I don't say this very often, but I think President Bush has made a very, very good move (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4491711.stm). The US is the big player that really needs to crack down in this area. I've thought this for a long time; Bush isn't as stupid as he seems - he's obviously not as smooth a President as could be, has made errors of judgement (in my opinion anyway), but I think since his re-election has been overall a better President.

Click the link and read the article!

Today is April 25th, the day on which fell the Carnation Revolution here in Portugal 31 years ago. From 1926 until 31 years (1974) ago today, this country was ruled by a series of dicators, in fact it was only two, António de Oliveira Salazar & Marcello Caetano respectively, in what was one of the longest right-ist dictatorships of the 20th century. The dictatorship fell in a bloodless coup on April 25th 1974, when, after months of organising, the freedom movement's leaders broadcasted, at 12:45am, two simultaneous signals over state radio, two famous songs: 'E depois do adeus' ('After the Goodbye') & 'Grândola, Vila Morena' (name of a town). Then, throughout the night , revolutionaries took-over key Government buildings throughout the country. Six hours later, the dictatorship fell - no blood was spilled. People flooded the streets with Carnation flowers, and soldiers removed the bullets from their guns and placed the flowers in the end of the barrels, thus giving the name 'Carnation Revolution' to this peaceful uprising.

It's interesting for someone like me, an outsider living in Portugal, coming from a country with no dictators in recent history, to see what the freedoms attached to the Carnation Revolution mean to the Portuguese people. Portugal is a country which is clearly scarred by it's past, often timid when looking forward, constantly self-aware. The country has seen recent political turmoil, four Governments in three years, and a recent landslide election towards the left which brought with it a younger, forward-thinking Socialist Prime Minister. This is a nation of widespread political debate, from young people to old, across all sections of society, which was something which surprised me coming from the UK, where we tend to put up with a lot from our Government. Portugal is a lot more demanding of it's leaders, perhaps or perhaps not as a result of the Carnation Revolution; but political freedom doesn't count for a lot when the country is mismanaged and under-performing for the next 30 years.

Anyway, I'm optimistic that the new Government will do a lot to modernise Portugal, as did Tony Blair's Government in the UK in it's first term. The economy is getting better, poverty is shrinking, although unemployment rose dramatically under the previous Government, Portuguese people are starting to crop up in what would be previously seen as unlikely places (Chelsea Manager, European Commission President, perhaps the next President of UNHCR(?)). Maybe soon, political revolution, prosperity and hapiness will meet and the work of the revolutionaries will be complete.

More information about the Carnation Revolution can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnation_Revolution

Some pictures (hover your mouse over each picture for a caption):

I think it's time that someone here said it: Apple (as in the computer company) is rapidly going down-hill, and it needs to change if it wants to regain it's position of respect, instead of a position as a fashion accessory.

I think the following (bear in mind I own an Apple iBook):

- Apple used to be very good (as in pre-Apple-cult-turning-into-Apple-mania).
- The company successfully turned around a pretty rubbish late-90s and in the early 2000s became a reasonably-well visible brand with some good products.
- The iPod was a dream for Apple, and at first I liked it, before every Tom, Dick & Harry had one.
- After several years, when the iPod started catching on with the rest of the world, Apple got excited and started reducing the quality, and increasing the quantity - this is a turning point.
- They also created a very, very dodgy iBook (G3 etc.) with massive faults. This resulted in thousands (including myself) of very, very unhappy customers. Solution: denial and a subtle three-year warranty semi-extension (just for the part in question (the 'logic' board).
- Now we see the arrival of the iPod Shuffle. Wow! I picked one up for the first time this weekend and I was severely disappointed; the edges are sharp, the button is tacky and it's just not very nice, especially when it's sitting next to some much better counterparts.

This is just a taster, I don't have the time to list all of the things I'd like to, and I've spent 32 minutes thinking about this update!!!

In general, Apple is turning out to be as bad as the company which it used to be a practical, attractive, and even, dare say, moral alternative to. The wolf is taking off it's sheep outfit.

(I didn't spell-check this because AppleWorks spell-checker is rubbish, please forgive any mistakes).