A TEXT POST

Eating truffles makes you want to buy a Mac

And eating doughnuts makes you wanna buy a Windows PC?


Funny and surprising research is conducted all the time. This one, a study conducted by two North-American academics, concluded that eating truffles will make you want to buy more exclusive things, such as a Mac …

The basic idea is that giving in to small acts of indulgence may lead to wanting more of the same. They conducted the study by having two groups. In one group they would allow the testers to eat truffles, whereas in the other group they would have to refrain from it. They then showed each group a number of “overpriced” items and asked them to rate how much they desired those items. Surprisingly (or not), the truffle eating group felt more desire to own those overpriced goods.

There you go, eat more Belgian truffles and you end up owning a Mac soon enough… 

By the way, I just saw a pack of truffles at home the other day… is someone trying to tell me something?

Posted via email from Joao Rei’s ramblings | Comment »

A TEXT POST

US and France get cheesy…

President Bush is gone, but before he left office he took a few last minute measures that went a bit under the radar.


One of those such measures was to award his friends, the Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd, and the former prime minister of the UK, Tony Blair with a formal ceremony where he thanks them for their support in the “war against terror”. Nothing wrong there, many departing Presidents choose to award friends and prominent figures just before they leave office.

On the other side of the scale was France. France was never an open supporter of Bush’s policy and intervention in Iraq, and Bush’s disliking for France’s lack of support was evident throughout his tenure as president. American’s started naming french fries “freedom” fries, and other such silly measures. The French couldn’t care less…

But just before he left office, Bush signed legislation that would increase the taxes imposed on French cheese by 300 percent ! That’s right three hundred percent!. The cheese in question is Roquefort. Taxes on Roquefort cheese were already at 100%, but this measure will make it virtually impossible to find Roquefort in the US.

Isn’t this just the typical Bushism? A petty, small-minded measure to “hurt” those who didn’t support you? In fact I can already see Bush saying to himself “Let those cheese-eating-surrender-monkeys keep their cheese to themselves”…

Oh Bush, your silly antics will be missed.

Posted via email from Joao Rei’s ramblings | Comment »

A TEXT POST

What happens when you exceed Gmail’s storage?

So here’s a scary thought…


Ever since I started using Gmail, back in 2004, there has been one thing I never had to worry about. Space. Storage. That is… until today. 

Today, I open my Gmail and to my surprise I see a message that says I had exceeded Gmail storage and that I wouldn’t be getting any new mail until I deleted some of my stored email!!!

Now I’m seriously worried about potentially having lost some of my incoming messages. Has anyone tried to contact me lately and got a mail bouncing back?

image

image

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Joao Rei’s ramblings | Comment »

A TEXT POST

Iceland joining the EU is a divisive issue

The European Parliament is not happy with Olli Rehn’s words about the possibility of Iceland joining the EU.



A public war of words is developing over the possible entry of Iceland into the European Union, as EU commissionerOlli Rehn has gone against the wishes of European parliament president Hans-Gert Pottering and insisted the tiny Nordic nation will soon become a member.

Pottering called Rehn’s statement to The Guardian that Iceland would become an EU member by 2011 “bad timing” that could not only jeopardize the application process but the controversial Lisbon Treaty as well.

Rehn, who is in charge of EU expansion, told Finnish paper Helsinki Sanomat that he was merely commenting on issues that part of his job. “All European nations that meet the requirements of democracy and legislation and executes them in reality, can apply to be a member of the EU. Iceland falls under this analysis better than the Balkan nations for instance,” Rehn said.

The issue of European Union membership is one of several options Iceland, knocked unconcious by the worldwide economic meltdown, is considering. The new Red-Green Socialist governement has launched an exploratory committee on the matter and will report its findings on April 15th.

Posted via email from Joao Rei’s ramblings | Comment »

A TEXT POST

Swiss vote YES to free movement with EU

Even though there were some doubts over the outcome, in the end a majority of 59% voted in favor of unrestricted movement of workers between Switzerland and the EU, the main question on the table was the acceptance of the EU’s two newest members (and also its poorest) Romania and Bulgaria.


The vote means, that EU citizens will continue to be able to work in Switzerland, and this right is now extended to Romania and Bulgaria. In the end, economic pressures spoke higher than immigration fears, and the NO campaign had to settle with only minor victories in some cantons.

For more information, read the article on Deutsche Welle 

Posted via email from Joao Rei’s ramblings | Comment »

A TEXT POST

Linux and the mainstream..

An interesting read on The Register



Engineering isn’t holding Linux back from the desktop. We all know that it’s better software than Windows. What’s holding Linux back from the desktop are user expectations and IT freetards who compensate for their own non-accomplishment with passive-aggressive superiority. Your average user isn’t stupid, he just doesn’t care about what operating system uses and is willing to pay the extra money for Windows if it buys him familiarity.

Posted via email from Joao Rei’s ramblings | Comment »

A TEXT POST

Network - I’m mad as Hell - 1976



Such prophetic words, with great resonance these days… the film dates from 1976.

Posted via email from Movies, Videos, Clips, Trailers | Comment »

A TEXT POST

Oscar 2009 Nominees

Full list


Here is the shortlist for the 81st Academy Awards, which are being held at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles on 22 February.

Best picture
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Best director
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry - The Reader
David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant - Milk

Best actor
Richard Jenkins - The Visitor
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn - Milk
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

Best actress
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Melissa Leo - Frozen River
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Kate Winslet - The Reader

Best supporting actress
Amy Adams - Doubt
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis - Doubt
Taraji P Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler

Best supporting actor
Josh Brolin - Milk
Robert Downey Jr - Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road

Best foreign language film
Revanche - Austria
The Class - France
The Baader Meinhof Complex - Germany
Departures - Japan
Waltz With Bashir - Israel

Best animated feature film
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Wall-E

Best adapted screenplay
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Best original screenplay
Happy-Go-Lucky
Milk
Wall-E
In Bruges
Frozen River 

Posted via email from Joao Rei’s ramblings | Comment »

A TEXT POST

Two sentenced to death over Chinese tainted milk scandal

Two men were given the death penalty for their involvement in the contaminated milk scandal in China.

More hard sentences are expected, and the former boss of the company was given life imprisonment.

In my view, something had to be done, but I am, and have always been against the death sentence. There was no criminal intent, this was a case of, severe, negligence. I mean, they knew what they were doing, but it’s hard to prove they wanted to kill babies!

If the milk scandal tainted China’s image abroad, I feel that this sentence does more harm than good to the image of China’s justice system.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7843972.stm

Posted via email from Joao Rei’s ramblings | Comment »

A TEXT POST

Follow Obama’s inauguration

If you’re anything like me, you’re planning on watching the live Inauguration of President Obama.


It’s a good thing we’re in Europe, so you can follow it either at work or just after leaving.

Right now, i’m watching it on Euronews, via Livestation.com software. But if you don’t want to install anything then joost.com is a good option.

Go Obama!

Posted via email from Joao Rei’s ramblings | Comment »

Previous Next »

Atonement by Toni Romero Powered by Tumblr / Archives / Feed