terça-feira, dezembro 23, 2008

Singapore ferris wheel

Trapped passengers evacuate Singapore ferris wheel

Rescue workers evacuate a passenger from a capsule of the Singapore Flyer which was stuck for 4hours …
Slideshow: Passengers trapped on world's largest ferris wheel SINGAPORE (Reuters) – More than 100 passengers stranded for six hours on the world's largest ferris wheel were being evacuated and given medical treatment in Singapore after the attraction ground to a halt Tuesday.

The Singapore Flyer stopped working after a short circuit in one of the wheel's motor drivers cut its power supply, a company spokeswoman said.

There were 173 people, including many tourists, trapped inside the huge tourist attraction.

The wheel started turning again more than six hours later and passengers were ushered into ambulances, a Reuters witness said.

The spokeswoman for the Flyer said the stranded passengers were given water and food throughout their ordeal.

Standing at a height of 165 metres (541 feet), the Flyer started operations in the city state in February and is 30 metres (98 feet) taller than the London Eye.

It has 28 bus-sized capsules attached to a circular frame 150 metres (492 feet) in diameter. Each capsule can accommodate 28 people.

The Flyer is part of Singapore's drive to boost tourism revenues.

(Reporting by Melanie Lee and Christophe Van der Perre; Editing by Giles Elgood)

terça-feira, dezembro 16, 2008

Internet in the future

Keyboards, DRM to become scarce in 2012
- Step aside, keyboards, laptops, and 9-to-5 jobs. A survey of more than 1,000 Internet activists, journalists, and technologists released Sunday speculates that by 2012, those quaint relics of 20th century life will fade away.

It's not a formal survey of the sort that, say, political pollsters use. Nor are computer journalists especially known for their prognosticative abilities. Still, the Pew Internet and American Life Project hopes the effort will provide a glimpse of the best current thinking about how online life will evolve in the next decade or so.

Lee Rainie and the other Pew researchers asked their survey respondents to respond to a series of questions about 2020 future scenarios, including whether the mobile phone will be the "primary" Internet connection (most agreed), whether copy protection will flourish (most disagreed), and whether transparency "heightens individual integrity and forgiveness (evenly split).

The rough consensus was that "few lines divide professional time from personal time," and that professionals are happy with the way work and play are "seamlessly integrated in most of these workers' lives."

Full article at:Internet in one decade

domingo, dezembro 14, 2008

11 Places to See Before They Disappear

11 Places to See Before They Disappear

Those of us who are concerned about earth's survival already hear the warning alarms around us on a daily basis. But this is a travel site, not an eco-sermon, so these eleven picks make up a carefully chosen list of destinations for eco-conscious travelers to enjoy. That verb "enjoy" is crucial -- for in the process of cherishing these natural and cultural wonders we renew our commitment to preserving them.


Babylon
Babylon, a city of both history and legend, has been seriously damaged by war and development, and those remain the two major threats to the ancient city. The U.S. war in Iraq continues to endanger Babylon and other ancient sites in Iraq, and Iraqi officials' own plans for post-war Babylon could be just as destructive. >>more

Fenway Park
Having won the World Series, in both 2004 and 2007, the Boston Red Sox are lovable underdogs no longer-now they are certified winners. And as a result, management has, at least temporarily, stopped making noises about replacing Fenway Park. >>more

Gu Gong (The Forbidden City)
This vast complex is half a millennium old -- the emperors lived here from 1420 to 1923, beginning long before Columbus sailed to the Americas and ending right before Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic -- and the heavy traffic is taking its toll. >>more

Kootenai River
Kootenai wetlands in Idaho were almost decimated by agricultural development; part of the wetlands is now being restored by environmental groups. In Montana, the endangered and aging white sturgeon population has stopped spawning due to loss of habitat caused by the Libby Dam; unless young fish live to spawning age the species is expected to be extinct in as few as 20 years. >>more

Little Green Street
Little Green Street isn't in the center of London, but maybe that's why it survived so long-it's one of only a few intact Georgian streets left in the whole metropolis. These two-story brick houses may have survived the Blitz in World War II, but the inexorable march of gentrification is another thing altogether. >>more

Lord Howe Island
More than half of the original recorded species of birds on this island are extinct due to hunting; non-native predators such as black rats, cats, and owls; and overgrazing by farm animals. Now that the island is protected and managed, the most serious threats are oil and chemical water pollution, and groundwater pollution from sewage management. >>more

Michoacan Monarch Biosphere Reserve
Monarch butterflies face a variety of risks all along their 2,000-mile (3,220-km) migration route between Canada and Mexico. Pesticides are a constant threat, and the monarchs' low tolerance for cold and wet conditions leave them vulnerable to winter storms, increased rainfall, and other climate changes. Meanwhile, deforestation of their winter habitat could be the fatal blow for the butterflies. >>more

Taj Mahal
If the plan to close the Taj Mahal goes into effect, it would reduce this over-the-top mausoleum-built by Shah Jahan (fifth emperor of the Mughal dynasty) to mourn his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal-to a mere postcard silhouette instead of the spiritual experience it can be. >>more

The Galapagos Islands
Legions of tourists who visit the Galápagos each year have helped and hurt the islands' delicate ecosystem. But despite laws to protect the Galápagos, increased land and sea tourism, population growth (which brings pollution and habitat destruction), and invasive species continue to threaten the wildlife here. Fishing and poaching also threaten the survival of native marine life. >>more

The Pyramids of Giza
Unrestricted development and urban sprawl from nearby Cairo threaten the ancient pyramids and the Great Sphinx. Air pollution eats away at the magnificent structures, and sewage from adjacent slums weakens the plateau upon which they stand. Ongoing efforts to complete a multilane beltway around Cairo pose additional risks to these irreplaceable wonders. >>more

Versailles
The fierce winter storms that pummeled Europe in December 1999 were bound to take down some property -- but did it have to be Louis XIV's showplace? >>more


http://www.frommers.com/micro/2008/11_places_to_see_before_they_disappear/

segunda-feira, dezembro 01, 2008

December 1

Today is a special day for Portugal, and below is the list of other important events recorded over many years:

800 - Charlemagne judges the accusations against Pope Leo III in the Vatican.
1167 - The Lombard League is formed in northern Italy.
1420 - Henry V of England enters Paris.
1640 - End of the Iberian Union: Portugal acclaims as King João IV of Portugal, thus ending a 60 year period of personal union of the crowns of Portugal and Spain and the end of the rule of the House of Habsburg (also called the Philippine Dynasty). The Spanish Habsburgs do not recognize Portugal's new dynasty, the House of Braganza, until 1668.
1768 - The slave ship Fredensborg sinks off Tromøy in Norway.
1821 - The first constitution of Costa Rica is issued.
1822 - Peter I is crowned as Emperor of Brazil.
1824 - U.S. presidential election, 1824: Since no candidate received a majority of the total electoral college votes in the election, the United States House of Representatives is given the task to decide the winner (as stipulated by the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution).
1826 - French philhellene Charles Nicolas Fabvier forces his way through the Turkish cordon and ascends the Acropolis of Athens, which had been under siege.
1864 - In his State of the Union Address President Abraham Lincoln reaffirms the necessity of ending slavery as ordered ten weeks earlier in the Emancipation Proclamation.
1884 - American Old West: Near Frisco, New Mexico, deputy sheriff Elfego Baca holds off a gang of 80 Texan cowboys who want to kill him for arresting Charles McCarthy.
1913 - The Ford Motor Company introduces the first moving assembly line.
1913 - Crete, having obtained self rule from Turkey after the first Balkan war, is annexed by Greece.
1918 - Transylvania unites with Romania, following the incorporation of Bessarabia (March 27) and Bukovina (November 28). National Council of Romanians in Banat had voted for union with the Kingdom of Romania. National Council of Romanians in Transylvania had voted for union with the Kingdom of Romania (see Union of Transylvania with Romania).
1918 - Iceland becomes a sovereign state, yet remains a part of the Danish kingdom.
1918 - The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) is proclaimed.
1919 - Lady Astor becomes first female member of the British Parliament to take her seat (she had been elected to that position on November 28).
1925 - World War I aftermath: The final Locarno Treaty is signed in London, establishing post-war territorial settlements.
1934 - In the Soviet Union, Politburo member Sergei Kirov is shot dead at the Communist Party headquarters in Leningrad by Leonid Nikolayev.
1941 - World War II: Fiorello La Guardia, Mayor of New York City and Director of the Office of Civilian Defense, signs Administrative Order 9, creating the Civil Air Patrol.
1952 - The New York Daily News reports the news of Christine Jorgenson, the first notable case of a sexual reassignment operation.
1955 - American Civil Rights Movement: In Montgomery, Alabama, seamstress Rosa Parks refuses to give her bus seat to a white man and is arrested for violating the city's racial segregation laws, an incident which leads to the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
1958 - Central African Republic becomes independent from France.
1958 - The Our Lady of the Angels School Fire in Chicago, Illinois kills 92 children and three nuns.
1959 - Cold War: Antarctic Treaty signed , which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and bans military activity on that continent.
1960 - Paul McCartney and Pete Best arrested then deported from Hamburg, Germany for accusation of attempted arson.
1961 - The independent Republic of West Papua is proclaimed in modern-day Western New Guinea.
1963 - Nagaland becomes the 16th state of India.
1964 - Vietnam War: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and his top-ranking advisers meet to discuss plans to bomb North Vietnam.
1965 - The Border Security Force is formed in India as a special force to guard the borders.
1969 - Vietnam War: The first draft lottery in the United States is held since World War II.
1971 - Cambodian Civil War: Khmer Rouge rebels intensify assaults on Cambodian government positions, forcing their retreat from Kompong Thmar and nearby Ba Ray.
1971 - Indian Army occupies part of Kashmir.
1973 - Papua New Guinea gains self government from Australia.
1974 - TWA Flight 514, a Boeing 727, crashes northwest of Dulles International Airport killing all 92 people on-board.
1974 - Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 6231, crashes northwest of John F. Kennedy International Airport.
1981 - A Yugoslavian Inex Adria Aviopromet DC-9 crashes in Corsica killing all 180 people on-board.
1981 - The AIDS virus is officially recognized.
1982 - At the University of Utah, Barney Clark becomes the first person to receive a permanent artificial heart.
1988 - Benazir Bhutto is appointed Prime Minister of Pakistan.
1989 - Right-wing military rebel Reform the Armed forces Movement (RAM) attempts to oust Philippine President Corazon Aquino in a failed bloody coup d' etat.
1989 - Cold War: East Germany's parliament abolishes the constitutional provision granting the communist party the leading role in the state.
1990 - Channel Tunnel sections started from the United Kingdom and France meet 40 meters beneath the seabed.
1991 - Cold War: Ukrainian voters overwhelmingly approve a referendum for independence from the Soviet Union.
1998 - Exxon announces a $73.7 billion USD deal to buy Mobil, thus creating Exxon-Mobil, the world's largest company.
2001 - Captain Bill Compton brings Trans World Airlines Flight 220, an MD-83, into St. Louis International Airport bringing to an end 76 years of TWA operations following TWA’s purchase by American Airlines.

SOURCE: Wikipediia

sexta-feira, novembro 21, 2008

November 21

Everyday is important, for something good or bad done or assisted by the humans beings.

Here are the important and recorded Events of November 21:

164 BC - Judas Maccabaeus, son of Mattathias of the Hasmonean family, restores the Temple in Jerusalem. Events commemorated each year by the festival of Hanukkah.
235 - Anterus is elected Pope.
1272 - Following Henry III of England's death on November 16, his son Prince Edward becomes King of England.
1620 - Plymouth Colony settlers sign the Mayflower Compact (11 November, O.S.).
1783 - In Paris, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent, Marquis d'Arlandes, make the first untethered hot air balloon flight.
1789 - North Carolina ratifies the United States Constitution and is admitted as the 12th U.S. state.
1791 - Colonel Napoléon Bonaparte is promoted to full general and appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the French Republic.
1861 - American Civil War: Confederate President Jefferson Davis appoints Judah Benjamin secretary of war.
1877 - Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph, a machine that can record sound.
1894 - Port Arthur massacre: Port Arthur, Manchuria falls to the Japanese, a decisive Japanese victory of the First Sino-Japanese War.
1905 - Albert Einstein's paper, "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?", is published in the journal "Annalen der Physik". This paper reveals the relationship between energy and mass. This leads to the mass-energy equivalence formula E = mc².
1916 - The HMHS Britannic sinks in the Aegean Sea after an explosion from an unknown object, killing 30 people.
1920 - Bloody Sunday during the Anglo-Irish War
1922 - Rebecca Latimer Felton of Georgia takes the oath of office, becoming the first woman United States Senator.
1927 - Columbine Mine Massacre: Striking coal miners were allegedly attacked with machine guns by a detachment of state police dressed in civilian clothes.
1934 - Ella Fitzgerald makes her singing debut at age 16 at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York.
1941 - The radio program King Biscuit Time is broadcast for the first time (it would later become the longest running daily radio broadcast in history and the most famous live blues radio program).
1942 - The completion of the Alaska Highway (also known as the Alcan Highway) is celebrated (the highway was not usable by general vehicles until 1943, however).
1945 - The first issue of the French magazine, ELLE is launched.
1953 - Authorities at the British Natural History Museum announce that the "Piltdown Man" skull, held to be one of the most famous fossil skulls in the world, was a hoax.
1956 - Don Newcombe of the then Brooklyn Dodgers wins the Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award of the National League. He won because he posted a staggering 27-7 record and an E.R.A. of 3.06.
1962 - The Chinese People's Liberation Army declares a unilateral cease-fire in the Sino-Indian War.
1964 - The Verrazano Narrows Bridge opens to traffic (at the time it was the world's longest suspension bridge).
1964 - Second Vatican Council: The third session of the Roman Catholic Church's ecumenical council closes.
1967 - Vietnam War: American General William Westmoreland tells news reporters: "I am absolutely certain that whereas in 1965 the enemy was winning, today he is certainly losing."
1969 - The first ARPANET link is established.
1969 - US President Richard Nixon and Japanese Premier Eisaku Sato agree in Washington, DC on the return of Okinawa to Japanese control in 1972. Under terms of the agreement, the US is to retain its rights to bases on the island, but these are to be nuclear-free.
1970 - Vietnam War: Operation Ivory Coast - A joint Air Force and Army team raids the Son Tay prison camp in an attempt to free American POWs thought to be held there.
1971 - Indian troops partly aided by Mukti Bahini (Bengali guerrillas) defeated the Pakistan army in the Battle of Garibpur.
1974 - The Birmingham Pub Bombings by the IRA killed 21 people. The Birmingham Six were sentenced to life in prison for this and subsequently acquitted.
1977 - Minister of Internal Affairs Hon Allan Highet announced that 'the national anthems of New Zealand shall be the traditional anthem 'God Save the Queen' and the poem 'God Defend New Zealand', written by Thomas Bracken, as set to music by John Joseph Woods, both being of equal status as national anthems appropriate to the occasion'.
1979 - The United States Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan is attacked by a mob and set alight, killing four. (see: Foreign relations of Pakistan)
1980 - A deadly fire breaks out at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada (now Bally's Las Vegas). 87 people are killed and more than 650 are injured in the worst disaster in Nevada history.
1980 - Lake Peigneur drained into an underlying salt deposit. A misplaced Texaco oil probe drilled into the Diamond crystal salt mine; water flowing down into the mine eroded the edges of the hole. The whirlpool created sucked the drilling platform, several barges, houses and trees thousands of feet, to the bottom of the dissolving salt deposit.
1980 - Who Shot JR? - The Dallas Episode "Who Done It?" aired on US television. It was one of the highest-rated episodes of a TV show ever aired.
1985 - United States Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Jay Pollard is arrested for spying (he was caught giving Israel classified information on Arab nations and was eventually sentenced to life in prison).
1986 - Iran-Contra Affair: National Security Council member Oliver North and his secretary start to shred documents implicating them in the sale of weapons to Iran and channeling the proceeds to help fund the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
1988 - Canadian federal election, 1988 - Canadians re-elect the Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney after an election campaign fought mainly over the issue of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement.
1990 - Charter of Paris for a New Europe refocusses the efforts of the Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europeon post-Cold War issues.
1990 - Nintendo's successor to the Famicom, the Super Famicom was released in Japan.
1991 - "The Apple of God's Eye", an undercover investigative journalism piece exposing the fundraising practices of American televangelist Robert Tilton, airs on ABC's Primetime Live newsmagazine show for the first time.
1995 - The Dayton Peace Agreement was initialled in the Wright Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio, ending three and a half years of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The agreement was formally ratified in Paris, on December 14 that same year.
1995 - Toy Story is released as the first feature-length film created completely using computer-generated imagery.
1995 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 5,000 (5,023.55) for the first time.
1996 - A propane explosion at the Humberto Vidal shoe store and office building in San Juan, Puerto Rico kills 33.
2002 - NATO invites Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia to become members.
2004 - The second round of the Ukrainian presidential election is held, unleashing massive protests and controversy with regards to the election's integrity.
2004 - The island of Dominica is hit by its most destructive earthquake in history; the northern half of the island receives the most damage, especially in the town of Portsmouth. It is also felt in neighboring Guadeloupe, where one person is killed as a result.
2004 - The Paris Club agrees to write off 80% (up to $100 billion) of Iraq's external debt.

FONTE

Ditos

"Não é possível, emdemocracia, fazer uma reforma do ensino contra os professores, como fazer uma reforma da saúde contra os médicos e os enfermeiros ou uma reforma da justiça contra os magistrados. Mas tembém é exacto que um Estado de Direito não pode (...) aceitar que os interesses corporativos se situem acima do interesse naciona." - Mário Soares, in Diário de Notícias

"Os homens regressam às montanhas e aos barcos à vela porque nas montanhas e no mar têm de ser confiantes." - Henry David Thoreau, poeta e filósofo norte-americano (1817-1862)

"A definição do belo é fácil: é aquilo que desespera." - Paul Valery, escritor francês (1871-1945)

segunda-feira, novembro 10, 2008

Sub accident in Russia

Russia investigates sub disaster

The K-152 Nerpa was carrying many more people than usual
An inquiry is under way into Saturday's gas poisoning on a Russian nuclear submarine in the Pacific that left 20 people dead, including 17 civilians.

Experts speculated that the presence of many civilians aboard during sea trials may have elevated the death toll.

But this has not been confirmed by officials investigating the accident.

The accident on the Nerpa, or Akula-class, attack vessel occurred during trials in the Sea of Japan.

Three seamen were among those killed in the accident, which happened in the nose of the submarine, officials said.

But the nuclear reactor, which is in the stern, was not affected and there was no radiation leak, Russian Pacific Fleet spokesman Igor Dygalo said.

Full article at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7719441.stm

sábado, outubro 25, 2008

Máximas

"As máximas dos mortos prestam-se graciosamente a valorizar as imbecilidades dos vivos." - Pitigrilli (escritor italiano), in "O homem que procura o amor"

"Se a igreja é, como Voltaire disse, a ópera dos dirigentes, o tribunal é o teatro em prosa." - Idem, idem

terça-feira, outubro 21, 2008

Missing Husband

Duane was in big trouble. He forgot his wedding anniversary.

His wife was really angry.

She told him, "Tomorrow morning, I expect to find a gift in the drivewaythat goes from 0 to 200 in less than 10 seconds,AND IT BETTER BE THERE!!".

The next morning Duane got up early and left for work. When his wife woke up, she looked out the window and sureenough there was a box gift-wrapped in the middle of the driveway.

Confused, the wife put on her robe, ran out to the driveway, and brought the box back into the house.

She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale.

Duane has been missing since Friday. Please pray for him.

segunda-feira, outubro 13, 2008

Ordem dos Templários

Foi criada em 1118, em Jerusalém, uma Ordem de Cavalaria chamada de Ordem dos Pobres Cavaleiros de Cristo e do Templo de Salomão, famosa como Ordem dos Templários.

Ela era composta por nove cavaleiros franceses, entre eles Hugo de Payens e Geoffroy de Saint-Omer.

O seu objectivo, pelo menos aparentemente, era velar pelas conveniências e pela proteção dos peregrinos cristãos no território sagrado.

Dado, porém, o poder e riquezas que a Ordem obteve ao longo de cerca de 200 anos, tornou-se necessário terminar com ela e assim ficou assente entre Filipe IV e o Papa Clemente V as acções necessários para levar a efeito o seu extremínio.

Tudo corre como esperado. Do dia 12 para 13 de outubro de 1307, edifícios e todas as sedes dos templários são invadidos, os soldados são presos, torturados e consumidos nas fogueiras, como se fossem realmente hereges.

O último grão-mestre desta ordem, Jacques de Molay, ao ser executado em meio às chamas, teria lançado maldições a todos os seus perseguidores, principalmente ao Rei, ao Papa e a um cavaleiro, Guilherme de Nogaret, executor das ordens reais.

Dentro de um ano, prazo estabelecido por Jacques para o encontro de seus adversários com Deus, os três amaldiçoados morrem. Filipe IV não consegue dar prosseguimento à sua descendência no trono, o que acarreta uma grave crise, a qual culmina na Guerra dos Cem Anos.

FONTE:http://www.infoescola.com/historia/ordem-dos-templarios/

quarta-feira, outubro 08, 2008

6 Outubro 2008

FONTE: Público

Espanha cria fundo até 50 mil milhões de euros para estimular o crédito07.10.2008

Presidente da FED sugere corte nas taxas de juro no final do mês07.10.2008

Bolsas europeias de novo em pânico08.10.2008

Bolsa de Tóquio regista pior queda diária em mais de 20 anos08.10.2008

Fundo anticrise sobe dívida pública espanhola para 41,5 por cento do PIB08.10.2008

Gordon Brown convida restantes países da UE a adoptar plano europeu de apoio à banca08.10.2008

Bancos centrais cortam taxas de juro em meio ponto percentual em acção concertada08.10.2008

Bolas já não acreditam no poder da intervenção pública

Economistas avisam que resposta à crisa constitui maior desafio ao euro

Bolsa de Lisboa regista maior queda de sempre num dia de pânico generalizado

Unidade europeia ou salve-se quem poder

Fabricantes de automóveis europeus pedem 40 mil milhões a Bruxelas

----e outras notícias----

Meio Nobel por isolar o vírus mais famoso do mundo, o HIV

Supremo Tibunal dos EUA rejeita pedido de novo julgamento para Mumia Abu-Jamal

NATO diz que pode ser impossível travar bomba do Irão

Obama endurece ataque e associa McCain a escândalo dos anos 80

Luanda tentou impedir arranque do julgamento do Anolagate em França

Bayern de Munique de Klinsmann é o pior no campeonato alemão nos últimos 42 anos

Quebra na procura pára linha de produção do Sharan e do Alhambra na Autoeuropa

ACP sugere que se retire à Galp o domínio que detém sobre a importação e armazenamento

segunda-feira, outubro 06, 2008

Ditos que marcam

"Quando os homens se proclamam proprietários absolutos de si mesmos e únicos mestres da criação (...) crescem a arbitrariedade do poder, os interesses egoístas, a injustiça e a exploração e a violência em todas as suas expressões." - Papa Bento XVI

"O homem morre a primeira vez quando perde o entusiasmo." - Honoré de Balzac, escritor francês (1799-1850)

sábado, outubro 04, 2008

Agradecimentos

Este Blog também é visitado ao longo dos meses por muitos bloguistas de muitos países, de tal modo que no último Contador registámos visitas de 114 países. honra e engrandece, mas devemos dizer que seria ingrato da nossa parte não expressar um agradecimento muito especial aos bloguistas Brasileiros que, de acordo com os nossos registos, atingem cerca de 80% das visitas!

Sentimos, portanto, uma dívida enorme por esta manifestção de interesse que
gostaria de compensar com a melhoria dos conteúdos, desde que possa ter comentários sobre a opinião dos visitantes.

Gostaria de deixar aqui qualquer texto que fosse representasse algo do nosso reconhecimento e de busca em busca, acabo de localizar o texto que reproduzo na íntegra, pedindo desde já desculpa à sua autora pelo abuso, sem qualquer adaptação que, igualmente, pode ter algo a ver com o nosso comportamento neste mundo da informática.


Todos merecem, certamente, o nosso obrigado por nos irem contactando, o que muito nos anima,
Aqui vai...

"Os sete pecados mortais da computação


Autora: Sara Fichman Raskin

A humanidade tem sido atormentada pelo pecado. Segundo qualquer pregador, enquanto os 10 Mandamentos ofereceram um leque de regras para decidir seu eventual destino depois da morte, os 7 Pecados Mortais decidiram seu destino enquanto vivo.

Estes terríveis pecados do dia-a-dia não se foram e nos amaldiçoam até hoje.

Na realidade, os usuários de computador podem não saber que a maioria dos aspectos da computação são dominados por esses pecados e seus efeitos. Veremos como:

Pecado número um: PREGUIÇA. Poucos usuários podem evitar o mais terrível dos pecados. Quando foi a última vez que você leu a documentação trazida com o software? Quando foi a última vez que você esteve fazendo aquelas tarefas aborrecidas? Alguns usuários não foram capazes de gastar 15 minutos para atualizarem suas velhas versões de DOS enquanto ainda rodam o DOS 2.1. “Vou esperar o DOS 5”

Pecado número dois: AVAREZA. Nunca pediu para um amigo cópias de software que você sabe nunca vai usar? Você quer cópias só porque você “deve ter a cópia”. “Mais, mais, mais!”.

Pecado número três: INVEJA. Você fica triste com o amigo que tem o mais novo 386. Você também deve ter um, mesmo que você precise ou não. Perde sono e dinheiro.

Pecado número quatro: GULA. você tem um winchester de 200 mega e pensa em alimentá-lo até que 198 estejam cheios. Arquivos desconhecidos, utilitários misteriosos, programas sem valor?. Mas você pode apagar essas coisas? “Elas podem ser importantes algum dia”. Então você compra outro winchester de 200 mega.

Pecado número cinco: RAIVA. Este vem do tempo perdido com computação. Você gasta toda a tarde re-imprimindo um documento só tentando tê-lo bem certinho. Você passa todo o dia hipnotizado pelo TETRIS sem poder se libertar. Quando chega em casa, chuta o cachorro.

Pecado número seis: AMBIÇÃO. Você pode gastar tempo examinando revistas de computadores olhando para todos os últimos produtos. Você sonha com eles.

Pecado número sete: ARROGÂNCIA. Você contempla seu equipamento. Você se gaba para os amigos. Você diz para eles que sua máquina é mais rápida que a deles. Você é o maior no trabalho. Quando alguém precisa saber alguma coisa, você diz que pensa a respeito, mesmo sem saber.

Poucos pecadores sofrem de todos esses pecados. É quase impossível mais a maioridade nós é atormentado pelo menos por um. Todo o mundo, menos eu.

FONTE:Companhia de Informática do Paraná - CELEPAR

http://www.pr.gov.br/batebyte/edicoes/1991/bb06/sete.htm

sexta-feira, outubro 03, 2008

Congress historic OK


Congress OKs historic bailout bill by big margin

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS and DAVID ESPO, Associated Press Writers


WASHINGTON - With the economy on the brink and elections looming, Congress approved an unprecedented $700 billion government bailout of the battered financial industry on Friday and sent it to President Bush for his certain signature.


The final vote was 263-171 in the House, a comfortable margin that was 58 more votes than the measure garnered in Monday's stunning defeat. The vote capped two weeks of tumult in Congress and on Wall Street, punctuated by daily warnings that the country confronted the gravest economic crisis since the Great Depression if lawmakers failed to act.


At the White House, Bush declared, "We have acted boldly to help prevent the crisis on Wall Street from becoming a crisis in communities across our country."

quarta-feira, outubro 01, 2008

Ditos

"Desgraçadamente, toda a gente parece concordar num ponto: não é com esta geração de políticos europeus que a Europa se consiguirá afirmar e construir. Precisamos de estadistas, de visionários, e só temos malabaristas da política e mestres da conjuntura e do vazio." - Miguel Sousa Tavares, in Expresso

"As próprias leis parecem concebidas para favorecer o oportunismo, a trapaça, o amiguismo." - Fernando Madrinha, ditto

How Much is $700 Billion?

How Much is $700 Billion?
By Jeanna BrynerSenior WriterLiveScience.com

The short answer: a lot. The long answer: depends on how you look at it.
Whatever your viewpoint, here's how $700 billion - the figure inked in the initial dead-in-the-water government bailout bill for Wall Street - compares to other vast sums.

NASA in fiscal year 2009 will launch several missions into space and pay for hundreds of people to operate a host of space telescopes and even remote robots on Mars and run a PR and media department that puts most large corporations to shame. The agency's budget: $17.6 billion, or 2.5 percent of the bailout sum.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has an annual budget of $6.06 billion to support research and education on astronomy, chemistry, materials science, computing, engineering, earth sciences, nanoscience and physics (among others) at more than 1,900 universities and institutions across the United States.

Full story at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/howmuchis700billion

domingo, setembro 28, 2008

Renting better then bying

Renting Makes More Financial Sense Than Homeownership
By Jack Hough

I have something un-American to confess: I rent an apartment, despite having enough money to buy a house. I plan to keep renting for as long as I can. I'm not just holding out for better prices. Renting will make me richer.

I normally write about stocks for SmartMoney.com, but the boss asked me to explain to readers my reason for renting. Here goes: Businesses are great investments while houses are poor ones, so I'd rather rent the latter and own the former.

Stocks vs. Houses: Returns

Shares of businesses return 7% a year over long time periods. I'm subtracting for inflation, gradual price increases for everything from a can of beer to an ear exam. (After-inflation or "real" returns are the only ones that matter. The point of increasing wealth is to increase buying power, not numbers on an account statement.) Shares have been remarkably consistent over the past two centuries in their 7% real returns. In Jeremy Siegel's book, "Stocks for the Long Term," he finds that real returns averaged 7.0% over nearly seven decades ending 1870, then 6.6% through 1925 and then 6.9% through 2004.

Full article at:http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/renting-makes-more-financial-sense-than-homeownership.html;_ylc=X3oDMTFta3Jqcjk3BF9TAzI3MTYxNDkEX3MDOTc2MjA0NjUEc2VjA2ZwLXRvZGF5BHNsawNyZW50aW5nLWJldHRlcg--

sexta-feira, setembro 26, 2008

Can Bill Gates Help Africa Feed Itself?

By Vivienne Walt / Paris

The global economy might be reeling from the shakeout on Wall Street, but two of the world's richest businessmen are vowing to spend tens of millions of dollars more — not on bolstering their own companies, but in helping the world's poorest.

With Congress locked in talks over a mammoth bailout package, Bill Gates and Howard Buffett (Warren's oldest son) announced at the United Nations on Wednesday that their private foundations will plow more than $75 million into helping small farmers in Africa and Latin America to sell their crops as food aid — a move which could potentially overhaul the decades-old — and often criticized — global food aid system.

Full story at: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1844632,00.html

Ditos que marcam

"As pessoas que não fazem barulho são perigosas." - Jean de La Fontaine, escritor francês (1621-1695)

"Cão que não ladra, morde." - Anónimo

"É perigoso estar certo quando o governo está errado." - Voltaite, filósofo e dramaturgo francês (1694-1778)

"Surpreendeu-me não ter encontrado um único sinal do género 'seu malandro, ainda bem que te foste embora." - Correia de Campos, in 24 Horas

"Quem sabe verdadeiramente do que fala, não encontra razões para levantar a voz." - Sacha Guitry

"Só fechando as portas atrás de nós se abrem janelas para o provir." - Francoise Sagan

"Quem troca felicidade por dinheiro não poderá trocar dinheiro por felicidade." - José Narosky

quarta-feira, setembro 24, 2008

Energias renováveis


Portugal vai ser pioneiro a nível mundial no aproveitamento da energia das ondas

North America's smallest dinosaur


Researcher finds tiny dino in world of giants

By Jeffrey Jones

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - A Canadian researcher has discovered what is believed to be North America's smallest dinosaur, a 70-million-year-old chicken-sized beast that was also unusual for its diet of insects.


Called the Albertonykus borealis, the odd-looking creature had bird-like features including slender legs, jaws like pincers and stubby arms with big claws.


Its bones were excavated near Red Deer, in fossil-rich Alberta, in 2002 among about 20 Albertosaurus remains, and went unnoticed.

Robotic helicopteres


Robotic helicopteres taught themselves


Robotic helicopters are pictured prior to an airshow on the Stanford University campus in Palo Alto, California, September 15, 2008.


The airshow, which involves helicopters that have taught themselves to fly by watching other helicopters, is a demonstration of an "apprenticeship learning algorithm" developed by computer science professor Andrew Ng and other students at the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab, where robots learn by observing an expert, rather than by having software engineers attempt to write instructions from scratch.


REUTERS/Robert Galbraith (UNITED STATES)

segunda-feira, setembro 22, 2008

Caviar crisis

Fish farmer Igal Ben-Tzvi holding a sturgeon at a farm in Kibbutz Dan. Thousands of kilometres (miles) from the Caspian Sea, Israel is cashing in on a global caviar crisis, gearing up to export tonnes of the delicate and costly roe from farm-raised sturgeon(AFP)

Israel cashing in on caviar crisis, but is it kosher?
by Charly Wegman

KIBBUTZ DAN, Israel (AFP) - Thousands of kilometres (miles) from the Caspian Sea, Israel is cashing in on a global caviar crisis, gearing up to export tonnes of the delicate and costly roe from farm-raised sturgeon.

It may not be quite kosher -- depending on who you ask -- but there is definitely a huge international demand for the gourmet treat.

"This is top quality," says Yigal Ben Tzvi, managing director of Caviar Galilee, holding up a blue tin of "Made in Israel" sturgeon eggs, which he says caviar giant Petrossian buys wholesale at 2,800 dollars (2,000 euros) a kilo.


Full article at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080922/lf_afp/lifestyleisraelbusinesscaviar_080922042251

segunda-feira, setembro 15, 2008

De Dion Buton


1906 Model

The company started soon to produce engines and to provide to other car manufacturers, such as Latil, Peugeot or Renault. The engines of Dion were used by more than 150 other companies.

In 1900, Of Dion-Button was the largest manufacturer of cars in the world. The company produced 400 cars and 3.200 engines this year there. The company was the first to manufacture an engine V8 in series, in 1910. These figures of production will be exceeded by those of Panhard & Levassor before the First World War, then by other manufacturers like Peugeot or Renault, but especially Citroen and its production “in series”.

Source:http://www.speedylook.com/Of_Dion-Button.html

sábado, setembro 13, 2008

Ditos

"De uma pequena tolice e uma enorme curiosidade resultam muitos casamentos." - George Bernard Shaw (escritor irlandês 1856-1950)

"O maior prazer de um homem inteligente é passar por idiota diante do idiota que quer passar por inteligente." - Confúcio (filósofo chinês 551 a.C. - 479 a.C.)

"Quando morrer, metam o meu corpo num saco de plástico e atirem-no para a sarjeta." - Francis Bacon, pintor irlandês (Dublin 1909-Madrid 1992)

quarta-feira, setembro 10, 2008

Recriação do Big Bang



CERN recria os primeiros momentos do nosso Universo

O maior acelerador de partículas do Mundo já foi colocado hoje em funcionamento com sucesso.


Decorreu bem a primeira tentativa para colocar em funcionamento o maior acelerador de partículas do Mundo. Os cientistas do CERN (Centro Europeu de Investigação Nuclear), construído entre a França e a Suíça, conseguiram pôr a circular um feixe de milhões de protões naquele que é o primeiro passo para a recriação dos primeiros momentos do Universo.

Ver artigo em:
http://ww1.rtp.pt/noticias/images/articles/362536/aceleradorparticulas.jpg

terça-feira, setembro 09, 2008

Artificial life

Biologists on the Verge of Creating New Form of Life
By Alexis Madrigal

A team of biologists and chemists is closing in on bringing non-living matter to life.

It's not as Frankensteinian as it sounds. Instead, a lab led by Jack Szostak, a molecular biologist at Harvard Medical School, is building simple cell models that can almost be called life.

Szostak's protocells are built from fatty molecules that can trap bits of nucleic acids that contain the source code for replication. Combined with a process that harnesses external energy from the sun or chemical reactions, they could form a self-replicating, evolving system that satisfies the conditions of life, but isn't anything like life on earth now, but might represent life as it began or could exist elsewhere in the universe.

Full article at:
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/09/biologists-on-t.html?npu=1&mbid=yhp

Samak Sundaravej forced to resign

Samak Sundaravej


Thai leader forced to resign over TV cooking show
By AMBIKA AHUJA, Associated Press Writer
BANGKOK, Thailand - Thailand's prime minister was forced out of office Tuesday along with his Cabinet after a court ruled that he had broken a conflict-of-interest law by hosting TV cooking shows.

Samak Sundaravej's party later unanimously agreed to re-nominate him as a candidate for prime minister, indicating that Thailand is still not free from its deep political crisis that has virtually paralyzed the government, spooked the financial markets and scared away tourists.

Full article at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080909/ap_on_re_as/thailand_political_unrest

sábado, setembro 06, 2008

Ditos

"Quero que os grandes artistas voltem a olhar para os temas religiosos." - Gianfranco Ravasi, Presidente do Conselho Pontífico para a Cultura, do Vaticano

"A política legislativa na área criminal perdeu seriedade, rigor científico, harmonização sistémica e não mostra preocupação pelo impacto negativo das çeis aprovadas. Legisla-se em função de casos concretos." - Rui Rangel, in Correio da Manhã

"Uma pessoa pode abdicar do sexo, mas o sexo não abdica da pessoa." - Gabriel Garcia Márquez (escritor colombiano 1928-)

sexta-feira, setembro 05, 2008

Poor building of schools in China

BEIJING — A Chinese government committee said Thursday that a rush to build schools during the country’s recent economic boom might have led to shoddy construction that resulted in the deaths of thousands of students during a devastating earthquake in May.

Full article at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/world/asia/05china.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

quinta-feira, setembro 04, 2008

Copiar ou não

Nos últimos dias temos recebido diversos comentários, protestando contra o facto de o conteúdo deste blog não poder ser copiado. Pensando sobre o assunto, resolvemos eliminar essa restrição, pois damos mais importância e valor às visitas dos nossos amigos bloguistas, que não desejamos perder, do que manter inacessível os conteúdos que aqui vamos deixando.

O que pedimos é que nos deixem qualquer comentário sobre a validade e a utilidade que for sendo dado ao material apresentado, e até sugestõrd sobre a forma de podermos tornar o blog mais válido e apelativo.