Folks, I am not sure if people know it, but one can access a number of Portuguese Government services on the 'net.
E.g. if your birth is already registered at the Conservatória dos Registros Centrais, you can obtain your birth certificate and other related documents directly from “Certidões Online” (a tab on the Home Page of the portal), without going via the consulate, and it normally takes three weeks from experience (airmail to Australia via registered post with acknowledgment). If anyone is interested, check http://www.portaldocidadao.pt/PORTAL/pt . Registering on the portal is necessary to avail of services, and you have the option of requesting a free weekly newsletter. I have been a subscriber to this newsletter now for a while now, and I get a weekly update as to official rulings and other events in Portugal. One of the more interesting news was the progress of Magalhães, the portable computer for e-Learning, from launch to actual delivery, at the beginning of the new school year, when 500,000 units were distributed to primary students in the first cycle. It is an updated Classmate2 based on the Intel Atom microprocessor running at 1.6GHz, has a 9” screen, 30GB h/d and 1GB RAM. Besides being for distribution to most schools, it has also been made commercially available (Discover Portugal version) for 285 euros, and will be available at a subsidized rate for other students in the second cycle. See also http://www.portatilmagalhaes.com/ Cheers, Gabriel. Melbourne. Make the switch to the world's best email. Get Yahoo!7 Mail! http://au.yahoo.com/y7mail
