First signs of hope about JF, but still to early to tell. At least some ideas are in "line". 6:49 PM Sep 30th
Bad news: tsunami in Samoa and earthquake in Indonesia. My prayers are with the people affected. 12:11 PM Sep 30th
Working at Taguspark 9:53 AM Sep 30th
Today is Big Picture day... This means I'm reading stuff from different research areas. Any suggestions? 3:42 PM Sep 29th
Slow-start this Monday but I'm now getting back to cruise "speed" 12:51 PM Sep 28th
Finished setting up a collaboration server for a small team. I'll post a HOW-TO about it in my blog next week. 7:50 PM Sep 25th
A friend I haven't seen in 15 years just found me on Facebook! 3:34 PM Sep 25th
Eu vou votar PSD. / I'll vote for PSD. 9:11 AM Sep 25th
Worried about Liberty. Several people in Public services have been told that bad things will happen if the government loses the election. 11:16 AM Sep 24th
Today I'm working at Taguspark 10:08 AM Sep 23rd
Meetings went well. Lots of interesting work ahead! http://bit.ly/2seFP 45:25 PM Sep 22nd
Preparing meetings with students 1:27 PM Sep 22nd
Setting up a collaboration infrastructure for a small group. 5:13 PM Sep 21st
Listening to Pearl Jam Backspacer. iTunes LP is a major improvement! 10:18 AM Sep 21st
Bens essenciais / essential goods http://bit.ly/wYCZ6 12:25 AM Sep 21st
Attending the Computer Science and Engineering Department council 7:00 PM Sep 18th
Hearing Praxes cries and chants in the background (Academic initiation rituals). Disheartening... Humiliation is seldom a good thing. 2:17 PM Sep 18th
Young Researchers photo story is complete! Nice job, if I may say so... :-) Significant credit goes to Canon and Picasa 6:52 PM Sep 17th
Reviewing the photos from the Young Researchers 5:03 PM Sep 17th
Just tested the new Lisbon subway connection: Alameda-São Sebastião. The most important update in the last decade as it connects 3 lines! 1:41 PM Sep 15th
Saying goodbye to London and Queen Mary University... It was a pleasure helping out The Young Researchers! 12:44 PM Sep 14th
Photographing the Young Researchers Roundtable on Spoken Dialogue Systems, at Queen Mary University of London http://www.yrrsds.org/ 12:26 PM Sep 13th
Über-Inbox 0: just finished reading all my email, feeds, bookmarks, twitter, and other stuff! 11:59 PM Sep 12th
Interesting! RT @nfma Quality-oriented teaching of programming http://ff.im/-7YasK 9:42 PM Sep 12th
Comparing London 1999 vs 2009: it's more global but less British. It's a multicultural melting pot, very similar to NYC. 7:22 PM Sep 12th
RT @Publico Notas de acesso ao Ensino Superior 2009 http://bit.ly/syAnH 12:33 PM Sep 12th
Cruising the Thames in great company 7:33 PM Sep 11th
Visiting Queen Mary University of London 2:04 PM Sep 11th
@nfma Thanks for welcoming us to "your" London! We loved the food and the view. Cheers! 12:07 AM Sep 11th
Last day of Interspeech, last day at Brighton. 9:00 AM Sep 10th
"revelry" not "rivetry" 7:31 AM Sep 10th
A Night at the Races :-) Interspeech rivetry at the Brighton Racetrack 8:49 PM Sep 9th
Parabéns! Parabéns! Parabéns! Parabéns! Parabéns! Parabéns! Parabéns! Parabéns! Parabéns! @AnaPardal 10:41 AM Sep 9th
Parabéns @AnaPardal! 10:16 AM Sep 9th
Rise and shine for the last (full) day at Brighton! 7:18 AM Sep 9th
Another sunny day in Brighton. Now I see why this is the Londoner's beach. I still prefer the Algarve, though... 12:13 PM Sep 8th
@nmfa I'll be in London on the 10th. 10:08 PM Sep 7th
Enjoyed a sunny day in Brighton. It's interesting being an accompanying guest at Interspeech 2009 when you're in good company! 8:37 PM Sep 7th
@AnaPardal @sergiompinto @joanappardal Parabéns Mariana! 2:48 PM Sep 6th in reply to AnaPardal
Back in business, but still away from home 2:43 PM Sep 6th
Fooled by Google Maps to walk 30 min in the wrong direction... They should warn you when there are two streets with the same name! 11:37 AM Sep 6th
Preparing to cross the English channel/La Manche 10:56 AM Sep 5th
Brugges is beautiful. Even in the rain :-) 12:00 PM Sep 4th
After a day in Brussels I like the city better. And now I understand why it is the "capital of Europe": multiple cultures are in its blood 10:05 PM Sep 3rd
My first impression of Brussels: similar to Lisbon in some (not so good) ways. E.g. dirty streets and no waste bins in sight 11:58 AM Sep 3rd
PSD vs PS http://bit.ly/4qaq9O 3:53 PM Sep 1st
Raining over the Rhein in lovely Düsseldorf 12:03 PM Sep 1st
2009-09-30
Day Without Yesterday quote
Thermodynamical principles from the point of view of quantum theory may be stated as follows: (1) Energy of constant total amount is distributed in discrete quanta. (2) The number of discrete quanta is ever increasing. If we go back in the course of time we must find fewer and fewer quanta, until we find all the energy of the universe packed in a few or even in a unique quantum.
Now, in atomic processes, the notions of space and time are no more than statistical notions: they fade out when applied to individual phenomena involving but small number of quanta. If the world has begun with a single quantum, the notions of space and time would altogether fail to have meaning at the beginning; they would only begin to have a sensible meaning when the original quantum had been divided into a sufficient number of quanta. If this suggestion is correct, the beginning of the world happened a little before the beginning of space and time.Georges Lemaître, May 9, 1931, letter to Nature
The Day Without Yesterday, Lemaître, Einstein and the birth of modern cosmology
2009-09-29
Stay on target!
In your everyday "Star Wars"...
Keep your focus, stay on target!
And may the "Force" be with you! ;-)
--
Image source: Wookieepedia
Keep your focus, stay on target!
And may the "Force" be with you! ;-)
--
Image source: Wookieepedia
2009-09-28
2009-09-26
A man for all seasons
A man for all seasons
This movie should be seen as a theater play on screen. A little too still but truly inspiring.
William Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!
Sir Thomas More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?
William Roper: Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!
Sir Thomas More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!
This movie should be seen as a theater play on screen. A little too still but truly inspiring.
O Sétimo Selo / The Seventh Seal
O Sétimo Selo de José Rodrigues dos Santos
O primeiro livro de José Rodrigues dos Santos que li sobre o aquecimento global e a indústria petrolífera. Apesar da importância e actualidade do tema, não gostei do livro. Teria sido preferível ao autor escrever um livro-documentário ao estilo de Friedman, do que encaixar os factos no meio de uma história mal contada, onde estranhamente as personagens sabem tudo o que têm que saber e conversam longa e detalhadamente sobre o tema, com grande pormenor. O resultado é uma colagem: acção, informação, acção, informação, ..., fim. Resumindo: o livro não é um documentário, nem um empolgante Dan Brown.
As personagens femininas são muito mal tratadas. Os problemas da terceira idade são abordados de forma superficial e simplista. Em alguns pontos até de forma claramente rude.
Não recomendo.
/ This post is bilingual: Portuguese (Portugal) and English (U.S.) /
A book by José Rodrigues dos Santos about global warming and the oil industry. Despite the very important subject I didn't like the book. In my opinion, the author should have opted for a Friedman-style book instead of fitting the facts in the middle of a very weak story, where the characters know everything they need to know and talk about it in great detail. The end result is: action, information, action, information, ..., end. The book is not a documentary and not a Dan Brown-thriller.
The female characters are very poorly handled. The problems of old people are handled very superficially and in a simplistic faction. In some parts, the author is even rude.
Not recommended.
O primeiro livro de José Rodrigues dos Santos que li sobre o aquecimento global e a indústria petrolífera. Apesar da importância e actualidade do tema, não gostei do livro. Teria sido preferível ao autor escrever um livro-documentário ao estilo de Friedman, do que encaixar os factos no meio de uma história mal contada, onde estranhamente as personagens sabem tudo o que têm que saber e conversam longa e detalhadamente sobre o tema, com grande pormenor. O resultado é uma colagem: acção, informação, acção, informação, ..., fim. Resumindo: o livro não é um documentário, nem um empolgante Dan Brown.
As personagens femininas são muito mal tratadas. Os problemas da terceira idade são abordados de forma superficial e simplista. Em alguns pontos até de forma claramente rude.
Não recomendo.
/ This post is bilingual: Portuguese (Portugal) and English (U.S.) /
A book by José Rodrigues dos Santos about global warming and the oil industry. Despite the very important subject I didn't like the book. In my opinion, the author should have opted for a Friedman-style book instead of fitting the facts in the middle of a very weak story, where the characters know everything they need to know and talk about it in great detail. The end result is: action, information, action, information, ..., end. The book is not a documentary and not a Dan Brown-thriller.
The female characters are very poorly handled. The problems of old people are handled very superficially and in a simplistic faction. In some parts, the author is even rude.
Not recommended.
2009-09-25
The Fixer
When somethings dark, let me shed a little light on it
When somethings cold, let me put a little fire on it
If somethings old, I wanna put a bit of shine on it
When somethings gone, I wanna fight to get it back again
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, fight to get it back again
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
When somethings broke, I wanna put a bit of fixin on it
When somethings bored, I wanna put a little exciting on it
If somethings low, I wanna put a little high on it
When somethings lost, I wanna fight to get it back again
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, fight to get it back again
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
When signals cross, I wanna put a little straight on it
If there's no love, I wanna try to love again
I’ll say your prayers, I’ll take your side
I'll find us a way to make light
I'll dig your grave, we'll dance and sing
What's saved could be one last lifetime
Hey, hey, hey
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, fight to get it back again
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Fight to get it back again, yeah, yeah, yeah
Fight to get it back again, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Pearl Jam - The Fixer
This post is dedicated to a Lady ;-)
Idea Factory quote
Debugging: It will become apparent to you many times during a program's evolution that the program is not entirely right. Instead of blaming the program for these faults, strange creatures called bugs are blamed. In this way the programmer remains free of guilt. Debugging, like programming, is an acquired skill and an art.
The Idea Factory, Learning to think at MIT
Talk: Applying SAT to solve dependencies
Paulo Trezentos presented his work about applying SAT techniques for the resolution of dependencies in the installation process of software components. The case study is the Caixa Mágica Linux distribution. Paulo presented an interesting formalization of the software packages dependency problem.
My suggestion at the talk was to have users upload the dependency problem solutions (and not just the problems) and to use the installation profile - server, desktop, netbook, etc - to help put the solutions in context.
It's not my research area but it was a talk that I liked to attend.
My suggestion at the talk was to have users upload the dependency problem solutions (and not just the problems) and to use the installation profile - server, desktop, netbook, etc - to help put the solutions in context.
It's not my research area but it was a talk that I liked to attend.
Eu vou votar PSD / I will vote for PSD
2009-09-23
Day Without Yesterday quote
When Lemaître finished his paper, he made the curious decision to submit it to a relatively obscure Belgian journal, the Annales de Societé Scientifique de Bruxelles, rather than one of the more widely read journals, such as Zeitschrift für Phyzik. (…) the venue Lemaître chose for his groundbreaking paper would almost guarantee that no one would take notice of it.
The Day Without Yesterday, Lemaître, Einstein and the birth of modern cosmology
2009-09-21
2009-09-20
Bens essenciais / Essential goods
Ricardo Araújo Pereira: Se o "Soutôr" for Primeiro Ministro, este fato continua a ser meu ou o senhor "disprivatiza-mo"? (...)
Francisco Louçã: Esse fato cai-lhe muito bem... é muito bonito... mas devo confessar, não é um bem público essencial.
A questão essencial para mim é: Quem define o que é um bem público essencial? Parece-me que (quase) tudo pode caber na definição...
/ This post is bilingual: Portuguese (Portugal) and English (U.S.) /
Ricardo Araújo Pereira (Portuguese comediant): If you are elected Prime Minister, is this suit still mine or will you "unprivatize" it? (...)
Francisco Louçã (Portuguese neo-communist politician): That suit looks good on you... it is very nice... but I must confess, it is not an essential public good.
The essential question for me is: Who defines what is an essential public good? It think that (almost) anything can fit the definition...
2009-09-18
Idea Factory quote
Top-down programming is wishful thinking: wouldn't it be nice if I had a thing that did such and such a thing...
You make procrastination a productive part of the problem by not losing yourself in the fine details until later.
The Idea Factory, Learning to think at MIT
2009-09-16
Day Without Yesterday quote
Physical scientists have a healthy attitude toward the history of their subject; by and large we ignore it.P.J.E. Peebles
The Day Without Yesterday, Lemaître Einstein and the birth of modern cosmology
2009-09-15
Pro 9
Today marks the 9th Anniversary of my professional career.
On September 15th 2000, I suited up - literally - and walked up to Unisys Portugal's office in Monumental, Saldanha, in Lisbon. I was a little nervous but confident that my years in Técnico had given me the skills to make it in the Pro world. To cut a long story short, I was right ;-)
I've been working at Técnico as a Lecturer and Researcher since 2002.
Today I start a new year in my academic career, focusing on research. I know that, as in all these years, "I'll get by with a little help from my friends"... ^.^ Thanks to all of them!
Photo credits
On September 15th 2000, I suited up - literally - and walked up to Unisys Portugal's office in Monumental, Saldanha, in Lisbon. I was a little nervous but confident that my years in Técnico had given me the skills to make it in the Pro world. To cut a long story short, I was right ;-)
I've been working at Técnico as a Lecturer and Researcher since 2002.
Today I start a new year in my academic career, focusing on research. I know that, as in all these years, "I'll get by with a little help from my friends"... ^.^ Thanks to all of them!
Photo credits
2009-09-12
2009-09-11
Idea Factory quote
Abstraction is the act of considering something as a general characteristic, apart from concrete realities, specific objects, or actual instances.
The Idea Factory, Learning to think at MIT
2009-09-10
Whatever happened to the work ethic?
Whatever happened to the work ethic? by Steven Malanga
A very timely article published on New York's City Journal.
A very timely article published on New York's City Journal.
Day Without Yesterday quote
If there is a connection, it’s a coincidence, and of no importance. And if you should prove to me that it exists, I would consider it unfortunate. It will merely encourage more thoughtless people to imagine that the Bible teaches infallible science, whereas the most we can say is that occasionally one of the prophets made a correct scientific guess.Father P. Ernest Verreux, one of Lemaître’s teachers at College Saint Michel, referring to the use of the Bible as a source of science
The Day Without Yesterday, Lemaître Einstein and the birth of modern cosmology
2009-09-09
Deb Roy
I attended Deb Roy's talk at Interspeech 2009 about the Human Speechome project.
Deb Roy filmed the first 4 years of life of his newborn child at home, 24/7. From the ceiling, using state-of-the-art technology.
I was very impressed by the presentation. The corpus is a very significant contribution and it highlights the importance of studying complex phenomena from actual data. The data visualization techniques are also very important to making sense of so much data.
I was also happy to see that significant privacy issues of the project were satisfactorily handled. However, I consider it too close to some ethical borderlines that should not be crossed.
Deb Roy filmed the first 4 years of life of his newborn child at home, 24/7. From the ceiling, using state-of-the-art technology.
I was very impressed by the presentation. The corpus is a very significant contribution and it highlights the importance of studying complex phenomena from actual data. The data visualization techniques are also very important to making sense of so much data.
I was also happy to see that significant privacy issues of the project were satisfactorily handled. However, I consider it too close to some ethical borderlines that should not be crossed.
2009-09-04
Idea Factory quote
Learn to program in LISP (LISt Processing, or Lots of Insidious and Stupid Parentheses). It's where they begin to leave the rest of the world behind them in their ability to solve problems and to make things work. (...) It's not a course, it teaches you to think about complexity. (...) Abstraction is the word. When you go about designing a computer program, or designing anything for that matter, you need to make abstractions, black boxes, where you only need to know what the boxes do and how to interface with them.
The Idea Factory, Learning to think at MIT
2009-09-03
Project management proverbs
Any project can be estimated accurately (once it's completed).
The most valuable and least used WORD in a project manager's vocabulary is "NO".
The most valuable and least used PHRASE in a project manager's vocabulary is "I don't know".
Nothing is impossible for the person who doesn't have to do it.
The conditions attached to a promise are forgotten, only the promise is remembered.
The sooner you begin coding the later you finish.
What is not on paper has not been said.
If you fail to plan you are planning to fail.
If you don't attack the risks, the risks will attack you.
There are no good project managers - only lucky ones.
The more you plan the luckier you get.
It takes one woman nine months to have a baby. It cannot be done in one month with nine women.
More at the source: Project Training UK
The most valuable and least used WORD in a project manager's vocabulary is "NO".
The most valuable and least used PHRASE in a project manager's vocabulary is "I don't know".
Nothing is impossible for the person who doesn't have to do it.
The conditions attached to a promise are forgotten, only the promise is remembered.
The sooner you begin coding the later you finish.
What is not on paper has not been said.
If you fail to plan you are planning to fail.
If you don't attack the risks, the risks will attack you.
There are no good project managers - only lucky ones.
The more you plan the luckier you get.
It takes one woman nine months to have a baby. It cannot be done in one month with nine women.
More at the source: Project Training UK
2009-09-02
Düsseldorf
Lovely Düsseldorf and the Rhein... An amazing city!
Auf Wiedersehen und vielen Dank liebe Freunde! ;-)
Day Without Yesterday quote
If I had to ask a question of the infallible oracle... I think I should choose this: “Has the universe ever been at rest, or did the expansion start from the beginning?” But, I think, I would ask the oracle not to give the answer, in order that a subsequent generation would not be deprived of the pleasure of searching for and of finding the solution.Georges Lemaître, during a discussion of cosmology before the British Association for the Advancement of Science
The Day Without Yesterday, Lemaître, Einstein and the birth of modern cosmology
2009-09-01
Snow Leopard review for Computer Engineers
Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard: Ars Technica review is recommended reading. It has lots of in-depth technical details.
PSD vs PS
As Eleições Legislativas de 2009 já estão no horizonte. Aqui estão duas nuvens de palavras geradas por computador para ter uma ideia das palavras usadas nos programas eleitorais do PSD e PS, respectivamente.
/ This post is bilingual: Portuguese (Portugal) and English (U.S.) /
The 2009 Portuguese Elections are coming. For those too busy to read the electoral programs here is a computer-generated word cloud for PSD and PS, respectively.
Fonte/Source: José Manuel Fernandes
/ This post is bilingual: Portuguese (Portugal) and English (U.S.) /
The 2009 Portuguese Elections are coming. For those too busy to read the electoral programs here is a computer-generated word cloud for PSD and PS, respectively.
Fonte/Source: José Manuel Fernandes
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