A private email with public utility

[In Sep 19th, 2008, the email that follows was sent to all collaborators that signed paper with me, my colleagues in my department and my wife. This version is sanitized in order to erase the emails. Versions of the letter on other languages will come soon.

By the way, now I feel like someone who begs. For all of you I ask collaboration, I beg collaboration. Scientific or not, collaboration of any kind. Be clear: I am not asking money! Any collaboration of any kind that freely comes from your heart is very much appreciated.

If you consider this email to be relevant, in the day you consider this email to be relevant, just a simple link in your Home Page would be very much appreciated.

I Thank you all. God Bless you all.]

Dear collaborators and colleagues,

This is a private email of public utility. I write it to friends.

I am sending you a letter that I have written to several friends in France. As the subject required some care, I wrote it in Portuguese and asked a French friend that knows quite well the Portuguese to write a version in French.

This letter is my area:

http://www.ime.usp.br/~alair/FilomenaAndTheKing

When I signed this letter and I gave it to some of my friends, I already knew that one day, for one reason or another, it would become public.

This letter is a scientific report as well as a recommendation letter.

As in an article, I know that I can simplify the text if I judge that some information is not necessary and it does not change any conclusion that the reader may have when he reads it. However, I also know that I cannot omit any relevant information that could modify the conclusions that one can have when they read it. I couldn't do it, or I would not be trustful, even if they are fragments of truth... I know the responsibility in signing this letter.

I am aware that the contents present in this letter that I sign is not easy to digest. It was not easy to me either. Some who are closer will trust me. Some simple people will trust me. Many will not. Is this letter serious? A liar? A fraudster? Even though, I still can sleep. Somehow, I still can sleep also because of the rigor that I learned from those who supervised me and from the work that I developed with you all. To be honest, I want to thank you. To be honest, I want to share with you the merits of my journey, in the past, in the present and in the future.

We are researchers. We have the desire of a true knowledge and we cannot resign in our search of the truth. This also requires us the humility to recognize this truth: all of us make mistakes, we do not own the truth, we are limited, we are owned by the truth, we depend, we do depend on others, we do depend on the Truth. I cannot say no to the truth if I have it in front of me. In front of the Truth, we trust.

Let us work. More seriously now than ever.

As I said to some of you in the past, I am still not able to check my emails for these days. However, I am always available to talk face to face.

Thank you everybody,

Alair

Stop the numbers game
http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1297797.1297815

Some important facts since it was written in July 11:

Otan suspende relação com a Rússia
NATO suspends relation with Russia
http://www.estadao.com.br/estadaodehoje/20080820/not_imp227254,0.php

Quebra de banco nos EUA faz mercado mundial desabar
(O editorial de ontem discorria sobre o título: "O pior ainda está por vir")
Bank breaking in the USA makes world market fall down
(The editorial yesterday analysed these events under the title: "The worst will still come")
http://www.estadao.com.br/estadaodehoje/20080916/not_imp242354,0.php

Novo incidente na Bolívia reduz à metade gás ao Brasil
Another incident in Bolivia cuts in half gas to Brazil
http://www.estadao.com.br/economia/not_eco239960,0.htm

SP registra novo recorde de calor no inverno: 30,7°C
São Paulo register new record of heat in winter: 30,7°C
http://www.estadao.com.br/geral/not_ger236118,0.htm

São Paulo registra a temperatura mais alta do ano (11/09/2008,inverno)
Recorde anterior foi registrado no verão, quando no dia 12 de fevereiro os termômetros marcaram 32,8ºC
[São Paulo registers the highest temperature in the year (Sep 11th, 2008, winter)
Previous record was registered in the summer, when in the day February 12th, the termometers marked 32.8ºC] http://www.estadao.com.br/cidades/not_cid240091,0.htm

Last modified: Mon Sep 22 09:43:01 BRT 2008