Andriotti auf Deutsch

Spiritual Healing by João de Deus

2011-07-24T01:00:00.002+02:00

I just watched Healing, a documentary(?) about John of God (João de Deus). He is a spiritual healer from Brazil, well alleged healer. You may ask, right away: "why the fuck did you watch it?" First, I was tired and wanted something funny to watch. Nothing on this category, then I went for the mockery. Of course there was another reason. Being the only practicing skeptic and atheist in my catholic family I'm sort of challenged to give some thoughts on "how do you explain, without god or 'energy', that works?". Then I'm force to dodge the bullet saying "I haven't read or watched anything about it" or answering that this actually does not work and explaining why (if I already read about it). I did that for homeopathy (using the "shit" argument from Dawkins, which is my favorite) and it seems to be dismissed with a variation of "It does work for me" (never mind the Placebo effect and wishful thinking) or "it doesn't hurt anybody" (well, it actually does). The point being: if someone does not refute/debunk it automatically works but if someone does it is not important to begin with. Tiresome.

So, with this long long introduction, I may start my criticism about the report (it is NOT a documentary). First of all, it is extremely biased: there is no criticism, absolutely none. (And I doubt that it REALLY works 100% of the cases.) Second, at some point (between the anecdotal cases) they start saying that it actually depends on you to work. You have to believe. At this point my "scamdar" (yes, I invented this word right now and it stands for scam + radar) starts to beep like hell (it is like in those war movies when the alarm in the submarine starts and everything goes red because a torpedo is coming).

So, after the first red-flag is up in the air I paid carefully attention to what was being said in the movie. Another beep, actually the absence of a beep to be more precise, is that there is no evidence, i.e., the amount of medical exams, medical report or even and independent physician is zero, none, zip, nada, not a fucking shred of paper saying "it was here but my dog ate it just before I came here". This suppose to be a HUGE cock-block for any one thinking in taking the claims serious for his/her spiritual jerk-off.

Another couple of points, this time aesthetic ones, are that all audio during the alleged "surgeries" are muted or "soundtracked", giving a sort of elevated or sanctified tone to the catharsis going on. Another thing is that it only portrayed calm and moderated people who happen to be extremely positive towards João de Deus' practice of healing. It seems a well stitched up propaganda aimed at Europeans and high middle class viewership in general. It piles one anecdotal case after another intertwined with testimonials from "scholars" explaining how the healings take place, i.e., what is the "science" behind it. It even has a false scientific statement: "it is scientifically proven that prayers can heal people". This is utterly false, it only helps people who are told they are being prayed for (but not correlated with the amount of actual prayers, including zero). But this is old news for any moderately informed person.

A note on the "stunts" performed by João de Deus, they are well known and you can educate yourself on its particulars by reading Flim-Flam. By the way there is a specific debunk of João de Deus made by James Randi (here).

[Atualização] Pagamos imposto demais?

2011-06-15T04:56:00.002+02:00

Hoje (2011.06.14) almoçando com um colega de trabalho chegamos à discussão sobre impostos. Ele é da opinião que pagamos impostos demais e eu da que não. Neste ponto a discussão, por algum motivo chegou no específico da previdência e aposentadoria, foco deste post. Meu argumento é bastante simples: não pagamos o nosso quinhão para termos uma previdência auto-sustentável.

Mas porque digo isso? Porque é verdade e já está mais do que na hora da nossa elite (e me incluo nela por força da estatística e não por me identificar com ela) parar com o argumento babaca e pseudo-intelectual de que está sustentando os menos favorecidos. Se existe alguma verdade no argumento ela só pode ser o reverso.

Meu exemplo será de uma pessoa que receberá, ao cabo do seu tempo de contribuição, o teto de pagamento da previdência social: R$3.689,66

Para receber este valor o contribuinte deve ter pago 11% sobre este valor (R$405,86) nos últimos 180 meses (15 anos). O tempo mínimo de contribuição é de 35 anos para homens (meu exemplo) e 30 para mulheres. Para fechar o cálculo, a empresa (estou supondo um empregado) contribui com 20% (além dos 11%) que equivale a R$737,93.

Esclarecendo as minhas escolhas para o exemplo. Escolhi um homem pois este contribui por mais tempo e supostamente sofreria a maior injustiça. O fato de ser empregado se deve à maior contribuição total (se for autônomo ou sócio com pró-labore os percentuais totais são menores que os 31% do empregado). Isto quer dizer que este é, supostamente, o pior cenário de todos em termos de contribuição à previdência social. Outra suposição é que o indivíduo contribui desde o início de sua vida produtiva com o valor máximo.

Contribuição total = 35 anos x 12 meses x (R$405,86 + R$737,93) => total = R$170.461,20 + R$309.930,60 => total = R$408.391,80

Parece um valor razoável, mas ele, na verdade, corresponde a: 130,2 salários (10,85 anos).

Mas vamos voltar ao cenário. Supondo que o nosso contribuinte inciou sua vida produtiva aos 20 anos e aposentou-se com 55 anos. Assumindo que ele ira viver 73 anos (atual expectativa de vida) ele gozará de 18 anos de benefícios (total de R$796.966,56). Aqui começa o problema e a especulação. De onde se tiram os 9 anos extras? Vamos melhorar a situação (e acomodar os mais estridentes) supondo que todo o dinheiro foi colocado para render frutos (juros).

Então temos da matemática básica que o cálculo para juros compostos é:

total = capital x (1 + juros) ^ tempo

Assumindo que tenhamos os seguintes valores:

capital = 12 meses x (R$405,86 + R$737,93) => R$13.725,48
juros = 2% => 0.02 (isso é um juros real, estou descontando a inflação e é isto que sobre de "lucro" real)
tempo = 35 anos (para a primeira parcela)

Como temos que aplicar juros sobre juros com contribuições contínuas, temos que calcular para todas as parcelas. Portanto:

final = Somatório (com tempo indo de 0 à 35) de: capital x (1 + juros) ^ tempo

Isso, para o nosso caso, resulta em: final = R$686.198,20 ou 185,97 benefícios (15.5 anos). Mas então qual seria o juros necessários para equilibrar a conta? Isto é, garantir o benefício para os 18 anos (R$796.966,56) e equilibrar o déficit de R$110.768,36. A resposta é 2,79%. Eu gostaria de encontrar, e MUITO, um investimento que me garanta 2.79% de juros real por ano por 35 anos.

Agora a especulação. Quantas pessoas tu conheces que contribuem com o teto desde o primeiro salário? Outra pergunta, quantas pessoas, com a renda suficiente para pagar o teto do INSS, tu conheces que têm a expectativa de viver mais que 73 anos? Num exercício de imaginação, creio que hoje para as classes de C a A seja de, ao menos, 80 anos (ou um juros real de 4,45% ao ano). Deixo a cargo do leitor fazer o mesmo cálculo para uma mulher (30 anos de atividades) que contribuiu os últimos 180 meses com o teto e antes disso uma média de metade deste valor. Faltou ainda incluir nesta conta toda a infra-estrutura para manter a previdência funcionando.

Quem paga a conta? Parte são os que realmente contribuem com o teto (de sua categoria) desde muito cedo (quem ganha salario mínimo ou próximo disso) e morre cedo (aqui mais uma especulação: quem não tem acesso à alimentação e uma assistência médica de qualidade).

Então, caro leitor, demonstro aqui o que declarei no início: pagamos imposto de menos SIM (ao menos no caso da contribuição ao INSS) e quem recebe MAIS (candidatos ao teto do INSS) deveria ter um imposto "solidário" para equilibrar a conta.

Outro ponto importante. Desconfie de qualquer plano de previdência privada que conte com juros muito astronômicos para fechar suas contas. As chances são que o banco ou seguradora se baseie em um esquema de pirâmide, isto é, assumem que a cada ano entre X novos clientes para compensarem o déficit dos que já estão no programa. Mas se tu achas que isso é valido tu estás também entre os clientes da Amil ou qualquer porcaria do gênero e perdes o teu tempo com esse post.

Abraços,

Gustavo

[Atualização]

Esqueci de levar em conta que o montante final não para de render quando se começa a receber. Portanto os valores corretos são:

- Para 18 anos de benefícios (73 anos de vida) o juros auto-sustentável é de 2% ao ano.

- Para 25 anos de benefícios (80 anos de vida) o juros auto-sustentável é de 2.9% ao ano.

Isso atenua o problema mas de forma alguma resolve.

It is about hygiene, well sort of

2011-02-06T15:42:00.000+01:00

It has been a while since I last wrote a post, but I'm writing again. So whitout further due let us start with a juicy theological problem.

A while ago I wrote a post about washing hands and what the bible (the new testament) has to say about it (post here). In Matthew 15:1 - 15:20, with some variations in Mark 7:1 - 7:14 and Luke 11:37 - 11:41 (there are on-line versions here or here), it basically says that you do not need to wash your hands before eating.

But why is this so important? Because washing your hands is the single most effective way to prevent the spreading of infectious diseases. Remember, we are talking about the iron-age, not a particular hygienic age (think about the Roman-baths and orgies). So I'm mentioning it because when your deity says to you that you do not need to wash your hands before eating (contrary to an already established Jewish custom) you can draw two disturbing conclusions:

1. It is a political statement (made by god) rather than a to-be-followed rule.
2. It is an injection (man-made).

Just to make it clear, I will not argue about the veracity of the washing hands in preventing infectious diseases. It is a well demonstrated fact, so discarding a possible third conclusion "3. Washing hands does not actually have any effect on your health or life".

Elaborating on the conclusions:

A. It is a political statement

If you assume the first statement to be true (which I expect from a believer) than it must also follow one of these:

1. Your god does not have any concern about you, your life or health.
2. If it does have any concern, it is not omniscient or omnipotent.

Let me elaborate on the first point. If god does tell you to literally compromise your well being for the sake of an argument against other deities/religions it cannot possibly care about you. Just imagine you suffering from cholera or herpes and possibly dying an awful death and ultimately condemning all your relatives to the same faith (because they, as you, need not to wash their hands before eating). It is, if I may, not a loving god at all. Its political agenda is much more important then its followers.

For the second point it naturally follows that god does like you, but it couldn't find any other way of telling that, despite this custom the entirety of the old testament (and its interpretations) shall not guide your life, i.e., it does not know everything to state this point in a healthier way. More disturbing yet: it couldn't create any other situation to contradict the old customs, ergo not omnipotent. Either way it is unsettling to realize that it is not almighty and possibly just a minor deity, i.e., not the true "creator". Thus it invalidates Christ as a manifestation of god and therefore compromising the Christian faith. Or, as I recall my math classes: Reductio ad absurdum (proof by contradiction).

Moving on.

B. It is an injection

An injection in sacred texts is a very dangerous idea for any religion. I know of none that accepts it. The whole point of a religion is that god made itself known to mankind and let a set of rules passed on to all followers without any change. In Christian faith it is said that all written material (the bible) was flawless inspired by the holy ghost, meaning that all words came directly from god itself without human tampering.

Elaborating a little on the sacredness of the bible. If you dare to deem the idea of the possibility of any man-made alteration in it your are, first, sacrilegious and, second, damning the entirety of the bible to be tossed away. Why is it?

First, if it was possible at that time, it is possible now. Once the possibility is open it is sane to assume that it remains open. Just imagine your espouse cheating on you and saying it was only once and will never happen again: will you not hold the possibility of it happening again? developing a healthy scepticism? I assume you will loose some of your innocence your relationship.

I'm stressing this point because it might be argued that the "newest" interpretation is the one that counts. This renders an endless cycle of revisions on the holly texts, as a crappy software that needs constant updating to cover the flaws found on the previous version.

Back to the point, then if follows that if you hold the possibility of an injection you must also hold that you cannot (assuming that god didn't speak to you) know which part is an injection and which is god-made. So it also follows that the bible might be entirely man-made and, if not, you cannot recognize (without god telling you which is which) the truly sacred from the mundane. This renders the bible useless. It is more or less like suspecting that a glass of water contains arsenic. You can try to sip here and there, hopping to avoid the arsenic, but it will wiser and safer to just toss away.

C. The only possible conclusion (for a believer):

To hold that god is as described (all-knowing, all-powerful and the truly one) and that the Christian bible is the only holly text, you must also believe in the conclusion of the first point in section A: "Your god does not have any concern about you, your life or health". Not what you would expect from a loving god and, by the way, why would you worship something that doesn't give a shit about you?

The other conclusions are: there is no god and it is all bullshit; or there is a god and it is not the Christian one. Not a conclusion many believers will reach.

Well, that is for today and have a blasphemous day :-)

It is about Mary

2010-11-14T12:06:00.002+01:00

Sometime ago I realised something that seems kind of obvious (now that I have noticed it). But first a disclaimer:

It is about Mary the supposed virgin mother of Jesus Christ. First of all, to make it crystal clear, I do not believe that Mary existed nor Christ or any of the personages in the creepiest hoax called bible. State this I will now grant that they did and argue taking this as an axiom. So, for now on read as Mary and Co. did existed.

Back to the post subject: Mary. Have you ever noticed the lack of realism on every single painting, sculpture, drawing, sketch, etc. of the virgin Mary? Look at any incarnation of the Pietà (In Wikipedia you have a bunch of them). Go there and take a critical look at the sculptures (please do).

Spoiler Alert: Now that you looked it did you notice the rather gross error? How on earth can a woman on her 20s have a 33 years old son? I assume that god would not rape a child before she was even born (even though you could convince some Christians if you give it a shot). She must, at least, have a well-formed child bearing capable womb. Having only this as pre-requisite (since when perpetrated by god is not child abuse) she must be at least 13 when she gave birth to baby Jesus, so at least 46 when he has died. But again on any nativity depiction she is also on her 20s. The only conclusion is: Liposuction, Botox, Boobjob and a LOT of Nivea cream. Which bears the question: what is the point of staying young, beautiful and having nice firm breast if you are not going to use them anyway. It is like having a dick and be on celibacy.

Ok, but you can always argue that it is poetic license taken forth from the medieval tradition. Yes I can grant it. But than you must admit that Mary and Jesus most probably were not even close to the images that you have of them now. They were probably Arabic middle-eastern Jewish resembling people. So, brownish skin and eyes, black hair and the well-known "Jewish nose". (If do not know what I'm talking about, look at Barbara Streisand or Amy Winehouse.) The same goes for Jesus.

But why am I saying it in what seems such a racist statements, which is not (ok, it is as racist as saying that the people of Congo has black skin). Because every fucking "appearance" of the virgin Mary if too damn consistent, which could be a proof of its authenticity, with the European idealisation of the virgin Mary. I know of not a single case where the "witness" reported seeing a Palestinian woman claiming to be the virgin Mary. Isn't this a little odd? But again, you can argue that Mary appears as people expect to see and recognise her. Then again she only picks from the ignorant and gullible sort of witnesses that knows no better. I wonder why.

Even today there is such a crazy for the "touched" objects like the "cross" Doritos, the virgin Mary stained glass look alike and so on. And all of them consistently resembles again the European realizations. Why cann't god and his mini-gods (like virgin Mary and the legion of saints) show themselves as they really were? Anthropology and archaeology could easily state that the images indeed resemble middle-eastern faces and bodies. Oops almost forgotten, these are science faculties and they are bigots that insist in looking only at the facts rather than the "revelation", how silly.

By the way, Michelangelo's Mary is damn hot. I would do her, big time :-)

[Update]
Images collected by Bruno:
http://alturl.com/2maf7

http://alturl.com/96w9t (this is actually Peter, but you get the idea; also, there's a giant ant throwing up on his head)

http://alturl.com/baz6y (black jesus ftw)

http://alturl.com/bv6wg (gangsta jesus)

http://alturl.com/yfvt4 (me as jesus)

http://alturl.com/i753k

http://alturl.com/jjmc9 (ethyopian jesus)

http://alturl.com/t4a3v (the jewish jesus you were asking for)

http://alturl.com/fqdqg (chinese jesus!)

http://alturl.com/2n87c (rule 34 applies to Jesus too. NSFW!)

and of Mary

http://alturl.com/son49 (oh yeah, there's a chinese mary too)

http://alturl.com/ax7z3 (hot mary)

http://alturl.com/me3uc (persian mary + little jesus on fire)

http://alturl.com/fkm6h (old and depressed mary)

http://alturl.com/hicjc (weird mary, creepy little jesus with creepy little head)

http://alturl.com/uoosm (angelina jolie *is* mary)

http://alturl.com/8fwek (not sure where this one's from)

http://alturl.com/o5nwu (another old, depressed mary)

http://alturl.com/z2bpn (playboy mary)

It is about bags

2010-10-31T13:16:00.000+01:00

Today I woke up with a strange insight (or bullshit, so please be my judge because I like to keep it real): is there any thing cheaper than wrap something in plastic bags? I'm the king of wrapping stuff in plastic bags and here is why I do it: it is cheap and damn practical. If you know me or ever went to gym with me you must have notice one peculiar thing about my bag: everything is wrapped into plastic bags (usually very old and worn off). There is one for gym cloths (trunks and t-shirt), one for training shoes, one for flip-flops (for the shower afterwards), one for the gym towel and one for clean underwear (I would have had an extra for the shower towel, but it came with its own container). And I usually keep the same bag until it cannot hold things any more. (Just an example, I used a Tesco bag for about 3 years. I recall it because it was a bag from the last visit I paid to my brother in London, kind of emotional attachment if you want.) Ok, I'm digressing but indulge me in one more parenthesis on the story.

I'm not a self-righteous man and do not have this particular behaviour out of any ecological conciousness. If I do so is because first I'm obsessed with keeping things more-or-less organised in containers, second I cannot afford (in the gym case) those special cloth bags and third because I'm lazy. (If want to bet on the main reason why I do things, always bet on laziness, if I can spare time I will.) This said you may relax about what I'm about to write (in your case, what you are about to read) because I hold no moral higher ground on the issue that follows.

Cutting to the chase: plastic bags and containers. Have you ever notice how bags and containers in general give the impression of status? Some examples. You go to a tennis club and you instantly notice who is who (on the money issue) by who is carrying the most specialized tennis bag. There are those who have no racket compartment (those cheap bastards), the ones that have a gym bag with a racket slot/pocket (not that cheap). But the crown goes to those with the racket bags for 2 or 3 rackets and no other purpose (snobs mother fuckers, how I envy you). But this is not restricted to sports, look at sunglasses for just a second: as more bulky and colourful as more classy. Not convinced? Look at other "containers" such as man suit. As more fitting to the guys body as better it is (it only fits this particular person). The same with shoes. And this trend is not restricted to grown-ups, look at kindergarten (I know this because I like children and when I pass by a school I pay attention to them). All children now have special lunchbox with thermal bottle holder and so one. Definitely not the multi-use tupperware that I used to carry around.

Hopefully I convinced you of my sophism about special containers. The point is, it shows (at its down-to-earth meaning) wastefulness. It ultimately shows that you can afford to waste things with special purpose containers and it then shows that you have resources (in this case money). And here is the sad thing about it: it cannot be stopped (since waste it the ultimate status billboard) and it is killing us. (Yes us, because the planet will not suffer on the long run, 1 billion years from now the earth will be probably be full of oil again, just to give an example.)

I have no solution, sorry I'm not even close to be that smart.

I'm doing the right thing for the wrong reason (laziness and lack of money). (By the way, I do want the have those special bags. I just don't pretend to have a better reason than showing off.) Maybe when I'm married and have kids I can review my (wasteful) attitude (na, not really). And here is the "philosophical" part of the story: can we fight back or suppress our steady strive for status? Or better formulate: do we really want to fight it? The problem is, without this drive for status we have no technological advance, no economic system, no ever increasing medical and living conditions. In a nutshell: we are fucked.

Back to the species survival. I'm very sceptical about any measure that depends on a suppression of our innermost drive (the status seeking one) and expects it to bubble up, i.e., to goes from the bottom (people) to the top (law police making). All movements that I can think off are the other way around: the top tries to suppress the drive and the bottom just revolted and changed it. Not convinced? Let me give some examples.

Segregation. The law used to consider the non-European descendants less than human (holding up the non-European drive to seek status) and it didn't work for long. Women rights. The same thing, women were considered less than the men (again holding up the drive to compete with men), didn't work. Religious discrimination. I see going the same way, more and more it generates fierce revolts and will (this is my guess) leads to a point of no return where tolerance will be the only way out.

Now to the (perverse) kernel. We will not succeed in eliminating wasteful consume and (resource based) social discrimination. Why? Because nobody really wants it. There is the illusion that I can reach the top and once there I want people to notice it and not confuse me with the populace. I want distinction and therefore I cannot possibly be against the system that enables it. Got my point? Once the big people convinced the little people that they can reach the ever shrinking very top there is no way I (as a little people) will risk loosing my lottery ticket. The perverse on this is that as more exclusive the top is (the big people are making the club more and more restrictive) the more the little people want it.

So, as I said before, I do not have a solution and I still want the damn bags and you will only take my ticket from my cold dead hands. (I'm not a good human being and I do not pretend otherwise.)

I'm an unenlightened

2010-10-17T15:09:00.000+02:00

I just watched the movie The Buddha just to see if there is anything that could awake my "spirituality", nah I was just pissed. First of all the first written account of the Buddha's life was produced at least 500 years after Buddha and, as for Jesus, there is no proof of his existence. Then, right on the spot, I was stricken with scepticism. But I endure the whole film.

First he is a prince that managed to live 29 years without realising anything about the cycle of life. Not a problem per se but you must be a moron. I mean, he did not realise what happens to food, animals? Pretty stupid for me, but hey I'm not enlightened anyway.

Then he realises that there is such thing as death and so on (29 years for that? he is a special person). So he became an anorexic (maybe he planned going to the fashion week in Milan?) Then, here it goes the funny part, he realises that you need food and so on (about 5 years after). By the way, when your body suffers from extreme deprivation, specially if your are dehydrated, you hallucinate and this is fact.

But why am I bashing Buddhism, well because they, as any religion, claim to know how to best lead your life and the only path is through their path. And has Bill Maher already said: "what mental capacity those bronze age 'prophets' had that I don't" and he also said: "it is like their are catching a station that my brain cannot". For me it seems that people are catching white noise and are mistaking it for signal. Ok 'm drifting away from Buddhism.

So in a nutshell Buddhism say:

1. Life is suffering
2. Suffering comes from desire
3. To reach the nirvana means to have total control of your own desire

And what is objective? Never again to take part on the cycle of life. (They believe in reincarnation and through reincarnation you suppose to get readier and readier for nirvana.) So, the ultimate objective is to extinguish human life. I mean, if everyone reaches the nirvana nobody comes back and therefore no more humans. So if you are Buddhist don't be a jerk having children or better: nuke Earth and end the suffering. According to their logic this must be the holiest thing to do. But again, I'm not enlightened.

By the way, if you think that Jesus has operated miracles. He does not stand a chance against Buddha. Among other things he produced an earthquake just by touching the ground (while he meditated and was kicking the hell's army and the devil himself). While the pussy Jesus walked on the water, Buddha walked on the fucking air.

But I must say, at least he preached peace by all means and that is what puts Buddhism a little higher than the other religions.

Sorry Dalai Lama, but the king is just naked!

2010-10-05T12:08:00.000+02:00

The other day I listened to a Dalai Lama speech/dialogue and I couldn't get it why people pay any attention to this babbling Cuckoo. If you have the time pay attention to his discourse. First he says a series of obviousness, which are no better than "we are bipeds as species", and follow his next sentences with "I think" (some kind of duo false-modesty/safeguard) and starts saying any thing that comes to mind based on no facts what so ever. Then comes the juice best it, he draws conclusions like "than you get peace" and every moron on the room stands up and starts clapping.

Please please, do not shut your brain out when you listen to someone famous. The worst about the Dalai Lama is that he claims to know how to guide your life. Fuck you! First of all, read some psychology book or at least learn something about anthropology and make informed judgment. And, in the name of the Lord the Flying Spaghetti Monster, be a man and drop the "I think" and stand for your ideas. Too easy to say, when demonstrated wrong: "I said 'I think'". Fuck that.

The king is naked and that is it!

Why do Christians keep talking?

2010-09-08T22:49:00.005+02:00

These days I came across a thought exercise. Are Christians really that stupid? I mean, borrowing from Twitter from God Almighty: "To most Christian, the bible is like a software license. Nobody reads it. They just scroll to the bottom and click and click 'I agree.'". To problem is the following. In the bible (Revelation, or Apocalypse, chapter 7:1-8, or here) is clearly stated that ONLY 144,000 souls will be saved. If you are a Christian, have you done the math? In 2007 (source here) there were more than 400,000 priests world-wide and about 1,1 billion Catholics in the world. So how many tickets your think there is left? I'm talking about your ticket if you happen to be a Christian.

Let us say, for the sake of the argument, that there is still tickets to be earned. How stupid can you be to try to convert me to your faith and maybe take your ticket. Imagine the following situation: there is a lottery where 144,000 tickets will get U$1,000,000.00 and there is already about 1,1 billion people participating (you included) would you try to convince me to buy ticket and lower your chances even more? You must be kidding me.

If your a religious person and happen to be reading this the best advise I can give you is this: shut the fuck up! For your own sake, we are talking about the eternal life.

Just some statistics to try to save you:

At Jesus time the world population is believed to be about 150 millions to 170 millions (source here) so the 144,000 represents (being generous) about 10%.

The current world population is about 6,69 billion (source here) which is to say that by the salvation quote there will be about 700 millions saved (notice my generosity).

Now let us skim the concurrency by limiting it the Christians in the world (about 2,1 bi in 2005, source here).

This means that your actual chance is about 1/3, if your god understands anything at all about inflation :-) Still not a free pass!

Why we need science

2010-04-13T14:21:00.001+02:00

Please take the time to see this video:

A list

2010-02-18T16:45:00.005+01:00

Well, in my narcissist behaviour I want to share my (revamped) RSS reading list.

Have fun.

One of our guys got hooked

2010-02-17T19:25:00.007+01:00

One of my best friends got married on 6th of February and I was proud to be one of the best men (for us there isn't a best man). It was awkward because I'm an atheist and it was a religious ceremony. Anyway, he is one of my best friends and that is more important than my personal beliefs.

Congratulations to you Vogel and your beautiful wife Lilian.

Heat wave hits Porto Alegre

2010-02-04T15:09:00.007+01:00

It is incredibly hot down here. I mean, seriously, it is fucking hot here, unbearable hot. To give an extension of the heat wave that is bashing us I give you some pictures (from Metsul):

Official temperature, form the weather station: 41.7 degree Celsius (the highest recorded during the day, 03.02.2010).

This is what was registered on a thermometer next to my flat last night, 04.02.2010 at 00:00, but the estimated official temperature was about 33 degree Celsius:

The worst is that it supposes to get even hotter tomorrow (Friday, 05.02.2010).

If there is a god it took vacations and let the devil spread some of its warmth around here.

Not funny, at all!

I'm almost famous...

2010-01-28T18:05:00.002+01:00

... but not way I wanted.

The other day a cleaning lady stopped me and asked: "do you watch Big Brother Brasil?" "You look exactly like Alex" (one of the contestants). And I don't even have a TV set. Damn.

My thesis is online

2010-01-26T16:09:00.002+01:00

If you want to read (silently) my thesis you can reach it at:

http://www.opus-bayern.de/uni-wuerzburg/volltexte/2009/4048/

But, please, do not send me any correction, bug report, typo, etc. I do not care any more ;-)

The photos

2009-11-26T13:17:00.003+01:00

Some photos of my graduation as a doctor:

My offical hat being prepared
During the presentation
Celebration right after the presentation
In the restaurant latter on
And finally: getting drunk :-)

Living the dream: I'm a DOCTOR!!!

2009-11-20T18:27:00.001+01:00

Yeah right... Fuck this shit. The only use I can find for my new title is that I finally can say the two dickiest sentences in the English language ever: "Please step aside. I'm a doctor!" Seriously, some day I will use it. Another way to use the title (again, as a dick) is to correct a medical doctor when he/she introduces himself/herself: "Hi, my name is Dr. XXX" and I can say: "Oh really? What was your PhD's subject? Mine was YYY" Of course this does not work if he/she has an actual PhD.

By the way, if call me Doctor (and are not mocking me) I will punch you in the face. I really hate such elitisms. I'm as dumb as anybody else (if not dumber for enduring a PhD).

Another religious post, but you may like it

2009-11-15T20:32:00.001+01:00

Anyway, this other day I was talking (skyping to be more precise, since I'm in Germany right now) to my mom and I got I little over the top with her. I mean, it is sometimes really crappy to be an atheist. The point is, and now a rather big parenthesis on the issue, I'm in Germany for my thesis defence(1) and I'm a little worry about it (not as much as I suppose to be) and my mom noticed it. She wanted to cheer me up but it turns out that I ruined it by over thinking about it.

Here is the deal, she told me: "we are here all wishing you good luck and praying for you". The praying part I totally ignored but the "good-luck-wishing" part was a little too much and the reason is pretty simple. First of all, as an atheist I really do not believe in "good waves", "good luck", "positive thinking", and "good energy" sending mambo-jambo. It is metaphysics and therefore does not exist. Plain and simple (seriously, metaphysics is scientifically proved to be just crap). Then it hits me: if you (in this case my mom) are wishing me good luck it means that she does not believe that I'm capable (by my own) to get this. Therefore she thinks I'm going to fail without any extra help and since this extra help is not coming (because metaphysics does not exist) I'm utterly damned to failure. And this is coming from my mom. Now, if your mother does not believe in your potential, who else is going to? Pretty depressing don't you think?

In this particular case I wished I'm still believing in the whole crap. But then I cracked a beer open, drunk it and said to myself: "why are you always over analysing shit? Stop whining and get things done". But I tell you something: next time someone wishes you good luck (and is not your mom) tell him/her: "FUCK YOU!!!" Because he or she is actually saying to your face: "poor you, you are obviously not capable of accomplishing by your own and god knows you need this extra help from above (or beneath)". It gives you whole new perspective about these (until now) harmless "wishful thinking", don't you think?

(1) Yes, it is correct with "c" because I use British English instead of American English so suck it.

Wood Allen? Since when?

2009-11-06T20:49:00.002+01:00

I haven't written about me lately so I'm not actually starting now but I have to comment this. I just watched Whatever Works from Woody Allen and I liked it, a lot. Then it stroke me: "Am I becoming an Woody Allen fan?" This is serious because I used to hate it. I though it was dull and boring but now I enjoy each sarcastic bit and Woody Allen is full of it. Well, the point is (as a pseudo scientist): I went to IMDb to check it out how many of the last Woody Allen movies I saw and how many I truly enjoyed. Amazing: every one that I saw I liked:

Melinda and Melinda
Match Point
Scoop
Cassandra's Dream

I wonder when that happened. Go figue.

Science fucking up with the hype, once again

2009-10-27T11:27:00.004+01:00

First of all, if you really got into that 2012 bull shit you must be either mentally retarded or a superstitious/religious person (sorry about the triple redundancy). But hey, I was once a believer (and dumb). Anyway, it turns out that this was a misinterpretation of the Maya prophecy (or mambo jambo crap, if you want) and the actual end is in 2220 (news here). The interesting about it is: how to keep the mood when you go to the theatres to watch 2012 or even that crappy pseudo documentary Nostradamus: 2012 (which I already commented in a previous post).

Oh boy oh boy, I do love science: eat this apocalyptic fanatics :-)

Xmas gift hint

2009-10-19T17:49:00.001+02:00

If you are wondering what to give me for Xmas, I give you a suggestion:

Science for dummies :-)

2009-10-15T15:11:00.002+02:00

As a bonus: a nice British accent. Or as James Carr once said: "I don't have an English accent because this is what English sounds like when spoken properly."

A great point made by Sarah Silverman

2009-10-12T16:03:00.003+02:00

Look at this ad, aired at Real Time with Bill Maher, by Sarah Silverman in pro World Hunger

Churras no Davi

2009-10-06T02:52:00.003+02:00

Ok sorry about the Portuguese, but that was the event last Sunday: a barbecue on my cousin Davi. The pictures are a request from a dear one. No complains now ;-)

2009-09-04 Churras Davi

For progressive rock fans

2009-09-27T20:13:00.006+02:00

For those of you who like Pink Floyd I suggest to listen to Porcupine Tree

You know you are a little behind when ...

2009-09-27T15:15:00.001+02:00

... your goal is to reach the body of a 74-years old man... at the age of 30!

I'm mean: WTF!!!

This is so wrong, in so many ways...

2009-09-16T15:14:00.003+02:00

First of all I'm not criticising the web site, but the people ;-)

http://peopleofwalmart.com/

Some taste of it:

P.S.: Thank you Émerson, you hit it again ;-)

Best slap ever

2009-09-13T14:49:00.000+02:00

Thank you Émerson, it made my day :-)

Paradox of reward

2009-08-30T16:50:00.001+02:00

If you ever thought about having your own company or you coordinate a team you OUGHT to see it. REALLY, it is important.

Science is just great!!!

2009-08-30T15:38:00.002+02:00

If you watched Blue Gold and got horrified with the perspective, take a look at this. I mean, isn't science just great?

And we lived happily ever after ;-)

By the way, TED rules!!!

Astonishing!!!

2009-08-30T14:54:00.002+02:00

IBM in Zurich has just accomplished an amazing feat: molecular photography! Seriously, this is mind boggling. News here and the scientific article here.

Fascinating

2009-08-21T15:29:00.003+02:00

It is fascinating how synchrony can leave us in this mesmerizing state. I mean, when multiple senses are stimulated simultaneously, you get almost hypnotised.

(Original reference here)

let yourself feel. from Esteban Diácono on Vimeo.

Just watched a nice movie

2009-08-20T03:22:00.003+02:00

The movie Middle of Nowhere is a worth watching movie. It leaves you that gooshie-good-feeling about life. Again a good performance from Anton Yelchin, best known by his recent role as Kyle Reese in Terminator Salvation, but with a really good acting in Charlie Bartlett (another worth watching movie). This movie also have Willa Holland in a minor role. I enjoyed a lot her acting in Garden Party, which is not recommended for those with weak guts ;-) If you are searching for good entertainment and do not want to waste your time in another mindless blockbuster, try it and let me know.

Time has not been kind with me

2009-08-19T21:15:00.003+02:00

Today a friend of mine -- he is actually my boss now (Émerson) -- sent me a picture of me. This picture was taken in 2000, with which I compare to my almost most recent photo. Damn!!! I miss those hairy days :-/

Humor always amazes me

2009-08-17T16:55:00.002+02:00

P.S.: Thanks Kaqui!

Partially unrelated :-)

2009-08-03T14:59:00.001+02:00

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iEZs0hkm00HwZjgec6r4fxLNVBZQD99QSD7O0

Why god, in my opinion (based on other, of course), is useless or non-existing

2009-08-02T21:15:00.000+02:00

Let us begin with the basic definition of god:

1. Metaphysical, i.e. it does not belongs to the physical world (it has no physical property)
2. Coherent and consistent, i.e. it has no paradoxal concepts coexisting at its mind. For instance, it cannot holds that something must die and at the same time live. This means that if it decides that something must die it already has the time where this event supposes to happen. A counter-example would be the set of gods in the Celtic culture, where the gods struggled for how the things were supposed to happen.
3. Omnipotent, can do anything.
4. Omniscient, knows everything.
5. Omnipresent, is everywhere (which is irrelevant for our discussion).

The above is pretty much the Judeo-Christian-Muslim god's definition and in some extend the Hindu deity set, in which all gods are facets of the personality of the one god.

That said lets start it, But first be aware that you will need a tool called Logic and, of course, an IQ higher than 3.

1. Why metaphysical? Because if it is not you can start searching for it in matter. If god is physical you can find it using a microscope or any other similar tool (here is the only place where omnipresent comes in). Since no one found anything it is mostly accepted, by religious groups, that god is essentially metaphysical.

2. Why consistent? If it is not you can play "favourites", i.e. a variation of "who cries louder gets god attention first". If god is inconsistent you may rule out omniscience, since it cannot foresee it's own future, which needs clarification.

Imagine that individual "A" says that he wants "X", but "B" also wants "X". So both of them try to influence god's will. Suppose that god favours "A" instead of "B" but at the moment god is about to give "A" "X", "B" convinces god of his worthiness and god gives "B" "X". (You can change "A" for Iraq, "B" for USA and "X" for land control.) It also means that god could not foresee that "B" was about to give a very good argument for changing its mind (the god's mind) and actually favour "B" with "X". If god is omniscient it means that it knows what it is going to do and ultimately how it will be influenced by the circumstances and therefore it can only be consistent. Assuming that god is omniscient.

3. Why omnipotent? Because a god with limitations implies that ultimately it is a "sub-god", i.e. there is something beyond its powers and therefore it may be useless to rely on it for anything (you do not know how far its powers stretch). So, a worth worship god is omnipotent.

4. Why Omniscient? See point 2.

5. Why Omnipresent? Usually to make the point that god is watching you and everything belongs to god. But it is essentially a minor issue.

Now lets start with the blasphemous part:

If god is metaphysical you can neither prove that it exists nor that it doesn't. So the question: "Does god exists?" is a worthless question, it just doesn't make any sense. Even though the question "Does the god described in <put your beloved sacred book's name here, like bible> exists?" does make sense and the answer is definitely: "NO".

Back to the issue. If god is omniscient than it can foresee it's own future and how it will decide in favour of each and everyone of us. This also means that it does not change it's mind (it is consistent). Then it follows that it is useless to try to influence it's will, since it already knows it. (No more praying, please.)

The other problem with omniscience is that it makes omnipotence almost useless. It knows how EVERYTHING evolves, meaning that it knows how every particle, every brain synapse, every action, every thought, etc will be. So god can setup a starting condition where every aspect of the "divine plan" will happen, i.e. the right configurations for the big-bang to happen so everything will go as planned. Bare with me this very thought.

Then god needs its omnipotence at this very moment and never more. It actually does not even need to exist any more, since everything will ultimately happen as it has planned and therefore no control is necessary.

But suppose that it so happen that god must fine-tune it's first plan. Then it means that it could not foresee this adjustment and therefore is not omniscient. But it also means that it made a lousy job at the planning phase. Then, how can we rely on a god with bad planning? Is it worth worshipping? Does it make any sense to follow it's teaching, since it has glitches and is not perfect?

Then back to the perfect god. If god is perfect, planned everything perfectly, and nothing can change it, why do you bother praying or believing? It will not change a bit. Not the slightest! And worse, if you stop believing in it, it is also in god's plan, since it foresees everything. And since it is a non-interventionist god why do you bother showing your gratitude? It will definitely not change any future events and if you don't show it also means that this very ungrateful act was predicted in the plan.

The again: make it any sense for you to have any metaphysical believes at all? Does it make any practical difference? Yes it does! If god does NOT exist you gain freedom. If god does exist you gain the same thing, but you also gain the relief that it was god's will ;-) (Jackpot for you believers :-))

Another good example of god's work

2009-08-02T02:26:00.002+02:00

And then come some guys and say: "Religion is not that bad!" Yeah right! Just watch this:

Wave baby, Google Wave

2009-07-23T18:04:00.003+02:00

Yeah, I'm on the wave baby!!!

P.S.: I love you Google ;-)
P.S.2: Please Google, do not give an account to Brad Pitt, at least not yet ;-)

Related posts:

Google Wave
Brad Pitt

[updated] Brad Pitt is on my shit-list, BIG TIME

2009-07-23T15:10:00.004+02:00

Seriously, the guy (Brad Pitt) is a fucking "under-achievement-certificate" for me. He is very good actor (I started respecting him after Snatch) has already had Jennifer Aniston and then married Angelina "I'm so fucking want her" Jolie, my muse (ok, mine and about 3bi another men). that would suffice to enter my shit-list, but that I couldn't take: He is an Atheist, yes you heard me: Atheist! (News here) What do I have left? Fuck you Brad Pitt and leave something for to brag about. I could still say: "He has her, but he is a fucking moron, he still believes in god"

[update]
Thank you Drebes, you just ruined my day: Brad Pitt is the cover of Wired (link here and cover here) in the issue of 17.08. Unbelievable!!!

TED Kicking asses, again!

2009-07-20T22:53:00.001+02:00

Genetic and anatomical grounds of psychopathy:

Sofrenildo strikes back: Brazil, round 1!

2009-07-20T03:50:00.002+02:00

That's it: he is back, big time! Recently (last Saturday) I moved in to live in Porto Alegre with two other flat mates. So, today I came back to the flat, from my brother's (I was paying him a visit), and as I came in one of the guy, who is now officially on my shit-list, told me: "I just short-circuited the shower" (our showers, in Brazil, are mainly electric). The problem, no replacement part available. FUCK!!! It is winter and the water is freezing.

I took the shower, ok, I tried. I mostly shook under those fucking freezing drops that were like dagger. But that is not the worse part. I couldn't find my "little buddy"!!! He is usually shy, but today he was like David Copperfield: he just disappeared. I'm still recovering from this trauma. I'm having homicide thoughts right now.

Quote of the day by Paul Begala, in Real Time With Bill Maher, June 19th 2009

2009-06-25T17:54:00.002+02:00

Paul Begala said this pearl at Real Time With Bill Maher in June 19th 2009 (episode guide here):

"I'm a catholic. We were taught that sex is a dirty vile disgusting act that we save for the one you truly love."

Bill Maher on France

2009-06-18T21:16:00.002+02:00

It is a bit old but Bill Maher said it well. It is a tip from Bruno, no not Brüno.

Yeah, mother fucker, yeah!!!

2009-06-15T11:51:00.002+02:00

It's on bitch!!! I handed the fucking thesis in. (The proof is here.) Now I need to wait until they evaluate the text and, if approved, I can have my defence and then, if I'm again approved, can you start calling me Doctor :-)

Well nothing is perfect and I got a fucking sore throat and fever since Saturday (the fever gave in yesterday but the throat is still sore). And now that I'm getting better the wetter, which was amazing in the last days, is getting shitty (rain is coming to pay a visit).

That's it folks.

One last time ;-)

2009-06-09T17:22:00.001+02:00

Couldn't she keep her pie hole just shut?!?

2009-06-08T21:09:00.002+02:00

Man, that is really annoying. I loved this gal. She everything a man can dream off. Pretty, sexy as hell, and damn: is she gorgeous or what? I'm talking about Heather Graham. She is a fox but why must she speak so much shit??? I read today a short news article about her (here). And first she said she enjoy trantric sex (niiiiiice!!!!) but then she said she is training transcendental meditation to levitate, yes you read it: levitate. But she didn't stop there she added: "I want to be able to fly like a superhero. I won't be happy until I can fly across oceans and cities, saving people from being murdered." WHY!!! Please tell me WHY. This is Jessica Simpson all over again. I explain. Once I was zapping and stopped at MTV and it was airing a reality show with her. (In my defence she was in a bikini.) And I watched 5min. and couldn't take it any more. It was terrible. (She is way too dumb.) Anyway, the same with Heather Graham. Now, every time I see her I will picture her trying to levitate and fly. Fuck!!! I hate to confront reality. One hottie less to me.

That's all folks.

WOW!!! Google Wave is awesome

2009-06-01T21:24:00.002+02:00

If want to see something REALLY awesome, look at what is coming from Google: It's Google Wave (not available yet). It is mind boggling.

I'm on Twitter

2009-05-30T21:16:00.002+02:00

I'm trying twitter now. I cannot guarantee that I will keep it updated, but I give it shot. Just let me see how it goes.

My twitter:

http://twitter.com/fgka

Angelina Jolie overthrown

2009-05-22T15:02:00.004+02:00

Those of you who know me also know that I'm kind of obsessed with Angelina Jolie. Once my ex-girlfriend asked me: "Am I your first choice?" and I answer, on the spot: "No, Angelina Jolie is" (no kidding, I seriously did this). Anyway, she is now overthrown by Mila Kunis. Which is funny, because I saw some episodes of "That '70s Show" and I didn't find her that attractive and it stayed so until the other day when I saw the movie "After Sex". I was astonished by her beauty. I mean, I couldn't take my eyes of her face. Anyway I found the hot scene and put it here for you to check out with your own eyes.

Wolfram Alpha: THE data search!!!

2009-05-16T12:13:00.002+02:00

If you haven't tried the new Wolfram Alpha yet, do it NOW, I'm not kidding, just do it. If you want some real simple tests try the following:

1. One country name: Brazil
2. Two country names: Brazil Germany
3. A disease: breast cancer (or aids)

It isn't perfect and some times it just does not answer, but it is on its way. Have fun with it.

Finally someone talks some sense!!!

2009-05-10T23:30:00.004+02:00

For sometime I'm a pro gene-technology for crops as well as pro mass production meat and I'm not an industry guy. I mean, I'm not a Joe-the-Plumber-moron and my argument was that genetically modified food and mass production is the only way to avoid starvation, that bio-food is a luxury. But finally someone with stature talks this too:

By the way, I think that genetically modified crops and animal farms is the only way to avoid, first, starvation and, second, to avoid complete deforestation. And as I discussed with a friend, for me those Greenpeace morons are, as George Carlin said, a bunch of "white arrogant self-important self-righteous liberal bourgeois environmentalists". What the fuck are they think about? That because we can afford bio-shit the rest can just die by starvation? Fuck you and give me more of those flu infected pork. Yes, mass production food will eventually produce some nasty shit. And you know why we are more afraid of this than hunger? Because this shit has no sense of social classes, it attacks us regardless of how much money is on our bank account. But hunger, that is okey. It will not knock on my door that soon.

P.S.: Have I already said that I love TED?

And Seth MacFarlane nailed once more!!!

2009-05-10T17:54:00.003+02:00

If you haven't heard about Seth MacFarlane, it is about time. He is the creator of Family Guy and American Dad. But if you do not known what I'm talking about I put two clips from Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy that I find hilarious. Have fun!!!

My IQ dropped at least 20 points!

2009-05-06T11:02:00.001+02:00

Ok here is the thing, the other day I was lunching with the people from the institute and, as usual, we discussed several themes and among them TV series. It eventually got to StarTrek and I mentioned: "I didn't really enjoy StarTrek, it's kind of boring". There it happens. Almost everyone on the table stopped eating and looked at my, like I was a Cuckoo*. I mean, for them was like my IQ really dropped about 20 points and I have been fooling them the whole time. Then, noticing that I was on though spot, I tried to save my ass by saying: "Well, anyway, I like Picard better than Kirk." That was, I guess, the limit of my ignorance. A professor, that was lunching with us, just said (looking at his food and talking in a low voice): "William Shatner and StarTrek is like Sean Connery and James Bond, there is only one real thing." But his tone was the most devastating, it was like he was saying: "why, on earth, I do even bother to explain".

By the way, I still do not like StarTrek and think that StarWars is way better (the original trilogy, of course). I actually didn't bother much about that reaction, but it was funny and curious at the same time. Almost like a computer scientist must fulfil some sort of form where StarTrek, among other things, must check positive to you to be accepted. Another thing that I do not do any more, which happens to amuse some of my colleges, is playing video-games. Not all of them, I do eventually play some Sudoku on my PDA, but that doesn't seem to qualify as a game.

* The Cuckoo is a bird that breeds through parasitism, i.e., the female Cuckoo put her eggs on other birds' nest and let them breed her offspring.

Why do I became a TED aficionado

2009-05-05T10:33:00.001+02:00

That is why science does not stop to amaze me.

Nice, how to delude people

2009-05-04T10:11:00.003+02:00

I friend of mine (Alexander, not the Alex from the parties) sent me this video explaining how to see 100mi US$ in a 1tri. US$ context. Nice to understand how worthless and manipulative it is.

How about that!

2009-05-01T12:54:00.003+02:00

In an interesting twist someone found out that bread is not a vegetarian food (news here). First of all avoiding meat as direct source of food is different from being a vegetarian. A true vegetarian avoids any source of nutrients that came from dead animals, like the obvious steak and not so obvious gelatine. Then you have the vegans (oh boy, they are REALLY crazy people) that avoid any source of food that is remotely related with animals. This means no dairy products as well. Now, if you cannot even eat bread, are you going to live from tofu? By the way, there is an inconsistency in the whole vegan bullshit: manure. You need manure to grow your vegetables and guess what (if you do not go into the forest or savannah to collect randomly disposed shit): you are "forcing" the animals into labour, i.e., they are "forced" to eat and to defecate.

By the way, the next time you see a vegetarian or a vegan preaching about animal rights, ask them about their leader shoes and jackets, because, you known, they are like dead animals. Another point, wool clothes are also a by-product of animal labour or they believe that wool is also dutifully collected from the sparse fibres that the sheeps naturally release along their lifes?

Crazy crazy world.

Being stupid!!!

2009-04-23T15:25:00.005+02:00

Today I got the prize "dumb people of day", I must have. I was writing an email to a friend of mine (Andre) and in the middle of a sentence I just couldn't hold it and sneezed. The problem was: I was drinking Chimarrao and I was stupid enough to sneeze over it. Well, the result can be appreciated just below. The problem is, was trying to be a smart-ass in the email. This just fucks my credibility. Anyway shit happens. By the way that is not the first time such a thing happened, sometime ago I was drinking coffee and I choked on a sip and spat on the notebook, the screen included. (I'm not particularly proud of any of these, but hey it is damn funny.)

Science made interesting and entertaining

2009-04-07T14:43:00.007+02:00

For about 2 weeks Bruno sent us (to our picturesque crap list called exu do lodo) a video of a talk given by Dan Ariely. I already knew the guy from his book Predictably Irrational, which was a tip from my brother, and I happen to grow very found of him (excellent book).

The talk was exactly about this book but that is not even the point. The point is: I got to know about TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design). But this conference happens to have just about every important researcher in the planet that give amazing enjoyable talks. The best of all: they put all talks online for free. For me it is pure gold. I already forgot how many hours I put on watching those talks.

To convince you I put some talks that I think are life changing, eyes opening, well you name it.

Juan Enriquez: Beyond the crisis, mindboggling science and the arrival of Homo evolutis

Barry Schwartz: The paradox of choice

Dan Gilbert: Why are we happy? Why aren't we happy?

Dan Dennett: Cute, sexy, sweet and funny -- an evolutionary riddle

Dan Ariely: Why we think it's OK to cheat and steal (sometimes)

Steven Pinker: A brief history of violence

P.W. Singer: Military robots and the terrifying future of war

Why do I even bother

2009-04-06T10:35:00.003+02:00

The holy church got fed up with those accusations over altar-boys and now made a wise decision to calm down the priesthood: convert lap-dancers into nuns (news here). Maybe I should reconsider joining the church, they definitely having fun in there ;-)

For those of you who do understand Italian enjoy the interview

You got to be kiding me!?!

2009-03-28T09:57:00.003+01:00

I though that the UN was suppose to be an extension from the French Revolution. A place where common sense, enlightenment, and freedom are the holly values that dictate that organization. I'm wrong, I'm deadly wrong. When Pat Condell mentioned it (on one of my posts) I though: it is mockery, that would never pass. And yet it did. They approve with 23 votes from the 47 to protect religion against criticism (news here). The point is, only 11 countries opposed the resolution and 13 just didn't vote.

The only thing that makes me less worried is that the UN is so demoralised that this makes it even worse, meaning that, well, nobody cares.

You know, sometimes I thing that we definitely should parish as a specie. I know I'm better of without those religious dick-heads.

Pat Condell is, again, THE man!!!

2009-03-25T17:07:00.003+01:00

Just an observation, if you laugh you will most certainly going to hell (maybe next to me).

Quote: "...that is some price to pay (to die to go to heaven) isn't? for admission to a place which is likely to be full of clergyman and born-again-christians. which a reckon makes it literally a fate worst than death."

Pat Condell is THE man!!!

2009-03-23T10:36:00.005+01:00

I'm a reader from Truth Be Known News and through it I got to know Pat Condell, on the last post. The reason I mentioned it is because I must put his last video here:

Sobre o estupro da menina de 9 anos

2009-03-15T12:18:00.002+01:00

Bah eu fiquei indignado com o caso, como boa parte dos brasileiros, e estava pensando em escrever sobre o assunto. Mas o Bruno correu na frente e escreveu um baita texto sobre o assunto. Com uma moral bem legal ao final que tentei resumi no seguinte:

Jesus é o deus que queimou a rosca e gostou e Javé (do velho testamento) é o Chuck Norris de mau humor :-)

Why are the film makers so fucking scare to make great movies?

2009-02-10T15:21:00.004+01:00

I saw two movies that are good but could have been great, genious if you like. The first one is Slumdog Millionaire and the other Real Time. If you follow a little about movies you must have at least heard the name of the first one, there is a big fuss about it lately. But for me it is just a good movie with a poor end and a crappy "extra". The other one, for being Canadian and small budged, I was expecting some balls to make it great and not just ordinary. What a shitty ending. So, before I go on discussing some details about each one (with spoilers) I must make a comment about Slumdog Millionaire. Why are the Indians so fascinated about synchronized dancing? You know what I mean? That crap that each and single one of their films has. I just hate that shit and it is what keeps me from watching them. It is annoying, kitschy, embarrassing, and above of all unnecessary. Before you criticise me about my attacks to tradition let me tell you that I also think the same about carnival in Brazil (maybe even worse because I have to endure this shit more often than the Bollywood crap).

#### SPOILER ####

Ok, here it goes, last chance to not read this and avoid spoiling your movie section.

Slumdog Millionaire is good movie until the very end. It has a hack a bunch of emotions, good actors and a good story which is well told. The problem is the end. What I mean is, to make Slumdog a great movie Jamal should have refused to risk his 10 million and settle the deal with the girl. Or if you want him to risk it all, make him loose everything. You know what I mean? It will have been a hell of a movie showing the merciless it has shown including the end, it would have been consistent. Another version could be: just not tell. Let the public with that unsettling feeling (the Blade Runner effect, i.e., not knowing if Deckard is or not a Replicant: great movie and even greater ending).

The Real Time for its turn is almost the same. Leave it! Let the boy die. I though that the end should be that final moment where the car runs into the horizon, that would have been great. By watching I really expected that the credits would roll up and so on. But no, they kept shooting. Then comes this scene where Reuben starts talking and then I realise what would come and for my total frustration I had guessed right. Why do they do that?

#### SPOILER ####

Anyway, my opinion is that people are afraid of picturing hopelessness on the screen. Which is delusional and deceive for the spectators. Another example of this is Sissi. The actual figure was a very bad queen and even worse mother. But in the movie they depicted her as a perfect women. Why are people always trying to scape reality and end up creating their own misconceptions about life. Like everything gets better in the end, people are nice, and such things. Guess what, if you do not do anything, anything happens. That's it!

I truly hope that we get some grown up film makers that can recognise a movie pearl and keep it that way.

Why do I even bother? Frankly I do not know.

2009-02-04T23:41:00.003+01:00

A saw a new religious movie: Nostradamus 2012. The movie is about the prophecy of Nostradamus that says that the world will end in 21th of December of 2012 (guess what: the solstice of that year). Anyway, I started with an "open mind" and tried to see some shades of metaphysics and perhaps return to religion. Yeah, you wish!!!

But if you listen to the first 10 minutes you say: "wow, that is amazing". Then you pause and think about split of a second and you start to smell crap. I mean: major league crap. I saw until the end and I regret. There it goes, another two hours flushed into the toilette.

But why I saw crap on it? Because once you realise how people extrapolate the "predictions" from Nostradamus you start to wonder: "wait a second, how can you read that quatrain and interpret that?" This "documentary" repeatedly says "according to several/some/various scientists" but never says who they are, not even one! Then they go citing Newton, arguing that he was an alchemist and so. That is for me a non sequitur and I explain why. Because a person is right about something (like the calculus invented by Newton) does not make it automatically right about everything else that he thought of. If you pick a 15th century person and asks about the earth form he will say "spherical", but if you asks about how to treat illness he will say: "make the sick shed some blood". It is nonsense.

Back to the history. The point is that the difference of what is in the supposedly prophecies and what the "specialist" interpret requires a great deal of imagination and a lot of good will to swallow. Another repeatedly non sequitur is to throw in your face a lot of non-related information (including conflicting prognosis) and say: "see, that is happening". But the best is: "we never have problems that big to solve in our history" I swear to you I almost stop there. It is an empty sentence. I would say: "yeah genius. every fucking generation is facing problems bigger than the generation before, so what?" It would be different only if you got a technological decline. Then it says we are facing the worst financial crisis ever. WRONG WRONG WRONG!!! The worst ever was the crisis of 29 (learn history for god sakes). Then it says "we are facing the most fierce threat of global war" Wrong again, the worst is still the WWII (learn history, stupid). Then goes on and on about different interpretations but never ever present any opinion contrary to the prophecy. It has no dialogue, just positive reinforcement. Please go back to school and learn some basics about debate, damn it!

As you can see, I'm really pissed of with this (another) crappy movie.

When will the madness stop?

2009-02-03T15:36:00.005+01:00

Today I saw in CNN a spot about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD or shell shock) in the veterans. They say that today's statistics about shell shock is worse than ever and the soldiers are suing the government. This lets me wondering: what the fuck!!! I mean, in civilised countries (different from Brazil) you usually must enrol yourself in the army, i.e., you must want to go to war. So, if I'm using the right 3 neurons, a soldier understands that he will be sent to war and still enrol him/herself into it. Moreover, he/she will be trained (about a year) in how to kill people (in every possible way). Then she/he goes to war, see some shocking scenes gets paranoid and sues the government? What I want to say is this: you are going to war, not an amusement park. If you think you not right for the job just do not do it!

For me it makes as much sense as suing an amusement park because after riding the roller-coaster your adrenalin level got too high and gave you a stroke. It just does not make sense! You see the roller-coaster, you see people getting high levels of adrenalin and you still went to it. Fuck you and leave the amusement park in peace (the government). You fucking knew what to expect, so stop blaming others for your poor choices.

This is, of course, much different from drafts (or conscriptions) where you do not have a choice. In this case, you must screw the government as much as you can, even for a broken nail if this is possible!!!

P.S.: If you use the excuse: "I wanted to help my country" then you are more screw up than most of us because you not only got out the war early but now are "bleeding" the government pocket. This means that they need another soldier to put in your place AND pay for your treatment. I do not think that this is proper definition of the verb "to help".

Finally homeless, hmm well, sort of

2009-02-02T22:45:00.000+01:00

Everything comes to an end and my life in Würzburg as well. Anyway I'm glad that I'm finally homeless and got rid of all my crap, well sort of. I'm staying here until the 15th of February after which I'm moving for a day to the house of a friend (Marcos). A day because at the 17th I'm going home baby!!! That's it, I'm in Brazil for carnival :-)

Well I'm not going for good, I'm back in Germany at the 14th of March for a couple of days and then I'm out of Würzburg for good!!! Yup, you heard it, actually you read it. I already hand my thesis (just the first version) over to my Professor, so I'm kind of waiting for my "crucifixion" but then the inevitable official thesis handover will be made and I'll just need to wait for my defence and that's it my PhD is done and I'm a free man again. Well, not that fast because the homeless status will be upgraded to homeless and unemployed (I still do not have a job). And as an acquaintance put it: "You go from intellectual elite to social problem in a snap of fingers." Anyway, I'm just happy that I just sorted it out with my flat and this is not a problem any more.

By the way, do you know anyone needing a doctor? I research for food (sorry, couldn't resist).

P.S.: And that is why I saw that crappy movie.

That does it: never again (zombie movie)

2009-01-31T21:27:00.002+01:00

I try it, I really do. I have seen all kinds of zombie movies that are out there and just a very very few of them are any good. My selection is 28 Days Later, Shaun of the Dead (it is good because it is with Simon Pegg), and the classic: Braindead. The rest is shit and come what else can they do? There are too many fucking zombie movies out there and they are crap, nothing more nothing less.

But why I'm writing this now? Because I just wasted 2 hours of my time seeing one of the most shitty movies ever. It is the shittiest crappiest bull shit ever because you just realise how bad it is in the end. Where the hell is the creativity? Anyway, the movie is Dead Set (actually a mini-series) that mixture zombies and big brother. (Yeah, I know, I should have known better than this, but hey I was giving a chance to the genre, the last one by the way.)

What is happening to Microsoft

2009-01-26T08:45:00.002+01:00

No that is not another nerdy post. It is about the advertisement for a new Microsoft product called Songsmith (news article here). It remembers me the old Windows 1.0 Ad (posted below). It is painful to watch. This makes me thank Linux for not being so easy to use and keeping those ex-brain donors out of our small and still beautiful world ;-) (But you Ubuntu user, you are in my shit-list. Linux is not suppose to be that easy!)

Obama rules!!!

2009-01-21T11:05:00.004+01:00

I was in office yesterday but listening to/seeing the inauguration day streaming live from the Huffington Post (actually an applet from MSNBC). But the point is, I was a little frustrated with the so much clergy making speeches, but I guess so it is in the USA. Then came the music from John Williams and played, among others, by Yo-Yo Ma: WOW!!! (If you like classic music you MUST know Yo-Yo Ma.)

But the highlight was the speech of Obama (video under and transcription here) which has the following impressive lines:

"For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers." (emphasis added and about 14:25 in the video)

"We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost." (about 9:15 in the video)

Impressive!!!

My birthday celebration

2009-01-17T16:55:00.001+01:00

Now is time to tell about my birthday party, actually just a get together with some friends. It was a very pleasant evening, with beer and Irish music (it was in an Irish pub near my place). A lot of my colleges from the University have come and some others friends. But the best was the presents. Really, I loved the sleepers and the cap, but most the sleepers. The photos are here.

From 2009-01-13 Geburtstag

Thanks guys.

WOW, no, really WOW!!!

2009-01-13T11:45:00.003+01:00

Scientists had created self-replicating molecules that even compete with each other in the lab (the articles is given below). For those of you who do not know what it means, here it goes: self-replication and adaptation is solemn necessary feature for evolution and ultimately: life! That is a hell of an achievement. Even more, if they go further and achieve an RNA molecule then they would have created life from non-living things: the final life frontier, i.e., adios hocus-pocus (namely: creationism last stand).

http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/090111-creating-life.html

And Guy Ritchie hit it again

2009-01-12T23:49:00.002+01:00

Guy Ritchie is the man, no question about it. This time he hit it again with RocknRolla and the scene where Gerard Butler dances with Tom Hardy in a gay club is priceless. If you liked the other movies from Guy Ritchie you definitely gonna like this one.

What I have been listening lately

2009-01-12T11:23:00.002+01:00

For some time I got a hint from a friend (Carlos Neujahr) to take a look at Jason Mraz (Official home page here) and I did. It turns out that I enjoyed more and more. It's nice with good lyrics and nice instrumental. I put down here one of my favourites ("Song For A Friend" from the CD Mr. A-Z)

Since I'm talking about ridiculous things

2009-01-10T20:46:00.001+01:00

I'm totally pro porn, I really endorse the industry, but this is too fucking embarrassing. Come on, get real.

This is ridiculous

2009-01-10T20:22:00.002+01:00

I told you that here is fucking cold (post here) but now it is ridiculous cold. The point is, I don't care that much about cold, I'm a winter guy but now it starts to bug me. First of all I'm also one of those fresh air freaks that cannot stand closed rooms too long before needing to "renew" the air. (I inherited that from my mom.) And even though we are having those ice cold temperature (about -10 in the morning) I insist in letting the windows half-open, except (this week only) from my bedroom (only while I'm sleeping) and my living room (when I'm actually there watching TV, working, reading, or doing something else). But today the cold reached the point of the ridicule.

I already noticed, since Thursday (and every day afterwards) that when I get to the kitchen at the morning to prepare my breakfast my kitchen towel (to dry the sink) is a frozen (to the point that I cannot bend it), but I didn't care (and I still don't). But today it has reached my limit: no hot water on the bathroom!!! I was completely puzzled: tried every water-tap in the bathroom and just plain cold water and when I turn it to the get just hot water: not even a drop of water.

Yeah, the pipes got frozen in the night. The solution: I had had to close all windows, turn the heater at its maximum, and wait about 4 hours until it defrost. Can you believe that? And it seems that I still did not learn my lesson. I opened my windows again and now my wash-machine is frozen, really. I tried 3 times and it gets until a point then the machine just freezes. Seriously, that is too fucking ridiculous.

Some embarrassing moments for me

2009-01-09T12:45:00.001+01:00

First of all I must say that I am a very self-conscious person, which means that it bothers me what other people think about me. But not in a crazy way, just that it bugs me sometimes.

Ok, as usual I'm digressing from the point which is: the moments or events that are embarrassing for me. It is not a compendium but they are the top top from my list. The list is by no means in any particular order, just the order in which I wrote it down as I was collecting it. But lets cut to the chase, the list:

1. Buying toilette paper.

I cannot explain why, but here in Germany it is too embarrassing because you can only buy it in 10er packages which makes it virtually impossible to not notice when you buy it. The whole way from the supermarket to home (holding the humongous package) I try to figure it out what people think. The only thing that comes to mind is: "Damn, this guy shits a lot". It is not rational, but it bothers me.

2. Buying condoms.

This has changed, but when I was like near the 20s it was somehow shameful to go and buy it in a drug store. I still do not know why it was so. Today I buy it proudly because that shows: "hey this guy is fucking". And to even add to my "proud" I buy the big packages (with 10 or more condoms). But here is the catch: "why I mentioned it?" Well once a friend told me: "dude, you need to try Viagra: it is magical". Then I went to the drug store and it was the "condom shame" all over again. That time I was thinking of what could come to the clerk's mind: "already impotent? poor guy." Or even worse: the fear of meeting any one present on the street and commentaries about the episode. It is like you cannot do anything because explaining that you are curious about it makes it even worse. It is like: "do you use this excuse every week?". By the way, it didn't work, it didn't make me a "super-fucker" or such: just normal. (This actually bugs me a little: what if I'm kind of immune to Viagra? What will I do in my 50s and 60s?)

3. Buying Men's Health (Germany, USA, and Brazil).

For those of you who do not know what Men's Health is; it is a magazine about fitness, sport, and other related subjects for men. (I really enjoy it.) The problem is: it always has guy showing his six-pack on the cover. Once I bought it in the supermarket and, I'm not making it up, the cashier (a lady in her 50s) made a smile and commented to me: "That is a nice one. I wish me that too." WHAT THE FUCK!!! What that suppose to mean? This "too" was a little too much for me. And again, trying to explain that I'm not gay and that is a fitness magazine would be the Viagra episode all over again. After that I subscribed the magazine. You see, I'm not THAT crazy, they actually think that.

4. Going to cinema alone.

This is more a self-awareness. I REALLY enjoy movies and if you know me you know that I am sometimes a film-freak. I give you that. But anyway, when I go to the cinema I go because I love it and I hate bystander narrators or commentators. Damn you, if you are one of those people that likes to talk on the films: I hate you. I have no problem at all if I'm seeing for a second or third time. But if it is the first time, do me a favour: SHUT THE FUCK UP!!! The worse are those who are constantly asking: "is he the assassin? what she going to do?" Sorry, but I did neither made the film nor saw it before, so the amount of information that I possess is the same as you have so shut up and wait! Anyway, what I mean is, I go alone because I like to get a nice spot in the cinema and enjoy it. But it comes to me once in a while: "poor thing, he is a loner, no one goes with him to the movies." I have to confess that I can, sometimes, be very misanthropic.

5. Seeing a movie with homosexual content.

This happened with me coming back from Austria. I was with my laptop and I started to watch Milk. (If you already saw the movie it is VERY gay, interesting though. Back to the episode.) I started to watch and the lady next to me became fixated at my screen. It immediately came to me: "this guy is definitely gay". So, now I watch them alone at home. Milk is, by the way, a nice film.

6. Forgeting something and having to go back.

It happens to me a bit too often. I'm in the way to somewhere and then I realise that I forgot something. The point is: I go back, but before turning back I always deceive my fellow pedestrians by making a pantomime, cursing, or exaggerating some gestures (like throwing the hands up in the air). And here is sick on the whole thing. I realise that I forgot and keep walking to decide which pantomime to do and THEN turning back. Not that I'm really pissed off (I already reached the resignation about it), I just think people would think that I'm crazy if I just turn 180 degrees and keep walking. Yeah, I know I'm loosing my mind.

I try to avoid such things by writing post-its and sticking it to my door or my wallet. I also write everything down in my Palm. Maybe I suffer from mild Alzheimers.

6. White underwear and wet patches.

I just hate it. The worse situation is when you having sex for the second or third time and you just happen to forget about it (that you about to have sex) and you wear a white underwear. As usual you just came back from the toilette, things get hot, you strip, and there it is: the wet patch! It must be the second or third time because the very first time nobody sees anything, but after the second or third time things get a little slower and you can appreciate each other. You know what is the worse? Both of you saw it, but no one said anything. We act as nothing happen. It is like to fart in the elevator. Everybody knows but no one mentions it. There is no tension release.

That it is for today. I'm slowly revealing my craziness.

It is damn cold here

2009-01-07T13:34:00.002+01:00

If you must know how is the wetter here, let me tell you: too fucking cold. This whole week is expected to stay between -11 and -5 Celsius (wetter in German here). Last night was the worst night in years for several cities (news in German here), some with -26 Celsius.

You know what is funny in the whole story? Absolutely NOTHING, it is too fucking cold, for god sake!

Finally about a travel: Vienna

2009-01-03T00:45:00.005+01:00

Ok, I have to admit that I'm being a little bit lazy and haven't travelled lately. But this time I went to Vienna to celebrate new year's eve. Well let me explain a point first: I haven't planned to do anything to celebrate the new year because I'm still finishing my thesis, so no time for leisure anyway. But I became two invitations. First Alex invited me to spend the holiday whit his family and friends in Munich, then Armin invited me to go to Vienna. I decided for Vienna.

From 2009-01-01 Silvester - Vienna

I came to Vienna and he has invited two more: Marta and her brother Václav (they are from the Czech Republic). I met Marta in Würzburg when she was doing a semester as an interchange student. But we haven't spoken since then and was nice to see her again, a nice surprise. We all stayed at Armin's, actually at his brother's (Arash). The Silvester (how new year's eve is called here) was very nice. A lot to eat and to drink (Armin's mother is always so kind with us). Near midnight we all went to Armin's sister because she has a kind of penthouse with a glasshouse and a garden, where we could see the fireworks and the city. About 1 or 2am we went to the city, searching for a club to dance and enjoy ourselves. The first one was impossible, 30€ just to get in. Then we wondered about the down-town searching for something else. I found a place called Fledermaus (bat in German) and was the only thing open besides that very expensive place.

We are a little sceptic about the place and the guy at the entrance offers to let one of us go inside and take a look (I went in). Then I made the call and said that it was ok (a big misjudgement). At a first glance it looked a little strange but ok, but it was actually a Gothic disco. Damn it was bad, crappy place. Since we paid 8€ to get in we stayed. Lets say that it wasn't the first choice for regular people (even though I cannot claim to be either regular or normal to begin with). It was awkward, to say the least, but funny in a kind of sick way. We made our own party mocking every one. My moves at the party can only be described as a mixture between catatonic and epileptic, spiced up with head-banger mockery. We were back at 6am.

From 2009-01-01 Hundertwasser and back home

The next day Armin stayed home because he was really sick, he caught a bad cold. Then I, Marta, and Václav went to Hundertwasser and walk around searching for a Café, that we didn't find (everything was closed). Returning home we ate and then decided to watch a movie. Then my next bad call: The Godfather. The film was chosen because both, Marta and Václav, didn't saw it. A parenthesis here: the problem with The Godfather is that it is a kind of cultural gap if you haven't seen it (hopefully you agree with me) and I cannot let it just so be (yes, I known, there were better things to do instead of watching The Godfather). Anyway that was my new year's eve in Vienna and I enjoyed it a lot. For the photos, click here and here.

From 2009-01-01 Hundertwasser and back home

The end of the world couldn't be more poetic

2008-12-29T15:34:00.002+01:00

I got this video from a news in the Huffington Post (article here). They couldn't choose a better music, it is beautiful, poetic, and, well, the end of all we know. Beautiful nonetheless.

WOW!!!

2008-12-28T14:29:00.006+01:00

This can only be described as: WOW!!! I mean, that IS fucking breathtaking. What sounds like a scientific misunderstanding I can imagine as the following dialogue in the NIF canteen for 15 years:

- Hi Prof. What do you think about green energy?
- A very nice idea indeed Prof.
- Would you like to start a project for harvesting solar energy?
- It is a worth investigating theme, I cherished this idea of re-creating the sun since long.
- WHAT?!?
- Yes, nuclear fusion, our own sun.
- I thought more about solar panels, nonetheless the idea would give a good paper.
- Indeed.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/sciencenews/3981697/Scientists-plan-to-ignite-tiny-man-made-star.html

P.S.: If you are wondering were the fun is, here it goes: Professors are NOT funny just a little weird.

Because only religion can make this possible

2008-12-27T16:31:00.002+01:00

If you thought that circumcision is crazy enough you definitely need to see this. It is a Muslim/Hindu tradition in Solapur, India. (Here the cnn article about it.)

Religulous, what a movie!!!

2008-12-23T15:02:00.004+01:00

I must confess that I was a little afraid that I was holding too higher expectations about Religulous (a film from Bill Maher) but man it was even better that I thought. Seriously, it is not as crazy as Zeitgeist (whose maker has a serious issue with paranoia), it is actually very sober and incredible funny. The most amazing part for me was when he (Bill Maher) interviews a Catholic priest that is totally disentangled with the fundamentalism. Please see it, I cannot suggest a better entertainment and I not saying because I'm an atheist but because it is a well done and surprisingly funny documentary.

The trailer:

Merry Christmas

2008-12-22T18:21:00.002+01:00

No that is not a retreat to Christianity but to give all my readers something to think about in Christmas. Just let me (as always) digress a little.

This post is inspired by (I actually copy from) a book that I bought a little ago (and I'm still reading), which I found most interesting and very pertinent for this time of the year. The book is Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of the Christ by D.M. Murdock (or here for Amazon link). Just to give you a taste of what is in the book, you can watch this two part summary of some of the topics (the videos by the end of the post). If you are interested I warn you that it is not a regular novel. It is a scientific like novel, with references, exerts from Greek and Latin as well as a lot of dates, figures, names, and back and forwards. Not for the faint of the heart ;-)

Anyway let me return to my point, if I have one. Here are some facts (yes, they are facts and not made up stories):

1. Nazareth is NOT a place (Matthew 2:23) but a sect from which Samson also belonged. Jesus must be a Nazareth to fulfil Judges 13:4-5.
2. Jesus most probably did NOT descend from David (required to fulfil Genesis 12:3 and 18:18). First because the line is (kind of) established through Joseph and Joseph have never touched Mary to begin with. But even though one accepts this metaphysical kinship, how does it happen? Luke (3:23-38) built the genealogy from 43 generations (from David until Jesus) but Matthew include only 23. Another problem: Luke (3:31) built from Natham and Matthew (1:7) from Solomon (oops).
3. Virgin Mary? Assuming that she did received the holy ghost instead of Joseph's juice (sorry about that) how could she remain virgin after and during the birth? Who ever has the faintest interest in the birth mechanism knows that the vagina must be greatly stretched and I believe (even not being aware of such case -- a virgin giving birth) that the hymen will most probably be disrupted BEFORE any baby comes out, therefore NOT a virgin any more. But now the REAL problem. In the old testament (Isaiah 7:14) the original term is "almah", which means maiden (unmarried woman), and is mistranslated to "virgin" for which there is a specific term in Hebrew: "bethulah". So to fulfil the prophecy Mary was not required to be a virgin.
4. The three wise men (ONLY being mentioned in Matthew 2:1-12) and Herod is a very, but VERY, strange story. To make it short: the wise men get lost following the northern star and asked, guess what, Herod about the whereabouts of the new "king" and, here comes the funny part, he told them the way.

4.1. If you have at least 2 neurons triggered until here them must be begging some questions. The first: was Herod just stupid? I mean, he knew were Jesus were and still couldn't find him so that he must slaughter all children under age of 2? Remember, by the time (when he met the wise men) he knew that a new king was coming to overthrown him. The second question is: were the wise men that stupid? It is like Bush asking to a radical Muslim where would be best to throw the bombs to kill Bin Laden (ok, Bush would be that stupid but he is not known to be wise anyway). The third question is: what the fuck??? If you are that wise, how you get lost in the first place: it is a fucking star and it had not changed its position in the sky (ok, it probably had changed like a split of a nano meter, to keep it strictly scientific) how is that possible? And come on, the first guy you ask is the only one that shouldn't ask? It is not like you are riding your Camel, get lost (and your wife buzzes you to ask for directions after you pass the same junction for the forth time) and bump into the king and say: "hey, be a sport and tell me where is the guy that will fire you, I want to congratulate him". You just do NOT do that.

5. And what about the whole 25th of December and 1st January? If the current year corresponds to the amount of years after the birth of Jesus, how come that we celebrate it on the 25th of December? Wouldn't be wiser, since you are starting a new calender, to put the things right? My point is: how can you be 7 days latte?!? If you have a religious explanation for that, please give me because I honestly do not know.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Have a happy Christmas and concentrate in getting a few extra kilos and giving gifts, because in the end it is all that there is about Christmas ;-)

The übernerd of my posts, but funny as hell

2008-12-18T12:07:00.003+01:00

As a computer scientist and a nerd (trying to go into the closet though) I cann't help it. A friend send one of the funniest analogies between programming languages and religions.

Languages and religions:
http://www.aegisub.net/2008/12/if-programming-languages-were-religions.html

Languages and cars:
http://www.cs.caltech.edu/~mvanier/hacking/rants/cars.html

In case you are wondering what do I use, here it goes with my own metaphors:

- C/C++
My not so secret love. It constantly destroys your heart but you cann't help loving it. You know you will need all your soul to get a date and in the end it will merciless smash you. It is my prom-queen, my sweet-heart, the holy grail; to whom I expect to get back and reconquer.

- Java
Water and bread, it is ok but taste like shit. It is more-or-less like a mother. It promises to protect you from the world, but forget to tell you the world is bitch and when you grow up: reality crushes you. (If you know Java: the pointers bull-shit. They ARE there, for god sake.)

- Bash
I don't know why, but it is my bootycall: always there when I most need it. With it you go dirty, REAL dirty, but your concious stays intact. You do everything that you are afraid to even think in doing with the other languages. But as a bootycall: do not try to build a relationship with it. (A guy built an HTML server with it. Fuck you!)

There are other "dialects" that I also enjoy: Xy-pic (graph building language), Graphviz, gnuplot, Expect (that is a weird one), LaTeX, and Make (I have makefiles for all my latex texts).

O metal mais polenta

2008-12-17T15:07:00.005+01:00

Bah alguém conhece algum metal mais polenta que Poison do Alice Cooper? Claro que quem conhece metal pode sugerir outros ainda mais polenta mas acho que esse é o mais polenta de todos porque até quem nunca ouviu falar de metal ou Alcie Cooper conhece a música. E pior, o clipe está no melhor estilo head-banger anos 80. Não me entenda mal, não estou renegando o meu passado, alias acho a música do caralho, mas isso não me impede ser crítico e auto-crítico: o troço é muito polenta. O fato de eu gostar não torna a musica menos polenta.

Para quem quiser ver outras pérolas aqui vão algumas sugestões:

- TODAS do KISS;
- TODAS do Twisted Sister.

P.S.: Os anos 80 são uma fonte inesgotável de coisas ridículas ;-)

South Park nail it

2008-12-12T13:10:00.002+01:00

That is for me king of all:

If you know Cartman, that is a small pearl:

About the Indiana Jones new movie:

And you thought that science is boring

2008-12-12T10:39:00.003+01:00

This guy deserves a medal for his honesty and humour.

http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~kovar/hall.html

How about that!!!

2008-12-12T09:55:00.002+01:00

My ignorance is abyssal. I never thought that that is possible. The question is: is that a sin? And more, to scare my last 3 remaining religious readers: What can be a greater turn on than expecting the next god? Answer that Benedict ;-) Anyway: good for you girls and let the babies come. (Ok bad joke, I couldn't resist.)

Senacor Meeting

2008-12-11T20:36:00.007+01:00

I have been in a PhD. meeting in Hamburg for about four weeks and now I have, so to say, the photos from it. Link here:

http://senacor.magix.net/

The best photo ever and yeah it is me.

By the way I do not look that bad in a suit. (I mean, it is harder for children to point and say: "look mama, is it an ape over there?" In a suit they just say: "look mama, a monkey in a suit." It is all about improvement.)

Apocalypse: Addendum

2008-12-08T13:56:00.002+01:00

For those of you that read my apocalyptic post (here) below is another "more serious" article about it. But not less scary.

http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/archives/08-09/qq-2008-12-06.html

Have a nice day, by the way ;-)

Make up your mind, but look at it first

2008-12-05T23:08:00.002+01:00

There is an extension of the Zeitgeist called Zeitgeist Addendum, both available freely at http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/. Your always entitled to your own opinion, but just when you are basing it in information, not prejudice, misinformation, or preconceptions.

Watch the movies and decide to believe on it or not AFTERWARDS. I think there is some flaws on their line of thinking, some over simplifications. But hey, that is my opinion. Make up your own ;-)

Apocalypse now. No seriously, it might happen

2008-12-05T10:13:00.003+01:00

I just read one of the funniest thing ever about eminent death. It is amazing how scientists can figure out ways in which we stop existing.

5 Cosmic Events That Could Kill You Before Lunch

But if this is all too impersonal try the one below. Like marketing likes to say: people don't give a damn for a billion of other people, but just say something about one of their relatives and you get full attention.

5 Bizarre Ways the Weather Can Kill You Without Warning

Saw a ghost? Get a doctor!

2008-12-04T10:39:00.001+01:00

It is amazing what science can do for you. First the scientists showed that it is not god who is talking to you it is a little thing called Schizophrenia (bye bye prophets). Then they said that god is a chimp (you know: we are the image of god and we came from the monkeys, so god must be a monkey). Then they killed all mythological beings (cut the mushrooms and the LSD; and please stop licking the frog). Now they say there is no such thing as ghosts (news here)?

Are you out of your freaking fucking minds? Let we have something, at least Santa, pleeeease!!! (I asked once again for Angelina Jolie and I'm kinda 99% sure this time, the 13th time is the winner.)

Fuck you Toto

2008-12-03T18:49:00.001+01:00

I explain myself. Recently Santa Catarina, the state next to mine (Rio Grande do Sul), has suffered a major natural disaster (news here) with several cities literally under water (several floods) and the situation is critical there. I mean, Katrina wise critical.

But what amazes me is how people are totally disconnected from reality. I received an email today asking for contributions to save the victims from that state, the NON-human victims (namely the cats and dogs). I mean, people are dying, loosing everything, there is nothing left, and yet there are some brain-damaged that think that we need to help the animals. How insensitive are you? Do you want to help? Send money to the red cross, to rescue organisations that are in so much need. But no, the empathy-challenged wants to save Toto.

Just to make it clear, if I have to choose between Toto and a fellow human been: Toto will die, big time. I go further, everyone comes first. Sorry Toto, but fuck you, John is more important.

Happy crappy birthday for me

2008-11-30T15:43:00.001+01:00

No it is not my actual birthday but it is a birthday. Today I make 4 years of Germany. Yeah, that is right, 4 years here. I do not have much to celebrate actually because it has been a crapy year for me. I'll not be crying baby about it, just to make it clear: I'm not happy. But anyway lets make a little retrospective about my accomplishments.

1. I remain an atheist;
2. I broke up with my girlfriend;
3. I'm writing my thesis;
4. Went to my brothers wedding (that was pretty good);
5. Just send to my landlord a letter for terminating my rent contract;
6. And soon I'm getting older (the big 3).

If that does not sound fulfilling it's because it's not. Period. But for now I'm sucking up with this shitty life until I'm done with my thesis. After that, who knows!

Nem vou comentar, o Saramago disse tudo

2008-11-29T17:50:00.002+01:00

O Drebes me mandou essa entrevista com o Saramago. Sensacional (link abaixo). Só vou fazer um comentário: Quanto mais eu olho mais eu percebo que pessoas esclarecidas não acreditam em deus, enfim ateus.

http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/videocasts/ult10038u472986.shtml

Abração a todos.

The most scaring movie ever

2008-11-28T13:17:00.003+01:00

The most scary movie that I ever saw is Jesus Camp. Seriously, I'm neither been ironic nor cynical. It is really scary. It is brainwashing of children in the most fundamentalist Christian faith. I'm still outraged by the movie. One of the milestones in the movie is: "if the Muslims are training their children we need to do it too."

For what is the most upsetting above all? Those children will grow up stupid, single minded, and angry. Because they will remain unhappy and even more delusional thinking that their natural desires are sins (mainly sexual drive) and they are weak because they cann't fight it.

Man, I will not waist my time trying to point out every single head fake. Judge for yourself. I'm so thankful that my mother did not raise me like that. At least I had had the chance to be stupid by my own choice and forced into it ;-)

Interesting movie: Bloodline

2008-11-27T21:48:00.002+01:00

I saw recently the movie Bloodline and if you do not know what I'm talking about, please see the trailer bellow. It is a huge dose of conspiracy theory and is up to you to believe in the claims. But if you do and you are a Christian, specially male, it means: Jesus did like a juicy whore, so much that he marries one.

Anyway, now you can justify your horniness with the following argumentation: "hey, if the son of god could marry a whore, why cann't I 'socialise' with them once in a while?".

In case you are wondering if I have been somehow shacked in my believes: Not a bit. If the whole thing is truth it just make my standpoint even stronger. Jesus (or whoever is there) was human, made a sex (probably a lot of good sex with a professional), had had children and some bunch of nuts believed he was some kind of deity (and apparently a horny one). Anyway, next time I go to a whorehouse I will say, for the sake of the argument: "I'm doing it in His Holy memory, because I'm following Jesus way-of-life". Even though I'll not be stupid enough to marry a whore, I'm not THAT Christian anyway.

Ok, a last joke: next time you call some one son-of-a-bitch you actually calling that one a Christian (you know, we are all sons of god, Jesus is god, and the mother of his children was a whore, so do the math). What about that for a turn of actions. Ok I think I made my quote of blasphemy for the day and days of at least 3 generations. Hail Jesus, the whore-fucker!!!

(Another) article about intelligent design

2008-11-17T15:30:00.004+01:00

In the discover magazine there is an article about multiverse (article here). I got to this article through Slashdot (article here).

Anyway, I will not even bother to discuss it. Please read the article. But for those of you who are not that interested on the subject, or are not familiar with it. I explain why it is a relevant point (well, at least what I understand about it).

The intelligent design can be seen as the strongest hypothesis to support the existence of a supernatural being (god if you want). With this supernatural being it is explained why our universe is suitable for life and ultimately why we are here. (It does NOT support any religion of any kind, just the possibility of the existence of a god or gods.) But science has long proposed other alternatives, as the anthropic principle, and the latter is the Multiverse hypothesis.

Both theories (god and multiverse) are however (still) equally unverifiable. I put "still" on parenthesis because there is a chance that the experiments in the LHC may support a theory (string theory) that gives more credibility to the multiverse theory. For the god hypothesis, hmm well, try praying or begging ;-)