en http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/ Thu, 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 Thu, 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 60 http://www.audioscrobbler.net/data/webservices jsilv's Last.fm Journal http://www.last.fm/user/jsilv/journal The Last.fm journal for jsilv. Last.fm journals are a place to talk about all things music. Favourite stations http://www.last.fm/user/jsilv/journal/2008/08/05/23oph0_favourite_stations Tue, 5 Aug 2008 14:40:40 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/jsilv/journal/2008/08/05/23oph0_favourite_stations (Mine)
((*)) jsilv (user)
((*)) (tag)
((*)) (tag)
((*)) Valter_Ego (user)
--------------------------------------------------
Classical & Jazz
((*)) (tag)
((*)) 20th Century Classical (group)
((*)) Yann Tiersen (group)
((*)) Brad Mehldau (group)
--------------------------------------------------
Folk
((*)) Rodrigo Leão (artist)
((*)) / (tag)
--------------------------------------------------
Electronic
((*)) (tag)
((*)) (tag)
((*)) Thievery Corporation (artist)
((*)) Armin van Buuren (artist)
((*)) / / (tag)
--------------------------------------------------
Metal
((*)) (tag)
((*)) Fans of Old and New Katatonia (group)
((*)) Katatonia (artist)
((*)) (tag)
((*)) / (tag)
((*)) Neurosis (artist)
--------------------------------------------------
Rock
((*)) (tag)
((*)) (tag)
((*)) Mogwai (group)
((*)) The Mars Volta (group)
--------------------------------------------------
(Generic)
((*)) croque_monsieur (user)
((*)) EthnoJazz (user)
((*)) (tag)
((*)) Before Sunrise & Sunset (group)
((*)) (tag)
((*)) (tag)
((*)) elbecko (user)
((*)) PsychedelicFarm (user)
((*)) frtkpt (user)
((*)) kainkagr (user)
((*)) monaluzer (user)
((*)) blowholeblast (user)
((*)) Sketchtastrophe (user)
((*)) nirky (user)
((*)) maeluna (user)
((*)) memorylane222 (user)
((*)) richardoreis (user)
((*)) SafSiyah (user)
((*)) sinoth (user)
((*)) biiejjutyful (user)
((*)) Ajleen (user)]]> Super-eclectic score http://www.last.fm/user/jsilv/journal/2008/07/19/22r1b7_super-eclectic_score Sat, 19 Jul 2008 02:56:49 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/jsilv/journal/2008/07/19/22r1b7_super-eclectic_score Take your top 50 artists. For each of these artists, collect the top 20 similar artists (where the artist itself is the #1 most similar). The resulting number of unique artists is your super-eclectic score. You can compute your own score at http://anthony.liekens.net/pub/scripts/last.fm/supereclectic.php

My super-eclectic score is currently

855/1000



The most similar artists for my profile are Erik Satie (5), Michael Nyman (5), Chick Corea (4), Arvo Pärt (4), Philip Glass (4), Zbigniew Preisner (4), Wim Mertens (4), Keith Jarrett (3), Brad Mehldau (3), Anathema (3)]]> Privacy concerns about Last.fm http://www.last.fm/user/jsilv/journal/2008/07/04/21yrlp_privacy_concerns_about_last.fm Fri, 4 Jul 2008 21:17:13 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/jsilv/journal/2008/07/04/21yrlp_privacy_concerns_about_last.fm I just sent this message to office@last.fm:

Subject: Privacy concern: should be able to purge sent messages
To: office@last.fm

Hello!
First, a wholehearted THANKS, because I LOVE Last.fm!

Now, a very delicate issue:
--------------
You know how privacy concerns are raising all around the world, as our politicians (and businessmen) lose every bit of respect about our privacy. Everything we say or write can be used against us... without
a trial or even a sound justification. But saying or writing things, and later regretting having said them, is part of human behaviour.

When we write something and it still belongs to us (like a letter we keep in a drawer), we can go there and burn it; when we send it to a friend, we can at least kindly ask him to burn it (he might not do it,
but he may do it if he is a decent person and we ask in a decent manner). So why can't we purge sent messages at Last.fm?

Let's suppose I exchange messages about some sensitive subject with a friend. Not talking about national security, of course, but... at times of "witch hunting" such as the one we're living in, even the mosts innocent words (such as political criticism) can be
misinterpreted and used to justify punishing/torturing innocent people, therefore we all must be careful about what we say and write. After sending such a message, I might ask my friend to purge the message once he reads it... and I would like to be able to purge it
from my outbox, too!! Why don't you grant me the right to do it?

Even worse: why do you create the illusion that old messages (older that the 20th oldest) are deleted, by not displaying them in the list? I just tested it, and the URL remains active even after the message no
longer appears in the list. Why this? Are you obeying some legal order from a British court (hopefully British; could be worse...) that forces you to surreptitiously keep all sent messages? If that's the
case, please say it plainly, so that we, the users, know who to send our complains and who to beware of. Because, you know: information is power, and too much power in the hands of a few is never a good
thing, even if those few were democratically elected. Hitler himself was democratically elected; we shall never forget that.

I'm sure you will reply, not only with words, but also with the necessary changes to the platform. If you search your site (Google search string -> delete sent site:last.fm), you'll see that I'm not the only one to raise this concern. So thanks a million, in advance,
for your reply, and... Keep on doing your wonderful job for the sake of music and friendship!

Best regards,
José

If you agree with what I wrote, please complain about this matter, too (but don't copy-paste my e-mail or even the subject line, because identical messages, or messages with identical subject lines, could be discarded as spam, which would be totally counter-productive for us).
Thank you!]]> Favourite podcasts in English language http://www.last.fm/user/jsilv/journal/2008/07/03/21vasg_favourite_podcasts_in_english_language Thu, 3 Jul 2008 00:31:19 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/jsilv/journal/2008/07/03/21vasg_favourite_podcasts_in_english_language (This list shall be repeatedly extended)

Sustainability

A World of Possibilities
Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/AWorldOfPossibilities
-----
http://www.aworldofpossibilities.com/
-----
http://www.learnoutloud.com/Catalog/Social-Sciences/Current-Events/A-World-of-Possibilities-Podcast/6948
http://www.podcastalley.com/podcast_details.php?pod_id=2634
http://forums.ilounge.com/archive/index.php/t-108774.html
-----------------------
An excellent podcast that serenely creates awareness on a wide variety of important topics, ranging from health and consumerism to global environment and international politics. I mean "serenely" because, despite these topics being so sensitive, there's absolutely no sensationalism in this podcast's episodes: the topics are discussed from a clear and sound perspective, with relevant interviews, and the host speaks to the layman in a very calm and friendly voice.

Inside Renewable Energy
Feed: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/podcast/inside-re.xml
-----
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news?section=podcast&id=19
-----------------------
A good podcast about the trends in renewable energies.

Health

Pediatrics for Parents
Feed: http://pedsforparents.libsyn.com/rss
-----
http://www.pedsforparents.com/
-----------------------
A very informative podcast and website about pediatrics, i.e. any topics relevant to the health, safety and development of children. Most informations actually are relevant to anyone, because what threatens children (pollutants, for example) usually treatens everyone.

Politics & Economy

Democracy Now!
Feed: http://www.democracynow.org/podcast.xml
-----
http://www.democracynow.org/
-----
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Now!
-----------------------
A North-American source of independent news coverage of American and foreign politics, as well as other issues not specifically of political nature but also related to human rights. The slogan is "The war and peace report", but the scope is broader than that.

Many of the news are too specifically related to the inside of American politics (which impact on the lives of us all, of course, but over which we have little power if any). However, many reports focus on foreign or global issues, such as the conflict in the Middle East, the ongoing but little-mentioned mass rape of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo, climate change, etc.. It's useful to listen to this podcast from time to time, to get some independent information about what's being said, planned and done by the rulers of our world.

EconTalk
Feed: http://www.econlib.org/library/EconTalk.xml
-----
http://www.econtalk.org/
-----------------------
A very liberal -- right-wing, but not conservative -- podcast on economics.
I rate the podcast as "very right-wing" because the host and the invited speakers are strong believers (perhaps dumb believers, sometimes) of the merits of private initiative and the market. They seem to belong to the set of winners of capitalism -- this ongoing process of "natural economic selection" -- and don't give a damn about the losers. They seem to believe that everybody has the obligation to be an enterpreneur, and if he isn't, he must suffer the consequences.

I obviously disagree with the restrictive view of the purpose of live that lies under the opinions expressed by these folks and the policies proposed by them. However, the strictly economical thinking often seems very wise and correct, and not aligned with the political choices and interventions defended by the neocons. For example: in one of the episodes, the invasion of Iraq is strongly criticized on solid grounds: it is argued, from simple principles of Economics, that the failure in Iraq was predictable and that previous examples of success (Germany, Japan) could not be extrapolated to Iraq.

Computer security

Security Now!
Feed: http://leoville.tv/podcasts/sn.xml
-----
http://www.grc.com/securitynow.htm
http://twit.tv/sn
-----
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_Now!
-----------------------
A detailed potcast -- but often too technical -- about computer security, mainly online security and software vulnerabilities.]]> Favourite podcasts: Foreword http://www.last.fm/user/jsilv/journal/2008/07/03/21va74_favourite_podcasts%3A_foreword Thu, 3 Jul 2008 00:16:08 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/jsilv/journal/2008/07/03/21va74_favourite_podcasts%3A_foreword I want to share with you my favourite podcasts -- mostly about politics and society, environment, science and technology, computer security, health, culture, foreign languages... and, hopefully, some specifically covering mathematics.

Rather than sitting at the computer, browsing all the podcasts that I currently subscribe, selecting the best ones and writing a finished version of a blog post, I'll rather write an incremental blog post, by adding new podcasts as I listen more carefully to them.

The next post will contain that list of my favourite podcasts. It will be repeatedly edited. If you usually listen to podcasts about the topics mentioned above and are curious to know some of my favourites, please send me a message and I will inform you whenever I add a new short review to my list.]]> Events in Lisbon http://www.last.fm/user/jsilv/journal/2008/07/02/21u7mn_events_in_lisbon Wed, 2 Jul 2008 13:56:29 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/jsilv/journal/2008/07/02/21u7mn_events_in_lisbon If you are visiting Lisbon (or live here) and you want to find nice places to visit or interesting events to attend, I obviously suggest that you start by searching here at Last.fm. Then you can try any of these sites:

http://www.e-cultura.pt/AgendaCultural.aspx -- all Portugal

http://www.agendalx.pt/cgi-bin/iportal_agendalx -- Lisbon only

http://timeout.sapo.pt/ -- Lisbon and around

http://www.netindex.pt/links/ARTE_CULTURA/Agend/index.html -- Links to other sites

Google: agenda cultural lisboa -- Even more sites]]> Milan Kundera, "A Insustentável Leveza do Ser" http://www.last.fm/user/jsilv/journal/2008/06/09/20mldl_milan_kundera%2C_%22a_insustent%C3%A1vel_leveza_do_ser%22 Mon, 9 Jun 2008 21:11:45 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/jsilv/journal/2008/06/09/20mldl_milan_kundera%2C_%22a_insustent%C3%A1vel_leveza_do_ser%22 Tinha-se convencido de que queria morrer ao lado dela, e este sentimento era manifestamente excessivo: se era só a segunda vez que a via! Não seria antes a reacção histérica de um homem que, ao aperceber-se, no seu foro íntimo, da sua incapacidade para amar, começava a representar para si próprio a comédia do amor?
...
Tudo se vive imediatamente pela primeira vez sem preparação. Como se um actor entrasse em cena sem nunca ter ensaiado. Mas o que vale a vida se o primeiro ensaio da vida já é a própria vida?
...
Para um amor se tornar inesquecível é preciso que, desde o primeiro momento, os acasos se reúnam nele como os pássaros nos ombros de São Francisco de Assis.
...
Porque a vida humana (...) é composta como uma partitura musical. O ser humano, guiado pelo sentido da beleza, transpõe o acontecimento fortuito (...) e faz dele um tema que, em seguida, inscreverá na partitura da sua vida.
...
Tinha uma vontade brutal de fazer qualquer coisa que a impedisse de voltar atrás. Tinha vontade de anular brutalmente os últimos sete anos da sua vida. Eram as vertigens. Um inebriante, um incontrolável desejo de cair.
...
Enquanto as pessoas são novas e as partituras musicais das suas vidas ainda só vão nos primeiros compassos, podem compô-las em conjunto e até trocarem temas (...). Porém, quando se conhecem numa idade mais madura, as suas partituras musicais já estão mais ou menos acabadas e cada palavra, cada objecto, tem um significado diferente na partitura de cada uma.
...
Franz tinha mais ou menos doze anos quando a mãe ficara sozinha com ele, porque um dia, inesperadamente, o pai tinha-se ido embora. (...) Foi nesse dia que, ao saírem de casa para dar uma volta pela cidade, Franz percebeu que a mãe tinha dois sapatos desemparceirados. (...) Passou duas horas com ela na rua sem conseguir despregar os olhos dos seus pés. Foi então que começou a fazer uma ideia do que devia ser o sofrimento.
...
Os extremos marcam a fronteira para lá da qual não há vida, e, tanto em arte como em política, a paixão do extremismo é um desejo de morte disfarçado.
...
Numa sociedade rica (...) há (...) cada vez mais estudantes. Estes, para obterem os seus canudos, primeiro têm que fazer uma tese sobre um dado tema. E não é difícil arranjar um tema, porque basta glosar o que já foi dito. (...) A cultura está a desaparecer numa infinidade de produtos, numa avalanche de letras, na demência da quantidade.
...
Sentado na cama, olhava para a mulher deitada a seu lado, que lhe apertava a mão a dormir. Sentiu por ela um amor inexprimível. Nesse momento, ela (...) abriu as pálpebras e olhou para ele com um ar assustado.
«Para onde é que estás a olhar?», perguntou ela. (...)
«Estou a olhar para as estrelas, disse ele.
--Não me mintas, tu não estás a olhar para as estrelas, tu estás a olhar para baixo.
--Mas, como vamos num avião, as estrelas estão por baixo de nós.
--Ah!», disse Tereza. Apertou ainda com mais força a mão de Tomas e voltou a adormecer. Tomas sabia que, agora, Tereza estava a olhar pela janela de um avião que voava tão alto que ia por cima das estrelas."]]>