SULFNBK.EXE: Unlike other mail viruses, this one instructs the user to delete a Windows system file (told to be a 'virus'), which ends up doing all the damage. Ouch! The same way you can't trust cookies from a stranger (or a friend behaving oddly), you shouldn't buy advice, should you? However, doesn't SULFNBK.EXE have a strange icon or what?···

Lenin is a nice guy and Communism is good for you (link requires someone who can read Portuguese). MP3-wise, anyway. ···

You already know: Carlos Coelho, the Portuguese UE-MP spearheading the Echelon investigation comitee is on national TV throwing very heavy criticism towards the US and telling what everyone knows: use that evil computer program that the US tried to stop people from using.···

Useless shit: I spent some time with my friend Maria filming the pavement, driving on the motorway, the sky, some plants and other things. I'm thinking about putting together a short film for entry in competitions, but I don't know exactly what film am I doing, so I went for the ad lib strategy. More details to follow.···

One of my best friends broke a leg while riding his bike. Not nice. Anyway, he told some interesting stories about how wonderful hospital treatment is in this country, from doctors that make people wait while they go have some coffee and tell crap jokes, to the fact that they were refusing to send an ambulance since he was able to call the 112 (Americans read '911') himself using his cellphone.···

I got an e-mail from The Designers' Republic today advertising their first book. Hmm. I'll think about that.···

I have been spending most of the day playing around with phpNuke, a piece of software which enables mere mortals to have their own Slashdot-like website without requiring a private server (regular virtual hosting will do — provided you have got PHP and MySQL access). Nice, since I need to get a 'portal' working quick.···

What if: Imagine there was a World War, a comet impact, a dramatic climate change or some other kind of cataclysm. Imagine that the only books left among the survivors would be J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings triology, or any similar fiction books. Would those books be the new Bible? Rephrasing: was the Bible once a fiction best-seller? (thanks to my friend Alexander for the tip)···

Programming nearly useless stuff, oh why? I was feeling quite bored.···

Fitba: Boavista are the new Portuguese champions, but at least FC Porto spoiled their party with a 4-0 victory in today's match (the last of the season). Nice. So my favourite team went second (only one point behind our crosstown rivals), and Sporting Lisbon went third (taking advantage of Sporting Braga — my second favourites — sloppy end of the season). One more thing, Benfica had their worst season ever and went sixth. Which, considering how we FC Porto fans like the Lisbon team, is nice.···

We Europeans know better: Slashdot points to N.Y. Times article about diesel cars in Europe and how America keeps ignoring them. Newer generation diesel engines (known as 'common rail' engines) have very impressive performances comparable to those of gasoline engines, with the advantage of cheaper fuel and greater autonomy. I own an 'economic' Fiat Punto (like this one but in gray) fitted with a 55horsepower 1litre gasoline engine, and a full gas tank will be enough to drive around 300/400kilometres (~200/250 miles). Compare this with my father's diesel BMW 320d, a 130h.p. vehicle (almost as much as the gasoline version) with almost 1000km autonomy (~600 miles). The bottom line? My father spends less money filling his car's fuel tank, as diesel is much cheaper — and environment friendly. Of course I am looking forward to water/hydrogen-powered cars, but diesel has been around for years and is a second best thing. What keeps us from driving those things?···

Oh, things like "Bigger, Better, Faster, <insert superlative>, <insert superlative>" are worse. ···

As seen on a TV commercial: "Change your car, change your life" — isn't this one of the worst slogans ever? ···

I'm actually kinda addicted to International Superstar Soccer. ···

That brazilian Jesus is on that talk show again, this time talking about — you probably guessed it — the End of the World, and having a debate with — you guessed it again — a priest. I'm actually getting sick of this persistent novelty act, but is it any more ridiculous than 'real religion'?···

Memetic behaviour: Well, and I am 56% Internet pure (I do have a real life you know). Is this nice?···

Psst! Why would you ever visit this?···

Cutstinga! The world might be saved after all. G.W. Bush and the Republicans' absolute power turns out short-lived as a (wise) Republican senator decides to abandon the party, giving Democrats a 51-49 majority in the Senate. Which is nice. The Democrats are in control of the agenda for the first time since 1994, and I expect to see some of the past draconian measures reversed. However, how long until another putsch gives the power back to the Republicans?···

Not So Soft points to a report about fonts as a form of social coding. I must say that closely spaced Helvetica is my all-time favourite, and Verdana is my font of choice for webpage text, followed by Arial (that report treats Arial as a separate font, but for me it's just a poor man's Helvetica ideal for the web). I also have a crush on Trebuchet (as used on the IFTHENELSE logo), as well as on condensed headline fonts like Impact.···

But there was something nice about that football match: I went to Guimarães (a city about 60km north of Porto) with a couple of friends to visit other friends who are living there. We spent most of the evening having a diner al fresco on an historic plaza, we also had some beers and some laughs... But it was especially nice to watch the Munich vs. Valencia penalty shootout on their flat, it's incredible how people do choose sides on such occasions. Unlike you americans may think, 'soccer' is indeed a sport for men. ···

Bayern Munich defeats Valencia: Well, it sucked. Yet again I was supporting the Spanish team (something rare, I can assure you), and, like Alavés in the UEFA Cup final, they lost the Champions' League final, this time on sudden death penalties. Bummer. ···

Earlier yesterday I went to the opening of the Porto Book Fair, held every year at that dowtown UFO, the Crystal Palace dome (apparentely there was a replica of London's Crystal Palace there, hence the name). Actually, it kinda sucked, there were fewer stands than in previous years (so there were fewer books), but another major annoyance was the sponsoring of the Fair by a major Internet service provider and the omnipresent Porto2001, presenting stuff that is hardly book-related. I found a few interesting things in the stands though, and I'll be going to the Fair again, this time with money in my pockets.···

Look! The Portuguese Escudo is exactly 90 years old! Hurrah for Europe's most ridiculous currency after the Italian Lira! Nice, but we all know it won't turn 91, don't we?···

Oh why? OH WHY? So Portugal has the worst, crappest reality TV show ever. Do we want Plastic readers to know what a shitty country this is? No. Anyway, I actually saw the whole thing on TV (I was at a friends' home and I had no choice) and there are a few things not mentioned on the Plastic article: First, the girl's parents were the portuguese equivalent of hardcore rednecks. Second, her mother was truly evil — she knew everything was being shown on prime-time TV, and her arguments were truly selfish (i.e. "I can't go to the supermarket anymore"). Third, it originated an 'All your base'-like memetic movement, with people swapping MP3s of the whole dialogue just a few hours later. Fourth, O Bar da TV (i.e. 'TV Bar') which is essentially Big Brother with a discothéque attached to their house, is SIC's desperate attempt at regaining the audiences lost to TVI (who have Big Brother), after previous major flops (Acorrentados — a show that had 1 person chained to 4 persons of the opposite sex during two weeks), and dire financial situation (stocks have been tumbling since the channels' IPO last summer). Fifth, after this, the government is considering suspending SIC's broadcast license. Something that obviously won't happen as SIC is a major shareholder in a few of Portugal Telecom's companies — and PT a major lobby in the government.···

Icons. I love'em, I hate'em. I love to look at small 32x32 chunks of computer screen. Designing icons, however, sucks. Anyway, I was bored and decided to create an icon for each of my main websites. You can judge the results for yourself. Just look right.···

"Money, money, money... root of all evil." Or is it evil the root of all money?···

Say I want to call some girl to say "I love you", something that was kind and tender before Stevie Wonder. Since that, if I say "I just called to say I love you" on the phone it just sounds crap, laughable, ready-made and unromantic. Indeed, pop music is evil. ···

Don't read if you take a major religion too seriously: First there were the Jews. They had this Arch containing some laws, and a city called Jerusalem. They built a temple. Then the (Assyrians?) came along and destroyed everything. Later, a king named Solomon decided to build another, bigger temple. Then the Romans came, and helped the Jews enhancing this temple (by this time, a guy called Jesus was spending fourty days on this tiny little hill it only takes five minutes to climb). There was a rebellion. The Romans trashed the temple and forced the Jews to go away. Seven hundred years later, the Muslims conquered Jerusalem. At first, they looked at the temple's ruins and thought about building a Judaism Theme Park, but they decided to use the good quality stone to build their own temple — a Mosque — right on top of the old one. A thousand years later there was this World War II. The Jews were the victims of heinous crimes, and the nice English and American people, famous for their hospitality, decided that they didn't want any Jew refugees in their countries and forced the Muslims out of Jerusalem and gave it back to the Jews. Not many minutes later, shit happens. And why? Had the Muslims built their temple a few metres away, none of this would happen. A FEW METRES! Or would the Jews see that the Muslims had no fault, and build a new one a few metres away from the old ruins. A FEW METRES! Why can't you guys get along?... ···

Soulful electronica: Sometimes good music can be completely free.···