"Always in motion is the future"
-Yoda
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Belgian Beer Review: Duvel
This is a post in the Belgian beer review series.
Duvel is a beer I had heard a lot from my Finnish friends. Good aroma, and very clear colour. Should be served freezing cold. However, I don't like it that much since, at 8.5% alcoholic content, it just tastes too much of alcohol, and I like my beer tasting like beer.
Duvel is a beer I had heard a lot from my Finnish friends. Good aroma, and very clear colour. Should be served freezing cold. However, I don't like it that much since, at 8.5% alcoholic content, it just tastes too much of alcohol, and I like my beer tasting like beer.
Friday, February 09, 2007
New kind of video games: PeaceMaker and FoodForce
I like video games, especially those related to strategy. I've played games in the series of Age of Empires, Total War, Command and Conquer and Civilization, among others. However, a new kind of socially-responsible video games have caught my attention.
PeaceMaker is also a strategy game, but in this case you take control of one of the sides in the Israel-Palestine conflict, and the goal is to achieve peace and the Nobel Prize. Their usage of real news footage in the game seems particularly interesting.
FoodForce is a game developed for the UN World Food Programme targeted at pre-teens, where they are given the task to co-ordinate the food assistance operations of the UN in a fictional country. It has now been downloaded millions of times.
I don't know about you, but I feel these kind of gaming is worth trying. We can teach people that doing the right thing can also be fun.
PeaceMaker is also a strategy game, but in this case you take control of one of the sides in the Israel-Palestine conflict, and the goal is to achieve peace and the Nobel Prize. Their usage of real news footage in the game seems particularly interesting.
FoodForce is a game developed for the UN World Food Programme targeted at pre-teens, where they are given the task to co-ordinate the food assistance operations of the UN in a fictional country. It has now been downloaded millions of times.
I don't know about you, but I feel these kind of gaming is worth trying. We can teach people that doing the right thing can also be fun.
Belgian Beer Review: Leffe Brune/Bruin
I have had an idea for some time now, to review as many Belgian beers as I can during my stay here, so let's get started!
Leffe Brune is a dark abbey beer under the Leffe brand. It seems to be quite popular here (at least, I have found it almost everywhere). With a deep brown colour and a rather full caramel flavour, it is one of my favourite beers so far. Its alcohol content is 6.5%, so it doesn't hit you very hard.
Leffe Brune is a dark abbey beer under the Leffe brand. It seems to be quite popular here (at least, I have found it almost everywhere). With a deep brown colour and a rather full caramel flavour, it is one of my favourite beers so far. Its alcohol content is 6.5%, so it doesn't hit you very hard.
FIFA official date
- USA 2-0 Mexico (Again... the team needs more than a winning mentality to win)
- Scotland 2-2 Finland (Interesting usage of new players by both teams)
- Belgium 0-2 Czech Republic (Belgium still seems to have forgotten how to play)
- UK 0-1 Spain (Horrible game, great goal by Iniesta)
- France 0-1 Argentina (Most entertaining match overall last night)
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Globalisation is...
a Vietnamese student correcting the English language usage of a French marketing teacher in Brussels...
And a Mexican posting about it in his blog.
And a Mexican posting about it in his blog.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
3rd Matchday: Chivas 0-1 Pachuca.
Chivas lost on an injury time goal from Landín at home.
At least the team knows now that they aren't invincible, so they should keep alert.
At least the team knows now that they aren't invincible, so they should keep alert.
The Machine is Us/ing Us
Best explanation I've ever seen of Web 2.0 below. Ties in quite well with what we've discussed on the singularity.
Via Noveno Colectivo and Ceronne.
Via Noveno Colectivo and Ceronne.
Monday, February 05, 2007
Le Superbowl
Few things I know are weirder than a Mexican watching the Superbowl in Brussels via a French
channel at 2 a.m. Shortly thereafter I went to sleep, and Chicago lost.
The photo is from the kickoff and ensuring touchdown run. What an amazing start! And to think I don't even like gridiron that much.
Merci France 2!
Sunday, February 04, 2007
The Rainbow
Heard from a friend, having a conversation with his little kid.
"Dad, what's that?"
"That's a rainbow."
"But what is it."
"It is something that God puts in the sky."
"God has to be a little girl then."
"Why?"
"Because only little girls would think about putting so many colours in the sky."
"Dad, what's that?"
"That's a rainbow."
"But what is it."
"It is something that God puts in the sky."
"God has to be a little girl then."
"Why?"
"Because only little girls would think about putting so many colours in the sky."
Racismo a la mexicana
Hablando con algunas personas, me he dado cuenta que nosotros también podemos ser racistas, aunque prefiramos quejarnos amargamente de cómo tratan a nuestros connacionales en Estados Unidos.
Nos llegamos a quejar de la mafia coreana, de los inmigrantes argentinos, centroamericanos, chinos o judíos, y aunque sabemos que somos la mezcla de la mezcla de la mezcla, he oído quejas contra los negros o los árabes.
Tod esto viene a colación porque una persona que me visitó hizo un comentario con una mezcla entre sorpresa y desdén sobre la cantidad de personas de religión musulmana que viven en Bruselas. Cuando le hice la observación que alguien podría quejarse sobre la cantidad de mexicanos viviendo en Estados Unidos, guardó silencio. Eso, francamente, es racismo.
Algunas veces me gustaría que no viéramos la paja en el ojo ajeno sino la viga en el propio. Si queremos que el mundo se abra a México, México también tiene que abrirse al mundo.
Nos llegamos a quejar de la mafia coreana, de los inmigrantes argentinos, centroamericanos, chinos o judíos, y aunque sabemos que somos la mezcla de la mezcla de la mezcla, he oído quejas contra los negros o los árabes.
Tod esto viene a colación porque una persona que me visitó hizo un comentario con una mezcla entre sorpresa y desdén sobre la cantidad de personas de religión musulmana que viven en Bruselas. Cuando le hice la observación que alguien podría quejarse sobre la cantidad de mexicanos viviendo en Estados Unidos, guardó silencio. Eso, francamente, es racismo.
Algunas veces me gustaría que no viéramos la paja en el ojo ajeno sino la viga en el propio. Si queremos que el mundo se abra a México, México también tiene que abrirse al mundo.
¿Privatizar el petróleo mexicano?
Después de estar leyendo sobre la situación actual de Pemex, el precio del petróleo y las reservas, me encontré con este cartón de Paco Calderón:
Desde antes se me había ocurrido la sacrílega idea de que tal vez el petróleo en México es como una muleta a la que nos hemos acostumbrado y que no nos permite realmente caminar, ya que sentimos que tenemos que seguir dependiendo de ella aunque no sea el caso. Nótese que no estoy diciendo que tenemos que rasgarnos las vestiduras y venderlo todo al "capital apátrida", para que nos "saqueen" y demás, pero francamente estoy hasta el gorro de que sobre este tema no podamos tener discusiones como adultos, con argumentos en la mano en lugar de pasiones en el corazón.
Por ejemplo, ¿no sería mejor idea que Pemex funcionara como una empresa como cualquier otra y simplemente pagara impuestos? Es pregunta. ¿O a ustedes qué se les ocurre?
A ver si no me crucifican, acuérdense que hasta soy de centroizquierda.
Desde antes se me había ocurrido la sacrílega idea de que tal vez el petróleo en México es como una muleta a la que nos hemos acostumbrado y que no nos permite realmente caminar, ya que sentimos que tenemos que seguir dependiendo de ella aunque no sea el caso. Nótese que no estoy diciendo que tenemos que rasgarnos las vestiduras y venderlo todo al "capital apátrida", para que nos "saqueen" y demás, pero francamente estoy hasta el gorro de que sobre este tema no podamos tener discusiones como adultos, con argumentos en la mano en lugar de pasiones en el corazón.
Por ejemplo, ¿no sería mejor idea que Pemex funcionara como una empresa como cualquier otra y simplemente pagara impuestos? Es pregunta. ¿O a ustedes qué se les ocurre?
A ver si no me crucifican, acuérdense que hasta soy de centroizquierda.
Human Rights for Robots
I read this in the Financial Times some time ago and it definitely caught my attention. Given that we would be approaching the singularity supposedly soon, it doesn't sound so out of touch with reality.
Talking about this with some people I know, they were decidedly spooked by this given that, they say, "robots don't have a soul". The issue of having it or not for me is irrelevant, for as long as something is self-aware and can express it they should have rights (this applies also to animals). I wanted to give them an introduction to this, but they dismissed it as a waste of time, and truth be told, our world has more pressing concerns.
I wonder if they will still think that way later on.
Talking about this with some people I know, they were decidedly spooked by this given that, they say, "robots don't have a soul". The issue of having it or not for me is irrelevant, for as long as something is self-aware and can express it they should have rights (this applies also to animals). I wanted to give them an introduction to this, but they dismissed it as a waste of time, and truth be told, our world has more pressing concerns.
I wonder if they will still think that way later on.
Hittail review
I'm using a search hits reporting tool called HitTail. This way, I now know that people searching the internet find my blog while looking for Mexican hand gestures (yes, I still have to post that video in YouTube) or Pan's Labrynth.
If you write a blog, I'm sure this utility will be useful.
If you write a blog, I'm sure this utility will be useful.
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