What is a ASKard? 

ASKard (noun): A non-screen production credit also knowed by "minhas calinadas" verbal's that is usual on the end accompanie by the finger sometimes in my conversations with my friends or at some point to provoque a silence or a awkward one or a mindblowing usualy no more than half a minute at the end of the same. Named because sometimes the conversations are pure bullshit and no non-profit participatory participant even in the increase of our own vocabulary. The constantly use may provoque lonelyness looks of contempt and disdain.

ask ⚝ cybele. view askard <id> | search askard <word> | help askard

• WIP • As winter descends upon Europe: 

Embrace the irony. Layer up, shiver outside, and then pay to heat the street. The 'Modern Comfort' special: 23∘F (−5∘C) outside, 77∘F (25∘C) inside.

The winter ritual is a masterpiece of counter-productive logistics. We spend months romanticizing cozy nights, wool coats, and the promise of warmth. The internet fills up with Social media posts of blankets on sofas and fluffy socks, emphasizing a cozy, romanticized image that is nothing more than aesthetic hypocrisy. We embrace the Hygge aesthetic and light decorative candles, while our primary act of "survival" is the escape from thermal reality.

This performance is nowhere clearer than with the fireplace. We invest in the perfect stack of logs, yet only fire it up on Christmas Eve—not for actual heat, but to look good for a photograph, to elicit envy, or to silently scream "I'm better than you" in a perfect shot, or simply to live up to a romanticized movie scene. We prioritize the visual comfort over the actual energy efficiency, treating the hearth as a prop for social validation rather than a source of sustained warmth.

And here lies the paradox: we retreat into our heated cocoons—true domestic greenhouses—and, with a sigh of relief, crank the thermostat to tropical levels, often with poorly insulated windows practically "sweating." We indulge in artificially paid-for warmth, burning energy to maintain a private microclimate that has nothing to do with the weather outside.

The real kicker? This constant, violent swing from cold to tropical and back again repeatedly compromises our health, leading to weeks of sniffles, coughs, and the mandatory pharmacy run for Aspirin and Vitamin C. We not only foot the exorbitant energy bill but also the secondary costs of illness, paying twice for a self-inflicted thermal shock.

It is a grand act of thermal hypocrisy. We complain about rising energy costs and the climate crisis (which manifests in erratic winters), yet we contribute to global warming by pumping heat outwards and keeping our interiors uncomfortably hot. In the end, we aren't so much enjoying winter as we are fighting to redefine it, one utility bill, one pharmacy receipt, and one pumpkin spice latte at a time.

If this is human intelligence, perhaps the cold has simply left us all a bit frost-bitten.

• WIP • With four decades of following the evolutionary progress of technology, I witness a subtle yet significant transformation that few notice or simply care to acknowledge: the disappearance of 'Portuguese' as our mother tongue. When I see 'Portuguese' and 'Portuguese (Portugal)' in new language options or during new installation setups, I feel that our origin has been diluted. In truth, the language we took around the world should be the default 'Portuguese' reference, with the Brazilian variant being 'Portuguese (Brazil)'. I'd be willing to bet you hadn't even noticed... But this is just my humble opinion, which I have written about in the past in the 🍬 braincandy column, along with countless other things.

• WIP • I view technology as a body that grew too fast for the human soul to keep up. Technology gave us the tools to communicate instantly, but it didn't teach us to be more empathetic. It gave us access to all information, but it didn't teach us to be wiser. We continue to operate with the same primitive instincts as always, just with more sophisticated toys. The disparity between technological evolution and our own social and emotional evolution is, perhaps, the greatest challenge of our era.

• WIP •  It's obvious to almost everyone that we've lost control, even over something as basic as our logins. Whether access is tied into Windows or the browser, the surveillance is pervasive. A VPN might offer a little privacy for 'surfing,' but the core control mechanisms remain, simply shifting from one form to another. I believe users have forfeited fundamental rights that are unlikely ever to be recovered. The only thing more disturbing than the loss of these rights is the public's eagerness to surrender them, a complacency I refuse to share. I have the right to my own privacy everywhere, and that right doesn't diminish just because others are willing to give theirs up. 

• COMUNICADO DE NATAL • Em virtude da antecipação das celebrações de Natal (embora não saiba bem a razão de toda esta pressa) e já que vejo decorações desde o início do mês (Novembro), e ainda estamos no dia 20 queria começar por agradecer do fundo do coração todos os convites que já me fizeram e os que tinham a intenção de o fazer ainda e a vossa insistência carinhosa em querer que eu passe o Natal convosco. Depois de um ano em que passei a época totalmente sozinho — e a Mini (a minha extraordinária cadelinha) ainda nem estava comigo para me fazer companhia — o vosso gesto vale ouro. No entanto, este ano, tomei uma decisão de alma. Não estarei disponível para as celebrações habituais, pois estarei a dedicar o meu tempo ao voluntariado algures ou algo propício à quadra. É uma escolha muito pessoal para ter um Natal com um propósito único e viver esta quadra à minha maneira, aproveitando cada momento, pois nunca sabemos qual será o nosso último. É o que me sinto a fazer. Para que algumas coisas boas nunca mudem, garanto-vos que vou enviar a minha SMS de Natal e alguns Postais via correio tradicional. Não adoto o cinismo de enviar mensagens em massa; estas são feitas com intenção, pois acredito que certas tradições e gestos carinhosos não devem desaparecer.

Conto com a vossa compreensão e espero que saibam que a vossa amizade e os vossos convites são, para mim, o verdadeiro presente de Natal. Desejo-vos as melhores festas!

#25198 The path to the USA, even to visit the 2026 World Cup, now requires the submission of five years of social media profiles. When our refusal to participate in the algorithmic circus (like me) becomes a factor for border suspicion, it's clear that freedom has been sold for a surveillance protocol. Screens and social media have become the straws that are put in horses, and the culmination of this digital ridiculousness is our new reality.

🍬 braincandy : Analise ao "circo algorítmico  and  O Café onde a Liberdade Foi Banida

#25199 That's is just the circle of life on my way to pudim town. 

#25200 Humans: They engineered a global civilization, conquered the atom, and then, as their 'ultimate achievement,' designed smart homes where they pay a luxury tax to sit in darkness, paralyzed, because a tiny router stopped letting their light switch feel 'connected.' The peak of evolution: disposable, digital puppets defeated by a blinking cursor. 

#25201 I'm to old to be avoided. 

#25202 Humans invented self-publishing systems that promise algorithmic speed. Yet, their most efficient algorithm remains Bureaucratic Waiting—a random and endless queue, which proves that the pinnacle of automation is still inaction. 

#25203 Feels like fire in summer grass.

# Against facts there are not arguments. Ohhh, I have a lot. 

# Talk to each other's, pretend it's 1995.

A Little Wisdom for Humanity ✨ 🧭