the main guy is impermeable to bullets and pain, but with a little important thing: it doesn't try to cover itself up as something different. Instead, you get totally impossible action and shots, in a way that becomes really good. The clichés are all so well mixed up, yet served so raw, that it becomes one of the best movies I've saw lately. The carrot becomes some kind of substitute for Popey's spinaches, the bullet proof baby, the no-belt accident to enter the other car and kill everyone inside, and all for the sake of fun! See this.

Desabafo

Sad day.

The 300...

Hello. I'm surprised, the last time I came here, it was 200... now it's 100 more. People really have nothing better to do. Nevertheless here it goes, the last great movie I've saw, and probably all of you know it by now. It was the winner of this year's Golden Bear award, from the Berlin festival: Tropa de Elite. For those who have seen City of God and have like it, of this harsh reality from Brazil, now you can see the other side, the police forces people and what they have to endure. Difficult to say if the worse comes from their enemies or their institution...


The film follows the officers that belong to BOPE, the brazillian SWAT team in Rio de Janeiro. One wants to get out due to his first son birth, the other is divided between two worlds (policeman and junkie college students)... Well and You can easily find a trailer in YouTube, but you should expect some strong images (not gore, strong!). If your distaste of police brutality is high, then expect to be shocked. In fact, form what I browsed in the web, both the director and some actors saw the film as a critics to police excess, but the publics opinion became very favorable to the movie and those controversial police acts. In fact I believe in the end, this movie was (or will be) kind of beneficial to BOPE, a bit like when a movie in the 70's about the MOSSAD was released, and in the following years the applications to the Isralie secret agency were very high (or at least is what you're told in Victor Ostrovsky excellent book). In my opinion, this film is even better than No Country for Old Men, so go and see it.