Latest Updates

• Comment

  Sep 22, 2026, 3:13 PM

  Oct 3 is presidential election day in Brazil, first round. For properly registered voters in BC, the voting place will be the Pinnacle Hotel in downtown van.

  VIFF is also happening, so thinking of doubling the democracy party with a film party and watch a movie or two in the venues close by. Browsing the program, taking recommendations.

• Comment

  Sep 19, 2026, 5:53 PM

  Reminds me of this quote

  > Anyone who thinks they’re better than a rock should be turned into one
  —then they would find out they’re not that special, and they could finally be happy.
  Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World, Tyson Yunkaporta

  If only we could get these tech bros to do some serious therapy; and talk to real people other than yes-men.

• Comment

  Sep 19, 2026, 5:50 PM

  As a young adult and fresh grad I got really excited about much of this stuff, and declared myself a rationalist sympathetic to effective altruism.

  A decade later, it just feels silly. "I'm not going to do the laundry, my time is more valuable if I spend my free time reading about sci-fi, here's how I can mathematically prove that", metastasizing for years.

• Comment

  Sep 19, 2026, 5:12 PM

  I haven't been engaged with algorithmic fairness as much in the last few years but when @timnitGebru drops a banger like this, better late than never to give it a read

  The TESCREAL bundle: Eugenics and the promise of utopia through artificial general intelligence | First Monday

  https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/13636

• Comment

  Sep 18, 2026, 11:04 PM

  RE: https://glammr.us/@carkner/117294231749397992

  At this point even if we don't get a snap election, just by forcing Cons to play musical chairs under pressure is great game from NDP. Rustad's big circus tent didn't last long; how about a hastily improvised tent?

  Long live the Centrist party, though. The longer they survive, the better for everyone. Thank you for your service.

• Finished reading

  Sep 18, 2026, 4:34 PM

  November, November: Poems
  Some parts resonated a lot, some not so much; and that's about how I expect a good poem collection to be like, right around the edge of what feels comfortable versus what's there to expand. The passages dancing around finding peace with loss, but still reserving some anger… powerful stuff.
  

• Finished watching

  Sep 12, 2026, 3:08 AM

  Shifting Baselines, 8 out of 10
  The concept of the doc is super neat, I really enjoyed and I think it’s a memorable one, might even re watch one day; and it’s probably the intention but it’s just so uncomfortable watching people glazing this company from the notorious villain of this epoch
  

• Comment

  Sep 9, 2026, 3:35 AM

  RE: https://mastodon.social/@MatWright/117236646169213943

  Not that I think this was the intention, but at least all this kerfuffle gave Fry some extra media coverage that he might not have gotten if the “progressive primary” had resolved two months ago; they really milked it to the end

• Started watching

  Aug 30, 2026, 11:13 PM

  Succession Season 1

• Finished watching

  Aug 30, 2026, 10:43 PM

  The Dark Wizard (Miniseries), 8 out of 10
  A guy out of his mind doing things out of the ordinary. Great watch for anyone interested in climbing and extreme sports like BASE jumping.

  A bit over dramatic as one would normally expect for this kind of documentary, but 4 episodes total felt like it wasn’t stretched.
  

• Comment

  Aug 27, 2026, 11:05 PM

  It’s a bit sad but it’s so hard to empathize with people going into debt to get a truck they don’t need. I understand we’re in the same side of class warfare, but come on my brothers and sisters wake uuup, you’re a part of the problem! @ferricoxide https://blahaj.zone/notes/apx1smzz3ny0088q

• Finished watching

  Aug 23, 2026, 5:56 AM

  The Invite, 7 out of 10
  Funnier than I expected. American movies about relationships are often super unrelatable to me because the starting point is often so absurdly broken that it’s even hard to immerse myself in the story; this one has the same issue but at least the story developed quickly and in ways I was not expecting.
  

• Comment

  Aug 22, 2026, 8:06 PM

  Just watched PMMC speech on the trade deal. The man was so ready to go full realpolitik and compromise a lot, and yet here we go towards trade war.

  I have no doubt this was the right path; if anything, it took surprisingly long considering how long ago the US offence started.

  The US empire is spread thin and decided to attack all fronts at once, will lose in all fronts at once. Bring in the Chinese EV manufacturers, the DST, follow the sovereignty infrastructure initiatives.

  #CanPoli

• Comment

  Aug 18, 2026, 7:37 PM

  Not an original quip by any means, but once again I find myself lamenting the bad societal moment to be a fan of em dashes

• Comment

  Aug 7, 2026, 1:16 AM

  Listening to this CBC bracket about the best roadside attractions and it's so distasteful, basically people evaluating nature based on the size and proximity of the nearest parking lot 🤡

• Comment

  Aug 5, 2026, 12:04 AM

  Two parties coming out of nowhere and doing better than COPE and OneCity is wild

  We are so over @grids.reillywood.com https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:mxqc6fi5nqfh5giucyskyxgv/post/3msbqrqqq3c2g

• Finished watching

  Aug 4, 2026, 2:31 PM

  Project Hail Mary, 8 out of 10
  A bit silly and the humor style is totally Ryan Goslig’s whole thing, but the story is great and the visuals have their wow moments.
  

• Finished watching

  Aug 2, 2026, 6:13 AM

  The Odyssey, 8 out of 10
  Beautiful landscapes and expositions, well executed renditions of the challenges, like the whirlpool and the animal shape shifting.

  I felt a bit distracted with a lot of focus on Penelope’s suitors, and a lot of conversation with gods, but overall the movie embodies key aspects of the tragedy.

  The final moments of the movie were the weakest for me. The one man against all felt like a stretch, the fight overall reminds me of 007 villains that come at the hero almost one by one, but oh no he’s actually surrounded, but then aha, and bam, victory.

  Also his comment about the end of the Bronze Age is a bit cringy.
  

• Comment

  Jul 27, 2026, 6:00 PM

  sigh… It was fun while these were just associated with outdoor activities.

  It served me really well for cycling and snowboarding. I gave my wayfarer version to my family to experiment with it for accessibility; now I have just the sports version, which hopefully is too dorky for perverts to adopt.

  Guess I’ll have to go back to a go pro in my helmets like a Teletubby and find a decent combination of open ear headphones and a mic that works against the wind.

  https://www.emilywrites.co.nz/pervert-glasses-are-here-and-were-not-ready/

• Comment

  Jul 25, 2026, 5:15 PM

  I’m watching people plug claude opus into everything, including things that can be done in 10 ms combining grep & sed; and organizations applaud the use of AI regardless of efficiency — the opposite really, the over the top approach is easier to sell as praiseworthy.

  I wonder if the future of small businesses is going to be won by low operating expense orgs that use no LLM APIs, at worst some basic & capable local models, and are not outsourcing the foundations of their operations

  #softwaredev

• Wants to watch

  Jul 19, 2026, 7:57 PM

  The Menu

• Comment

  Jul 16, 2026, 3:28 PM

  As if I needed another reason to stop using #Google Search… cant search things while AirPlay’ing something to the TV because Google will include videos **which will autoplay** as I scroll the search results, hijacking the TV

  Give me a three page AI summary full of slop but please miss me with autoplay garbage

• Finished listening

  Jul 11, 2026, 9:46 PM

  Homework, 8 out of 10
  Really dig Da funk, Alive, Burnin and Around the World. Incredible for such an early studio album.
  

• Comment

  Jul 9, 2026, 7:50 PM

  Crazy budget in the midst of “zero means zero” cuts aside, I’ll be rooting and try supporting the Granville pedestrianization extension twice as much as I did the Gastown pilot. #vanpoli

  The dt van BIA is much more sensible and if they eat Gastown’s lunch I’m all here for it.

• Comment

  Jul 5, 2026, 12:46 AM

  The Modo #podcast is surprisingly interesting as they bring lots of small scale community building orgs working in the #Vancouver metro region

• Comment

  Jun 30, 2026, 3:59 PM

  A world scale game of the prisoner’s dilemma, where the biggest and most powerful prisoner is a power tripping rich senile rapist… so I’m activist in the streets and hedging my defeat in the sheets.

  

• Comment

  Jun 26, 2026, 1:28 AM

  RE: https://mastodon.social/@villasbc/116805870458452938

  I get it now.

  Lots of people are politically oriented by spite. Developers are hated by the populace, and therefore any sort of government program that benefits developers in any way will be framed as a bad deal.

  People would rather see those condos set on fire than see developers make a profit because it frustrates their dream of "greedy developers" going bankrupt.

• Comment

  Jun 24, 2026, 3:48 PM

  The power of propaganda.

  A government stepping in to stabilize prices while also putting the assets to use for the public good is a brilliant example of what governments are useful for.

  The unreasonable effectiveness of labeling it as a bailout is concerning. @ruofan.ca https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:72dxiqkmwffom76vmbg3qdcs/post/3moysqc7ujc2i

• Comment

  Jun 3, 2026, 7:22 PM

  RE: https://mstdn.ca/@thetyee/116687314955490592

  Consistently villainous behavior from Montague and Sim, supported by a team of sidekick enablers

• Started reading

  May 22, 2026, 4:35 PM

  Memórias de um Sargento de Milícias

• Finished watching

  May 19, 2026, 12:38 AM

  TÁR, 7 out of 10
  A story of power imbalance, abuse and misconduct. It's interesting to contrast the behaviour of the character against her own discourse/ideology from the "masterclass": if confounding the artist with their work is a slippery slope, how about the belief that their morals are fully personal? Is that ideology of the amoral genius not a slippery slope towards excusing oneself to immoral conduct?

  I find it a bit disappointing that the finale outcome comes from a big escalation, the kind that is nowhere as pervasive and realistic as everything else in the movie. Power corrupts and blinds, yes, but it also mutes and grows numb, cynic. And, most importantly, power acquits; to extents that most would find unbelievable.
  

• Finished watching

  May 18, 2026, 11:52 PM

  No Other Choice, 7 out of 10
  Another well executed "slice of life hyperbole", a little bit of drama and a little bit of surreal and absurd. Overall the movie was fine, good acting and a plot that isn't more of the same, but once the theme established itself, I did catch myself thinking: oh, now we're going to have to watch him do this two more times to see where it lands. The very ending itself was a bit of a surprise, but I think it fits the overall message. It's just how it is, no other choice. The social commentary and symbolism is rich but straightforward.
  

• Finished watching

  May 18, 2026, 2:19 AM

  Weapons, 7 out of 10
  It feels like a good thriller, with some compromises. It kicks off abruptly and it concludes abruptly, using the same narrator to provide a 30 seconds summary. But overall, the flip side of that "efficiency" is that it focuses and executes well in keeping the viewer on their toes, wondering what comes next; no time wasted on winding up and down the story. I did find the flying weapon imagery perhaps a bit too... prescient? For the character to think of it that early in the story, at least? I don't know, it feels like it was too on the nose to conjure the name of the movie so literally and so early.
  

• Finished reading

  May 18, 2026, 2:06 AM

  Coisa de Rico: A Vida dos Endinheirados Brasileiros, 8 out of 10
  O foco não é pragmatismo científico ou político, não é buscar ajustes para uma definição concreta de “rico”; pelo contrario, o foco é evidenciar o embaçada impossibilidade de definir uma posição social que só faz sentido quando pensada de forma relacional.

  Nesse personagem de antropólogo com seu lado gozador, o livro revela também um talento de comunicador científico. O deboche e os relatos estapafúrdios trazem um tempero saboroso a um assunto muito sério: essa gente, obcecada por operar diferenças entre si e entre nós, está no comando das instituições de poder - diretamente ou por influência.
  

• Finished watching

  May 11, 2026, 2:43 AM

  Limite, 7 out of 10
  Um dos pioneiros e campeões do cinema brasileiro. Acompanha a trajetória de angústia e sofrimento de três personagens que se vêem no limite de suas vidas: sem liberdade, sem amor, sem poder de escolha frente à cruel indiferença do mundo natural.

  É uma obra de arte, mas é uma beleza trágica. Se a ideia é assistir por assistir, é uma melancolia infindável. Para um crítico de cinema esse pode ser um dos filmes mais aclamados da nossa história, mas para um reles telespectador é necessário esforço. Um peito de frango sem sal e sem tempero: ápice da nutrição mas que só entra no cardápio de quem não está pra brincadeira.

  Faz mais sentido assistir com curiosidade pelo seu contexto histórico: o primeiro filme de arte do país e 30 anos antes do cinema novo; e a sua suposta universalidade destacada do contexto colonial (porém não totalmente, nunca é).
  

• Updated Page

  May 9, 2026, 2:40 PM

  Updated notes/now with new content:

  I've owned my domain and this website since 2019, but social media has been a much easier path to communicate with others. With the rise of federatd open platforms and LLM-generated software, the cost of experimenting with alternatives has gone down significantly and I occasionaly give it some attention. The goal is to use this website as the basis for RSS feeds and Email newsletters.

  In June 2025 I've given up on Pixelfed. I'm thankfull that the project exists, but I still can't just whip up my phone and share a moment with it, the UX is not there yet. I'm keeping an eye on the space for polished clients, but for now, surprisingly the best image sharing experience is just using Mona to post directly to Mastodon.

  As of May 2026 I've been working on generating machine-translated versions of that RSS feed, since as an immigrant I live in this in-between world of languages. I mostly post in English, which makes it hard for many of my loved ones to know what's up. I'm amazed that I can get pretty decent results hosting an open source model for free.

  The next stretch goal is being able to deliver those updates via newsletter since most people have no idea what RSS is, and while Email isn't as catchy as Facebook, it is something that almost everyone is forced (for now) to have one way or another.

• Updated Page

  May 9, 2026, 2:17 PM

  Updated notes/now with new content:

  My image of a good life has remained simple and consistent since I was a teenager: 1) skate to work eating an apple; 2) dine and chat with interesting people; 3) chill under the shade of a tree. When imagining the ideal life, that's what I've always visualised, though now those images always have my parter in them, and I swapped a skateboard for a bicycle.

  A decade later as a young adult, I was finally satisfied with my formulation of my life's purpose. It's compatible with that idyllic imagery, but adds some specificity to the things I care about beyond the feel-good moments. The challenge now is to actually go about living it properly and consistently because, while fun to muse about, aspirations don't have immediate practical consequences.

• Updated Page

  May 9, 2026, 3:43 AM

  Updated notes/now with new content:

  I'm still working at AWS, with manageable levels of stress and off-hours work. Late 2025 I was finally able to transtion to a Management position, and I have been lucky to have a team that sails smoothly. The hardest part is not really the people, it's actually balancing a higher amount of spinning plates and most of them with cross-team hardships.

  The one perenially unresolved aspect is working for Amazon the megacorp, and this seems to be getting worse considering the latest USA political developments. The corrosion of character is real, but I trick myself into not thinking about it too much - at least it's not Meta or Xitter, and I'm not working on anything ethically dubious; it's mostly deep in the weeds fault tolerance and availability improvements. I can sleep well as long as it's not related to crypto, gambling, weapons, fossil fuels, or unethical AI use.

• Updated Page

  May 9, 2026, 3:26 AM

  Updated notes/now with new content:

  It took me a few decades but I'm finally satisfied with my formulation of my life's purpose. The challenge is to actually go about living it properly and consistently because, while fun to muse about, aspirations don't have immediate practical consequences.

  I still semi-regularly workout lifting weights, it's not fun but it's the most efficient way to maintain a decent physique I need for so many other things that I do enjoy.

  🚴🏽 I've been cycling all year round. Vancouver's weather is rarely inclement enough to make a 20 minute ride not be worth it. I'm up >92% compared to the previous 1Y period (919 km vs 479 km), and that's not counting the 85 km e-bike ride we did for Valentine's day!

  🏃🏽 Running is moderately up, 14%. We travelled to Brazil just in time to miss both Vancouver's Sun Run and the BMO Vancouver Marathon, so the usual training push never materialized. The only reason it's not totally down is that Aline had some extra runs to treat ITBS that I tagged along.

  🥾 Hiking has had a noteworthy increase as well, 136% (89 km vs 37 km). The main contributors were definitely our Sunshine Coast trip and the Panorama Hike. We started this season well, with an early spring Mt Gardner loop!

  🏕️ Camping... I don't do any tracking, it's not actually a sport...? I just realized it's one of the few things that I just let it happen. I guess I have been relying on Aline and other friends too much to drive this one. Something to change for 2026. End of Spring we should have a bunch of campsites booked.

  🏂🏽 Snowboarding is very much up, 81% (161 km vs 89 km). This season had snow for longer, we had a Grouse Mountain pass for the first time and I even went to the mountain solo once. We're both getting better at it, which makes each day yield slighly more as well.

• Updated Page

  May 9, 2026, 2:51 AM

  Updated notes/now with new content:

  It's spring in Vancouver, but I'm currently eperiencing Rio de Janeiro's Autumn. Rio barely has seasons, it just swings between easygoing and hardcore summer. Aline has been away with her parents in SP for a few days now, and oh do I miss her and Vancouver. Staying a little extra with my parents is a privilege, though; could be better if I had more vacations to spend with them but working from here also makes this yearly tradition be less disruptive overall. I don't know how many more chances like this I'll get, and I try to remind myself of that often. Heavy stuff, but important. Like I've learned at Eininji:

  Let me respectfully remind you: Life and death are of supreme importance. Time swiftly passes by and opportunity is lost. Each of us should strive to awake Awaken! Take heed: This night your days are diminished by one. Do not squander your life.

• Started reading

  May 4, 2026, 9:39 PM

  Coisa de Rico: A Vida dos Endinheirados Brasileiros
  Peguei esse livro para complementar a leitura de "Os ricos e os pobres: O Brasil e a desigualdade" do sociólogo Marcelo Medeiros (que enfatiza como o problema da pobreza é um problema de desigualdade, e o problema da desigualdade é um problema de riqueza.) Isto posto, além do ponto de vista sociológico, vai ser interessante ver do ponto de vista antropológico como o 0.1% se diferencia do 1%, que se empenha tanto em se diferenciar dos 99%.
  

• Finished reading

  May 4, 2026, 9:27 PM

  Os ricos e os pobres: O Brasil e a desigualdade, 6 out of 10
  Interessante conhecer mais sobre os tipos de desigualdade, as características das métricas de desigualdade, medição de renda e patrimônio, definições de classes sociais etc. Interessante entender um pouco da história e lógica por trás do Imposto de Renda e do IPTU. Argumentos interessantes sobre reformas tributárias formas de enxergar esses impostos.

  Eu não sei se o livro é muito lúdico porque o público alvo inclui pessoas que não tem familiaridades com porcentagens, mas se for, acho que era melhor desenhar porque tem parágrafos lotados de números que são difíceis de digerir. E se o público alvo é gente que está tranquila de absorver tabelas econométricas em formato de prosa, o livro é muito repetitivo e conturbado com analogias e metáforas, ou historinhas e contextualizações históricas que acrescentam relativamente pouco.

  No geral achei uma edição um pouco ruim, mas as ideias por trás do livro e a tese defendida são bem argumentadas; se o leitor conseguir conectar os esparsos pontos dentre as repetições e historinhas.
  

• Started reading

  Apr 29, 2026, 11:44 PM

  Os ricos e os pobres: O Brasil e a desigualdade
  O tema da desigualdade é mais antigo do que a própria democracia; me bateu uma curiosidade de saber como anda o debate nesta década.
  

• Finished reading

  Apr 26, 2026, 6:04 PM

  If on a Winter's Night a Traveler, 9 out of 10
  So ingenious. A really captivating read. The later half of the book veers into Invisible Cities territory with some surreal settings but overall the story has such a relatability, and Calvino knows it and plays with the reader self identification, it’s surprisingly fun.

  Maybe Calvino got a little bit too “excited” on the sexual relationships here and there… and perhaps this book won’t be as enjoyable from a vantage point other than a cishet male; it’s the work of novelist man in the 70’s after all.
  

• Created collection

  Apr 26, 2026, 5:49 PM

  Books about Books
  Books on and about reading and books