B u l l e t i n Number 60, March 2006 - Year VI

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O p i n i o n  

Have Your Say
Collaborator admits: “The fact that I managed to achieve my goals and raise projects for INESC Porto does wonders to my ego, it is potentially good for my evolution in the Manufacturing Systems Engineering Unit and in INESC Porto and it is good for INESC Porto but...I don’t think it is enough”

Gallery of the Uncommon
Have you ever seen your name changed in the envelope of a letter? Well, one of our collaborators was re-named by an internationally known institution. You can’t miss it …

Free Nonsense
Collaborator reflects: “I have been receiving several e-mails that address the film “Brokeback Mountain” and I see them with a certain melancholic joy. I say this because my childhood heroes are being judged according to modern concepts or old prejudice.”

Biptoon
How life goes merrily on

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F R E E   N O N S E N S E

Stripping your way to work...

By Luís Ribeiro*

This chronicle starts with a “thank you” for this opportunity because I believe BIP is one of the finest creations of INESC Porto. I’m glad I can give my contribution.

I will now share with you some issues that are going around in my head.

Is this room temperature really necessary?
Yes, it is actually kind of funny to come from the street early in the morning wearing an overcoat, a jacket, a scarf and all the necessary clothes for winter…and when we enter the building we immediately remove the scarf, the overcoat, etc…So we strip our way to the work position. This wouldn’t be problematic if, by leaving INESC in a careless manner, we didn’t face the real ambient temperature and we suddenly felt we were in the Ice Age, instantly fearing a cold or something. Some could remember to switch the air conditioning on, and that would actually be a good idea if it didn’t sound like the coffee mill from the bar was right by our side.

Are my window blinds the only ones that are not opaque at all?
My window blinds protect me from the light as much as a sieve protects my hair from getting wet under heavy rain! I have tried several solutions: sun glasses, caps, an umbrella…even changing the orientation of the screen along the day, which, in fact, pleased several people given that they stopped wearing a watch (one of them, I think, actually got some nice money for it on e-bay), because they could guess the time from the relative position of my screen.

What the hell is going on with the coffee machines?
I think there is a curse in this building when it comes to coffee machines. The old ones, we all know how it went, some days they worked, others they went on holidays. The new ones give me the impression that I’m in a casino when I see “saving energy mode”. I press it praying that the result is not “no water”, which is brilliant when they are actually full of water. And if one is really empty, then I realize that it is safely locked and I cannot fill it up. But, apart from that, they confer a very modern look to the kitchens.

If anyone has the answer to my questions please send me an e-mail…preferably on a Monday so that I can see it before the weekend.

* Collaborator in the Power Systems Unit



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