Monthly Archives: November 2010

The Speed of Brazil’s Internet

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An article was just published on the tech site Royal Pingdom about worldwide Internet speeds and there are some interesting graphs that accompany the article. While you may click on that link and see the full charts, I thought I’d give a breakdown of the country speeds in terms of the slowest, fastest and how both the US and Brazil measure up. The number in parenthesis next to each country name refers to the size of the country in terms of Internet users.

I wonder how the correlation is between frustration of using the Internet in the slowest country (Iran, in this case) and deciding to partake in other activities in light of the frustration. For example, would an adolescent choose to play outside rather than wait for a webpage to load? Of course it presumes that the adolescent’s family has a computer, nonetheless, it would be interesting to see data on how limited connection speeds (or even censorship) might give rise to more fulfilling activities.

Overall Speed


Worldwide Averages

Connection Speed Distribution

Stone-Age Etchings Found in the Amazon

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“A series of ancient underwater etchings has been uncovered near the jungle city of Manaus, following a drought in the Brazilian Amazon. The previously submerged images – engraved on rocks and possibly up to 7,000 years old – were reportedly discovered by a fisherman after the Rio Negro, a tributary of the Amazon river, fell to its lowest level in more than 100 years last month. Tens of thousands of forest dwellers were left stranded after rivers in the region faded into desert-like sandbanks.

Though water levels are now rising again, partly covering the apparently stone age etchings, local researchers photographed them before they began to disappear under the river’s dark waters. Archaeologists who have studied the photographs believe the art – which features images of faces and snakes – is another indication that thousands of years ago the Amazon was already home to large civilisations.” – The Guardian (more here)

Sampaio Moreira – São Paulo’s First Skyscraper

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“Built in 1920, Edificio Sampaio Moreira was the first skyscraper in São Paulo and stands in the Anhangabau Valley, in the heart of the city. The area has already been through a golden age and a spell of decline, and is currently going through a period of revitalization.” – Red Bull House of Art (see how it’s currently being used)

“Considered a colossus, at the time, it even scared people.” – Cristiano das Neves, the architect.

With 13 stories and 50 meters in height, the Sampaio Moreira building ranked as the tallest building in São Paulo between 1924, the year of its inauguration, and 1929, when it was beat out by the Edifício Martinelli (with 30 stories). It is considered the first large multistoried building in the city, as well as one of the first in the country to present such typology. Considered the “prototype” of São Paulo’s never-ending skyscrapers – built in a time when other buildings maxed out at 4 stories -, the Sampaio Moreira building is registered as a historic site by the city due to its historical and architectural importance.


(Martinelli on the left and Sampaio Moreira on the right)

More Info

Prédio Sampaio Moreira (in PT, with old photos)
The Verticalization of São Paulo (in PT)

If Tiririca Is ‘Grumpy’, His Constituents Are ‘Sleepy’

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Apparently, the Tiririca saga has not ended. The story went from an illiterate citizen who was elected to Congress to now being a possibly literate citizen being elected to Congress. One way to look at it is via the threshold between being worthy of elected office and not being worthy and the way this is being measured in this particular case is on the basis of literacy, or lack thereof. The inevitable conclusion, in its simplest form, is that being able to read is equal to belonging to the branch of government that is charged with such powers as making laws. This kind of thinking naturally leads to the question of who should be entrusted with the making of legislation, be it a politician or someone ‘of the people’.

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Tiricia soube ler e escrever

Price Comparison – 2011 Kia Sportage

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The other day, I offered up an article I translated called “Products 6x More Expensive in Brazil” and while that figure is not the case in this example, the general idea is at work here. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves before I add a final sentence or two at the bottom.

In case you don’t have your calculator out, that’s a markup difference of R$52,889 (or, US$31,200)!! So that means an American can buy 2.7 Kia Sportages for the price of one in Brazil. Basically three cars for one, yeah, that’s fair…

Breaking Yawn – Celeb Crazy Brazil

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The last day or two, it has been harder to sift through the garbage news in order to find the good stuff. Why? American celebrities. Apparently, they all decided to bum rush Brazil at the same time. There’s Eminem, Paul McCartney, Green Day (who recently left), Jonas Brothers, and the casts of two Hollywood film sagas, Fast and The Furious 5 (Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Jordana Brewster) and Breaking Dawn (Robert Patterson and Kristen Stewart). Plus there’s the Formula 1 race that just ended.

I guess I should get used to it as Brazil’s popularity sky rockets with the cool crowd. At the moment, I’m more concerned about the fact that I allowed such information to enter my brain where the possibility exists that it may forever remain, lol. There may be, however, some saving grace in the fact that I cannot name the Jonas Brothers individually.

Corona May Come To Brazil

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I hope Corona makes inroads. It’s the default beer of choice for just about everyone I know. It’s not like they’d have to change their advertising…

“Grupo Modelo SAB, Mexico’s largest beermaker, may begin in about a year exports of Corona to Brazil, Latin America’s biggest beer market that’s dominated by Modelo’s partner, Anheuser-Busch InBev NV. Modelo is seeking an “established channel” to sell Corona in Brazil, where there are few imports and the company has tried three times to penetrate, said Jose Pares, Modelo’s chief sales and marketing officer.

“We’re doing the analysis, and the idea is in the short term to enter Brazil,” Pares said in an interview on Nov. 5.

Brazil is the third-largest beer market behind China and the U.S., with a growth rate that exceeded both in 2009, Modelo Chief Executive Officer Carlos Fernandez said in a Nov. 5 presentation at the company’s new factory near the border city of Piedras Negras, Mexico. Brazil’s beer market has the second- highest operating margin behind the U.S., he said.

In earlier attempts, Modelo grappled with taxes, tariffs and other obstacles, Pares said. The brand has good acceptance and is imported informally by consumers, he said.

“Now, we see a more favorable environment for the possible development of our market there,” he said without specifying. “That’s why we’re doing an analysis of an established channel through which to develop the brand.”

InBev became owner of a non-controlling 50 percent stake in Modelo after the $52 billion purchase of Anheuser-Busch Cos. in 2008. Modelo tried to block AB InBev from becoming its partner in a failed arbitration proceeding. AB InBev’s local unit, Cia de Bebidas das Americas, has a 71 percent share of the Brazilian beer market, the company said in an e-mail.

Modelo, which is based in Mexico City, exports six of its 13 brands, including Modelo Especial, Negra Modelo and Pacifico, to 167 countries and is the largest importer into the U.S.” – Bloomberg

Products 6x More Expensive in Brazil

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“Cristina Madeira, from Brasília, is just one of dozens of recent mothers that opted to buy baby accessories for her children outside of Brazil:

- I bought it abroad because the quality of the products is better and the prices, a lot less. I bought a stroller, clothes and a child seat for the car. Everything that I brought for Rafael, who is about to turn 1 year old, is good for another year.

Cristina spent R$5,000 on shopping. In Brazil, just the stroller would have cost her R$2,500.

- There’s something really wrong when it’s worth it for someone to take a 9-hour flight to go shopping in the wealthiest country in the world just to save money. To have a stronger currency, the country needs to go through hard reforms and invest in infrastructure – asserts the president of the Brazilian Association of the Textile Industry (Abit), Fernando Pimentel, whose sector has sufferred in light of import competition, but is readjusting.

Brazilians are subject to a US$500 quota in purchases when they go through customs. But many consider it worth paying the 50% tax on anything extra.

Tourism operators have already identified the new niche and they plan to create shopping routes dedicated to young mothers with their packages to the U.S. CVC, for example, one year ago launched a package called “Shopping in Buenos Aires” and just started to include their Las Vegas route with a tour of outlets with which they’ve made arrangements to assure good discounts are given to their clients.

To please consumers, companies are going to have to decrease their profit margins. Specialists say that it is starting to change the culture in Brazil when companies realize they can have a margin of 100%, while in countries such as the U.S., companies have margins of only 5% to 10%. ” – O Globo (in PT)