Category: Uncategorized
How can they call this “phishing”?
honestly… if you want to make something sound legitimate, please do not use automated translation software, OK? We can (still) tell the difference!
Location update: Canterbury, Kent!
So yeah, I don’t know what on earth was I thinking to move from a sunny, warm climate into the famous English climate again. But the fact is that on Tuesday we were having highs of 27ºC in Porto, and in here I’d be most grateful if the 10ºC barrier would be passed. But it is not the cold that bothers me the most, it is really the lack of sun – the last time I saw the sun was 2 days ago, when the plane was making its descent towards Gatwick. I think I’m starting to understand the desire of old English folks to spend their retirement years in Portugal and Spain… 🙂
And now I’ve began the unavoidable house hunt – trouble is, since I came so late in the term, almost everything was taken, leaving only some not-so-nice properties. Fortunately I managed to find a very good one on my first visit (call that luck!), and if nothing better comes (the three houses that followed couldn’t compare to this one, definitely not!) I will most gladly move there.
I want to sort this accommodation issue ASAP, there are so many interesting challenges up ahead, I really can’t wait to start working! 😀
And… I’m already a “Master”!
Oh yeah: Manuel J. M. Marques, MSc! 🙂
Actually, technically that will only happen once I submit the final (printed) version of my thesis, which will only happen next Monday, since there were still some corrections to be performed afterwards. But, nevertheless, it was the closing of one chapter.
And now for the next leg of my journey, which will bring me back to Canterbury!
A cidade do Porto (1913)
Found this video today, an eight minute-long, 1913 footage of my city. Amazing how some of the landmarks are still easily recognisable, even after 100 years!
Gertboard is here! | Raspberry Pi
Gertboard is here! | Raspberry Pi.
Already on my wishlist! Added to the fact that it comes in a kit (got to go fetch the old soldering iron and brush up my fairly limited soldering skills!), it is a very interesting piece of hardware to extend the Pi’s functionality and play even more with it.
There are already a number of Python libraries meant to control the Pi’s GPIO pins, enabling it to interact with the outside world (eg, it could be interesting in a home automation project!…).
Sometimes I’d like to have more time for this kind of activities, sadly it is something that can only be done while on vacations, which are getting shorter every year!… 🙁
Cold and damp weather
Via Flickr:
could discourage most people from being outside enjoying themselves, but not rowers! Provided there is flat water, little current and no wind, everything is fine! 🙂
Yet another foggy morning at the river!
facebook report – Wolfram|Alpha
facebook report – Wolfram|Alpha.
Yet another very interesting feature of Wolfram|Alpha! I liked the “Friend Network” chart in particular – it only confirmed the idea I had, that I have some very well defined friend clusters (some even completely watertight!), with some curious exceptions (such as my brother being right in the middle of my rowing club buddies, while the rest of the family is clustered elsewhere). And then there are the outliers, some are really well apart from the big clusters!
If you want to do this as well, you have to link your Facebook account to the Wolfram|Alpha app (but I reckon this is OK, Wolfram is not evil! :)) and then run the “facebook report” query on the main Wolfram|Alpha input box. Very interesting, indeed!
Going north!…
Yeah, really. I accepted the PhD post in Kent, and I will start there by the end of this month. Right now, I still have my viva to complete and some time to enjoy the good Portuguese weather (even when it is rainy like today, it is still a lot less miserable than the “standard” English weather – and I’m talking about Kent, not some soggy northern county! :)).
Of course it is hard to leave friends & family, but it is something that must be done… and I’m not embarking in a journey towards the unknown, I’ve been there already for 6 months, it is almost like my 2nd home! 😀
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