News aggregator and summarizer

A function on the web I'm missing is a website that works as news aggregator (style of Google News) but at same time summarizes the news based on the last time I went to visit the page.

This means that if when traveling I visit the page weekly, it would only show me a top of the most important news of the week but not necessarily the latests neither the first ones about a topic.

Example, I visit the page 3 days after a big earthquake somewhere. It would have a link to a news where they talk about the earthquake and what was done in the last 3days.

Someone can create this?

Being a traveller in bureaucracy

No bureaucracy is ready for the traveler. Anything you'll do when preparing your trip, like the medical insurance, asks what is your address. It's mandatory to have one. Even when you just stop renting your apartment for traveling.

Same with the bank. I live everywhere of nowhere. Why my address can't be only an email? Two of the few phone calls I got during this trip where from my bank to know how well they are serving me. Just horribly by making me paying for answering to their unknown number. I could reply a questionnaire if they would request me by e-mail.

Also, why national authorities can't just have my e-mail as my "temporary" address? If I choose to give an email as address it would remove many rights as citizen, like the right to vote. It would remove my right to get an employment. And any necessary communication would come only by email. No more letters home thinking that I'll be there, even if I said I will be traveling.

Once on return, to be able to get back to "normal" life you return to your full home address, whatever it is, an hotel room, a rented room or apartment.

Grandmother

My mouth remained open when Eva received invitation to be Facebook friend of my 87-years-old grandmother.

Cities in the world I could live in

And where I've been recently
Munich, Germany
Vienna, Austria
Sapporo, Japan

Vias ciclaveis em Lisboa

Recebi em Tallin via Poste Restante da minha avo um artigo do DN sobre as faixas para bicicletas que planeiam contruir em Lisboa. O resultado... parece isto:



Os olhos sao as faixas existentes em Monsanto e as que vao contruir no Alto Lumiar e a boca e ao longo do Tejo...

Eu rio-me com este plano! Rio-me ainda mais quando a legenda diz para umas faixas: a serem feitas quando se terminar a CRIL. Entre linhas leio nunca. Ou leio, vamos planear planear (sim, repetido) faze-las.



Isto e o mapa de faixas em Viena, Austria (ruas em amarelo teem faixa na estrada e a vermelho sao faixas separadas para bicicletas). Basicamente tem duas circulares e varias linhas do exterior para o centro da cidade. A mim parece-me logico e simples de fazer o mesmo em Lisboa. Alias... penso que o desenho seria um pouco este:



Falta so a faixa de bicicletas que liga o aeroporto a Telheiras e Pontinha...

Sonho um dia ter um destes planos em Lisboa!

My father's magazine

Today I dreamt on my memories.

My father, when I was small, was owner/director of a sports magazine, four thousand prints per month. We were going, every month, to the printer shop, where big cylinders printed the pages, put them together, staple them, cut the borders and, at the end, an example was out. Repetitive noises. While waiting for my father magazine to be ready I walked around and mainly school books where printed. It was now time to put one magazine in one envelope, already addressed to the subscriber. There was a box of envelopes per zip code, first the islands (Azores/Madeira), then the North, then the South, then Lisbon, where there was a box per neighbourhood. Maybe it was the other way around, I don't remember. We were usually three to help - my father, a friend and I. After couple hours we charged our car with the boxes full of envelopes full of magazines. The printer shop was in a narrow street, somewhere in Lisbon, I could not say anymore where. The car was full, almost touching the ground. It was a Citroen Visa 10E. I had to go somewhere in the middle of the boxes, bent to shape with them. Next step was the post office. Take out all the boxes from the car, give them to be sent. Last point of this monthly journey was passing by the stadiums of Lisbon where we would leave some copies of the magazine to be sold directly to the people.

This monthly ritual end one day abruptly. I was in London with my grandmother. I just discovered that, against my initial will, I was going to the university in Coimbra. On the return to Portugal my mother, father and I went all to a bar, Pavilhão Chinês, at Bairro Alto. My father tells me he had sell the magazine.

Vélos mal garés à Cornavin = pneus crevés?

J'habite à Genève et gare fréquemment mon vélo devant la gare dans les
places disponibles pour cet effet.

Aujourd'hui, dimanche 8 mars, vers 10:50, n'ayant pas de places
disponibles tout au tour de la gare, j'ai décidé avec mon ami de garer
contre un des escaliers pour monter du centre commercial sous la gare.
On a laissé les vélos jusqu'à 18:30, quand on est arrivé de notre
voyage en train.

Quel est notre surprise quand on voit que les deux vélos ont le pneu
d'avant crevé, clairement un signe de vandalisme contre les vélos. Le
matin j'avais déjà vu que les vélos gares au même endroit avaient un,
soit les deux pneus vides d'air.

Voyant que cette situation arrive jamais quand les vélos sont bien
garés dans les (pas assez de) places disponibles, je me demande s'il
ne s'agit pas d'une action de terrorisme de la part de CFF (ou
autorité commandé par les CFF) pour faire peur aux utilisateurs de
vélos qui garent ces vélos hors des places disponibles.

Je le dis car l'autre fois que le même m'est arrivé j'avais aussi garé
le vélo dans un endroit pas fait pour eux et aujourd'hui même d'autres
vélos garés contre le plan de la ville (aussi mal garés) avaient les
pneus crevés.

Serait intéressant savoir s'il y a, dans les CFF, des ordres pour
punir les cyclistes que trouvent pas de place pour garer ces vélos
amis de l'environnement.

30 years old statistics

Some non-sense numbers gathered together:
- visited countries: 36
- coldest day experienced: -36° C (Oulu, Finland)
- hottest day experienced: +4x° C (either in Portugal or Morocco)
- most expensive hotel night paid: 170 euros/person (hotel Vals-Therme, Switzerland)
- cheapest hotel night paid: 2 euros/person (Kota Bharu, Malaysia)
- most expensive meal paid: 110 euros/person (Buffet Gare Eaux-Vives, Switzerland)
- cheapest meal paid: <2 euros/person (either South Korea or Malaysia)
- most distant place from Portugal been: Sydney (18000km)
- highest altitude: 4554 meters (capanna Margherita, Italian Alps)

Novo horário CP - Dezembro 2009

Mar e Meco deve acesso ao que poderá a vir a ser o novo horário da CP a partir de Dezembro de 2009. As principais linhas deste novo horário são:
+ Todas as horas serviço Alfa
- Faro-Porto

+ Todas as duas horas serviço Intercidades
- Beja-Covilhã
- Covilhã-Guimarães
- Évora-Guarda
- Guarda-Braga

Este conjunto de linhas permite ter:
- ligações entre Lisboa e Porto (incluindo Entroncamento e Coimbra) cada 30 minutos
- ligações entre Lisboa ou Porto e Covilhã ou Guarda todas as horas
- ligações entre Beja ou Évora e o Norte (Lisboa, Covilhã, Guarda, Porto, Guimarães, Braga) cada duas horas.

São as vantagens de um horário cadenciado.



Nota 1: Falta incluir no horário os comboios que partem às horas ímpares de Guimarães com destino ao Porto e partida desta cidade às horas pares com destino a Braga, chegando 45 minutos depois.

Another 'see you soon'

Talks over lunch, body combat, Lisbon, strange exhibitions, many very nice moments we spent together over the last years.

But there was a night, few years ago, Joanne showed up with K in a bar where I was having an excellent night with L. It was, seems, a private birthday party but L and I were there, having free cocktails, looking at the people, dancing the tubes. Joanne and her friend arrived already a bit happy. Joanne and I laugh and danced, danced until dawn. One of the many good moments I spend with you, for sure you remember. You are leaving for a new life next week. I'll be doing the same in about one month. I will certainly not forget moments like that night.

Keep in touch Joanne. Ce n'est pas toujours facile à dire 'à la prochaine'.