Farewell... for now

So, I have been offered a fantastic new position in a new country, which means I will leave Hong Kong after 4 years, 7 months and 16 days (or 1689 days, I'll have you know thanks to this gadget). I am extremely happy. The new role is in a (for now) undisclosed location, but let me just say it's a bigger role, and it's not in China or Southeast Asia.

The role starts on September 1st (tomorrow), so I will not post for a while, at least until things have settled down in the new role. Together with my co-bloggers Sergio and Jorge Sapio, we have written almost 1000 posts (950 to be precise), and have received almost 100k visits. To all of you, dedicated and casual readers, I say... thank you!


I need to go...

... but I will be back.


(I think).

Will you miss SapioBlog?

Song of the weekend: an optimistic tune with an amazing voice

I don't think there are many more beautiful voices in pop than the one from Eurythmics' lead singer, Annie Lennox. I absolutely love her deep, husky voice, and her style.

One of my favourite Eurythmics songs is the one below, slow, with a deep cadence, but still quite optimistic. And the harmonies! (You know by now I like them, right?)



Did you like it?

Fantastic comedy show

I was told by a friend the other day that Brian Regan was worth my time. I did see him and I loved his show so much that I saw all that was available from him. I especially love the fact that his shows are totally devoid of any bad words. He shows that you don't need profanity in order to make you laugh.



Did you like it?

Finding passion in work

Below, please find a list of fantastic quotes to find inspiration in our daily work... truly worth a read!

I particularly like this one:


And this one:


The rest (and source) after the break:

The art of photobombing

There is an art almost as ancient as taking pictures: photobombing them - or appearing in them in an awkward or funny pose, completely disrupting and usually ruining the photo. However, in the great compilation below, the photos are actually improved!


More pictures and the source to the full list of 28, after the break.

Light stopped for a full minute

So the New Scientist magazine reports that scientists at the Saint Andrews University in the UK have managed to stop light for a full minute. For comparison, in this period the light would have travelled 18 million kilometres - or one seventh of the distance which separates us to the Sun.

I mentioned the Sun just to put up this awesome infography...
Imagine the possibilities of light and power saving that this technology will have, when properly reined in! Amazing, huh?

Public service: how to make better decisions

This article tells the results of an interesting battery of studies performed to determine what affects decisions. Some are downright quirky (did you know that apparently leaning your head left makes your number decisions to go smaller?). But all in all, it makes some interesting conclusions as to how to make better decisions in general. Eat well, sleep well, and have a bladder full of pee (not joking!).

The only difference? In the "blue" countries, "Don't donate" is the default, in the "red ones", "Donate" is default.
Did you like it?

Found: the best opening paragraph in Wikipedia

I saw this here, and frankly I give them credit. I find it hard to believe there is a more impactful first paragraph in all of Wikipedia's articles:

Lieutenant-General Sir Adrian Paul Ghislain Carton de Wiart VC, KBE, CB, CMG, DSO (5 May 1880 – 5 June 1963), was a British Army officer of Belgian and Irish descent. He served in the Boer War, First World War, and Second World War, was shot in the face, head, stomach, ankle, leg, hip, and ear, survived a plane crash, tunneled out of a POW camp, and bit off his own fingers when a doctor refused to amputate them. He later said, "Frankly I had enjoyed the war." -

This is the bloke the paragraph refers to:


Quite impressive, huh?

Song of the weekend: an inspirational song with an amazing voice

Every once in a while, voices come that make you listen, because they have a unique characteristic. Leonard Cohen, Rod Stewart, Frank Sinatra... and Tunde Baiyewu, the leader of Lighthouse Family.

Just listen to this (amazing) song by the band, and surely you'll feel goosebumps (if not for his voice and for the harmonies, at least for the inspirational lyrics).



Sorry for the cheesy video, but at least it has the lyrics! This is the band, by the way (it's a duo, really):


Did you like it?

Meme watch: That Escalated Quickly compilation

One of the funniest memes out there is the Ron-Burgundy-inspired "That escalated quickly". It comes from this brilliant scene of Anchorman:



Here find a list of some fantastic examples, such as this one:



Did you like them?

Nobel prize winners explaining why they won in one drawing

This is an original idea. The Smithsonian magazine asked several Nobel-prize winners to summarize their work (for which they had been awarded the prize) on a white A2 page. The results are interesting. I don't think most are immediately understandable but the below one is, at least its summary.


Did you like the idea?

Epic compilation of hyper-realist artists

In previous posts, I have clearly shown how much I love hyperrealism. This website is a compilation of several of them. Some of them you've seen here, some others you haven't. Enjoy - I know I did!

Art. It's important.

Not a photo!
Bonus: this 3-minute clip by Brian Regan discusses art in an extremely funny way. Worth watching.

Public service: 15 TED talks you need to hear

Y'all know TED, so I won't introduce them. I think they have expanded their scope, from strictly business, to more "inspirational" talks... and this page has compiled 15 of the most inspirational ones. Below the one I found more interesting:



Other 14 inspiring talks following the link. Which one did you prefer?

The best comic from XKCD - the evolving "Time"

Randall Munroe, the creator of XKCD, has done it again. He's created an "evolving" cartoon here. If you go there, you'll just see the last image of the cartoon. 

Not related but amazing
But if you go here, you can see the cartoon in an evolving way. You can press Play above left and see the 3005 images  (at the moment of writing) as a movie. Did you like it?

The full Cosmos trailer. DO WANT!

This is the full trailer they've shown at ComiCon. Some thoughts: Cosmos. Carl Sagan. Neil deGrasse Tyson.



Where do I sign?!??!

Song of the weekend: from Boston, with love

So this band Extreme is mostly known for one song (More than Words), which is nice. But for me, their nicest song, with fantastic vocal harmonies and a catchy tune, is the one below. Ideal to start the weekend.



Let me know if you liked it!

The 25 greatest unscripted scenes in movie history

I wouldn't know if all of these are that great, but some of them are literally awe-inspiring, or hilarious. Very worthwhile 6:24 minutes of your time, below:



Which one did you like the best? The Usual Suspects one is very funny.

How did Michael Jackson do it?

In this post we reveal how the genius of Michael Jackson actually did the moonwalking. How did he lean forward so far? The solution is after the break, and it's simpler than it looks.

How did he do it? After the break...

Public service: life hacks

These are 3 images chock-full of life hacks which are really worth trying.


(Click to enlarge). Two more after the break. Which one did you like the most? Seen here.

The Hyperloop: hyper-sensation or hyper-hype?

So the day has come. The South African multimillionaire Elon Musk (the closest thing to a real-life Tony Stark, founder of SpaceX and co-founder of Tesla Motors) has announced plans to create a super-fast, super-safe method to communicate San Francisco and LA: a tube containing pressurized wind travelling at 600 mph, carrying "pods" which carry some people very fast - 30 minutes from SF to LA (even quicker than doing it by plane!)

Would you buy a used car from this guy?

The problem so far, is he has only Tweeted about it promising the design for today. Up to now, speculation is rife that this is only a bluff by the guy. Others, like me, like to be optimistic and think that he can, eventually, do it.


Do you think he's bluffing or that it will happen?

Babies reacting to things

How can you not go "Awww!" when you see these babies reacting to things (some for the first time)? I particularly liked this one below. Some more and the link, after the break.


Watching fireworks for the first time

World War I photos "in 3D"

A set of 3D photos has been bought by the "A Nerd's World" in Canada, portraying some very interesting images of World War I. You can use a 3D viewer in the images if you go there, but if you can't go, you can see a poor substitute here. This bring the War closer and it makes the whole thing more haunting...


One more image and the link to see the rest, below the break.

Song of the weekend: the best mashups

So there are people on the Interwebz with a lot of time in their hands. And they do mashups: mixing two songs that originally weren't meant to be together. Results are somewhat a mixed bag: sometimes so-so, and sometimes hilarious and very good musically. Below a prime example, mixing the Ghostbusters theme with Thunderstruck by AC/DC gives us... what else... Thunderbusters:



After the break another mashup, which is even more epic than this one. I promise you won't regret clicking on it.

Public service: 425 free e-books

So this website has compiled 425 books which are in the public domain. Not only this, but they have helpfully collected links for Apple products, Kindle & other e-readers, and also on the web. We can't complain.

A post so nice can only be improved with a baby elephant.
How many have you downloaded?

NASA's awesome 1-billion-pixel photo of Mars

Every time I look at these pictures of the Mars Rover I can't believe... that these are actually from Mars! Isn't that absolutely unbelievable?


Also, for me, what does it is the definition, you can see the details perfectly of the photo above, in this original resolution copy to download, or the viewer with zoom.

A-mazing.

Richard Feynman on God

We've already covered the genius of Richard Feynman here. I love his child-like attitude to discovery of science.



I also liked his view on God, and the way that he is so happy with not knowing. He'd rather not know and be on a quest for answers that content himself with theories full of holes in them. And that's what makes a great scientist.

The most interesting facts... EVER! (?)

So of course, in the search of a big title, Business Insider has done it again, publishing the grandiose title with 14 facts that, I must admit, are quite interesting. But... ever? I doubt it.


See them after the break, with source link.

50 science misconceptions

I love Mental Floss. This website has countless videos and articles that appeal to the miscellanea lover such as me. Now they've gone and done this video to debunk 50 science myths. While I don't agree with some (the bit about the Coriolis force; glass not being a solid), this is quite informative.



Also, when you finish the video, look at all the other options to see from them! (Man, I love lists...).

Public service: extract the DNA from a banana

So this website (quite cool, by the way) shows a way you can easily impress your kids: extract the DNA from a banana and show it to them. It only requires, well, a banana (duh), alcohol, detergent and some patience. The instructions are in the link.

Relevant, of course.
Did you do it? Let me know!

Song of the weekend: what goes around comes around

One of the favourite phrases of my late father was "what goes around comes around". I adopted it as a motto in my life, so when a song comes about using the phrase I naturally tend to like it. Below two prime examples, of two bands who could not be more different, but both of them managed to create a great piece of music. Funnily enough, both of the songs have very different pieces in them, almost like being "opuses" rather than just songs.

First up, Living Colour, the legendary american band (now reunited and still touring!) with this fantastic song, Type. Listen to the virtuosism of the band, it is clearly not something seen often now:



And then, from the oooother side of the spectrum, Justin Timberlake, with his best song, by far. I love the harmonies (as I would):



Did you like them?

The Last Meals Project

What would you have as a last meal? Me, I would have a schnitzel Argentina-style, with fries and two fried eggs on top. With a generous helping of dulce de leche ice-cream as a dessert.

This website shows us what famous death row inmates chose as their last meal. Not a very nice topic, so I've decided to put a dancing guy in his knickers instead. Good times.


Did you like the site? It's oddly mesmerizing.