Even though I do not watch television shows, I must note that Teleenciclopedia — epitomizing the educative mission of a public television — turns 45 today.

A new report blames a single Eastern European gang for about two-thirds of all phishing attempts conducted in the last half of 2009.

and

Researchers believe that Avalanche, like Rock Phish, is run out of an Eastern European country.

Guess the country. You have one try.

Decât o Revistă magazine (see more here) is available for free on-line browsing and download.

Update: Also available on Issuu.

Via e-mail:

Amazon.co.uk now delivers thousands of additional products to Romania, including electronics, appliances, garden items and more.

It was about time.

Elections. Basescu's staff copies the web site of a pro-Antonescu electoral project. Original vs. copy.

This is not politics, nor "strategy," this is stealing — a clear case of intellectual property theft. It's what designers despise most.

Romanian-German writer Herta Müller describes her ongoing experience of Securitate terror.

Time and again he would throw my identity card on the floor, and I had to bend down and pick it up. Thirty or forty times maybe; when I got slower, he kicked me in the small of my back. And from behind the door at the end of the table I heard a woman's voice screaming.

What can we do? Never forget. Never forgive.

Ridzi scandal turns into a full-fledged Ridzigate with a resignation on top. Kudos, Tolontan.

From Orange Romania customer service: iPhone Push Notifications not active in Romanian Orange network, no date set for activation.

Lame.

Update: Push Notifications do work in Orange Romania (see comments). I was wrong, Orange CS representative was wrong and Twitter palls were wrong. What a clusterfuck.

*I'm so glad that I was wrong!

Paid the yearly visit to The Romanian Stencil Archive? If not, what are you waiting for?

Related: Cultural statements.

For Romanian readers: do you think you know our flag? Wanna bet?

Zzing tackles a tough one: the colors in Romanian flag are not standardized, for this reason no two official flags are the same (links in Romanian).

Read and spread the word.

Brancusi was possibly the most important Romanian artist of all time. Yet both websites—brancusi.com and brancusi.ro—dedicated to him exude bad taste and sheer incompetence. A shame.

Panoramic view from the fortress hill — click the thumbnail to enlarge. Alba Iulia, Transylvania.

View from my room, minutes ago — click the thumbnail to enlarge. Alba Iulia, Transylvania.

Two new episodes: three, four [links in Romanian], following the previous two: one, two, regarding Romania's draft ID commissioned to Imagina SRL (imaginastudio.ro) and not developed in-house as the Agency for Governmental Strategies representatives previously reported to a Brandient inquiry.

Embarrassing.

Croco café, the home of bohemians from all walks of life, closes down in Cluj after 47 years. Flashmob cooking for one o'clock today. [Thanks, Paul.]

Romanian language is not dead, it just smells funny and Urban Pedia, the Romanian slang dictionary, harvested an inventory well above the 2k mark to prove it—lexpionage (lexicon+espionage) at its best, well worth a RSS subscription. And if colloquialism is your thing, don't forget about Dictionar Urban and their definition of the day feed. [links in Romanian]

Romania's ID — a follow-up. It seems that the infantile identity program was developed in-house by The Agency for Governmental Strategies. Contacted representatives declared that the logo and manuals were posted for public consultations, are drafts and should not be regarded as final. Journalists should look into it and clarify this matter.

Please tell me that Romania's visual identity is an elaborated practical joke. I try to find the right words here—indignity, humiliation, shame, misfortune, pity, disgrace... shall I continue? Romanian bloggers/designers, please spread the word and protest against this horror.

Not even 24 hours passed since my previous, optimistic post and the Parliament just voted in favor of elected President's impeachment. Meetings showing support for President Basescu — and against the Parliament — will possibly follow and violent scenarios are not totally far-fetched. Romanian political class proves once again decisively moronic. I feel miserably ashamed.

Pedants, don't forget: Romania joins The European Union at 12 o'clock Brussels time, 1 AM local time. Celebrate accordingly.