iPhone, Fring e WiFi no aeroporto

Agora armado com o iPhone, o Fring e acesso à rede wireless Cloud (incluido em todos os planos iPhone da O2), já posso fazer chamadas telefónicas baratas via VoIP/SIP à malta toda enquanto espero pelo vôo:) Maravilha...

1 British pound = 1.16017214 Euros

Estou a ficar mais pobre a cada dia que passa...

Só de pensar que a Libra valia 1,35€ quando assinei o meu contracto...

Podem verificar aqui:
Yahoo Finance

Griffin SmartTalk for iPhone Review

Before I bought the Griffin SmartTalk I read several reviews about similar products and most of them placed the SmartTalk in the best position for price/quality. I agree with most of what I read, but after one month of use I discovered a major flaw. Remembering the pros:

- Good sound quality, either for music or talking;
- People hear me well from the other side so the mic quality is good;
- Big button, easy to use and works well;
- The cable is very flexible.

The big con, the cable is very flexible but its connection to the plug is not. When you walk with the iPhone in your pocket the cable as flexible as it is bends and the walking motion makes it rub against the plug. After only one month of use one of the wires broke and I stop hearing from the right phone. There should be a silicon housing protecting the cable in that sensible connection, like the CX-300 and many others have.

My CX-300 lasted 2 years before the wire broke and they were pulled and yanked countless times, some very agressively. Even the original iPhone phones seem to have better union between the plug and the cable.

Sent my SmartTalk to the store, hope they send me a new one...

Guy Fawkes e um aniversário

A noite de 5 de Novembro prometia muito mas quase se tornou um fiasco completo. Começámos por ir ver um fogo-de-artifício a Clapham Common, mas conseguimos lá chegar atrasados e não vimos nada. Mega decepção... Lembrámos-nos de ir afogar as nossas mágoas num pub, mas até isso correu mal. O pub estava apinhado e com uma fila enorme para o bar... Depois de lá passarmos algum tempo desistimos de encontrar mesa, e regressámos para mais perto das nossas zonas de residência. Começámos por ir a um bar perto de Angel, mas a comida não era de agrado de todos. Decidimos então comer na casa de alguém, mas pelo caminho o desespero encaminhou-nos a uma Pizza Hut take away e fomos comendo pelo caminho...

Mas as coisas melhorariam... A caminho de casa, e apesar do nosso grupo já estar reduzido em número, um de nós comprou foguetes numa loja ainda aberta àquela hora (no Reino Unido é legal e habitual comprar-se fogo-de-artifício) e lançou-os perto de casa. Algo que certamente animou a nossa noite.

Esperámos pela meia-noite, cantámos "Happy Birthday to you" à aniversariante e debandámos. Mas a minha noite ainda teria um evento curioso. Quando caminhava para casa, vejo foguetes a serem disparados à frente, no meu caminho. "Que giro...", quando subitamente vejo esses foguetes serem disparados para o lado e miúdos a correr, em fuga. Resolvi ficar onde estava, paradinho. Passado um bocado vejo um puto a correr com algo que apenas posso chamar de lança-foguetes portátil (devido à sua função) a disparar foguetes continuamente na direcção dos que fugiam. Esperei até ficar sem munições e lá me fiz ao meu caminho em passo acelerado...

Mariza at the Barbican, London

I could summarise this show in only three words:
Amazing, Fantastic, Superb!

But I'll use some more. Mariza was very interactive, talking a lot with the audience, mostly in English but also in Portuguese. A funny moment was when she asked if there where any Portuguese people there and about half of the audience started shouting and clapping. Sometimes she would explain what some key Portuguese words mean before started singing so the audience could understand what she would be singing about. On the beginning of the show, she apologised to the 1st and 2nd balcony for not being close to them. She also talked a little bit of her her origins, she was born in Mozambique, raise in Mouraria (Lisboa), and started singing at 5 in her parents' Tasco da Mouraria.

At a certain point she convinced the British part of the audience to say "Guitarrada" so the guitar players would play some instrumental fado.

Her performance itself was staggering, every time she paused we could hear the flies. Everyone was just so immerse in the music that wouldn't dare to make a sound. Her voice sounded like magic.

Before her first encore, she put the audience singing Happy Birthday to one of the guitar players. After the audience singed it in English the Portuguese, unexpectedly, singed it in Portuguese. After that, she singed her supposedly last song, As they left everyone got up and made a huge ovation. When they returned, they gave us what Mariza called a "gift", and a gift it was. She, and two of the guitarists played without any mikes or amplification for the whole hall. I guess everyone wasn't expecting to hear much, but I was in the 2nd balcony and could hear her clearly. It was a great display of the power of her voice. After that, another good display of her singing abilities, she sang Smile from Charlie Chaplin (sang by Nat King Cole), she sang while walking through one aisle between people.

She finished singing a happy fado song with everyone standing and clapping.

Amazing show, espero voltar a vê-la "lá pelas nossas bandas" (como ela disse).

Though not all songs are exclusively fado, as some have drums and/or piano, the mixture works quite well, making it easier to hear but still carrying the same feeling.

Bruxelas... Parte 3

O meu anfitrião arranjou um novo emprego e vai estar em Bruxelas para me acolher :)

Microwave scrambled eggs

Today I discovered you can make scrambled eggs in a microwave. Why would you do that? Because our cooker stopped working on Wednesday and somehow I forgot that and only remembered after scrambling the eggs. So I had no option but to use the microwave. All I can say it that it works, they weren't as good as the traditional, but definitely eatable :)