aki-A-nuno

How to live 4 days longer

2010-10-20T01:34:00.000-07:00

This technique will actually save you 4 days of your life.

I tried to learn it for 1 minute....and quit.
Overall balance one minute less to live. aii

I'd rather dance with you

2010-05-31T02:55:00.000-07:00

music: Kings of Convenience
dancers: Kyle DesChamps + Jessica Wu
choreography:Isis Masoud + dancers

great suff

A bloody interesting article

2010-05-26T02:32:00.000-07:00

About humans and their creatureliness.

"You're going to bleed. Period"

For pop songs the magic number is 4

2010-04-22T08:58:00.000-07:00

There is still hope for following a successful career in music.

(I wonder if I can make it only with 3 chords..)

Finally I did it. Now I can eat carrots.

2010-03-29T08:19:00.000-07:00

weird news

2010-02-08T03:00:00.000-08:00

reading the news of today, something caught my eye for 2 reasons:
-Philippines
-'My way' karaoke

Philippines, because yesterday two friends just left on a 6 month trip towards Asia and the first stop happens to be Philippines.

"My way", because it is a Sinatra classic which i love, and also due to another version that came out in my young adolescent years sang by Sid Vicious (Sex Pistols).
The Sid Vicious video clip video happens in a theater, where he performs in front of a snobbish audience. He starts in a soft tone, and ends in a puck rock rhythm where he shoots with a pistol some of the audience.

For different reasons this happens to be the first song I ever sang in a karaoke.

The news of today are quite weird, and I feel lucky for trying karaoke in Portugal:
"Sinatra "My Way" Karaoke Killings Plague Philippines Bar Scene"
"Sinatra Song Often Strikes Deadly Chord"

Take care and have fun my friends, and whatever you do there don't do "My Way", but instead enjoy it YOUR WAY!

experiences

2010-02-08T02:23:00.000-08:00

life is made of thin slices called experiences

to believe

2010-01-13T14:17:00.000-08:00

"To believe that God exists is a profound conviction, but to believe that He doesn't, curiously, isn't. Someone, carrying a special measuring device, measured the dept of peoples convictions and deliberated that those of the believer are deeper than those of the atheist.
When someone says that he believes in God, he is legitimately expressing his faith; when an atheist dares to affirm that he doesn't believe, it is an assault to the conviction of those who believe. To be a believer is worth respect, to be an atheist is a crime against humanity"

"Acreditar que Deus existe é uma convicção profunda, mas acreditar que não existe, curiosamente, não o é. Alguém, munido de um aparelho próprio, mediu a profundidade das convicções e deliberou que as do crente são mais fundas que as do ateu. Quando alguém diz acreditar em Deus, está a exprimir legitimamente a sua fé; quando um ateu ousa afirmar que não acredita, está a agredir as convicções dos crentes. Ser crente é merecedor de respeito, ser ateu é um crime contra a humanidade." Ricardo Araujo Pereira/comedian.

Shanghai

2009-10-26T05:21:00.000-07:00

Yes, Shanghai is for sure not China.
and, I doubt it is something from this world.

I went to the highest tower in China, third tallest in the world, oriental pearl tower.
It looks like a space rocket made of two giant pearls.
We went there at around sunset, to enjoy the night light, but when we finally got to the top it was already dark.

The view from up there?...astonishing.
Shanghai is a city with more than 18 million people. and its big!
One can see light from buildings as far as the view allows.
Around the tower there other giant buildings such as the shanghai world financial center, and a countless number of other skyscrapers.
It does't look real, maybe because of the magnitude of the whole thing. Its difficult to mentally conceive such a construction, thats why its easy to imagine it in miniature, like toys.

The buildings seem to be alive, because they are covered with lights that change colors or dynamic commercials.

Down there, is a town full of life. A friend said that it is like a fusion of oriental with occidental, maybe its true. Skyscrapers growing like mushrooms on top of old china markets, scooters, traffic, people selling all kinds of fruit, fake stuff, strange roasted animals, clothes, together with big banks, shopping centers, and the asymmetries go on and on.

I am impressed.

First impressions of shanghai.

2009-10-26T04:58:00.001-07:00

I was starving. I had had only breakfast and some water during the train trip, we agreed on a recommended LP restaurant,1221.
Result: The Best meal ever!
Crispy duck, dumplings, sweet and sour pig, eggplant with ginger, fried rice with chicken and pineapple, fried noodles and mushrooms, special rice with banana plus a few other dishes, mixed Chinese tea, served in a acrobatic manner red cabernet sauvignon/merlot for 12 eurs. It was just what i needed.

From there we moved to a bars street, and went to Zapatas,
Its a club with a with big garden outside and bar with two floors inside, there is quite a lot of expats.

It was a lot of fun, most of the songs were a bit outdated, but most of the people were having a lot of fun, I had caipirinha!!

Yes, Shanghai is a city like no other, if I thought Geneva was the babel tower, where nationalities mix, i might have to reconsider my opinion.
Shanghai has for sure the same as Geneva, embedded in the asian mix.

Leaving hefei going to shanghai

2009-10-26T04:48:00.001-07:00

The conference finished and it was time to move to Shanghai.
Since there were a lot of people from the conference leaving hefei, we had to wait in front of the hotel for a taxi. I travelled with two Italian colleagues, and since there was quite some luggage and most taxis run of gas (not petrol), meaning that most of the trunk is occupied by a gas cylinder, we had to go in two taxis to the train station. The Italians shared one, and I went alone in the other one.
Although I tried to tell my driver to follow the other taxi, the bastard did the opposite.
And there I was, in a direction that was probably not the right one, with my luggage and some of the other friends, going to a place I didn’t know how long it would take, with no references on how to meet my friends, and hoping that both taxis would arrive to the same train station (because there is more than one),
After driving through crowded hefei center for 50 minutes I arrive to the train station, that seemed to be still under construction, and arriving at the same time, the other taxi with my friends.

The entrance to the station was not clear, since there was just a big square, and some boards displaying information in Chinese.
There was a lot of people queuing to something that looked to be more like a bus terminal, but we were told that it was there the train station.
We queued, being smashed by a big crowd, we passed an x-ray machine placed on the street leading to what seem to be the terminal.
It wasn’t, that was just a pavilion where everybody going in the same train had to wait before going to the train platform.
The train was packed all the way to shanghai, we had seated seats, but there are other ways for traveling such as standing or seating on newspapers in the corridor.. The train was quite good, air-conditioned and fast, with a top speed at 260 km/h, the landscape shifted in between little lakes and farmed lands, to cities with buildings under construction,

When we arrived to shanghai it was night, and a big ocean of people traveled through tunnels until we reached the city surface. Skyscrapers, neon-lights and a city full of life.

We negotiated the taxi ride with a non-taxi driver for 5 eur, it took 1h30 to go through the rush hour traffic in the city center. The driver was fun and with a happy spirit, he made us repeat some Chinese phrases over and over. When we arrived to the hotel he asked for 10 eurs, with the excuse that it had taken a long time to get there, only because he was a fun guy we payed 7 eurs for 1h30 traffic ride and Chinese language class, ta-Buu-txi, pingwa.

Being a turist in hefei

2009-10-22T00:16:00.001-07:00

In general, Chinese people don't look exactly like us, they have a different shape of eyes, different skin, different height, etc etc.

In the same way we are interested by their looks and culture, they do feel the same about us.
Although China has been receiving an increasing number or tourists every year, somehow we still are subject of interest.

Its common to see them looking/staring at us, sometimes giving us a big smile, waving, pointing etc. Somehow while walking around in hefei, i could feel like an exotic specie.

My experience so far makes me thing that chinese people are shy, curious, and kind.
yesterday in the center of hefei in a very busy walking street, while asking for directions, people stopped to look at us and others trying to help giving directions, at some point there was already a quite big group of people surrounding us.

In the first bar we went, the music was very loud and most of the chinese seemd to be playing drinking games. In the second one the manager at the door received us speaking english, his name was turbo kong and lead us to the bar. here also most of the people was playing the same drinking game.
He explained that the game consists in rolling a set of 5 dice, the person that has more dice with the same number wins. (the game is a bit more complicated since one can cheat and lie about the result, but if you are caught you loose).

In both bars, We were the only 'whites', the bar 'No 88' was decorated with lamps and red laser lights. most of the people was ordering strange drinks served in big jars, that all the people from the same group would share. time to time people would come and cheer with us.
The music in the bar was ok, and a few times some performers came to sing (like karaoke) to cheer up the whole crowd.
They played the best "Happy Birthday" version ever :). I had never seen so many people dancing to 'happy birthday'

It was fun.

still so much too see

2009-10-20T22:42:00.001-07:00

Today was my presentation, i gave it in the main auditorium, which is a huge room that can seat more than 500 people, but luckilly it was not full, otherwise I would have been more stressed.

I think it went very well, and i hadled it nicelly, and remain cool during a series of provocative questions.

few words from colleagues: excellent, exceptional, very good, you were relaxed.

So I have reasons to be happy!

Because I have been restraining myself, not to go out in order to concentrate to the presentation, I still havent seen as much as I should.

Yesterday, the organisers of the conference arranged a chineese cultural evening, in the hotel, there were acrobats, opera singers, dancers and...the face changing performance.

For those that like magic tricks you should see this. Its quite stunning.

Tonight I will have some drinks to comemorate my presentation. gambei!

china taxi experience

2009-10-20T22:31:00.001-07:00

In the last two days I have been moving around by taxi around hefei.

A taxi ride that in geneva would cost about 20chf (13 eur), here costs about 1 chf.

The question is how can these people have as main job being a taxi driver, pay the gas, spend some gas to drive around looking for clients and still have some money in the end of the day to pay the meals.

either that, or ocidental taxi drivers are making too much money.

Taxis are mainly old cars, about to die, or that are miracles of the car industry for still being able to move around.

But one can also find better cars for a little more money, 1.2 chf instead of 1 chf. Thats how much you have to pay for confort around here.

The normal taxis, dont have seat bealts in the back seat. In the front seat there are usually seat bealts, but sometimes dont work, or are too dusty for never being used.

The driving is quite safe, taxi drivers keep on klaxoning all the time to other cars to catch their attention.

Sometimes I think it would be possible to drive with the eyes closed, and like bats do, following the sound to know about the surroundings.

To see how safe is driving around here, scooters drivers dont ware helmets, and sometimes you have the whole familly on it, father mother and little children.

Hefei - First impressions

2009-10-19T02:02:00.001-07:00

In Beijing I found most of my colleagues, that came with different airlines, we all picked the fight to Hefei where a Bus from the hotel was waiting for us.
In that bus ride, there were about 30 people, coming from different places in the world to attend the same conference.
The ride from the airport was quite enlightening.

The bus driver was using the klaxon at every move from other cars, and other drivers were doing the same. For some moment it reminded me "Little Miss Sunshine" movie.
The three-lane street was comfortably large for cars to get some speed. There were scooters on the side with 2, 3 people on it. no one wears helmet.

The landscape was populated by tall new buildings, 90% of the cases still under construction. here it seems that the construction waste is burnt directly on site.
In some more open areas there are small buildings and people walking. There are repair shops,small markets or other small business I don't know what they do. The air looks heavy and it threatens to rain.

We arrive at the Hotel, a new modern building with triangular shape. Tired, I check-in and go up to my new room.
It has all the comfort, big bed, big screen tv, big bathroom with shower and bathtub. the bathroom is separated from the room with a big glass window, one can have a bath having a view over the city.
Since I wanted to have a shower, i tried to let the water run...and...big water leak!!

After my shower i go to the reception and ask for help to 2 girls with very poor english.
I try to explain myself by saying in simple language: "Big problem, my room, shower, water everywhere".

They look confused, but nod their heads affirmatively, and dont react.
I say "I show you", and one of them comes with me.. at some point she starts leading the way and takes me to see the swimming pool. she says "here, shower".

I think "oh sh#t"
I say: " You come, I show you Big Problem, my shower"
i managed to convince her to follow me, and finally show her the new fountain in my room. She says: "Ooooohhhhh", and calls someone, then leaves.

A few minutes later, I have 3 people turning the bathtub around trying to fix the problem..

Tired and jetlaged, seeing the mess, I decided to call the reception, saying i want a new room. "No problem, me sends key". And a few minutes later was relaxing in my new room.
When I say 'new', I mean new. The hotel seems to have been finished a few weeks ago, and everything is shining and ...with some leaks.

At 7pm i go down to the reception dinner, great food, lots of it, I stuffed my self. Had 1 glass of wine too much, to help me sleep.

Wake up at 6h30am for breakfast, conference starts at 8am.
On the way to the conference site, all buildings look new and somehow inhabited.
The sun is shining, one can see the blue sky by looking up, but at the horizon level there is pollution.

Departure towards China

2009-10-18T06:37:00.001-07:00

The journey begun with a taxi ride to the airport, I managed to convince the gallician driver that i was really late, and i was, this resulted in a crazy driving reaching for every red light in town.
But it helped, because although i was the last to board, i didn't miss the flight.

The flight to Frankfurt was semi full, and i choose an empty space in the aisle with an empty space separating me from the next person, i like to have space in airplanes..
But my effort was in vain, a few minutes after take off, my neighbor an Indian young man, moves closer to me.
He was clearly nervous, holding his hands together in front of his face, almost like in a prayer.
He started the conversation with the excuse that that would keep him calm through the flight. he talked most of the time, but sometimes i couldn't hear him because of the noise from the engines, but i continued nodding my head like if I did.
He is a representative of Gucci watches in India, Imram was his name and in the end of the flight gave my his business card, in case i decide one day to go and visit mombai.

The next flight to Beijing was normal, was operated by air china and lasted 9 hours, my neighbor this time was a German man, but we only talked about the casual bumps due to the confined space, and the performance of the pilot during the landing. The dinner was chicken and the breakfast was pork. The time during the flight was spent trying to sleep in order to trick the jet-lag, but didn't managed.
Arrived at 6am local time, and in front of me another 6 hours before my next flight to hefei.

Tired and sleepy i spent most of the time from lounge to lounge, listening to music, and seeing the amazing performance of the Chinese officials. They look so proud with those uniforms. Here no matter which job you do you get an uniform.

China

2009-10-16T04:52:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I will be traveling there. For business and leisure, over a period of two weeks.
About 10 years ago i visited Macau at that time still under Portuguese administration and Hong Kong that had just been converted into a special administrative region of China.

My memories are very good, great traditions and superstitions, vivid colors and dense smells, a different culture, on the other side of the globe.

During this time, a lot have changed, China is growing at an impressive pace, and I expect to see a big contrast.

Some might argue that 2 weeks is not enough to sense the real china, 1 month can be not even sufficient, and one year might be still little...

The population of China grows more that 10 Million people per year, that's more than the whole population of Portugal. Its difficult to conceive that every year a new country grows inside a country...

China is changing, with its goods and bads, and i am going to get the feel of it.

keep tuned.

2009-09-21T15:17:00.000-07:00

i am sure its going to be a great year

34

FAININAUEI - finding a way?

2009-08-04T10:44:00.000-07:00

yesterday I posted this message elsewhere:
Num momento tão dificil com este para o mundo (Guerra, doença, miséria, o costume), artistas de renome portugueses juntaram-se para criar uma obra prima da música de esperança e união.

Apesar de não ser cantado em portugues, talvez para chegar a um público mais abrangente, não tenho duvidas de que se virá a tornar um mito musical

Deixem-se contagiar "FAININAUEI":

The truth is that although its a comic crazy song without meaning, it makes me feel good
:)

who messed up? Pull/Push

2009-07-30T02:02:00.000-07:00

the life of a person with ambidexterity is not easy..

I think my ambidexterity comes from the fact that i was left-handed at birth, but by some reason i decided to try using my right hand as well.

I remember finding it easier in primary school, to write on the left page with my left hand, and on the right side with the right hand.
Also because, at that time i was using mostly pencils and one of my problems was that, when writing with the left-hand on the right side, i would usually mess up all the righting of the left page with my arm..and by having this 'anomaly', sometimes i loose a few microseconds to process which hand should i use in certain situations to make it safer/stronger/etc..

But the problem today is a different one:
I am sure that someone messed up while translating languages.
the word
PULL (ENG) - has its equivalent in portuguese as PUXE (POR)
and
PUSH (ENG) - has its equivalent in portuguese as EMPURRE (POR)

you see the problem? these words are phonetically similar but with the complete opposite meaning!

and the problem continues in the french language as well
POUSSER (FRA) - EMPURRAR (POR)
TIRER (FRA) - PUXAR (POR)

since i work in an environment with two official languages.... a few times i found my self bumping against doors.
Do you think it is already too late to correct this?

its time! business time.

2009-07-14T05:44:00.000-07:00

i have to appologise 'cos this post should have been entered a long time ago.

They are the Flight of the Conchords' and they are just amazing.
i let you make your own judgment:

I also recommend:
'humans are dead'
'Jenny'
'Issues-Think about it'
and a lot more...

for future reference

2009-07-08T06:44:00.000-07:00

(Excerpted from the book The Accelerated Job Search by Wayne D. Ford, Ph.D, published by The Management Advantage, Inc.)

1. Tell me about yourself:
The most often asked question in interviews. You need to have a short
statement prepared in your mind. Be careful that it does not sound
rehearsed. Limit it to work-related items unless instructed otherwise.
Talk about things you have done and jobs you have held that relate to
the position you are interviewing for. Start with the item farthest
back and work up to the present.

2. Why did you leave your last job?
Stay positive regardless of the circumstances. Never refer to a major
problem with management and never speak ill of supervisors, co-workers
or the organization. If you do, you will be the one looking bad. Keep
smiling and talk about leaving for a positive reason such as an
opportunity, a chance to do something special or other forward-looking
reasons.

3. What experience do you have in this field?
Speak about specifics that relate to the position you are applying for.
If you do not have specific experience, get as close as you can.

4. Do you consider yourself successful?
You should always answer yes and briefly explain why. A good
explanation is that you have set goals, and you have met some and are
on track to achieve the others.

5. What do co-workers say about you?
Be prepared with a quote or two from co-workers. Either a specific
statement or a paraphrase will work. Jill Clark, a co-worker at Smith
Company, always said I was the hardest workers she had ever known. It
is as powerful as Jill having said it at the interview herself.

6. What do you know about this organization?
This question is one reason to do some research on the organization
before the interview. Find out where they have been and where they are
going. What are the current issues and who are the major players?

7. What have you done to improve your knowledge in the last year?
Try to include improvement activities that relate to the job. A wide
variety of activities can be mentioned as positive self-improvement.
Have some good ones handy to mention.

8. Are you applying for other jobs?
Be honest but do not spend a lot of time in this area. Keep the focus
on this job and what you can do for this organization. Anything else is
a distraction.

9. Why do you want to work for this organization?
This may take some thought and certainly, should be based on the
research you have done on the organization. Sincerity is extremely
important here and will easily be sensed. Relate it to your long-term
career goals.

10. Do you know anyone who works for us?
Be aware of the policy on relatives working for the organization. This
can affect your answer even though they asked about friends not
relatives. Be careful to mention a friend only if they are well thought
of.

11. What kind of salary do you need?
A loaded question. A nasty little game that you will probably lose if
you answer first. So, do not answer it. Instead, say something like,
That’s a tough question. Can you tell me the range for this position?
In most cases, the interviewer, taken off guard, will tell you. If not,
say that it can depend on the details of the job. Then give a wide
range.

12. Are you a team player?
You are, of course, a team player. Be sure to have examples ready.
Specifics that show you often perform for the good of the team rather
than for yourself are good evidence of your team attitude. Do not brag,
just say it in a matter-of-fact tone. This is a key point.

13. How long would you expect to work for us if hired?
Specifics here are not good. Something like this should work: I’d like
it to be a long time. Or As long as we both feel I’m doing a good job.

14. Have you ever had to fire anyone? How did you feel about that?
This is serious. Do not make light of it or in any way seem like you
like to fire people. At the same time, you will do it when it is the
right thing to do. When it comes to the organization versus the
individual who has created a harmful situation, you will protect the
organization. Remember firing is not the same as layoff or reduction in
force.

15. What is your philosophy towards work?
The interviewer is not looking for a long or flowery dissertation here.
Do you have strong feelings that the job gets done? Yes. That’s the
type of answer that works best here. Short and positive, showing a
benefit to the organization.

16. If you had enough money to retire right now, would you?
Answer yes if you would. But since you need to work, this is the type
of work you prefer. Do not say yes if you do not mean it.

17. Have you ever been asked to leave a position?
If you have not, say no. If you have, be honest, brief and avoid saying
negative things about the people or organization involved.

18. Explain how you would be an asset to this organization
You should be anxious for this question. It gives you a chance to
highlight your best points as they relate to the position being
discussed. Give a little advance thought to this relationship.

19. Why should we hire you?
Point out how your assets meet what the organization needs. Do not
mention any other candidates to make a comparison.

20. Tell me about a suggestion you have made
Have a good one ready. Be sure and use a suggestion that was accepted
and was then considered successful. One related to the type of work
applied for is a real plus.

21. What irritates you about co-workers?
This is a trap question. Think real hard but fail to come up with
anything that irritates you. A short statement that you seem to get
along with folks is great.

22. What is your greatest strength?
Numerous answers are good, just stay positive. A few good examples:
Your ability to prioritize, Your problem-solving skills, Your ability
to work under pressure, Your ability to focus on projects, Your
professional expertise, Your leadership skills, Your positive attitude

23. Tell me about your dream job.
Stay away from a specific job. You cannot win. If you say the job you
are contending for is it, you strain credibility. If you say another
job is it, you plant the suspicion that you will be dissatisfied with
this position if hired. The best is to stay genetic and say something
like: A job where I love the work, like the people, can contribute and
can’t wait to get to work.

24. Why do you think you would do well at this job?
Give several reasons and include skills, experience and interest.

25. What are you looking for in a job?
See answer # 23

26. What kind of person would you refuse to work with?
Do not be trivial. It would take disloyalty to the organization,
violence or lawbreaking to get you to object. Minor objections will
label you as a whiner.

27. What is more important to you: the money or the work?
Money is always important, but the work is the most important. There is
no better answer.

28. What would your previous supervisor say your strongest point is?
There are numerous good possibilities:
Loyalty, Energy, Positive attitude, Leadership, Team player, Expertise,
Initiative, Patience, Hard work, Creativity, Problem solver

29. Tell me about a problem you had with a supervisor
Biggest trap of all. This is a test to see if you will speak ill of
your boss. If you fall for it and tell about a problem with a former
boss, you may well below the interview right there. Stay positive and
develop a poor memory about any trouble with a supervisor.

30. What has disappointed you about a job?
Don’t get trivial or negative. Safe areas are few but can include:
Not enough of a challenge. You were laid off in a reduction Company did
not win a contract, which would have given you more responsibility.

31. Tell me about your ability to work under pressure.
You may say that you thrive under certain types of pressure. Give an
example that relates to the type of position applied for.

32. Do your skills match this job or another job more closely?
Probably this one. Do not give fuel to the suspicion that you may want
another job more than this one.

33. What motivates you to do your best on the job?
This is a personal trait that only you can say, but good examples are:
Challenge, Achievement, Recognition

34. Are you willing to work overtime? Nights? Weekends?
This is up to you. Be totally honest.

35. How would you know you were successful on this job?
Several ways are good measures:
You set high standards for yourself and meet them. Your outcomes are a
success.Your boss tell you that you are successful

36. Would you be willing to relocate if required?
You should be clear on this with your family prior to the interview if
you think there is a chance it may come up. Do not say yes just to get
the job if the real answer is no. This can create a lot of problems
later on in your career. Be honest at this point and save yourself
future grief.

37. Are you willing to put the interests of the organization ahead ofyour own?
This is a straight loyalty and dedication question. Do not worry about
the deep ethical and philosophical implications. Just say yes.

38. Describe your management style.
Try to avoid labels. Some of the more common labels, like progressive,
salesman or consensus, can have several meanings or descriptions
depending on which management expert you listen to. The situational
style is safe, because it says you will manage according to the
situation, instead of one size fits all.

39. What have you learned from mistakes on the job?
Here you have to come up with something or you strain credibility. Make
it small, well intentioned mistake with a positive lesson learned. An
example would be working too far ahead of colleagues on a project and
thus throwing coordination off.

40. Do you have any blind spots?
Trick question. If you know about blind spots, they are no longer blind
spots. Do not reveal any personal areas of concern here. Let them do
their own discovery on your bad points. Do not hand it to them.

41. If you were hiring a person for this job, what would you look for?
Be careful to mention traits that are needed and that you have.

42. Do you think you are overqualified for this position?
Regardless of your qualifications, state that you are very well
qualified for the position.

43. How do you propose to compensate for your lack of experience?
First, if you have experience that the interviewer does not know about,
bring that up: Then, point out (if true) that you are a hard working
quick learner.

44. What qualities do you look for in a boss?
Be generic and positive. Safe qualities are knowledgeable, a sense of
humor, fair, loyal to subordinates and holder of high standards. All
bosses think they have these traits.

45. Tell me about a time when you helped resolve a dispute betweenothers.
Pick a specific incident. Concentrate on your problem solving technique
and not the dispute you settled.

46. What position do you prefer on a team working on a project?
Be honest. If you are comfortable in different roles, point that out.

47. Describe your work ethic.
Emphasize benefits to the organization. Things like, determination to
get the job done and work hard but enjoy your work are good.

48. What has been your biggest professional disappointment?
Be sure that you refer to something that was beyond your control. Show
acceptance and no negative feelings.

49. Tell me about the most fun you have had on the job.
Talk about having fun by accomplishing something for the organization.

50. Do you have any questions for me?
Always have some questions prepared. Questions prepared where you will be an asset to the organization are good. How soon will I be able to be productive? and What type of projects will I be able to assist on? are
examples.

Eurovision song contest

2009-06-02T03:00:00.000-07:00

I know its been some time now, since the eurovision contest, but its never late to address this subject.
When I was young in the evening of the contest me and my family would all sit together to watch this tv show.
The format was a lot less spectacular that the current one, but the feeling was much nicer.
First, the eurovision anthem, that sounded to have played at least 3thousand times more than it should, then the contestants dressed in '70's disco-night' outfits would sing in their onw language and performing in front a small crowd. Finally the scores were given by the representative of the jury of each country, in English and french.
I think for some young people 'dix points' or 'thwelve points' were the first words in french and english they had first learned. (today its either 'username' or 'password').

But lets focus here.. do you really think Denmark should have own this years edition?

I think portugal should have own! Lets face it, the portuguese girl was maybe the only one that was smilling because she was enjoying, and not because her doctor had sold it to her.
She was showing something that somehow represented her country traditional music.

And what about neighbouring countries giving points to neighbouring countries? in this regard portugal is being injured because we only make boarder with 1 other country. I vote for some kind of biasing, like: the final score should be equal to the number of points divided by the number of borders with other contries.

Seriously, eurovision songs are becoming very much all alike and i would categorize them like this:
-The 'shakira'/'prety boy' type pop song with some dance beat, with english lyrics
-the other type (where i could count only 3-4 contestants)

result: bad quality/ 1 'popcorn' icecream in 'gelatomania' to kill the boredom.

going back to normal mode

2009-06-02T02:55:00.000-07:00

sorry for the sensation of emptiness i created in my dedicated readers :P

aki-A-nuno is gonna go mini-mode

2009-05-12T08:24:00.000-07:00

short messaging feeds on weird thoughts.
(experimental version v.001)

on Ecological footprint

2009-04-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

I think you better start with my previous post:
'On economic crisis vs. environment'

I got interested and i decided to dig in, apparently there seemed to be some kind of proportionality between how developed a country is with how much waste they produce.

then i found this plot:

On the horizontal axis its the Human Development Index rank.
(some one created a ranking of countries based on the HDI, which is some sort of measure for:

quality of life, such as health indicators and access to health-care services, life expectancy at birth, nutrition levels,
education and literacy levels,
access to basic needs such as water and sanitation, and so on.
It also takes into account GDP per capita in terms of Purchasing Power Parity
and percentage of the population living below the poverty line.

So, here is the thing, it is possible to live an ecologically sustainable life and be amongst the 40 most developed countries, but for that you need to learn tango.

Economic crisis vs. Environment

2009-04-20T02:48:00.000-07:00

On the radio this morning a comedian was talking about the advantages of the increasing unemployment in the US:
"last month hundreds of thousands, 5 million the last year, about 10% of the population". and he finds that "formidable, absolument genial".
(...)
"The more Americans are unemployed, the more chances we have to survive" all because "they are the worse pollution makers in the planet"
(...)
"what no one was able to do, from the ecologists of the 'Club of Rome' to those of Rio and Kyoto, the cupid(?) bankers at Wall street managed to do it in less than two years with their sub-prime".

I decided to make my own investigation about the differences of the US, Switzerland and Portugal:
here is a nice statistics web page.

One of the most interesting results in my view is the 'Ecological footprint'*:

(click to view other countries)

So here it is my conclusion:
United States produces 6.5 times more waste than they should(12.22/1.89).
Switzerland produces 3.5 times more waste than they should(6.63/1.89).
Portugal produces 2.6 times more waste than they should(4.99/1.89).

now, the question is: If we humans are too stupid to do something, can you tell me in which year is Wall-E going to be released?

(*) The Ecological Footprint is a method of measuring and analyzing resource consumption and waste output compared to the renewable capacity of nature. It represents the amount of productive land area needed to produce the resources (food,energy and materials) and to absorb the wastes produced by an individual. Since 1980, the average per capita ecological footprint has decreased as many processes (especially crop production) have become more efficient.If the ecological footprint exceeds the available productive land, The resource use is considered unsustainable.
Globally, the available ecologically productive land area included in the Ecological footprint analysis is 1.89 hectares for each person. The footprint takes into account fossil fuel use, cropland, forests, nuclear and hydroelectric power, fisheries and buildings.

Easter

2009-04-16T05:13:00.000-07:00

This year it all started with a weather forecast. Our plans to go down to Italy for some sunny holidays had to be postponed to some other time when heavy rain is not part of the plans.

Although the weather forecast for geneva was not that smiley it ended up by resulting in 4 days of nice Spring sunny break.

Tried to be outside in a relaxed way ,going to lavey les bains, making picknick, walking around enjoying the city.

It was in one of those excursions that I realized the publicity posted on the public transport of Geneva TPG, sponsored by the Catholic church.
On the image of a lamb, one reads " party meal, or symbol of innocence?" (more)
Interesting uhh? a church spending money like that to publicize on its own symbols..

well, but the story is not only this, apparently the TPG refused a previous access to the l'Association suisse des libres penseurs to post a outdoor like the one below, that had already been circulating in other European cities (more more):
Sometimes some things are just too obvious.
_______________________________________
But my Easter was not only about watching buses passing...

It started in a morning with a nice long sandwich, apparently a tradition in a particular Swedish family. The ingredients were, bread, mortadela, cheese (Gruyere and goat), boiled egg, tomatoes, salmon, cournichons and ham. Great Start!

Finally on monday we did a nice pick-nick close to the lake with some friends, we painted eggs and we did some crash test contest of the previously painted eggs. the greek girl with a baby in her belly won the crash contest, and i like to think that I won the painted eggs contest.
Here are the contestants:
So who do you think should win the egg contest?

on absurd news

2009-03-19T05:41:00.000-07:00

today in a portuguese newspaper one could read as headline:
"Driver with 4.04 was still drunk when presented to the judge"
and it follows by saying that a driver was detained yesterday morning for having 4.04 g/l of alcohol in the blood. The driver tried to run away from the police, but was finally caught after smashing his car against another car that was parked. the news adds that he almost beat the top record of 4.2 g/l that is still owned by a woman. It finishes by saying that when taken to the court the next morning the driver was unable to speak clearly due to being still drunk and was set free, and the legal charge is no longer a crime but only an inquiry.

W-T-F??
i don't know what is more bizarre, the whole story or that in comes out it the cover page of the main PT newspapers..

is Science going in the right direction?

2009-03-18T07:58:00.000-07:00

Some months ago I found this product in a shop close to Chamonix:

"Liquid fart with bubble gum smell"
main features:
-long life time
-ecological

dont believe me, here is the proof
...for those who are thinking about buying it, I'm sorry to disappoint you but apparently its a spray that you apply in the surface of your ski/snowboard to make is smoother and go faster.

on Twitter

2009-03-09T15:39:00.000-07:00

recently i came across this new web functionality called twitter.

A video on twitter.com tries to explain what it is all about:

-in less than 140 characters answering "what are you doing?".

So this application let people "stay in touch" with the ones they care...communicate, etc,etc

Its a kind of facebook status update, that is sent to everyone that care about you.....soo, its ok! (for those who enjoy that).

but then I've see this

"twitter is not just the place to know what your friends are doing right now.., its the place to know what everyone is doing right now".
In fact the information you write is not only available to the ones that care about you, it can be easily search or found without your control.

I find this genius!

For years , we thought about this super advanced computer/entity called "Big Brother" and we feared that our privacy was being invaded against our will...

...but wait a minute, we are the ones feeding this big brother.

Auuuouuch!

2009-03-05T06:28:00.000-08:00

In the human body there are about 650 muscles.

Last night i hurt my back during the body-combat class.
In fact the pain started last weekend, during my first time of the year, snowboarding outing , due to some really nasty falls.

then i had the great idea of going running and rowing, on monday, which didnt help, and finally yesterday a body-combat class without warm-up.

result: big pain and one night without sleep.

is it possible to live without internet (cont.)

2009-03-05T02:56:00.000-08:00

thanks javi for you contribution

Last day of trainning, last social experiment

2009-02-27T03:32:00.001-08:00

Imagine you're in a trainning course where you have to sit for about 7 hours per day in a dark room, listening to other people's talks for 5 days in a row.
Now, imagine outside that room there are 4 nice nesspr3sso machines where people can go and take coffees for free.
Experiment: what happens if, in the last day without prior notice, they cut the coffee supply?

is it still possible to live without internet?

2009-02-25T05:03:00.001-08:00

this week I am sitting in a training on the border of lac divonne.
the problem is that internet is only available during lunch time...
as you can imagine all these freaks I hang out with at work (me inluded) start going nervous..

( to be continued)

tiger the lion

2009-02-24T09:03:00.000-08:00

last week, following miguel suggestion, i went to teatre alhambra to see tiger the lion
Great surprise! this band has a very nice relaxing vibe that almost take us through an imaginary storytelling world. The singer voice reminds me of Nizlopi, but this time instead of being accompanied by a contrabass, there is indian tabla and a japaneese kazuma' s guitar. ..weird?...but it works perfectly.

my advice: definetly 'a suivre'

on economic crisis

2009-02-19T02:21:00.000-08:00

I have to be honest and say that I admire this economic crisis.

people have so much respect for it that it is easy to find news titles like:
"Global financial crisis spills over China's labor market"
"Financial crisis hits China's auto exports"
"Economic Crisis Creates Positive Spin-Off for Agriculture"
"Financial crisis makes climate change plan too costly"
"The global crisis has officially arrived in Russia"
"Financial crisis hits U.S. snowboarders"....?wtf?
and the list goes on and on...

it became such a popular hit on the news that we no longer speak about 'it' but instead we started speaking about 'Her'.

Is this crisis the female version of God?
come on, its easy to be confused...She is everywhere, just like Him.
Some say that she only exists because we say she exists

and.... because she destroys every men's pocket!

spanish nights

2009-02-18T06:57:00.000-08:00

my friend javier told me that one of the best places to go out in spain is a town called salamanca.
he told me that in salamanca there are lots of students and some bars are open till 2am, then close, then re-open at 5am. some other bars are open till 5am.

"so basically, one can go out for 48h, Every day!!!"

hmm... that seems a little too much

on global warming

2009-02-18T02:15:00.000-08:00

3 days ago i watched, Al Gore speech at AAAS
http://www.aaas.org/meetings/2009/program/lectures/media/gore.ram
I invite you to see at least between 19min and 48mim.
It is a simple presentation about a very complex problem: the very rapid climate change of our planet, which by some reason we tend to postpone our awareness to.
some interesting points:
-the 10 hottest years in the atmospheric records going back 160 happened in the last 11 years!!
-there is also another interesting plot about weather related disasters, and its undeniable the astonishing increase in the last 50 years of industrialized era.

he concludes saying that we have everything we need to save our world except for political will. (but that political will is a renewable resource)

today I read that a sector of 14000 km^2 of ice got loose from Antarctica and that last year was the one with biggest ice melting ever registered.
www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2009/02/17/ciencia/1234875461.html

whats next?!

Keziah Jones

2009-02-18T00:59:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went to a Keziah Jones concert in thonex.

Keziah is a singer, song writter and guitar player and his band has only 3 elements: Him, the bass and the drums.His style is called Blufunck (a fusion between Blues & funk), but what is unique is his super-pure-blood strong energy, unique guitar playing technique, and wide range tone voice.
He managed to cheer up the atmosphere just in a few minutes and played for about 1h30.
A few times he went back to old songs, my favorite:"Million Miles From Home" which was in fact the first song i ever heard from him. At the end he also did a few covers of Jimmy Hendrix, Bob Marley and James Brown.

It was fun.

first post

2009-02-17T06:29:00.001-08:00

I just need to explain what this is all about.
Trying to make it simple, its my way of seeing common things.
Sometimes moving through time, some others moving through space.
Most of the times just wasting some time.
enjoy and leave me your comment