I was reading Tao of Mac when I found out IF THEN ELSE (and also The English Manager) was nominated for best-designed blog at Blogo, the oldest Portuguese blog directory which can be described as a Eatonweb-analog. Voting takes place by e-mail which is an indicator of the popularity blogs still enjoy in Portugal after all the hype. Anyway, excluding those in which I have obvious interest in, my favourite among the nominees is Lightstripping, despite being challenging to what a blog is — i.e. it has some very cute pages intertwined with a Livejournal, which at least seems to have gone through some work recently. As always, there are other weblogs that should have been nominated: Berlinde, Marciana and Vir2aal came to mind. Of course it all boils down to matters of taste, the aesthetics of the latter two don't make my cup of tea, but they're well done. ···

On with my life then: Wimp is a tool to bastardize the Windows desktop beyond recognition, which is good for parties. (via the excelent Johannes Genzfurthner sideblog at Boing Boing) ···

I spent a few hours at the hospital yesterday after suffering a small anxiety attack which led to symptoms not too different from those of heart attacks. Thankfully the exams excluded that, they say my heart is absolutely fine, and it was a psychosomatic manifestation — which I can describe, from my latest reading, as what Philip K. Dick mentions as a 'chinese fingertrap', in which a small inoffensive chest pain starts to increase along with my anxiety as I try to ignore it but fear and comprehensible paranoia (TV always reminding you of that footballer's sudden death) didn't allow me. Anyway, I feel better now, I tried to relax for most of today, avoided reading blog items that could bring me that horrible sense of weltschmerz (people always say I worry too much about too much), I didn't take any caffeine for the first time in years (and I won't take a cup of coffee until I go to the doctor very soon), and tried to tranquilize myself as much as possible. The really weird thing is I talked to a number of persons around my age who had such attacks, and a friend of mine who works at a chemist said there was a very noticeable increase in anxiety attacks — and logically, of stress pills and relaxant sales — this week. I felt reassured, I can't deny it, no matter how socially incorrect. But it's rather unsettling to think the media may be powerful enough to cause anxiety attacks even among the cynical. Even if you try to ignore it your subconscious will do the damage. All it takes is a poisonous meme in the airwaves. ···

It seems it's that time of the year in which we can vote for the Bloggies. Can, but won't. Where do these nominees come from? Who are these people? It's obvious there are good blogs in there. Some nominees are listed in the blogroll at your left, meaning I like those websites. As for the others... What's so special about them? I visited every single nominee. 1976design somehow caught my attention, and I found the Joy of Soup amusing and tasty. But these are exceptions among a sea of utter irrelevance. How come totally ordinary sites get nominations? How come some sites seem nominated out of pure inertia — i.e. they could stop writing for as whole year but the bulk number of visits they attract would still get them nominated? The thing is, the way Bloggie nominations work, they are very easy to manipulate if you got the time. I believe it may be possible to spam the nomination system. But even if you don't go for a totally sleazy way, you might come up with tricks to generate a crapload of traffic to your blog, and constantly remind your visitors to nominate you. Here's how I believe a fair award website should work:

1. Interested webloggers should enter their blog for evaluation. They should fill a questionnaire which will determine in which categories their blog is eligible.
2. Every single blog is listed for public rating. Since they're too many, blogs are randomized in the homepage. Near the end of this stage, blogs with a smaller number of votes should be favoured and brought forward. Rating (i.e., one to five) should be a secure system. One-click rating through an external link can't be allowed, and each blog listed shall only allow one vote per IP per couple of days.
3. The top twenty blogs in each category are then judged by a panel of specialists.
4. Which come up with five blogs per category which go into the final voting round.
5. And then the winners are announced.

Of course this looks even worse than European Commission bureaucracy. Awards organized this way should run for several months. But either you come up with a totally independent system which can filter out fame, spam, and mindless mobilization, or you have an award which is essencially worthless.···

Horrible, that Miklos Fehér thing. Tonight I met my cousin for a cup of coffee and thought she was joking. It's like Chuck Palaniuk puts it: one moment you're laughing, the next moment you're an object. Like Cameroon's Marc Vivien Foé, here's a professional footballer, someone who had continuous medical attention and obeyed strict diets and training. It's scary to read a 1979-2004 epigraph.···

A rather innocent comment spawned a pertinent question: How to rate movies? You give a movie a number from one to five, but how do you do it? There's no scientific method for evaluating art, how do you do it?

My answer is pure intuition. A three is neutral. I absolutely love a five, I absolutely loathe a one. A four isn't as good as. A two isn't as bad as. Simple. However, I quickly came up with three-point-fives. Better than, but not as good as. Perhaps this is how I have a professor capable of rating his students' work with things like 14.75 out of twenty. An essencial problem arises, however. You should be able to evaluate a film in its own kind (note, not genre). For instance, I rated both The Last Samurai and In the Cut with 3.5 out of five. Does it mean they're as good? Of course not. But you just can't infer something in opposition. These are just two different kinds of movie, movies you watch in completely different states of mind. Notice, I'm not talking about genre. It's deeper than that. Ever tried watching Rambo in a complete cynical state of mind, as if it was a dark comedy? You'll find out it's brilliant. And did you notice those people who were taking Kill Bill seriously?

The thing is, The Last Samurai is worth 3.5 in the pop-corn, fast-paced, I'm tired and I just want to watch some blood game. In the Cut is worth 3.5 in the who's the killer anyway?, I haven't seen anything like this since Michael Douglas heyday, and by the way this has some great cinematography game. One is probably worth zilch if you are expecting, I mean, if you really want the language of the other. That's why many people saturated in Hollywood memes just can't appreciate 'artistic movies'. One has to become fluent in a certain language to be able to appreciate its literature, and there are different languages using the film medium.

An extreme example: I have a professor who does — and we do it with him — 'cinematic paintings' — films consisting of a succession of fixed one minute shots of things with little to no action at all (I used to joke and call those "a rich man's slideshow"). But if you go to a museum, you can stare at a painting for long minutes, why can't this painting be recorded in film? Of course, people expecting 'movie magic' are shocked, since it's a completely different concept of film usage. You just can't compare Four Magnificent Cinematic Paintings at the Virtudes Garden with The Matrix. Both can be rated five out of five (The Matrix I anyway) but this apparent connection between the two movies doesn't exist at all. It's like discussing what's better, A. the latest BMW or B. a particular Russian submarine, although both can be means of transportation, and both can be rated respectively in the car rank and in the submarine rank. It's what Wittgenstein called 'language games'.

Compare shalt thou not.···

Lost in Translation is brilliant. We have all seen places we have never been to in the movies, but in the opening scenes I had exactly the same feelings of when I arrive at a strange country for the first time. I never felt that in a theatre. Many things remembered me of a dastardly trip I did to London on my own a few years ago — and I can speak English, I wonder how do you feel in a totally alien country where you are essencially illiterate: Japan. The actors were great, especially Bill Murray (every blogger review said that, but you can't say it enough). The comedic moments were a delight (ditto). And even though a friend of mine pointed out the movie may have an unfair portrayal of japanese people, I wonder what they're saying (there were no subtitles for japanese speech, an obvious intention). Perhaps many jokes about westerners (as suggested in the hospital scene) were slipped under the audience... It's brilliant. Brilliant, brilliant.

Some people complain about the slow pace often associated with european auteurs (or 'arthouse' which is an idiotic Hollywood-induced term). It's the economy, stupid. The fact is, most people are contaminated by the high-mobility, fast-paced language of Hollywood. Not that a fast rhythm is bad. But this language is tightly related to the simple fact Hollywood is rich. The cheapest way to film is to put down a camera and stage whatever is happening in front of it. Lost in Translation is shot economically — although with great polish which is expensive, and expensive actors. Technically, it's a movie which could be produced in Portugal. It's all fixed cameras, dollies, carmounts and simple steadycam shots. No ultra-expensive (the cheapest cost around 2000 euros per day) robotic crane shots or even more expensive flying cameras, common fodder in Hollywood which allows you greater fluidity. And don't forget the costs of shooting in Tokyo will always overstretch the biggest budget.

This film is the work of craftsmanship, not an industry. Very practical reasons directed its planning towards a particular artistic language. Static? Slow? And who cares? It's a magnificent piece, well written, well shot, and funny. The Coppolas are becoming a rather powerful clan in film (Sophia Coppola's brother Roman directed my favourite movie of last year). Five out of five.···

I tried DeviantArt the other day. I won't link to my experiment since it's rubbish testing, but there's a very complete and free web service for people willing to show their creations without going deep into building a weblog/showcase website. Didn't bother to read the licenses though, so be careful before uploading work you're really fond of — eg. there are free webhosts which claim copyright on your files, and there's nothing you can do if they capitalize on your work since you agreed to their license. Anyway, it works nicely technically, and I can see how DeviantArt populated my GeoURL neighbours list so quickly. Most deviant artisans seem to be in their late teens or early twenties, and they're of mixed kinds although there are many photographers and many kids in different shades of goth. And gosh, there seems to be more of them than bloggers in Porto. I guess that's nice, in a distorted sort of way.···

Last week's weltschmerz and paranoia inducing, totally pessimistic Doomsday prophecy came from a link on The Null Device: The Oil Crash worst case scenario mentions the total destruction of civilization once petrol and natural gas runs out in 20-30 years, preceded by a Bigger Depression, famine, war and fascist regimes everywhere. Funny thing, I'm working on collective script related to the Book of Revelations, and I did associate a black sports car with the third Knight of the Apocalypse (the one who brings famine) in my bastardization of the Third Seal. Go figure... Anyway, that's the worst among the worst case scenarios. The author discards every hypotesis for replacing oil thus directing his missive towards an alarmist hopeless tone.

If we look at History, we see the implementation of technical evolution is made in response to a crisis, not a priori. Therefore, once the oil starts to run out, both the people and the industries will be forced towards energy efficiency. Ways to do so already exist. Remember the Porsche that would go for 100km with just 3 litres of gasoline? It will go into production this time. Anyway, oil will indeed end. Cars will have to go electric. More electric power will need to be generated, so that cars can be recharged, and to compensate for the 40% loss of power generated from petrol. But what about nuclear fusion — the first reactor is under construction —, air current generators — ditto —, ocean wave generators — under development —, ultra cheap solar energy cells which are going into production? Of course, the end of oil is also bad news for agriculture. But we'll inevitably make up for more expensive fertilizers through genetic manipulation — just keep it off close source / patent schemes — and through ultra-dense agricultural techniques currently in development.

The truth is, most of the global energy expenditure is wasted energy. Take fluorescent lights vs tungsten lights as an example. Why does the average car can go 180km/h if the highest speed limit is just 120km/h? The end of oil will bring tough times for the trucking industry. Goods will once again be shifted through electric train, and urban planning will need to consider this. Cities will need to be denser — although balanced — to maximized energy efficiency. Consider the new materials available — like aerogel, which can insulate a house so well it can be heated with a candle. Recycling will have to get serious. Organic garbage can be recycled as agricultural fertilizer — something my grandparents knew, plastic will have to be recycled too — oil is a prime ingredient — and industrial processes to recycle other materials will be invented.

It always bugged me to think the East Germans could be right — a crappy Trabant after 15 years of waiting is the best Earth can give you without going unbalanced —, I do hope Earth allows each citizen of the World a bigger slice. The 21st century will be the century of efficiency — or else.···

This is amazing. I can't even draw a square properly without a ruler. (via VM)···

Anyway, Alex did yet another comic strip, this time featuring yours truly, although I never wear a green shirt and I don't use a wristwatch. The events depicted did happen though. It wasn't funny then.···

It was rather strange to spend a week without a proper computer at home, probably for the first time in my life since I first got a PC nine or ten years ago. Objects become habits and you don't even know it. So I had to rely on a puny Jornada for basic Internet access (although I did take the opportunities to browse a bit at college or at friends' homes), and I dug up an old 90MHz Pentium (remember those) with 8megs of RAM so that I could at least type texts in a decent-sized keyboard. All this meant plenty of going out (Duque said "See? That's how I live.", as you can see from his website), I went to the movies four times — highlights: Igby Goes Down (good script) and In The Cut (good aesthetic appeal) — took many cups of black tea at Rota do Chá, and did read Italo Calvino's Palomar and started to read the utter brainfuck which is Philip K. Dick's VALIS. Of course all this joie de vivre thing has a price: I need to work harder to finish the edits I'm doing in time.···

I guess my morning post did some strange voodoo. They've phoned saying the computer was repaired. And they did replace the motherboard with the ASUS I wanted in the first place when I bought the computer. Which was nice.···

"We've replaced the power supply but it didn't work."
Facing this statement, my first thought was:

Listen up you fuckers, I'm a certified technician and I'm telling you the bloody motherboard is dead, and I should have never listen to your poor recommendation in the first place. So, give me a goddamn brand new mobo, or, even better, let me choose one — I'll even pay the difference. But you fucking replace it, and do it quick.
Of course, I'm a certified technician but nothing hardware-related. And anyhow, my real reply came out like this:

"Well, I thought it could be the motherboard... Please look at it, I really need my computer... Okay, I'll wait."
Therefore, this entry was written in my father's Jornada, that little toy computer in which it becomes incredibly painful to write. ···

Warp, at least, is on the good side. Perhaps this is why this is the record label with bigger shelf space in my room. In other news, Aphex Twin defends the absence of copyright from art. Perhaps if enough artists convert themselves to the Creative Commons or copyleft philosophy, there'll still be hope.···

They'll might look into it next Monday. Really, there should be a law against this sort of thing. Since the computer's components are inside the warranty, I'm entitled to a free repair. Which means it goes straight to the end of the line, perhaps when the people at the shop are bored or something. Anyway, my father lend me his Jornada so I could do some basic e-mailing and browsing (through a dial-up connection), besides word processing. As for more complicated jobs, I have to become some sort of computer hitchhiker. So thanks to Sérgio for letting me use his computer for blogging and Photoshop.···

Blogging might be a little sparse over the next few days since my three month old computer is fucked. Might be a power supply failure, or maybe the motherboard fitting itself to my lack of confidence in it (it was a painful second choice). It's in the shop for repair, I hope data loss won't be a side effect. So, for the moment, I'm stuck in 56K-dom at my father's. Not nice. At least now I'll have plenty of time to catch up with my reading.···

Tweaks never cease: Even though I'm considering coding a CMS from scratch, I continue to introduce more spaghetti code into this website. If you typed an imagelog URL containing a string which doesn't end in '.jpg', '.gif' or '.png', the site would look for a text file containing a list of images. That was the principle of image collections. But now, instead of returning an error if no textfile exists, it'll try to find and display all images containing such string as a prefix followed by an underscore. That means automatic image collections. You can see it in action in this set of photos I took last Friday in some warehouse where we were filming. Many thanks to my friend Joana who let me use her camera (I hadn't taken mine) and then e-mailed the photos back to me.···

Somehow I bumped into an American tourists' description of their trip to Portugal. Obviously they did see charming things where us Portuguese see nagging annoyances, but they were quite accurate in other things. We rest assured there's no coffee like the coffee served here, although we drink coffee in small shots because it's quite thick and powerful — if we had bigger serves we wouldn't sleep for days. Quite obviously, tourists are advised to stay clear of restaurants with a menu in multiple languages. As you can understand, there's something weird about a 'typical' restaurant where the locals don't go for dinner.

Another tip for tourists, since the railroads are nearly-ineffective, try to avoid travel if you're just staying for a week, it'll steal too much time. Settle for a couple of places. Go to Lisbon if you want a cosmopolitan place, with museums and palaces and an ultra-modern district and fashionable cafés and bars, come to Porto if you want to visit a more soulful city (without discarding cultural events at all), or avoid these two cities if you feel more like an adventurer, there's a lot to be explored in the central coastal area. If you just want a beach and are considering coming to Algarve, stay in your country and go to the nearest beach. It's just the same, and not warm at all for most of the year.

By the way, I liked their comment on Óbidos, a charming, carefully preserved medieval town, which is nice for a moment but then starts to feel funny. It seems I'm not the only one to believe in Rem Koolhaas' doctrine that too much identity (in urban planning) gives you some kind of Disneyland.···

Yet more future illegalities. DOSBox, a games-oriented MS-DOS emulator. Time to dust those LucasArts CD-ROMs (quite a deluxe item back then). Maybe I'll even see those Doom maps of mine again.···

Disciples of AgeemaBlues! Again. My legal MP3 files for free type posts don't stop orbiting around the veterans of the 90s .MOD niche. Recommended, if you are just going to downlod one song: AgeemaBlues Orchestra — If You Believe in Love. Straight from the halcyon days. However, it's a paradox the end of the halcyon days and the memetic poisoning of the 00s (unfortuntely not just in music) happens at the same time of a Great Age of Plenty. Example: .Mod Soul Brother. The ability to download 310 tunes by Mortimer Twang at home in ten minutes, via DSL, would make many grown-up kids wet their pants in 1997 (the magic of .MODs — the MP3 of the 16bit computer, without the legal hassle — is that 310 tracks fit in a 21MB zip file). Record it to analog while you can. Media Player 13 or Winamp 8 won't let you open .MOD files, since they lack a DRM certificate and the built-in check (with the help of a giant online database made by MS-Google) will detect copyrighted excerpts of 70s soul tunes. You'll be lucky. Real Player ProPlatinumG3 would call the police.···