Olá bom dia, alegria! Tudo bem? Thanks to @Abdul Alim for the reminder about Portugal’s pioneering open-source AI model for European Portuguese - AMALIA (of course!). AMALIA, in this instance, stands for Assistente Multimodal Automático de Linguagem com Inteligência Artificial and is the first large language model (LLM) specifically developed for European Portuguese. This fully open-source project brings together around 60 researchers from institutions like NOVA FCT, Instituto Superior Técnico and others. Its goals include promoting linguistic accuracy in public administration and business, preserving cultural elements such as proverbs and national heritage, ensuring data sovereignty (keeping sensitive information within Portugal), and boosting national AI research and innovation. Find out more here. (It’s still largely an academic/specialist tool rather than a simple “search box” resource.) When thinking about Portugal’s AI efforts, I was reminded of a more everyday tool: Evaristo.ai - a Portuguese chatbot designed to help citizens navigate digital public services, among other things. It was developed by the University of Lisbon’s Faculty of Sciences in partnership with ARTE. Try it here. And finally, for the AI sceptics and haters (I used to be one!), here’s a reminder that it’s just a tool or a toy. It can be genuinely helpful, but also indulgent and tacky. My own defensive use case is a diagnostic tool I created for www.vamosbem.pt. It helps with that overwhelming feeling we can get when thinking about the things we might prefer to avoid - “How ready are you for a medical emergency?” (Answer 10 quick questions and get a personal action plan for living and aging well in Portugal). Try it for yourself HERE - bearing in mind it’s a beta prototype, not for commercial release.

Here's your primer for Portugal's big match TONIGHT!!! The Big Picture: - Portugal vs Croatia, World Cup Round of 32, tonight at Toronto Stadium — winner advances to the Round of 16 - Kick-off: midnight into Friday, Lisbon time - live on RTP1 and Sport TV 5 - First-ever World Cup meeting between the two nations - Potentially the last World Cup match for Ronaldo (41) or Modrić (40) - former Real Madrid teammates Portugal's Road Here: - Finished second in Group K: 1-1 vs DR Congo, 5-0 vs Uzbekistan, 0-0 vs Colombia - Ronaldo made history with his brace against Uzbekistan - first player ever to score at six World Cups - Concern: struggled to break down teams that sit deep and defend in numbers — exactly what Croatia are likely to do Croatia's Threat: - Tournament pedigree: finalists in 2018, semi-finalists in 2022 - Bounced back from a 4-2 opening loss to England with wins over Panama (1-0) and Ghana (2-1) - Modrić still pulling the strings - became the oldest player to register a World Cup assist against Ghana Head-to-Head & Odds: - Portugal have won 7 of 10 all-time meetings; Croatia's only win was a 2024 friendly in Lisbon - Opta gives Portugal a 54.5% chance of winning in regulation - The winner faces Spain or Austria in the Round of 16 🏆⚽🇵🇹 *** Força Portugal! *** 🇵🇹 ⚽ 🏆 (READ my bigger guide to connecting with the World Cup, and why) --- And if you have a fixture with AIMA soon about your D7 renewal, you might find the Portugal Junkies' A D7 Passive Income Visa Renewal Mini-Guide useful! Don't forget to subscribe to their substack if you're over there 👇

For those who weren't up at 2:30 in the morning, this summarizes how the game ended. https://youtube.com/shorts/xk-0hJukaWw?is=16r9ejiCmy4XM6Zr

With grateful thanks to @Michael Barton Listen at www.portugaltalkradio.com

"This young man will soon be an important Portuguese filmmaker," @Andy Cline tells me (and he knows what he's talking about!). "I'm working with him on this project by shooting some behind-the-scenes stuff. He's needing a modest amount of money to pay a couple of actors." I'm looking forward to making Tomás's acquaintance and having a chat with him on Portugal Talk Radio soon. Here's his Indiegogo link if you'd like to help out a Portuguese film-maker (as well as test your Portuguese comprehension!) AND... Check this out from my new music legend mate Jason Miles, who I gladly and feverishly wrote about here. And interviewed here. He's an extraordinary musician, who's worked with so many greats, and now lives among us here in Portugal! "Just wanted to share this new video with you," Mr Miles emailed me. "A great filmmaker who now lives here in Lisbon, made this after hearing '100 Miles for Miles Davis'. Hope you like it" I do. 👇 Jazz fans: Yes, that's Randy Brecker on trumpet!!! 100 Miles For Miles Davis ℗ 2026 Jason Miles Released: 2026-05-01 Trumpet: Randy Brecker Tenor Saxophone: Ada Rovatti Brecker Keyboards, Producer: Jason Miles Bass: Yami Aloelela Guitar: Tiago Oliveira Drums: Vicky Marques Mixing Engineer, Mastering Engineer: Jimmy Bralower Composer: Jason Miles