Author Archive

Eamon Ryan’s One day meeting on broadband costs taxpayers €50k

Friday, February 22nd, 2008

From a question about the International Advisory Forum on Broadband.

222. Deputy Simon Coveney asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the cost to the Exchequer of the International Advisory Forum on broadband to be held in Dublin later this month. [7197/08]

Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (Deputy Eamon Ryan): The estimate of the cost of the International Advisory Forum on broadband is €50,000.

8 people will be the ones telling Ryan over the course of the day how to plan the future of broadband in Ireland. That money would nearly pay for the enabling of an exchange in a rural Ireland to get broadband. That’s 50k less for the provision of broadband.

Blog Awards 2008 – Goody bags, Qik and sponsorship

Friday, February 22nd, 2008

So the merchandise for the Blog Awards is looking a bit sparse at the moment. If you work in a company (or have a friend that does) that would like to have their merchandise or samples given out to a few hundred bloggers, give me a shout.

If you want to do video live stream on the night of the Blog Awards using QIK let me know. Qik have created a dedicated channel for us. I’ll also be giving out some cards to avail of the net access there since the Alexander charge for that at a high fee. You ideally need to have a Nokia N95 to do the live video streaming.

Oh yes, there are also two sponsorship slots available for the Awards, due to a sponsor pulling out and the other slot is for sponsorship of nametags.

Right now 360 people are registered to go to the Awards. And with only a week to go I had my first Awards disaster dream. Things are heating up!

Fluffy Links – Friday 22nd February 2008

Friday, February 22nd, 2008

The Irish taxman is checking out our Facebook profiles. Some of ours anyway.

My ickle pony.

When you piss off a web design firm, they might latch on to your domain. Check out the UK Labour site.

We based version of Mathematica. Nice.

We should have a Top Cats event in Ireland or have Paul bring some Irish to the Top Cats London events.

Clever way of increasing readers on Twitter. 1000th sub wins a consultancy gig from you. Twitter is more than just broadcast though. How many will stick around if you just push out links to blog posts all day long?

Free second chapter from the new Crowdsourcing book

Staying with books and free. Free books via the Freakonomics blog.

This is just rocking. Control your PC or Mac or any OS using the touchscreen on your iPod or iPhone.

For those burned by HD DVD, a guide on how to rip them.

Everyone speaking at CreativeCamp should see this talk on how to give a talk.

The Gravity powered lamp. So clever. So simple.

Patrick Stewart in his scene in Extras.

Disrupt CCTV cameras with infrared L.E.D.s

Elmo evolution. Just after I getting the other one. Bastards.

Blowing shit up, NASA style:

Eamon Ryan v Shane Ross on Prime Time

Thursday, February 21st, 2008

Audio is out of synch with the video, sorry. Watch Ryan’s bodylanguage. Audio is good quality.

With thanks to James Gallagher, you’ll also notice he’s joined Fianna Fáil:
Eamon Ryan Fianna Fail

Fluffy Links – Thursday February 21st 2008

Thursday, February 21st, 2008

The Blog Awards is almost sold out. Book your place now otherwise you’ll have to buy one off a tout outside. Tickedzzzzzzzzzz buyin or selliiiing tickedzzzz. 400 bloggers in one room. Jaysus.

Rapture Ponies has her Fluffy badge too.

Vote for Donal. Too many turkeys and puppets already.

Get your Twenty on. First bit of his book is online.

Edgecast are hiring a trainee podcaster.

People give out about RTE polls but Una points out a good one.

Edward rocks.

Hehe. www.Yourbusinessisaloadof.co.ck

177k records stolen and the Data Protection Commssioner crowd are “concerned”? Calm yourselves there dudes!

Cupid Stunt does not get his wish that his blog post is the only link in a Fluffy link post. No soup.

Fluffy link bait from Cupid Stunt.

XKCD godness. Yes, I said godness. It’s why we’re all late to bed:
Late to bed

Larry for Congress. He’s already been on the West Wing.

Fabulist profiled Ham Sandwich:

A post that’s been in draft for about 2 months…

Thursday, February 21st, 2008

Yesterday, after I finished up at the brilliant (they’re reading my blog now) UCC Journo soc conference, I told my family what I’ve known since December 23rd but didn’t want to tell them until all the test results were back. (I got them just before the conference started) It seems the hiccups with my health, the numbness and pins and needles on my left side and headaches were as a result of a Multiple Sclerosis attack that I got in late November and which went rather crazy during the Paddy’s Valley tour. There’s a strong to good chance that I may not get another attack and the rest of my life will be fine and I can still cause as much trouble as I normally do. It’s a relief in a way to tell them as it was hard keeping something like this from them but I didn’t want to spoil their Christmas when they had about 85% confirmation and then have them pray for two months for that 15% to prove the world wrong and then have their hopes wrecked when the final confirmation came in. That would have meant twice the shock really.

I have a very good neurologist and the staff of the Mercy hospital have been nothing but fantastic. I’m fine, I just have to not do so much and watch out for wearing myself down.

Mmm. Tasty brains.
Photo owned by Shiny Things (cc)

I got advice from the specialist and some other friends who know MS first hand about considering avoiding telling people about it because the minute some people think of MS they picture you as ending up in a wheelchair or you are somehow less of a person. I’m not the expert in this but there are many variations of MS that go anywhere from nothing to a single attack ever, to it coming back again to the really strong one but as usual the wheelchair being the most dramatic is the one that sticks. Being honest if I was told someone got MS I’d have been ignorant and thought they’d be in a wheelchair within years. I do think it is a risk in telling people as people have their own ideas on things but I think I’ll wager that risk.

In an odd way I’d feel dishonest if I didn’t inform people via this blog since I already blogged about my health issues here, so I’ve started down the disclosure road, I won’t turn back and I’ve received so much private feedback from people that an update was required to let you all know. Now that’s just me and I over-share anyway, I certainly don’t think people should disclose whatever they have, be it MS to those rashes that that blonde girl gave you. It is still a private matter for most.

This is meandering. I don’t want to spend too much time going on about MS on this blog and I don’t see myself as now being an advocate for any group because of the test results. Any yes I’m fine. No need to email me. Or ring. Yes, I was a little scared and upset when I got the first wave of news but I’m fine now. Marking this post as personal too. February is afterall the month where I write that yearly personal post.

So, I did say Fuck You to 2007, I don’t think I’ll be saying the same to 2008. So far, even with this news, 2008 has been good.

So there, no sympathy or any of that fuss please. Although if you want to buy me a pony…

Me today

Wednesday, February 20th, 2008

Busy at the UCC Journalism conference all day. Back on Thursday.

9:50 Opening Address, Speakers for Session One Take Stage
10.50 Mr Gerry O’Regan, Editor, Irish Independent.
“Why traditional Newspaper’s are NOT dead!”
10.10 Rick O’Shea, RTE 2fm. “Blog Will Eat Itself – Old Is The New New”
10.25 Questions & Answers
10.45 Closing Address, Session One
10.50 Break for Coffee, Speakers for Session One Leave Stage
11.20 Opening Address, Speakers for Session Two Take Stage
11.25 Dusty Rhodes, The Death of the Newspaper: The Digital Radio Perspective.
11.40 James Cridland, The place of traditional media in the Web2.0 world.
11.55 Michael Foley, Sunday Times, Sports writer. The implications of New Media for Sport writers
12.10 Michael Kealey, ‘Legal challenges for a converging media’.
12.25 Questions & Answers
12.40 Closing Address
12.45 Break for Lunch, Speakers for Session Two Leave Stage
1.00 Lunch
2.15 Opening Address, Speakers for Session Three Take Stage
2.20 Damien Mulley. Blogging.
2.35 Jill O’Sullivan, A new media newsroom – does one size fit all? – and global new media trends.’
2.50 Brendan Keenan, Independent Group PLC
3.05 PJ Gibbons, Editor, Social and Personal Magazine
3.20 Dr Rachel O’Connell, Bebo Chief of Security
3:35 Questions & Answers
3.50 Closing Address

How not to interact with bloggers if you’re a CEO

Tuesday, February 19th, 2008

A CEO of an Irish company sent me a very long email recently telling me how I am to discuss his company in public in future. I found it quite inflammatory and abusive. He also called into question the ability of another Irish technology journalist in this unsolicited email and told me how I should not go down the path they chose. I am still wary of calling myself a journalist since these folks are professionals. I’m just someone with a gob. I asked said CEO could I publish his email on my blog and he has refused and questioned my inability to have a normal private conversation. Except a conversation is two way. Not abuse. No problem, it won’t be reproduced. Tom recently blogged about the fun he had with the CEO of Blueface.

There are good ways of interacting with bloggers and there are bad ways. Bloggers too are people and a modicum of respect for people would be nice if you are the one making contact with them. One way of getting their goat up is to tell them how they are to talk about your company in public. Another is to use passive aggressive bullshit of the type “I’m surprised that you of all people said that” or “of all people, you should know better”. Questioning whether someone is biased is another. As is taking swipes at a fellow technology journalist or someone in “the trade”.

Also if you are asked to stop emailing them. Do. Do not send another further email with more personal abuse. Finally putting all of these don’ts together in an email and marking the email as “personal and confidential” so the person in receipt of the abuse can’t reproduce on their blog or to others isn’t very nice at all. It’s not transparent.

It’s amazing that some business people think that being abusive to people will not come back and haunt them. Surely the Internet proves that the truth will out.

Nicked – Anyone happen upon a Canon Media M80 Media Storage Device?

Tuesday, February 19th, 2008

A friend got burgled yesterday in Cork and the thieves took a Canon Media M80 Media Storage Device and a White Asus Eee PC, 1Gb RAM, 8Gb SSD. If you get offered one of these in the next while or see them for sale anywhere, let me know.

Details of items stolen:
1. White Asus Eee PC, 1Gb RAM, 8Gb SSD
Serial 7C0AAQ046377

2. Canon Media M80 Media Storage Device (Google it if needed, sorry I’m not in the mood)
Model 9734A004AA
Serial stamped on device: 1V26CE00037A

Spread the word too if you wish.

Fluffy Links – Tuesday February 19th 2008

Tuesday, February 19th, 2008

Patrick’s app is helping freedom of speech and expression!

Rob on creative commons and sharing.

Congrats to Walter. Finally TechCrunch UK and Ireland managed to profile an Irish company, something Blognation constantly did. Looks like Walter managed to pitch something interesting and real, something many other Irish companies failed to do.

Awesome video contest from said the gramophone.

via Bon, someone doesn’t like your ad blockers.

iPhones are available in Ireland. Kinda. Sorta.

BBC reviewpa of the MacBook Air. This is mine.

From Mr. Obama – Words: