In the state we find the world today with all its poverty, epidemics and never-ending conflicts, it is almost impossible to find comfort in the words and actions of our politicians and statesmen. We’re often tired of their rhetoric and demagogue speeches, in what many of us see as fuelling empty promises about making the world a better place. Speaking for myself, I can’t think politicians from our time that I can say hand on heart that I truly believe in their good intentions, integrity and honourable values. All but one, who unfortunately was taken away from us five years ago.
Sérgio Vieira de Mello was a man who lived his life to honour the principles for which the United Nations was created: To help ease the suffering of people and mediate conflicts around the world. Sérgio Vieira de Mello was a pivotal figure within the United Nations that legitimised the organisation’s existence. A charismatic figure and remarkable diplomatic, he worked to resolve conflicts in several regions including Lebanon, Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, Kosovo and Timor-Leste. He died five years ago in a coward attack in Iraq.
This week the murder of a TAXI driver in Thailand by a student who was “carrying out a scene” of the Game Grand Theft Auto IV, prompted authorities to ban the game nation-wide. Once again the question reigns: Does videogame influence people? Well, I have some comments on the matter not from a 3rd person perspective, but from a 1st person.
As I wrote in my previous post about the reforms required in Brazil in order to open its economy to foreign organisations, I discussed how Brazil with all its incumbent problems has an excellent track of customer rights; which I yet have to see it being matched by an European country.
Now the Brazilian president signed a decree that imposes new regulations for call centres (source). If you have ever suffered in the hands of poor service delivery through call centres then get ready to feel avenged. You’ll love this! Read More »
I recently read an article on the FT entitled “Surfing a big wave of confidence” (FT, 08/Jul/2008) about Brazil’s privileged position in facing what seems to be a global economic crisis. In this article Lapper and Wheatley mentions the growth in Brazil’s home market, the successful results of 15 years of economic reforms, the attraction of foreign investments and the transformation being experienced by society as “income rises and inequality falls”.
However, the authors also righteously assert that Brazil is not yet a superpower and that there is yet a lot to be done – particularly with regards to the public sector, infrastructure and the bureaucracy faced by organisations. This is the last bit I would like to stir some thoughts about.
I do think massive reforms are needed in regards to corporate legislation. But while Brazil should look around and learn from the experience of other successful economies in what to do, I think it is mostly important to learn what not to do. Let me develop on this thought.
Back in 2002, I ventured myself into the wonders of open source Content Management System (CMS). Being a former SysOp for two Bulletin Board Systems during the mid-nineties, I was extremely excited with the prospects of what could be built using free tools to create dynamic and rich web portals – the web was finally making sense, I thought! However, a lot changed since 2002, and it seems that the open source Content Management Systems are lost in the plot. Read More »
I read a few weeks ago in some of the Windows Home Server forums that some enthusiasts are trying to install Linux on a HP MediaSmart server. While I do find it to be a quite interesting exercise, I fail to see the benefits of replacing Windows Home Server with a copy of Linux, particularly since HP has their own Linux-based home servers, plus it would be probably cheaper to build a custom one.
On a personal note, I rather like the idea of having a Windows-based server at home. But I do miss having the ability to play with Linux hacks. So I was thinking what I could do to have Linux as an option at home when I came with a solution where I could have both Windows Home Server and Linux on my MediaSmart server running at the same time: Virtual Server.
With an international food crisis knocking at the backdoor of developed countries, comments started to fly around about biofuels being the main culprit for the rise in food prices.
If you are into IT, you probably heard the news that Gartner, the big USA research and advisory company recently warned the industry in a conference that Windows is in danger of collapsing. A bold statement, and once you read Gartner’s argument, it can give the impression to neophyte readers that it is a smart and throughfully researched argument. Well, not really. Read More »
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24th August 2008 by 
Pedro 
Posted in Current Affairs | 
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