The Apagao. April 28th 2025, 12:33 local time. The entire Iberian Peninsula lost power. Spain, Portugal, parts of southern France. Around 15 gigawatts gone in 20 seconds.
Was at home in Alcabideche. Happened to be on the phone with Margarida at work, so we knew immediately it wasn't just our building. Posted about it in the PortugalSvenskar Facebook group before data dropped. Swedish state TV (SVT) reached out wanting an interview. I declined.
Went to Lidl on backup power. Refrigerated aisles blocked with plastic. People reaching behind it. Bread aisle: completely empty except three bone-dry wafers with dark chocolate. All wine gone. All water gone except the expensive flavored stuff nobody buys.
One store. A few hours. That's all it took.
Immediately ordered solar power banks, a HAM radio, a 10L water bag. Growing up in Sweden we had "Om krisen eller kriget kommen". The government pamphlet on crisis preparedness. The 2024 edition says every household should manage on their own for at least a week. After the Apagao I went through that checklist properly for the first time.
Essentials: 3L water per person per day (freeze some. Doubles as fridge cooling). Canned goods, dried pasta, manual can opener. Flashlights, candles, solar power bank. First aid kit, prescription med buffer. Battery-powered radio. Cash in small bills. Blankets.
The line between normal life and "we should have had a plan" is thinner than you think.
But it was cool either way!
Now I know how to navigate the grounds.. got me some merch. Saw some peeps doing Community Contribution and workshopping, all that good stuff!
When I got home I wolfed down an Uber Eats order from one of my favorite nearby places: Nicolau!... And now I'm going to spend some time with #Dune.
I'm feeling inspired to join in with the WP Community Contributions... Might take a swing at it later.
Stoked about tomorrow.
Tomorrow is the start of #WordCamp #Lisboa 2025... I'll see when I can make it there and if I can snag some workshops but I'm mainly aiming to join the Saturday.
And then I start my new job on the 19th.
AND I bought a surprise gift for (Me and) @dotmargui that I hope arrives when it says it will somewhere between the 20th and 22nd.
Why Frontend Dev Is a Pyramid SCHEME by Shade of Code on YouTbe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_nl1cUMRC4
#Figma #FigmaSites
https://youtu.be/ZsFIvULxkHI?si=XDdUjXD0aVmXQd9C
"Why would I bother to read something that you couldn't even be bothered to write?"
Duolingo’s AI Update is Quietly Ruining Everything: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPS_-cjh-u4
https://www.customerexperiencedive.com/news/klarna-reinvests-human-talent-customer-service-AI-chatbot/747586/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
https://www.wheresyoured.at/the-men-who-killed-google/
The effect of ChatGPT on students’ learning performance, learning perception, and higher-order thinking: insights from a meta-analysis
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-025-04787-y
Unfortunately my Portuguese is still not good enough to warrant reading it in its intended language, but Penguin usually has the best translations so I settled on it. Maybe once I'm better at Portuguese I will revisit it.
And how was the read?
Well it reads like a story oscillating between describing ventures that Camões did bare witness to, as well as accounts of the cultures, people and trials that the Portuguese met on their travels, all the while tangled in poetic portions with metaphorical expressions that invite the Gods of ancient times. The entire body of work is a sign of its times and does read as such... But I ended up liking it once I eased into it. I enjoyed some Cantos ("chapters") more than others.
I rate it: 77% ✨ 🇵🇹
Hmm.. I wonder what book I will devour next?
I messed around with TypeScript in the AM to learn stuff
And then Xana cooked a nice lunch.
Then I went for a walk with Margarida.
And then we watched Benfica play against Sp*rting and well... Let's not discuss that 😅
I then cooked a nice bowl of pasta and enjoyed playing some Switch! 🎮
I played Bad North (a deceptively captivating and Viking themed strategy game) with @dotmargui and showed her Dorfromantik, a cozy puzzle game to cleanse the brain with.
Oh and speaking of brains, I enjoyed reading this article:
https://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2025/03/06/gut-brain-connection-long-covid-anxiety-parkinsons/
That's about it for today folks
Just got back home from a walk with @dotmargui to read up on peoples opinions of the new gemini-2.5-pro-preview-05-06 from Google.
Guess that's my evening for the day covered.
Vibe you later folks🤙🏼🦥
So I'm 30 minutes late... So what! Here's my first Tier list for #TierlistTuesday
I'm rating Borderlands 2 as low as I am because even with the pro controller I genuinely feel how much less I can control well compared to even the PS2 version that was the first version I played.
Same with Civ, probably the title I've played the most on the Switch...but it crashes too much for me to ever recommend it on the Switch.
Wasteland 2 is dated and the Switch port crashes all too frequently to put up with it. You play it wishing it was a good port of Wasteland 3 instead.
XCOM 2 is probably in the top tier but it runs SO bad on the Switch.
John Wick Hex is simply too slow to achieve what it sets out to attempt. I bought Trials Rising thinking I'd get a title that technically has some ~50€ of value... but I have had more fun with some flash games and WAY more fun with Elastomania... It just has too much Ubisoftness for me to enjoy it.
Hero's Hour gets the bottom one and it is because it's borderline unplayable at all with its port and it lacks any polish to speak of. And Scribblenauts is... look... the Switch has a touchscreen...Why replace the spelling mechanic of the PC version with a Wheel...
Felt good to get my steps in for the day 🚶🏼♂️
I mean it's only right that I celebrate yesterday's news with a breakfast bagel on the balcony, right?
And I'm still reading The Lusiads by Camões. It's a "rich read"... Not any kind of writing I usually consume, but I do like it!
Really excited about this opportunity!
Yay! 🥳
Been having this dream for years and I finally get the chance to try it out properly. 😁
I am of course talking about launching https://social.dotmavriq.life !
For all its flaws Federated social media is the most fair medium for social communication I know. While, admittedly, it doesn't come with the mass of people trying to outcompete each other for attention... I have also come to terms with the fact that I don't really care about consuming that type of communication anymore. Thanks to the internet and social media I have a loving relationship of over 7+ years, countless amazing job opportunities and life long friendships... But it has been years since I opened any social media feeling like I got anything valuable out of it. 😒
So, for you old heads, this is basically my "fancy RSS-powered micro blog or whatnot".. it's just on ActivityPub for anyone that would like to subscribe and/or interact with my musings on life and everything in between.
Shoutouts to @phi for helping me speed through the latter stages of the setup!
Ghost at MEO Arena, Lisbon. The Skeletour.
Been a fan since Opus Eponymous. Tobias Forge played live guitar for Onkel Kankel, fronted Repugnant as Mary Goore (legit Stockholm death metal), and almost went indie rock with Subvision before it fell through. The man has street cred. He just chose to dress it up in papal robes.
Meliora is still my favorite Ghost record. From the Pinnacle to the Pit is a funk riff in metal clothes. Written on a bass, and as a bass player I believe it.
They opened with Jan Johansson's Klara Stjarnor and Allegri's Miserere Mei, Deus before kicking into Skeletat material. But the Meliora block was the highlight: Spirit, From the Pinnacle to the Pit, Devil Church into Cirice, He Is, Mummy Dust.
The Ghoul on keytar was ridiculous and awesome in equal measure. Yondr phone pouches at the door. Everyone's hands up instead of holding screens. Felt like 2005 again.
Hendrick's G&T before the show. Closed with Square Hammer, whole arena sang along. One of those shows where you walk out buzzing and keep talking about it on the drive home.
The Apagao. April 28th 2025, 12:33 local time. The entire Iberian Peninsula lost power. Spain, Portugal, parts of southern France. Around 15 gigawatts gone in 20 seconds.
Was at home in Alcabideche. Happened to be on the phone with Margarida at work, so we knew immediately it wasn't just our building. Posted about it in the PortugalSvenskar Facebook group before data dropped. Swedish state TV (SVT) reached out wanting an interview. I declined.
Went to Lidl on backup power. Refrigerated aisles blocked with plastic. People reaching behind it. Bread aisle: completely empty except three bone-dry wafers with dark chocolate. All wine gone. All water gone except the expensive flavored stuff nobody buys.
One store. A few hours. That's all it took.
Immediately ordered solar power banks, a HAM radio, a 10L water bag. Growing up in Sweden we had "Om krisen eller kriget kommen". The government pamphlet on crisis preparedness. The 2024 edition says every household should manage on their own for at least a week. After the Apagao I went through that checklist properly for the first time.
Essentials: 3L water per person per day (freeze some. Doubles as fridge cooling). Canned goods, dried pasta, manual can opener. Flashlights, candles, solar power bank. First aid kit, prescription med buffer. Battery-powered radio. Cash in small bills. Blankets.
The line between normal life and "we should have had a plan" is thinner than you think.
Company trip with BlockLabs. Long weekend at the Epic SANA hotel in Lisbon. Everyone got their own room. Was nervous about a full weekend of socializing but it turned out great.
Sustained on gyro kebabs, beer and gin and tonics. Hot take: five star hotels are overrated. The shower didn't hit as well as the worst one I ever had in Sweden.
Bar crawls in costumes. I went as Rorschach from Watchmen. "None of you seem to understand. I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in here with me."
Got hit with a brutal headache night two. Had to stay in for site maintenance one evening. But overall: good people being people. And that's fine.
Saw AIR at the Ageas CoolJazz Festival in Cascais with Doro (former colleague from IPTOR) and Margarida. They were touring the 25th anniversary of Moon Safari, played the whole thing front to back.
La Femme d'argent opened and that bass line grabbed me immediately. Nicolas Godin recorded it on a borrowed Hofner. Sexy Boy hit early, the crowd loved it. The whole album flowed really well live.
After Moon Safari they played deeper cuts. Cherry Blossom Girl, Venus, Don't Be Light. Closed with Alone in Kyoto and Electronic Performers, which might have been the highlight.
The Hipodromo in Cascais is a nice open-air venue. Warm night, wash of synths, realized I hadn't been to a proper festival in years. Sometimes you don't need to be 19 and covered in mud at a metal festival. Sometimes you just need a warm evening in Cascais and a French duo with a vocoder.