amistad

“Bathing in Baku: How to hammam like a local”

“A place for cleansing and contemplation, for relaxation and conversation.

Azerbaijan's old hammam culture may have waned in recent years, but many of the city's older residents recall with nostalgia the weekly ritual of visiting the city's public baths.

In the days of the shahs, the khans and even the Russian Empire, hammams in Azerbaijan were about much more than just getting clean.

"People got together, chatted, discussed. It was a social institution where you would relax and, everything that had built up inside of you, you'd talk about it and share it," says Kamil Ibragimov, head of the archaeological department in Baku's Old City administration.(...)” (Lido em: CNN 2019-11-30)

“A new breed of encryption algorithms that quantum computers can’t yet beat”

“Author Gemma Milne”

“As the race to build quantum computers heats up, the cybersecurity industry looks to the planet’s best mathematicians to protect the world’s information.

With the quest to build a full-scale quantum computer now expanding beyond the science lab to encompass technology giants (such as IBM, Google, Microsoft) and quantum computing start-ups (including Rigetti, IonQ and 1Qubit), the race is on to create the hardware and software powering the next generation of computation.(...)”           (Lido em: CNNNews 2019-11-08)

“I was an astrologer – here's how it really works, and why I had to stop”

“Felicity Carter”

“Customers marvelled at my psychic abilities but was that really what was going on when I told their fortune?

The man was agitated, with red-rimmed eyes and clammy skin.

“Help me,” he said. “I’m under a curse.”

At first it was just flickering lights, he said. And then a figure, at the edge of his vision. Now something grabbed his fingers or stroked his arm. There was more – and it was happening more frequently.

“I saw a Catholic priest,” said the man. “But he couldn’t help. Can you?”

Yes, yes I could. I knew exactly what he needed to do.

I was a fortune teller. Every Sunday, I climbed the stairs of an old terrace house in Sydney’s historic Rocks district, to sit in the attic and divine the future. I would read Tarot cards or interpret horoscopes. (...)” (Lido em: The Guardian 2019-11-07)

""George Soros We must act on our principles, even when things appear hopeless"

"“The philanthropist talks populism, Trump and powerful enemies

We must act on our principles, even when things appear hopeless (...)”            (Lido em: The Guardian 2019-11-02)

“A autoridade é o luxo supremo: “Vou fazer o que dizes porque não só sei que tens razão como acho que é o que mais me convém”. Os médicos (em que acreditamos) têm poder. Mais do que os padres, aos quais damos sempre um desconto. Não há maior luxo – é esse o luxo divino de Deus – do que acreditarem em nós. (...)”             MIGUEL ESTEVES CARDOSO (Miguel Esteves Cardoso, Como é Linda a Puta da Vida, Porto Editora, Porto, 2015 (2013))

"'My ties to England have loosened': "John le Carré on Britain, Boris and Brexit"

"At 87, le Carré is publishing his 25th novel. He talks to John Banville about our ‘dismal statesmanship’ and what he learned from his time as a spy"

I have always admired John le Carré. Not always without envy – so many bestsellers! – but in wonderment at the fact that the work of an artist of such high literary accomplishment should have achieved such wide appeal among readers. That le Carré, otherwise David Cornwell, has chosen to set his novels almost exclusively in the world of espionage has allowed certain critics to dismiss him as essentially unserious, a mere entertainer. But with at least two of his books, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963) and A Perfect Spy (1986), he has written masterpieces that will endure. (...) "                                                           (Lido em: The Guardian, 2019-10-11)

“How often should you wash your gym kit?”

“What’s the worst thing you can catch from sweaty sportswear? Does it make any difference how hard you work out, or where? Here’s some expert advice

[Por:]”Lisa Ackerley”

As is the case with many questions, the answer to how often to wash your gym kit is: “It depends.” If you are someone who doesn’t really break into a sweat and stands around gossiping, your kit may last a few visits before washing. But if you work out hard, it will need washing every time. Many modern sportswear fabrics demand a low-temperature wash; however, that won’t get rid of the bacteria that can thrive on sweaty clothes. If you wash at lower than 40C, it is worth adding an antibacterial laundry cleanser. You can usually find them with washing liquids and powders in supermarkets. It is either that or crank up the heat.

It doesn’t matter whether you exercise indoors or outdoors: the kit will still get dirty. In a gym setting, you can pick up germs and dirt from other people using the machines or mats (think colds, flu, gastrointestinal infections, skin infections). If you exercise outdoors, you will pick up mud, bacteria and stains from the natural environment. Either way, what you wear needs a clean.

What’s the worst thing you can catch from sweaty sportswear? Does it make any difference how hard you work out, or where? Here’s some expert advice

As is the case with many questions, the answer to how often to wash your gym kit is: “It depends.” If you are someone who doesn’t really break into a sweat and stands around gossiping, your kit may last a few visits before washing. But if you work out hard, it will need washing every time. Many modern sportswear fabrics demand a low-temperature wash; however, that won’t get rid of the bacteria that can thrive on sweaty clothes. If you wash at lower than 40C, it is worth adding an antibacterial laundry cleanser. You can usually find them with washing liquids and powders in supermarkets. It is either that or crank up the heat.

It doesn’t matter whether you exercise indoors or outdoors: the kit will still get dirty. In a gym setting, you can pick up germs and dirt from other people using the machines or mats (think colds, flu, gastrointestinal infections, skin infections). If you exercise outdoors, you will pick up mud, bacteria and stains from the natural environment. Either way, what you wear needs a clean. (...)” (Lido em: The Guardian, 2019-10-079

“The staying power of the smiley face”

“In a video installation by James Joyce, a yellow circle rotates as two black ovals and a curved line tumble at the bottom, thwarted by gravity. Watching the video, Perseverance in the Face of Absurdity, which was projected at Banksy's pop-up dystopian theme park, Dismaland,in 2015, one can mentally reassemble the three shapes into their familiar formation: two eyes and a swooping smile.

It's a testament to the symbol that it can be deconstructed to such a degree and yet still be immediately recognizable. There is no doubt that it's a smiley face, though it looks anything but happy.(...)” (Lido em: CNN 2019-09-15)

“(...) Quem não tem um dia zangado, em que ninguém ou nada corresponde ao que esperávamos? A felicidade é a excepção e o engano. Resulta mais de um esquecimento do que de uma lembrança. (...)” MIGUEL ESTEVES CARDOSO (Miguel Esteves Cardoso, Como é Linda a Puta da Vida, Porto Editora, Porto, 2015 (2013))

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“(...) Uma das suas sábias palavras: “A mulher é como um saquinho de chá, disse a Sra. Roosevelt. “Nunca se sabe quando ela é forte até estar em água quente.” HILLARY RODAM CLINTON (Hillary Rodham Clinton, Vivendo a História, Editora Globo, São Paulo, 2008 (2003))

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“Viver como se pudesse morrer no dia seguinte, e trabalhar como se jamais viesse a morrer” PEDRO CALMON “Pedro Calmon, Memórias, Editora Nova Fronteira, Rio de Janeiro, 19950

“De moderne man ziet er niet uit als Cristiano Ronaldo”

[Por:]”Colin Van Heezik”                      “Staat het vrouwelijk schoonheidsideaal eindelijk ter discussie, verliezen mannen zich in het streven naar een killerbody. Tijd om mannelijkheid te herdefiniëren, vindt Colin van Heezik.

In de kleedkamer van een Berlijnse sportschool zie ik een jongeman, die zijn zijn torso fotografeert in de spiegel. Hij heeft zojuist getraind, zijn spieren zijn opgezwollen. Zo te zien heeft hij ook een zonnebankje gepakt. Verder heeft hij een gigantische sporttas, waaruit een spierwitte, vers gewassen boxer tevoorschijn komt. Verschillende verzorgingsproducten worden aangebracht op huid en haar, terwijl de man zichzelf in de spiegel blijft bekijken. Af en toe neemt hij een slok van zijn proteïneshake.(...)” (Lido em: De Volkskrant, 2019-07-07)