Archive for December, 2006

Might be late for Christmas but still, why not buy an original painting?

Friday, December 15th, 2006

Liam Daly has some quite nice Irish paintings on special offer on his sales site. 99 dollars plus 25 dollars postage. Which is less than 100 euros when you do the currency conversion (or thereabouts). It’d make a nice investment or a present for someone.

I’m most fond of the Ballina one but the Green Fields one is great too.

No fluffy links – Open thread for December 15th 2006

Friday, December 15th, 2006

Was away all week, working from the Paris office so I don’t really have enough for fluffy links today. Instead I want to try something I’ve seen work on other blogs: I’ll turn over this post to those that read this. Any links you want to suggest or topics you want to debate, just stick them in here. Don’t forget to engage with the others who leave comments.

A lazy way of adding links – Am I linking to your blog?

Thursday, December 14th, 2006

I’m in not-terribly-dire but definitely some kind of need to update my Irish links list on the front page of my Le/An/The/Blog. If I am not linking to you, then let me know and I’ll add you to the list or maybe I won’t. I’m in a moody mood.

Fluffy Links – December 14th 2006

Thursday, December 14th, 2006

Firefly Convention is canceled at very last minute. Very pissed off fans. The actors still decided they are going to turn up and keep them happy though. This is respect for your fans.

Screw you coppers, give us our privacy. Clampdown on prostitutes backfires as the people and press tell police to respect peoples privacy.

Blogging gets you a free test drive of an Aston Martin.

Create paintings with your daily mouse movements.

Is this just a marketing scam or art project? Girl leaves a map for her BF to follow and along the street she has left lyrics to “Fly me to the Moon.” Bookmark that for Valentine’s Day.

Via Daily Warthog: Honda Tron Ad

Angel Decoy:

Family Guy – The Ring

An Web or Na Blogs – Ample opportunity for European blogging/tech summit

Wednesday, December 13th, 2006

So Le Web est mort, vive le replacement. So a London Gnomedex or a Dublin “Na Blogs”? First things first should be a massive discount for anyone that suffered through Le Web. Now’a the opportunity to do it right.

Still here in Paris. Greets!

Fluffy Links – December 13th 2006

Wednesday, December 13th, 2006

NYC bans transfatty acids. How nanny state!

Monster Christmas stockings. Cute.

I dunno what it is, or whether it is real but this is cool.

This is for the Kurt Cobain streeturchin fans. You know the ones who weren’t even born when he was alive.

A civil liberties mug.

Northern Soul documentary.Scary Mary – Mary Poppins reimagined as a horror:

Fluffy Links – December 12th 2006

Tuesday, December 12th, 2006

(Blog is on autopilot)

Handy tools for downloading and storing Google Videos offline.

IP address assignment per country/capita. Purdy colourdy map.

Gerry has a nice visual blogroll.

AllPopArt – expensive but fairly cool poster printing. Turn your family photo into a Warhol painting or a Roy Lichtenstein piece.

You were lucky…

Yer man from Midnight Oil is now a shadow Minister in Australia.

Aine will not be impressed..

Revolution – a video response to that Dove ad:

Flaming Lips give concert goers laser pointers and make use of them in a show:

Fluffy Links – December 11th 2006

Monday, December 11th, 2006

(Blog is on auto-pilot)

Japanese rock gardens. Feel the calm.

Prime Minister of Finland dumps his girlfriend by text message. The girlfriend he met online. Is this our future too?

WTF like?

The Top 10 broken bones in sports. Gruesome since to be in the list the bone has to break out through the skin.

They don’t need a bigger boat.

Speaking of boats, Titanic told as if people were on IM:

Beatles documentary about their tours:

Govt Websites lack basic accessibility standards – Red Cardinal

Sunday, December 10th, 2006

From a press release from Red Cardinal and report on their blog, it seems that the Irish Government websites aren’t really that good for accessibility. The exceptions being Dept. of Arts, Sports and Tourism, Dept. Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Dept. of Finance, Dept. of Social and Family Affairs.

Some key findings:

Government Department sites
25% Failed the minimum standard for accessibility
75% Failed both minimum accessibility and basic coding standards

Public body sites
33% Failed the minimum standard for accessibility
100% Failed both minimum accessibility and basic coding standards

Political Party sites
57% Failed the minimum standard for accessibility
100% Failed both minimum accessibility and basic coding standards

Interesting RSS stats:
25% of Government Department websites use RSS
11% of Public Body Websites use RSS
43% of Political Party Websites use RSS

I hear Richard might be on some radio news bulletins in the morning. 🙂

ComReg now resorting to press releasing on a lazy Sunday

Sunday, December 10th, 2006

The IrelandOffline spies are always watching however. I quickly threw together a counter-release to the latest telecoms poodle spin below.

ComReg generally send out press releases last thing in the evening. You can picture them with their finger hovering over the send button and then legging it out of the darkened building which is now empty and all the lights are off. This is the best time to release something if you want it buried and can’t be questioned on it. Nobody home to answer questions. Too late by the next news cycle to then ask questions about it as the world has moved on. Which means you will see quick pieces in the press the next morning but nothing in-depth or investigative.

Releasing on a Sunday is however a new one for ComReg. I’m surprised this wasn’t just released the evening before the budget. My colleague in IrelandOffline refers to a quote from the Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy

“But Mr. Dent, the plans have been available [and on display] in the local planning office for the last nine months.”

“On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them.”

“That’s the display department.”

“With a flashlight.”

“Ah, well, the lights had probably gone.”

“So had the stairs.”

“But look, you found the notice, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” said Arthur, “yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.'”

ComReg are adhering to their obligations to inform the public. Nobody can argue otherwise but gotta love the way they release their reports.

Press release here.