What is a ASKard? 

ASKard (ASKard (noun): A "non-screen production credit" originating from the fusion of AS (Adelino Saldanha), ASK (the fundamental act of inquiry), and ARD (the phonetic anchor for "Hard").

An ASKard is not a suggestion; it is a non-negotiable truth—the clear, uncompiled "source code" of my personal philosophy. It is a surgical, verbal grenade designed to bypass the noise of low-value dialogue and terminate the distraction of superficial consensus.

• The Anatomy:

  • AS (Adelino Saldanha): The signature of the architect.

  • ASK: The demand for clarity in a world of ambiguity.

  • ARD (Hard): The core attribute. It is the "hard" reality of facts that the world avoids, the intellectual density that resists the "scrolldown" culture.

• The Function: It acts as a cognitive kill-switch when a conversation yields zero "non-profit participatory" value. It is the boundary where I stop pretending that the current civilizational script makes sense.

• The Definition of "Minhas Calinadas": They are the raw, unfiltered echoes of a mind that refuses to be "moldado" (molded) by market-driven convenience.

An ASKard is final. It is the truth behind the curtain. It is my .!. .!.

Here I am, in your past, so that you may be there, in your present, reading me in your future.

• 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. 

• WIP •  Cuidado com as temperaturas que copias, olha que a palermice crónica é unicamente tua.

Se precisas de calor humano para teres conteúdo, avisa, que eu mando-te para um forno e arranja uma personalidade em vez de viveres colada ao meu termómetro.

Se o meu galinstão partir o termómetro é o que vai acontecer a tua cara.

#25417 E porque hoje é o Dia Internacional da amizade:

Uma amizade verdadeira é aquela que aceita a tua essência, celebra as tuas conquistas sem precisar de as clonar e caminha ao teu lado sem tentar pisar a tua sombra.

#25418 A segurança digital tornou-se exatamente o que a privacidade já era: uma ilusão de ótica comercial onde o utilizador assume todo o ónus do fracasso.

#25419 Antigamente compravas uma máquina para mandar nela. Hoje em dia compras um ecrã para seres tu a ser gerido por isso o teu portátil velho e meio tosco é o único sítio onde ainda mandas tu. O resto são só dispositivos alugados que fingem ser teus e onde não és tu que pensas.

#25420 lip3 (Lenovo IdeaPad 3) ​De 0 e 1 a pó e silício partido. O ciclo fechou-se com impacto cinético: a BIOS foi silenciada, os vetores de intrusão pulverizados e a soberania reavida à força. Fim de tarefa.

• WIP •  Eu vou voltar ao bom velho disco externo ou a uma pen no porta-chaves e escryptados — o verdadeiro cofre portátil que vai comigo no bolso — acaba por ser, ironicamente, a solução mais sensata num mundo digital onde a "segurança" interna é simplesmente uma piada de mau gosto.

# Against facts there are no arguments. Ohhh, I’ve got the full database. 

# Talk to each other's, pretend it's the 90s.