iRodrigo

He might not be called Guaranázilla, but will always be a “Monster” of soccer (futebol!).

Michael Jackson passed away last Thursday but his legacy will always survive. From his special appearance on a Simpsons episode singing Happy Birthday for Lisa to the Moonwalk everywhere. But this just impress me a lot. A video with more than 1,500 inmates from the CPDRC (Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center) in Philippines dancing to Thriller.

I have been away from posting here and from the computer lately due to this big roadtrip I went in Brazil. Great times for sure and here is the best of it. You can also see the pictures on Flickr if you can’t see the slideshow I posted.

Really, what the fuck is wrong with the Police in Britain? Is it just me or they always end up doing the dumbest moves possible, making them look like a bunch of badly trained jocks on uniforms?
With cases like Jean Charles de Menezes and now the death of Ian Tomlinson during the G20 summit protests, I just can’t come to respect them at all.
Britain Police, please get your shit together!

Wow, what a weird day today. I usually post random things here but this has to be on the records. I thought I would have a regular day and just be scared about my Math exam but for my surprise there was a bit more reserved for me. Today I jumped in front of an oncoming subway train to save someone’s life.

Let me try to tell you what happened. I was on my way to school for a math exam, spent the whole morning studying at home and thought I was ready for it. On my way to school, around 2:30 I decided to buy a pizza at Pizza Pizza since I had not eaten anything yet. Go in, grab my pizza and off I go to the subway station.

Got inside, it’s almost 2:45, went to the eastbound platform and sat down so I could eat while I was thinking about my math review and concepts. Suddenly I hear a noise of something falling and a lot of people screaming “Oh my God!, look to my right, look to my left and all I see is people looking at the other platform. I look to the westbound platform and I see this old man on the tracks, the actual tracks laying down and not moving just a few meters away from me. People start to gather around me and ask “Sir, are you ok? are you ok?”. He doesn’t answer.

Most of the people are just looking and nobody is doing anything. I look to my left side and I see the train should be coming soon I can already see its lights reflecting on the tunnel wall. I look on my right side and I can actually see the train going on the westbound direction coming. The first thought that came to my mind is, “Wow! He’s actually going to die. That train is not going to stop, it’s too damn close!”.

And that’s when I did what nobody did. I got rid of my backpack, my pizza and jumped down the subway tracks to reach for this man. All I heard when I went down was “Hey buddy, come back here” but it was too late, I was already jumping through that 3rd electrify wire and going over the other side of the station to reach for the guy. He was unconscious, I tried to talk to him but I only heard him breathing. I looked once more to see if the train was coming and I have no idea how far it was but it was coming. Grabbed this guy by his torso and lift him, with the help of another gentleman I managed to put the man back on the top of the platform and I jumped up.

After that I waited for the paramedics and walked back to the other side. Everyone on both side of the platforms are applauding my decision of jumping in front of two trains so I could reach this person. I grabbed my stuff and went to George Brown to do my exam. Which by the way didn’t go so well. The whole first hour of it I was just thinking about ways this could have gone wrong and I would not be able to go back home.

Everything happened in less than one minute. The paramedics were there in less than two minutes for sure, before they arrived the only thing I heard from the man on the tracks was “I’m dying”, not sure what he meant by that. The sad part is that I was not able to stay to see if he was going to be ok, and what happened with him.

It was a snap decision to just jump there. I’m pretty sure some of the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) employees would not be very happy knowing that I ignored one of their rules. But in my mind it was the right decision at the time.

Anothe video update and yes I do like puppies!

Actually love this song, reminds me a lot of my childhood.

le Café - Oldelaf (english subtitles)
by Boebis

Weird french animation most definitely!

And don’t come here to say the world is changing. We all know the world is changing the world has been changing since day one and I think it’s just stupid to say such a generalized term when you are trying to sound smart.
The real thing here is, are you prepared for all the changes that are coming our way? Or you are willing to sit and wait for it to happen?

A Christian bus driver has refused to drive a vehicle which was plastered with an advert saying: “There’s probably no God.”

Ron Heather, 62, told his bosses he was horrified at the atheist vehicle, before walking out of his shift.

He told the Daily Mail: “I was just about to board and there it was staring me in the face. My first reaction was horror.

“I’d heard about this silly campaign in London but I had no idea it was coming to Southampton.”

The First Bus vehicle was one of hundreds put on buses across the UK.

The £140,000 atheist advertising campaign features the slogan: “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”

The fundraising drive was prompted by a suggestion from comedy writer Ariane Sherine, who received support from the British Humanist Association (BHA) and atheist campaigner Richard Dawkins.

Ms Sherine had objected to a set of Christian advertisements running on London buses in a piece written for the Guardian’s The Comment is Free in June.

As long as you stay true to your principles that’s fine by me!

When Barack Obama takes office on January 20th, he’ll not only be the most powerful man in the world, but also the most powerful gamer. (Nintendo did give outgoing President Bush a DS and Brain Age some years ago; it’s up to you to decide if he ever played it.)

The New York Times reports that the President elect — who even took his campaign to the streets of Burnout Paradise — gifted his daughters, Sasha and Malia, with a Nintendo Wii for Christmas … but the head of the First Family has been playing with it, too. Apparently, Obama has been working on his bowling skills by playing Wii Sports. The President-in-waiting bowled a lowly 37 in the real-life sport while on the campaign trail, but tells the paper that he “performs better in the video game.”

Being the leader of the free world probably won’t leave President Obama with much time for gaming, but we’d like to hear your suggestions for Wii games he should play, given the chance. (Oh, and Mr. Obama, if you’re reading this, we’d like to talk about that Video Game Czar position … )

Joystiq

Not a matter of change, it’s more like a matter of the young President that has young kids. Still pretty neat…

Yesterday my World of Warcraft guild had a raffle for a Mechano Hog, for those that don’t understand me nerding it out, just move on…

The whole idea for this raffle actually came from me but I was 100% sure that I wasn’t going to win anything. I mean I don’t win stuff that people want, I usually only win stuff that people DON’T want to or stuff that everyone else is winning, for example a cheeseburger on McDonald’s Monopoly.

The Mechano Hog is costing somewhere around 20,000g to 30,000g to be made and you will find it on the AH for at least 40,000g. A whole lot of money, but I got lucky and won by buying only 4 tickets on our raffle, 100g each. So if you ever get yourself to Earthen Ring you can see Zico biking around, vrum vrum…

The “predictions” of some of these moguls can easily be seen as amateur assumptions. I don’t blame them, everyone wants to be the one predicting the future but nobody is Marty McFly here…

1. BRITAIN DOESN’T NEED TELEPHONES

Made in 1878 by Sir William Preece, chief engineer at the Post Office.
‘The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys,’ he said.

2. X-RAYS ARE A HOAX

Lord Kevlin, President of the Royal Society was clearly unconvinced when he made his comments in 1883.
Bright spark: Microsoft founder Bill Gates lounges on a sofa surrounded by light bulbs. His technology predictions have not always been accurate

3. THERE WILL NEVER BE A BIGGER PLANE (AND IT ONLY HELD TEN PEOPLE)

The maiden flight of the Boeing 247 took place in 1933.
Speaking after the happy event, an engineer reportedly said: ‘There will never be a bigger plane built.’
The world’s biggest plane is currently the Airbus A380 can carry up to 853 people.

4. TV WON’T LAST

Darryl Zanuck, 20th Century Fox movie mogul was responsible for this clanger back in 1946.

He claimed the technology had a short shelf life because people will ’soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.’
rocket
Rocket mail: Not coming to a letterbox near you soon

5 HOMES WILL BE CLEANED WITH NUCLEAR HOOVERS

Back in the 1950s, Alex Lewyt, president of the Lewyt Corp vacuum company, claimed it was only a matter of time before nuclear power was used in the home.
‘Nuclear-powered vacuum cleaners will probably be a reality within ten years,’ he said.

6. LETTERS WILL BE DELIVERED BY ROCKET

‘We stand on the threshold of rocket mail,’ said U.S. postmaster general Arthur Summerfield in 1959.

7. COMPUTERS AREN’T FOR HOME USE

In 1977, Ken Olsen, the president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp (DEC) claimed there was no reason for anyone to want a personal computer.

8. YOU’LL ONLY EVER NEED 640KB OF MEMORY

Bill Gates’s first entry into the chart with his 1981 claim that no personal computer would ever need huge amounts of capacity.
He has since denied making the statement,,,

9. WE’LL KILL SPAM IN TWO YEARS

… though there’s no doubt he said this one.
Speaking at the 2004 World Economic Forum he claimed a solution was in sight.

10. THE iPOD WILL BE KAPUT BY NEXT CHRISTMAS

And rounding off the technology hall of shame is Sir Alan Sugar.
He made his claim in 2005, telling an interviewer: ‘Next Christmas the iPod will be dead, finished, gone, kaput.’

Via Daily Mail.

Oh boy, this article here just hurts me on the inside, how can someone in an authority position be so dumb? Well, that’s not hard to think we all know politicians right?

Jamie found this blog post up on the HeliOS Project, which brings Linux to school kids in Austin, TX. It makes very clear some of the obstacles that free software faces in the classroom. It seems a teacher came upon a student demonstrating Linux to other kids and handing out LiveCDs. The teacher confiscated the CDs and wrote an angry email to HeliOS’s founder, Ken Starks:

“Mr. Starks, I am sure you strongly believe in what you are doing but I cannot either support your efforts or allow them to happen in my classroom. At this point, I am not sure what you are doing is legal. No software is free and spreading that misconception is harmful. … This is a world where Windows runs on virtually every computer and putting on a carnival show for an operating system is not helping these children at all. I am sure if you contacted Microsoft, they would be more than happy to supply you with copies of an older version of Windows and that way, your computers would actually be of service to those receiving them…”

Starks pens an eloquent reply, which contains a factoid I have not seen mentioned before: “The fact that you seem to believe that Microsoft is the end all and be-all is actually funny in a sad sort of way. Then again, being a good NEA member, you would spout the Union line. Microsoft has pumped tens of millions of dollars into your union. Of course you are going to ‘recommend’ Microsoft Windows.”
Via Slashdot

Like Mark Twain once said: “It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.” So teacher SHUT UP!

Really, what’s wrong with all this Japanese ads?
Thanks Scott.

Nice, the Grammy Nominations List is out and Coldplay is competing for Record of the Year and Album of the Year. By fair my favorite one to win it. Although my Song of the Year would go to Jason Mraz and his song I’m Yours, the CD is also good stuff, you should check it out. The thole list is available at the Grammy’s website.

Not sure, but he’s a nerd indeed

The Submarines - You, Me, and the Bourgeoisie

Everyday I wake up,
I choose Love
I choose Light
And I try, it’s too easy just to fall apart

Oh my baby don’t be so distressed
Were gonna pull your test
It’s time to be so brutally honest about
The way we know want for something fine
When we climb for higher ceilings
And push for happy feelings

And here we are in the center of the first world
It’s laid out before us, who are we to break down?

Everyday we wake up
We choose Love
We choose light
And we try, it’s too easy just to fall apart

Plastic Bottles
Imported Water
Cars we drive wherever we want to
Clothes we buy at sweatshop labor
Drugs from corporate neighbors
We’re not living the Good life
Unless we’re fighting the Good fight
You and Me it’s time to get it right

In the center of the first world
It’s laid out before us, who are we to break down?

Everyday we wake up
We choose Love
We choose light
And we try, it’s too easy just to fall apart

Love can free us from all excess
From our deepest debts
Cause when our hearts are full we need much less

Yea i know we want for something fine
When we climb for higher ceilings
And push for happy feelings

But Here we are in the center of the first world
It’s laid out before us, who are we to break down?

Here we are in the center of the first world
It’s laid out before us, who are we to break down?

Everyday we wake up
We choose Love
We choose light
And we try, it’s too easy just to fall apart

Everyday we wake up
We choose Love
We choose light
And we try, it’s too easy just to fall apart

I thought that lyrics should be included in any post like this

How do soldiers come to terms with having taken a life in combat? Research has suggested that when people consider themselves to be “good” but are forced to do something “bad” to others, they adopt negative opinions about their victims to rationalize their actions. But according to a new study, this tendency may not apply to soldiers or at least not to those who have served in the Iraq War. American soldiers who have killed in Iraq do not think more poorly of Iraqis than Iraq War soldiers who have not killed—they do, however, think worse of Americans who speak out against the war.

Wayne Klug, a psychologist at Berkshire Community College, asked 68 Iraq War veterans about their experiences, their thoughts on the war and their opinions about Iraqis and Americans. Compared with soldiers who never saw combat and those who witnessed a death but were not involved, veterans who “were directly involved in an Iraqi fatality” were much more likely to consider the war to be beneficial to both countries. The finding is consistent with prior evidence that people tend to value outcomes that require great effort or distress. But although previous research predicts that these soldiers might disparage their victims, investigators were surprised to find that these veterans instead resented Americans whose opinions about the war suggest that their killings may have been unjustified.

This change could be a result of the unique circumstances surrounding the Iraq War. “A clue lies in the political and public nature of a controversial war fought by a volunteer army,” says Klug, who presented his findings in August at the annual conference of the American Psychological Association in Boston. For example, in the Vietnam War soldiers were drafted, and people who avoided serving were viewed with suspicion, he explains. But today the situation is reversed.

“The veterans are aware of their status as the ‘stepchildren’ of polite American society, a sense that’s enhanced by their abysmal treatment upon returning,” he posits. Because America’s decision to go to war was the sole reason these soldiers killed, they “now depend on that policy to justify their actions,” Klug believes. Those who disagree with the policy, then, become automatic enemies.

Via Scientific American.