JUDAO.com.br
A teenager's idea that grew up with him, evolved, conquered the world, and marked Brazilian internet history during its 20-year run :)
In a pre-Google era when portals were simple imagemaps and online music meant MIDI files, magazines like Internet World and newspaper sections like Folha de S. Paulo's Ilustrada were the best—perhaps only—curated guides to online content, unless you ventured into the underworld of Telnet, Usenet and other "nets" treated then like today's Deepweb. During one of these prehistoric paper-based explorations, I discovered PutaQuePariu.com, a site by journalism and advertising students from Santos that lived up to its name—you always found what you were looking for there. You know it—you've sent people there and been sent there yourself... ;)
It covered absolutely everything. Movies, comics, internet culture, lifestyle. Updated weekly like a magazine, each edition brought pop culture discoveries to audiences with limited access—like painfully shy teenage me, too timid to visit comic shops or chat while renting VHS tapes and games. It became, as we said back then, a ~knowledge explosion~ that shaped my personal and professional trajectory.
Oi? CuDoJudasSSsSssS?
Once upon a time, a teenager with free time and internet access got an HTML basics manual. Between answering hundreds of daily messages on Mandic BBS and weekend browsing via Zoltrix 14.400 modem, he began creating websites as Gilberto Gil might say—first offline, then on beloved Geocities. After reaching TOP10 iBest with a fan page and encountering a terrible yet compelling idea, he launched CuDoJudas.com circa 2000. 😬
The site functioned as an internet curiosities repository with weekly texts and—most importantly—massive reader interaction through articles, guestbooks, forums, and monthly meetups called Rangões. :)
In the early 2000s, its unexpected success (despite joking about "world domination") became overwhelming. To reduce bandwidth strain, we made our first major pivot: from internet oddities to a text-focused platform—opinions, news, and most pivotally, film/TV reviews that would define our legacy.
The end of the world as we know it
Remember that teenager? As an adult, he faced profound embarrassment when a receptionist reacted to "CuDoJudas.com." That expression sparked our rebrand to an internal nickname—not CDJ, but Judão. In 2004, this new universe emerged, embraced by the now-adult and friends from Rangões meetups and forums.
This shift transformed witty pop culture takes into layered analysis. The "teenage nonsense" site gained journalistic credibility—we even joined major outlets covering 2007's San Diego Comic-Con, disrupting claims of who got there first.
This momentum landed us on Portal MTV in 2009, changing everything forever.
The MTV effect
The teenager-turned-adult-turned-journalist suddenly appeared on TV—first with site content, then gaming segments on Marimoon's show, eventually hosting his own program as MTV's infamous VJ.
Two glorious years of massive growth (HOLY CRAP!) defined Judão's future: my "TV artist" phase (as grandma called it) ended just as international press junket invitations began multiplying. From long-form interviews we evolved into video features capturing celebrity moments and questions everyone wanted asked.
It began with Robert Downey Jr. laughing, ended with Hugh Jackman pausing an interview to praise our questions. ;)
We grew more socially conscious as the thirty-something founder did—analytical pieces on justice issues appeared increasingly, simply because we felt responsible with our platform.
Our final evolution came as JUDAO.com.br: abandoning breaking news for the Slow Web philosophy—thoughtful content worth waiting to read/watch/hear.
Me, Myself and Judão
For 20 years, I did it all: WordPress administration (15 years!), design/coding, social media as community manager, podcast hosting/scripting, video production, writing/reviewing, celebrity interviews, and crucially—editing every published piece to maintain quality and voice while preserving writers' individual styles.
That reader connection? Imperative. On JUDAO.com.br, you instantly knew an article's author. And it always worked. :)
Many called me "Judão"—I never minded because, like Marcelo D2 and his son, the site and I evolved together. If you're reading this, it's because JUDAO.com.br existed. Every opportunity—portfolio projects, global travels, even being an MTV VJ—stemmed from that site.
For over half my life, I existed with JUDAO.com.br.
Eventually, we needed separation so both "Judãos" could flourish. Since August 2020—peak pandemic!—the site stopped updating. But you can read my articles here, and everything I edited here. :)