Rio de Janeiro’s 1st Nave do Conhecimento (Knowledge Vessel), commissioned by the city municipality opened its doors to the public this past Friday, June 1^st. Powered by numerous interactive YDreams technologies such as multi-touch tables, touch kiosks and gesture-based projections, the vessel is located in Rio’s Santa Cruz neighborhood (the city’s west end). Its goal is to offer the local population easier access to culture and information technologies via free internet, free workshops and courses in information technology.

Intel Brazil also participated in the project by developing a course catered to the needs of Nave do Conhecimento’s future users. Dubbed Programa Intel Aprender (Intel Learn Program), the program was designed to teach and foster the basic concepts and building blocks behind entrepreneurism, thereby demonstrating how technology can be used to turn an idea into reality in the world of business.

In addition to the Santa Cruz Nave do Conhecimento, four new “Knowledge Vessels” are being built throughout Rio de Janeiro. When completed all will be part of a knowledge network overseen by Praça do Conhecimento (Plaza of Knowledge), a 1000 sq meter “mother ship” that should be up and running by the end of this year.

To watch brief news video in Portuguese (GloboTV) click on the following link: http://globotv.globo.com/rede-globo/rjtv-1a-edicao/v/nave-do-conhecimento-tim-lopes-vai-ser-inaugurada-nessa-sexta-feira-1/1973769/

Early into his Memorabilia of a Company post, Sergio mentions that ‘The Häagen-Dazs years were still to come’. I thought I’d reminisce a bit and explain why he dubbed them as such.

In mid 2001, the company consisted of little more than the five founders and a handful of staff – there were maybe about 12 of us. In keeping with the spirit that we were from the get-go a less than conventional start-up, our CEO, António Câmara had a Häagen-Dazs ice-cream freezer brought in and placed at the entrance to our work-space (yes, the one Sergio refers to as ‘the main room’). That’s right, ‘in the beginning’, for close to a year and a half, everyone was free to gorge on Häagen-Dazs morning, noon and night – and some did! For the calorically-challenged it meant staying clear of the ice-cream ‘treasure trove’ but for those who could afford to indulge it was quite the treat.

I remember what a kick clients and partners got out of it when they came to visit, and since we were located at the heart of a university campus I also recall the occasional student popping in to say ‘he’d heard we were giving out free ice-cream’!

The contract we had with the Häagen-Dazs rep in Portugal required us to replenish our stock every three weeks or so. Needless to say that by the end of week one we were usually down to 3 or 4 mini-cups of Lemon Sorbet (clearly the least popular flavor in the house). I also remember that the rep would occasionally pop in to check that the freezer was being properly stocked and maintained; there was this one time when she unexpectedly showed up and we had a hec of time explaining why the thing was stocked with Manuel Costa’s fresh-fish catch of the day, and Sergio Cardoso’s Alheiras (traditional sausages from northern Portugal)! She eventually calmed down after we explained that they were being temporarily stored for the company’s 1st anniversary celebration the very next day – of course we had to place a new order right away and promise that the freezer would be adequately ‘fumigated’ Ah, the good ol’ days