10 things we all hope don't change in Portugal

Alexander Ellis, the English Ambassador in Portugal who writes a column (brilliantly named Um bife mal passado) in a Portuguese newspaper recently wrote a piece called "Things that should never change in Portugal". I took the liberty of translating it.

People of Portugal: 2010 has been a difficult year for many, a year of uncertainty, change and anxiety about the future. The spirit of the moment is one of pessimism, not happiness. But the right mood to enter the holiday season should be different. So allow me, on the eve of my departure, for the second time, from this little garden, to pick ten things that I hope never change in Portugal:

Christmas, Death and Last Requests

Like every living person, I think about death on occasion. And on Christmas, I think about death more often. I don't know, why, I guess maybe all these family gathering make me think about life, and that of course makes me think about death. For whatever reason, I've been thinking lately about my death. Specifically, what I want people to do with me, or whatever is left of me, after I'm gone.

Erasmus strategies for buying cheap alcohol

One of the problems of being an Erasmus student is that you are drunk every night. This of course is a problem because it means you have to buy alcohol every day - it's a fixed item of your daily To Do List.

And since alcohol is not free, you come up with the craziest ideas to spare some money on it. Erasmus students, when it comes to sparing some cash on the booze can be very creative.

Why I think you shouldn't buy a BlackBerry phone

Blackberry's enjoy an interesting reputation in the smartphone world. Like the iPhone, they are instantly recognized as soon as you whip them out of your pocket. At first they were an expensive, executive class phone and although this is not true anymore, having a BB still says: I'm all business, all the time. My job is so important that I must have this phone with me, even on a Friday night when I fully expect to be wasted. That's how important I am.

The right time to buy a smartphone: Now

Technology moves fast. Nothing is worse for a geek than buying the latest gadget and then 3 weeks later seeing a new, better one on the market, or worse, in the hands of a friend. With this rapid evolution, when should you buy a product, if you never know if or when a new, better one is coming along? The answer is: buy then the evolution is stabilized.

"Oh you're from Portugal? I went to Madrid once."

Preface: This is a text I wrote some weeks ago, just before FIFA announced the host of the 2018 Football world cup, on the 2nd of December of this year. As it turns out Russia will host the 2018 WC, which is just as well. But it's the thought that counts, so here is the text, as I wrote it at the time:

In 15 minutes time we will know whether or not Portugal and Spain will jointly organize the 2018 WC. I think the whole idea is bad, and I sincerely wish the best of luck to Russia, England or whoever the fuck. Just not us.

The idea is being sold here at home (Portugal) as an "Iberian bid" ("Candidatura Ibérica"). First of all, I fucking hate this "Iberian" thing. I'm not Iberian, I Portuguese, thank you very much. Yesterday, the 1st of December, we celebrated the Restoration of our independence, here in Portugal. People fought in 1640 for the right not to be "Iberian". So fuck this Iberian bullshit. If anything I'm European (and since Brussels started telling me how I can and can't make wine and meat stuffings, I've been having second thoughts).

Second, considering the size difference (in all senses) of Portugal and Spain, it's really obvious that we are going to be stuck with the "left-overs". As it stands, Portugal would host 1/3 of the matches. But not all thirds are the same. I don't know about group matches, but the final would surely be in Madrid and we would be lucky to host a semi-final. Maybe we'd even get that lamest of consolation prizes: 3rd and 4th place game. Woopty-fucking-doo.

But there's that "look at the bright side of things" line of thought. Arguments never stray far from the classic "it would stimulate the economy/tourism/countryside/birth rate" and our old friend "promote Portugal abroad". Oh, you know what would promote Portugal abroad? Not being on the cover of "The Economist" for almost being a failed economy. Not having CNN discuss weather the IMF will or will not help Portugal. You know what would promote Portugal abroad? Doing our getting our shit together and staying well clear of these megalomaniac projects we are so fond of, with rewards that are far from clear.

Finally there's the question of our image in this whole affair. Spain, being a bigger country in many respects, no doubt has much to gain from this endeavor in tourism and image - they will be reaping the rewards for this one. For us the issue is not so clear. With the ignorance of the world being what it is, we should be focusing on distinguishing ourselves from Spain, not making it more likely for dumb-ass americans to confuse our two countries. I swear, if another tourist says to me "gracias" when I say I'm Portuguese, I'm killing the fat bastard.

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Why we should stop fighting digital piracy

Acording to TorrentFreak, a new de-centralized DNS system in being developed, to better resist against takedowns from legal forces. This as a response of recent seizures by U.S. authorities. If correctly implemented, this will allow an Internet Domain Name to resist attacks or seizures mandated by the Courts, for instance. For me, this is a preoccupying development. In fact, I've been saying this for years:

The net effect of the efforts of law enforcement agencies (particularly copyright holders like the MPAA and the RIAA) is to force a "natural selection" process where each file sharing method is more developed and resistant than the previous. What if a swas so de-centralized you can't take it down? What if a site was so resilient to attack that you couldn't kill it, ever?

In ten years, as a result of pressures from "The Man", we will have one or more completely impenetrable, untraceable, encrypted "subnets" (some timid examples exist: see "darknet" and "freenet"), running parallel to the "normal" Internet. These "subnets" will be the final and ultimate refuge of not just pirates, freedom fighters and political dissidents, but also pedophiles, terrorists, racists, white supremacists.

Once this technology has been developed and implemented, there is no turning back. You can't put the genie back in the bottle. So it would be best for all to re-think our war on software piracy, lest we create a monster nobody can kill.

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My "21 Things" List

In 2009 I was lucky enough to enroll on the Erasmus Programme and I got to live in Milan for 5 months. I didn't realize it at the time (and I guess some people never do) but 5 months is enough to change your life. I left Milan on the 6th of August at 6 a.m. Just after I finished packing I had some hours to kill before the flight. So I took out my laptop and started writing stuff I thought, at the time, that I would miss. I called it "21 Things I'll miss from Milan". It was the last meaningful thing I did in Milan, and this is how it looked:

1 - Being part of a group of people - that later became a group of friends, that later became a family - that lived their lives knowing that time is always short, but in Erasmus its a blink. Everyday was to be lived, enjoyed, to call your friends, to do stuff. I've never lived life with such intensity.

2 - De-briefings at Reginna Giovanna. Nothing beats getting together and talking about the previous night: who was where, who drank too much, who drank too little, who was with who, and how ugly was she.

3 - Living alone - or at least without my parents. Having do to my own shopping, my own laundry, my own dishes, my own food...I liked all of it.

4 - The idea that at any time I could say "hey, there are 12 people coming over for dinner, okay"? And the answer was always "cool!".

5 - Living in the center of a flat city. At any time I could get to the other end of the city in 20 minutes by bike. I could go out dancing and return by bike! It was a great feeling of freedom and I will miss it in Lisbon.

6 - Red Beer. I've developed a taste for double malt red beers.

7 - Pesto rosso. Delicious red pesto, probably won't find it in Portugal

8 - Speaking everyday at least 3 languages.

9 - Speaking Italian, I will miss specifically.

10 - Insanely strong coffee from Politecnico Bovisa. I don't know what they put in those coffee machines, but you take more than two of those and you can't draw a straight line.

11 - Aladino's pizza. Pizza from "aladino pizza palace" was, surprisingly, quite good. And he delivered on a flying carpet to your house.

12 - Aperitivo. Who doesn't like free food?

13 - Aperitivo in spritz. So good.

14 - The Duomo and the Galeria by night. Empty and beautiful. Even better by bike.

15 - Construzione di Veicoli, a course I had. Mech Eng. in Milan is really focused on cars, unlike in Lisbon. I learned more about suspensions and tires and gearboxes this semester than in my entire time in Lisbon.

16 - Old Fashion. I really liked that place

17 - Piazza delle colonne.

18 - Birrificio. What a good bar, what good beer.

19 - Walking down Via Dante on the weekends.

20 - Saying "I'm Erasmus" and getting instant privileges. Sometimes more attention, sometimes an easier time in school, sometimes cheaper entrances, everywhere from discos to museums.

21 - Milan, in general. Milan is a very alive city, everyday something surprised me, a concert here, some clowns there, free art exhibition over there...always a different day.

As I look back on this list, I realize that I didn't actually miss all of the things on this list. Some things I brought with me, others I had to leave behind.. But the first point on the list - the most important point on the list - never left me.

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