Ilarie Reborn!?

An interesting thing I saw on a friend's blog. There's a "classic" song in my generation childhood called "Ilarie", from a television actress called Xuxa. Well, this friend's found an "chinese remake" of that song. As I don't know Chinese, I have no idea of the lyrics (although it's written) or even the title, but some people may find it worth watching.

Here is the link to the "new version".

For those unfamiliar with the classic version, there's a video here.

Slashdot, graduation and acceptation

Lately, I've turned into an occasional reader of Slashdot articles. (Let's say that it happened because of an indirect recommendation from a friend.) Although I can't be classified exactly as a techie, many of the articles are interesting... from different points of view (I'll avoid becoming technical here).

One that surely has also figured in many other news sites was about the International Astronomical Union redefining the concept of what's a planet, and the possibility of adding 3 more planets to the Solar System. Ok, ok... it probably won't change most people's lives for the next decades, except for nullifying all of those "set sentences" created in roder to memorize the order of the planets (I don't know any in English, and would appreciate some version, but I still remember one in Portuguese that was shown in the Portuguese dubbed version of "Beakman's World" TV show)... But it's interesting nevertheless.

The second one is about an act "which makes it a criminal act to refuse to decrypt files on a computer". Wonder if that's so inportant... still quoting the article, "the bugaboos of child pornography and terrorism, while unquestionably heinous, are being used to justify a law which does little to protect against either". Or should I believe more in the hypothesis shown in many games/movies/etc that the government is becoming concerned about the information available on the net... Talking about that I've remembered an interesting "faq" about the Metal Gear Solid 2 game available at Gamefaqs. It will make more sense to people familiar with the game and the anime "Ghost in the Shell", but it's probably understandable even without it. In short, it talks a little about how genes and information received may change one's life.

Another article is about talent and effort. Personally, I think that both can make a difference, although success isn't determined by only them. Talent is nothing if you don't direct it. For example, sometimes some "whiz kids" are shown on TV that have excellent memorization capacities. It's something amazing, but I expect that parents and people around them will direct better the kids gifts. Usually I hear they saying capitals of many (almost unknown) countries, their currency and so forth... Interesting, but I wonder if it wouldn't be better used in language learning, for example. Well, I may be wrong since I've no knowledge about it. On the other hand, effort without talent makes things harder. But still not impossible. A Rurouni Kenshin quote may show that... Going to Kyoto, Sano meets Anji who shows the technique "Futae no Kiwami". As Sano wants to learn that technique, even risking his own life, Anji gives him one week to become able to destroy a rock using the technique, or else he would kill him. As Anji realises that Sano managed to learn the technique, follows the dialogue (note: free translation):

Anji: "... What a great talent..."
Sano:"Hey! I almost died in the process, you know? Talent!? Don't you dare to give all the credits to that."

Last one is about the video-game console war. Who will prevail: X-Box 360, Wii or PS3? I might be overestimating, but I believe that Microsoft's X-Box 360 has no hope of winning anywhere else outside the US... Nintendo has been showing an interest about new forms of gameplay. Its last consoles (Nintendo DS and Wii) have innovative features related to "player interface". I really like the Wii controller, and I'm waiting to try some games with it. Sony, on the other hand, places its bets in a multi-function device (since PS2, going through PSP to the PS3, the consoles can do many things, like play PS1 games, DVD player feature, internet access...) and hardware capacity (this time... it was interesting how the PS1 overcame other "better" consoles). My bets were on the PS3, but I'm seriously reconsidering shifting to Wii... Perhaps Sony's hope is the same of the PS1 age, when the amount of games was a decisive factor for its success...

Whew... for those brave enough to read to this point, a little of what's happening lately...

Last week there was my sister's graduation ceremony. So, she's got a Pharmacy (is that it?!) degree... Man, I'm getting old. But I went only to the ceremony... I guess there was a party, but as they have two graduations (well, I don't get it either...), the first one is a simple one... and as my sister gave up on going and I wasn't so excited myself about it...

But it's interesting when you talk to colleagues and notice that they already have a plan for their lives... some of my classmates are employed/being employed/working as part of a... Junior Company (not sure of the translation)...

Finally, this one is a little old, but I've received the acceptance letter from a Japanese University. Next step is being approved by the Japanese Ministry of Education... And finishing my monography here!!!

So, back to work!

Ghibli AMV

Still about You Tube videos. A friend's found an AMV (Anime Music Video) featuring many Ghibli movies, like My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ), Kiki's Delivery Service (魔女の宅急便) and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (風の谷のナウシカ). An interesting feature is how certain aspects common to many of those productions were put together. One can even recognize a pattern (well... probably Ghibli fans have done that even without the AMV...).

Here is the link to the video. Over and out.

Sentai Music Video

Recently I found a music video that I've been looking for a long time. It does a homage to the Super Sentai series, from Goranger to Abaranger, showing Dekaranger in the end. I saw this video in an anime convention in Brazil, as it was made to participate in an music video contest. Since the contest was held in 2004, that explains why the last series covered is Dekaranger (in Japan, the current series being broadcasted is another one).

It's pretty well made, and the music, although it's not from any sentai series, surely resembles that kind of song. As Changeman and Flashman were the series with greater impact in Brazil, they have more scenes in the video, but not so much. For Brazilians that used to watch those series (like me), the selected scenes brings memories back...

Note: Sentai series were broadcasted during the early 90's I guess. After an interruption, the rights of those series in the Western part of the globe were aquired by a company that adapted it into the Power Rangers series.

The video is available here. There're some things written in Portuguese, but I guess that people that don't understand it won't lose much... except maybe the joke at the beginning...

Social network services

Talking about those "social network services"... Well, here it all started with Orkut. Although developed by an North-american company, it reached a huge popularity among Brazilian users. My guess is because it was the first one of its kind that many Brazilians discovered.

Many Brazilians have some kind of "group feeling", but different than, for example, the well-known Japanese group sense. Let's just say that once one recieves an invitation, it won't be long before he invites almost every single friend he has an e-mail address. And as Orkut was the first one (I suppose) it may explain why there're so many Brazilians there.

I won't say it wasn't a good experience in the beggining. I've found some friends from kindergarden to university. Some that I really haven't met for a long time, and it was good to be in touch with those people again.

But of course it wouldn't last. Spammers, hate groups, crackers also have discovered opportunities in such services. The Portuguese version of the Wikipedia article about Orkut shows some. Spam (lately, around 80% of the scraps I've been receiving) about events, job opportunities or whatsoever. A recent one that's a little weird was from a... humm... "candidate for member of the (state) house of representatives ". Note that he's candidate from the state of Sao Paulo, while I don't live in that state... Annoying to say the least.

Out of that, and some profile viewing (not a problem... one shouldn't put something one wouldn't like other people to know) there're also virus (until some months ago I was flooded with scraps that asked me to "check some pictures of the party" or something of the kind, with a lovely link to an .exe file), hoaxes, unauthorized profile editing and posting (like hacking into a woman's profile and changing her info and posting in communities as if she's a... you know what I mean)... But a recent problem is surely scary... Criminals look at your info for kidnapping purposes... or to simulate a kidnapping.

How? Choose a teenager or young person and call their parents or grandparents in a time that usually young people go out to tell that that person was kidnapped or suffered an accident and needs some cash. Keep the line and the person's cellphone busy to avoid a call to check if that's true and use the info about preferences, etc. to "confirm" it really is the person. Of course it's not only that. Sometimes they know some things that aren't written (by observing in real life maybe) in details that are... disturbing.

No, I haven't been in this situation, but have friends that almost fell for it.

Recently, another of those network services has been through its share of problems from what I've read. Myspace. I'm not part of this one (was invited, but too many of those things are hard to manage...) and don't know much about the problems.

Then comes mixi. If Orkut is Brazilian and Myspace is North-american, mixi is Japanese. Given the Japanese nettiquete, most people use nicks (although usually real name is also visible) and it's not unusual to find someone who put another picture instead of one's photo (it also happens in other services too... but perhaps the percentage of "no-bogus profiles" without a person photo is bigger... not sure though). So far, no signs of spams, virus or whatever. Maybe because I'm still a minor user and don't (can't) go too deep into it. I wonder if it will suffer the same problems of its Western counterparts or it will be saved by Japanese online behavior (being entirely in Japanese keeps most Westerns out of it...)

My last hope that such services aren't doomed...

Japanese Japanese... Brazilian Japanese...

It's been a while. No, I'm not dead. No, I haven't given up writing. Just a mix of laziness and lack of things to write about.

The cold is gone, finally. I really stayed at home during most part of recovery... Just can't imagine playing futsal or other usual activities coughing every 5 seconds. The problem is even staying at home the virus will still be spread... among my family. My sisters and mother've got a cold too. Although mine was worse, this time there're 3 people sick. My mother seems to be the most "unlucky". Hers is quite strong too...

And winter vacation is over. But I have no class in this semester... Only a monography (a.k.a. TCC) and... uhh... I'm not really sure of the word in English. I'm supposed to have some kind of experience as a "trainee engineer". I'm looking for the English word for "estágio", but there's some difference between "estagiário" and "trainee" in Brazil that I can't explain correctly. Anyway, no success so far looking for a company to do that. And those two things are more than enough to keep me busy during most of the period...

I've got a reading recommendation from a friend. So, although vacation is over, I'll try to read that "Steppenwolf" book. And also the Japanese book that I recieved before returning to Brazil. About the latter book, I've tried sometimes, but I guess I'm forgetting Japanese little by little. It's harder to read every time I try it. それでも、まだ諦めない！

Silly news that probably won't make any sense to those who read my blog. A new Pump it Up arcade has arrived. One of the most recent versions: Zero. For a long time "Pumpers" have complained about the versions and the pads of the arcades here. this time, one game center finally changed its version and fixed the pads. From now on, the new point for Pump it Up is "Royal Plaza Shopping".

Nothing like a birthday to meet relatives you haven't seen for ages, right? Well, during an uncle's (I wonder... I am really not sure of relations with that side of the family...) birthday. And, naturally, because I've returned from Japan people make comments and try to talk in Japanese to me, especially the elders. So far, I haven't disappointed them (my Japanese is getting worse, but still bearable), but one thing is interesting.

How they mix Japanese and Portuguese words naturally, like if they're speaking Japanese. One explanation is that Portuguese words took place over many "new words" (usually in katakana) like table, computer... But even for words not so new, sometimes the changing is natural, to the point they don't understand if you say the word in Japanese (well... the way I've heard in Japan). That may be an example of how languages envolve, and may envolve in different ways.

Even so, I can't put a Portuguese word in the middle of a Japanese sentence. I stop the sentence, but don't use the Portuguese equivalent. But it's not uncommon for me to say a Japanese word in the middle of a Portuguese sentence. Why, I wonder...