Category Archives: Audio

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PT Gone Wild

As much as I consider myself an informed brother , with all the whistles and bells coming out of my beloved powerbook, I admit to you dear readers — I haven’t been reading Portuguese news. It’s a bit shameful because, besides being a citizen, I used to follow events very closely, just like I used to go back there like 3 times a year. But times have changed, money has been tight, and those dam newspapers took a while to get RSS, which is an automatic turn off for the nerd in me.

So when I finally flipped open my favorite portuguese newspaper this week, I was shocked to find the whole place has gone wild this summer. And it all begins with record breaking, burst-into-flames temperatures around 100 degrees (30+ Celcius), and the accompanying forest fires that have become tradition. Add to that, the father of the Portuguese communist party, who fought so hard and was imprisoned by the dictatorship, died this week.

But it isn’t all bad news. This year in general has had a few bright spots for my homeland. And Im not talking about that dam European Championship either. First, despite his extreme mediocrity, they selected the former prime minister as the president of the EU commission, which in retrospect could explain all the failures lately. Then, I just heard, another former prime minister (a more intellegent one) took over the job of High Commissioner for Refugees at the United Nations. May not seem like much to you, but that’s a very important body in a world that creates more refugees every year. Not to mention for a little country like Portugal.

What better time to announce my travel plans: as per tradition – July 25th to August 10th I shall be in Portugal. Anyone want to meet in Lisbon? I know where there’s good WIFI and tons of soundseeing to be done.

Important, Tools

My readership varies in terms of tech savvyness. Some of you are computer junkies. Some of you aren’t. Some of you have blue-tooth and wi-fi devices coming out the ying-yang, while others have the misfortune of having to dial-in for internet access. And keeping this in mind, I occasionally try to introduce you to essential internet tools that will improve your life. Well here come two that you probably know about, but I simply must mention them for the many who still don’t use them.

The first one will one day be common knowledge, like your messenger program or your email, you’ll have a RSS reader, also called a newsreader. Specifically I strongly recommend that you use bloglines.com. Such tools are free and in this case, web based so you can access them from any computer connected to the net.

The reason it will change your life, is that you won’t have to surf to individual websites anymore. No more typing in theonion.com or my address to see the latest stuff, it will come directly into your reader when its ready, and you can read it when YOU are ready. Personally I read over 5 newspapers from different corners of the world, per day, using RSS feeds in my bloglines. I also get my blogs, TV listings, bittorent updates, weather reports, and read new comments using it. And like I said, in the future, EVERYONE will use RSS, but til this point, people have been to scared. Don’t be scared — start using it!

The other tool that has saved me piles of money, and improved my life by connecting me with loved ones around the world, not to mention new friends: SKYPE! Yes, this word should be common knowledge to you. Its a free messaging program that works primarily through voice. Thats right… like a telephone without the telephone and say goodbye to the bills! I talk to my momma all the time now and i suspect we miss each other a little less this way. Download it, start using it, don’t underestimate its usefulness for your life. I also just read a more academic and in-depth post related to what skype can do.

So there you have it.. go forth.. try them. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll thank me.

Its in the people

It’s 3am, and I’ve just walked in from the final night with the fish tank alumni, who are loving their nostalgic activities. I’ve mentioned this the last few days, but how can I NOT mention all the time I’ve spent speaking with amazing people working all over the world and sharing this common bond with me. I’ll give you some examples:

A hilarious Frenchman who works in Iraq has explained to me how the entire country is basically like a gold-rush these days. Giving out credit, starting businesses, EVERYTHING is for sale. Sounds like thunderdome to me. He tells me that despite the sound of morter shells exploding, it’s not that bad, people are actually living their lives quite normally.

A dynamic Turkish woman and I discussed Turkish families and society refuse to talk about homosexuality, despite that fact that one of their most popular musical icons is a hermaphrodite.

A kind-hearted Maltese man and I have discussed Malta and the way they treat refugees who shipwreck there en route to Italy (which is just north). I also learned that it’s one of the most densely populated countries in Europe, and the first place to adopt the concept of one bed per patient in hospitals.

Ahh… these are but three out of oooh so many. I’ve lost my voice after all the talking and shouting (joyfully). I do believe I’ve seen first-hand the formula for world peace.

Rush Rush Rush

The zero hour. Party over, out of time. Tomorrow begins… oh wait.. today, whenever I wake up, begins the fishtank reunion I’ve been planning for about a year. Hot dam, a whole years worth of planning.. for that amount of time I should have Giraffes walking around in bowties, at the very least.

My phone has been ringing off the hook, as the old amsterdam schoolmates return to the fair city. Which means I’m left with little time to say or read profound things, but I can definitely point you in the right direction:

My brother BigDaddyJ is back, and telling the internets about my nephew, king A-Ren.

The Accordian Guy was on CTV… the caption under his head read “internet user” — brilliant.

xTx is, as you read this, about to receive a amsterdammed gift in her post/mailbox. wait, does that sound dirty?