BLIND ZERO - DRIVE

Have a fantastic "Academic Week"!

Dilbert Cartoon - Geeks, Nerds and Engineers

The word geek is a slang term, noting individuals as "a peculiar or otherwise odd person, especially one who is perceived to be overly obsessed with one or more things including those of intellectuality, electronics, gaming, etc.".

Nerd is a term often bearing a derogatory connotation or stereotype, that refers to a person who passionately pursues intellectual activities, esoteric knowledge, or other obscure interests that are age inappropriate rather than engaging in more social or popular activities.

An engineer is someone who is trained or professionally engaged in a branch of engineering. Engineers use technology, mathematics, and scientific knowledge to solve practical problems.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org

Describing an object by Pedro Malheiro

The object that I chose to describe is a book. The title of the book is REBAP, concrete regulation.
This book defines the rules for dimensioning concrete structures and is based on the Portuguese legislation. In the Civil Engineering Course, there are two subjects that study this book.

My choice by Evandro Alves: The Old Man and The Sea by Hemingway

This is a novel written by Ernest Hemingway, that helped him to win a Nobel prize.
The book tells a story of an old fisherman named Santiago, who went to sea eighty four days
without fishing anything. Santiago has a young pupil named Manolin. His parents prohibited him
of going to fish with Santiago, because of his lack of luck, and, instead, ordered him to go with
other luckier fishermen.
Anyway, Manolin continued to help Santiago in the morning leaving him coffee and the bait. During the night he helped Santiago getting his gear out of the boat and they talked about baseball and his idol player: DiMaggio.
On the eighty fifth day, once again Santiago set sail, but this time he decided to go farther away into the gulf (he felt that his lack of luck was about to end). On that day, by noon, a marlin took his bait and the journey began...
What happened next is something of real emotion and adventure which can only be understood and felt by reading it...
Just one last note: I loved to read the Portuguese version of the book, but I would love to get my hands (and eyes) on the original one.

Television

(click on the image to expand it)

Level III - Intermediate

Activity: Which are the advantages and the disadvantages of television?

April Fools' Day

April Fools' Day, sometimes called All Fools' Day, is one of the most light hearted days of the year. Its origins are uncertain. Some see it as a celebration related to the turn of the seasons, while others believe it stems from the adoption of a new calendar.

Ancient cultures, including those as varied as the Romans and the Hindus, celebrated New Year's Day on or around April 1. It closely follows the vernal equinox (March 20th or March 21st.) In medieval times, much of Europe celebrated March 25, the Feast of Annunciation, as the beginning of the new year.

In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII ordered a new calendar (the Gregorian Calendar) to replace the old Julian Calendar. The new calendar called for New Year's Day to be celebrated Jan. 1. That year, France adopted the reformed calendar and shifted New Year's day to Jan. 1. According to a popular explanation, many people either refused to accept the new date, or did not learn about it, and continued to celebrate New Year's Day on April 1. Other people began to make fun of these traditionalists, sending them on "fool's errands" or trying to trick them into believing something false. Eventually, the practice spread throughout Europe.

Source: http://www.infoplease.com/spot/aprilfools1.html