[{"content":"I\u0026rsquo;ve always been a hunt-and-peck typer. I started using computers as early as was physically possible. Sadly, no one ever taught me good habits around typing (let alone ergonomics). Having some small RSI issues in my right wrist, I decided to further go down the route of mechanical keyboards, which I previously discussed here. In October 2025, I purchased a [ZSA Voyager][voyager] mechanical keyboard.\nI should rewind a small bit - prior to the Voyager, I purchased a Kinesis Advantage 360 Pro (the wireless one), which is a great and supremely comfortable keyboard. One of the major downsides to the Advantage 360 is that it is uncomfortable for any sort of gaming. Also, there is a nice weight and robustness to the Advantage 360 which makes it unsuitable to travel in my opinion.\nNaturally after liking the 360, I looked at other Kinesis options. This led me to the Kinesis Freestyle RGB which I use with my gaming PC. The Freestyle I\u0026rsquo;m least happy with since it\u0026rsquo;s so large and I find it hard to stop hitting caps lock over the \u0026lsquo;a\u0026rsquo; key.\nI couldn\u0026rsquo;t bring either to the office because of their size and weight, which began my search for a compact alternative. After a lot of research and YouTube reviews I came to find the Voyager. It\u0026rsquo;s very expensive, so I did a lot of thinking on it. One of the aspects that sold it for me was that ZSA seem to be a company who just want to make good products and back it up with good support. I read a lot on their website, particularly [ZSA people][zsapeople] (I enjoy immensely learning about how people optimise their work spaces.), [ZSA loves][zsaloves] and their newsletter, [The Ergo][ergo].\nAfter more than 6 months, I think it’s excellent, but only if you’re ready to adapt to split, columnar typing and layers.\n![ZSA Voyager, Navigator Trackpad and the trackpad case][voyager-img]\nOwning the Voyager - here are some of the benefits:\nGreat split compact size Build quality is excellent, it\u0026rsquo;s also thin but weighty Nice carrying case, key puller and cables included Magnetic risers in the case Excellent mounting options - can use [phone stands][phone-stand], clamps or anything that mounts magnetically RGB that\u0026rsquo;s useful to tell which layer you are on (not just a gimmick) Great set of replaceable keycaps Can hot-swap any Kailh switch (can go more clicky sounding or more quiet) Key Configurator/remapping is the best in the business Some downsides:\nListed price excludes EU taxes/import charges (which recently increased) Comfort is subjective - it may not be for you: Need to be ok with a split layout Need to be ok with columnar layout (probably the trickiest for me given most keyboards are row-staggered layouts) Still have to press a button to reflash the keyboard to change layouts (no hot reloading of the key mappings) Layers take a while to get used to and to be honest can be infinitely \u0026ldquo;fiddly\u0026rdquo; - depends if you like this aspect or not. Magnetic risers don\u0026rsquo;t add much tilt and no built in tenting option Option to buy \u0026ldquo;[Shhhocs][]\u0026rdquo; (rubber dampening for keys) - seems like a low cost item they could just include in the box given the price Next worth mentioning are the accessories that ZSA sells:\n[Voyager Tripod Kit][tripod] (magnets that attach to the bottom and have a threaded hole for a standard camera tripod type mount) [Navigator][navigator] trackball [Navigator][navigator] trackpad (not long released to market) I\u0026rsquo;ve purchased all three, so I can give some comment on them. The magnetic mounting kit is great if you need to tent the keyboard at a more extreme angle. I would not advise this for anyone new to split mechanical keyboards - I would say to take split and columnar layout challenges first with the included magnets. But later the option is nice to have and you can use it with any sort of camera mount like [small pocket tripod][pocket-tripod] or [ball-joint arms][arms]. Be aware these options add a not insignificant amount of weight and if your priority is portability this should be of concern.\nThe next accessory option to mention is the Navigator. I bought the trackball when I got the Voyager. Full disclosure I never owned a trackball before this (I\u0026rsquo;m a mouse traditionalist), so my opinion may not hold water if it\u0026rsquo;s your preferred option. What I can say is the mounting to the side of the Voyager is secure and the included carrying case is great. I brought mine to the office with no issues, apart from having to be really careful about not losing the ball. How it works is that it sits in between both halves of your Voyager and replaces the cable between them. So the normal setup is: Voyager left half connects to computer via USB-C and then it connects to the right half with TRRS cable (like a headphone cable). This is \u0026lsquo;intercepted\u0026rsquo; with a Navigator, where the left half talks to the Navigator and then the Navigator to the right half. I mention this as it could be confusing if you expected more ports.\nFor the trackpad option which I purchased recently, you also need to configure this in Oryx - if you had the trackball configured in your layout before, you need to remove it. Like my earlier point on updating keymaps without reflashing, swapping between the two needs a reflash of your keyboard firmware. My take on both is as follows: the trackball is the better more polished option and aesthetically looks far better. The trackpad I\u0026rsquo;m not impressed with at all, I find it far too small and not the fault of ZSA but on macOS they require a helper app (blame Apple). The helper app makes the trackpad somewhat usable (apparently on Linux and Windows it works fine). But to be honest, if you\u0026rsquo;ve used a nice trackpad (like the gold standard which is Apple\u0026rsquo;s Magic Trackpad), it will feel disappointing.\nFinal thoughts I\u0026rsquo;m still not a fast typist. But I\u0026rsquo;m more comfortable at typing and my brain has adapted thanks to [keybr][], [Monkeytype][] and ZSA\u0026rsquo;s own [typ.ing][typing]. I would definitely recommend the Voyager if you are looking for a split (smaller) mechanical keyboard - but if it\u0026rsquo;s your first foray into mechanical I\u0026rsquo;d try something like I did originally which will be closer to what you are (probably) currently used to. It\u0026rsquo;s a transformation for how you type and adjustment time will be needed. In terms of accessories you could skip the Navigator trackpad and only get the trackball if you prefer them or like the look.\n[voyager]: https://www.zsa.io/voyager\t\u0026ldquo;\u0026ldquo;ZSA Voyager\u0026rdquo;\u0026rdquo; [voyager-img]: voyager.jpg\t\u0026ldquo;\u0026ldquo;ZSA Voyager with Navigator trackpad and trackpad case\u0026rdquo;\u0026rdquo; [oryx]: https://www.zsa.io/oryx\t\u0026ldquo;\u0026ldquo;ZSA\u0026rsquo;s Oryx Keyboard configurator tool\u0026rdquo;\u0026rdquo; [zsapeople]: https://people.zsa.io/\t\u0026ldquo;\u0026ldquo;ZSA people blog\u0026rdquo;\u0026rdquo; [zsaloves]: https://blog.zsa.io/tags/zsa-loves/\t\u0026ldquo;\u0026ldquo;ZSA loves blog\u0026rdquo;\u0026rdquo; [ergo]: https://www.zsa.io/the-ergo\t\u0026ldquo;\u0026ldquo;ZSA Ergo newsletter\u0026rdquo;\u0026rdquo; [phone-stand]: https://www.amazon.ie/dp/B0CMHT5LZ5\t\u0026ldquo;\u0026ldquo;UGREEN Magsafe Phone stand - can be used with the voyager\u0026rdquo;\u0026rdquo; [Shhhocs]: https://www.zsa.io/voyager/accessories\t\u0026ldquo;\u0026ldquo;Shhhocs are tiny rubber gaskets\u0026rdquo;\u0026rdquo; [tripod]: https://www.zsa.io/voyager/tripod-mount [navigator]: https://www.zsa.io/voyager/navigator [pocket-tripod]: https://www.amazon.ie/dp/B00GTLFHT8 [arms]: https://www.amazon.ie/dp/B08B63WXWN [keybr]: https://www.keybr.com/ [Monkeytype]: https://monkeytype.com/ [typing]: https://typ.ing/\n","permalink":"/voyager/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI\u0026rsquo;ve always been a hunt-and-peck typer. I started using computers as early as was physically possible. Sadly, no one ever taught me good habits around typing (let alone ergonomics). Having some small RSI issues in my right wrist, I decided to further go down the route of mechanical keyboards, which I \u003ca href=\"/mech-kb\"\u003epreviously discussed here\u003c/a\u003e. In October 2025, I purchased a [ZSA Voyager][voyager] mechanical keyboard.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI should rewind a small bit - prior to the Voyager, I purchased a Kinesis Advantage 360 Pro (the wireless one), which is a great and supremely comfortable keyboard. One of the major downsides to the Advantage 360 is that it is uncomfortable for any sort of gaming. Also, there is a nice weight and robustness to the Advantage 360 which makes it unsuitable to travel in my opinion.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"ZSA Voyager Keyboard"},{"content":"I last blogged about a \u0026ldquo;Tech Go Bag\u0026rdquo; in 2015, 11 years ago as I write this. A lot has changed so I thought it\u0026rsquo;s worth a re-review of my current setup.\nLooking back, I was very eager to have a solution to every possible problem - my current setup is far more simple. I have three key items I would highly recommend now, and none are from the original post:\nMophie 3-in-1 Travel Charger (v1) Matador Wash bag Philips One Battery toothbrush If I am staying away from home for even one night, all three of these always come with me, no exceptions. The mophie travel charger is a joy because everything is in one kit/soft case: cable, plug and phone/AirPods/watch charger - all very compact and neat. For different regions I simply swap out the plug, for Europe I have a European plug and the USA I have a US plug. I keep the destination one in the kit and usually have the home plug in my carry on - just in case I need it at the airport etc.\nThe matador wash bag is excellent, never leaks liquids. Any wet item inside will dry out. Inside it I have:\nstick deodorant (I like Mitchum, but use a reusable brand now)\near plugs\nthe philips toothbrush (as above, not pictured with washbag as was being used!)\nMatador Refillable toothpaste tube\nChicago Comb\nsmall refillable \u0026ldquo;perfume\u0026rdquo; bottle\nClinell Hand Wipes\na small bit of Dr. Bronner\u0026rsquo;s soap inside matador soap case - (not pictured)\nVictorinox nail clippers and Victorinox SwissCard Nailcare (red)\nI also have a resealable shiny backed mylar zip lock bag \u0026ldquo;first aid\u0026rdquo; kit with:\nplasters (band-aids)\n1 small alcohol wipe\ncommon medications in individual small 2*3cm sealed zip lock bags (paracetamol, ibuprofen, Imodium, anti-histamine)\nThe Philips toothbrush is self-contained with a case and no charger needed - just a single AAA battery which is easy to find in most parts of the world. It fits inside the matador wash bag and I keep all personal care items in that bag. The key \u0026ldquo;3\u0026rdquo; as I\u0026rsquo;ll call it are all space-efficient and carry on friendly, so no matter where I go I can take them. So in total I have 2 regular bags: The Matador Wash bag and Mophie Charging kit.\nI then add other \u0026ldquo;bags\u0026rdquo; as required. The next most important set is eBags. I bought eBags a long time ago and still use them. They are great for sorting clothing items and making your main bag more manageable. It\u0026rsquo;s worth noting that eBags I use do not save any space, they\u0026rsquo;re purely an organisational tool. After this I add \u0026ldquo;bags\u0026rdquo; based on purpose, two are more frequent:\nShaving kit bag Portable travel wifi/ethernet router - Beryl AX The shaving kit bag contains:\nA double edged travel safety razor - Merkur 933CL Travel shaving soap / Travel shaving brush both by Edwin Jagger A pack of DE blades (usually Feather blades) The shaving kit and travel router only come with me if the trip is a week or longer (or is a business trip where it\u0026rsquo;s important I stay neat looking!). I may throw in an odd missing item after that, like a sleep mask. You may have noticed some key items like a powerbank missing - this is where I\u0026rsquo;ve added a \u0026ldquo;day pack\u0026rdquo; which I\u0026rsquo;ll cover in the next post.\n","permalink":"/gobagv2/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI last blogged about a \u0026ldquo;\u003ca href=\"/gobag\"\u003eTech Go Bag\u003c/a\u003e\u0026rdquo; in 2015, 11 years ago as I write this. A lot has changed so I thought it\u0026rsquo;s worth a re-review of my current setup.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Go Bag Pt. 2"},{"content":"About this time last year, I purchased 3 mini computers with the aim of making a Kubernetes cluster. I followed an excellent youtube video: This homelab setup is my favorite one yet - Dreams of Autonomy (Github Repository) which described the machines to buy (Beelink EQ 13 Mini), how to upgrade the SSD and RAM, how to provision them with NixOS, setup K3S, and connect using kubectl to manage the cluster. You will also have to modify your router\u0026rsquo;s DHCP settings so you can give the cluster static IP addresses.\nThings deployed on it (using Helm/helmfile and kustomize):\nLonghorn - for storage MetalLB - for load-balancing and IP assignment Nginx - as an ingress controller Pihole - for ad blocking and DNS service externaldns - able to update Pihole DNS records when a new service is added These are all in the Github repo linked above. I\u0026rsquo;ve since experimented with other services on the cluster such as:\nGrafana and Prometheus - for dashboards and monitoring\nFlux - CI/CD deployment from config direct to the cluster\nLivebook - for live coding, and interacting with services\nRedis - as a data store (maybe I should have used Valkey? )\nPostgres - database\nKafka - message bus\nand more I\u0026rsquo;m currently trying..\nThings that have surprised me are: There was a small configuration value missing from the video, which I created a pull request to address the lack of readily available and easily usable Helm charts on ArtifactHub - Bitnami filled this role somewhat but has converted to a commerical model, disappointingly I tried to use LLMs to give me correct helm values but it always got confused (should it not be simple?) the sheer amount of YAML config Troubleshooting needs a defined workflow of what to check (but this is useful to practice) Nix running out of space on /boot while trying to upgrade the Linux kernel Things that worked well The hardware was very easy to use and upgrade Nix has been solid in upgrades (I expected things to break - only one was the /boot issue above) Using internal or external domains was easier than I thought, I\u0026rsquo;ve exposed some on .lan and some on a public domain kubectl is a nice tool, the information density is good Helmfile is a nice way to deploy Livebooks were brilliant to test other services, e.g. I wrote Elixir to interact with Postgres, Redis and other services on the cluster Would I do this again? I\u0026rsquo;m happy I did this as it\u0026rsquo;s been a great learning opportunity for me to break things and fix them again. Kubernetes can be a bit off-putting with concepts, how they are linked and how to just deploy something quickly to verify it works. There\u0026rsquo;s a lot to understand before something works.\nI really would only recommend using Kubernetes in an enterprise context where you have more than one workload. For simpler apps, I would stick to docker, docker-compose and things like Dokku. Or of course doing it just for fun, learning and experimenting!\n","permalink":"/k8s-nix-cluster/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eAbout this time last year, I purchased 3 mini computers with the aim of making a \u003ca href=\"https://kubernetes.io/\"\u003eKubernetes\u003c/a\u003e cluster. I followed an excellent youtube video: \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/2yplBzPCghA?si=1Fq1Fx0PSvXP8krE\"\u003eThis homelab setup is my favorite one yet - Dreams of Autonomy\u003c/a\u003e (\u003ca href=\"https://github.com/dreamsofautonomy/homelab\"\u003eGithub Repository\u003c/a\u003e) which described the machines to buy (Beelink EQ 13 Mini), how to upgrade the \u003cabbr title=\"Solid State Disk\"\u003eSSD\u003c/abbr\u003e and \u003cabbr title=\"Random Access Memory\"\u003eRAM\u003c/abbr\u003e, how to provision them with \u003ca href=\"https://nixos.org\"\u003eNixOS\u003c/a\u003e, setup \u003ca href=\"https://k3s.io\"\u003eK3S\u003c/a\u003e, and connect using \u003ca href=\"https://kubectl.docs.kubernetes.io/guides/\"\u003ekubectl\u003c/a\u003e to manage the cluster. You will also have to modify your router\u0026rsquo;s \u003cabbr title=\"Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol\"\u003eDHCP\u003c/abbr\u003e settings so you can give the cluster static \u003cabbr title=\"Internet Protocol\"\u003eIP\u003c/abbr\u003e addresses.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Kubernetes and Nix Cluster"},{"content":"Picade is an arcade machine you build yourself which uses a raspberry pi as the brains. It is available from Pimoroni.\nI really built this in 2024 as a fun object to sit in my office - and I must say it\u0026rsquo;s lived up to that and more on video calls I\u0026rsquo;ve done. Total time to assemble was about 3 hours, and I really enjoyed the process.\nThe main pieces are:\nCabinet - all the wooden sides, top and bottom Perspex - all the plastic to cover the \u0026ldquo;see-through\u0026rdquo; areas like the title at the top and the button shelf. Raspberry Pi 5 with Picade Hat - Picade Hat handles all the interaction with sound and button hardware Joystick - for all the motion Buttons - all the gaming buttons! (plus on/off) Speaker - for the sound of nostalgia Pico-8 license so you can build your own games The instructions are very well written and clear. All the parts are well packed. The only parts I felt were fiddly were the plastic hinges for the cabinet (you need to get your hands in to tight spaces to tie down the screws) and the button order. It\u0026rsquo;s easy to mix up which button is connected where - so with this and installing the joystick/top plate the joystick attaches to I would take your time.\nFrustrations I had:\nRetroPie (the linux distribution) is not plug and play - I had various issues controlling sound Not clear to me how the consoles appear (turns out games working with emulators have file extensions, Picade picks this up and will know to launch .snes with SNES) Loading games on was tedious until I installed and shared games directory with Samba Mapping buttons for so many different emulators and systems is a nightmare - I was hoping someone would have just put in sensible defaults! Later, I ordered the fancy illuminated buttons after because for me, this is partly about playing and partly about a really nice object to talk about.\nOverall this was a super fun project and getting to play some great games at the end was rewarding!!\n","permalink":"/picade/","summary":"\u003cp\u003ePicade is an arcade machine you build yourself which uses a raspberry pi as the brains. It is available from \u003ca href=\"https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/picade\"\u003ePimoroni\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Picade"},{"content":"Today marks 20 years since I first blogged. I wanted to give a little context to that post.\nI actually remember it quite vividly, I was in my cousins\u0026rsquo; house on their Dell Desktop PC. I had heard of this thing called \u0026ldquo;blogging\u0026rdquo; but really it was of no interest to 15 year old me at the time. The only thing that could make blogging interesting for me: I heard of this mythical new service called \u0026ldquo;Gmail\u0026rdquo;. Gmail of course from a company I already thought was cool: Google. Unfortunately for me - this new \u0026ldquo;Gmail\u0026rdquo; I heard about a few months before was US only.\nThen the rumours started to fly: Google was opening up Gmail to more users. What was a surefire way to get it? Create a Blogger account - a company that Google acquired. So I duly did that and wrote the first post. If you\u0026rsquo;re curious - I\u0026rsquo;m now convinced it made exactly and precisely zero difference. What eventually got me that coveted gmail account was having different cousins based in the United States who could invite me directly. I finally got dueyfinster@gmail.com ! (Only to lose access sometime later, I assumed Gmail would open up usernames after a period of inactivity like Hotmail did. Spoiler: It doesn\u0026rsquo;t.)\nI am not really sure of the lesson in all of this - bar time really does change things. It was exciting times - here\u0026rsquo;s to the next 20 years of sporadic posts on anything that takes my interest!\n","permalink":"/20-years/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eToday marks \u003ca href=\"/dueyfinster\"\u003e20 years since I first blogged\u003c/a\u003e. I wanted to give a\nlittle context to that post.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"20 Years of this Blog"},{"content":"I recently bought a Framework 13 laptop as a personal machine. If you are not aware - Framework makes build-it-yourself laptops. I wanted to review different parts of the process and give an overview of how it\u0026rsquo;s been from ordering to delivery.\nOrdering Ordering was easy, the configurator they have for choosing the specification you want is very clear. The only criticism I\u0026rsquo;d have is that it gets confusing as to which stock keeping units (SKU) gets the upgraded camera and screen - two parts they they clearly have a generation two for. I couldn\u0026rsquo;t see when I finished the order that I had definitely ordered the later versions of both. It was easy to configure everything else like RAM, CPU, SSD and I really liked the \u0026ldquo;choose for me\u0026rdquo; modules section - which picks the most common ports to add to the laptop. I paid my €100 and got a confirmation email with a waiting time of the end of September 2024.\nDelivery Communication was very good - I got regular emails informing me when shipping would occur. I really liked that they confirmed multiple times the payment card for which the remaining money would charged to. Shipping was by Fedex and came direct from Taiwan to Ireland in about 5 days - which I didn\u0026rsquo;t think was too bad I\u0026rsquo;ve certainly seen longer lead times. It was shipped by the estimated date and again communication was good in flagging a potential delay which fortunately did not come to pass.\nSetup For context, I\u0026rsquo;m well used to building PCs and tinkering with things - so this was not an especially arduous build. The laptop came in a what seemed like many, many boxes but really there was a few key ones: laptop shell which included screen and motherboard. The next most important box was the \u0026ldquo;top case\u0026rdquo; which is keyboard, trackpad and everything you \u0026ldquo;touch\u0026rdquo;. Before attaching the top case you must install your RAM \u0026amp; SSD and then should insert the \u0026ldquo;ports\u0026rdquo; (plug and play modules on the side like USB-C, HDMI etc. depending on what you ordered). After that really it\u0026rsquo;s attaching the top case with it\u0026rsquo;s ribbon cable, installing the bezel (it has magnets and light stickers) and then screwing the top case in.\nThoughts so far I\u0026rsquo;m really enjoying the Framework laptop so far. The ordering, shipping and build process have all been positive. The problem I have is I\u0026rsquo;m very used to Apple Mac laptops (both the Pro line-up and Air line-up) and they really are the gold standard for laptops. The Framework 2K screen is great (I like matte more and more - it\u0026rsquo;s growing on me), the keyboard is reasonably good (on a par I think with Macbooks) but the trackpad is just awful unfortunately. I\u0026rsquo;m trying my best to retrain my brain to tap lightly and not click, but the Apple ones have me spoiled rotten. The battery life is also meh, I\u0026rsquo;ve splurged on a power bank but again this is Apple killing it with outrageously good battery life on M-series chips in their laptops.\nI installed NixOS Linux on it and customised it to run Sway. The only hiccup I had was how to disable secure boot. You can see my config here.\nOverall I would definitely buy again - I think for a Linux or Windows laptop that has an X86 Intel or AMD chip it really is one of the better ones. If you were spoiled by Macs previously - just beware of the trade-offs going in. So far I\u0026rsquo;m really loving the customisability I have in Linux vs MacOS. Using a proper tiling window manager like Sway can definitely be more productive!\n","permalink":"/framework13/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI recently bought a \u003ca href=\"https://frame.work\"\u003eFramework 13\u003c/a\u003e laptop as a personal\nmachine. If you are not aware - Framework makes build-it-yourself laptops. I\nwanted to review different parts of the process and give an overview of how it\u0026rsquo;s\nbeen from ordering to delivery.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Framework 13 AMD"},{"content":"For Christmas as a gift to myself I bought a HomeAssistant Yellow. If you\u0026rsquo;re not familiar with HomeAssistant - it\u0026rsquo;s a one-stop-shop to control all your smart lights, plugs, sensors and anything else in your smart home. HomeAssistant is the software part and as it\u0026rsquo;s open source you can freely install it on any computer you have. In fact many people install HomeAssistant on a Raspberry Pi.\nHomeAssistant Yellow is their own custom hardware with a built in chip for Zigbee (and now Threads) protocol, along with Bluetooth, WiFi and audio out. It takes a Raspberry Pi compute module 4 as its \u0026ldquo;brains\u0026rdquo;. This technically means it should - emphasis on should be upgradeable if a Raspberry Pi compute module 5 that is compatible with CM4 socket is produced.\nFor context - I have been in the Philips Hue lights EcoSystem for years. It was easy to get started with, the app was great and it was renter friendly (just swap some light bulbs) - which suited me at the time. I\u0026rsquo;ve also had Sonos for over a decade now and my very first use of HomeAssistant was in 2019 when I got a network attached storage device, installed Plex and then used Plex status to have \u0026ldquo;movie lights\u0026rdquo; with Hue. So I\u0026rsquo;m not new to smart home tech.\nFirstly the good:\nThe hardware seems well built It\u0026rsquo;s easy to open the hardware cover and access what you need Instructions were good to assemble It can be bought with a power-over-Ethernet option It should in theory be upgradeable Updates to HomeAssistant are frequent and add many new features The software add-ons are great and reliable in my experience Once it\u0026rsquo;s running it\u0026rsquo;s been super reliable The mobile app despite being a web-view is actually pretty good and 99% of screens are mobile friendly Some integrations are a pain (like Alexa) and you can subscribe to let them take that pain for you but to their credit they have a comprehensive guide so you don\u0026rsquo;t need to subscribe Now the not-so-good:\nThe dashboards are just \u0026ldquo;meh\u0026rdquo; and it throws everything at the wall on the default dashboard Some integrations (like Unifi) have forgotten my username/password The automation UI is confusing - they have sought to address this recently but I\u0026rsquo;m not sure I can say it\u0026rsquo;s genuinely improving Developer mode randomly failed on one upgrade but mysteriously came back Some YAML gets unwieldy like the REST API integration if you have many endpoints Bluetooth integration has randomly failed I disabled the built-in Zigbee (ZHA) integration which was easy but I found hooking up Zigbee2MQTT not as straightforward even though it seems to be a common use case The drive I was sold with the HomeAssistant Yellow didn\u0026rsquo;t work so I had to return it to get another - Raspberry Pi CM4 modules have a lot of issues with M.2 SSD drives Overall I would say it\u0026rsquo;s been a positive experience - I have automated more things since it arrived. One example is opening my office door at certain times of day can now turn on and off devices. I would recommend getting one - just be wary of the SSD issue (make sure it\u0026rsquo;s compatible) and make yourself aware of the rough edges of HomeAssistant (dashboards, automation creation UI and if your devices are supported).\nUpdate: Since I had the post in my drafts, HomeAssistant have addressed issues around automation UI - while I don\u0026rsquo;t consider it fully solved - excellent progress has been made. The power of open source!\n","permalink":"/ha-yellow-review/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eFor Christmas as a gift to myself I bought a HomeAssistant Yellow. If you\u0026rsquo;re not\nfamiliar with HomeAssistant - it\u0026rsquo;s a one-stop-shop to control all your smart\nlights, plugs, sensors and anything else in your smart home. HomeAssistant is\nthe software part and as it\u0026rsquo;s open source you can freely install it on any\ncomputer you have. In fact many people install HomeAssistant on a Raspberry Pi.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHomeAssistant Yellow is their own custom hardware with a built in chip for\nZigbee (and now Threads) protocol, along with Bluetooth, WiFi and audio out. It\ntakes a Raspberry Pi compute module 4 as its \u0026ldquo;brains\u0026rdquo;. This technically means it\nshould - emphasis on \u003cem\u003eshould\u003c/em\u003e be upgradeable if a Raspberry Pi compute module 5\nthat is compatible with CM4 socket is produced.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"HomeAssistant Yellow Review"},{"content":"I\u0026rsquo;ve written previously on importing transactions to hledger/ledger from KBC bank in JavaScript and PTSB bank in Python. I took different approaches to each:\nFor KBC, you needed to log in and run Javascript which scrape the transaction table and download it formatted as CSV For PTSB, the script automatted logging in, get the transaction table and save locally as CSV Both approaches are valid - but suffer from the same issues: any change the bank makes to it website needs to be updated in the code. The KBC/JavaScript approach was a bit more robust in that it would just search for rows on a website and download as CSV.\nWith the EU payment services directive (PSD2) - banks have had to add two-factor authentication which hampers using an automated approach to log in and download. I\u0026rsquo;ve updated my original PTSB script to handle 2FA - buit it\u0026rsquo;s taken the magic out of it and made it feel very manual. So I\u0026rsquo;ve decided to change the approach again - just download the Excel transaction file the provide and convert to CSV. It should be much easier to maintain - I just need to be careful of which row transactions start/end and which columns to ignore.\nHere\u0026rsquo;s my latest Python script to convert Permanent TSB Excel file to CSV:\n#!/usr/bin/env python3 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*- import glob import xlrd import csv def read_xls(file, start_row): wb = xlrd.open_workbook(file) sh = wb.sheet_by_index(0) rows = [] for rownum in range(start_row, sh.nrows): li = sh.row_values(rownum) del li[1] del li[-2] rows.append(li) del rows[-1] return rows def write_csv(filename, header, rows): csv_file = open(filename, \u0026#39;w\u0026#39;, encoding=\u0026#39;utf8\u0026#39;) wr = csv.writer(csv_file) wr.writerow(header) for row in rows: wr.writerow(row) def main(): path = \u0026#34;*.xls\u0026#34; start_row=13 rows = read_xls(glob.glob(path)[0], start_row) header = [\u0026#39;Date\u0026#39;, \u0026#39;Desc\u0026#39;, \u0026#39;Amount In\u0026#39;, \u0026#39;Amount Out\u0026#39;, \u0026#39;Balance\u0026#39;] filename = \u0026#39;ptsb.csv\u0026#39; write_csv(filename, header, rows) if __name__ == \u0026#39;__main__\u0026#39;: main() ","permalink":"/bank-xls-csv/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI\u0026rsquo;ve written previously on importing transactions to hledger/\u003ca href=\"/ledger\"\u003eledger\u003c/a\u003e from\n\u003ca href=\"/kbc-tx-js\"\u003eKBC\u003c/a\u003e bank in JavaScript and \u003ca href=\"/bank-tx-py\"\u003ePTSB\u003c/a\u003e bank in Python. I took different\napproaches to each:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFor KBC, you needed to log in and run Javascript which scrape the transaction\ntable and download it formatted as CSV\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFor PTSB, the script automatted logging in, get the transaction table and save\nlocally as CSV\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBoth approaches are valid - but suffer from the same issues: any change the bank\nmakes to it website needs to be updated in the code. The KBC/JavaScript approach\nwas a bit more robust in that it would just search for rows on a website and\ndownload as CSV.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Convert Bank Transactions XLS to CSV in Python"},{"content":"I recently replaced a rusty satellite dish and faulty LNB (it has been in use in the house I moved in to for 10+ years I\u0026rsquo;d guess) and decided to try install one myself. Here in Ireland, the two main broadcast methods of receiving TV are satellite (Freesat / Sky) and terrestrial aerial (Saorview).\nAn issue I have one larger sitting room TV and one small living room TV. I couldn\u0026rsquo;t get both to be Samsung (out of stock on smallest sizes - which seem to be going out of fashion). So both TVs had very different methods of switching between satellite and aerial connections. I\u0026rsquo;m not sure if it is a hardware limitation (they make switching tuners slow to hide this), a licensing issue (broadcasters pay to be on the Freesat EPG for example) or a software issue (seems least likely). The fact multiple TV brands (in my case Phillips/Samsung) make it this clunky - makes me think it\u0026rsquo;s a licensing issue. I wanted to solve this by using an external box and having one mental model for navigating broadcast TV.\nAs I was busy researching the parts I need to fix the satellite - I thought I would look to address the issue of having one set of channels with a 7 day programme guide for Saorview and Freesat. I came across a thread on Boards.ie suggesting a Linux-based reciever box that is made in China: the Zgemma H7S. The specs on this reciever are good: 4K resolution, 2 Satellite Tuners and one terrestrial/cable tuner. Having two tuners of the same type is key here: it allows you to record and watch any channel at the same time. The operating system being Linux and that by nature being very easy to modify are a bonus ! Also you have a choice of which distribution you want to use (I got OpenViX pre-installed on mine) which leads to lots of choices in plugins and skins (how you want it to look).\nOne excellent feature is the ability to stream from this box, and use OpenWebif to configure the \u0026ldquo;bouquets\u0026rdquo; (groups of channels like News/Sport etc) or simply change the channels from your phone with the excellent tellymote. It can grab the bouquets from Sky/Freesat and the interface is very similar to Sky. It\u0026rsquo;s definitely not as seamless - you need to configure some plugins to update the 7-day Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) for example and every so often channels do move and rename themselves (so you should edit them in OpenWebIf to change/remove them from EPG). But overall I\u0026rsquo;m very happy with this solution!\n","permalink":"/linux-freesat-saorview/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI recently replaced a rusty satellite dish and faulty LNB (it has been in use in\nthe house I moved in to for 10+ years I\u0026rsquo;d guess) and decided to try install one\nmyself. Here in Ireland, the two main broadcast methods of receiving TV are\nsatellite (\u003ca href=\"https://www.freesat.co.uk/\"\u003eFreesat\u003c/a\u003e / \u003ca href=\"https://www.sky.com/ie/\"\u003eSky\u003c/a\u003e) and terrestrial aerial (\u003ca href=\"https://www.saorview.ie/\"\u003eSaorview\u003c/a\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn issue I have one larger sitting room TV and one small living room TV. I\ncouldn\u0026rsquo;t get both to be Samsung (out of stock on smallest sizes - which seem to\nbe going out of fashion). So both TVs had very different methods of switching\nbetween satellite and aerial connections. I\u0026rsquo;m not sure if it is a hardware\nlimitation (they make switching tuners slow to hide this), a licensing issue\n(broadcasters pay to be on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.freesat.co.uk/\"\u003eFreesat\u003c/a\u003e EPG for example) or a software issue\n(seems least likely). The fact multiple TV brands (in my case Phillips/Samsung)\nmake it this clunky - makes me think it\u0026rsquo;s a licensing issue. I wanted to solve\nthis by using an external box and having one mental model for navigating\nbroadcast TV.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Linux, Freesat and Saorview"},{"content":" Update 2023: these instructions are out-of-date for the latest Unifi controller software versions. It\u0026#39;s preserved here as written for those who still have older versions. This post uses a file called gateway.config.json and Unifi now say:\nThis article is not applicable to the UniFi Dream Machine models, because all configurations are already available in the UniFi Network user interface.\nSo I take that to mean use of this file is deprecated and it should be possible to do this via the administration webpage.\nChange network settings on Unifi controller Change network settings on Unifi controller Set the IGMP Proxy up Persist the IGMP Settings on Cloud Key What if it doesn\u0026#39;t work? Further to getting my Unifi gear last year, I\u0026#39;ve started to organise the virtual local area networks (VLANs) to increase security. I\u0026#39;ve created a separate guest wifi network and a separate internet of things (IoT) network. One issue you\u0026#39;ll run in to is that a lot of modern devices work by broadcasting their presence on the network and that doesn\u0026#39;t work well normally across VLANs. None more so than Sonos, the home wireless speaker solution. Fortunately through trial and error with the help of Ubiquiti Forums - I\u0026#39;ve found a way to make it work.\nFirst we need to switch off optimise network in settings:\nThen in our network settings turn on IGMP snooping:\nSet the IGMP Proxy up Then we need to set up IGMP proxy on our Ubiquiti Security Gateway (USG). Log in (password you can check on Cloud Key, 192.168.1.1 should be your USG\u0026#39;s IP address):\n$ ssh admin@192.168.1.1 Then on the USG console, we\u0026#39;ll set upstream (our network with sonos controllers [for ex. iPhone, not on VLAN for me]) and downstream for the network with the Sonos hardware (for me VLAN 20 Play:1, Play:3 etc. etc.).\n$ configure $ edit protocols igmp-proxy $ set interface eth1 role upstream $ set interface eth1 threshold 1 $ set interface eth1.20 role downstream $ set interface eth1.20 threshold 1 The configuration can now be show with (also enter these commands on USG):\n$ show and should look like this (obviously 20 VLAN should reflect which VLAN your speakers are in!):\ninterface eth1 { role upstream threshold 1 } interface eth1.20 { role downstream threshold 1 } If that\u0026#39;s all OK we should save and commit (which will restart the IGMP proxy):\n$ commit;save;exit Persist the IGMP Settings on Cloud Key Then we can test our controllers work and can contact the speakers. If that works great! But now we need to add the configuration to our Cloud Key, since the next time the Unifi Security Gateway is provisioned, our configuration will be erased. Also, there is currently no graphical options for IGMP proxy on the Cloud Key, so we\u0026#39;ll need to use a custom config.gateway.json. We can dump our current configuration on our USG:\n$ mca-ctrl -t dump-cfg \u0026gt; config.gateway.json then we need to edit it using vim to only contain our igmp section:\n$ vim config.gateway.json $ # Remove all the config except our IGMP proxy it should look like this, after you\u0026#39;ve finished editing it:\n{ \u0026#34;protocols\u0026#34;: { \u0026#34;igmp-proxy\u0026#34;: { \u0026#34;interface\u0026#34;: { \u0026#34;eth1\u0026#34;: { \u0026#34;role\u0026#34;: \u0026#34;upstream\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;threshold\u0026#34;: \u0026#34;1\u0026#34; }, \u0026#34;eth1.20\u0026#34;: { \u0026#34;role\u0026#34;: \u0026#34;downstream\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;threshold\u0026#34;: \u0026#34;1\u0026#34; } } } } } if unsure, use https://jsonlint.com to double check syntax:\n$ cat config.gateway.json $ # Copy nand paste in to JSONlint to check Once we are happy our configuration is valid, let\u0026#39;s copy it to our Cloud Key (replace 192.168.1.2 with your Cloud Key\u0026#39;s IP address, password is your unifi account password with root user, check the unifi config path):\n$ scp config.gateway.json root@192.168.1.2:/usr/lib/unifi/data/sites/default/config.gateway.json Then run a force provision on the USG from the Cloud Key web interface and then check the config remains intact (replace 192.168.1.1 with your USG\u0026#39;s IP address):\n$ ssh admin@192.168.1.1 $ configure $ edit protocols igmp-proxy $ show and should again look like this:\ninterface eth1 { role upstream threshold 1 } interface eth1.20 { role downstream threshold 1 } Congratulations! It works! Next step is to enable firewall rules to drop traffic you don\u0026#39;t want crossing the VLANs to make them more secure. Check Sonos ports for examples on what to allow.\nWhat if it doesn\u0026#39;t work? If it\u0026#39;s not working, try these steps:\nCheck IP addresses of Sonos products (have they taken IP addresses in new VLAN?) Log on to the Cloud Key and try restart the IGMP proxy (forum reports of it crashing frequently on some people)\n$ ssh admin@192.168.1.1 $ configure $ edit protocols igmp-proxy $ show Try add a firewall rule (LAN IN) on the Cloud Key (which will provision to USG) to block all traffic from your VLAN to the other LAN/VLAN and turn logging on, can then check logs to see what traffic is allowed or denied on the USG:\n$ ssh admin@192.168.1.1 $ cat /var/log/messages | grep LAN_IN- this gives an idea of what device is trying to talk to what on what port.\n","permalink":"/ubnt-sonos/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eUpdate 2023\u003c/strong\u003e: \u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003ethese instructions are \u003cstrong\u003eout-of-date\u003c/strong\u003e for the latest Unifi controller software versions\u003c/span\u003e. It\u0026#39;s preserved here as written for those who still have older versions. This post uses a file called \u003ccode class=\"verbatim\"\u003egateway.config.json\u003c/code\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/215458888-UniFi-USG-Advanced-Configuration-Using-config-gateway-json\"\u003eUnifi now say\u003c/a\u003e:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis article is not applicable to the UniFi Dream Machine models, because all configurations are already available in the UniFi Network user interface.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nSo I take that to mean use of this file is deprecated and it should be possible to do this via the administration webpage.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Ubiquiti Unifi with Sonos on a separate VLAN"},{"content":"Ubuntu have recently released the new 20.04 LTS codenamed \u0026ldquo;Focal Fossa\u0026rdquo;. I\u0026rsquo;d also recently seen a tool that piqued my interest, Hashicorp Packer. Packer builds machine images that can be deployed to a cloud or as a virtual machine, or just even a plain disk image. You can even generate many images at once, really simplfying deployment. Very handy if you wanted to create virtual machines for a cluster for example, with a similar but slightly different configuration.\nI decided to take Packer for a spin and try create a virtual machine image for Virtualbox/Vagrant that can easily be spun up for any project. Firstly you\u0026rsquo;ll need to install Virtualbox and then Vagrant on your machine. Next install Packer.\nThen create directories:\n$ mkdir ubuntu ubuntu/http ubuntu/output ubuntu/scripts $ cd ubuntu http will hold our configuration files for Ubuntu, output will store our disk image we build and scripts will hold any scripts we want to run.\nUbuntu 20.04 has a new way to automate installs (they used to use debian preseed files) - they now use a yaml file (also see their handy quickstart on which I based the below file), so we\u0026rsquo;ll need to create it:\n$ cat \u0026gt; http/user-data \u0026lt;\u0026lt; \u0026#39;EOF\u0026#39; #cloud-config autoinstall: version: 1 locale: en_US keyboard: layout: en variant: uk identity: hostname: vagrant password: \u0026#39;$2y$12$zfS.Dpm682guriw6fJ5PXu4Kv7GSs7VYHUPGphQdSnT0wb4Rt1tVS\u0026#39; username: vagrant ssh: install-server: true EOF $ touch http/meta-data As you can see, we set a hostname, username, password - all the normal things you would need to set up. We should now have two files - http/user-data containing our setup information and also http/meta-data.\nNext, we should set up our script(s) - we\u0026rsquo;ll setup just one for now:\n$ cat \u0026gt; scripts/init.sh \u0026lt;\u0026lt; \u0026#39;EOF\u0026#39; #!/bin/bash sudo apt update sudo apt upgrade -y EOF Finally, we should set up our Packer configuration file (config options for virtualbox explained here and for vagrant options):\n{% raw %} $ cat \u0026gt; ubuntu2004.json \u0026lt;\u0026lt; \u0026#39;EOF\u0026#39; { \u0026#34;builders\u0026#34;: [ { \u0026#34;name\u0026#34;: \u0026#34;ubuntu-2004\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;type\u0026#34;: \u0026#34;virtualbox-iso\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;guest_os_type\u0026#34;: \u0026#34;ubuntu-64\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;headless\u0026#34;: false, \u0026#34;iso_url\u0026#34;: \u0026#34;http://releases.ubuntu.com/20.04/ubuntu-20.04-live-server-amd64.iso\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;iso_checksum\u0026#34;: \u0026#34;caf3fd69c77c439f162e2ba6040e9c320c4ff0d69aad1340a514319a9264df9f\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;iso_checksum_type\u0026#34;: \u0026#34;sha256\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;ssh_username\u0026#34;: \u0026#34;vagrant\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;ssh_password\u0026#34;: \u0026#34;vagrant\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;ssh_handshake_attempts\u0026#34;: \u0026#34;20\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;http_directory\u0026#34;: \u0026#34;http\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;memory\u0026#34;: 1024, \u0026#34;boot_wait\u0026#34;: \u0026#34;5s\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;boot_command\u0026#34;: [ \u0026#34;\u0026lt;enter\u0026gt;\u0026lt;enter\u0026gt;\u0026lt;f6\u0026gt;\u0026lt;esc\u0026gt;\u0026lt;wait\u0026gt; \u0026#34;, \u0026#34;autoinstall ds=nocloud-net;s=http://{{ .HTTPIP }}:{{ .HTTPPort }}/\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;\u0026lt;enter\u0026gt;\u0026#34; ], \u0026#34;shutdown_command\u0026#34;: \u0026#34;echo \u0026#39;vagrant\u0026#39;|sudo -S shutdown -P now\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;guest_additions_path\u0026#34;: \u0026#34;VBoxGuestAdditions_{{.Version}}.iso\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;virtualbox_version_file\u0026#34;: \u0026#34;.vbox_version\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;vm_name\u0026#34;: \u0026#34;packer-ubuntu-20.04-amd64\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;vboxmanage\u0026#34;: [ [ \u0026#34;modifyvm\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;{{.Name}}\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;--memory\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;1024\u0026#34; ], [ \u0026#34;modifyvm\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;{{.Name}}\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;--cpus\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;1\u0026#34; ] ] } ], \u0026#34;provisioners\u0026#34;: [ { \u0026#34;type\u0026#34;: \u0026#34;shell\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;script\u0026#34;: \u0026#34;scripts/init.sh\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;execute_command\u0026#34;: \u0026#34;echo \u0026#39;vagrant\u0026#39; | {{.Vars}} sudo -S -E bash \u0026#39;{{.Path}}\u0026#39;\u0026#34; }, { \u0026#34;type\u0026#34;: \u0026#34;shell\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;script\u0026#34;: \u0026#34;scripts/cleanup.sh\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;execute_command\u0026#34;: \u0026#34;echo \u0026#39;vagrant\u0026#39; | {{.Vars}} sudo -S -E bash \u0026#39;{{.Path}}\u0026#39;\u0026#34; } ], \u0026#34;post-processors\u0026#34;: [{ \u0026#34;type\u0026#34;: \u0026#34;vagrant\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;compression_level\u0026#34;: \u0026#34;8\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;output\u0026#34;: \u0026#34;output/ubuntu-20.04.box\u0026#34; }] } EOF {% endraw %} Then we can build the image:\n$ packer build ubuntu2004.json And add it to Vagrant:\n$ vagrant box add --name ubuntu20.04 output/ubuntu-20.04.box Finally, in any other directory, we can create a Vagrantfile:\n$ cat \u0026gt; Vagrantfile \u0026lt;\u0026lt; \u0026#39;EOF\u0026#39; # -*- mode: ruby -*- # vi: set ft=ruby : Vagrant.configure(\u0026#34;2\u0026#34;) do |config| config.vm.box = \u0026#34;ubuntu20.04\u0026#34; config.ssh.password = \u0026#34;vagrant\u0026#34; config.vm.network \u0026#34;forwarded_port\u0026#34;, guest: 80, host: 8080 config.vm.provider \u0026#34;virtualbox\u0026#34; do |vb| # Display the VirtualBox GUI when booting the machine vb.gui = false end end EOF Then lastly, all we need to do:\n$ vagrant up \u0026amp;\u0026amp; vagrant ssh You should now be in your very own configured machine!\nYou can also reference my repository if you get stuck, it has configuration for Ubuntu 18.04 also.\n","permalink":"/vagrant-ubuntu-fossa/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eUbuntu have recently released the new \u003ca href=\"http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/releases/focal/release/\"\u003e20.04 LTS codenamed \u0026ldquo;Focal\nFossa\u0026rdquo;\u003c/a\u003e. I\u0026rsquo;d also recently seen a tool that piqued my interest, Hashicorp\n\u003ca href=\"https://packer.io\"\u003ePacker\u003c/a\u003e. Packer builds machine images that can be deployed to a cloud or as a\nvirtual machine, or just even a plain disk image. You can even generate many\nimages at once, really simplfying deployment. Very handy if you wanted to create\nvirtual machines for a cluster for example, with a similar but slightly\ndifferent configuration.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Ubuntu 20.04 Vagrant with Packer"},{"content":"Over the summer, I upgraded my home network to Ubiquiti gear. Ubiquiti do business Wifi, all the way up to covering stadiums. I first heard about them from Troy Hunt and then again from Marco Arment on Accidental Tech Podcast. Ubiquiti are popular in prosumer space - for people serious about good Wifi.\nSo far it\u0026rsquo;s been an excellent experience and I\u0026rsquo;d highly recommend it. After setting it up (there is a few moving pieces) it has been running without any intervention from me. Being a professional product, it\u0026rsquo;s not just a home router (with inbuilt wifi), there is a few more pieces you need to buy:\nGateway - this connects to your home router, and serves as an access point (approx. €120) Switch - this is to distribute the internet from the gateway to all other devices (approx. €105) [plugs in to Gateway] Cloud Key - this is the management \u0026lsquo;computer\u0026rsquo; that gives you a web control panel to control all the Ubiquiti gear (approx. €85) [plugs in to Switch] Wireless Access point - this is the \u0026lsquo;Antenna\u0026rsquo; which actually gives you wifi (approx. €90) [plugs in to Switch] Basic connection diagram would be like this:\nYour ISP Modem ∧ | ∨ Gateway ∧ | ∨ Switch \u0026lt;-\u0026gt; Cloud Key ∧ | | |-\u0026gt; Any other Wired Devices ∨ Access Point ∧ | ∨ Your Wifi Devices This is the basic Ubiquiti setup, you need to purchase at least 4 devices to give you Wifi. So at this point, you may think it\u0026rsquo;s all expensive and you\u0026rsquo;d be right. For the 4 devices, you are looking at at least €400 outlay - which is much more expensive then even the high-end Wifi routers from Netgear etc.\nThe big advantage is: expandability and ease of control. The Ubiquiti dashboard is highly configurable, you can search for Wifi channels which the neighbours aren\u0026rsquo;t using. Also, if you have dead spots in your house, no problem, just buy another Wireless Access Point and plug it in: job done!\nAnother big advantage for me, if I change internet service provider, I just plug a new modem in to my gateway. Nothing changes (like IP addresses) for my local devices. Also, you could configure Ubiquiti gateway to have two connections (like cable modem and 4G modem connected) and load balance or fail-over between them - but I haven\u0026rsquo;t gone that crazy (yet!). Also, if a new standard of Wifi comes? Just pop on another access point.\nOverall I\u0026rsquo;m very happy with the setup. It feels like an investment that you get payback over time on, so I\u0026rsquo;m looking forward to being able to manage my network much easier and incrementally upgrade over time with much less hassle.\n","permalink":"/ubnt/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eOver the summer, I upgraded my home network to Ubiquiti gear. Ubiquiti do\nbusiness Wifi, all the way up to covering stadiums. I first heard about them\nfrom \u003ca href=\"https://www.troyhunt.com/ubiquiti-all-the-things-how-i-finally-fixed-my-dodgy-wifi/\"\u003eTroy Hunt\u003c/a\u003e and then again from \u003ca href=\"https://marco.org\"\u003eMarco Arment\u003c/a\u003e on \u003ca href=\"https://atp.fm\"\u003eAccidental\nTech Podcast\u003c/a\u003e. Ubiquiti are popular in prosumer space - for people serious\nabout good \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi\"\u003eWifi\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo far it\u0026rsquo;s been an excellent experience and I\u0026rsquo;d highly recommend it. After\nsetting it up (there is a few moving pieces) it has been running without any\nintervention from me. Being a professional product, it\u0026rsquo;s not just a home router\n(with inbuilt wifi), there is a few more pieces you need to buy:\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Ubiquiti Home Network"},{"content":"In a previous post, I mentioned importing transactions using ledger/hledger and plain text accounting. As my former bank PTSB recently raised their fees, I decided to move to KBC. I was excited to see, as part of the open payments directive, they have a nice developer portal. I reached out to KBC\u0026rsquo;s dev team, but alas they are only accepting registered companies, who meet stringent criteria. They told me they hope to open it up soon to end users, I live in hope!\nAnother piece of bad news is that KBC online banking has no way to download transactions! Also I couldn\u0026rsquo;t re-use my previous python script as KBC make heavy use of two-factor authentication, meaning I\u0026rsquo;d have to enter a code anyway. Plus I could rework the script, only to get access to the proper API and have to do it again. So I decided to log in to KBC manually, then use a Javascript bookmarklet to downloacd the transactions from the table.\nHere\u0026rsquo;s the bookmarklet:\njavascript: (function () { function downloadCSV(csv, filename) { let csvFile let downloadLink csvFile = new Blob([csv], {type: \u0026#39;text/csv\u0026#39;}) downloadLink = document.createElement(\u0026#39;a\u0026#39;) downloadLink.download = filename downloadLink.href = window.URL.createObjectURL(csvFile) downloadLink.style.display = \u0026#39;none\u0026#39; document.body.appendChild(downloadLink) downloadLink.click() } function exportTableToCSV(filename) { let csv = [] let rows = document.querySelectorAll(\u0026#39;.table-transactions tr\u0026#39;) for (var i = 0; i \u0026lt; rows.length; i += 1) { let row = [], cols = rows[i].querySelectorAll(\u0026#39;td, th\u0026#39;) for (var j = 0; j \u0026lt; cols.length; j += 1) { let txt = cols[j].innerText txt = txt.replace(\u0026#39;-\u0026#39;, \u0026#39;\u0026#39;) txt = txt.replace(\u0026#39;,\u0026#39;, \u0026#39;\u0026#39;) row.push(txt) } csv.push(row.join(\u0026#39;,\u0026#39;)) } downloadCSV(csv.join(\u0026#39;\\n\u0026#39;), filename) } exportTableToCSV(\u0026#39;kbc.csv\u0026#39;) })() Simply add a new bookmark to your broswer, past the code above for the URL, then log in to KBC online banking and click your bookmark. It\u0026rsquo;s still a bit rough around the edges (I didn\u0026rsquo;t cater for the pagination, so it only dumps one page of transactions). But I can now get a CSV copy of the transactions, and I keep my ledger file happy (for now)!\n","permalink":"/kbc-tx-js/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eIn a previous post, I mentioned \u003ca href=\"/bank-tx-py\"\u003eimporting transactions\u003c/a\u003e using\n\u003ca href=\"/ledger\"\u003eledger\u003c/a\u003e/\u003ca href=\"https://hledger.org/\"\u003ehledger\u003c/a\u003e and plain text accounting. As my former bank \u003ca href=\"https://www.permanenttsb.ie/\"\u003ePTSB\u003c/a\u003e\nrecently raised their fees, I decided to move to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kbc.ie/\"\u003eKBC\u003c/a\u003e. I was excited to see,\nas part of the open payments directive, they have a nice \u003ca href=\"https://www.kbc.ie/psd2-developer-portal/home\"\u003edeveloper\nportal\u003c/a\u003e. I reached out to KBC\u0026rsquo;s dev team, but alas they are only accepting\nregistered companies, who meet stringent criteria. They told me they hope to\nopen it up soon to end users, I live in hope!\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Scraping Transaction Data from KBC Bank"},{"content":"I recently started using PiHole to block ads on my home network. As the name suggests, you install it on a raspberry pi. I left it in situ for about a month, until I decided I wanted to swap out the pi, but keep PiHole.\nThe natural solution to this, is to use a docker container. Rather helpfully, there is a publicly available docker build of PiHole. Simple, right? Well my home network is also IPv6, thus the DNS on the raspberrypi should be also. The problem is, Docker has support for IPv6, but it\u0026rsquo;s not very straightforward with Docker Compose.\nAfter a lot of fiddling about, I finally managed it. As per the Docker IPv6 documentation, on Linux (I used Ubuntu Server) you need to add a configuration file to enable IPv6, at /etc/docker/daemon.json:\n{ \u0026#34;ipv6\u0026#34;: true, \u0026#34;fixed-cidr-v6\u0026#34;: \u0026#34;2001:db8:1::/64\u0026#34; } Then you need to restart Docker daemon:\n$ sudo systemctl restart docker\nthat will allow the new daemon.json file to take effect.\nAfter this, I had an existing setup with Plex and other things already controlled by docker-compose. The solution here is to kill all your containers and recreate the compose network by hand with IPv6 subnet:\n$ cd \u0026lt;my_compose_dir\u0026gt; $ docker network ls # name of compose network should have directory name in it $ docker network inspect \u0026lt;compose_net_name\u0026gt; # Make note of exisiting IPv4 Subnet/Gateway $ docker-compose kill # Kill all your existing containers $ docker network prune # Remove/Prune the network (as no more containers are attached) $ docker network create --subnet=172.18.0.0/16 --gateway=172.18.0.1 --ipv6 --subnet=2001:db8:2::/64 \u0026lt;compose_net_name\u0026gt; and lastly for the piece de resistance, let\u0026rsquo;s bring up our compose containers:\n$ docker-compose up -d\nnow we can also verify we get IPv6 working internally (see this helpful post here):\n$ docker run -itd ajeetraina/ubuntu-iproute bash # Start first container $ docker run -itd ajeetraina/centos-iproute bash # Start second container (new terminal) In both containers you can run:\n$ ifconfig eth0\nwhich will show you the IPv6 address of each. Then from either container, you can ping the other with:\n$ ping6 \u0026lt;ipv6_address\u0026gt;\nand it all should work nicely!\n","permalink":"/docker-compose-ipv6/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI recently started using \u003ca href=\"https://pi-hole.net/\"\u003ePiHole\u003c/a\u003e to block ads on my home network. As the name\nsuggests, you install it on a \u003ca href=\"https://raspberrypi.org/\"\u003eraspberry pi\u003c/a\u003e. I left it in situ for about a month,\nuntil I decided I wanted to swap out the pi, but keep PiHole.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe natural solution to this, is to use a docker container. Rather helpfully,\nthere is a publicly available \u003ca href=\"https://github.com/pi-hole/docker-pi-hole\"\u003edocker build of PiHole\u003c/a\u003e. Simple,\nright? Well my home network is also IPv6, thus the \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_Name_System\"\u003eDNS\u003c/a\u003e on the raspberrypi\nshould be also. The problem is, \u003ca href=\"https://docs.docker.com/v17.09/engine/userguide/networking/default_network/ipv6/\"\u003eDocker has support for IPv6\u003c/a\u003e, but it\u0026rsquo;s\nnot very straightforward with \u003ca href=\"https://docs.docker.com/compose/\"\u003eDocker Compose\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Using IPv6 with Docker Compose on Ubuntu Server"},{"content":" Since hearing about org-mode on the web many years ago, I always meant to give it a spin. I only ever found one two problems:\nTime - Life eh? It\u0026#39;s a mode of Emacs for which I\u0026#39;d also have to learn (again time) So I recently set about solving both shortcomings, as painful as it was to dismiss all the effort I put in to my vim muscle memory over the years. The tough part usually is finding good documentation that is both easy to read and follow.\nSo what is org-mode? To put it simply, Org-mode is an editing mode of Emacs, which allows you to write plain text TODO lists. But it is also a lot more. You can:\nUse plain text tables Run snippets of code (and edit them in their own file with proper formatting) Use plain text spreadsheets Export to many, many formats (Latex, PDF, HTML) or a custom format Agenda mode for many ways to look at your TODOs This all sounds complicated, but the beautiful thing about org-mode is that it gradually reveals the features it has. You can only ever write a simple list like this if you want:\n* My First org mode outline ** TODO Must read the org manual and that\u0026#39;s it. Really. You don\u0026#39;t need to use any of the other features if you don\u0026#39;t want to. This is also a reason that it was a joy to learn: it never pushes unnecessary complication on the user. I wish I could say the same for Emacs! Although to be fair, Emacs is probably easier then Vim to get started in.\n## Combining Emacs + Org: Literate Programming\nSo this was the fun part: how can I combine learning Emacs and Org? It turns out, I can create my whole Emacs configuration file in org-mode, and it will convert it Emacs Lisp. This is brilliant because in org-mode, we can annotate and explain everything. Take a look at this:\n* Packages Let\u0026#39;s fetch Emacs packages from the Melpa mirror: #+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp (add-to-list \u0026#39;package-archives \u0026#39;(\u0026#34;melpa\u0026#34; . \u0026#34;https://melpa.org/packages/\u0026#34;)) #+END_SRC This is fully self documented code (some argue Lisp is this by nature also). This is nicely rendered on Github, see these two examples to see what I mean. The pertinent advice here is: start with a minimal configuration and only ever add things you understand. I followed exactly this advice, and those two files were brilliant references. I would find an annoyance in Emacs, and one of those two org files would have something in Emacs to fix customise the issue I had.\nIf you would like to see more, my dotfiles (with my Emacs config are available also.\n","permalink":"/org-mode/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\nSince hearing about \u003ca href=\"https://orgmode.org\"\u003eorg-mode\u003c/a\u003e on the web many years ago, I always meant to give it a spin. I only ever found \u003cdel\u003eone\u003c/del\u003e two problems:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTime - Life eh?\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIt\u0026#39;s a mode of \u003ca href=\"https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/\"\u003eEmacs\u003c/a\u003e for which I\u0026#39;d also have to learn (again time)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo I recently set about solving both shortcomings, as painful as it was to dismiss all the effort I put in to my \u003ca href=\"https://www.vim.org\"\u003evim\u003c/a\u003e \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle_memory\"\u003emuscle memory\u003c/a\u003e over the years. The tough part usually is finding good documentation that is both easy to read and follow.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Learning Org Mode"},{"content":"Over the last while I\u0026rsquo;ve been collecting wonderful podcast episodes from the hundreds of hours I\u0026rsquo;ve listened to. I\u0026rsquo;ve even workshopped some of my favourites with colleagues and friends (they all approve!). Luckily a neat service called HuffDuffer allows you to create a personalised feed from episodes spanning any podcast you see fit. All you need is a direct link to the MP3 or indeed any format audio file.\nSo here it is, my favourite episodes spanning many podcasts. Mostly I love good stories, with unexpected twists. I suppose you could simplify that to \u0026ldquo;Surprise and Delight\u0026rdquo;. Be prepared to be entertained, surprised and delighted\u0026hellip;\nRSS Subscribe in Podcasts app Subscribe in Overcast Subscribe in Downcast Subscribe in Instacast Subscribe in another app ","permalink":"/fave-podcasts/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eOver the last while I\u0026rsquo;ve been collecting wonderful podcast episodes from the\nhundreds of hours I\u0026rsquo;ve listened to. I\u0026rsquo;ve even workshopped some of my favourites\nwith colleagues and friends (they all approve!). Luckily a neat service called\n\u003ca href=\"https://huffduffer.com/\"\u003eHuffDuffer\u003c/a\u003e allows you to create a personalised feed\nfrom episodes spanning any podcast you see fit. All you need is a direct link to\nthe MP3 or indeed any format audio file.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo here it is, my favourite episodes spanning many podcasts. Mostly I love good\nstories, with unexpected twists. I suppose you could simplify that to \u0026ldquo;Surprise\nand Delight\u0026rdquo;. Be prepared to be entertained, surprised and delighted\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Favourite Podcasts"},{"content":" In Python, BytesIO is the way to store binary data in memory. Most examples you’ll see using zip files in memory is to store string data and indeed the most common example you’ll find online from the zipfile module is zipfile.writestr(file_name, \u0026#34;Text Data\u0026#34;). But what if you want to store binary data of a PDF or Excel Spreadsheet that’s also in memory? You could use zipfile.write() (designed to take binary data) but then you can’t specify a filename (since our in-memory file was never written to a location on disk). The reason for this is simple: for a web request or for a test case, you shouldn’t need to store any files on disk.\nAfter a bit of experimentation, I finally was able to get in-memory binary files written to an in-memory zip file:\nfrom io import BytesIO import zipfile def generate_zip(files): mem_zip = BytesIO() with zipfile.ZipFile(mem_zip, mode=\u0026#34;w\u0026#34;,compression=zipfile.ZIP_DEFLATED) as zf: for f in files: zf.writestr(f[0], f[1]) return mem_zip.getvalue() def generate_pdf(): from reportlab.pdfgen.canvas import Canvas from reportlab.lib.pagesizes import A4 buffer = BytesIO() canvas = Canvas(buffer, pagesize=A4) textobject = canvas.beginText(1.5 * cm, -2.5 * cm) textobject.textLine(\u0026#34;Hello, world!\u0026#34;) canvas.saveState() canvas.save() pdf = buffer.getvalue() buffer.close() return pdf def main(): file_names = [\u0026#34;test1.pdf\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;test2.pdf\u0026#34;] files = [] for f in file_names: pdf = generate_pdf() # your file generation method goes here files.append((f, pdf)) full_zip_in_memory = generate_zip(files) if __name__ == \u0026#34;__main__\u0026#34;: main() ","permalink":"/py-bin-zip/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\nIn Python, \u003ca href=\"https://docs.python.org/3/library/io.html#io.BytesIO\"\u003eBytesIO\u003c/a\u003e is the way to store binary data in memory. Most examples you’ll see using zip files in memory is to store string data and indeed the most common example you’ll find online from the \u003ca href=\"https://docs.python.org/3/library/zipfile.html\"\u003ezipfile\u003c/a\u003e module is \u003ccode\u003ezipfile.writestr(file_name, \u0026#34;Text Data\u0026#34;)\u003c/code\u003e. But what if you want to store binary data of a PDF or Excel Spreadsheet that’s also in memory?  You could use \u003ccode\u003ezipfile.write()\u003c/code\u003e (designed to take binary data) but then you can’t specify a filename (since our in-memory file was never written to a location on disk). The reason for this is simple: for a web request or for a test case, you shouldn’t need to store any files on disk.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Python 3 In-Memory Zip File"},{"content":"Over the last month or so, I’ve come to embrace my home server setup and how powerful it can be. Here I have this small little Intel NUC Server, for which I promised myself I would do lots of cool and interesting things with.\nThe first thing I’ve hosted is Plex. I’ve used Docker Compose to bring up a Plex Docker container, with:\nFilebot (to tag video files) Beets (to tag audio files) Transmission (to download files) Webhook (receives incoming web requests) The way it works is this:\nFrom my phone or tablet, I send a web request to webhook container with details of the download (using Workflow) Webhook then calls Transmission, and Transmission starts downloading When the download is finished, it is put in a folder so either Beets or Filebot can access it. They then tag the download and move it to the correct folder for Plex. I get sent a notification and I’ll manually update the Plex library. (File system notifications are a bit funny with docker ) This system has worked well over the past year and a bit. So well, I’m actively researching other things I could self host. Over the last week, I’ve added three more services:\nMiniflux (hosts RSS, like the old Google Reader) Wallabag (hosts a Read-It-Later service like Instapaper / Pocket) Apache Guacamole (lets you remotely access a computer via SSH / RDP / VNC ) To complement these, I’ve added a nginx reverse proxy. This means I only need two ports, 80 (normal http) \u0026amp; 443 (secure https by letsencrypt) open and I can access different services by using the hostname. So my Miniflux container will be at rss.example.com, whereas my Transmission container will be at trans.example.com. Nice and easy to remember!\nI’m still actively researching other cool things to host. my biggest problem is backing it all up. At the moment I’m just keeping everything in a private git repository - which isn’t the most desirable backup strategy. Other things which I’ve thought of:\nE-mail (this is more difficult to host, as ISPs block this and it’s very easy to end up on blacklists) IRC bouncer (I had one before, didn’t use it too much) Databases (I’ve started using TapForms and one of the backends for sync can be Apache CouchDB) If you’ve got any suggestions, hit me up on Twitter, I’m @dueyfinster\n","permalink":"/self-host/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eOver the last month or so, I’ve come to embrace my home server setup and how\npowerful it can be. Here I have this small little\n\u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_Unit_of_Computing\"\u003eIntel NUC Server\u003c/a\u003e, for\nwhich I promised myself I would do lots of cool and interesting things with.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe first thing I’ve hosted is \u003ca href=\"https://www.plex.tv\"\u003ePlex\u003c/a\u003e. I’ve used\n\u003ca href=\"https://docs.docker.com/compose/\"\u003eDocker Compose\u003c/a\u003e to bring up a Plex Docker\ncontainer, with:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.filebot.net/\"\u003eFilebot\u003c/a\u003e (to tag video files)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://beets.io/\"\u003eBeets\u003c/a\u003e (to tag audio files)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://transmissionbt.com/\"\u003eTransmission\u003c/a\u003e (to download files)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://hub.docker.com/r/almir/webhook/\"\u003eWebhook\u003c/a\u003e (receives incoming web\nrequests)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe way it works is this:\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The year of self hosting"},{"content":"As part of my previous posts, I talked about ledger and plain text accounting. The only part missing is that you need a method to import transactions from your bank. For this I have been doing this by hand, bi-weekly. I would have to do the following:\nLog in to online banking Go to the transactions page Select the date range for transactions I needed (double check last date of transaction in ledger at this point) Download the Microsoft Excel format file that wasn\u0026rsquo;t in the proper format Convert this Excel file into a CSV file that matched my import format (watch the dates, is it YYYY-MM-DD or DD/MM/YYYY?) Finally import the CSV file into ledger Check the balance matches between my online banking and ledger Sounds like a lot of work right?\nThat\u0026rsquo;s when I decided to write a script to do this (well, some of it) automatically. I decided to use Python to refresh my skills and then decided I\u0026rsquo;d try to use only my iPad Pro to write the code. This made it harder, due to the limited selection of inbuilt modules in Pythonista app. I researched using modules that I could install via pip, but a lot of these just simply won\u0026rsquo;t work on iOS, as they expect Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox (ie. they are Selenium based). I decided to use the excellent requests library and Beautiful Soup python modules.\nThis creates a bit of extra work, since we can\u0026rsquo;t execute any Javascript on any of the pages. So I first got the contents of my banks login page, and dumped the html to see the:\nnames on the form fields the endpoint (submit action on form) where data is sent I then created a payload myself, with the data as the browser would send it. Then I got requests to post this data to the correct endpoint (just like a browser does). At first this didn\u0026rsquo;t work, and then I remembered that it could have a CSRF token. When I checked the HTML source, sure enough it did, so I created a function to strip this out and I also sent this with the data. Success! I got to the second login page\u0026hellip;\nAfter this was my pin code, but the bank only asks for digits. I simply put my pin in an array and scraped the digits needed, all minused by 1 (since arrays are 0-indexed). I posted this data the exact same way as before. Next I was in! I could display all my balance info.\nThe last step was to get the transactions. This proved a bit tricky also since my bank has a download button that\u0026rsquo;s in flash for the Excel file. I was a bit stumped until I noticed they used an open source program called data tables. In data tables all the fields are nicely marked with what data they contain (be it date, description, money in, money out, etc. etc). I used Beautiful Soup to grab this data, and then finally write it to a CSV file. I was quite happy with the script, and how fast I could pull it together in python!\nWarning: The code below is just to show how it could be done, and was written in a hurry to get a job done. It should be used for ideas, not as a stylistic guide to how you should write nicely named variables with good documentation!\n#!/usr/bin/python2 import requests from datetime import datetime import urlparse import urllib import dropbox import csv from bs4 import BeautifulSoup USERNAME = \u0026#34;\u0026#34; PASSWORD = \u0026#34;\u0026#34; pin = [1,2,3,4] FILENAME=\u0026#34;bank.csv\u0026#34; start_date = urllib.quote_plus(datetime(2017, 05, 15).strftime(\u0026#34;%d/%m/%Y\u0026#34;)) end_date = urllib.quote_plus(datetime.today().strftime(\u0026#34;%d/%m/%Y\u0026#34;)) ROOT_URL = \u0026#34;https://www.open24.ie/online\u0026#34; LOGIN_URL = \u0026#34;https://www.open24.ie/online/Login/\u0026#34; FORM_ENDPOINT_URL = \u0026#34;https://www.open24.ie/online/\u0026#34; FORM2_ENDPOINT_URL = \u0026#34;https://www.open24.ie/online/Login/Step2\u0026#34; TX_ENDPOINT = \u0026#34;https://www.open24.ie/online/Accounts/Details/RecentTransactions\u0026#34; def get_data(session, url): result = session.get(url) return BeautifulSoup(result.content,\u0026#34;html.parser\u0026#34;) def post_data(session, url, data): result = session.post(url, data=data, headers=dict(referer = LOGIN_URL)) return BeautifulSoup(result.content,\u0026#34;html.parser\u0026#34;) \u0026#34;\u0026#34;\u0026#34; Finds out which digits are requested from PIN \u0026#34;\u0026#34;\u0026#34; def get_pin_digits(soup): t1 = int(soup.find(\u0026#34;label\u0026#34;, {\u0026#39;for\u0026#39;: \u0026#39;login-digit-1\u0026#39;}).string.replace(\u0026#34;Digit \u0026#34;,\u0026#34;\u0026#34;))-1 t2 = int(soup.find(\u0026#34;label\u0026#34;, {\u0026#39;for\u0026#39;: \u0026#39;login-digit-2\u0026#39;}).string.replace(\u0026#34;Digit \u0026#34;,\u0026#34;\u0026#34;))-1 t3 = int(soup.find(\u0026#34;label\u0026#34;, {\u0026#39;for\u0026#39;: \u0026#39;login-digit-3\u0026#39;}).string.replace(\u0026#34;Digit \u0026#34;,\u0026#34;\u0026#34;))-1 return t1, t2, t3 \u0026#34;\u0026#34;\u0026#34; Gets the Verification token used to submit forms \u0026#34;\u0026#34;\u0026#34; def get_verif_token(soup): return soup.find(\u0026#34;input\u0026#34;, {\u0026#39;name\u0026#39;: \u0026#39;__RequestVerificationToken\u0026#39;}).get(\u0026#39;value\u0026#39;) \u0026#34;\u0026#34;\u0026#34; Gets the account UUID generated on login \u0026#34;\u0026#34;\u0026#34; def get_acct_id(soup): acct_id_url = soup.find(\u0026#34;h2\u0026#34;, {\u0026#39;class\u0026#39;: \u0026#39;heading-general\u0026#39;}).contents[0][\u0026#39;href\u0026#39;] url_data = urlparse.urlparse(acct_id_url) query = urlparse.parse_qs(url_data.query) acct_id = query[\u0026#34;accountId\u0026#34;][0] return acct_id def main(): session_requests = requests.session() # Get login csrf token soup = get_data(session_requests, LOGIN_URL) authenticity_token = get_verif_token(soup) # Create payload payload = { \u0026#34;__RequestVerificationToken\u0026#34;: authenticity_token, \u0026#34;section\u0026#34;: \u0026#34;\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;login-number\u0026#34;: USERNAME, \u0026#34;login-password\u0026#34;: PASSWORD, } # Perform initial login soup = post_data(session_requests, LOGIN_URL, payload) authenticity_token = get_verif_token(soup) t1, t2, t3 = get_pin_digits(soup) # Create payload payload = { \u0026#34;__RequestVerificationToken\u0026#34;: authenticity_token, \u0026#34;login-digit-1\u0026#34;: pin[t1], \u0026#34;login-digit-2\u0026#34;: pin[t2], \u0026#34;login-digit-3\u0026#34;: pin[t3] } # Perform 2nd login soup = post_data(session_requests, FORM2_ENDPOINT_URL, payload) avail_funds = soup.find(\u0026#34;span\u0026#34;, {\u0026#39;class\u0026#39;: \u0026#39;fund-1\u0026#39;}).string.encode(\u0026#39;ascii\u0026#39;, \u0026#39;ignore\u0026#39;) cur_bal = soup.find(\u0026#34;span\u0026#34;, {\u0026#39;class\u0026#39;: \u0026#39;fund-2\u0026#39;}).string.encode(\u0026#39;ascii\u0026#39;, \u0026#39;ignore\u0026#39;) acct_id = get_acct_id(soup) print(\u0026#34;Available Funds: \u0026#34;, avail_funds) print(\u0026#34;Current Balance: \u0026#34;, cur_bal) print(\u0026#34;Account ID: \u0026#34;, acct_id) url = \u0026#39;https://www.open24.ie/online/Accounts/Details/RecentTransactions?accountId=\u0026#39;+acct_id+\u0026#39;\u0026amp;from-date=\u0026#39;+start_date+\u0026#39;\u0026amp;to-date=\u0026#39;+end_date soup = get_data(session_requests, url) valid_trs = [item for item in soup.find_all(\u0026#39;tr\u0026#39;) if \u0026#34;data-uid\u0026#34; in item.attrs] outputFile = open(FILENAME, \u0026#39;w\u0026#39;) outputWriter = csv.writer(outputFile, lineterminator = \u0026#39;\\n\u0026#39;) outputWriter.writerow([\u0026#39;Date\u0026#39;,\u0026#39;Desc\u0026#39;,\u0026#39;In\u0026#39;,\u0026#39;Out\u0026#39;,\u0026#39;Total\u0026#39;]) for tr in valid_trs: date = datetime.strptime(tr.find(\u0026#34;td\u0026#34;, {\u0026#39;class\u0026#39;: \u0026#39;date\u0026#39;}).string, \u0026#39;%d %b %y\u0026#39;).strftime(\u0026#39;%d-%b-%y\u0026#39;) desc = tr.find(\u0026#34;td\u0026#34;, {\u0026#39;class\u0026#39;: \u0026#39;desc\u0026#39;}).string if desc is None: desc = tr.find(\u0026#34;td\u0026#34;, {\u0026#39;class\u0026#39;: \u0026#39;desc\u0026#39;}).find(\u0026#39;a\u0026#39;, {\u0026#39;class\u0026#39;:\u0026#39;underline\u0026#39;}).string desc = str(desc).strip() tds = tr.findAll(\u0026#34;td\u0026#34;, {\u0026#39;class\u0026#39;: \u0026#39;currency\u0026#39;}) monin = tds[0].string monout = tds[1].string total = tds[2].string outputWriter.writerow([date, desc, monin, monout, total]) outputFile.close() if __name__ == \u0026#39;__main__\u0026#39;: main() ","permalink":"/bank-tx-py/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eAs part of my previous posts, I talked about \u003ca href=\"/ledger\"\u003eledger\u003c/a\u003e and plain text\naccounting. The only part missing is that you need a method to import\ntransactions from your bank. For this I have been doing this by hand, bi-weekly.\nI would have to do the following:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLog in to online banking\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGo to the transactions page\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSelect the date range for transactions I needed (double check last date of\ntransaction in ledger at this point)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDownload the \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Excel\"\u003eMicrosoft Excel\u003c/a\u003e format file that wasn\u0026rsquo;t in the proper format\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eConvert this Excel file into a CSV file that matched my import format (watch\nthe dates, is it YYYY-MM-DD or DD/MM/YYYY?)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFinally import the CSV file into ledger\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCheck the balance matches between my online banking and ledger\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSounds like a lot of work right?\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Scraping Data from your Bank in Python"},{"content":"In a previous post, I mentioned how I get notified of the restaurant menu via a Ruby script. Recently I\u0026rsquo;ve moved to a totally different product area and the main communication channel we use is Slack. Naturally enough, I ported the Ruby code I wrote, and it now posts the menu every day to our Slack channel.\nThis also got me thinking of what other information would be handy to have. I scouted around for ideas and came up with an obvious one: reminder of the bus times to and from the office. So here\u0026rsquo;s my bus times notification slack bot:\n#!/usr/bin/env ruby #Encoding: UTF-8 require \u0026#39;nokogiri\u0026#39; require \u0026#39;json\u0026#39; require \u0026#39;net/http\u0026#39; require \u0026#39;open-uri\u0026#39; def notify_slack(text) webhook_url = \u0026#39;\u0026#39; # TODO: Insert yours here payload = { #:channel =\u0026gt; channel, #:username =\u0026gt; username, :text =\u0026gt; text #:icon_url =\u0026gt; image }.to_json cmd = \u0026#34;curl -X POST --data-urlencode \u0026#39;payload=#{payload}\u0026#39; #{webhook_url}\u0026#34; system(cmd) end def make_bus_times() today = Date.today return { \u0026#34;Sheraton\u0026#34; =\u0026gt; [ Time.local(today.year, today.month, today.day, 8, 10, 0), Time.local(today.year, today.month, today.day, 8, 35, 0), Time.local(today.year, today.month, today.day, 9, 10, 0) ], \u0026#34;Ericsson\u0026#34; =\u0026gt; [ Time.local(today.year, today.month, today.day, 16, 30, 0), Time.local(today.year, today.month, today.day, 17, 25, 0), Time.local(today.year, today.month, today.day, 18, 00, 0) ] } return bus_times end def check_next_bus() bus_times = make_bus_times() t = Time.now t2 = t + 15 * 60 # 15mins in future bus_times.each do |key, array| bus_times[key].each { |val| if val.between?(t, t2) text = \u0026#34;@here Bus leaving from #{key} in next 15mins at #{val.strftime(\u0026#39;%H:%M\u0026#39;)}\u0026#34; notify_slack(text) end } end end check_next_bus() I simply set this to run every 20 minutes, Monday to Friday, during working hours via cron:\n*/20 07-19 * * 1,2,3,4,5 bus-times.rb \u0026gt; /dev/null 2\u0026gt;\u0026amp;1 For convenience, I have the webhook set to post to a different channel so people can opt in for bus reminders.\n","permalink":"/slack-bot/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eIn a previous post, I mentioned how I get notified of the \u003ca href=\"/rest-menu\"\u003erestaurant\nmenu\u003c/a\u003e via a Ruby script. Recently I\u0026rsquo;ve moved to a totally different\nproduct area and the main communication channel we use is \u003ca href=\"https://www.slack.com\"\u003eSlack\u003c/a\u003e. Naturally\nenough, I ported the Ruby code I wrote, and it now posts the menu every day to\nour Slack channel.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis also got me thinking of what other information would be handy to have. I\nscouted around for ideas and came up with an obvious one: reminder of the bus\ntimes to and from the office. So here\u0026rsquo;s my bus times notification slack bot:\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Slack Bots for Work"},{"content":"Do you need to run a command on SSH login? There are a lot of solutions on the web for this, but most of them are very complex. I stumbled across this easy method of using the authorized_keys file, simply add command=\u0026quot;ls -l\u0026quot; (replacing ls -l with something a bit more useful like tmux or screen) in front of the key fingerprint. This also means you can have different commands for different keys if you choose.\nExample authorized_keys file:\ncommand=\u0026#34;tmux a -t \u0026lt;mysessionname\u0026gt;\u0026#34; ssh-rsa AAAAB3... A lot of the other solutions you\u0026rsquo;ll find on the web recommend editing profile, bashrc, sshconfig or some other important shell files - something you should avoid unless absolutely necessary. One more word of advice, make sure the command _will always execute sucessfully. If the command fails for any reason (like a Tmux session not existing) your SSH connection will close, since this is the command that will keep it open. That\u0026rsquo;s fine if you have access to the computer and have a screen attached to fix it, but if you are remote then you will be out of luck.\nIf you enjoyed this post, you should check out my post on using patterns in SSH config file.\n","permalink":"/ssh-login-cmd/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eDo you need to run a command on SSH login? There are a lot of solutions on the\nweb for this, but most of them are very complex. I stumbled across this easy\nmethod of using the \u003ccode\u003eauthorized_keys\u003c/code\u003e file, simply add \u003ccode\u003ecommand=\u0026quot;ls -l\u0026quot;\u003c/code\u003e\n(replacing \u003ccode\u003els -l\u003c/code\u003e with something a bit more useful like \u003ccode\u003etmux\u003c/code\u003e or \u003ccode\u003escreen\u003c/code\u003e) in\nfront of the key fingerprint. This also means you can have different commands\nfor different keys if you choose.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Run Command on SSH Login"},{"content":"I\u0026rsquo;m a big fan of the shell and the productivity it brings, you can have a text editor, command to run a server and more within easy reach. I use a shell at work, at home and on the go. On the go could be using my iPad or iPhone. One of the first SSH clients on iOS was iSSH, which I used many years ago. After this, Panic released a professional class application called Prompt. Prompt is what I\u0026rsquo;ve happily used for the last few years, but the 10 minute background process limit is a constant pain. Just a quick switch away for a few minutes, and you have to reconnect. That\u0026rsquo;s fine once or twice, but when it happens many times it seriously slows your productivity.\nOf course an obvious solution to this is something like GNU Screen or Tmux. I\u0026rsquo;ve also used Tmux for the last few years and I\u0026rsquo;ve found it indispensible to working remotely on my iPad, to try get any sort of programming done. While I love Prompt, and it is a very well designed app, I couldn\u0026rsquo;t get much done on the go on my home machine over SSH.\nThat is until I rediscovered Mosh. Mosh is an MIT project that redesigns the shell for the 21st Century (unreliable mobile internet connections). I\u0026rsquo;d seen this project a few years back, but it had no mobile (Android or iOS) client at that stage and was purely experimental. It now has very wide platform support, including a new(-ish) iOS app called Blink. The major benefit of mosh is that it doesn\u0026rsquo;t need root to install, uses existing SSH connections to set itself up and doesn\u0026rsquo;t need a constant connection. This differs hugely from Prompt in terms of usability, no more 10 minute session timeouts, you reconnect instantly using a very efficient UDP protocol Mosh uses (on a port between 60,000-61,000). It all just feels very effortless.\nThat said, there are still issues around scrollback buffer and connecting to multiple sessions with Tmux. Scrollback sometimes gets garbled with Mosh/Blink, and it is a known issue of Mosh. Also Tmux sizes itself based on the client which connects, which is fine if you connect with one device. Connect with multiple devices of different resolutions (phone, tablet, laptop) and you\u0026rsquo;ll see wasted space abound. So while the potential of Mosh is still great, I still feel it is in the early adopter phase. If you like the future and can handle the rough edges, definitely give it a shot.\n","permalink":"/mosh/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI\u0026rsquo;m a big fan of the shell and the productivity it brings, you can have a text\neditor, command to run a server and more within easy reach. I use a shell at\nwork, at home and on the go. On the go could be using my iPad or iPhone. One of\nthe first SSH clients on iOS was iSSH, which I used many years ago. After this,\nPanic released a professional class application called \u003ca href=\"https://panic.com/prompt/\"\u003ePrompt\u003c/a\u003e. Prompt is\nwhat I\u0026rsquo;ve happily used for the last few years, but the 10 minute background\nprocess limit is a constant pain. Just a quick switch away for a few minutes,\nand you have to reconnect. That\u0026rsquo;s fine once or twice, but when it happens many\ntimes it seriously slows your productivity.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"iOS Shells, Prompt vs. Mosh"},{"content":"For the last few years, I\u0026rsquo;ve always wanted to budget properly and see where my money was going. But like all habits that are good for you, looking after your finances takes time, care and attention. I started off by researching the market for budgeting software. A lot of the prepackged software out there was very US-centric, including Quicken, Microsoft Money and Mint.com. I eventually settled on and bought a license for You Need a Budget, because: it had a budgeting methodology, very good Euro support and was cross platform with Adobe Air. YNAB lasted me well for a few years, with its pretty graphs and ease of expense entry. I even liked their much pared-down companion iOS app at the time.\nFast forward to a few months ago, I decided I needed to get back on the budgeting horse, so to speak. I had a look at YNAB, expecting a major new version but instead was greeted with a cloud service. Although I love cloud services, I don\u0026rsquo;t appreciate a third party which is not my bank having my financial information, because every major company, even ones the size of Yahoo, get hacked eventually. I then tried an iOS application called iBank, which retrieves your bank statements automatically by logging in to your bank on your behalf. But this again crosses the line on security and privacy, so I was out of luck.\nThat is until I found plain text accounting and the programs ledger and hledger. These two programs are command line applications, which read a plain text file filled with your transactions, like this:\n2016-10-10 Two Euro Shop ; Shouldn\u0026#39;t buy this cheap stuff again Expenses:Knicknacks €2 Assets:Checking -€2 Each transaction is as simple as the one above and is compatible between the two programs. There\u0026rsquo;s no prefined accounts (like Expenses:Knicknacks or Assets:Checking), you can put whatever makes sense to you and the categories will exist. Anything prefixed with semicolon (;) is a comment, which is handy for searching the file and the date (2016-10-10) well obviously, it\u0026rsquo;s a date! The only thing you have to make sure of is that the transaction balances, so the €2 and -€2 have to equal 0.\nSo at this point it looked good, but I had four major questions:\nHow do I get data in? How do I start with incomplete data? How do I budget? What can I use on iOS? So getting to the first question, it\u0026rsquo;s very easy thankfully, but this is where we bring in the second program, hledger. Hledger is compatible with ledger, but with a few nice bells and whistles on top. One of these is extra nice CSV support, so you can download CSV files and import them. All CSV files are different, so how do we make sure we get the right data in? Use rules files, which are a hledger concept. Stick a .rules file named the same as your .csv file:\n$ ls Transaction_export.csv.rules Transaction_export.csv These .rules file are fairly simple:\n#Skip the first few lines skip 2 #these are fields to match the csv, including skipping fields fields date, description, , amount-in, amount-out if McDonalds account2 Expenses:Restaurants Then we can print the transactions with hledger -f Transaction_export.csv print which will show us what would be produced (like the transaction above for the €2 shop). Simply tweak the rules file to match retailers, banks, restaurants etc you use and then append the result to your budget file: hledger -f Transaction_export.csv print \u0026gt;\u0026gt; .hledger.journal. Simply wash and repeat every few days, once you have enough transactions.\nNext, starting with incomplete data is inevitable, I\u0026rsquo;m not going to remember every transaction before I started to pay attention! But this problem is easy to solve, create a balancing transaction at the top of your budget file, dated before your first transaction you started with, like so:\n2016-10-09 * Opening Balance Current Account ; Just started budgeting! Assets:Checking €2 Equity:Opening Balances -€2 You\u0026rsquo;ll know this is successful if the balance command actually reflects your account balance in real life: ledger -f ~/.hledger.journal balance.\nAfter this, your accounts are all set up and you have your transactions, so why all this pain again? Oh yes - budgeting! There are many ways to do this, such as shadow accounts etc that I won\u0026rsquo;t cover, please have a look on Plain Text Accounting for some more advice on this. I\u0026rsquo;ll cover my preffered method, a set budget every month, which you can check the balance of. At the top of my file I simply have something like this:\n~ Monthly Expenses:Restaurants €15 Expenses:Entertainment €30 Expenses:Car Tolls €0 Then we can just issue one command to see the the status of each category: ledger -p \u0026quot;this month\u0026quot; --budget --monthly balance ^expenses, I have this aliased to \u0026ldquo;budget\u0026rdquo; as a command, which shows if we are on target or have overspent this month on any category we like.\nIf your on a mobile device, unless you use an SSH program to a central server, plain text accounting can be hard to use. My solution is to use the budgets above and reflect them in the brilliant Pennies app. Pennies is lightweight and doesn\u0026rsquo;t want transactions really, it wants a different budget for each category you need. This way you can see if you\u0026rsquo;ve gone over or under every month in any category you want. So you don\u0026rsquo;t have to enter correct data, just data with the right amounts, which is easy to get from ledger. That way when you feel an impulse purchase coming on, you can check Pennies and remind yourself your budget is more important!\n","permalink":"/ledger/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eFor the last few years, I\u0026rsquo;ve always wanted to budget properly and see where my\nmoney was going. But like all habits that are good for you, looking after your\nfinances takes time, care and attention. I started off by researching the market\nfor budgeting software. A lot of the prepackged software out there was very\nUS-centric, including Quicken, Microsoft Money and\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.mint.com\"\u003eMint.com\u003c/a\u003e. I eventually settled on and bought a license\nfor \u003ca href=\"https://www.ynab.com\"\u003eYou Need a Budget\u003c/a\u003e, because: it had a budgeting\nmethodology, very good Euro support and was cross platform with\n\u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_AIR\"\u003eAdobe Air\u003c/a\u003e. YNAB lasted me well for a\nfew years, with its pretty graphs and ease of expense entry. I even liked their\nmuch pared-down companion iOS app at the time.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Plain Text Accounting"},{"content":"As part of my masters degree in University College Dublin, we undertook a group project which focused on building a technology product. I\u0026rsquo;m very proud about how we ran the project, so I\u0026rsquo;d like to give an overview of it here! The product is a technology news application, which personalised your news feed based on your interests. I like to think of it as Facebook meets Techmeme meets your favourite RSS news feeds!\nThe Project The theme was \u0026ldquo;News in the 21st Century\u0026rdquo; and we were supplied with a copy of the BBC\u0026rsquo;s the \u0026ldquo;Future of News\u0026rdquo; report. Each team (there were 10), had to go away and think of how they could tackle this theme with a technological slant. We also had constraints that we needed to develop in an agile manner and to prove we could try to be a real viable startup, with cost and salary estimates as well as a way to make money on our project.\nThe team There was 5 in our team , out of a class of ~50. Only our group and one other (~about 8 people) were employed full time. The other groups were full time students. We did the whole project working remotely, while holding down our usual busy schedules. We started by dividing out the roles in to Project Manager (Larry), Business Manager (Kevin), Communications Lead (Garry), Software Engineering Lead (me) and Software developer (Igor).\nGetting Started So in June 2015, we had our roles set, we just needed to think about what we would actually do! I\u0026rsquo;m a big fan of technology news, so it was my idea that won the day: to base our application on technology news. We knew intrinsically that we would have to keep the scope really narrow, due to the 3 month window we had to ship. We started having really frequent meetings on Skype/Google Hangouts, started making sprints in Trello, and chatted about issues in Slack.\nMid-term presentation By June 30th, less then 20 days in, we needed to have a working prototype, with basic functionality. I had started to use Docker and was very familiar with continuous delivery from my job in Ericsson. So I developed our first prototype, then showed it to the guys and had to get buy in. We had a bumpy ride at the start, getting everyone on the same page and setup correctly, as we had various different personal machines. For the midterm presentation we had to have mockups, project plan, business plan and a high level view of all our our sprints. Here\u0026rsquo;s our midterm presentation (download here):\nFinal presentation For the final presentation in August, we were under lots of pressure. We didn\u0026rsquo;t have time to get various production elements we would have liked: such as more comprehensive automated test, a fancier design (none of us were user interface experts) and just generally more fit and finish. Here\u0026rsquo;s the final presentation we made (you can download it here)\nAt the end, we got an A+. When we got the marking sheet back, the highest levels of praise were reserved for our method of production, we took the project very seriously and made sure we paid attention to how we worked together and the system of delivery. We were agile enough to be able to stick to our overall goals, but still tweak and drop ideas which didn\u0026rsquo;t work out in reality. Overall I was exteremely proud of it and I think the two main presentations we made are a great overview of the work we did as a team.\n","permalink":"/newsfast/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eAs part of my masters degree in University College Dublin, we undertook a group\nproject which focused on building a technology product. I\u0026rsquo;m very proud about how\nwe ran the project, so I\u0026rsquo;d like to give an overview of it here! The product is a\ntechnology news application, which personalised your news feed based on your\ninterests. I like to think of it as Facebook meets Techmeme meets your favourite\nRSS news feeds!\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Newsfast MSc Project in UCD"},{"content":"If you haven\u0026rsquo;t tried Google Apps Script, I found a really nifty use for it: smart filtering for email. Wait, shouldn\u0026rsquo;t I just use Gmails\u0026rsquo; built-in filters? As it turns out you can\u0026rsquo;t - my filter needs to act on email that matched that filter in the past. So in other words: a filter can only act on email it actually \u0026ldquo;filters\u0026rdquo;, which kinda makes sense! I\u0026rsquo;m a big fan of automation (and email is ripe for automation), as you can see from my post on meetings in Outlook.\nThe source is below, all you need to do is replace the mailing list identifiers at the start (see the comments). You can find these easily enough in Gmail by using the dropdown menu on the email and selecting \u0026ldquo;Filter mails like this\u0026rdquo;:\nThis will prefill the search with the mailing list id you need:\nfunction processInbox() { Logger.log(\u0026#39;Starting\u0026#39;) var mailingLists = [ // replace the strings in this array with your own! \u0026#34;list:\u0026#39;faa8eb4ef3a111cef92c4f3d4mc list \u0026lt;faa8eb4ef3a111cef92c4f3d4.583821.list-id.mcsv.net\u0026gt;\u0026#39;\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;list:\u0026#39;e2e180baf855ac797ef407fc7mc list \u0026lt;e2e180baf855ac797ef407fc7.654029.list-id.mcsv.net\u0026gt;\u0026#39;\u0026#34;, \u0026#34;list:\u0026#39;9f4b80a35728f7271fe3ea6ffmc list \u0026lt;9f4b80a35728f7271fe3ea6ff.511493.list-id.mcsv.net\u0026gt;\u0026#39;\u0026#34;, ] for (var i = 0; i \u0026lt; mailingLists.length; i++) { // process all threads in the Inbox var threads = searchMessages(mailingLists[i]) if (threads.length \u0026gt; 1) { Logger.log( \u0026#39;Found: \u0026#39; + threads.length + \u0026#39; messages to process, for \u0026#39; + mailingLists[i], ) var msgToSort = getMessagesFromThreads(threads) msgToSort.sort(function (a, b) { return new Date(b.date).getTime() - new Date(a.date).getTime() }) msgToSort.splice(0, 1) // Remove latest mail for (var i = 0; i \u0026lt; msgToSort.length; i++) { Logger.log(\u0026#39;Moving message: \u0026#39; + msgToSort[i].subject + \u0026#39; to trash\u0026#39;) msgToSort[i].message.moveToTrash() } Logger.log(msgToSort) } } } function searchMessages(filter) { return GmailApp.search(filter) } function getMessagesFromThreads(threads) { var msgsToSort = [] for (var i = 0; i \u0026lt; threads.length; i++) { // get all messages in a given thread var messages = threads[i].getMessages() for (var j = 0; j \u0026lt; messages.length; j++) { msgsToSort.push(processMessage(messages[j])) } } return msgsToSort } function processMessage(message) { var subject = message.getSubject() var date = message.getDate() Logger.log(date + \u0026#39; \u0026#39; + subject) return {subject: subject, message: message, date: date} } Also available as an easily cloneable (with git) Gist on Github.\n","permalink":"/gmail-newsletter-filter/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eIf you haven\u0026rsquo;t tried \u003ca href=\"https://developers.google.com/apps-script/\"\u003eGoogle Apps Script\u003c/a\u003e, I found a really nifty use for it:\n\u003cem\u003esmart filtering\u003c/em\u003e for email. Wait, shouldn\u0026rsquo;t I just use Gmails\u0026rsquo; built-in\nfilters? As it turns out you can\u0026rsquo;t - my filter needs to act on email that\nmatched that filter \u003cem\u003ein the past\u003c/em\u003e. So in other words: a filter can only act on\nemail it actually \u0026ldquo;filters\u0026rdquo;, which kinda makes sense! I\u0026rsquo;m a big fan of\nautomation (and email is ripe for automation), as you can see from \u003ca href=\"/outlook\"\u003emy post on\nmeetings in Outlook\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Automatic Newsletter Cleanup in Gmail"},{"content":"After some thought initially on a new laptop, I decided to spring for an iPad Pro 12.9\u0026quot;. So far I am really glad I did, the computer comes with me everywhere. I bring it to work, to visit family, on trips and everywhere in between.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s the ultimate work computer in many ways, always with you, light enough and comfortable enough for real work™. The keyboard shortcuts in iOS have improved massively from iOS 8 to iOS 9 to the point of actually being useful and the split screen view is actually rather nice to use (I never \u0026ldquo;got\u0026rdquo; it on a Mac).\nSo enough about the good things, what about the bad? Well I\u0026rsquo;m repeating a lot of others with this list, but in many ways that gives me hope that they will be fixed:\nA better way to switch the smaller app in split view (it\u0026rsquo;s totally nonsensical how recent apps are shown) Require keyboard shortcuts in apps (along with the other suggestions here) Drag and drop between two split screen apps (Safari has started this, its' tabs can be dragged to create split view of two browser tabs) A way to spotlight search for an app to open in split view Allow apps to download and run code (for IDE apps) - Apple\u0026rsquo;s upcoming Swift playground app seems to do this (it definitely lets other applications contribute code) Either buy Workflow or integrate a system Automator app (like macOS) with options on scripting language Some good points on this wish list for security, an Apple provided VPN for Wifi Hotspots would be great And too many more to mention. Along with pro applications (which I would say are in the class of: Omni apps, Microsoft apps, Panic apps), the iPad Pro really shines. Unless you need a good programming IDE or another app is missing, I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t hesitate in buying it!\n","permalink":"/ipadpro/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eAfter some thought initially on a new laptop, I decided to spring for an iPad\nPro 12.9\u0026quot;. So far I am really glad I did, the computer comes with me everywhere.\nI bring it to work, to visit family, on trips and everywhere in between.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt\u0026rsquo;s the ultimate work computer in many ways, always with you, light enough and\ncomfortable enough for real work™. The keyboard shortcuts in iOS have improved\nmassively from iOS 8 to iOS 9 to the point of actually being useful and the\nsplit screen view is actually rather nice to use (I never \u0026ldquo;got\u0026rdquo; it on a Mac).\u003c/p\u003e","title":"iPad Pro Review"},{"content":"I recently read Remote: Office Not Required by David Heinemeier-Hansson (who created Ruby on Rails) and Jason Fried (who co-founded 37 Signals with Heinemeier-Hansson). This book is really a case study in why the future of work will be remote, of which the book did convince me (but I would say, I already believed).\nThe book is really structured to convince those who do not believe in the premise of the title. It talks about many successful companies who have transformed themselves to work remotely fully and large corporations who save lots of money on office space (IBM, being one example).\nThe biggest criticism I would have is that the book is simply too positive. It brushes over negatives, if it really ever discussed any (I came away not remembering any one overtly negative point). Also, the book never tackles what the future of remote working really will be, i.e. how it can be better. Some of the downsides of remote working (isolation being the major one) can be tackled with the help of technology, but the book never explores this point (in fairness it could be the topic of a book in and of itself). That would have made this a lot more interesting read!\nOverall I would give this book to skeptics, but I would expect them to believe very little of it (or how it could apply to them, if your not IBM or a cool hip startup). A decidedly average book, considering a lot more could be discussed with the topic.\nRating 2.5/5\n","permalink":"/remote-book/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI recently read \u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.co.uk/Remote-Required-David-Heinemeier-Hansson/dp/0091954673\"\u003eRemote: Office Not Required\u003c/a\u003e by David Heinemeier-Hansson\n(who created Ruby on Rails) and Jason Fried (who co-founded 37 Signals with\nHeinemeier-Hansson). This book is really a case study in why the future of work\nwill be remote, of which the book did convince me (but I would say, I already\nbelieved).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"/img/16/remote-book.jpg\" alt=\"\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe book is really structured to convince those who do not believe in the\npremise of the title. It talks about many successful companies who have\ntransformed themselves to work remotely fully and large corporations who save\nlots of money on office space (IBM, being one example).\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Remote: Office Not Required"},{"content":"Early last year, I purchased two Code Keyboards (one for work and one for home). The Code Keyboards are designed by Jeff Atwood (who founded Stack Overflow). Mechanical keyboards are “old style” in that the switches are from an era where everything was mechanical, unlike today where everything is glass. So mechanical keyboards have ardent fans and people who don’t really care for them.\nI did a lot of research before I purchased, talking to various people in work who are very knowledgeable about mechanical keyboards (The best community for advice, discussion and group buys is /r/mechanicalkeyboards on reddit.). The variety of hardware and opinions is positively mind melting. If you are doing your own research, you should definitely come across Cherry switches (a very established German brand). Switches are what sit between your key that you see (with the letter printed on top) and the electronic board that converts the key press to a signal the computer can understand.\nAnother big brand in the mechanical world is Ducky, a Taiwanese company who make predominantly mechanical keyboards. They are known for their quality and the variety (lights, amount of keys [102, 104] etc). For my part, I decided on not buying a big brand like Ducky or Das Keyboard, but to go with the Code Keyboard, as this matched what I wanted.\nWhile searching I decided on factors to suit me:\nNo fancy light displays Should be backlit Compact size Should look professional No fancy non-standard media keys ( I want it to work with any computer out of the box). Shouldn’t be too noisy (I respect my colleagues right to peace and quiet!!!) The Code Keyboard matched all of these. Over a year later I’m very happy with them still, I would recommend them. Not least as I had a micro usb cable go bad, but WASD Keyboards (who make the Code Keyboard) sent me a free replacement, providing good customer service.\n","permalink":"/mech-kb/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eEarly last year, I purchased two \u003ca href=\"http://codekeyboards.com\"\u003eCode Keyboards\u003c/a\u003e (one for work and one for\nhome). The Code Keyboards are designed by \u003ca href=\"http://blog.codinghorror.com\"\u003eJeff Atwood\u003c/a\u003e (who founded \u003ca href=\"http://stackoverflow.com\"\u003eStack\nOverflow\u003c/a\u003e). Mechanical keyboards are “old style” in that the switches are\nfrom an era where everything was mechanical, unlike today where everything is\nglass. So mechanical keyboards have ardent fans and people who don’t really care\nfor them.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"/img/16/code_kb.jpg\" alt=\"\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI did a lot of research before I purchased, talking to various people in work\nwho are very knowledgeable about mechanical keyboards (The best community for\nadvice, discussion and group buys is \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/mechanicalkeyboards\"\u003e/r/mechanicalkeyboards\u003c/a\u003e on reddit.).\nThe variety of hardware and opinions is positively mind melting. If you are\ndoing your own research, you should definitely come across \u003ca href=\"http://cherryswitches.com\"\u003eCherry switches\u003c/a\u003e\n(a very established German brand). Switches are what sit between your key that\nyou see (with the letter printed on top) and the electronic board that converts\nthe key press to a signal the computer can understand.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Mechanical Keyboards"},{"content":"I recently purchased Ulysses Mobile after a recommendation from Macstories. My first impression was how expensive it was priced and what really makes a premium writing application?\nNeedless to say, I\u0026rsquo;m not a huge writer. But I do have a real fondness for plain text (it will survive the apocalypse) and by extension, Markdown by John Gruber. The problem for Ulysses is this: there\u0026rsquo;s lots of really great Markdown applications for iOS, two of which I have written about: Editorial (my favourite) and Byword (not so keen on this app).\nSo where does that leave Ulysses? Well John Voorhees wrote an excellent column in Club Macstories Newsletter, where he said you need to exploit a niche on the App Store, but it needs to not be a niche of one (aka. just you). So Ulysses is different to the other applicants I mentioned in key ways:\nAll files are called \u0026ldquo;Sheets\u0026rdquo; and by default do not need a file name, it is kind of like Drafts, just open and write away It has a library, all optionally but by default synced to iCloud It has filters, which are flexible way to quickly group \u0026ldquo;sheets\u0026rdquo; It has extensive tagging It has optional word count targets for each \u0026ldquo;sheet\u0026rdquo; You can add notes and other metadata which will not show up in the exported result (usually PDF) It supports many formats for export, such as docx, PDF, HTML, ePub It is very themeable, with an online web gallery of themes So in other words, it\u0026rsquo;s a lot more extensive in different features and thus audience to the other editors.\nSo would I recommend it? I\u0026rsquo;m still not sure about the desktop class application tag the developers have used, but it is a nice app to write in (I wrote this post on my iPhone in Ulysses). The library and filters seem like something I may not truly need, but there\u0026rsquo;s no doubt it\u0026rsquo;s a nicely designed app. Overall for me it\u0026rsquo;s probably not worth the price tag as I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t use key features, but if your serious about writing, you should definitely pick it up.\n","permalink":"/ulysses-app/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI recently purchased\n\u003ca href=\"https://geo.itunes.apple.com/ie/app/ulysses-mobile/id950335311?mt=8\u0026amp;uo=4\u0026amp;at=1001l4PJ\"\u003eUlysses Mobile\u003c/a\u003e\nafter a\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.macstories.net/reviews/review-ulysses-2-5-for-ipad-and-now-iphone/\"\u003erecommendation from Macstories\u003c/a\u003e.\nMy first impression was how expensive it was priced and what really makes a\n\u003cem\u003epremium writing application\u003c/em\u003e?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNeedless to say, I\u0026rsquo;m not a huge writer. But I do have a real fondness for plain\ntext (it will survive the apocalypse) and by extension,\n\u003ca href=\"https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/\"\u003eMarkdown by John Gruber.\u003c/a\u003e The\nproblem for Ulysses is this: there\u0026rsquo;s lots of really great Markdown applications\nfor iOS, two of which I have written about: Editorial (my favourite) and Byword\n(not so keen on this app).\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Ulysses App"},{"content":"I backed the Roost laptop stand on Kickstarter, which already had a successful run in their first Kickstarter campaign. I\u0026rsquo;ve been delighted with the result so far, it lives up to the promises of being super light but yet durable and strong. Here\u0026rsquo;s a photo of it:\nIt came with a really nice case which holds the Roost underneath and has pockets for a portable keyboard (I use a Logitech K811) and mouse (I use a Logitech Marathon M705). It works great for a really comfortable and ergonomic desk wherever you may travel (or set up to work). Highly recommended!\n","permalink":"/roost-stand/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI backed the Roost laptop stand on \u003ca href=\"http://www.kickstarter.org\"\u003eKickstarter\u003c/a\u003e,\nwhich already had a successful run in their first Kickstarter campaign. I\u0026rsquo;ve\nbeen delighted with the result so far, it lives up to the promises of being\nsuper light but yet durable and strong. Here\u0026rsquo;s a photo of it:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"/img/16/roost.png\" alt=\"Roost Laptop stand holding a macbook\"  title=\"Roost Stand\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt came with a really nice case which holds the Roost underneath and has pockets\nfor a portable keyboard (I use a\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/illuminated-keyboard-for-mac-ipad-iphone\"\u003eLogitech K811\u003c/a\u003e)\nand mouse (I use a\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/marathon-mouse-m705\"\u003eLogitech Marathon M705\u003c/a\u003e).\nIt works great for a really comfortable and ergonomic desk wherever you may\ntravel (or set up to work). Highly recommended!\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Roost Laptop Stand"},{"content":"I recently read O\u0026rsquo;Reilly Building Maintainable Software (Java Edition). It provides good insight as to what to look for to create maintainability in enterpise software systems.\n10 suggestions the book provides: Write shorter units Write simpler units (measured in Cyclomatic Complexity) Write code once only Keep interfaces very small Seperate code in to modules Couple modules loosely Keep modules evenly sized Keep codebase small (and look for ways to right-size) Automate development pipeline and your tests Write clean code and refactor as you go Overall I thought the book was very well laid out, easy to read and easy to understand. I\u0026rsquo;d recommend it to anyone new to software development, but most of the tips contained within the book should be very familiar to the seasoned developer.\nRating: 4/5\n","permalink":"/maintain-soft-book/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI recently read O\u0026rsquo;Reilly\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.co.uk/Building-Mantainable-Software-Guidelines-Future-Proof/dp/1491953527/\"\u003eBuilding Maintainable Software\u003c/a\u003e\n(Java Edition). It provides good insight as to what to look for to create\nmaintainability in enterpise software systems.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"10-suggestions-the-book-provides\"\u003e10 suggestions the book provides:\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWrite shorter units\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWrite simpler units (measured in\n\u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclomatic_complexity\"\u003eCyclomatic Complexity\u003c/a\u003e)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWrite code once only\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eKeep interfaces very small\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSeperate code in to modules\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCouple modules loosely\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eKeep modules evenly sized\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eKeep codebase small (and look for ways to right-size)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAutomate development pipeline and your tests\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWrite clean code and refactor as you go\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOverall I thought the book was very well laid out, easy to read and easy to\nunderstand. I\u0026rsquo;d recommend it to anyone new to software development, but most of\nthe tips contained within the book should be very familiar to the seasoned\ndeveloper.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Maintainable Software Book"},{"content":"In the last year and a half, I set up a Ruby based Dashing dashboard for my team and others in our product area. Here\u0026rsquo;s what a sample Dashing dashboard looks like:\nIt\u0026rsquo;s been a huge success, but it was tough to gain traction along the way. Here I\u0026rsquo;ll summarise what I\u0026rsquo;ve learned (in no particular order):\nDon\u0026rsquo;t do dashboards for managers, do them for teams Use big text, have the minimum information as required Use colours (preferably like the traffic light system) to focus attention Link in all critical systems to daily work Make it a one stop shop and faster then all other methods of getting this information Reuse the work of others (steal with pride) Don\u0026rsquo;t bother with graphs Below I outline the reasons for each point:\nDon\u0026rsquo;t do them for managers Teams want statistics to help them do their job better, not as a metric to be hit with like a stick. You have to assure the team the goal is to help them do their jobs better and to focus on the important things. Metrics don\u0026rsquo;t explain nuances, so the team lead/scrum master needs to take this and let the team get back to whats important - development.\nUse BIG text With Dashing, it\u0026rsquo;s very easy to create widgets from scratch and pack a lot of information in. You have to fight this urge, use trial and error and see what the teams respond to. Constant tweaking is the name of the game and listen to the suggestions of others. While you can\u0026rsquo;t and shouldn\u0026rsquo;t listen to everyone, try see if their idea could work in a slightly altered form.\nUse Colours The best colours are the traffic light system. People don\u0026rsquo;t need to be techinical to know, green=good, orange=warning, red=danger. It also helps focus on what I should be looking at. Red is most critical, so my attention should on that first and so on. Use the limits sparingly at first (ie. don\u0026rsquo;t have everything red or orange, or no one will pay attention) and tweak as you go.\nLink in all critical systems Everything I need to know should be on the dashboard, and that means for us a lot of disparate systems. Luckily a lot of products have an API these days and it\u0026rsquo;s very easy to link Dashing to any system, thanks to the flexibility of Ruby. We have linked:\nJenkins: for status of all our release jobs, server status etc Gerrit: for number of code reviews, so make sure to keep on top of them A custom maintrack solution, so we know the latest version of software and whether we can deliver Jira, for the number of bugs Last tested version of our software on the main track Make it a one stop shop People will use tools that make their lives easier. The trouble is, when you start, that won\u0026rsquo;t be evident. You\u0026rsquo;ve got to keep on top of what people like and respond to. People often have ideas/tweaks after I\u0026rsquo;ve added something new, as they see what can be done. You should distill down to exactly what your team needs, no more, no less. This pure trial and error and you have to be ruthless in cutting things that don\u0026rsquo;t work. Space is valuable, your teams attention is valuable, so don\u0026rsquo;t waste either.\nSteal with pride The \u0026ldquo;Additional Widgets\u0026rdquo; wiki page for dashing has lots and lots of premade widgets, use them! Often I have to make tweaks, but the majority of the hard work is done. You can browse widgets by service (like Jira or Confluence, there\u0026rsquo;s a few for each), or browse the list in general and see if a widget with a totally different purpose (say bus times) could be repurposed in to a list of the last commits by time, etc!\nDon\u0026rsquo;t bother with graphs Management love graphs, but development teams don\u0026rsquo;t. Burndowns for example, are a step above where your focus should be. You need to have servers ready, bugs in check, maintrack to be open for deliveries, all before you have a hope of burning down. This will different for every team, but I\u0026rsquo;d steer clear of graphs, comics, funny pictures etc, they are not conducive to work and are very hard to read from a distance.\n","permalink":"/dashing/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eIn the last year and a half, I set up a \u003ca href=\"http://ruby.org\"\u003eRuby\u003c/a\u003e based\n\u003ca href=\"http://dashing.io\"\u003eDashing dashboard\u003c/a\u003e for my team and others in our product\narea. Here\u0026rsquo;s what a sample Dashing dashboard looks like:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"/img/16/dashing.jpg\" alt=\"Dashing Sample Dashboard\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt\u0026rsquo;s been a huge success, but it was tough to gain traction along the way. Here\nI\u0026rsquo;ll summarise what I\u0026rsquo;ve learned (in no particular order):\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDon\u0026rsquo;t do dashboards for managers, do them for teams\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUse big text, have the minimum information as required\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUse colours (preferably like the traffic light system) to focus attention\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLink in all critical systems to daily work\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMake it a one stop shop and faster then all other methods of getting this\ninformation\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eReuse the work of others (steal with pride)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDon\u0026rsquo;t bother with graphs\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBelow I outline the reasons for each point:\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Dashing Dashboards"},{"content":"Continuing the theme of automation, one of the most repetitive tasks if you work for a big company is timesheets. So I set out to rectify this by scripting it!\nStart with you configuration, I named mine hours.ini:\n[DEFAULT] url = FILL_ME_IN username = FILL_ME_IN password = FILL_ME_IN then we need the magic of Selenium to do the heavy lifting, so we install it:\n$ pip3 install selenium I called this script, unsurprisingly hours.py:\n#!/usr/bin/env python3 \u0026#34;\u0026#34;\u0026#34; hours.py by Neil Grogan, 2015 A script to fill in hours automatically in SAP NetWeaver Portal \u0026#34;\u0026#34;\u0026#34; from selenium import webdriver from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By from selenium.webdriver.common.keys import Keys from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import WebDriverWait from selenium.webdriver.support import expected_conditions as EC import time import configparser import os TIMEOUT = 5 def main(): # Setup config = read_config() driver = load_website(config[\u0026#39;url\u0026#39;], \u0026#34;SAP NetWeaver Portal\u0026#34;) wait = WebDriverWait(driver, TIMEOUT) # Action login_to_website(driver, config[\u0026#39;username\u0026#39;], config[\u0026#39;password\u0026#39;]) wait_for_timesheet_table(driver, wait) fill_in_timesheet(driver) submit_and_confirm_timesheet(driver, wait) logoff_and_close(driver, wait) def read_config(): config = configparser.ConfigParser() path = os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__)) config.read(path + \u0026#39;/hours.ini\u0026#39;) return config[\u0026#39;DEFAULT\u0026#39;] def load_website(url, title): driver = webdriver.Firefox() driver.get(url) assert title in driver.title return driver def login_to_website(driver, username, password): elem = driver.find_element_by_id(\u0026#34;logonuidfield\u0026#34;) elem.send_keys(username) elem = driver.find_element_by_id(\u0026#34;logonpassfield\u0026#34;) elem.send_keys(password) elem.send_keys(Keys.RETURN) def wait_for_timesheet_table(driver, wait): # wait for ajax items to load elem = wait.until(EC.element_to_be_clickable((By.ID, \u0026#39;L2N2\u0026#39;))) elem.click() wait.until(EC.frame_to_be_available_and_switch_to_it(\u0026#39;contentAreaFrame\u0026#39;)) wait.until(EC.frame_to_be_available_and_switch_to_it(\u0026#39;isolatedWorkArea\u0026#39;)) # Wait until timesheet appears elem = wait.until(EC.presence_of_element_located( (By.ID, \u0026#34;aaaaKEBH.VcCatTableWeek.WORKDATE1_InputField.0\u0026#34;))) def fill_in_timesheet(driver): # Fill in days of the week with 8 hours each for i in range(1,6): elem = driver.find_element_by_id(\u0026#34;aaaaKEBH.VcCatTableWeek.WORKDATE\u0026#34;+str(i)+\u0026#34;_InputField.0\u0026#34;) elem.click() elem.clear() elem.send_keys(\u0026#39;8\u0026#39;) def submit_and_confirm_timesheet(driver, wait): # Wait for javascript to digest our fast hours entry :) time.sleep(0.2) # Start to Click Review Button elem = driver.find_element_by_id(\u0026#34;aaaaKEBH.VcCatRecordEntryView.ButtonNext\u0026#34;) elem.click() # Click Save/Confirm elem = wait.until(EC.presence_of_element_located( (By.ID, \u0026#34;aaaaLBOD.VcGenericButtonView.Save_com_sap_xss_hr_cat_record_vac_review_VcCatRecordReview\u0026#34;))) elem.click() # Wait until confirmation of save elem = wait.until(EC.presence_of_element_located( (By.ID, \u0026#34;aaaaLMJA.WDMsgBox.MessageArea-txt\u0026#34;))) assert \u0026#34;Your data has been saved\u0026#34; or \u0026#34;No data was changed\u0026#34; in elem.text def logoff_and_close(driver, wait): # Start logging off driver.switch_to.default_content() # get back out of iframe driver.find_element_by_css_selector(\u0026#34;#buttonlogoff \u0026gt; span.button_inner\u0026#34;).click() # Click logoff driver.find_element_by_css_selector(\u0026#34;div.button_middle\u0026#34;).click() # Click yes to logoff wait.until(lambda driver:driver.title.lower().startswith(\u0026#39;home\u0026#39;)) driver.close() if __name__ == \u0026#39;__main__\u0026#39;: main() ","permalink":"/autohours/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eContinuing the theme of automation, one of the most repetitive tasks if you work\nfor a big company is timesheets. So I set out to rectify this by scripting it!\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStart with you configuration, I named mine \u003ccode\u003ehours.ini\u003c/code\u003e:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"highlight\"\u003e\u003cpre tabindex=\"0\" style=\"color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4;\"\u003e\u003ccode class=\"language-python\" data-lang=\"python\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e[DEFAULT]\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eurl \u003cspan style=\"color:#f92672\"\u003e=\u003c/span\u003e FILL_ME_IN\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eusername \u003cspan style=\"color:#f92672\"\u003e=\u003c/span\u003e FILL_ME_IN\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003epassword \u003cspan style=\"color:#f92672\"\u003e=\u003c/span\u003e FILL_ME_IN\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/code\u003e\u003c/pre\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cp\u003ethen we need the magic of \u003ca href=\"http://www.seleniumhq.org/\"\u003eSelenium\u003c/a\u003e to do the heavy\nlifting, so we install it:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"highlight\"\u003e\u003cpre tabindex=\"0\" style=\"color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4;\"\u003e\u003ccode class=\"language-bash\" data-lang=\"bash\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e$ pip3 install selenium\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/code\u003e\u003c/pre\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eI called this script, unsurprisingly \u003ccode\u003ehours.py\u003c/code\u003e:\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Fill hours worked in SAP Netweaver Automatically"},{"content":"I love trying to automate the world, it just feels like magic some of the time! I also really enjoy information coming to me, instead of having to seek it. As we are still only in 2016, we have no world killing Artificial Intelligence (yet). So we have to start small, ease the first world problems! So I decided to make my workplaces\u0026rsquo; restaurant menu come to me!\nI decided to write it in Ruby and use push notifications, rather than email or SMS. It uses a web automation framework called Selenium, which is available in many languages, including Javascript, Python, Java and obviously Ruby!\n#!/usr/bin/env ruby #Encoding: UTF-8 require \u0026#39;nokogiri\u0026#39; require \u0026#39;net/http\u0026#39; require \u0026#39;open-uri\u0026#39; require \u0026#39;rushover\u0026#39; TOKEN=\u0026#34;\u0026#34; # Fill this in, get from Pushover USER=\u0026#34;\u0026#34; # Fill this in, get from Pushover page_url = \u0026#34;http://www.ksgcatering.ie/restaurants/ericsson/athlone/menu/index.php\u0026#34; today = Time.now.strftime(\u0026#34;%A\u0026#34;) items = [] page = Nokogiri::HTML(open(page_url, :proxy =\u0026gt; nil)) page.xpath(\u0026#34;//h2[contains(.,\u0026#39;#{today}\u0026#39;)]/following-sibling::div[contains(@class, \u0026#39;content\u0026#39;)]/h4[contains(.,\u0026#39;Main\u0026#39;)]/following-sibling::p[position() \u0026gt;= 0 and not(position() \u0026gt; 3)]\u0026#34;).each do |node| items \u0026lt;\u0026lt; node.text end items[0] = \u0026#34;\\n\\n \u0026#34; + items[0] items.map { |word| \u0026#34;\\n\\n=#{word}\u0026#34; } client = Rushover::Client.new(TOKEN) resp = client.notify(USER, items.join(\u0026#34;\\n\\n\u0026#34;), :sound =\u0026gt; \u0026#34;classical\u0026#34;, :device =\u0026gt; \u0026#34;iPhone\u0026#34;, :priority =\u0026gt; 0, :title =\u0026gt; \u0026#34;Today\u0026#39;s Menu\u0026#34;) resp.ok? # =\u0026gt; true # Can check response from pushover if you want to verify it\u0026#39;s sent #puts resp.ok? I have it set to run as a cron job on my work laptop, with an added bonus that it doesn\u0026rsquo;t run when I\u0026rsquo;m on holiday as the laptop is off. Here\u0026rsquo;s an example of the cron job:\n# m h dom mon dow command 45 10 * * 1,2,3,4,5 $HOME/canteen-menu.rb As you can see in the comments, the format for cron (on Ubuntu Linux) is: Minute, Hour, Day of Month, Month, Day of Week, Command.\nSo the time it runs is 10:45, any day of month, any month, only run Mon-Fri (1,2,3,4,5) and run our script command, easy!\n","permalink":"/rest-menu/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI love trying to automate the world, it just feels like magic some of the time!\nI also really enjoy information coming to me, instead of having to seek it. As\nwe are still only in 2016, we have no world killing Artificial Intelligence\n(yet). So we have to start small, ease the first world problems! So I decided to\nmake my workplaces\u0026rsquo; restaurant menu come to me!\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI decided to write it in Ruby and use push notifications, rather than email or\nSMS. It uses a web automation framework called\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.seleniumhq.org/\"\u003eSelenium\u003c/a\u003e, which is available in many languages,\nincluding Javascript, Python, Java and obviously Ruby!\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Automated 'Push' Restaurant menu"},{"content":"I\u0026rsquo;m a huge fan of Docker ever since I started to use it, approximately a year after it was started. It\u0026rsquo;s one of those technologies where when you start to use it, you immediately know it\u0026rsquo;s going to be a sea change in how things are done in the industry. It\u0026rsquo;s definitely going to be more impactful then Virtual Machines.\nWe\u0026rsquo;ve used Docker to great effect where I work. We\u0026rsquo;re building a huge system called Ericsson Network Manager, which will manage the networks of the future. As such, it\u0026rsquo;s a hugely complex problem to compartmentalise parts of the product, to be able to just use the part that you work directly on.\nThere has been two approaches inside the company:\nEncapsulate the whole system Just encapsulate the product In my product area, we\u0026rsquo;ve focused on number 2. We did this because we wanted to focus on two things:\nAutomated functional testing Automated integration testing And again, number 2 was the main catalyst, as the existing infrastructure we had in place was very compromised. We have a central Continuous Integration service, but with over 100 teams, they can\u0026rsquo;t suit every team and every product.\nSo we decided to start small and just have Docker prove itself by taking over parts of our infrastructure where we ran integration tests. We have had many issues, but they have been mostly with the immaturity of Docker, for which Docker hasn\u0026rsquo;t provided a centralised solution (like cleaning up unused images, which can fill up a whole disk and then bad things happen). Elsewhere companies like Spotify and Google have written custom solutions to many of these such issues.\nThe biggest advantages we\u0026rsquo;ve gotten have been:\nExperience with Docker A cleaner deployment for local development Much more reliable and predictable integration tests Less work to do with local deployment Disadvantages:\nMore infrastructure that\u0026rsquo;s not core to the product More to learn (some people can be resistant to new technology!) More maintenance when things go wrong Overall for us as a product area I think Docker has been a worthwhile investment for sure. It\u0026rsquo;s definitely not as stable as Virtual Machines (which at this point is very old technology), but the possibilities it brings to speed up development and deployment are really exciting to me!\n","permalink":"/docker/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI\u0026rsquo;m a huge fan of \u003ca href=\"http://www.docker.com\"\u003eDocker\u003c/a\u003e ever since I started to use\nit, approximately a year after it was started. It\u0026rsquo;s one of those technologies\nwhere when you start to use it, you immediately know it\u0026rsquo;s going to be a sea\nchange in how things are done in the industry. It\u0026rsquo;s definitely going to be more\nimpactful then\n\u003ca href=\"https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_machine\"\u003eVirtual Machines\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe\u0026rsquo;ve used Docker to great effect where I work. We\u0026rsquo;re building a huge system\ncalled Ericsson Network Manager, which will manage the networks of the future.\nAs such, it\u0026rsquo;s a hugely complex problem to compartmentalise parts of the product,\nto be able to just use the part that you work directly on.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Adventures with Docker"},{"content":"Deliveries helps you track packages from major shopping (Amazon, Apple) as well as nearly every major package distribution company like DHL, UPS and FedEx. I\u0026rsquo;ve used the app for years and it\u0026rsquo;s really impressed me.\nIt can sync via iCloud or the Junecloud cloud service by the makers of the app, Junecloud (not confusing at all, hey!). It started on the Mac as a simple dashboard widget (for those of you who remember those, rarely used these days), but it\u0026rsquo;s since grown to have its own Mac app also. Considering many people will have a lot of packages coming from everywhere this Christmas, it\u0026rsquo;s definitely a really useful app to have!\n","permalink":"/deliveries-app/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://geo.itunes.apple.com/ie/app/deliveries-a-package-tracker/id290986013?mt=8\u0026amp;uo=4\u0026amp;at=1001l4PJ\"\u003eDeliveries\u003c/a\u003e\nhelps you track packages from major shopping (Amazon, Apple) as well as nearly\nevery major package distribution company like DHL, UPS and FedEx. I\u0026rsquo;ve used the\napp for years and it\u0026rsquo;s really impressed me.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt can sync via iCloud or the Junecloud cloud service by the makers of the app,\nJunecloud (not confusing at all, hey!). It started on the Mac as a simple\ndashboard widget (for those of you who remember those, rarely used these days),\nbut it\u0026rsquo;s since grown to have\n\u003ca href=\"https://geo.itunes.apple.com/ie/app/deliveries-a-package-tracker/id924726344?mt=12\u0026amp;uo=4\u0026amp;at=1001l4PJ\"\u003eits own Mac app also\u003c/a\u003e.\nConsidering many people will have a lot of packages coming from everywhere this\nChristmas, it\u0026rsquo;s definitely a really useful app to have!\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Deliveries App"},{"content":"Recently I\u0026rsquo;d seen a post on Hacker News about a course for the React JavaScript Framework. I haven\u0026rsquo;t done much with JavaScript, apart from a course in work, which was focused on the language itself and jQuery. React is a front end framework, which allows you to build reusable components (and generate them with data.)\nThe only real experience I have is writing an application (using Node.js) for my MSc course which was an AJAX application for interacting with Amazon SimpleDB. It was fun to write and weird that I could use the same language from the front-end to the back-end.\nBack to the React course, I completed it over a week, taking my time to break things (it\u0026rsquo;s the only way to get an appreciation for how things work!). It\u0026rsquo;s a really nicely laid out course, where you build a market for fish (a lot more exciting then it sounds). It doesn\u0026rsquo;t really cover any CSS or HTML, so you should at least know that before starting.\nWhat I really liked in particular was the build tools, including Gulp. Gulp is like Make, Maven, Gradle, Ant etc. It\u0026rsquo;s very flexible and fast, with hundreds of modules on Node Package Manager to choose from. Part of building the app, you can make the assets (HTML+CSS etc) smaller (minification), run a web server and open your browser with the app automatically. Combined with a nifty tool called BrowserSync, it\u0026rsquo;s the fastest feedback cycle I\u0026rsquo;ve probably ever had. That makes it fantastic if your new to this kind of thing, nothing inspires happiness more than seeing instant results!\nAlso the course does a pretty good job at taking you from today\u0026rsquo;s JavaScript standard (ES5) to the more modern equivalents (ES6, ES7). JavaScript in time is set to become a much nicer language to write, the only problem is compatibility. Luckily the course touches on Babel which happily transpiles all your fancy newer JavaScript down the widely supported standard of ES5. The compatibility will probably be painful, it always is - judging by Python (2 to 3), Perl and all the other languages which have sought to remove cruft.\nAll in all I\u0026rsquo;d very much recommend it. I even re-wrote Grogan Burners (My Fathers business) website to use React components after!\n","permalink":"/react/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eRecently I\u0026rsquo;d seen a post on \u003ca href=\"https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10499683\"\u003eHacker News\u003c/a\u003e about a \u003ca href=\"https://reactforbeginners.com/\"\u003ecourse for the React\nJavaScript Framework\u003c/a\u003e. I haven\u0026rsquo;t done much with JavaScript, apart from a\ncourse in work, which was focused on the language itself and \u003ca href=\"http://jquery.com/\"\u003ejQuery\u003c/a\u003e.\n\u003ca href=\"https://facebook.github.io/react/\"\u003eReact\u003c/a\u003e is a front end framework, which allows you to build reusable\ncomponents (and generate them with data.)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe only real experience I have is writing an application (using\n\u003ca href=\"http://nodejs.org/\"\u003eNode.js\u003c/a\u003e) for \u003ca href=\"/ucd\"\u003emy MSc course\u003c/a\u003e which was an \u003ca href=\"http://www.w3schools.com/ajax/default.asp\"\u003eAJAX\u003c/a\u003e application for\ninteracting with \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_SimpleDB\"\u003eAmazon SimpleDB\u003c/a\u003e. It was fun to write and weird that I\ncould use the same language from the front-end to the back-end.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Adventures with React"},{"content":"You can follow the Microsoft TechNet guide to add VisualBasic code in Outlook rules.\nYou can just replace the code they give with this:\nSub AutoDeclineMeetings(oRequest As MeetingItem) \u0026#39; If its not a meeting, we don\u0026#39;t process If oRequest.MessageClass \u0026lt;\u0026gt; \u0026#34;IPM.Schedule.Meeting.Request\u0026#34; Then Exit Sub End If \u0026#39; Get the appointment in the meeting Dim oAppt As AppointmentItem Set oAppt = oRequest.GetAssociatedAppointment(True) \u0026#39; Send a decline response Dim oResponse Set oResponse = oAppt.Respond(olMeetingDeclined, True) oResponse.Send \u0026#39; Lastly, delete the message oRequest.Delete End Sub Sub AutoAcceptMeetings(oRequest As MeetingItem) \u0026#39; If its not a meeting, we don\u0026#39;t process If oRequest.MessageClass \u0026lt;\u0026gt; \u0026#34;IPM.Schedule.Meeting.Request\u0026#34; Then Exit Sub End If \u0026#39; Get the appointment in the meeting Dim oAppt As AppointmentItem Set oAppt = oRequest.GetAssociatedAppointment(True) \u0026#39; Send an accept response Dim oResponse Set oResponse = oAppt.Respond(olMeetingAccepted, True) oResponse.Send \u0026#39; Lastly, (optionally) delete the message \u0026#39;oRequest.Delete End Sub For anything else you may want to do with the meeting, check the Outlook Visual Basic Developer Docs.\n","permalink":"/outlook/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eYou can follow the\n\u003ca href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20151016112956/http://blogs.technet.com/b/sharepoint_republic/archive/2011/12/09/outlook-rule-to-auto-accept-or-auto-decline-meeting-invites.aspx\"\u003eMicrosoft TechNet guide to add VisualBasic code in Outlook rules\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou can just replace the code they give with this:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"highlight\"\u003e\u003cpre tabindex=\"0\" style=\"color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4;\"\u003e\u003ccode class=\"language-vb\" data-lang=\"vb\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003eSub\u003c/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"color:#a6e22e\"\u003eAutoDeclineMeetings\u003c/span\u003e(oRequest \u003cspan style=\"color:#f92672\"\u003eAs\u003c/span\u003e MeetingItem)\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#75715e\"\u003e\u0026#39; If its not a meeting, we don\u0026#39;t process\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#75715e\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003eIf\u003c/span\u003e oRequest.MessageClass \u003cspan style=\"color:#f92672\"\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026gt;\u003c/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"color:#e6db74\"\u003e\u0026#34;IPM.Schedule.Meeting.Request\u0026#34;\u003c/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003eThen\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e    \u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003eExit\u003c/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003eSub\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#a6e22e\"\u003eEnd\u003c/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003eIf\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#75715e\"\u003e\u0026#39; Get the appointment in the meeting\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#75715e\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003eDim\u003c/span\u003e oAppt \u003cspan style=\"color:#f92672\"\u003eAs\u003c/span\u003e AppointmentItem\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003eSet\u003c/span\u003e oAppt \u003cspan style=\"color:#f92672\"\u003e=\u003c/span\u003e oRequest.GetAssociatedAppointment(\u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003eTrue\u003c/span\u003e)\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#75715e\"\u003e\u0026#39; Send a decline response\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#75715e\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003eDim\u003c/span\u003e oResponse\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e    \u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003eSet\u003c/span\u003e oResponse \u003cspan style=\"color:#f92672\"\u003e=\u003c/span\u003e oAppt.Respond(olMeetingDeclined, \u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003eTrue\u003c/span\u003e)\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e    oResponse.Send\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#75715e\"\u003e\u0026#39; Lastly, delete the message\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#75715e\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003eoRequest.Delete\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003eEnd\u003c/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003eSub\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003eSub\u003c/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"color:#a6e22e\"\u003eAutoAcceptMeetings\u003c/span\u003e(oRequest \u003cspan style=\"color:#f92672\"\u003eAs\u003c/span\u003e MeetingItem)\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#75715e\"\u003e\u0026#39; If its not a meeting, we don\u0026#39;t process\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#75715e\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003eIf\u003c/span\u003e oRequest.MessageClass \u003cspan style=\"color:#f92672\"\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026gt;\u003c/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"color:#e6db74\"\u003e\u0026#34;IPM.Schedule.Meeting.Request\u0026#34;\u003c/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003eThen\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e    \u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003eExit\u003c/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003eSub\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#a6e22e\"\u003eEnd\u003c/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003eIf\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#75715e\"\u003e\u0026#39; Get the appointment in the meeting\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#75715e\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003eDim\u003c/span\u003e oAppt \u003cspan style=\"color:#f92672\"\u003eAs\u003c/span\u003e AppointmentItem\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003eSet\u003c/span\u003e oAppt \u003cspan style=\"color:#f92672\"\u003e=\u003c/span\u003e oRequest.GetAssociatedAppointment(\u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003eTrue\u003c/span\u003e)\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#75715e\"\u003e\u0026#39; Send an accept response\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#75715e\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003eDim\u003c/span\u003e oResponse\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e    \u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003eSet\u003c/span\u003e oResponse \u003cspan style=\"color:#f92672\"\u003e=\u003c/span\u003e oAppt.Respond(olMeetingAccepted, \u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003eTrue\u003c/span\u003e)\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e    oResponse.Send\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#75715e\"\u003e\u0026#39; Lastly, (optionally) delete the message\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#75715e\"\u003e\u0026#39;oRequest.Delete\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#75715e\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003eEnd\u003c/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003eSub\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/code\u003e\u003c/pre\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor anything else you may want to do with the meeting, check the\n\u003ca href=\"https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/office/dn320338(v=office.15)\"\u003eOutlook Visual Basic Developer Docs\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Automatically Decline and Delete or Accept and Delete Outlook 2010 Meetings"},{"content":"Editorial is an iPhone and iPad plain text editor that\u0026rsquo;s great for markdown1. It also has some nifty automation workflows, in which you can use Python scripts. These can search the web, scrape data, transform text and much more…\nI pretty much wrote this blog post (and many more) in Editorial. It\u0026rsquo;s much better then the competition for markdown in particular. Byword is an obvious competitor, which I really can\u0026rsquo;t recommend (nothing inherently wrong with Byword, just doesn\u0026rsquo;t suit me). MacStories has an in -depth Editorial review, which is well worth a long read.\nMarkdown is a lightweight markup format, created by John Gruber of Daring Fireball.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n","permalink":"/editorial-app/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/ie/app/editorial/id673907758?mt=8\u0026amp;uo=4\u0026amp;at=1001l4PJ\" title=\"editorial\"\u003eEditorial\u003c/a\u003e\nis an iPhone and iPad plain text editor that\u0026rsquo;s great for markdown\u003csup id=\"fnref:1\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#fn:1\" class=\"footnote-ref\" role=\"doc-noteref\"\u003e1\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e. It also\nhas some nifty automation workflows, in which you can use Python scripts. These\ncan search the web, scrape data, transform text and much more…\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI pretty much wrote this blog post (and many more) in Editorial. It\u0026rsquo;s much\nbetter then the competition for markdown in particular.\n\u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/ie/app/byword/id482063361?mt=8\u0026amp;uo=4\u0026amp;at=1001l4PJ\" title=\"byword\"\u003eByword\u003c/a\u003e\nis an obvious competitor, which I really can\u0026rsquo;t recommend (nothing inherently\nwrong with Byword, just doesn\u0026rsquo;t suit me).\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.macstories.net/reviews/editorial-1-2-brings-powerful-new-text-editing-features-more-ios-automation/\"\u003eMacStories has an in -depth Editorial review\u003c/a\u003e,\nwhich is well worth a long read.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Editorial App"},{"content":"I follow Casey Liss\u0026rsquo; blog and recently he had a great post about a technology \u0026ldquo;go pack\u0026rdquo;. Lifehacker has written about this over the years, and the Wirecutter has a great article I shared here on this very blog. Also Casey linked to a great post by Katie Floyd on Twitter:\nhttps://twitter.com/KatieFloyd/status/630707145999314946\nI finally took the hint / inspiration from all these posts, and I decided time was right to put together my own \u0026ldquo;go bag\u0026rdquo;. Here\u0026rsquo;s a picture of my tech go bag:\nWhat\u0026rsquo;s in my (tech) go bag: Case The bag is the largest of these three: 3 x BUBM CARRY BAG CASE , really good value these bags Cocoon GRID-IT Organiser - Small (black) - plan to use this with battery charger and retractable cables on day trips Cables 2 of AmazonBasics Apple-Certified Retractable Lightning to USB Cable 2 ft CHARGEKEY | Lightning Cable, Key Sized Apple Earpods Headphone splitter - purchased for € 1.50 in a discount store Ethernet cable - bog standard, was in drawer 4-Port USB charger with removable plug heads - no idea where I got this!?!? Probably DX.com, although I certainly bought others like this there and they are very poor quality, avoid! and to keep these organised:\nFisual Chunky Reuseable Hook \u0026amp; Loop Cable Ties - 20 Pack Black - use these to tie cables, also use them around the house, very handy! Devices EasyAcc 10000mAh Ultra Slim Dual USB (2.1A / 1.5A Output) Portable Power Bank Edimax BR-6258nL N150 Wireless Personal Hotspot \u0026amp; Travel Route - bought this after seeing Katie Floyd\u0026rsquo;s recommendation Sennheiser PXC 310 BT Headphones - lasted well for years, had these since 2012 Other Holiday Travel stuff / bags Also with the tech go bag, I\u0026rsquo;ve created a toiletry bag, contact lens bag etc. This goes with Ebags I bought in 2014, which have been great for travel. I bought some of these from Amazon and then from Ikea and I\u0026rsquo;m going to see which lasts longer :)\nMicrofibre Towel (Purple), travel towel Vango Pac Packable Rucksack vs. IKEA KNALLA Backpack 7 Piece Air Travel Bottle Set vs. UPPTÄCKA Travel Bottles, assorted colours UPPTÄCKA Toilet bag, dark blue UPPTÄCKA Packing bag, set of 4 vs eBags Packing Cubes (I bought before) Mens/Ladies Hanging Large Toiletry Wash Bag - bought before, hasn\u0026rsquo;t lasted as well as I would have hoped. Vapur Eclipse Reusable Plastic Water Bottle Some more pictures:\n","permalink":"/gobag/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI follow Casey Liss\u0026rsquo; blog and recently he had a great post about a \u003ca href=\"http://www.caseyliss.com/2015/8/9/go-pack\"\u003etechnology\n\u0026ldquo;go pack\u0026rdquo;\u003c/a\u003e. Lifehacker has written about \u003ca href=\"http://lifehacker.com/5903929/put-together-a-killer-go-bag-this-weekend\"\u003ethis\u003c/a\u003e \u003ca href=\"http://lifehacker.com/the-tech-commuters-go-bag-1279587407\"\u003eover\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"http://lifehacker.com/the-tech-essentials-daily-bag-1723128314\"\u003ethe\u003c/a\u003e \u003ca href=\"http://lifehacker.com/the-geek-essentials-bag-1441875871\"\u003eyears\u003c/a\u003e, and the Wirecutter has a great article \u003ca href=\"https://ngrogan.com/holiday-gadgets\"\u003eI shared here\non this very blog\u003c/a\u003e. Also Casey linked to a great post by \u003ca href=\"http://katiefloyd.com/blog/creating-a-tech-go-bag\"\u003eKatie\nFloyd\u003c/a\u003e on Twitter:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/KatieFloyd/status/630707145999314946\"\u003ehttps://twitter.com/KatieFloyd/status/630707145999314946\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI finally took the hint / inspiration from all these posts, and I decided time\nwas right to put together my own \u0026ldquo;go bag\u0026rdquo;. Here\u0026rsquo;s a picture of my tech go bag:\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Go Bag(s)"},{"content":"In alphabetical order:\nAmazon.com / Amazon.co.uk - usually buy electronics here! Apple\u0026rsquo;s App Store - I use iOS \u0026amp; Mac heavily, buy a lot of apps! Dropbox - sync files across computers Evernote - I store a lot of notes here. Fastmail - My email, contacts, calendars Hover - great place for domain names (like this one). Lastpass - excellent password manager Newsblur - Personalized RSS for news junkies Pinboard - stores all my bookmarks (also archives the sites) Trello - I\u0026rsquo;m planning a holiday via Trello Some of these are referral links, I stand to get extra credit on these services if you use it.\n","permalink":"/services/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eIn alphabetical order:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/?tag=neigrossio-20\"\u003eAmazon.com\u003c/a\u003e / \u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.co.uk/?tag=neigrossit06-21\"\u003eAmazon.co.uk\u003c/a\u003e - usually buy electronics here!\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eApple\u0026rsquo;s \u003ca href=\"https://linkmaker.itunes.apple.com/ie/?at=1001l4PJ\"\u003eApp Store\u003c/a\u003e - I use iOS \u0026amp; Mac heavily, buy a lot of apps!\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://db.tt/fOnHqD6\"\u003eDropbox\u003c/a\u003e - sync files across computers\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.evernote.com/referral/Registration.action?sig=e4bb3e64130d79f13d5c57d6acbc9ee4\u0026amp;uid=3107073\"\u003eEvernote\u003c/a\u003e - I store a lot of notes here.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.fastmail.com/?STKI=14732385\"\u003eFastmail\u003c/a\u003e - My email, contacts, calendars\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://hover.com/NZK6v5yX\"\u003eHover\u003c/a\u003e - great place for domain names (like this one).\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://lastpass.com/f?513396\"\u003eLastpass\u003c/a\u003e - excellent password manager\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.newsblur.com\"\u003eNewsblur\u003c/a\u003e - Personalized RSS for news junkies\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://pinboard.in\"\u003ePinboard\u003c/a\u003e - stores all my bookmarks (also archives the sites)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://trello.com/neilgrogan/recommend\"\u003eTrello\u003c/a\u003e - I\u0026rsquo;m planning a holiday via Trello\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003csmall\u003eSome of these are referral links, I stand to get extra credit on these\nservices if you use it.\u003c/small\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Services I pay for"},{"content":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e1DiEegB_c\nh/t; reddit\nupdate: I tried this myself, but I\u0026rsquo;ve obviously no talent for these things:\n","permalink":"/watch-stand/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e1DiEegB_c\"\u003ehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e1DiEegB_c\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eh/t;\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/3hygaj/i_put_together_a_really_lazy_and_nice_diy_apple/\"\u003ereddit\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eupdate:\u003c/strong\u003e I tried this myself, but I\u0026rsquo;ve obviously no talent for these things:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"/public/img/15/watchclip.jpeg\" alt=\" Apple watch stand using clip\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Apple Watch Stand"},{"content":"My favourite text number crunching app on iOS bar none is Soulver. What makes it the best?\nFast to load Simple user interface that gets out of the way Contextual Keyboards (my favourite is the currency keyboard) Can reuse calculations from previous lines (and name calculations). iCloud sync Soulver is great for when a spreadsheet is just to heavy. I use it a lot for it currency conversion, makes it easy to have multiple line items in different currencies (say GBP \u0026amp; USD) and get a total in one (EUR). Also for splitting the bills at a resturant, each line could be a food item (so if two desserts cost the same, you can see quickly and only add lines relevant for each participant).\n","permalink":"/soulver-app/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eMy favourite text number crunching app on iOS bar none is \u003ca href=\"http://www.acqualia.com/soulver/\"\u003eSoulver\u003c/a\u003e. What\nmakes it the best?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFast to load\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSimple user interface that gets out of the way\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eContextual Keyboards (my favourite is the currency keyboard)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCan reuse calculations from previous lines (and name calculations).\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eiCloud sync\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.acqualia.com/soulver/\"\u003eSoulver\u003c/a\u003e is great for when a spreadsheet is just to heavy. I use it a lot for\nit currency conversion, makes it easy to have multiple line items in different\ncurrencies (say GBP \u0026amp; USD) and get a total in one (EUR). Also for splitting the\nbills at a resturant, each line could be a food item (so if two desserts cost\nthe same, you can see quickly and only add lines relevant for each participant).\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Soulver App"},{"content":"My favourite text capture app on iOS bar none is Drafts by Agile Tortoise. What makes it the best?\nNo fluff, loads fast Simple user interface that gets out of the way Extensible actions (which you can add to from their directory) iCloud sync I\u0026rsquo;ve tried a lot of other apps like Byword (Not worth the money I think), Apples\u0026rsquo; built-in Notes app, Textastic and so on. None felt as efficient or as flexible as Drafts. With Drafts, I can trust my text can be anywhere I need it to be.\n","permalink":"/drafts-app/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eMy favourite text capture app on iOS bar none is \u003ca href=\"http://agiletortoise.com/drafts/\"\u003eDrafts\u003c/a\u003e by Agile Tortoise.\nWhat makes it the best?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNo fluff, loads fast\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSimple user interface that gets out of the way\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eExtensible actions (which you can add to from their \u003ca href=\"http://drafts4-actions.agiletortoise.com\"\u003edirectory\u003c/a\u003e)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eiCloud sync\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI\u0026rsquo;ve tried a lot of other apps like \u003ca href=\"http://bywordapp.com/\"\u003eByword\u003c/a\u003e (Not worth the money I think),\nApples\u0026rsquo; built-in Notes app, \u003ca href=\"http://www.textasticapp.com/\"\u003eTextastic\u003c/a\u003e and so on. None felt as efficient or\nas flexible as Drafts. With Drafts, I can trust my text can be anywhere I need\nit to be.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Drafts App"},{"content":"I\u0026rsquo;ve had this DeLonghi machine for a year and a half now, and I possibly am slightly a little in love. It was the best rated coffee machine (at time of purchase) on Amazon and it doesn\u0026rsquo;t dissapoint. For the purpose, it\u0026rsquo;s wonderful:\nMake great coffee fast, without a mess.\nIf you\u0026rsquo;re looking for more, I would have a look at the more expensive models. When I shopped around at the time, I read that the internals of this machine are just as good as the ones that DeLonghi sells that are twice as expensive. Mostly the price difference comes down to the \u0026ldquo;extraneous\u0026rdquo; features. Where this machine falls down is in a few areas:\nBoiler takes an eternity to switch from Coffee to steam and vice versa (important if you want to make a lot of cappucino or lattes)\nThe \u0026ldquo;cup warmer\u0026rdquo; (silver area on top, where you can place cups) wouldn\u0026rsquo;t warm the sun. It\u0026rsquo;s useless!\nWater tank is on the small side - but I take this as a kind of a strengh (as I want to consume that much coffee from this machine)\nIt\u0026rsquo;s a solid buy if your in need of a bean-to-cup (and to be honest, they are the cleanest and least hassle of any coffee machine types, in my opinion) and comes recommended. Be warned though, it\u0026rsquo;s too good to share in an office environment!!\n","permalink":"/coffee-machine/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI\u0026rsquo;ve had this \u003ca href=\"https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001EOMZ5E/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8\u0026amp;psc=1\"\u003eDeLonghi\u003c/a\u003e machine for a year and a half now, and I possibly am\nslightly a little in love. It was the best rated coffee machine (at time of\npurchase) on Amazon and it doesn\u0026rsquo;t dissapoint. For the purpose, it\u0026rsquo;s wonderful:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMake great coffee fast, without a mess.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you\u0026rsquo;re looking for more, I would have a look at the more expensive models.\nWhen I shopped around at the time, I read that the internals of this machine are\njust as good as the ones that DeLonghi sells that are twice as expensive. Mostly\nthe price difference comes down to the \u0026ldquo;extraneous\u0026rdquo; features. Where this machine\nfalls down is in a few areas:\u003c/p\u003e","title":"De'Longhi Magnifica ESAM4200 Bean to Cup"},{"content":"I recently purchased a Mac Mini Server, for this site to run on. It\u0026rsquo;s hosted on my home broadband connection, but it\u0026rsquo;s just really for small time side-projects like this site. Also it\u0026rsquo;s a way to play around with Docker, VirtualBox, Node.js and all those other fun technologies I don\u0026rsquo;t get time for.\nI don\u0026rsquo;t really plan to post links, but maybe I\u0026rsquo;ll review things or cover things I\u0026rsquo;ve bought.\n","permalink":"/macmini/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI recently purchased a Mac Mini Server, for this site to run on. It\u0026rsquo;s hosted on\nmy home broadband connection, but it\u0026rsquo;s just really for small time side-projects\nlike this site. Also it\u0026rsquo;s a way to play around with Docker, VirtualBox, Node.js\nand all those other fun technologies I don\u0026rsquo;t get time for.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI don\u0026rsquo;t really plan to post links, but maybe I\u0026rsquo;ll review things or cover things\nI\u0026rsquo;ve bought.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Mac Mini Server"},{"content":"On holidays in Lithuania recently I was eating in a restaurant and noticed the music was all in English. It\u0026rsquo;s not the first time I\u0026rsquo;ve noticed a non English speaking country playing all English songs in bars, restaurants and taxis. Rather what was unusual was the very few ads and the fact it was an American station.\nI\u0026rsquo;m no fan of ads, and am a huge fan of audio in general - be it spoken word or music. I\u0026rsquo;m a Spotify subscriber, but I also get bored if my own playlists fairly quickly. Spotify Radio isn\u0026rsquo;t the solution and I can\u0026rsquo;t access Pandora easily outside the US. 181 fm has a huge choice of stations (although I need a Smiths/Cure type of station) and plays few ads. It takes a little time to try out feeds they have, and some songs are on heavy rotation like regular music radio but it\u0026rsquo;s a nice service. Give it a try\n","permalink":"/181fm/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eOn holidays in Lithuania recently I was eating in a restaurant and noticed the\nmusic was all in English. It\u0026rsquo;s not the first time I\u0026rsquo;ve noticed a non English\nspeaking country playing all English songs in bars, restaurants and taxis.\nRather what was unusual was the very few ads and the fact it was an American\nstation.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI\u0026rsquo;m no fan of ads, and am a huge fan of audio in general - be it spoken word or\nmusic. I\u0026rsquo;m a Spotify subscriber, but I also get bored if my own playlists fairly\nquickly. Spotify Radio isn\u0026rsquo;t the solution and I can\u0026rsquo;t access Pandora easily\noutside the US. 181 fm has a huge choice of stations (although I need a\nSmiths/Cure type of station) and plays few ads. It takes a little time to try\nout feeds they have, and some songs are on heavy rotation like regular music\nradio but it\u0026rsquo;s a nice service. Give it a try\u003c/p\u003e","title":"All Music Radio"},{"content":"I\u0026rsquo;m a big Wirecutter fan and they don\u0026rsquo;t disappoint with this travel guide.\n","permalink":"/holiday-gadgets/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI\u0026rsquo;m a big Wirecutter fan and they don\u0026rsquo;t disappoint with this travel guide.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Going on Holidays? Check these Gadgets"},{"content":"I heard a behavioural economist on the radio this morning, he was talking about rising house prices in Dublin and the tricks the industry uses to get you to overpay. Turns out you can mitigate these tricks with a bit of knowledge, as this proves:\nBut now, with some simple math, you can fight back!\nFirst, let’s see how the MTA tricks you out of your money earlier than you might want to release it to them.\n","permalink":"/math-mta/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI heard a behavioural economist on the radio this morning, he was talking about\nrising house prices in Dublin and the tricks the industry uses to get you to\noverpay. Turns out you can mitigate these tricks with a bit of knowledge, as\nthis proves:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut now, with some simple math, you can fight back!\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFirst, let’s see how the MTA tricks you out of your money earlier than you\nmight want to release it to them.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Math can help you outsmart the MTA"},{"content":"Interesting study here: apparently performance of people in a company is never related to a bell curve, but is more like a ski slope. So the majority of people are carried by the few in terms of performance. What I really want to know is pay for these people like a ski slope? Cause I bet it ain\u0026rsquo;t.\n","permalink":"/bell-curve/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eInteresting study here: apparently performance of people in a company is never\nrelated to a bell curve, but is more like a ski slope. So the majority of people\nare carried by the few in terms of performance. What I really want to know is\npay for these people like a ski slope? Cause I bet it ain\u0026rsquo;t.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Bell Curve is Wrong"},{"content":"Interesting announcements yesterday by Apple, finally releasing an iWatch. A lot of the talk on tech sites was reminiscent of the famous CMDR Taco (of Slashdot) line: \u0026ldquo;Less space then a nomad. Lame.\u0026rdquo;\nI happened to own a Nomad shortly after that famous quote was made. So we can see, quoting Steve Jobs \u0026ldquo;[They] have no taste\u0026rdquo; is applicable to me! I just don\u0026rsquo;t get the watch yet. As a permanent contact wearer, I\u0026rsquo;m waiting for Google Glass in a contact lens! What I do predict however is: motor accidents due to Apple Watch updates and laws banning staring at the thing.\nThe iPhone 6 looks good however, but it\u0026rsquo;s not enough for me (personally) to upgrade. I don\u0026rsquo;t think Apple Pay will work here in Ireland any time soon (I\u0026rsquo;d think probably iPhone 7 time-frame, but we\u0026rsquo;ll see..). I do like bigger screen phones - I am a former Galaxy S3 owner and I really liked that screen real estate. Anyone with a longer memory will recall Apple didn\u0026rsquo;t want to use bigger screens because you can\u0026rsquo;t reach around the phone using one finger - that philosophy is obviously gone! I think the market has spoken though. Also interesting tidbit is Apple dissing Android for dynamic layouts (something along the lines of: \u0026ldquo;They don\u0026rsquo;t have any tablet apps, just blown up phone apps\u0026rdquo;) and now adopting it in iOS8.\nI\u0026rsquo;m also interested to see who ends up toting the iPhone Plus about. I don\u0026rsquo;t think it\u0026rsquo;s the model I\u0026rsquo;d go for.\n","permalink":"/apple-annouces-iphone6-watch/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eInteresting announcements yesterday by Apple, finally releasing an iWatch. A lot\nof the talk on tech sites was reminiscent of the famous CMDR Taco (of Slashdot)\nline: \u0026ldquo;Less space then a nomad. Lame.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI happened to own a Nomad shortly after that famous quote was made. So we can\nsee, quoting Steve Jobs \u0026ldquo;[They] have no taste\u0026rdquo; is applicable to me! I just don\u0026rsquo;t\nget the watch yet. As a permanent contact wearer, I\u0026rsquo;m waiting for Google Glass\nin a contact lens! What I do predict however is: motor accidents due to Apple\nWatch updates and laws banning staring at the thing.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"iPhone 6 and Apple Watch"},{"content":"I\u0026rsquo;ve followed this tutorial personally, not using Mongo as the database at first. It\u0026rsquo;s clear and to the point and provides just what you need to know to get started. Highly recommended.\n","permalink":"/web-app-nodejs-tutorial/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI\u0026rsquo;ve followed this tutorial personally, not using Mongo as the database at\nfirst. It\u0026rsquo;s clear and to the point and provides just what you need to know to\nget started. Highly recommended.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Full Stack Web Application with Node.js Tutorial"},{"content":"As part of my undergradute thesis, I found a template (for LyX) to ease the pain of formatting a thesis in LaTeX. Making it look just right to me was very important. If your are writing a thesis, perhaps you feel the same way? If so, read on\u0026hellip;\nWhile doing my first undergraduate thesis in Computer Science, I found a template used for a Computer Science thesis in NUI Maynooth (a university in Ireland). What attracted me was simple: it was battle tested and easily customisable. That was 2011 and since then I\u0026rsquo;d pretty much forgotten about it.\nUntil now. I\u0026rsquo;ve cleaned up the templates, got the required files and created and install script. You can now be up and running in minutes! All you need is git installed and to clone this repository.\nPlease submit any improvements as pull requests! In particular a Windows install script would be nice (I\u0026rsquo;ve completed the Mac and Debian-based Linux install script).\n","permalink":"/csthesis/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eAs part of my undergradute thesis, I found a template (for LyX) to ease the pain\nof formatting a thesis in LaTeX. Making it look just right to me was very\nimportant. If your are writing a thesis, perhaps you feel the same way? If so,\nread on\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile doing my first undergraduate thesis in Computer Science, I found a\ntemplate used for a Computer Science thesis in NUI Maynooth (a university in\nIreland). What attracted me was simple: it was battle tested and easily\ncustomisable. That was 2011 and since then I\u0026rsquo;d pretty much forgotten about it.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"CSThesis: Create Professional looking thesis"},{"content":"Worth a read for those wishing to optimise programs that process a lot of data. It proves that less really is more\u0026hellip;\nMoney quote:\nThe key to making programs fast is to make them do practically nothing.\n","permalink":"/grep-fast/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eWorth a read for those wishing to optimise programs that process a lot of data.\nIt proves that less really is more\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMoney quote:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe key to making programs fast is to make them do practically nothing.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/blockquote\u003e","title":"Why GNU Grep is fast"},{"content":"A great guide to get up to speed with Fish shell. What is Fish? It\u0026rsquo;s a shell written from the ground up to be more easily understandable the the traditional shells (bash, tcsh). I don\u0026rsquo;t know yet if I\u0026rsquo;ll switch (anything you can do in Fish can be made to work in Bash). It\u0026rsquo;s an interesting concept and I\u0026rsquo;ll try it for a while\u0026hellip;\n","permalink":"/fish-shell/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eA great guide to get up to speed with Fish shell. What is Fish? It\u0026rsquo;s a shell\nwritten from the ground up to be more easily understandable the the traditional\nshells (bash, tcsh). I don\u0026rsquo;t know yet if I\u0026rsquo;ll switch (anything you can do in\nFish can be made to work in Bash). It\u0026rsquo;s an interesting concept and I\u0026rsquo;ll try it\nfor a while\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Fish Shell for Ubuntu and OS X"},{"content":"I\u0026rsquo;ve recently decided to further my education by applying for a Masters in Computer Science at University College Dublin. It\u0026rsquo;s very different from a traditional masters course in that it is very much focused on industry, the term the University uses is \u0026ldquo;Negotiated Learning\u0026rdquo;. It was a colleague of mine that introduced me to it, I was not even aware that there was what I would call \u0026rsquo;non-strict masters\u0026rsquo; (that is not a set-in-stone syllabus/research direction).\nIt\u0026rsquo;s part time so I continue to practice my craft in software engineering full-time. Naturally all the modules I\u0026rsquo;m taking have a software slant. Most of the modules are a continuuation of my undergraduate degree, so it\u0026rsquo;s a natural progression. I said to myself before I left secondary school that I wanted a masters - it\u0026rsquo;s part ego I\u0026rsquo;ll admit, but I also want to see if/when I\u0026rsquo;ll fail. No doubt there will be tough moments, but I\u0026rsquo;m mentally prepared (I think) for the challenge of (probably, at times) firefighting full-time employment and an MSc.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s part of a philosophy that I want to live up to also. That is - just do it (to rip off Nike, I guess). Yes it may be daunting, yes it may financially and emotionally strain you, but you know what? You\u0026rsquo;re young and now is time. And that\u0026rsquo;s a philosophy to live by!\n","permalink":"/ucd/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI\u0026rsquo;ve recently decided to further my education by applying for a Masters in\nComputer Science at \u003ca href=\"http://www.ucd.ie\"\u003eUniversity College Dublin\u003c/a\u003e. It\u0026rsquo;s very different from a\ntraditional masters course in that it is very much focused on industry, the term\nthe University uses is \u0026ldquo;\u003ca href=\"http://www.csi.ucd.ie/content/msc-computer-science-negotiated-learning\"\u003eNegotiated Learning\u003c/a\u003e\u0026rdquo;. It was a colleague of\nmine that introduced me to it, I was not even aware that there was what I would\ncall \u0026rsquo;non-strict masters\u0026rsquo; (that is not a set-in-stone syllabus/research\ndirection).\u003c/p\u003e","title":"MSc in Computer Science at UCD"},{"content":"The article is a great tip for those who spend a good chunk of the working day on the command line. I made some adjustments to Bash completion code to get it to work on Mac OS X:\nOriginal:\n\\_completemarks() { local curw=${COMP_WORDS[COMP_CWORD]} local wordlist=$(find $MARKPATH -type l -printf \u0026#34;%f\\n\u0026#34;) COMPREPLY=($(compgen -W \u0026#39;${wordlist[@]}\u0026#39; -- \u0026#34;$curw\u0026#34;)) return 0 } complete -F \\_completemarks jump unmark My modified version (tested on Mac OS X and Ubuntu):\n\\_completemarks() { local curw=${COMP_WORDS[COMP_CWORD]} local wordlist=(`find $MARKPATH -type l | cut -d / -f 5`) COMPREPLY=($(compgen -W \u0026#39;${wordlist[@]}\u0026#39; -- \u0026#34;$curw\u0026#34;)) return 0 } complete -F \\_completemarks jump unmark ","permalink":"/navigate-fs/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eThe article is a great tip for those who spend a good chunk of the working day\non the command line. I made some adjustments to Bash completion code to get it\nto work on Mac OS X:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOriginal:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"highlight\"\u003e\u003cpre tabindex=\"0\" style=\"color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4;\"\u003e\u003ccode class=\"language-bash\" data-lang=\"bash\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003cspan style=\"color:#ae81ff\"\u003e\\_\u003c/span\u003ecompletemarks\u003cspan style=\"color:#f92672\"\u003e()\u003c/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"color:#f92672\"\u003e{\u003c/span\u003e local\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003ecurw\u003cspan style=\"color:#f92672\"\u003e=\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#e6db74\"\u003e${\u003c/span\u003eCOMP_WORDS[COMP_CWORD]\u003cspan style=\"color:#e6db74\"\u003e}\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e  local wordlist\u003cspan style=\"color:#f92672\"\u003e=\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003e$(\u003c/span\u003efind\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e$MARKPATH -type l -printf \u003cspan style=\"color:#e6db74\"\u003e\u0026#34;%f\\n\u0026#34;\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003e)\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e  COMPREPLY\u003cspan style=\"color:#f92672\"\u003e=(\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003e$(\u003c/span\u003ecompgen -W\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#e6db74\"\u003e\u0026#39;${wordlist[@]}\u0026#39;\u003c/span\u003e -- \u003cspan style=\"color:#e6db74\"\u003e\u0026#34;\u003c/span\u003e$curw\u003cspan style=\"color:#e6db74\"\u003e\u0026#34;\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003e)\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#f92672\"\u003e)\u003c/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003ereturn\u003c/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"color:#ae81ff\"\u003e0\u003c/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"color:#f92672\"\u003e}\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003ecomplete -F \u003cspan style=\"color:#ae81ff\"\u003e\\_\u003c/span\u003ecompletemarks jump unmark \u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/code\u003e\u003c/pre\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMy modified version (tested on Mac OS X and Ubuntu):\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Quickly navigate your filesystem"},{"content":"I am currently in Switzerland on a business trip. In between work, I managed to get some time over the Swiss national holiday to visit the CERN. CERN is world famous for the invention of WWW and of course most recently, the almost certainty that the Higgs Boson (aka. \u0026ldquo;The God Particle\u0026rdquo;) - the particle that gives energy mass - exists.\nThe CERN tour is completely free and highly recommended. I visited the Atlas experiment with a colleague (who just so happened to have a Phd. in Physics) and questions were encouraged at every turn. What impressed me the most was the fact that there was no stupid questions. You can be a Phd weilding Physicist or a child and each question was handled the same by the staff. The guide (an active researcher at CERN) even expressed disappointment at the Higgs:\n\u0026ldquo;We would have liked to have learned something we didn\u0026rsquo;t already know\u0026rdquo;\nThe tour itself has a video on CERN\u0026rsquo;s mission and then we had a video of the ATLAS experiment, along with seeing the ATLAS control room. The Globe was closed for renovation unfortunately, but the Microcosm exhibit with a lot of the technology pioneered by CERN was on display. I have to admit as a computer scientist, the technological feats strike me more then the physics ones. It\u0026rsquo;s safe to say I have crossed a must-see off of my list in visiting CERN!\n","permalink":"/cern/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI am currently in Switzerland on a business trip. In between work, I managed to\nget some time over the Swiss national holiday to visit the\n\u003cacronym title=\"European Nuclear Research Centre\"\u003eCERN\u003c/acronym\u003e. \u003ca href=\"http://home.web.cern.ch/\"\u003eCERN\u003c/a\u003e is\nworld famous for the invention of \u003cacronym title=\"World Wide Web\"\u003eWWW\u003c/acronym\u003e\nand of course most recently, the almost certainty that the \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higgs_boson\"\u003eHiggs Boson\u003c/a\u003e\n(\u003cacronym title=\"also known as\"\u003eaka\u003c/acronym\u003e. \u0026ldquo;The God Particle\u0026rdquo;) - the\nparticle that gives energy mass - exists.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe CERN tour is completely free and highly recommended. I visited the \u003ca href=\"http://atlas.ch/\"\u003eAtlas\nexperiment\u003c/a\u003e with a colleague (who just so happened to have a Phd. in\nPhysics) and questions were encouraged at every turn. What impressed me the most\nwas the fact that there was no stupid questions. You can be a Phd weilding\nPhysicist or a child and each question was handled the same by the staff. The\nguide (an active researcher at CERN) even expressed disappointment at the Higgs:\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Visit to CERN"},{"content":"If your like me and you deal with a lot of servers for development or test and do it from a Unix machine, I\u0026rsquo;ve got a really handy tip: SSH hostname pattern matching.\nSay I\u0026rsquo;ve got a SSH config file like this (at ~/.ssh/config ):\nhost s* HostName atrcu%h.example.com User example1 Port 22 host b* HostName atrcx%h.example.com User example2 Port 22 host ??* HostName atvts%h.example.com User example5 Port 2205 The ssh man page explains this really well:\nA pattern consists of zero or more non-whitespace characters, \u0026lsquo;*\u0026rsquo; (a\nwildcard that matches zero or more characters), or '?' (a wildcard that matches exactly one character). For example, to specify a set of decla- rations for any host in the .co.uk set of domains, the following pat- tern could be used: Host *.co.uk The following pattern would match any host in the 192.168.0.[0-9] network\nrange: Host 192.168.0.? A pattern-list is a comma-separated list of patterns. Patterns within\npattern-lists may be negated by preceding them with an exclamation mark ('!'). For example, to allow a key to be used from anywhere within an organisation except from the ``dialup'' pool, the following entry (in authorized_keys) could be used: from=\u0026quot;!*.dialup.example.com,*.example.com\u0026quot; So there you have it!\n","permalink":"/ssh-config/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eIf your like me and you deal with a lot of servers for development or test and\ndo it from a Unix machine, I\u0026rsquo;ve got a really handy tip: SSH hostname pattern\nmatching.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSay I\u0026rsquo;ve got a SSH config file like this (at \u003ccode\u003e~/.ssh/config\u003c/code\u003e ):\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cpre\u003e\u003ccode\u003ehost s*\n    HostName atrcu%h.example.com\n    User example1\n    Port 22\nhost b*\n    HostName atrcx%h.example.com\n    User example2\n    Port 22\nhost ??*\n    HostName atvts%h.example.com\n    User example5\n    Port 2205\n\u003c/code\u003e\u003c/pre\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe ssh man page explains this really well:\u003c/p\u003e","title":"SSH Config Aliases"},{"content":"Bash, a command line shell is one of the most used pieces of software in my daily work. I like scripting repetitive actions to save a lot time (it brings me great joy!). One of the simplest and easiest customisations is to add a bit of colour to your otherwise boring bash prompt (otherwise known as $PS1):\n[ngrogan@localhost:~]$ can be turned in to this:\nThe thing about Bash is the colour codes to achieve this can look archaic:\nexport PS1=\u0026#34;\\[$(tput bold)\\]\\[$(tput setaf 4)\\][\\[$(tput setaf 6)\\]\\u\\[$(tput setaf 7)\\]@\\[$(tput setaf 2)\\]\\h\\[$(tput setaf 7)\\]:\\[$(tput setaf 1)\\]\\W\\[$(tput setaf 4)\\]]\\\\$ \\[$(tput sgr0)\\]\u0026#34; To get a prompt like this easily, all you need to do is use this handy $PS1 generator. A highly recommended tool!\n","permalink":"/colour-bash/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eBash, a command line shell is one of the most used pieces of software in my\ndaily work. I like scripting repetitive actions to save a lot time (it brings me\ngreat joy!). One of the simplest and easiest customisations is to add a bit of\ncolour to your otherwise boring bash prompt (otherwise known as $PS1):\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cpre\u003e\u003ccode\u003e[ngrogan@localhost:~]$\n\u003c/code\u003e\u003c/pre\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ecan be turned in to this:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"/files/2013/05/ColourBashPrompt.png\" alt=\"My Custom Colour Bash Prompt\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe thing about Bash is the colour codes to achieve this can look archaic:\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Custom Colourful Bash Prompt"},{"content":"Very good technical documentation skills are a must for any Software Engineer - to explain how a system works in detail forces you to think about the flaws present within the design. \u0026ldquo;Bad smells\u0026rdquo; of documentation often can be a sign of weaknesses on your product. Is this section too verbose or did we make it too complex for the customer? Should we explain ancillary parts of our system (either operating system components or other applications?) within our documentation besides the inherent risks (out-of-date documentation)?\nThese are all tough questions, but the important part is: it makes you stop and think. This not only applies to your customer facing documents, but internal documentation. In my job I am mostly the one who updates the \u0026ldquo;New Starts\u0026rdquo; section of our internal documentation. It is of huge benefit to any new starters on my team, to get them up to speed fast on our processes, tools and ways of working. I believe it saves the new person and myself countless hours of often trivial questions. Of course I always happily answer (and enjoy answering) the tough questions also. This is all well and I hear you say, you get productive software engineers faster, but what is in it for me as a company?\nBetter retention of customers for one. Recognising the need to keep things simple, have a short and easy to comprehend manual goes a long way to keeping customers loyal. I\u0026rsquo;ve been told that the biggest complaint received is poor documentation and we\u0026rsquo;re lucky that our customers are very forthright and vocal. Good documentation is understandably hard to do, time consuming and easy to sweep aside due to time and cost pressures. In a world where operational expenditure is a key pressure (in both employee and customer time) - I firmly believe that money spent reducing support costs is a very worthwhile investment. Like investments in refactoring code, these investments take time to pay off - but ultimately will.\n","permalink":"/doc-it-please/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eVery good technical documentation skills are a must for any Software Engineer -\nto explain how a system works in detail forces you to think about the flaws\npresent within the design. \u0026ldquo;Bad smells\u0026rdquo; of documentation often can be a sign of\nweaknesses on your product. Is this section too verbose or did we make it too\ncomplex for the customer? Should we explain ancillary parts of our system\n(either operating system components or other applications?) within our\ndocumentation besides the inherent risks (out-of-date documentation)?\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Document it Please"},{"content":"If you haven\u0026rsquo;t heard of Tor, it is alternative internet - one with privay in mind. I\u0026rsquo;ve recently started to watch a lot of technical talks online. The two main guys behind Tor are some of the best speakers I\u0026rsquo;ve seen. They describe in great detail how open source works and the myriad of open source projects around Tor in this talk:\nand in an older talk they describe how countries have tried to censor Tor and how they have combatted some censorship (interesting for the technical measures deployed):\nOf course as is metioned in the first talk, Tor is mainly funded by the US Government. Asked why they should be trusted - they say they shouldn\u0026rsquo;t be. Don your tinfoil hat now!\n","permalink":"/tor/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eIf you haven\u0026rsquo;t heard of Tor, it is alternative internet - one with privay in\nmind. I\u0026rsquo;ve recently started to watch a lot of technical talks online. The two\nmain guys behind Tor are some of the best speakers I\u0026rsquo;ve seen. They describe in\ngreat detail how open source works and the myriad of open source projects around\nTor in this talk:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ciframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/bmj2w9HPPaE\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen\u003e\u003c/iframe\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eand in an older talk they describe how countries have tried to censor Tor and\nhow they have combatted some censorship (interesting for the technical measures\ndeployed):\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Tor Talks"},{"content":"Just a quick post about a great application I\u0026rsquo;ve seen mentioned by Cali Lewis: Stitcher. If your a talk radio fan like me, you\u0026rsquo;ll really appreciate this app! Ever since I switched from an iPhone 4 to a Galaxy S3 and stopped using Apple\u0026rsquo;s Podcast application it has been frustrating to keep up to date with podcasts.\nI\u0026rsquo;ve used BeyondPod on Android (which I\u0026rsquo;ve praised before - excellent Google Reader integration). I then tried to search for a third party podcast application on the iPad that would synchronise with Google Reader. First there were none, then some (like Feedler and Instacast) but all have been bitterly disappointing with Google Reader integration. Instacast could import OPML (after a messy bundling of feeds in Google Reader) and Feedler could read the feeds (but not handle the video and audio contained within the feed item properly). To be honest I\u0026rsquo;d given up hope, I said to myself I\u0026rsquo;d chalk it up to fate and just buy a Nexus tablet when the iPad 2 was no longer serviceable. But - happily - I was wrong and had been looking in the wrong places\u0026hellip;\nI\u0026rsquo;d never heard of Stitcher before, but to my surprise it has all the features I needed: position and read status syncing across all platforms. By all platforms I mean the most important - PC (web version), Android and iOS (iPhone/iPad). It also has a great auto-playlist feature that works on recommendations. If you\u0026rsquo;re a music fan like me who has used these type of services for years (auto playlists) and have always been bitterly disappointed (like I have been) - fear not, I\u0026rsquo;ve used it and it actually works. Out of 10 tracks it suggested I probably skipped two clips. Those two I actually listened to before skipping because the rest of the suggestions were so good. Incodentally this is where the name comes from, the act of stitching together short audio clips.\nPros:\nFree Covers all the important platforms: Web, Android and iOS (and app looks decent and consistent on each) Syncs Positions, Read Statuses, Playlists of shows Has great content and great suggestions Responsive support (I asked to add podcasts I couldn't find) Cons:\nBad admob ads in the Android version Web player could be slicker Doesn't do video podcasts or music-based podcasfs Any podcasts outside the US may be hard to find ","permalink":"/stitcher/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eJust a quick post about a great application I\u0026rsquo;ve seen mentioned by\n\u003ca href=\"http://geekbeat.tv/\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003eCali Lewis\u003c/a\u003e:\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.stitcher.com/\"\u003eStitcher\u003c/a\u003e. If your a talk radio fan like\nme, you\u0026rsquo;ll really appreciate this app! Ever since I switched from an iPhone 4 to\na Galaxy S3 and stopped using Apple\u0026rsquo;s Podcast application it has been\nfrustrating to keep up to date with podcasts.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI\u0026rsquo;ve used BeyondPod on Android (which I\u0026rsquo;ve praised before - excellent Google\nReader integration). I then tried to search for a third party podcast\napplication on the iPad that would synchronise with Google Reader. First there\nwere none, then some (like Feedler and Instacast) but all have been\nbitterly disappointing with Google Reader integration. Instacast could\nimport OPML (after a messy bundling of feeds in Google Reader) and Feedler could\nread the feeds (but not handle the video and audio contained within\nthe feed item properly). To be honest I\u0026rsquo;d given up hope, I said to myself I\u0026rsquo;d\nchalk it up to fate and just buy a Nexus tablet when the iPad 2 was no longer\nserviceable. But - happily - I was wrong and had been looking in the wrong\nplaces\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Stitcher is (audio) podcasts done right"},{"content":"I recently bought a Samsung Chromebook (Wi-Fi, 11.6-Inch). I am fascinated by living tied to the web, indeed my honours computer science thesis deals with this in relation to mobile applications (and hybrid half-app/ half-website). Spurred on by the excellent reviews this Chromebook has gotten (\u0026quot;It\u0026rsquo;s $1,000 worth of design made with $100 worth of materials\u0026quot; - The Verge and \u0026ldquo;You simply won\u0026rsquo;t find a netbook this nice for that little money.\u0026rdquo; - Engadget).\nI\u0026rsquo;m typing this review on the laptop now and it\u0026rsquo;s keyboard is the first thing that is noticeably good. As good as my MacBook Pro that cost 10x as much (bar the lack of a back-light which I miss). The design is clearly inspired by the Macbook Air - it is light and very portable. Battery life is also good, 6.5-7 hours in most reviews. Also it\u0026rsquo;s fan-less and I have been unable to make it get hot (unlike almost every other laptop I have owned). I\u0026rsquo;m a heavy Google user (been using Docs since 2007, Calendar since 2006 and Gmail since 2004) so the promise of the apps I use most being on the Chromebook was a non-issue. I\u0026rsquo;m also a very lackadaisical gamer, I\u0026rsquo;ll happily go a long time without a proper console/pc game and fill the void with 5 minutes of cut the rope or Angry Birds (and these are better on my smartphone then in Chrome).\nI also use a lot of web services. I\u0026rsquo;ve gone out of my way to put files on Google Drive when I knew I was buying this machine. I\u0026rsquo;ve already used Picasa for years and uploaded my music to Google Music recently. I use Evernote for notes (their web version is flaky offline though, hopefully this will be fixed). I\u0026rsquo;m trying my best to stick to this laptop for all personal use. My work laptop is a Windows machine, but I spend almost all of my time in a Linux remote desktop and in Chrome. That brings me to one thing I miss and that is a proper IDE. I\u0026rsquo;ve researched the web versions and frankly they are pretty bad. I do see promise though - having it all managed would be a great asset - I\u0026rsquo;ve seen countless people struggle with IDE issues.\nMy struggle with this laptop is where it fits (between desktop, power laptop, smartphone, tablet etc). For the first time a generation who could almost entirely survive on touch interfaces is growing up - so it\u0026rsquo;s no wonder Microsoft is positioning the Surface for the office of the future - people will expect, nay demand some sort of touch. The issue is whether ChromeOS (which almost certainly will merge the divide and bring out a touch laptop) can win this space with just web apps. This has almost made me feel old in technology terms. Don\u0026rsquo;t get me wrong - I love touch. But I also love my keyboard for coding, you can pry it from my cold dead hands. I\u0026rsquo;m also not getting rid of my MacBook Pro, I still need that safety cushion of proper computer. I feel the same way about my desktop - I like sitting down at a computer and experiencing comfort!\nBut I realise I own too many devices. I like cloud computing because it also means I can have low-powered, cheap devices and not have to worry about backup. ChromeOS extends this so the laptop updates automatically every six weeks. So how can I trim the fat? I\u0026rsquo;m not sure\u0026hellip; I\u0026rsquo;ll report back with more findings from sticking to just ChromeOS in a later post - stay tuned!\n","permalink":"/first-experiences-with-arm-chromebook/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI  recently bought a\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009LL9VDG/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8\u0026amp;camp=1789\u0026amp;creative=9325\u0026amp;creativeASIN=B009LL9VDG\u0026amp;linkCode=as2\u0026amp;tag=duefinsblo-20\"\u003eSamsung\nChromebook (Wi-Fi, 11.6-Inch)\u003c/a\u003e. I am fascinated by living tied to the web,\nindeed my honours computer science thesis deals with this in relation to mobile\napplications (and hybrid half-app/ half-website). Spurred on by the excellent\nreviews this Chromebook has gotten (\u0026quot;\u003ci\u003eIt\u0026rsquo;s $1,000 worth of design made with\n$100 worth of materials\u003c/i\u003e\u0026quot; -\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/24/3549368/samsung-chromebook-review-series-3\"\u003eThe\nVerge\u003c/a\u003e and \u0026ldquo;\u003ci\u003eYou simply won\u0026rsquo;t find a netbook this nice for that little\nmoney.\u003c/i\u003e\u0026rdquo; -\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/07/samsung-chromebook-review-2012/\"\u003eEngadget\u003c/a\u003e).\u003cbr /\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","title":"First Experiences with an ARM Chromebook"},{"content":"Lately both Google and Microsoft have been advertising their respective browsers on British Television (received in Ireland by the vast majority of the population). It\u0026rsquo;s interesting the different approach each company is taking.\nChrome ad:\nTo me the Chrome ad is very family oriented, stressing the utility of the web and the ease of reaching people and staying in touch. No surprise they didn\u0026rsquo;t feature Facebook, which is what the vast majority use to keep in touch.\nCompare this with the Internet Explorer ad:\nIt\u0026rsquo;s fast, flashy and visually appealing. Much less of the \u0026ldquo;real\u0026rdquo; web like the Chrome advert but I\u0026rsquo;m guessing that this advert is aimed at a younger audience the the Chrome ad. Microsoft needs mindshare for Internet Explorer and I\u0026rsquo;m guessing this is where they are shooting for. Also telling is the lack of any other myriad of online services Microsoft own is featured (bar Bing). Chrome market share is mature and Google wants more online shoppers who will click on ads or even better, pay Google to advertise (interesting lack of Adsense).\nThe best ad? I\u0026rsquo;ll be controversial and say they are both equally as good!\n","permalink":"/chrome-vs-internet-explorer-audience/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eLately both Google and Microsoft have been advertising their respective browsers\non British Television (received in Ireland by the vast majority of the\npopulation). It\u0026rsquo;s interesting the different approach each company is taking.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChrome ad:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ciframe allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"315\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/E0qDrRJT4zE\" width=\"560\"\u003e\u003c/iframe\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo me the Chrome ad is very family oriented, stressing the utility of the web\nand the ease of reaching people and staying in touch. No surprise they\ndidn\u0026rsquo;t feature Facebook, which is what the vast majority use to keep in\ntouch.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Chrome vs. Internet Explorer Audience"},{"content":"Fresh from the \u0026ldquo;interesting but pointless facts\u0026rdquo; desk comes this little kernel (I apologise!) of truth:\nIn 2002, the British Film Institute depicted popcorn as \u0026ldquo;the most profitable substance on the planet, more than heroin, more than plutonium\u0026rdquo;. Typically, the popcorn we eat costs less to produce than the very container it comes in. - Foodie World\nFurther research indicates that isn\u0026rsquo;t quite true - antimatter is the most expensive substance in the world. But for a common, everyday item, it\u0026rsquo;s very expensive indeed. There\u0026rsquo;s a lot less risk in production then Heroin and a lot bigger market the Plutonium, for instance.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s timely however with agriculture prices rising world-wide, that at least some of that huge profit margin may fall victim to market conditions. I think the Movie theatres might survive just fine, however.\n","permalink":"/grab-popcorn/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eFresh from the \u0026ldquo;interesting but pointless facts\u0026rdquo; desk comes this little kernel\n(I apologise!) of truth:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 2002, the British Film Institute depicted popcorn as \u0026ldquo;the most profitable\nsubstance on the planet, more than heroin, more than plutonium\u0026rdquo;. Typically,\nthe popcorn we eat costs less to produce than the very container it comes\nin. -\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.afoodieworld.com/en/features/all-features/articles/popcorn.html\"\u003eFoodie\nWorld\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFurther research indicates that isn\u0026rsquo;t quite true - antimatter is the most\nexpensive substance in the world. But for a common, everyday item, it\u0026rsquo;s very\nexpensive indeed. There\u0026rsquo;s a lot less risk in production then Heroin and a lot\nbigger market the Plutonium, for instance.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Grab the Popcorn!"},{"content":"I\u0026rsquo;ve recently undergone a tonsillectomy - the process of removing the lymph node tissue hanging idly at the back of your throat. I know I write mainly technology articles, but I thought a departure was warranted from the usual faire.\nMy main takeaway from having it done is twofold: it\u0026rsquo;s not as bad as you think and it\u0026rsquo;s as bad as you think. They seem like contradictory statements, so I\u0026rsquo;ll need to explain myself right? Okay.\nNot as bad\u0026hellip; Firstly it\u0026rsquo;s not as bad as you think because everyone on the Internet exaggerates. If your like me - you\u0026rsquo;ve spent countless hours researching and reading the experiences of others. That\u0026rsquo;s a very bad idea for one of the most common surgeries performed in the world today - overwhelmingly most of the experiences will be rare cases (bleeding, extreme pain etc) because people like to tell horror stories. I can\u0026rsquo;t explain that facet of human psychology but I can say this: statistically speaking you\u0026rsquo;ll be extremely unlucky not to be in the bunch of people who do just fine after the surgery.\nAs bad as you think\u0026hellip; It\u0026rsquo;s as bad as you think because these things aren\u0026rsquo;t a walk in the park. I almost gasped when the surgeon told me I\u0026rsquo;d need two weeks off work. Two weeks? Two weeks?!? It turns out all those years of medical training means he\u0026rsquo;s actually right! You\u0026rsquo;re going to experience a lot of swelling and pain and there\u0026rsquo;s very little you can do but take the pain-killers and anti-inflammatory medication and hope they work. You\u0026rsquo;ll sound ridiculous, people will find you hard to understand (and will find it hard to empathise because you\u0026rsquo;ll be grumpy through sheer frustration with eating and a horrible diet). You\u0026rsquo;ll also probably get a very erratic sleep pattern and feel tired from that and the medication. It\u0026rsquo;s no cake walk and at times you feel very frustrated with yourself for imposing this burden on your life (why did I choose to have this operation?!?!).\nWhy I got a tonsillectomy The back story as to why I got the operation is I had tonsillitis for two and a half months straight, yes two and a half months! I\u0026rsquo;d lost count of the painkillers and antibiotics I\u0026rsquo;d taken in that period, but it\u0026rsquo;s safe to say in 90% of that timeframe I was taking pills daily to stave off illness. It worked, I wasn\u0026rsquo;t sick from tonsillitis when I was taking the medication, but I did get sick from the medication itself and I lost a whole lot of weight (with my friends commenting on how thin I\u0026rsquo;d gotten). I also felt tired all of the time from the antibiotics - I could never get enough sleep to offset this. In fact I was almost as physically drained when I was not on the medication and just suffering from tonsillitis. This is clearly no way to live and my GP agreed and so a consultation was arranged which led to the surgery.\nBreakdown by day Day 0 Saturday - Day of the operation. Surgery is quick, I was wheeled in approx. 9:30am and woke at 11am in recovery. I was given morphine during the surgery so the first day was absolutely pain free. I tried to eat but got sick due to the morphine, so I was given anti-nausea medication. I ate toast and drank tea (which I was later told the tea was a mistake, cold drinks only)\nDay 1 Sunday - Day after the operation, I was discharged from hospital around 11am. I had been taking diphene1 twice a day, using Solpadol2 as required (got a prescription for these two medications). Also lots of water and Ice, ice, ice.\nDay 2-4 Monday-Thursday - Little to no pain, took medication as directed and sucked on ice every waking minute it felt like. Stayed with family as directed in case of bleeding (mandated by the surgeon). Scabs starting to form. Diet mostly liquid. Found dairy bad for mucus (hindering speech) so decided to almost cut it out completely. Slept about 12 hours a day.\nDay 5-11 Friday-Wednesday - Pain starts to really bite, as I start to eat more then liquids and the scabbing gets intense. The smell from your throat is wickedly bad, try chew gum! Sleep goes totally AWOL, still probably sleeping 12 hours a day but in pieces due to the pain and constant need for liquidation of the throat. I ran out of medication the Wednesday, luckily a quick call to the hospital and a repeat prescription is issued by fax to a local pharmacy (phew).\nDay 12 Onwards - Taking the medication as directed so no real pain. Around day 18 I\u0026rsquo;m forgetting I ever had them removed, the only time I remember is in work when I I forget to drink water for a period and my thorat is dry. If you suffer from dry throat (I don\u0026rsquo;t, I drink a lot I think normally throughout a day) I\u0026rsquo;m sure you\u0026rsquo;d describe this like any other dry throat.\nI\u0026rsquo;m having a follow up visit which will be four weeks almost to the day after the operation soon - I don\u0026rsquo;t expect any surprises, it\u0026rsquo;s healing really well and I have forgotten at this stage the pain even!\nDiphene is a pain-killer and anti-inflammatory. Taken twice a day in my case, I found it indispensable for the very bad swelling I had.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nSoloadol is also a painkiller and anti-inflammatory. Paracetamol and codeine-based, it\u0026rsquo;s the pain killer taken throughout the day. I found it particularly useful before stressful events like eating to offset pain before it will occur.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n","permalink":"/tonsillectomy/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI\u0026rsquo;ve recently undergone a tonsillectomy - the process of removing the lymph node\ntissue hanging idly at the back of your throat. I know I write mainly technology\narticles, but I thought a departure was warranted from the usual faire.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMy main takeaway from having it done is twofold: it\u0026rsquo;s not as bad as you think\nand it\u0026rsquo;s as bad as you think. They seem like contradictory statements, so I\u0026rsquo;ll\nneed to explain myself right? Okay.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Tonsillectomy"},{"content":"I\u0026rsquo;ve seen an article by Miguel de Icaza, a great developer oft criticised for his love of Microsoft technologies on Linux. His latest piece is about his love for Mac OS X as a desktop and how he used to feel guilty about it (given his very impressive open source credentials).\nI used to feel the same also. Android even as a platform more closely follows my ideals, yet I am exclusively an avid iOS user at this point. But as I\u0026rsquo;ve learned more, the importance of pragmatism is clear. I use my personal iOS devices for countless hours a day and I really just want them to work. I want them to work in the way they were designed to do: quickly check email, browse the web, make calls, check messages and so forth.\nThat\u0026rsquo;s not the case in my professional life - developing software. We\u0026rsquo;re moving 100\u0026rsquo;s of people to Linux for development because it just works and it\u0026rsquo;s fast. We have an added advantage in the company I work for in that we can push the Linux distribution of our choice (previously Solaris) with our software product (we roll out the whole system from the hardware up). Our Linux desktops (SuSe) are remote and we\u0026rsquo;ll continue to have Windows laptops for Office and Email - not the most ideal situation.\nThe biggest surprise is how well Linux has been received even among ardent Windows developers (and we have a few). Our builds are faster, our environment can be easily scripted (which changes a new developers\u0026rsquo; set-up time from days to hours) and because it\u0026rsquo;s remote, centrally managed and redundant - it\u0026rsquo;s easier to use all around. I\u0026rsquo;ve seen a lot of Windows rebuilds that require a total environment reset - this problem is solved now. The only issue for lost productivity is a network connection - but we\u0026rsquo;ve relied on that for server access, email, web and so forth.\nMy point here is the same point people have always made, Linux has a place and it\u0026rsquo;s mostly in business. Business is the web services people use every day, but it\u0026rsquo;s still Linux - just not the desktop layer (Gnome/KDE). Business is Android (we have an app just fir corporate customers where I work, not publicly released) but its not the Linux desktop.\nIn the meantime I\u0026rsquo;m considering Android devices (Nexus 7 looks good), a happy user if iOS devices (iPad/IPhone), a Windows laptop user for work, a Linux desktop/server user for work/personal use and I spend most of the remaining time on my MacBook Pro running OS X. There also trialling full Linux laptops where I work, so I may add that also!\n","permalink":"/the-linux-desktop-has-place/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI\u0026rsquo;ve seen an article by Miguel de Icaza, a great developer oft criticised for\nhis love of Microsoft technologies on Linux. His \u003ca href=\"http://tirania.org/blog/archive/2012/Aug-29.html\"\u003elatest piece\u003c/a\u003e is about his love\nfor Mac OS X as a desktop and how he used to feel guilty about it (given his very\nimpressive open source credentials).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI used to feel the same also. Android even as a platform more closely follows my\nideals, yet I am exclusively an avid iOS user at this point. But as I\u0026rsquo;ve learned\nmore, the importance of pragmatism is clear. I use my personal iOS devices for\ncountless hours a day and I really just want them to work. I want them to work\nin the way they were designed to do: quickly check email, browse the web, make\ncalls, check messages and so forth.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Linux Desktop has a place"},{"content":"I recently finished reading Steve Jobs, the biography by Walter Isaacson. I can\u0026rsquo;t add much more then the extensive coverage that it has recieved in the press to date. Instead I paraphrase really badly a friend of mine, Noel Hudson:\nAll that book thought me was dropping acid and treating people really badly works as a life strategy.\nWhile that\u0026rsquo;s not entirely true it is a humourous look at the books tone. It has a grain of truth, Walter Issacson really focuses on the warts and all representation of Steve Jobs. He defines him very much in terms of how other people percieved him, whether that should have been the mainstay of the book is up for debate. Overall it\u0026rsquo;s a good book, what I liked most is the history lessons of the creation of the mac and how the Disney/Pixar relationship went down before the merger. I also felt Walter Issacson left it hanging at the end and that he knows much more that he can\u0026rsquo;t publish due to Apple\u0026rsquo;s corporate strategy being tied to Jobs so much (like the comment he made about cracking the UI for a TV).\nEven so, I\u0026rsquo;ll probably buy the proper installment when that is released also.\n[UI]: User Interface\n","permalink":"/review-of-steve-jobs-biography/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI recently finished reading Steve Jobs, the biography by Walter Isaacson. I\ncan\u0026rsquo;t add much more then the extensive coverage that it has recieved in the\npress to date. Instead I paraphrase really badly a friend of mine, Noel Hudson:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll that book thought me was dropping acid and treating people really badly\nworks as a life strategy.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile that\u0026rsquo;s not entirely true it is a humourous look at the books tone. It has\na grain of truth, Walter Issacson really focuses on the warts and all\nrepresentation of Steve Jobs. He defines him very much in terms of how other\npeople percieved him, whether that should have been the mainstay of the book is\nup for debate. Overall it\u0026rsquo;s a good book, what I liked most is the history\nlessons of the creation of the mac and how the Disney/Pixar relationship went\ndown before the merger. I also felt Walter Issacson left it hanging at the end\nand that he knows much more that he can\u0026rsquo;t publish due to Apple\u0026rsquo;s corporate\nstrategy being tied to Jobs so much (like the comment he made about cracking the\nUI for a TV).\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Review of Steve Jobs Biography"},{"content":"I recently read an article that posed the question \u0026ldquo;Does your dock reflect your priorities?\u0026rdquo; - which is an interesting question. Further breaking that idea down leads to:\nWhat apps do I need the most? What apps should be next (or be higher priority)? iPhone dock Phone app: pretty self explanatory Safari: Still the best mobile browser I think (though if Google ever gets going on a proper Chrome browser for Android that may change) Tweetbot: I like Twitter the most of the social networks and tweetbot is the Swiss army knife if twitter clients Music (aka. iPod app) : I use my iPhone in my car and sometimes at work to listen to music iPad dock Safari: Safari on iPad is not as good as the iPhone version - it can be more full featured I think! Mail app: E-mail on the iPad is one of the most popular uses, it\u0026rsquo;s got just the right amount of screen real-estate to do it justice Photography folder: I don\u0026rsquo;t know why I mistook myself as being interested in photography, but here\u0026rsquo;s a folder I almost never use (bar camera app) Music: I like it uses the screen real-estate better then the iPhone version and it\u0026rsquo;s much nicer to browse music on Tweetbot: Tweetbot for iPad is the best Twitter client for iPad hands down (on the iPhone it\u0026rsquo;s more contested) and sync with Tweetmarker makes it much easier moving between iPhone and iPad versions. Final thoughts I guess I\u0026rsquo;ve learned I make pretty bad use of the dock on both devices. Evernote or Lastpass should probably be in the dock on either device - probably with a feed reader as a close run after that (Reeder or Mr. Reader). These apps feature on either home screen as you can see from the screenshots above. Food for thought I guess!\n","permalink":"/whats-in-your-dock/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI recently read an article that posed the question \u0026ldquo;\u003ca href=\"http://nerdgap.com/does-your-dock-reflect-your-priorities/\"\u003eDoes your dock reflect your\npriorities?\u003c/a\u003e\u0026rdquo; - which is an interesting question. Further breaking that idea down\nleads to:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhat apps do I need the most?\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhat apps should be next (or be higher priority)?\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"iphone-dock\"\u003eiPhone dock\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"/files/2012/07/iphone.png\" alt=\"iPhone homescreen\" /\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cem\u003ePhone app\u003c/em\u003e: pretty self explanatory\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cem\u003eSafari\u003c/em\u003e: Still the best mobile browser I think (though if Google ever gets\ngoing on a proper Chrome browser for Android that may change)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cem\u003eTweetbot\u003c/em\u003e: I like Twitter the most of the social networks and tweetbot is the\nSwiss army knife if twitter clients\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cem\u003eMusic\u003c/em\u003e (aka. iPod app) : I use my iPhone in my car and sometimes at work to\nlisten to music\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"ipad-dock\"\u003eiPad dock\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"/files/2012/07/ipad.png\" alt=\"iPhone homescreen\" /\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cem\u003eSafari\u003c/em\u003e: Safari on iPad is not as good as the iPhone version - it can be more\nfull featured I think!\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cem\u003eMail app\u003c/em\u003e: E-mail on the iPad is one of the most popular uses, it\u0026rsquo;s got just\nthe right amount of screen real-estate to do it justice\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cem\u003ePhotography folder\u003c/em\u003e: I don\u0026rsquo;t know why I mistook myself as being interested in\nphotography, but here\u0026rsquo;s a folder I almost never use (bar camera app)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cem\u003eMusic\u003c/em\u003e: I like it uses the screen real-estate better then the iPhone version\nand it\u0026rsquo;s much nicer to browse music on\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cem\u003eTweetbot\u003c/em\u003e: Tweetbot for iPad is the best Twitter client for iPad hands down\n(on the iPhone it\u0026rsquo;s more contested) and sync with Tweetmarker makes it much\neasier moving between iPhone and iPad versions.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"final-thoughts\"\u003eFinal thoughts\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI guess I\u0026rsquo;ve learned I make pretty bad use of the dock on both devices.\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.evernote.com\"\u003eEvernote\u003c/a\u003e or \u003ca href=\"http://www.lastpass.com\"\u003eLastpass\u003c/a\u003e should probably be in the dock on either device -\nprobably with a feed reader as a close run after that (Reeder or Mr. Reader).\nThese apps feature on either home screen as you can see from the screenshots\nabove. Food for thought I guess!\u003c/p\u003e","title":"What's in your dock?"},{"content":"A great essay on why programming is hard:\nIt\u0026rsquo;s harder than you think. Right now you\u0026rsquo;re probably underestimating the amount of frustration and discomfort you\u0026rsquo;re about to experience, without realizing that by doing so you\u0026rsquo;re creating all sorts of subtle barriers to obtaining a deep understanding of programming.\nLanguage does matter I find this part extremely true: my first language is Java. Every programming language I\u0026rsquo;ve tried since has been through comparing it to Java. I\u0026rsquo;ve had criticism of each different language based on my assumptions. Scripting languages being prone to bad coding because they are not strictly typed, having to do tedious work with languages that require memory management (my time is too valuable!).\nYour first programming language provides you with a base vocabulary through which you begin to understand all other computer programs.\nProgramming is the best way to learn programming. Also another trueism. The best people in my class in college were those who had done the most code. But to transfer that to industry you have to have interpersonal skills, be willing to compromise, work well in a team etc. It sounds fluffy, but once you realise how much as a team you rely on other people (and how bad code merges, bad commits can cause a lot more work)1.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s OK to suck at math; you won\u0026rsquo;t be using much anyway. Also I\u0026rsquo;ve found this to be true. I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t be the worlds greatest at math (in fact they were the classes I felt most unease at in college)2. The author here is spot on about command of English. Professional programming (not necessarily what the article is about) requires a lot of communication. Like I said above, interpersonal skills is without doubt the most important attribute besides being technically competent. If your customer/stakeholder/manager can\u0026rsquo;t give you a design specification or you can\u0026rsquo;t read and understand an API, you\u0026rsquo;re instantly a lot less valuable. I\u0026rsquo;ve seen this in college also, a very proficient programmer who consistently did badly even at programming modules - because he never bothered to understand what was required in each task.\nI\u0026rsquo;ve commented enough, but it\u0026rsquo;s an excellent article which I find myself agreeing with all the way through.\n[API]: Application Programming Interface\nI\u0026rsquo;ve been responsible for both, bad merges and bad code. Its a fact of life and being too young and eager. You realise the value of the veterans is the cool head and measured approach they bring from years of experience.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\nAlthough I felt the most unease at maths, it\u0026rsquo;s mainly because of a poor attitude towards maths. I never felt confident in it until I went to college (I actually had very reasonable grades in maths modules). Maybe it\u0026rsquo;s because like a lot of children and teenagers I was told I wasn\u0026rsquo;t good at maths or maybe I told myself that and actually believed it.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n","permalink":"/programming-is-hard/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eA great\n\u003ca href=\"http://writing.bryanwoods4e.com/1-poor-poor-child\"\u003eessay on why programming is hard\u003c/a\u003e:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt\u0026rsquo;s harder than you think. Right now you\u0026rsquo;re probably underestimating the\namount of frustration and discomfort you\u0026rsquo;re about to experience, without\nrealizing that by doing so you\u0026rsquo;re creating all sorts of subtle barriers to\nobtaining a deep understanding of programming.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003ch4 id=\"language-does-matter\"\u003eLanguage does matter\u003c/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI find this part extremely true: my first language is Java. Every programming\nlanguage I\u0026rsquo;ve tried since has been through comparing it to Java. I\u0026rsquo;ve had\ncriticism of each different language based on my assumptions. Scripting\nlanguages being prone to bad coding because they are not strictly typed, having\nto do tedious work with languages that require memory management (my time is too\nvaluable!).\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Programming is hard"},{"content":"I spend a lot of my day in heavy development tools such as Eclipse1, but often for editing simple XML I just want a quick tool to make fast changes. If I use the CLI (or Linux) it\u0026rsquo;ll be Vim, if I\u0026rsquo;m on Mac it\u0026rsquo;ll be Textmate but on Windows it\u0026rsquo;s Notepad++. I haven\u0026rsquo;t found an editor on Windows as clean as Notepad++ (if you use a tool professionally, you get to know it\u0026rsquo;s quirks pretty fast) for editing text of any kind.\nSome people I know use awful tools that nag you each time you use them, why go through that pain? In college we used TextPad for learning Java before we jumped ship to a proper IDE (Netbeans and Eclipse). Textpad has a lot less features then Notepad++ in my mind from using the both of them extensively. In fact the only thing textpad did better was to have a built in macro to run a java program (which can be setup in Notepad++). If you write programs, I can only ask you never touch Notepad (oh my god the wordwrap horror), so give Notepad++ a try!\nEclipse is an IDE primarily for programming in the Java programming language (which is what I use). _[XML]: eXtensible Markup Language _[CLI]: Command Line Interface *[IDE]: Integrated Development Environment\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n","permalink":"/notepad-a-great-windows-editor/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI spend a lot of my day in heavy development tools such as Eclipse\u003csup id=\"fnref:1\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#fn:1\" class=\"footnote-ref\" role=\"doc-noteref\"\u003e1\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e, but\noften for editing simple XML I just want a quick tool to make fast changes. If I\nuse the CLI (or Linux) it\u0026rsquo;ll be \u003ca href=\"http://www.vim.org\"\u003eVim\u003c/a\u003e, if I\u0026rsquo;m on Mac it\u0026rsquo;ll\nbe \u003ca href=\"http://macromates.com/\"\u003eTextmate\u003c/a\u003e but on Windows it\u0026rsquo;s\n\u003ca href=\"http://notepad-plus-plus.org/\"\u003eNotepad++\u003c/a\u003e. I haven\u0026rsquo;t found an editor on Windows\nas clean as Notepad++ (if you use a tool professionally, you get to know it\u0026rsquo;s\nquirks pretty fast) for editing text of any kind.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Notepad++: A Great Windows Editor"},{"content":"As I\u0026rsquo;ve mentioned before1, I regularly watch technology podcasts and I\u0026rsquo;ve had a subscription to sites like Lynda.com. Between those and Youtube, I\u0026rsquo;ve watched an awful lot of technology how-to videos and 90% of them are quite poor in terms of editing, sound and being coherent/properly scripted. Sometimes though it\u0026rsquo;s a joy to genuinely learn something new in a short, concise and to the point video.\nThis haktip is right up there with being among the best: short, concise, to the point and about a utility that will be super-useful to me. In work I\u0026rsquo;m in an agile software development team and I spend a lot of time on the command line. I like the command line, but many don\u0026rsquo;t (personal preference I guess). As part of being agile, we produce a lot of video demos to stakeholders. Increasingly though the demos we produce are just as useful for the team - you can\u0026rsquo;t be every team member at once and this provides huge visibility to the team of progress. Our software is a Unix product, but we develop on Windows - so Camtasia is usually used - which is fine for GUI demos. This handy utility will be great to demo CLI stuff we do.\nTech Video Podcasts Worth Watching _[GUI]: Graphical User Interface _[CLI]: Command Line Interface\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n","permalink":"/record-your-terminal-session/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eAs I\u0026rsquo;ve mentioned before\u003csup id=\"fnref:1\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#fn:1\" class=\"footnote-ref\" role=\"doc-noteref\"\u003e1\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e, I regularly watch technology podcasts and I\u0026rsquo;ve had\na subscription to sites like\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.lynda.com\" title=\"Lynda Training Videos\"\u003eLynda.com\u003c/a\u003e. Between those and\nYoutube, I\u0026rsquo;ve watched an awful lot of technology how-to videos and 90% of them\nare quite poor in terms of editing, sound and being coherent/properly scripted.\nSometimes though it\u0026rsquo;s a joy to genuinely learn something new in a short, concise\nand to the point video.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ciframe src=\"http://revision3.com/html5player-v12777?external=true\u0026width=555\u0026height=312\" width=\"555\" height=\"312\"  frameborder=\"0\" allowFullScreen=\"allowfullscreen\" \u003e\u003c/iframe\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis haktip is right up there with being among the best: short, concise, to the\npoint and about a utility that will be super-useful to me. In work I\u0026rsquo;m in an\nagile software development team and I spend a lot of time on the command line. I\n\u003cstrong\u003elike\u003c/strong\u003e the command line, but many don\u0026rsquo;t (personal preference I guess). As part\nof being agile, we produce a lot of video demos to stakeholders. Increasingly\nthough the demos we produce are just as useful for the team - you can\u0026rsquo;t be every\nteam member at once and this provides huge visibility to the team of progress.\nOur software is a Unix product, but we develop on Windows - so Camtasia is\nusually used - which is fine for GUI demos. This handy utility will be great to\ndemo CLI stuff we do.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Record your terminal session"},{"content":"Ikea the TV Business? Who would have forseen the day. After looking at their video I must say I can see the reasons quite clearly: TV\u0026rsquo;s look awkward in almost everyones home. They don\u0026rsquo;t fit in our units, the cables are in awkward positions and you can never find the remote1. I\u0026rsquo;m a fan of all things cheap and Ikea I must confess, so I\u0026rsquo;ll be watching this development with great interest!\nArticle: Ikea furniture with integrated TVs and sound systems coming this fall\nYou can see the video here.\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n","permalink":"/ikea-in-the-tv-business/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eIkea the TV Business? Who would have forseen the day. After looking at their\nvideo I must say I can see the reasons quite clearly: TV\u0026rsquo;s look awkward in\nalmost everyones home. They don\u0026rsquo;t fit in our units, the cables are in awkward\npositions and you can never find the remote\u003csup id=\"fnref:1\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#fn:1\" class=\"footnote-ref\" role=\"doc-noteref\"\u003e1\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/sup\u003e. I\u0026rsquo;m a fan of all things cheap\nand Ikea I must confess, so I\u0026rsquo;ll be watching this development with great\ninterest!\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Ikea in the TV Business?"},{"content":"Our fifth slot on Athlone Community Radio. Aired the third Monday in March 2012 on ACR 88.4FM in Athlone, Co. Westmeath, Ireland.\nTopics Covered: iPad 3 Launch Netflix vs. Lovefilm Online TV: RTE Player, AERtv, 3Player, Filmon In this episode Patrick and Neil discuss the most popular streaming video on the market and the launch of the iPad 3.\nSubscribe: Listen now: Your browser does not support the audio tag. Download Link: TechnologySlot19-mar-12\n","permalink":"/the-acr884-tech-slot-005/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eOur fifth slot on \u003ca href=\"http://athlonecommunityradio.ie/\" title=\"Athlone Community Radio\"\u003eAthlone Community Radio\u003c/a\u003e. Aired the third Monday in March\n2012 on ACR 88.4FM in Athlone, Co. Westmeath, Ireland.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch4 id=\"topics-covered\"\u003eTopics Covered:\u003c/h4\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eiPad 3 Launch\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNetflix vs. Lovefilm\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOnline TV: RTE Player, AERtv, 3Player, Filmon\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn this episode Patrick and Neil discuss the most popular streaming video on the\nmarket and the launch of the iPad 3.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch4 id=\"subscribe\"\u003eSubscribe:\u003c/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://itunes.apple.com/ie/podcast//id494862406\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cimg title=\"iTunes Podcast Button\" src=\"http://dueyfinster.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/itunes_podcast.gif?w=80\u0026amp;h=15\" alt=\"Subscribe to ACR884 Tech Slot in iTunes!\" width=\"80\" height=\"15\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e  \n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"http://feeds.feedburner.com/acr884tech\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"http://dueyfinster.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/podcast_rss_button.gif?w=627\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The @ACR884 Tech Slot #005"},{"content":"Our fourth slot on Athlone Community Radio. Aired the third Monday in January 2012 on ACR 88.4FM in Athlone, Co. Westmeath, Ireland.\nTopics Covered:\nTuneIn Radio App Path App Twitter App Facebook App In this episode Patrick and Neil discuss the most popular apps on the market, across all major platforms. Subscribe: Download Link: 21st Feb 2012 - Tech Slot\n","permalink":"/acr884-tech-slot-004/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eOur fourth slot\non \u003ca title=\"Athlone Community Radio\" href=\"http://athlonecommunityradio.ie/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eAthlone\nCommunity Radio\u003c/a\u003e. Aired the third Monday in January 2012 on ACR 88.4FM in\nAthlone, Co. Westmeath, Ireland.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTopics Covered:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\t\u003cli\u003eTuneIn Radio App\u003c/li\u003e\n\t\u003cli\u003ePath App\u003c/li\u003e\n\t\u003cli\u003eTwitter App\u003c/li\u003e\n\t\u003cli\u003eFacebook App\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\nIn this episode Patrick and Neil discuss the most popular apps on the market, across all major platforms.\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSubscribe:\u003c/strong\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"http://itunes.apple.com/ie/podcast//id494862406\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cimg title=\"iTunes Podcast Button\" src=\"http://dueyfinster.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/itunes_podcast.gif?w=80\u0026amp;h=15\" alt=\"Subscribe to ACR884 Tech Slot in iTunes!\" width=\"80\" height=\"15\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e  \u003ca href=\"http://feeds.feedburner.com/acr884tech\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"http://dueyfinster.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/podcast_rss_button.gif?w=627\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDownload Link: \u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://neil.grogan.ie/2012/02/20/acr884-tech-slot-004/21st-feb-2012-tech-slot/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2174\"\u003e21st\nFeb 2012 - Tech Slot\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The @ACR884 Tech Slot #004"},{"content":"I\u0026rsquo;ve only recently started cooking meals from scratch and it\u0026rsquo;s a worthwhile experience! By my side is an awesome cookbook produced by the Health Service Executive (HSE) and Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS).\nIt\u0026rsquo;s generally all healthy food and every recipe indicates cost and portion size. It even has meals for one, meals for weaning babies, desserts, you name it! So what\u0026rsquo;s the cost of this fabulous book? I got it for free. They produce very limited quantities however, but it\u0026rsquo;s worth contacting MABS to see if you can get your hands on a copy.\nThere\u0026rsquo;s also a PDF version of the same if you own a digital device to read it on.\n","permalink":"/the-best-cookbook/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI\u0026rsquo;ve only recently started cooking meals from scratch and it\u0026rsquo;s a worthwhile\nexperience! By my side is an awesome cookbook produced by the Health Service\nExecutive (HSE) and Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"/files/2012/02/101squaremeals.png\" alt=\"101 Square Meals\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt\u0026rsquo;s generally all healthy food and every recipe indicates cost and portion\nsize. It even has meals for one, meals for weaning babies, desserts, you name\nit! So what\u0026rsquo;s the cost of this fabulous book? I got it for free. They produce\nvery limited quantities however, but it\u0026rsquo;s worth contacting MABS to see if you\ncan get your hands on a copy.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Best Cookbook"},{"content":"Below is code for the start of a Twitter bot I am going to build in Java. It\u0026rsquo;s the most basic way of getting Oauth working (with any account, not just your developer account) and it shows your timeline and can update your status - that\u0026rsquo;s it for now. The neat thing is it uses Java\u0026rsquo;s awesome serialisation, so you only should have to authorise your twitter account once!\nWhat you will need: Twitter4j Libraries Oauth Consumer and Secret Key off twitter That is it! What the code does: Once only:\nGives the user an url to visit User enters a PIN provided by Twitter back in to the program The program gets the proper keys for the account from Twittter and saves them as a file Everytime the program is restarted it reloads in account details (if the user gave permissions in steps above - it is not redone)\nUser is provided with a Menu and either can update status or show timeline\nI started off withthis code example, so much props to Twitter4J team for a great library!\n","permalink":"/very-simple-java-twitter-bot-twitter4j/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eBelow is code for the start of a Twitter bot I am going to build in Java. It\u0026rsquo;s\nthe most basic way of getting Oauth working (with any account, not just your\ndeveloper account) and it shows your timeline and can update your status -\nthat\u0026rsquo;s it for now. The neat thing is it uses Java\u0026rsquo;s awesome serialisation, so\nyou only should have to authorise your twitter account once!\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"what-you-will-need\"\u003eWhat you will need:\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTwitter4j Libraries\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOauth Consumer and Secret Key off twitter\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThat is it!\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cscript src=\"https://gist.github.com/2469810.js\"\u003e \u003c/script\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"what-the-code-does\"\u003eWhat the code does:\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOnce only:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Very Simple Java Twitter Bot (Twitter4J)"},{"content":" ","permalink":"/irish-sopa-law-an-overview/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"/files/2012/01/sopa.jpg\" alt=\"Irish SOPA Illustration\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Irish SOPA Law: An Overview"},{"content":"I\u0026rsquo;d love to own a 4K screen, the more lifelike the images the better it\u0026rsquo;ll be for movies. I\u0026rsquo;d imagine filesizes are 4x as large as HD also, which will be an issue that might kill off optical storage (and require better broadband). It\u0026rsquo;s a shame the author tried to compare it to 3D (which objectively is still a flop) but he mentions the issues in that technology (namely: field of vision).\nDisclaimer: I work for Ericsson.\n","permalink":"/is-4k-the-new-3d-the-networked-society-blog/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI\u0026rsquo;d love to own a 4K screen, the more lifelike the images the better it\u0026rsquo;ll be\nfor movies. I\u0026rsquo;d imagine filesizes are 4x as large as HD also, which will be an\nissue that might kill off optical storage (and require better broadband). It\u0026rsquo;s a\nshame the author tried to compare it to 3D (which objectively is still a flop)\nbut he mentions the issues in that technology (namely: field of vision).\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Is 4K the new 3D? - The Networked Society Blog"},{"content":"If only we had such sense here in Ireland, we can\u0026rsquo;t meet our commitments and it will hurt the economy in the long run not to go nuclear. The ESB has said \u0026ldquo;sometime in the 2030\u0026rsquo;s we will need to look at it\u0026rdquo; - why not look at it now? These projects take 10-15 years at least to implement properly.\n","permalink":"/nuke-support-in-uk-hits-record-high/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eIf only we had such sense here in Ireland, we can\u0026rsquo;t meet our commitments and it\nwill hurt the economy in the long run not to go nuclear. The ESB has said\n\u0026ldquo;sometime in the 2030\u0026rsquo;s we will need to look at it\u0026rdquo; - why not look at it now?\nThese projects take 10-15 years at least to implement properly.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Nuke support in UK hits record high"},{"content":"Incredibly well-written article. Just shows the power of human misunderstanding and lack of clear judgement.\n","permalink":"/air-france-447/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eIncredibly well-written article. Just shows the power of human misunderstanding\nand lack of clear judgement.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"What Really Happened Aboard Air France 447"},{"content":"tl;dr It\u0026rsquo;s because LTE chipsets are very large and power hungry right now.\n","permalink":"/why-are-android-smartphones-bigger-than-the-iphone/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003etl;dr\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e It\u0026rsquo;s because LTE chipsets are very large and power hungry right now.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Why Are Android Smartphones Bigger Than the iPhone?"},{"content":"Our third slot on Athlone Community Radio. Aired the third Monday in January 2012 on ACR 88.4FM in Athlone, Co. Westmeath, Ireland.\nTopics Covered: Kindle Sony eReader In this episode Patrick and Neil discuss the main players in the eBook market, as well as what eBooks are and the advanatages and disadvantages.\nSubscribe: Your browser does not support the audio tag. Download Link: TechnologySlot16-01-12\n","permalink":"/acr884-tech-slot-003/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eOur third slot on\n\u003ca title=\"Athlone Community Radio\" href=\"http://athlonecommunityradio.ie/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eAthlone\nCommunity Radio\u003c/a\u003e. Aired the third Monday in January 2012 on ACR 88.4FM in\nAthlone, Co. Westmeath, Ireland.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch4 id=\"topics-covered\"\u003eTopics Covered:\u003c/h4\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eKindle\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSony eReader\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn this episode Patrick and Neil discuss the main players in the eBook market,\nas well as what eBooks are and the advanatages and disadvantages.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSubscribe:\u003c/strong\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"//itunes.apple.com/ie/podcast//id494862406\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cimg title=\"iTunes Podcast Button\" src=\"http://dueyfinster.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/itunes_podcast.gif\" alt=\"Subscribe to ACR884 Tech Slot in iTunes!\" width=\"80\" height=\"15\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e \n\u003ca href=\"http://feeds.feedburner.com/acr884tech\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"http://dueyfinster.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/podcast_rss_button.gif\" alt=\"\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003caudio controls=\"controls\"\u003e\n  \u003csource src=\"http://dueyfinster.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/technologyslot16-01-12.mp3\" type=\"audio/mp3\" /\u003e\n  Your browser does not support the audio tag.\n\u003c/audio\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDownload Link:\n\u003ca href=\"http://dueyfinster.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/technologyslot16-01-12.mp3\"\u003eTechnologySlot16-01-12\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","title":"@ACR884 Tech Slot #003 – eReaders"},{"content":"The very first slot on Athlone Community Radio. Aired November 2011 on ACR 88.4FM in Athlone, Co. Westmeath, Ireland.\nTopics Covered:\niPhone 4S Samsung Galaxy S Discussion of Windows Phone 7 Hosts: Patrick Russell \u0026amp; Neil Grogan Subscribe: Your browser does not support the audio tag. Download Link: Episode 1 - ACR 88.4 Technology Show\n","permalink":"/acr884-ep001/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eThe very first slot on\n\u003ca title=\"Athlone Community Radio\" href=\"http://athlonecommunityradio.ie/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eAthlone\nCommunity Radio\u003c/a\u003e. Aired November 2011 on ACR 88.4FM in Athlone, Co.\nWestmeath, Ireland.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTopics Covered:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\t\u003cli\u003eiPhone 4S\u003c/li\u003e\n\t\u003cli\u003eSamsung Galaxy S\u003c/li\u003e\n\t\u003cli\u003eDiscussion of Windows Phone 7\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHosts:\u003c/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003ePatrick Russell \u0026amp; Neil Grogan\u003c/em\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSubscribe:\u003c/strong\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"//itunes.apple.com/ie/podcast//id494862406\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cimg class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2104\" title=\"iTunes Podcast Button\" src=\"http://dueyfinster.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/itunes_podcast.gif\" alt=\"Subscribe to ACR884 Tech Slot in iTunes!\" width=\"80\" height=\"15\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e \n\u003caudio controls=\"controls\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n  \u003csource src=\"http://dueyfinster.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/technologyslot17-11-11.mp3\" type=\"audio/mp3\" /\u003e\n  Your browser does not support the audio tag.\n\u003c/audio\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDownload Link:\u003c/strong\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"http://dueyfinster.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/technologyslot17-11-11.mp3\"\u003eEpisode\n1 - ACR 88.4 Technology Show\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","title":"@ACR884 Tech Slot #001 - Phones"},{"content":" iPad Motorola Xoom HP Slate Android tablet apps iOs tablet apps In this episode Patrick and Neil discuss the main players in the tablet market as well as Neils top Android and iOs tablet apps. Subscribe: Your browser does not support the audio tag. Download Link: Technology Slot Dec 19 11 ","permalink":"/acr884-tech-slot-002-tablets/","summary":"\u003cul\u003e\n\t\u003cli\u003eiPad\u003c/li\u003e\n\t\u003cli\u003eMotorola Xoom\u003c/li\u003e\n\t\u003cli\u003eHP Slate\u003c/li\u003e\n\t\u003cli\u003eAndroid tablet apps\u003c/li\u003e\n\t\u003cli\u003eiOs tablet apps\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\nIn this episode Patrick and Neil discuss the main players in the tablet market as well as Neils top Android and iOs tablet apps.\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSubscribe:\u003c/strong\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"//itunes.apple.com/ie/podcast//id494862406\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cimg title=\"iTunes Podcast Button\" src=\"http://dueyfinster.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/itunes_podcast.gif\" alt=\"Subscribe to ACR884 Tech Slot in iTunes!\" width=\"80\" height=\"15\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003caudio controls=\"controls\"\u003e\n  \u003csource src=\"http://dueyfinster.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/technologydec1911.mp3\" type=\"audio/mp3\" /\u003e\n  Your browser does not support the audio tag.\n\u003c/audio\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDownload Link:\n\u003ca href=\"http://dueyfinster.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/technologydec1911.mp3\"\u003eTechnology\nSlot Dec 19 11\u003c/a\u003e \u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","title":"@ACR884 Tech Slot #002 - Tablets"},{"content":"The headline is misleading - I actually love my Kindle. I have read several books I otherwise would have not read. What I don\u0026rsquo;t get is why otherwise well-healed and technology literate folk dismiss the Kindle out-of-hand. The most common reason? It\u0026rsquo;s not dead-tree paper. You can\u0026rsquo;t hold it. You can\u0026rsquo;t feel it. Yet the biggest thing they dismiss is me. It\u0026rsquo;s personal. I have an eye condition which means I wear hard plastic contacts all day long - my eyes get very tired, very easily.\nBut the Kindle is a wonderful reading device. I don\u0026rsquo;t read much books (I do most on-screen as I am on a computer constantly). It allows me and millions like me to enlarge the text and get a comfortable reading experience. I can adjust contrast (important when you suffer from shadowing/ghosting of an image) and much, much more. It also has on certain models a read-to-me computer generated voice. These advances cannot be dismissed and most importantly they aren\u0026rsquo;t offered by dead-tree books.\nI am sure the real book is beautiful, pleasant and looks the part with its fancy cover. But if I can\u0026rsquo;t read it comfortably, it\u0026rsquo;s next-to-useless. And that for me is end of sentence, paragraph and book (paper or e).\n","permalink":"/dont-get-a-kindle/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eThe headline is misleading - I actually love my Kindle. I have read several\nbooks I otherwise would have not read. What I don\u0026rsquo;t get is why otherwise\nwell-healed and technology literate folk dismiss the Kindle out-of-hand. The\nmost common reason? It\u0026rsquo;s not dead-tree paper. \u003cem\u003eYou can\u0026rsquo;t hold it\u003c/em\u003e.\n\u003cem\u003eYou can\u0026rsquo;t feel it\u003c/em\u003e. Yet the biggest thing they dismiss is me. It\u0026rsquo;s\npersonal. I have an eye condition which means I wear hard plastic contacts all\nday long - my eyes get very tired, very easily.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Don't get a Kindle"},{"content":"If your passion is in technology, you often sigh with the marketing buzzwords used in sales. Cloud Computing doesn\u0026rsquo;t actually mean anything specific (or could mean a lot of things). It\u0026rsquo;s that a lot of things to a lot of people who makes it useful as a term, an ideology, a way of explaining why you-oh-so-need-to-do-this-now. Cloud computing for me is a platform description. I think of the myriad of hosting companies who offer a platform to build your service atop.\nTechnology has been and will continue to be all about platforms. Look at Windows, the perfect example of an \u0026ldquo;open\u0026rdquo; platform that is actually very, very closed. Open in the sense it makes you feel fuzzy inside with all the control you seem to have. But closed when the platform operator decides they need a change of direction and emphasis. If your smart, you realise this and either a) kick the football down the road or b) do your best to plan ahead. Either option is sub-optimal. What platforms do offer you is a foundation to build upon. They save you time, money, engineering talent and when they work well are indispensable.\nIf you build the platform, you can make a lot of money. Just ask Amazon and Microsoft. Facebook, Twitter and Google are still ramping up their platform efforts. Adobe has just announced the realised their very valuable Flash platform is dead on mobile devices. They realised platforms are very purpose specific (to be valuable) and that value is in the already-mature desktop market - the investment in mobile wasn\u0026rsquo;t worth it. Adobe has always made money from the tools (as has Microsoft, apart from selling the platform Windows they sell Office, Sharepoint etc) and is focusing on targeting a larger platform in HTML5. If Adobe succeeds they\u0026rsquo;ll make a lot more money, or even if they capture a small section of the market which is bigger then the previous flash creation tools market.\nMonetisation is also tricky for platforms. Amazon\u0026rsquo;s strategy is similar to Wal-Mart, make it big, reliable and cheap. Only big companies can ever compete with Amazon on that scale. Smaller companies must rely on getting as many people to their platform as possible (to get as big) or creating a niche in say highly regulated environments which are high value but low volume.\nIn short: Platforms are good, but know when to jump off !\n","permalink":"/all-about-platforms/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eIf your passion is in technology, you often sigh with the marketing buzzwords\nused in sales. \u003cem\u003eCloud Computing\u003c/em\u003e doesn\u0026rsquo;t actually mean anything specific\n(or could mean a lot of things). It\u0026rsquo;s that a lot of things to a lot of people\nwho makes it useful as a term, an  ideology, a way of explaining why\n\u003cem\u003eyou-oh-so-need-to-do-this-now\u003c/em\u003e. Cloud computing for me is a platform\ndescription. I think of the myriad of hosting companies who offer a platform to\nbuild your service atop.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"All About Platforms"},{"content":"I always enjoy watching shows like CSI for the over-the-top depiction of current technology. They obviously have people in know, it\u0026rsquo;s not like the script writers of major shows cannot get someone to consult them on technology (or maybe they don\u0026rsquo;t - sometimes I do wonder).\nThe video below is about IRC (Internet Relay Chat). They are correct it\u0026rsquo;s primitive (it\u0026rsquo;s all text) and hackers do actually use it (groups like Anonymous), but you can\u0026rsquo;t track someone to their living room using just an IP address!! The montage about the boats trying to explain how IRC works is off-the-wall insane crazy. WHY?!?, alas:\n[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2rGTXHvPCQ]\nAlso I found the gem below, where an assistant says she\u0026rsquo;ll \u0026ldquo;Create a GUI in Visual Basic to track the killers IP address\u0026rdquo;. And while she\u0026rsquo;s creating that Graphical User interface, anyone in the know can only assume the killer used that time to get away! No-one creates a GUI to display a number, all you can track is already on the web with a quick search for \u0026ldquo;IP Lookup\u0026rdquo;. This is a buzz-word fest to seem very high-tech!\nBut having said all of that, these videos are very entertaining.\n","permalink":"/hollywood-tech/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI always enjoy watching shows like CSI for the over-the-top depiction of current\ntechnology. They obviously have people in know, it\u0026rsquo;s not like the script writers\nof major shows cannot get someone to consult them on technology (or maybe they\ndon\u0026rsquo;t - \u003cem\u003esometimes I do wonder\u003c/em\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe video below is about IRC (Internet Relay Chat). They are correct it\u0026rsquo;s\nprimitive (it\u0026rsquo;s all text) and hackers do actually use it (groups like\nAnonymous), but you can\u0026rsquo;t track someone to their living room using just an IP\naddress!! The montage about the boats trying to explain how IRC works is\noff-the-wall insane crazy. \u003cstrong\u003eWHY?!?\u003c/strong\u003e, alas:\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Hollywood Tech"},{"content":"I have recently switched my main desktop over to Arch Linux. If you have never heard about Arch Linux, it is a \u0026ldquo;roll your own\u0026rdquo; Linux distribution. This basically means from start to finish, the whole process is custom. Whether your system has a Graphical User Interface (GUI) or sound is totally up to you.\nI switched from Ubuntu Linux, which is very much built for new people to Linux. I have been using Ubuntu since it\u0026rsquo;s release in 2004 (as old as this blog incidentally). I have found it slowly moving away from my power user needs from the release of the KDE 4.0 desktop up to the recently introduced Unity desktop for Ubuntu. Don\u0026rsquo;t get me wrong I love the whizz-bang effects of the snazzier distributions (like Ubuntu) and have used it to show people the power of Linux (and how really groundbreaking Compiz effects were at the time, ~2005). It\u0026rsquo;s sad Compiz hasn\u0026rsquo;t got the kudos but since both Windows and OS X have copied from Compiz, some more usability has been gained.\nBut alas these features aren\u0026rsquo;t really for me. I work professionally with computers all day and what matters to me most now are speed and efficiency. I am not productive if a desktop issue causes a slow-down (as Aero often does on Windows) or even a crash (Mac spinning beach ball, anyone?).\nThe most important reason why I switched to Arch itself is because of the rolling release feature. It doesn\u0026rsquo;t have set releases like Ubuntu (every six months) but updates constantly. This suits my workflow a lot better because a lot of software I use on Linux gets very regular updates now (Chromium, Eclipse, Calibre, Firefox, Amarok, etc). I also hate upgrades between releases and I think smaller more manageable updates (even if small issues arise) will provide a much better experience.\nAfter all there\u0026rsquo;s only so much coffee you can drink when your machine is taking a long time to respond!\n","permalink":"/faster-with-arch/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI have recently switched my main desktop over to Arch Linux. If you have never\nheard about Arch Linux, it is a \u0026ldquo;\u003cem\u003eroll your own\u003c/em\u003e\u0026rdquo; Linux distribution.\nThis basically means from start to finish, the whole process is custom. Whether\nyour system has a Graphical User Interface (GUI) or sound is totally up to you.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI switched from Ubuntu Linux, which is very much built for new people to Linux.\nI have been using Ubuntu since it\u0026rsquo;s release in 2004 (as old as this blog\nincidentally). I have found it slowly moving away from my power user needs from\nthe release of the KDE 4.0 desktop up to the recently introduced Unity desktop\nfor Ubuntu. Don\u0026rsquo;t get me wrong I love the whizz-bang effects of the snazzier\ndistributions (like Ubuntu) and have used it to show people the power of Linux\n(and how really groundbreaking Compiz effects were at the time, ~2005). It\u0026rsquo;s sad\nCompiz hasn\u0026rsquo;t got the kudos but since both Windows and OS X have copied from\nCompiz, some more usability has been gained.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Faster with Arch"},{"content":"I haven\u0026rsquo;t been posting much lately because I have been working hard to improve the experience of visiting this website. You may ask what does that mean? - well it is simple. I love going to websites that are uncluttered, provide useful information and are to the point. It\u0026rsquo;s also small things like having a really fast page load time. So here\u0026rsquo;s a flavour of some of what I have been working on lately\u0026hellip;\nNavigation improvements Brand new menu, which can hold nested menus, images and more (much more flexible). Proper Sitemap, Atom and RSS feeds Accessibility keys can now be used to navigate to every page on the menu (for screen readers) Speed improvements Blockquotes are now 100% CSS - no images. Other post elements will follow when CSS3 allows. I am in the process of downsizing all images to thumbnail size (as a bonus if you click on it you\u0026rsquo;ll get beautiful full size image goodness) Maintainability Improvements All posts are now written in Markdown, which is like plain text. Makes me updating old posts with bad info way easier. The history of every page in the repository and can be referenced and restored (indeed I use it to constantly roll out and back changes/improvements). Permalinks will be provided at the end of each page. Posts can be safely linked to now and should always work. I\u0026rsquo;ve started adopting Microformats around the site as a way to feed search engines and crawlers more useful information on both myself and the websites content Similiar to Microformats, I\u0026rsquo;ve marked up posts so services such as Readability and Instapaper should have no trouble parsing out all the stuff they don\u0026rsquo;t need (such as site navigation, comments etc.) Images are getting or will have alternative tags for the visually impaired. and more to come\u0026hellip;\nThere is still going to be a lot of broken posts for various reasons - I am doing my best to review and update as many as I can. Unfortunately changing blogging platform and having 150+ posts (since 2004) doesn\u0026rsquo;t make updates easy, but once things are fixed I\u0026rsquo;ll have a better idea of how to avoid such mess in future. Do contact me if you see any I have missed!\n","permalink":"/site-improv/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI haven\u0026rsquo;t been posting much lately because I have been working hard to improve\nthe experience of visiting this website. You may ask \u003cem\u003ewhat does that mean?\u003c/em\u003e -\nwell it is simple. I love going to websites that are uncluttered, provide useful\ninformation and are to the point. It\u0026rsquo;s also small things like having a really\nfast page load time. So here\u0026rsquo;s a flavour of some of what I have been working on\nlately\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Website Improvements"},{"content":"It\u0026rsquo;s been 10 years since the anniversary of 9/11 and much of the world has changed a lot in that period. We\u0026rsquo;ve had full body scanners at airports, marshalls on flights, bombs hidden in toner cartridges and two wars. I reflected on this and remembered two really good articles I\u0026rsquo;ll share here on the topic. Hopefully we\u0026rsquo;ve changed for the better.\nYesterday I finally wrote something that\u0026rsquo;s been bothering me for about ten years: The fact that Al Qaeda can\u0026rsquo;t be as big and bad as it\u0026rsquo;s made out to be, because its whole design violates every rule of guerrilla organisation. It\u0026rsquo;s like a counter intelligence officer\u0026rsquo;s dream, the Al Qaeda plan to bring guerrillas from all over the world, introduce them to each other, and exchange funds, material and ideas.\nIt was pure cowardice that kept me from saying that sooner. A good lesson for me in not listening to the majority. The majority, the media, whatever you want to call it-maybe \u0026ldquo;the background noise\u0026rdquo; is the best way to describe it-kept saying that Al Qaeda was the biggest baddest thing in history and even though I grumbled and held back a little, I bought into that idea way more than I should, knowing the way I did that everything about their set-up pointed to a flash in the pan-which is what they\u0026rsquo;ve turned out to be. Back in 2005, when the Al Qaeda hoax was hitting its peak, I wrote a column called \u0026ldquo;Nerf War and Real War: Al Qaeda vs. IRA.\u0026rdquo; If you want a good quick lesson in why dummies like me have such a hard time understanding guerrilla warfare, even when they\u0026rsquo;ve got all the info they need right in front of them, just read that article. I re-read it yesterday, after a reader pointed out that I\u0026rsquo;d praised Al Qaeda for going all out and was being inconsisent in yesterday\u0026rsquo;s blog for saying they blew their assets. - WN 38 IRA VS. AL QAEDA: I WAS WRONG\nIn the aftermath of the disaster, the sheer demand for information sent news site after news site crashing down, especially in the US, leaving the world once more glued to the telly for the up-to-the-minute details of what was taking place.\nThe Register did its best. Generally, the site stayed up, and in response to email requests from Americans who were stuck at work, Reg hacks posted rolling updates, sourced from TV and radio, as the disaster unfolded.\nTen years on, things have changed. For starters, internet infrastructure is much more robust. In 2011, the internet still hasn\u0026rsquo;t beaten TV for serving up breaking news, but it\u0026rsquo;s at least an equal player now, with news organizations trawling Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and personal blogs to find out what is happening on the ground.\nTen years after the Twin Towers: What\u0026rsquo;s the Reg angle? ","permalink":"/nerf-war/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eIt\u0026rsquo;s been 10 years since the anniversary of 9/11 and much of the world has\nchanged a lot in that period. We\u0026rsquo;ve had full body scanners at airports,\nmarshalls on flights, bombs hidden in toner cartridges and two wars. I reflected\non this and remembered two really good articles I\u0026rsquo;ll share here on the topic.\nHopefully we\u0026rsquo;ve changed for the better.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYesterday I finally wrote something that\u0026rsquo;s been bothering me for about ten\nyears: The fact that Al Qaeda can\u0026rsquo;t be as big and bad as it\u0026rsquo;s made out to be,\nbecause its whole design violates every rule of guerrilla organisation. It\u0026rsquo;s\nlike a counter intelligence officer\u0026rsquo;s dream, the Al Qaeda plan to bring\nguerrillas from all over the world, introduce them to each other, and exchange\nfunds, material and ideas.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Reflection on 9-11"},{"content":"I recently bought the wifi version of the Motorola Xoom. I did not get the 3G version to keep costs down (no second carrier subscription in addition to smartphone I own). Here\u0026rsquo;s my review, let it be noted I\u0026rsquo;ve been an iOS user since version 2 (iPhone 3G) and although I have used devices from Android 1.6 and up - I\u0026rsquo;ve never \u0026rsquo;lived\u0026rsquo; with them.\nMotorola Xoom Aesthetics \u0026amp; Design First of all the design is very well executed. It looks and feels like a premium tablet should (should that be iPad competitor?). The ports are a clear winner and still are over any other tablet. I haven\u0026rsquo;t got the video dock yet, but I ampositiveit\u0026rsquo;ll be a great addition to my big HDTV. The only gripe really is that it doesn\u0026rsquo;t charge through usb, which I believe is because it has two batteries. It charges through supplied plug insanely fast! It lasts all day and then some with heavy use also. I haven\u0026rsquo;t left the thing alone long enough to test the standby time, but I am sure it\u0026rsquo;s good also. The 10.1\u0026quot; screen feels like the \u0026lsquo;right\u0026rsquo; size for a tablet and I\u0026rsquo;ll besurprisedif more tablets don\u0026rsquo;t end up adopting a screen size closer to the Xoom\u0026rsquo;s. The heft is a bit much, I would like it to be a small bit lighter - but nearly all tablets with proper glass screens will be heavy.\nAndroid 3 - Honeycomb! Honeycomb is wonderfully designed and feels just like the Xoom - premium. I am a user of Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and now Android, so I never find the perfect experience anywhere and love bits of each. There are a few things iOS has me trained to expect, which I haven\u0026rsquo;t gotten in Android. One of my biggest frustrations at the moment is a lack of background video - iOS has this down and then some. The other is the really nice design of applications - one can\u0026rsquo;t hide the fact most Android apps feel less premium. Having said that the tablet market is still young, and I just found a beautifully designed purpose-built Honeycomb podcasting client - BeyondPod (an example of following Honeycomb layout).\nHoneycomb is as has been described in the multiple review sites I consulted - tron-like in feeling. It\u0026rsquo;s got that cool unhealthy blue glow that looks a bit futuristic. It\u0026rsquo;s still buggy around the edges and mostsurprisingly this affects the Google applications more, some are still being updated (Gmail, Reader). Like the iPad but better is the ability to either zoom or stretch applications made for the phone for the big screen. This made many 3rd party apps run flawlessly - most noticeably all the games with their custom user interfaces looked just as good if not better!\nApp Store vs. Market I\u0026rsquo;ll spill the beans here: I started looking for apps I already knew from my iPhone on the Xoom. Surprisingly, I found the vast majority of them. Apple\u0026rsquo;s App Store exclusives are getting rarer it seems. Overall my feel is this: App store has better quality apps, all useful apps are pretty much paid (bar top shelf free ones - Dropbox, Twitter etc). Android Market has mostly free for anything you need (at a lesser quality) BUT the top quality apps (like BeyondPod) are more expensive. My gut tells me App Store will cost you more over time, while the Android Market prices make you question if you really need the app (for really good apps).\nConclusion Overall a fantastic device. I would buy it now that the price has come down if: You don\u0026rsquo;t mind upgrading again in a year or two (iPad the same), use and like Android and think you would like the option to mess with the device by developing/rooting. It\u0026rsquo;s great hardware and because it\u0026rsquo;s Google certified it\u0026rsquo;ll follow all the releases of Honeycomb which is sure to get more exciting as competition to the iPad heats up.\nOverall 8/10\n","permalink":"/review-of-motorola-xoom-wifi/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI recently bought the wifi version of the Motorola Xoom. I did not get the 3G\nversion to keep costs down (no second carrier subscription in addition to\nsmartphone I own). Here\u0026rsquo;s my review, let it be noted I\u0026rsquo;ve been an iOS user since\nversion 2 (iPhone 3G) and although I have used devices from Android 1.6 and up -\nI\u0026rsquo;ve never \u0026rsquo;lived\u0026rsquo; with them.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cfigure\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"/files/2011/08/Mot_Xoom_Wiki_jeh.jpg\" title=\"Motorola Xoom\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/files/2011/08/Mot_Xoom_Wiki_jeh.jpg\" alt=\"Motorola Xoom Tablet\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cfigcaption\u003eMotorola Xoom\u003c/figcaption\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"aesthetics--design\"\u003eAesthetics \u0026amp; Design\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFirst of all the design is very well executed. It looks and feels like a premium\ntablet should (should that be iPad competitor?). The ports are a clear winner\nand still are over any other tablet. I haven\u0026rsquo;t got the video dock yet, but I\nampositiveit\u0026rsquo;ll be a great addition to my big HDTV. The only gripe really is\nthat it doesn\u0026rsquo;t charge through usb, which I believe is because it has two\nbatteries. It charges through supplied plug insanely fast! It lasts all day and\nthen some with heavy use also. I haven\u0026rsquo;t left the thing alone long enough to\ntest the standby time, but I am sure it\u0026rsquo;s good also. The 10.1\u0026quot; screen feels like\nthe \u0026lsquo;right\u0026rsquo; size for a tablet and I\u0026rsquo;ll besurprisedif more tablets don\u0026rsquo;t end up\nadopting a screen size closer to the Xoom\u0026rsquo;s. The heft is a bit much, I would\nlike it to be a small bit lighter - but nearly all tablets with proper glass\nscreens will be heavy.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Review of the Motorola Xoom Wifi"},{"content":"I got a Plantronics .655 USB Headset mainly for the ability to do VOIP well. Those of you who come here often know I reviewed Sennheiser HD595 before, which is a headset built for the quality of reproduction (I use that one for music).\nThere\u0026rsquo;s not much you can say about a VOIP headset, so I am going to keep this short! The Plantronics .655 USB isn\u0026rsquo;t the most comfortable headset and the usb connection seemed like a plus as I\u0026rsquo;d never owned a USB headset. The mic quality is a lot better with the USB connection (though I am guessing 90% is down to the fact it\u0026rsquo;s directional and pointed at your mouth), but the sound won\u0026rsquo;t be.\nPlantronics has basically discontinued this product although you can still buy it. If price is an issue, I recommend this as a decent headset, if not a tad disappointing in the comfort stakes. Plantronics have newer models out similar to this - some more expensive and some cheaper. If the price point is a winner, they offer decent value for money.\n","permalink":"/usb-headset-review/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI got a Plantronics .655 USB Headset mainly for the ability to do VOIP well.\nThose of you who come here often know \u003ca href=\"http://neil.grogan.ie/2011/03/review.html\"\u003eI reviewed Sennheiser HD595\nbefore\u003c/a\u003e, which is a headset built for the quality of reproduction (I use\nthat one for music).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere\u0026rsquo;s not much you can say about a VOIP headset, so I am going to keep this\nshort! The Plantronics .655 USB isn\u0026rsquo;t the most comfortable headset and the usb\nconnection seemed like a plus as I\u0026rsquo;d never owned a USB headset. The mic quality\nis a lot better with the USB connection (though I am guessing 90% is down to the\nfact it\u0026rsquo;s directional and pointed at your mouth), but the sound won\u0026rsquo;t be.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Plantronics .655 USB Headset Review"},{"content":"I try to listen to as many podcasts (netcasts?) as I can. They fall in to two categories: Irish radio and technology. Luckily, there is so much competition in this space it\u0026rsquo;s hard to pick the best - so quality is high!\nTech News Today (TNT) by the TWiT Network Regular and fills you right up to the minute with the latest tech news. Can replace RSS of many blogs (HUGE time saver) since lively debate of tech topics is the order of the day.\nFloss Weekly by the TWiT Network I am a big FLOSS advocate and have discovered so many cool and off-the-beat-and-track software projects that exist because of this show. Hosted by Randall Schwartz, he\u0026rsquo;s an interesting down-to-earth guy who really appreciates and understands his audience\nSecurity Now! by the TWiT Network Steve Gibson (of Gibson Research) is Bruce Schneier of the tech podcasting arena. His shows are hugely informative and not just security focused (but that is his strength). His episodes on how computers work are a must listen and make complex technical things easy to understand (although as Comp Sci Major I did disagree with some things he said/missed out on!)\nHAK5 by the Revision3 Network Hosted by Darren Kitchen, a truly great sysadmin who is in to and up to all sorts of tricks. Darren has shown me many cool things (I especially like the Linux focused projects). Can\u0026rsquo;t not mention Shannon Morse, Darren\u0026rsquo;s girlfriend and author of the best short segment on random (but cool) topics.\nLifehacker by the Revision3 Network Following on from the best life-hacking site online, this show is literally the video version of all the great tips, tricks and how-to\u0026rsquo;s from the Lifehacker site. Want to know how bad or good coffee is? How to pack? Best way to move? Where is the best place to live for your health? Lifehacker show has got all the answers to the questions you never thought to ask.\n","permalink":"/tech-video-podcasts-worth-watching/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI try to listen to as many \u003cstrike\u003epodcasts\u003c/strike\u003e (\u003cem\u003enetcasts?\u003c/em\u003e) as I can.\nThey fall in to two categories: Irish radio and technology. Luckily, there is so\nmuch competition in this space it\u0026rsquo;s hard to pick the best - so quality is high!\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTech News Today (TNT)\u003c/strong\u003e by the TWiT Network\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003ciframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZiOI7GbVhoY\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"\u003e\u003c/iframe\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRegular and fills you right up to the minute with the latest tech news. Can\nreplace RSS of many blogs (HUGE time saver) since lively debate of tech topics\nis the order of the day.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Tech Video Podcasts Worth Watching"},{"content":"From one of the best TED talks I\u0026rsquo;ve seen:\nI love the story about the jeans. I feel like that every time I buy shoes. Scary.\n","permalink":"/paradox-of-choice/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eFrom one of the best TED talks I\u0026rsquo;ve seen:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cobject width=\"480\" height=\"390\"\u003e\u003cparam name=\"movie\" value=\"http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/VO6XEQIsCoM?version=3\u0026amp;hl=en_US\u0026amp;rel=0\"\u003e\u003c/param\u003e\u003cparam name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"\u003e\u003c/param\u003e\u003cparam name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\"\u003e\u003c/param\u003e\u003cembed src=\"http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/VO6XEQIsCoM?version=3\u0026amp;hl=en_US\u0026amp;rel=0\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"480\" height=\"390\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\"\u003e\u003c/embed\u003e\u003c/object\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI love the story about the jeans. I feel like that every time I buy shoes.\nScary.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Paradox of Choice"},{"content":"\nI\u0026rsquo;ve always wondered what would happen when we are gone - an inevitability judging by every known animal becoming extinct at some stage. Creepy but very interesting\u0026hellip;\n","permalink":"/accidental-sea-when-humans-disappear/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cobject width=\"640\" height=\"390\"\u003e\u003cparam name=\"movie\" value=\"http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/otIU6Py4K_A?version=3\u0026amp;hl=en_US\u0026amp;rel=0\"\u003e\u003c/param\u003e\u003cparam name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"\u003e\u003c/param\u003e\u003cparam name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\"\u003e\u003c/param\u003e\u003cembed src=\"http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/otIU6Py4K_A?version=3\u0026amp;hl=en_US\u0026amp;rel=0\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"500\" height=\"390\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\"\u003e\u003c/embed\u003e\u003c/object\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI\u0026rsquo;ve always wondered what would happen when we are gone - an inevitability\njudging by every known animal becoming extinct at some stage. Creepy but very\ninteresting\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Accidental Sea - When Humans Disappear"},{"content":"I had been applying for jobs since I started my last year in college and I am delighted to say even before I completed my final year, I have gained full time employment. I would say it is luck, but my family thinks it\u0026rsquo;s down to a lot of hard work and good grades! Either way, it\u0026rsquo;s a great feeling in probably the most competitive jobs market (for potential employees) in years.\nThe job is Software Engineering on the Java-based Cellular network control technology which Ericsson specialises in. I have obviously signed an NDA (and will honour it) and at this point it goes without saying all the viewpoints from this website are entirely my own and nothing to do with Ericsson in any way.\nI\u0026rsquo;ll still blog about technology, but I am looking forward on taking on a mobile industry slant, not necessarily about Ericsson. My final year project and thesis were all about the mobile software arena, so the mesh was perfect and I have a big interest in the technology.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s very hard to believe this blog is 7 years in existence already! I have begun a process of cleaning up old posts (marking links as broken etc). Reading over old posts from secondary school to all the way through college and on to full time employment is a wonderful journey and I hope to mark the 10 year anniversary in 2014 with many posts about the mobile industry, just as I have through college.\nHere\u0026rsquo;s to many more years! ;-)\n","permalink":"/software-engineering-job/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI had been applying for jobs since I started my last year in college and I am\ndelighted to say even before I completed my final year, I have gained full time\nemployment. I would say it is luck, but my family thinks it\u0026rsquo;s down to a lot of\nhard work and good grades! Either way, it\u0026rsquo;s a great feeling in probably the most\ncompetitive jobs market (for potential employees) in years.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Software Engineering Job"},{"content":"As you read this, I have already embarked on an inter-railing trip around Europe. Some of the cities in the itinerary:\nAmsterdam Cologne Nürburgring (Rock Am Ring festival) Prague Bratislava I\u0026rsquo;ll definitely post up some pictures when I get back. I planned this trip with a few classmates to coincide with the completion of our four year honours degree in Computer Science.\n","permalink":"/inter-railing-around-europe/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eAs you read this, I have already embarked on an inter-railing trip around\nEurope. Some of the cities in the itinerary:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAmsterdam\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCologne\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNürburgring (Rock Am Ring festival)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePrague\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBratislava\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI\u0026rsquo;ll definitely post up some pictures when I get back. I planned this trip with\na few classmates to coincide with the completion of our four year honours degree\nin Computer Science.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Inter-railing around Europe"},{"content":"It has been a whirlwind four years, but this day marks the cessation of my full-time education for my honours degree. It is an overwhelming feeling of relief, joy, sadness and all of the emotions you feel when leaving an institution that has been a huge part of my life, if only for four short years.\nThe best part of my course has been without doubt, the friends for life I have made. I include everyone in my class in this, but some friends have been truly the best anyone could wish for. I dedicate this post to wishing all my classmates the very best in whatever they chose to do and hopefully we\u0026rsquo;ll all keep in touch!\n","permalink":"/final-year-of-honours-degree-complete/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eIt has been a whirlwind four years, but this day marks the cessation of my\nfull-time education for my honours degree. It is an overwhelming feeling of\nrelief, joy, sadness and all of the emotions you feel when leaving an\ninstitution that has been a huge part of my life, if only for four short years.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ccenter\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://picasaweb.google.com/102276623719467794879/BloggerPictures?authkey=Gv1sRgCMSGwsXrra72MQ#5604530193920577826\"\u003e\u003cimg border=\"0\" height=\"296\" src=\"http://lh6.ggpht.com/_Wq0iRacWX8o/TcdKhG2WUSI/AAAAAAAAAoo/TOqP7IlgyYg/s400/0.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 5px;\" width=\"400\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/center\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe best part of my course has been without doubt, the friends for life I have\nmade. I include everyone in my class in this, but some friends have been truly\nthe best anyone could wish for. I dedicate this post to wishing all my\nclassmates the very best in whatever they chose to do and hopefully we\u0026rsquo;ll all\nkeep in touch!\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Final Year of Honours Degree, Complete"},{"content":"This is an old box which contained a Nokia phone from a now defunct Esat Digifone. Irish Businessman Denis O\u0026rsquo;Brien started it and sold it to BT and made a fortune (and after got embroiled in a tribunal on accusations of impropriety). It is now called O2.I thought we got ripped off now with call charges now, how nostalgia can prove one wrong:\n","permalink":"/mobile-carrier-charges/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eThis is an old box which contained a Nokia phone from a now defunct Esat\nDigifone. Irish Businessman \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denis_O%27Brien\"\u003eDenis O\u0026rsquo;Brien\u003c/a\u003e started it and sold it to BT\nand made a fortune (and after got \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moriarty_Tribunal#Esat_Digifone\"\u003eembroiled in a tribunal on accusations of\nimpropriety\u003c/a\u003e). It is now called \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O2_%28Ireland%29\"\u003eO2\u003c/a\u003e.I thought we got ripped\noff now with call charges now, how nostalgia can prove one wrong:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5241/5269146304_9dc92e7f2e.jpg\" title=\"I thought mobile phone carriers are rip offs now #blastfromthepast\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/files/2011/05/esat.jpg\" alt=\"Esat Digifone Box\"/\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Mobile Carrier Charges"},{"content":"\nTook this picture while out walking my dogs. It was taken not far from Leixlip Louisa Bridge Railway Station, not far from Leixlip, Co. Kildare. It was taken with an iPhone 4 and edited in Instagram.\n","permalink":"/waterfall/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5136/5458554591_81e0af2293.jpg\" title=\"Waterfall by dueyfinster\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/files/2011/05/waterfall.jpg\" alt=\"Waterfall by dueyfinster\"/\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTook this picture while out walking my dogs. It was taken not far from Leixlip\nLouisa Bridge Railway Station, not far from Leixlip, Co. Kildare. It was taken\nwith an iPhone 4 and edited in Instagram.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Waterfall"},{"content":"Below is a neat trick to clean out your Playstation 3\u0026rsquo;s fans if they become a bit noisy. Before I have used a can of compressed air, but this method is really neat and definitely lowered the fan sound emanating from my PS3.\n\u0026lt;embed width=\u0026quot;320\u0026quot; height=\u0026quot;266\u0026quot; src=\u0026quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/JhU4_Rm0GQU\u0026amp;fs=1\u0026amp;source=uds\u0026quot; type=\u0026quot;application/x-shockwave-flash\u0026quot;\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/embed\u0026gt; Thanks goes to my former classmate Alan Smith for alerting me to this, Thanks Al!\n","permalink":"/cleaning-your-ps3s-fans/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eBelow is a neat trick to clean out your Playstation 3\u0026rsquo;s fans if they become a\nbit noisy. Before I have used a can of compressed air, but this method is really\nneat and definitely lowered the fan sound emanating from my PS3.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cobject class=\"BLOGGER-youtube-video\" classid=\"clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000\" codebase=\"http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0\" data-thumbnail-src=\"http://1.gvt0.com/vi/JhU4_Rm0GQU/0.jpg\" height=\"266\" width=\"320\"\u003e\n\t\u003cparam name=\"movie\" value=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/JhU4_Rm0GQU\u0026fs=1\u0026source=uds\" /\u003e\n\t\u003cparam name=\"bgcolor\" value=\"#FFFFFF\" /\u003e\n\u003cpre\u003e\u003ccode\u003e\u0026lt;embed width=\u0026quot;320\u0026quot; height=\u0026quot;266\u0026quot; src=\u0026quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/JhU4_Rm0GQU\u0026amp;fs=1\u0026amp;source=uds\u0026quot; type=\u0026quot;application/x-shockwave-flash\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\n\u0026lt;/embed\u0026gt;\n\u003c/code\u003e\u003c/pre\u003e\n\u003c/object\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThanks goes to my former classmate Alan Smith for alerting me to this, \u003cem\u003eThanks\nAl\u003c/em\u003e!\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Cleaning your PS3's fans?"},{"content":"For my final year project, I have done a web application on the concept of replacing traditional web applications. I picked an area I was deeply interested in, smart phones. I am an avid iPhone user and I have bought Android phones also, they are great devices I can\u0026rsquo;t imagine not having now that they are here. As part of my thesis I touched on the old way to develop apps, using Symbian C++ or J2ME and we\u0026rsquo;ve come a long, long way since then.\nFor those interested, I will publish copy of my thesis after November 2011. I won\u0026rsquo;t publish it here just yet, as the examiners have yet to pour over the contents and grade it.\nSome of Summary Conclusions: Web Apps are definitely desirable, in some cases preferable\nLimited API access in the browser (only Geo-location API possible) really hampers good quality applications\nWeb Apps for the moment should stick to being \u0026ldquo;Magazine\u0026rdquo; -type applications, with intelligent and innovative display of information\nThe tool-kits/libraries and IDE\u0026rsquo;s really aren\u0026rsquo;t up to scratch just yet. Things are improving, very slowly though. This area needs a lot more work from stake holders.\nPrediction: WebGL (an effort to bring 3D) will really drive the push of web apps in next few years (as it did with PC\u0026rsquo;s)\nIt\u0026rsquo;s going to be interesting over the next few years to see how this space evolves. Will it just be iOS and Android with native apps for each? Will we see the market heavily fragmented and thus give web apps the opportunity to shine?\n","permalink":"/geocampus/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eFor my final year project, I have done a web application on the concept of\nreplacing traditional web applications. I picked an area I was deeply interested\nin, smart phones. I am an avid iPhone user and I have bought Android phones\nalso, they are great devices I can\u0026rsquo;t imagine not having now that they are here.\nAs part of my thesis I touched on the old way to develop apps, using Symbian C++\nor J2ME and we\u0026rsquo;ve come a long, long way since then.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eFor those\ninterested, I will publish copy of my thesis after November 2011. I won\u0026rsquo;t\npublish it here just yet, as the examiners have yet to pour over the contents\nand grade it.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"GeoCampus"},{"content":"During last summer I purchased a set of Sennheiser HD595\u0026rsquo;s - a great product for Audiophiles. I have to say for someone who constantly listens to a lot of music - good headphones like these are a must. They are expensive for sure, but Sennheiser do seem to have a great durability and solid build quality. This is my first set of such high quality headphones, so bear that in mind - I can\u0026rsquo;t speak for other manufacturers in this space.\nThe greatest and most valuable aspect is the wear time of these headphones. Any other cheap headphones I\u0026rsquo;ve bought, I\u0026rsquo;d always feel after 20-30 minutes my ears would be burning. It\u0026rsquo;s easy to forget these long periods of wear until you have a very long Skype call. You start to wish the call was over to rest your poor ears! The selling point of this particular model is that they are faithful to the sound that\u0026rsquo;s meant to be heard. Surely that\u0026rsquo;s what you want to hear? For some people that\u0026rsquo;s not the case and you\u0026rsquo;ll find them buying Dr. Dre or Skullcandies finest set of headphones and to be honest more power to them! But for myself, I want faithful reproduction and not headphones targeted at a certain genre - HD595\u0026rsquo;s prove a good fit.\nTo compensate for the lack of targeting of genres, I\u0026rsquo;ve found it necessary to use an equalizer once or twice - but mainly to satisfy my need for bass or drum cymbals and reinforce the beat of a song that\u0026rsquo;s probably on too loud for my own good anyway. Normal people shouldn\u0026rsquo;t be this fussy, but then again most people don\u0026rsquo;t spend this amount of coin on headphones (as one work colleague remarked to me: Your mad! - after hearing the cost, he liked the \u0026lsquo;phones though). The benchmark song I usually use is the Robert Miles classic \u0026ldquo;Children\u0026rdquo;. I think if you can hear all the fine intricacies of that song, your getting fairly good sound reproduction, in my humble opinion.\nIn the end all I really wanted was a portable alternative to my Creative 7.1 surround sound system (which I reviewed here a few years back) but having said that I was under no illusion headphones could replace a very-powerful, room oriented acoustics. HD595\u0026rsquo;s do the best job I could have ask of them - but one major gripe is the are not portable music player friendly. Why? 6.3mm as the default jack with a clumsy 6.3 to 3.5mm jack and the extremely long cord included in the pack. It\u0026rsquo;s great to dock at a desk and with the included dock adaptor it\u0026rsquo;s more clearly aimed at this type of market. Or maybe Guitar players with the jack size? I imagine it\u0026rsquo;s probably good for electric guitar players, but I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t know being allergic to instruments unfortunately. The openear design (it has holes to allow sound escape at the side of your ears) certainly improves listening, but will annoy anyone near enough to hear it, so please forget these for commuting!! Overall a great buy if you plan to use them as much as I have and will.\n","permalink":"/senn-review/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eDuring last summer I purchased a set of Sennheiser HD595\u0026rsquo;s - a great product for\nAudiophiles. I have to say for someone who constantly listens to a lot of\nmusic - good headphones like these are a must. They are expensive for sure, but\nSennheiser do seem to have a great durability and solid build quality. This is\nmy first set of such high quality headphones, so bear that in mind - I can\u0026rsquo;t\nspeak for other manufacturers in this space.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Sennheiser HD595 Review"},{"content":"I purchased the iPhone 4 shortly after its release in Summer 2010. I have obviously been so quick to review this device, the iPhone 5 is upon us! My philosophy for reviewing items is you have to live with them. Well boy have I lived with my iPhone 4! As I write this on it, I do marvel at how good the hardware is. I\u0026rsquo;ve dropped this extremely expensive device on occasions too numerous to count, so luckily it is designed well.\nApps I have a very large collection of paid apps, two-thirds of which have been impulse buy, maybe I\u0026rsquo;ll need them someday types. It\u0026rsquo;s a very expensive platform to get involved with, for sure - but the quality of some apps has been far better than their desktop counterparts - the one that springs to mind is Tweetie (now Twitter for iPhone). Some unforgettable games that take great advantage of the platform have sprung up - my favourite by far is Cut the Rope. Another is Angry Birds. None of these or any games I\u0026rsquo;ve played have made really good use of the iPhone 4\u0026rsquo;s sensors of which there are many - Gyroscope, Accelerometer, Compass, Camera etc. Sure I\u0026rsquo;ve played driving games but I always feel stupid using the iPhone as a mock steering wheel. If you\u0026rsquo;re an app junkie like myself, check out AppAdvice (yes another app) for nice and easy reviews. I\u0026rsquo;ve also found Lifehacker hive five series for iOS help inform me when there\u0026rsquo;s a number of popular apps for a platform.\nCamera One of the best features of the iPhone 4 is without a doubt the camera. It\u0026rsquo;ll obviously never replace an SLR and my compact point and shoot HP Camera is still better but that\u0026rsquo;s all negated by the ease of use of iPhone camera. It\u0026rsquo;s with you all the time and has the best sharing tools (and quick editing tools) of any camera out there. Great Camera related apps include Flickr, Instagram, Toonpaint and the included Photos app. I\u0026rsquo;ve shared more photos directly on a one-to-one basis than ever before, usually after I take the picture with my iPhone - someone requests it and I mail it or upload to Flickr or Instagram seamlessly. It\u0026rsquo;s definitely the future of photos, the past was hovering around a device or printed photos.\nConclusion People still are in awe of the iPhone 4 and personally I don\u0026rsquo;t think that\u0026rsquo;s justified or justifiable any more. Yes its beautiful hardware and software, but the competition has caught up to Apple. It\u0026rsquo;s still the best out there as far as I can see, but by that measure it\u0026rsquo;s also far too expensive. I\u0026rsquo;ve used mine for App development and even still, as a power user, I think the price is the single biggest turn off. iPhones do hold their value, which is a relief, should you wish to switch platforms or upgrade to iPhone 5. So my recommendation? If you have iPhone lust - buy one - but be ruthless and be willing to sell it on within 12 months to get something better\u0026hellip; that something is up to you!\n","permalink":"/iphone4-review/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI purchased the iPhone 4 shortly after its release in Summer 2010. I have\nobviously been so quick to review this device, the iPhone 5 is upon us! My\nphilosophy for reviewing items is you \u003cstrong\u003ehave to live with them\u003c/strong\u003e. Well boy have\nI lived with my iPhone 4! As I write this on it, I do marvel at how good the\nhardware is. I\u0026rsquo;ve dropped this extremely expensive device on occasions \u003ci\u003etoo\nnumerous to count\u003c/i\u003e, so luckily it is designed well.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"iPhone 4 Review"},{"content":"A multitude of websites have been reporting the impending doom of ipv4 exhaustion, which is going to happen soon. All the top level address\u0026rsquo; will be gone, but the regional registries will still have stocks of address\u0026rsquo; in to 2011. As a user of ipv6, I thought I could share sone thoughts/insights on the events ahead\u0026hellip;\nBelow is a very good video which one of my favourite tech shows, Hak5 made with an IPv6 Consultant, Joe Klein.\nMy own experience has been straightforward on the set up side of things. We had to purchase an Apple Airport Extreme router however, which is the biggest pain in the transition, the cost. Most home routers do not have proper IPv6 capability, a serious problem. This will cost the Internet Service providers a lot of money in keeping these old routers shielded from the ever increasing IPv6 enabled websites and services - to the point at which a large scale upgrade may well be cheaper, but this is not likely to happen in the short term.\nSetup of IPv6 The funny thing with IPv6 is that machines self issue address\u0026rsquo; and can use them locally if you have an IPv6 capable router, defaulting to IPv4 when going through your NAT to the Internet. So it\u0026rsquo;s the bridge to your ISP is the issue. Where I set it up, my ISP is small and has no IPv6 support. I emailed them about it, to get no response. It\u0026rsquo;s probably worth trying again since most ISP\u0026rsquo;s are running trials now, and you may get a router upgrade if you opt-in now. So I had to set up a tunnel, using the excellent Hurricane Electric. My ISP is slow though (average 1mbps rural wireless) and when the tunnel is set up all traffic defaults to IPv6, it makes it even slower. Tunnels are not ideal because the result will always depend on the quality of connection to your tunnel provider and the overhead that provides. Since IPv6 packets are bigger than IPv4 packets, your going to get a lot more IPv4 packets for the same volume of traffic, the major downside of tunneling. Tunnels are good to get some IPv6 experience, but not much else unless you have a very fast connection. The transition itself will probably look like this:\nTunnels are set up, small contained IPv6 networks exist (already happend) IPv6 islands merge, major ISP\u0026rsquo;s peer and inter-network communication switches to IPv6 (happening now) ISP\u0026rsquo;s start to use 4to6 tunnels to get to the IPv6 part of the Internet ISP\u0026rsquo;s switch equipment and use 6to4 tunnels to get to ever decreasing IPv4 Internet Like Usenet, ISPs state there is no demand for IPv4, and drop it to be fully native IPv6 So I\u0026rsquo;d advise anyone right now who has the patience and the interest to invest time in IPv6, it\u0026rsquo;s a game-changing technology, not necessarily better but a must to have knowledge of. As I mentioned earlier Hurricane Electric provide free tunnels (you can even set it up on a single computer if your router can\u0026rsquo;t support IPv6) and free certification to test these skills.\n","permalink":"/thoughts-on-ipv6/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eA multitude of websites have been reporting the impending doom of ipv4\nexhaustion, which is going to happen soon. All the top level address\u0026rsquo; will be\ngone, but the regional registries will still have stocks of address\u0026rsquo; in to 2011.\nAs a user of ipv6, I thought I could share sone thoughts/insights on the events\nahead\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBelow is a very good video which one of my favourite tech shows, \u003ca href=\"http://hak5.org/\"\u003eHak5\u003c/a\u003e made\nwith an IPv6 Consultant, Joe Klein.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Thoughts on IPv6"},{"content":"I wrote this script recently for a friend in a job who needed to output a certain percentage of a log file, but no more and no less. This was in Linux using bash, so I had a go at writing a solution, which you see below. Posting this up in case it\u0026rsquo;s useful to anyone else!\n# !/bin/sh # Public Domain, by Neil Grogan 2010 # Script to output last 30% of file by lines OLDFILE=\u0026amp;quot;oldlog.txt\u0026amp;quot; NEWFILE=\u0026#34;newlog.txt\u0026#34; PERCENT=0.7 #Use wc to count lines LINES=$(wc -l $OLDFILE | awk \u0026#39;{ print $1}\u0026#39;) #Linespercent = 2 decimal places, lines by percent, round to whole LINESPERCENT=$(echo \u0026#34;scale=2; $LINES*$PERCENT\u0026#34; | bc | xargs printf \u0026#34;%1.0f\u0026#34; ) # Use tail to get last 30% and output, can use tail -s with sleep time to have it run on sched. tail -n $LINESPERCENT $OLDFILE \u0026gt;\u0026gt; $NEWFILE ","permalink":"/output-percentage-of-file-bash-code/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI wrote this script recently for a friend in a job who needed to output a\ncertain percentage of a log file, but no more and no less. This was in Linux\nusing bash, so I had a go at writing a solution, which you see below. Posting\nthis up in case it\u0026rsquo;s useful to anyone else!\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"highlight\"\u003e\u003cpre tabindex=\"0\" style=\"color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4;\"\u003e\u003ccode class=\"language-bash\" data-lang=\"bash\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003cspan style=\"color:#75715e\"\u003e# !/bin/sh # Public Domain, by Neil Grogan 2010 # Script\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eto output last 30% of file by lines\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e    OLDFILE\u003cspan style=\"color:#f92672\"\u003e=\u003c/span\u003e\u0026amp;quot;oldlog.txt\u0026amp;quot;\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e    NEWFILE\u003cspan style=\"color:#f92672\"\u003e=\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#e6db74\"\u003e\u0026#34;newlog.txt\u0026#34;\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e    PERCENT\u003cspan style=\"color:#f92672\"\u003e=\u003c/span\u003e0.7\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e    \u003cspan style=\"color:#75715e\"\u003e#Use wc to count lines\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e    LINES\u003cspan style=\"color:#f92672\"\u003e=\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003e$(\u003c/span\u003ewc -l $OLDFILE | awk \u003cspan style=\"color:#e6db74\"\u003e\u0026#39;{ print $1}\u0026#39;\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003e)\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e    \u003cspan style=\"color:#75715e\"\u003e#Linespercent = 2 decimal places, lines by percent, round to whole\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e    LINESPERCENT\u003cspan style=\"color:#f92672\"\u003e=\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003e$(\u003c/span\u003eecho \u003cspan style=\"color:#e6db74\"\u003e\u0026#34;scale=2; \u003c/span\u003e$LINES\u003cspan style=\"color:#e6db74\"\u003e*\u003c/span\u003e$PERCENT\u003cspan style=\"color:#e6db74\"\u003e\u0026#34;\u003c/span\u003e | bc | xargs printf \u003cspan style=\"color:#e6db74\"\u003e\u0026#34;%1.0f\u0026#34;\u003c/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"color:#66d9ef\"\u003e)\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e    \u003cspan style=\"color:#75715e\"\u003e# Use tail to get last 30% and output, can use tail -s with sleep time to have it run on sched.\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"display:flex;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e    tail -n $LINESPERCENT $OLDFILE \u0026gt;\u0026gt; $NEWFILE\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/code\u003e\u003c/pre\u003e\u003c/div\u003e","title":"Output Percentage of File (Bash code)"},{"content":"Apologies to those visiting my site recently because:\nIt hasn\u0026rsquo;t been updated recently I have been changing hosts with it Let me explain both of these! I have been searching for a good blogging engine ever since I have started blogging. I have yet to find the perfect one :) Some have come close in completeness (WordPress) or price and ease of use (blogger), but none has been all-encompassing. I messed around with a blogging engine called Jekyll about a year and a half ago, but I never ended up deploying it. I had my website most recently on Google Sites, and the ease of use was pretty good, but themes-wise it was pretty frustrating, also they force an ugly footer on all pages, yuck.\nThere are a few reasons I have made the switch to Jekyll, mainly because I have got the ultimate cool factor in the setup of all this. I write all of my posts in plaintext, like Notepad (for reference for Windows users out there). This means in 100 years time they\u0026rsquo;ll still be readable (if anyone so wishes to read them). I\u0026rsquo;ve seen enough computer formats to know each one of them suck in some way. Plain text just sucks that little bit less because it\u0026rsquo;s been around since the dawn of computer time (bar weird encoding, which is sorted now I hope with UTF standard). It also simplifies my switch away from Jekyll, which I have learned is the most important feature of any blogging platform. Jekyll takes this text, combines it with some nice visual cruft you see all around the text and makes it nicely readable. As it transfers it in to folders as html, any web server software can serve this website. Making it plain html also makes it lightning fast to load (since there is no PHP or other dynamic languages being used).\nSo at this point your saying - okay? so what? Well the cool part is I use Git to save all my hard work, making undo actions to this website (I would say mistakes, but I don\u0026rsquo;t make any :) ) extremely easy and fast! Also is the coolness of Dropbox, my whole generated Jekyll site is synced to my server to be displayed here as it\u0026rsquo;s finished. So it\u0026rsquo;s very, very fast in almost every respect and it\u0026rsquo;s backed up like crazy and I use my favourite text editor (in a terminal shell if I need) to edit all this loveliness. I was partly inspired to do all of this by this blog post, which I\u0026rsquo;d seen back in 2009 when I was researching Jekyll. Although the work in this system is in the setup, it is super easy to use once set up. I can even create posts on my iPhone, using the many apps which hook in to Dropbox to edit files stored there. If you ever wanted to know, that\u0026rsquo;s blogging like a h4x0r!\n","permalink":"/blogging-like-h4x0r/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eApologies to those visiting my site recently because:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIt hasn\u0026rsquo;t been updated recently\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eI have been changing hosts with it\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLet me explain both of these! I have been searching for a good blogging engine\never since I have started blogging. I have yet to find the perfect one :) Some\nhave come close in completeness (\u003ca href=\"http://wordpress.org/\"\u003eWordPress\u003c/a\u003e) or price and ease of use\n(blogger), but none has been all-encompassing. I messed around with a blogging\nengine called \u003ca href=\"http://github.com/mojombo/jekyll\"\u003eJekyll\u003c/a\u003e about a year and a half ago, but I never ended up\ndeploying it. I had my website most recently on Google Sites, and the ease of\nuse was pretty good, but themes-wise it was pretty frustrating, also they force\nan ugly footer on all pages, yuck.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Blogging like a H4x0r"},{"content":"Below I present some very useful extensions I use while using Google Chrome, in no particular order.\nAdblock\nBlocks ads just like Firefox extension and makes the web less junky to look at. You can whitelist good ads, and an argument could be had your harming websites revenue stream, but a lot of nasty tricks such as spyware, malware have used ads as a vector to spread. Not least the dishonesty some sites use in splitting up articles in to 10 pages to pump ad revenue. KB SSL Enforcer\nIf you don\u0026rsquo;t know what https or ssl means don\u0026rsquo;t worry. All it is encrypted webpages which protect your information between you and that website. Commonly used in banking online, it is now spreading to sites like Facebook, Gmail, Twitter and the like as a more secure way to protect your information. This extension turns it on without you even noticing! Vanilla\nnot that nice flavour of ice-cream! - A Cookie Whitelist Manager that helps protect your privacy. Automatically removes unwanted cookies.What are cookies? Little text files that website use to remember who you are. It\u0026rsquo;s okay if you have an account and log in, but the trouble arises when nefarious people use it to track which sites you visit. Bookmark Sentry\nA bookmark scanner that checks for duplicate and bad links. I imported 100\u0026rsquo;s of bookmarks from firefox collected over about 4/5 years at least. Websites change, move content, you can accidentally bookmark a website twice. This helps get your bookmarks working for you and being useful again! Site to Phone\nsends links from your browser to your phone or tablet - be it Android, Nokia, or Apple iOS device. You bookmark a page on your mobile device and install this nifty extension in Chrome, when you click the button, next time you open that page on your mobile deivce, it will open it automatically. Webpage Screenshot\ndoes what it says on the tin, but can take a screenshot of the whole page of a website, no nasty scrolling and trying to stitch to halves of a screenshot together, works like magic! Google SSL Web Search\nprotects your web searches from prying eyes. Can use an option in Chrome or be set as the main search engine. About:Flags (Chrome Beta only for now\nMost people won\u0026rsquo;t know about Chrome\u0026rsquo;s about:flags (open a new tab, enter about:flags, hit enter), similiar to Firefox\u0026rsquo;s about:config and possibly just as dangerous, it presents \u0026ldquo;under the hood\u0026rdquo; options normal users wouldn\u0026rsquo;t need to touch. Some of them are very cool to use and will no doubt cement Chrome\u0026rsquo;s market share gains. Here\u0026rsquo;s my favourites:\nTab Overview: Enables Expose like Mac OS X interfaces for swapping between tabs, very cool1\nDisable outdated plug-ins: Disables plugins if Chrome knows about security problems with your old version of the plugin. Not only that but offers to update.\nXSS Auditor: Adds protection from Webkit to prevent sites trying to steal information you have on the other (crazy non-real-world example would be Yahoo! trying to get Google login info) Replace Google with any site and Yahoo! with a nefarious one.\nInstant: Like Google instant web search like I do? You\u0026rsquo;ll love this that loads webpages as you type. Example is www.google.com, then erase com and put in ie and you never had to press enter once to visit Google.ie, like magic!\n","permalink":"/my-top-chrome-extensions/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eBelow I present some very useful extensions I use while using Google Chrome, in\nno particular order.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wq0iRacWX8o/TOpquOK6RLI/AAAAAAAAAlE/oGVd0x63zCc/s200/20001.png\" alt=\"image\"  /\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/gighmmpiobklfepjocnamgkkbiglidom\"\u003eAdblock\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBlocks ads just like Firefox extension and makes the web less junky to look\nat. You can whitelist good ads, and an argument could be had your harming\nwebsites revenue stream, but a lot of nasty tricks such as spyware, malware\nhave used ads as a vector to spread. Not least the dishonesty some sites use\nin splitting up articles in to 10 pages to pump ad revenue.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wq0iRacWX8o/TOpsbEDdBMI/AAAAAAAAAlI/4yyhlRHjWN0/s1600/1001.png\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wq0iRacWX8o/TOpsbEDdBMI/AAAAAAAAAlI/4yyhlRHjWN0/s200/1001.png\" alt=\"image\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/flcpelgcagfhfoegekianiofphddckof\"\u003eKB SSL Enforcer\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","title":"My Top Chrome Extensions"},{"content":"Below is my first attempt at video blogging. If I get used to it it may be easier to explain my point of view or give reviews! I have liked hiding behind words up until this point, so this is a new venture with my iPhone 4.\nYouTube Video\nPlease don\u0026rsquo;t be too harsh on me!\nLocation:Dublin, Ireland\n","permalink":"/first-video-blog/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eBelow is my first attempt at video blogging. If I get used to it it may be\neasier to explain my point of view or give reviews! I have liked hiding behind\nwords up until this point, so this is a new venture with my iPhone 4.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlC6hdErtkA\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://img.youtube.com/vi/PlC6hdErtkA/0.jpg\" alt=\"image\"  /\u003e\nYouTube Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePlease don\u0026rsquo;t be too harsh on me!\u003cbr\u003e\nLocation:\u003ca href=\"http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Dublin,%20Ireland\u0026amp;z=10\"\u003eDublin, Ireland\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","title":"First Video Blog!"},{"content":"Since Apple released an iPad there have been various competitors announced, so it got me thinking what would it take for me to buy one? I haven\u0026rsquo;t bought the first generation iPad because the lack of a camera on a device so obviously good for fullscreen video calls has baffled me. I guess they have to store up some ideas since they need a new hardware iteration every year, Apple\u0026rsquo;s revenue model depends on that vital hardware refresh cycle.\nI think the huge leaps the iPod has made in the 9 years of it\u0026rsquo;s existence is an Indicator of the iPad\u0026rsquo;s future more than the iPhone is. Which sounds confusing because the iPhone/iPad are such close relatives in software and hardware terms. The iPod when released had laughably small (even for 2001) memory and a FireWire port (not common then) to being one of the biggest consumer success\u0026rsquo; of all time. It started off with low memory, buttons to press, black and white screen to iPod Colour/Photo to Nano to iPod Touch born from iPhone. I think the iPad will be the rising star and technology will be back-ported from it to iPhone (instead of other way round as has happened to date).\nThe form factor is what gives it that advantage. I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t be surprised to see 3D movies or a table made out of iPad screens (like Microsoft has done), and they\u0026rsquo;re just obvious uses. Pico projectors would be ideal for iPad sized device before being ported to phones. But this is all obviously future features, down the line eventually. I think the big surprise will be future software integrations and hardware sensors to do all sorts of crazy input leading to all new kinds of areas not immediately obvious, like the iPhone being such a big gaming success, which no one predicted: fingers are a very clumsy medium but it turns out a whole new category of game sprung up like Angry Birds or Cut the Rope.\nSo I see this innovation in the pipeline and I think iPad first gen is very first gen. Future iPads may be a distant cousin just like original iPod and iPod touch are. So it\u0026rsquo;s a thing I will hold off on investing in for a few years because iterations will move so quickly.. your only paying directly for the later version you really want!\n","permalink":"/ipad-evolution/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eSince Apple released an iPad there have been various competitors announced, so\nit got me thinking what would it take for me to buy one? I haven\u0026rsquo;t bought the\nfirst generation iPad because the lack of a camera on a device so obviously good\nfor fullscreen video calls has baffled me. I guess they have to store up some\nideas since they need a new hardware iteration every year, Apple\u0026rsquo;s revenue model\ndepends on that vital hardware refresh cycle.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"iPad Evolution?"},{"content":"So I was listening to some music, thinking about the announcement today on Anglo Irish Bank that we have 32% national debt and my generation will be expected to pay that. Kind of depressing if you ask me, but no one does, ’cause the media has got that one all wrapped up. So I asked myself, is their anything new we can learn, while I was listening to the Prodigy classic� Breathe. So I came to the realisation there can\u0026rsquo;t be anything added, or can there?\nBreathe the pressure Come play my game I\u0026rsquo;ll test ya Psycho-somatic addict insane\nThat is a line from the song Breathe� it fits beautifully with what Ireland is experiencing! Breathe the pressure is the financial markets bailing down on us – while come play my game is what the Government is doing, going back to those markets. Psycho-somatic addict insane� is perhaps the most poetic, as it symbolises the irrational nature of markets, and how we are like junkies on the delicious debt we can\u0026rsquo;t live without (but are insane to go too deep on). If that got you thinking, I\u0026rsquo;ll leave you with the line from Breathe that shouls horrify us all:\nInhale, inhale, you\u0026rsquo;re the victim\n","permalink":"/alternative-interpretation-of-prodigy/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eSo I was listening to some music, thinking about the announcement today on Anglo\nIrish Bank that we have 32% national debt and my generation will be expected to\npay that. Kind of depressing if you ask me, but no one does, ’cause the media\nhas got that one all wrapped up. So I asked myself, is their anything new we can\nlearn, while I was listening to the \u003cem\u003eProdigy\u003c/em\u003e classic� \u003cem\u003eBreathe\u003c/em\u003e. So I came to\nthe realisation there can\u0026rsquo;t be anything added, or can there?\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Alternative Interpretation of the Prodigy"},{"content":"It\u0026rsquo;s been over a week since I received my Garmin Zumo 660 Motorcycle GPS unit. I thought I\u0026rsquo;d give it a run-down for potential buyers on my experience for the first week. Firstly I should mention, I\u0026rsquo;ve never owned another Garmin unit, and had two mobile GPS\u0026rsquo; units before (one being Nokia N800 with Bluetooth external GPS and other Apple iPhone 3G). The reason I bring this up is that a lot of the reviews I\u0026rsquo;ve seen written compare it to it\u0026rsquo;s predecessor, Zumo 550, which obviously I can\u0026rsquo;t do.\nMaps What good is a GPS without good map quality? Garmin\u0026rsquo;s maps are by Navteq, and generally are of a good standard here in Ireland. The only roads it has presented trouble with are roads that have opened in the last 6 months, which I guess were too soon to be compiled in to the quarterly updates they provide (of which one should be free when you register). Lane assist comes with the unit, and although only works for me with high profile and busy junctions, it is well worth the inclusion.\n##Custom Maps Garmin allow a cool feature called custom maps, which means you can overlay images, giving the edge GPS co-ordinates, so that your map can replace a section of theirs. A good example would be replacing Dublin Zoo map with all the attractions (Lions, Tigers etc) visible on your GPS. Similar to this is a not oft published feature allowing you to have supplemental maps, be they Garmin official (I have Australia and New Zealand) or from other sources, such as OpenStreetMap (OSM). OpenStreetMap is always more up-to-date than any maps Garmin will release, but accuracy is always a problem given the wiki nature. Nevertheless OSM can include contours in a topographical style, which are the most expensive maps to purchase.\nPOI\nPOI stands for Points Of Interest. They are the Hospitals, Restaurants and Fuel stations listed on your unit. While Garmin\u0026rsquo;s included list is good and somewhat comprehensive, OpenStreetMap ones were good to have. Most of the OSM ones end up in the wrong format and look slightly odd, but are fairly accurate. You can only have one set of custom Points of Interest, so it\u0026rsquo;s worth bearing that in mind if you need more (combine them).\nSetting up the unit Set-up is extremely straight forward and doesn\u0026rsquo;t require more skill than hanging a picture really. You get a RAM mount, which you can choose to either use the U bracket or the clutch handle mount, fitting almost all motorcycles. I had to use the clutch mount on my motorcycle, I simply didn\u0026rsquo;t have the bar space to mount the unit anywhere else. The RAM Mount plate screws into the Garmin mount, and the ram mount is held on to the base by a dual ball and socket joint, allowing maneuverability on the GPS. There\u0026rsquo;s a thumb screw on the ball joint to stop it moving when a comfortable position is found.\nI then wired the units four molded wires (all in one wire until the end run) under my tank, with the\npositive and negative to their respective terminals on the battery. I didn\u0026rsquo;t want to fiddle around with my ignition, so I just wired it direct (Garmin says it draws less than 1/2 milliamp with no unit in place), which after a week doesn\u0026rsquo;t seem to have affected my battery. Their is a fuse on the positive side, so that is a welcome addition. The other two wires are 3.5mm female jacks for connection to a pre-existing motorcycle entertainment unit, or for using directly. I;ve used the 3.5mm jack directly for headphones, and found they worked well (although bog standard headphones in helmets can be sore and you have to make sure to \u0026lsquo;detach\u0026rsquo; yourself getting off). For those reasons I\u0026rsquo;ve been looking at purchasing a Scala G4 Powerset Bluetooth headset (which incidentally comes in a bundle with the TomTom Competitor: The Rider).\nI paired my current phone, Apple iPhone 3G without any issues. It will load your phonebook on to the device, but does not do this immediately (let it stay actively paired for a while), although immediately after pairing you can dial any number you like. I\u0026rsquo;ve only dialed using the inbuilt mic and speaker on the unit while stationary and the quality seemed acceptable, but would definitely be more useful if a headset was used. No SMS functionality is available which is an Apple limitation, disappointing in my opinion (would like to see SMS\u0026rsquo; pop up onscreen!). You can see compatible phones on Gamin\u0026rsquo;s Bluetooth phone list.\nUsing Computer Software I\u0026rsquo;ve only used BaseCamp and it\u0026rsquo;s poorer cousin RoadTrip on Apple Mac OS X, which is the main mapping and routing software (on Windows it\u0026rsquo;s called MapSource). I\u0026rsquo;ll start off with the biggest limitation: crappy maps on your computer. The software (probably due to licensing) only comes with a very poor \u0026lsquo;basemap\u0026rsquo; which is a bog-standard zoomed out view on the map. If you like me wanted to look at your favorite locations, your out of look as they\u0026rsquo;ll appear on a blue sea-like background. I \u0026lsquo;fixed\u0026rsquo; this by using an OpenStreetMap (which incidentally is a good way to test accuracy for your locale).\nAlso for Windows and Mac is POI Loader, which helps you load any custom Points of Interest you may have.m As I mentioned earlier, only one \u0026ldquo;extra\u0026rdquo; (in addition to Garmin included ones) set can be loaded on, so if you want say custom speed cameras and Open Street Map POI or Geocaching locations, you\u0026rsquo;ll have to combine them using other tools first.\nGeocaching Geocaching is GPS treasure hunting, for want of a better explanation, or see Groundspeak\u0026rsquo;s informative video. GPS units with a good accuracy level are needed, as well as good maps. Some of the most popular units used are topographical ones, but you can use a road GPS like the Zumo 660. Geocaching used to require printing out co-ordinates and clues, and then inputting that manually. I found an excellent website/guide to do Paperless Geocaching. You need to subscribe to Geocaching.com to get the relevant points around you, but you get a lot of information in to the Zumo - like size of the cache, logs of people who last found it, the hint, the location blurb and so on.\nIf you never done Geocahcing.com you can join and print caches for free, then input co-ordinates in to the Zumo (Where to? Menu \u0026gt; Co-Ordinates) to see if you like it. The only major difficulty is the last few meters, as you\u0026rsquo;ll want to go to in to pedestrian mode, and then use the compass to get the exact spot (which you have to look at co-ordinates for). At this point I grow impatient and just use my iPhone to get me the last few meters, but it’s only happened once. It definitely saves my iPhone battery since the Zumo is run off the vehicle, so no worries there. Also cool is the way you can set a distance before loading the points, so if you drive past a Geocache location you can be alerted. You can set alert distance lower or higher depending on your will (it could get annoying in a big city with a large radius!!).\nLogs and Favorites I found it easy to add my custom locations, such as family, friends etc. It can be done through the unit or done through the software on a computer. The computer version for some unknown reason won’t use addressing information on the unit, so finding the address you need, if present, is best done on the unit. Other than that for rural Irish locations, I used Google Maps in Satellite/Map view and used the latitude and longitude lab extensions to right click on a place and get co-ordinates. I then copy and pasted these in to the Garmin software as a custom waypoint (warning: they both use different format for co-ordinates, so be careful and double check location after).\nLogs are a cool way to check your mileage, average speed, etc. Logs are automatically kept each time you select a location to travel to. For those of you out there like me, who like graphs, even probably meaningless ones, there a good (and free) service from Garmin called: Garmin Connect. You can see all your route information on a shareable Google Map, and export it to Google Earth. Links to this information can be shared on Twitter, Facebook etc. I made a trip out to a friend of mine and within minutes of arriving home I sent him the details of my route out to him (which was useful as I found it hard to explain all the turns I took getting there).\n##Overall conclusion A well made unit, with regular firmware updates, it\u0026rsquo;s hard not to recommend the Garmin Zumo 660 if you can afford the steep price a fully waterproof, ruggedized car and motorcycle unit comes in at (about € 550/$750). I got mine because I plan to use it for both uses, as well as Geocaching, monitoring mileage and routes to save fuel, etc. The mount for me is solid when the unit is held (and my unit is exposed, not behind my screen, so it gets the wind) but it\u0026rsquo;s hard to know sometimes whether the unit \u0026ldquo;clicked\u0026rdquo; properly in to the mount. That\u0026rsquo;s obviously a concern since you don\u0026rsquo;t want to drop the unit at speed. It has also frozen and shutdown twice, but that\u0026rsquo;s been resolved by a firmware update and hasn\u0026rsquo;t happened since.\nI like Garmin\u0026rsquo;s interface better than almost any other GPS maker (bar Google Maps navigation, which is not as comprehensive yet, and only on phones), so ease of use is good in my opinion (esp. with gloves). A telling endorsement is the fact BMW and Harley-Davidson embed these units with new motorcycles.\nOverall a solid unit for the small market of Motorcycle ready GPS units, a must buy for bikers who intend to travel and can justify the cost.\n","permalink":"/motorcycle-gps/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eIt\u0026rsquo;s been over a week since I received my Garmin Zumo 660 Motorcycle GPS unit. I\nthought I\u0026rsquo;d give it a run-down for potential buyers on my experience for the\nfirst week. Firstly I should mention, I\u0026rsquo;ve never owned another Garmin unit, and\nhad two mobile GPS\u0026rsquo; units before (one being Nokia N800 with Bluetooth external\nGPS and other Apple iPhone 3G). The reason I bring this up is that a lot of the\nreviews I\u0026rsquo;ve seen written compare it to it\u0026rsquo;s predecessor, Zumo 550, which\nobviously I can\u0026rsquo;t do.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Garmin Zumo 660 Motorcycle GPS"},{"content":"Wow\u0026hellip; what a weird feeling, I have a degree under my belt. Three years, many friends and a lot of hard work later! The degree itself was based on my father\u0026rsquo;s business Grogan Burner Services, and trying to solve a real world problem of using Excel spreadsheets. We used Python, Google App Engine and a lot of Javascript to create a modern, sleek Customer Relationship Management system. All the code is open source, under GPLv3. Our thesis, including code is available below for those interested. We got top honours for the submission in ITB.\nBIMsys Thesis - Available soon\nGithub Project (source)\nNB. I can\u0026rsquo;t license the the thesis myself under Creative Commons. For now, full copyright credit goes to Grogan, Howard and MacTiernan 2010.\n","permalink":"/bsc-in-computing/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eWow\u0026hellip; what a weird feeling, I have a degree under my belt. Three years, many\nfriends and a lot of hard work later! The degree itself was based on my father\u0026rsquo;s\nbusiness Grogan Burner Services, and trying to solve a real world problem of\nusing Excel spreadsheets. We used \u003ca href=\"http://www.python.org\"\u003ePython\u003c/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"http://code.google.com/appengine/\"\u003eGoogle App Engine\u003c/a\u003e and a lot of\nJavascript to create a modern, sleek \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_relationship_management\"\u003eCustomer Relationship Management\u003c/a\u003e\nsystem. All the code is open source, under \u003ca href=\"http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.html\"\u003eGPLv3\u003c/a\u003e. Our thesis, including code\nis available below for those interested. We got top honours for the submission\nin \u003ca href=\"http://www.itb.ie/\"\u003eITB\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"BSc in Computing"},{"content":"I usually listen to podcasts on the excellent Twit.tv network and it goes without saying Floss Weekly is one of my favourites. A recent episode covered Haiku - an open source operating system based on the design of the old BeOS. What\u0026rsquo;s very interesting about BeOS is the design, an integrated all in one operating system - and the fact Apple almost purchased it. That\u0026rsquo;s amazing to me, literally in one fell swoop, if Apple had of offered the 200 million Be Systems wanted, there would be no NextStep into Apple and by extension - Steve Jobs. It\u0026rsquo;s especially poignant since Apple just surpassed Microsoft to become the second most valuable American company.\nThe most spiritually similar of todays operating systems would be Mac OS X, as it brings the integration BeOS was after. I\u0026rsquo;ve only played with Haiku in a virtual machine, but already I am impressed. It\u0026rsquo;s a well designed system, not as buggy as I expected - it\u0026rsquo;s only on alpha2 after years of development. There\u0026rsquo;s already a lot of applications, all native and therein lies the fault. The Web browser (not surprisingly) is the buggiest of all the applications I tried. Most apps are small one purpose apps, not hard to see a unixy philosophy. One of the developer\u0026rsquo;s mentioned a port of QT, which could bring QT based apps such as Skype, KDE apps.\nApps or Web?\nI think the biggest use of Haiku could be on net-books, it performed extremely well in limited virtual machine - so it\u0026rsquo;s a pity there\u0026rsquo;s no commercial sponsor to push it out. The developers mentioned a port of Java or GTK is not on the radar, so you can kiss good-bye to any Gnome or Java apps (Firefox, Chrome, OpenOffice.org), but they mentioned they will target web apps. This seems very curious without a major web browser, as anyone knows the web should be standards based but how often have we seen \u0026ldquo;Supports Chrome 3+ Firefox 3+ Safari 4+ IE7+\u0026rdquo; so if this is the agreed upon approach - they really need a major browser. As a computer science person, the design of the system interests me the most, vs others, but I haven\u0026rsquo;t dug too deep yet, when I do, I\u0026rsquo;ll be sure to post.\nHardware Support\nI haven\u0026rsquo;t dug in to this either, but anecdotally a good guess would be hardware support would be poor. The main hurdle and the majority of code in Linux is purely based on the millions of hardware combinations PC-based (X86) have to use. This is why for any traction for Haiku, I think hardware support needs to be OEM based, possibly like the white-label EEE PC netbooks.\nIf you like trying different operating systems, have a copy of VirtualBox or VMWare (and by extension a decently fast computer) give Haiku a try!\n","permalink":"/haiku-open-source-beos-clone/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI usually listen to podcasts on the excellent Twit.tv network and it goes\nwithout saying \u003ca href=\"http://www.twit.tv/floss\"\u003eFloss Weekly\u003c/a\u003e is one of my favourites.\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.twit.tv/floss120\"\u003eA recent episode\u003c/a\u003e covered\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.haiku-os.org/\"\u003eHaiku\u003c/a\u003e - an open source operating system based on the\ndesign of the old BeOS. What\u0026rsquo;s very interesting about\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BeOS\"\u003eBeOS\u003c/a\u003e is the design, an integrated all in\none operating system - and the fact Apple almost purchased it. That\u0026rsquo;s amazing to\nme, literally in one fell swoop, if Apple had of offered the 200 million Be\nSystems wanted, there would be no NextStep into Apple and by extension - Steve\nJobs. It\u0026rsquo;s especially poignant since Apple just surpassed Microsoft to become\nthe second most valuable American company.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Haiku: Open Source BeOS clone"},{"content":"I\u0026rsquo;ve written about my desire for open web video before, and now it looks as if it\u0026rsquo;s finally going to happen. Lead by Google\u0026rsquo;s acquisition of On2 technologies, the VP8 codec has been renamed as \u0026ldquo;WebM\u0026rdquo; and open sourced. Vorbis will be the audio. Matroska the container for the new format. An Open Source developer for x264 does a great teardown of the format vs. h.264 here. The patent minefield stateside is still not clear by any means, but with a strong backer like Google, it\u0026rsquo;s probably the best protection your going to get. Announcements, including links to nightlies, dev and beta channel browsers with WebM support are below:\u0026lt;\nOpera announcement Mozilla Announcement WebM Announcement Microsoft Announcement Chrome Announcement ","permalink":"/webm-promises-open-web-video/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI\u0026rsquo;ve written \u003ca href=\"/2008/12/firefox-and-opera-lead-web-video-way.html\"\u003eabout my desire for open web video before\u003c/a\u003e, and now it\nlooks as if it\u0026rsquo;s finally going to happen. Lead by Google\u0026rsquo;s acquisition of \u003ca href=\"http://www.on2.com/\"\u003eOn2\ntechnologies\u003c/a\u003e, the \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VP8\"\u003eVP8\u003c/a\u003e codec has been renamed as \u0026ldquo;\u003ca href=\"http://www.webmproject.org/\"\u003eWebM\u003c/a\u003e\u0026rdquo; and open\nsourced. \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorbis\"\u003eVorbis\u003c/a\u003e will be the audio. \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matroska\"\u003eMatroska\u003c/a\u003e the container for the new\nformat. An Open Source developer for x264 does a \u003ca href=\"http://x264dev.multimedia.cx/?p=377\"\u003egreat teardown of the format\nvs. h.264 here\u003c/a\u003e. The patent minefield stateside is still not clear by\nany means, but with a strong backer like Google, it\u0026rsquo;s probably the best\nprotection your going to get. Announcements, including links to nightlies, dev\nand beta channel browsers with WebM support are below:\u0026lt;\u003c/p\u003e","title":"WebM promises Open Web Video"},{"content":"I recently purchased - known as a cult motorbike - a Honda BROS (known in the US as a HawkGT). It is a 400cc V-Twin 1991 model, with 33BHP / 24.6Kw out of the factory. That put\u0026rsquo;s it under the legal limit for a learner motorcycle in the A category of license in Ireland. I\u0026rsquo;ve been progressing through bikes, slowly gaining confidence and experience. I posted about my Yamaha YQ50, My Yamaha YP125 (Majesty) and now it\u0026rsquo;s a Honda BROS\u0026rsquo; turn!\nI just also ordered a Haynes Manual for the motorcycle and joined HawkGT forums, so I am going to learn a thing or two about maintenance and upkeep of it. Already looking at parts on eBay, the choice is huge, and pretty reasonable in price. Things most people replace easily are the handlebars, foot pegs, indicators and so on.\nExperiences on it It\u0026rsquo;s a comfortable motorcycle to sit on, but for someone used to a scooter design, where every limb is free bar right hand, it is tricky to start off with. Clutch control and gearing was totally new to me - so it took a bit of getting used too. Slowing down, starting up and switching gears smoothly are rough starting out, but in a few hours I\u0026rsquo;ve got basics down. It\u0026rsquo;s all road experience now - road holding, good control of the motorcycle, looking out for danger and indicating properly and well in advance.I\u0026rsquo;m not a fan of the Road Safety Authority in Ireland (a lot of their wacky suggestions if made law would put under 25\u0026rsquo;s off the road) but their goal of reducing road deaths is one being a motorcyclist I definitely support - they make a great leaflet on motorcycle safety (PDF), worth a read.\nHandling Handling seems like it should be quite bad, I mean with the Majesty I wasn\u0026rsquo;t used to seeing so much of the road!! But it is in fact measurably better than the scooter. I think it\u0026rsquo;s because it\u0026rsquo;s heavier and has better tyres for the frame than a scooter could ever have. The Majesty, typical of most scooters, has the engine on the back wheel, whereas the Bros, as can be seen in the pictures, has a lot of weight in the centre, towards the front. One video review on Youtube says\u0026rsquo; BROS\u0026rsquo; love backroads, it does in fact seem to love nice swishy corners.\nLooks\nBeing a naked bike, I felt naked on it a first, like there was very little protection from a fall. This can be good and bad. Good in that it reminds you that your close to the road, so don\u0026rsquo;t do anything stupid. Bad in that there is no protection from Wind, an element I consider worse than rain for safety, only beaten by ice. Does it make you a better driver? Probably so, you are not as insulated as you (thought) were on the Scooter.\nPurchase decision For me when purchasing it came down to a Honda Bros or a Honda CB250, I choose the Bros primarily because it look\u0026rsquo;s so much better on the eye. It has a bigger engine (thinking to keep long term after the test), has plenty of after-market parts (the CB250 can claim this also) and the engine has an impeccable reliability - one Bros I saw had 250,000 miles, yes that\u0026rsquo;s quarter of a million miles on a motorbike engine, and it was still going!\nEssential Links Honda Bros Video Review on Youtube Wikipedia Article on BROS Haynes Manual HawkWorks Service Manual Bros Servicing Fanpage Bros Written Review and Specifications\n","permalink":"/honda-bros-motorcycle/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI recently purchased - known as a\n\u003ca href=\"http://books.google.com/books?id=O_YDAAAAMBAJ\u0026amp;pg=PT23\"\u003ecult motorbike\u003c/a\u003e - a\nHonda BROS (known in the US as a HawkGT). It is a 400cc V-Twin 1991 model, with\n33BHP / 24.6Kw out of the factory. That put\u0026rsquo;s it under the legal limit for a\nlearner motorcycle in the A category of license in Ireland. I\u0026rsquo;ve been\nprogressing through bikes, slowly gaining confidence and experience. I posted\nabout my \u003ca href=\"/2008/09/yamaha-yq-aerox-best-moped-ever.html\"\u003eYamaha YQ50\u003c/a\u003e, My\n\u003ca href=\"/2009/12/yamaha-majesty-400c-review.html\"\u003eYamaha YP125 (Majesty)\u003c/a\u003e and now it\u0026rsquo;s\na Honda BROS\u0026rsquo; turn!\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Honda Bros Motorcycle"},{"content":"This is a 3rd Graphics project we presented as a group for Computer Science. I\u0026rsquo;d like to thank Mark and James, my team members, for all their hard work! The subject of Bauhaus was previously discussed in my graphical representation of a 3D chess set. The music is courtesy of Jamendo, and is free ;) Enjoy it the video!\nUpdate: Also noticed Mark has a nice post on it also\n","permalink":"/bit-of-bau/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eThis is a 3rd Graphics project we presented as a group for Computer Science. I\u0026rsquo;d\nlike to thank Mark and James, my team members, for all their hard work! The\nsubject of Bauhaus was previously discussed in my graphical representation of a\n3D chess set. The music is courtesy of Jamendo, and is free ;) Enjoy it the\nvideo!\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cobject height=\"385\" width=\"480\"\u003e\u003cparam name=\"movie\" value=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/Yc8aefsbbHY\u0026hl=en_US\u0026fs=1\u0026\"\u003e\u003c/param\u003e\u003cparam name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"\u003e\u003c/param\u003e\u003cparam name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\"\u003e\u003c/param\u003e\u003cembed src=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/Yc8aefsbbHY\u0026hl=en_US\u0026fs=1\u0026\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" width=\"480\" height=\"385\"\u003e\u003c/embed\u003e\u003c/object\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eUpdate:\u003c/strong\u003e Also noticed \u003ca href=\"http://bark4mark.com/2010/04/3d-graphics-project-2/\" title=\"Link no longer works unfortunately\"\u003eMark has a nice post on it also\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","title":"A Bit of Bau"},{"content":"I\u0026rsquo;ve been meaning to write this blog post for a while, probably since 2006. (Almost) everyone that I know of donates to charity on a regular enough basis. I\u0026rsquo;m a college student so I don\u0026rsquo;t donate as much as I should. But it really annoys me how the \u0026ldquo;main\u0026rdquo; charities run a campaign of guilt and spend millions on it. I\u0026rsquo;ve donated money to all of these charities, the third world aid charities. All of them spend far too much on paying people commission and advertising. One that I can think of off hand is asking people who donated more than €250 to sign a form and send it back.\nThis to me is astonishing, do people ignore letters from the charity asking for a simple tax refund (a tick box affair). This leads me to a few scenarios:\nThe Charity constantly bug people for money by letter - leading to people ignoring them People have no emotional and very little other connection to the cause - merely donating for self appeasement I suspect both may be true. The second point reminds me of the Catholic Churches insistence you pay for salvation before the reformation - people donate to make themselves feel better. Still this Charity must see it as money well spent if they predict to make it back.\nThis is part of the reason I am conducting more due diligence of Charities I donate to in future. I don\u0026rsquo;t want to subsidise kerb crawlers or massive TV and Radio campaigns to male me feel guilty - in fact I switch it off or change channels as soon as I see it coming. These tactics in my mind are unethical, I want to donate to a charity to help a cause not make myself feel better. I am not stupid - I know there is some mental payoff from donating.\nAlso what bugs me is the relationship to churches which some charities are not honest about - I don\u0026rsquo;t think this applies to Irish Charities except fringe ones - but definitely applies to some evangelical ones from the United States. Some have shown an appaling lack of ethics and moral compass in seeking to convert survivors of the Earthquake. There preying on people who\u0026rsquo;ve lost whole families in some cases. Can there conversion not wait until they can rebuild there homes and their lives?\nI am going to focus my future donations in my core area of competence - computing. I can judge measureable results and hold some of them to account better if I have the knowledge of the charities core aims and abilities. Likewise with Open Source software, which can help get computers in to hands of the poorest and help them educate themselves for tomorrow and get themselves out of the need for food aid today. Of course charities closer to home which I have interactions with (having two rescue dogs) the RSPCA and research into cancer (affected every family I\u0026rsquo;d guess) heart diesease (ditto).\nI think this post has cleared up my thoughts on two things: making sure you donate to something you care about and avoid at all costs those who seek to waste the money you have donated.\n","permalink":"/donating-to-charity/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI\u0026rsquo;ve been meaning to write this blog post for a while, probably since 2006.\n(Almost) everyone that I know of donates to charity on a regular enough basis.\nI\u0026rsquo;m a college student so I don\u0026rsquo;t donate as much as I should. But it really\nannoys me how the \u0026ldquo;main\u0026rdquo; charities run a campaign of guilt and spend\n\u003cstrong\u003emillions\u003c/strong\u003e on it. I\u0026rsquo;ve donated money to all of these charities, the third\nworld aid charities. All of them spend far too much on paying people commission\nand advertising. One that I can think of off hand is asking people who donated\nmore than €250 to sign a form and send it back.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Donating to Charity"},{"content":"One of our projects this semester is to make a Bauhaus Chess set in a program called 3DS Max (created by Autodesk). 3DS Max is a modeling and animation tool built specifically for creating 3D representations and models. Being a lover of Open Source, when we we’re told although Blender was considered, it fell a bit short for some reason, so we had to use 3DS Max.\n3DS Max is not bad to use, some of the tools are nice if your not an arty type (like me) and prefer more technical and structured things. Some of the effects (like glass and water) give a really nice effect to add to the model your designing. Also as part of the project we had to have an accompanying website, which you can view at bark4mark.com/bauhaus\nHere’s some pictures of my chess set:\nIf your interested, definitely check out the website. If you like my (pretty average I think) models and have a copy of 3DS Max, you can Download my .max file and play around with it. All my material is released under CC Attribution Non commercial license (see copyright of the blog).\n","permalink":"/computer-graphics-bauhaus-chess-design/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eOne of our projects this semester is to make a Bauhaus Chess set in a program\ncalled 3DS Max (created by Autodesk). 3DS Max is a modeling and animation tool\nbuilt specifically for creating 3D representations and models. Being a lover of\nOpen Source, when we we’re told although Blender was considered, it fell a bit\nshort for some reason, so we had to use 3DS Max.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e3DS Max is not bad to use, some of the tools are nice if your not an arty type\n(like me) and prefer more technical and structured things. Some of the effects\n(like glass and water) give a really nice effect to add to the model your\ndesigning. Also as part of the project we had to have an accompanying website,\nwhich you can view at \u003ca href=\"http://bark4mark.com/bauhaus\"\u003ebark4mark.com/bauhaus\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Computer Graphics: Bauhaus Chess Design"},{"content":"One topic that rarely gets coverage that I\u0026rsquo;ve seen is how women get along in male dominated environments, such as Computer Science. For me it has never mattered someone\u0026rsquo;s gender - I love using, tweaking and learning about computers and if you share that interest - the more, the better! It has been shown very young children are conditioned from a very young age by gender rules - shown by Prof. Robert Winston in Child of Our Time programme. So I\u0026rsquo;ve often wondered in a very skewed ratio of males to females (as generally there are more females than males in society) would affect a Woman\u0026rsquo;s choice of even considering Computer Science, since so few actually do. So I set about asking our class representative, Lauren Butler, her thoughts on Computers, doing Computer Science and being an authority figure in a male dominated class-room, my questions and her answers follow:\nNG = Neil Grogan - LB = Lauren Butler - ED = Editor\nNG: What first sparked your interest in Computers?\n** LB:** Learning computers in Secondary School, seemed like a cool thing. But obviously I had been playing computer games for years since the Sega Mega drive came out so in a way I had probably been into computers and not really realized.\nNG: Do you remember the first Computer you got?\nLB: Some Toshiba piece of heavy brick like crap but it had Windows XP on it yay, the battery charger connection broke and couldn\u0026rsquo;t power it anymore so now it\u0026rsquo;s dead and good riddance I say.\nNG: When did you first realise you\u0026rsquo;d like to do Computer Science? In School? Or after?\nLB: Secondary School filling out my CAO application because I couldn\u0026rsquo;t think of anything else. Guidance councilor said to do arts (typical response to a person that doesn\u0026rsquo;t know what to do) but I wanted to be a Garda (ed: a police officer in Ireland) and computers was my fall back. Long story short the Gard\u0026rsquo;s didn\u0026rsquo;t want me after the whole application process so I went to my plan B\u0026hellip;computers.\nNG: Would you describe yourself as a Tomboy? You seem to fit the description of Heterosociality, ie. Preferring (or at least having to) have more male friends than female.\nLB: Yes I\u0026rsquo;m a tomboy, obviously it\u0026rsquo;s kinda of weird for a girl to like computers and computer games. I do have a lot of guy friends and I do find them easier to get along with but I have a good amount of girl friends too.\nNG: Do you remember you first perception of the female to male ratio of the class in first year (approx 3:40) ?\nLB: \u0026ldquo;JESUS I Can\u0026rsquo;t believe I\u0026rsquo;m going to have to be in a class with all boys\u0026hellip;oh wait there\u0026rsquo;s 4 girls over there\u0026rdquo;\nNG: Did the fact that Computer Science is male dominated influence your choice negatively or positively?\nLB: Neither. but I do get on better with boys than I do girls so In a way it\u0026rsquo;s kind of better for me to be in a male dominated environment.\nNG: Do you feel female lecturers have been tougher or easier on you that you share gender? (ie. Common experiences)\n** LB:** I don\u0026rsquo;t think they have been tougher but I do find they can\u0026rsquo;t interact with me as well as they do with the males\nNG: Do you feel male lecturers have been tougher or easier on you that you differ in gender?\nLB: No I don\u0026rsquo;t think they have been either but I may get away with being a bit ditsy at times\nNG: Do you feel the fact the male to female ratio is skewed will help or hinder your career prospects?\nLB: No I don\u0026rsquo;t think it will affect it in any way and it should or at least I hope it will be based on academics.\nNG: What would it take to encourage more Women to consider Computer Science? What would you say to sell it to them as a profession?\nLB: I honestly don\u0026rsquo;t know but the fact that you can get into basically any part of the computer industry by doing this course could be an incentive.\n**NG: **Do you feel any aspect of the course is more male orientated? I remember one lecturer saying female students excel at coursework, but this reverses as projects come in later years, which males apparently do better at?\nLB: No I don\u0026rsquo;t think it\u0026rsquo;s more male orientated but maybe that lecturer thinks the more hands on stuff is more male orientated but if like me who is a tomboy that sort of thing should be more interesting, i.e fixing computers that\u0026rsquo;s my favorite thing, one of which we don\u0026rsquo;t do enough of.\nNG: As Class representative and a leader of the class, do you feel being a woman has positively impacted the class – i.e. That different experiences \u0026amp; differing management styles of Women can be a unifying force?\n**LB: **I really don\u0026rsquo;t think I have had any sort of impact on the class, I\u0026rsquo;m just a very open person and I\u0026rsquo;d like to think that anyone in the class could come and class to me.\n**NG: **Do you ever wish people would stop focusing on this male/female thing and that it all should be a meritocracy? It\u0026rsquo;s it stupid me asking these questions (have we already moved on?)?\n**LB: **I personally don\u0026rsquo;t see it being focused on the male/female thing. Especially now being in third year where we are being placed in groups to work on projects, we all use our talents and abilities to achieve a good grade. Defiantly in my group I work in I have never had a problem with my gender being focused on, as long as every one pulls they\u0026rsquo;re weight who really cares about gender.\n","permalink":"/interview-being-woman-in-computer/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eOne topic that rarely gets coverage that I\u0026rsquo;ve seen is how women get along in\nmale dominated environments, such as Computer Science. For me it has never\nmattered someone\u0026rsquo;s gender - I love using, tweaking and learning about computers\nand if you share that interest - the more, the better! It has been shown very\nyoung children are conditioned from a very young age by gender rules - shown by\nProf. Robert Winston in Child of Our Time programme. So I\u0026rsquo;ve often wondered in a\nvery skewed ratio of males to females (as generally there are more females than\nmales in society) would affect a Woman\u0026rsquo;s choice of even considering Computer\nScience, since so few actually do. So I set about asking our class\nrepresentative, \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eLauren Butler\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e, her thoughts on Computers, doing Computer\nScience and being an authority figure in a male dominated class-room, my\nquestions and her answers follow:\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Interview - Being a Woman in Computer Science"},{"content":"Some people make new years resolutions about eating healthier, exercising more etc. I find that boring, who doesn\u0026rsquo;t want to be healthier? So I am making a list of technology resolutions:\nLearn C in XCode on a Mac Make an awesome CRM program for College degree (Python, Google App Engine) Learn Vim and Emacs bindings, using them for code Learn to use Git, possibly mercurial Learn some Obj-C with Cocoa Learn some C++ with Qt Learn Python +Tcl/tk Learn more about the design of Linux kernel and study some of it\u0026rsquo;s code Do Sysadmin stuff on my server on Linode; like setting upSendmail,IRCServers and other stuff If I have time, investigate CakePHP, Django, maybe Ruby (on Rails?) and it\u0026rsquo;s ilk That should keep me busy besides college and working! I didn\u0026rsquo;t include any security stuff, as we\u0026rsquo;re doing best practice for my honours degree next year. If anyone has any of their own, I\u0026rsquo;d love to see, or any resources to help me complete my list ^-^ Happy 2010!\n","permalink":"/technology-new-years-resolutions/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eSome people make new years resolutions about eating healthier, exercising more\netc. I find that boring, who doesn\u0026rsquo;t want to be healthier? So I am making a list\nof technology resolutions:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLearn \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_(programming_language)\"\u003eC\u003c/a\u003e in\n\u003ca href=\"http://developer.apple.com/tools/xcode/\"\u003eXCode\u003c/a\u003e on a\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.apple.com/getamac/\"\u003eMac\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMake an awesome\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_relationship_management\"\u003eCRM\u003c/a\u003e program\nfor \u003ca href=\"http://www.itb.ie/StudyatITB/bn104.html\"\u003eCollege degree\u003c/a\u003e\n(\u003ca href=\"http://www.python.org/\"\u003ePython\u003c/a\u003e,\n\u003ca href=\"http://code.google.com/appengine/\"\u003eGoogle App Engine\u003c/a\u003e)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLearn \u003ca href=\"http://www.vim.org/\"\u003eVim\u003c/a\u003e and\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/\"\u003eEmacs\u003c/a\u003e bindings, using them for code\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLearn to use \u003ca href=\"http://git-scm.com/\"\u003eGit\u003c/a\u003e, possibly\n\u003ca href=\"http://mercurial.selenic.com/\"\u003emercurial\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLearn some \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objective-C\"\u003eObj-C\u003c/a\u003e with\n\u003ca href=\"http://developer.apple.com/cocoa/\"\u003eCocoa\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLearn some \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C++\"\u003eC++\u003c/a\u003e with\n\u003ca href=\"http://qt.nokia.com/products\"\u003eQt\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLearn\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.blogger.com/goog_1262610794764\"\u003ePython +\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.blogger.com/goog_1262610794764\"\u003eTcl\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.blogger.com/goog_1262610794764\"\u003e/\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://wiki.python.org/moin/TkInter\"\u003etk\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLearn more about the \u003ca href=\"http://kerneltrap.org/node/5214\"\u003edesign of Linux kernel\u003c/a\u003e\nand study some of it\u0026rsquo;s code\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDo Sysadmin stuff on my server on \u003ca href=\"http://www.linode.com/\"\u003eLinode\u003c/a\u003e; like\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.blogger.com/goog_1262610794776\"\u003esetting up\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.blogger.com/goog_1262610794776\"\u003eSendmail\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.blogger.com/goog_1262610794776\"\u003e,\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.blogger.com/goog_1262610794776\"\u003eIRC\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://library.linode.com/\"\u003eServers and other stuff\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIf I have time, investigate \u003ca href=\"http://cakephp.org/\"\u003eCakePHP\u003c/a\u003e,\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.djangoproject.com/\"\u003eDjango\u003c/a\u003e, maybe\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.ruby-lang.org/\"\u003eRuby\u003c/a\u003e (\u003ca href=\"http://rubyonrails.org/\"\u003eon Rails\u003c/a\u003e?) and\nit\u0026rsquo;s ilk\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat should keep me busy besides college and working! I didn\u0026rsquo;t include any\nsecurity stuff, as we\u0026rsquo;re doing best practice for my honours degree next year. If\nanyone has any of their own, I\u0026rsquo;d love to see, or any resources to help me\ncomplete my list ^-^ Happy 2010!\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Technology New Years Resolutions"},{"content":"Lesson learned: never leave a expensive. Take these pictures I shot after the dog attacked my motorcycle! I still love dogs as pets, they are man\u0026rsquo;s best friend and just like best friends they can screw up. The only thing I am most upset about now is the dog can\u0026rsquo;t pay for the repairs\u0026hellip; Forgive and forget Fritzie? Thats a girl\u0026hellip;\nP.S. If anyone knows anyone thats in the seat repairing business, let me know! I can find almost any other part for my Yamaha YP125 other than a seat, grrrr\n","permalink":"/dogs-chew-things/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eLesson learned: never leave a expensive. Take these pictures I shot after the\ndog attacked my motorcycle! I still love dogs as pets, they are man\u0026rsquo;s best\nfriend and just like best friends they can screw up. The only thing I am most\nupset about now is the dog can\u0026rsquo;t pay for the repairs\u0026hellip; Forgive and forget\nFritzie? Thats a girl\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eP.S. If anyone knows anyone thats in the seat repairing business, let me know! I\ncan find almost any other part for my Yamaha YP125 other than a seat, grrrr\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Dogs chew things?"},{"content":" via tuxradar.com For me it\u0026rsquo;s definitely Kubuntu, but I can see why they choose OpenSuSe. May I just mention the virtual machine builder system is awesome, pay attention Mr.Shuttleworth! Although PPA builds come a close second for useful online tools\u0026hellip;\n","permalink":"/best-kdelinux/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.tuxradar.com/content/get-best-kde-linux-distro\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dueyfinster/nhcpemhIhaknDbFnGmyDrygFCmfgwJfwsfBiEbAdJcEzAGazExymJgjbkHIn/media_httpwwwtuxradarcomfilesLXF126roundslackware02jpg_lEmerdfCueGgscx.jpg.scaled1000.jpg\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/dueyfinster/nhcpemhIhaknDbFnGmyDrygFCmfgwJfwsfBiEbAdJcEzAGazExymJgjbkHIn/media_httpwwwtuxradarcomfilesLXF126roundslackware02jpg_lEmerdfCueGgscx.jpg.scaled500.jpg\" alt=\"image\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\nvia \u003ca href=\"http://www.tuxradar.com/content/get-best-kde-linux-distro\"\u003etuxradar.com\u003c/a\u003e\nFor me it\u0026rsquo;s definitely Kubuntu, but I can see why they choose OpenSuSe. May I\njust mention the virtual machine builder system is awesome, pay attention\nMr.Shuttleworth! Although PPA builds come a close second for useful online\ntools\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Best KDE/Linux?"},{"content":"\u0026ldquo;The really, really short answer is that you should not. The somewhat longer answer is that just because you are capable of building a bikeshed does not mean you should stop others from building one just because you do not like the color they plan to paint it. This is a metaphor indicating that you need not argue about every little feature just because you know enough to do so. Some people have commented that the amount of noise generated by a change is inversely proportional to the complexity of the change.\u0026rdquo;\nbikeshed.com\n","permalink":"/why-should-i-care-what-color-bikeshed/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;The really, really short answer is that you should not. The somewhat longer\nanswer is that just because you are capable of building a bikeshed does not mean\nyou should stop others from building one just because you do not like the color\nthey plan to paint it. This is a metaphor indicating that you need not argue\nabout every little feature just because you know enough to do so. Some people\nhave commented that the amount of noise generated by a change is inversely\nproportional to the complexity of the change.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Why Should I Care What Color the Bikeshed Is?"},{"content":"When I found this, I had to share it:\n","permalink":"/pulp-fiction-theme/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eWhen I found this, I had to share it:\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Pulp Fiction theme"},{"content":"","permalink":"/cheesy-intel-ad/","summary":"","title":"Cheesy Intel Ad"},{"content":"I own a Majesty 125cc 2002. The video below is the updated (and more powerful) model:\n(Some of the) New features:\n2x the amount of space Parking break (for hills! Think handbrake if your a car driver) Liquid-cooled 400cc ABS brakes Dual Halogen Headlights Larger rear lights Csr-like oversize dials on dash It looks good, good, good. I haven\u0026rsquo;t looked at price, but my last two bikes are Yamaha and I\u0026rsquo;ve had little trouble with them. I like the bigger bikes that have loads of built in storage (panniers look a bit unnatural) and a bike that\u0026rsquo;s confident in itself to not have to show off it\u0026rsquo;s braun but rather it\u0026rsquo;s brains with good safety and road handling ;)\n","permalink":"/yamaha-majesty-400c-review/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI own a Majesty 125cc 2002. The video below is the updated (and more powerful)\nmodel:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e(Some of the) New features:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e2x the amount of space\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eParking break (for hills! Think handbrake if your a car driver)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLiquid-cooled 400cc\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eABS brakes\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDual Halogen Headlights\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLarger rear lights\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCsr-like oversize dials on dash\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt looks good, good, good. I haven\u0026rsquo;t looked at price, but my last two bikes are\nYamaha and I\u0026rsquo;ve had little trouble with them. I like the bigger bikes that have\nloads of built in storage (panniers look a bit unnatural) and a bike that\u0026rsquo;s\nconfident in itself to not have to show off it\u0026rsquo;s braun but rather it\u0026rsquo;s brains\nwith good safety and road handling ;)\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Yamaha Majesty 400c Review"},{"content":"Ars has a great article about how Sony through the Playstation 3\u0026rsquo;s awesome power (can\u0026rsquo;t you tell which of this generations consoles I own?) and subsidy (based on recoup of selling games and hardware - a model pioneered with the PS1)\nWith respect to cell processors, a single 1U server configured with two 3.2GHz cell processors can cost up to $8K while two Sony PS3s cost approximately $600. Though a single 3.2 GHz cell processor can deliver over 200 GFLOPS, whereas the Sony PS3 configuration delivers approximately 150 GFLOPS, the approximately tenfold cost difference per GFLOP makes the Sony PS3 the only viable technology for HPC applications.\nCalling the PS3 \u0026ldquo;the only viable technology for HPC applications\u0026rdquo; is wildly overstating it, but we get the picture.\nRead more of this fine article here.\n","permalink":"/sony-subsidises-supercomputers-for-us/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eArs has a great article about how Sony through the Playstation 3\u0026rsquo;s awesome power\n(can\u0026rsquo;t you tell which of this generations consoles I own?) and subsidy (based on\nrecoup of selling games and hardware - a model pioneered with the PS1)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith respect to cell processors, a single 1U server configured with two\n3.2GHz cell processors can cost up to $8K while two Sony PS3s cost\napproximately $600. Though a single 3.2 GHz cell processor can deliver over\n200 GFLOPS, whereas the Sony PS3 configuration delivers approximately 150\nGFLOPS, the approximately tenfold cost difference per GFLOP makes the Sony\nPS3 the only viable technology for HPC applications.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Sony Subsidises Supercomputers for the US Military?"},{"content":"Some really informative stuff on Slashdot regarding nuclear power:\nby david.given (6740)\nFrance generates pretty much all of its electricity from nuclear, with reprocessing, using pressurised water reactors. Not only do they have a number of handy engineering benefits such as isolating the water loop through the reactor from the water loop through the turbines, but they also have a particularly useful safety feature in that they\u0026rsquo;re self-regulating \u0026mdash; temperature goes up, power output goes down. France has an excellent safety record; I can find only one major incident, which was a coolant spill in 2008. They even do their own waste reprocessing into plutonium, which is then reused to generate more power. Unaccountably, terrorists don\u0026rsquo;t seem to have stolen any of it.\nThis was the opposite \u0026ldquo;self-regulating \u0026mdash; temperature goes up, power output goes down\u0026rdquo; in Chernobyl. You\u0026rsquo;ll have to forgive me as I wasn\u0026rsquo;t born then. It was re-iterated differently also:\nby Burning1 (204959)\nMore specifically, modern safe reactors have a negative void coefficient. As water vaporizes in an critically hot reactor, it reduces the rate of reaction. The hotter the reactor gets, the larger the void(s) in the coolant, the less reaction occurs.\nChernobyl had a positive void coefficient.\nThe main article was about running Nuclear plants over capicity (120% quoted) and putting contracts up for renewal when possible some plants should be end-of-lifed (EOL). Another submitter had an interesting point on the extended life:\nby jpmorgan (517966)\nThe plants were built to a certain design that had large safety margins\u0026hellip; not because they were needed per se, but because the designers couldn\u0026rsquo;t prove they weren\u0026rsquo;t. Today, we can model all the behavior of the plants to a high degree, so we don\u0026rsquo;t need the same safety margins to keep these plants safe. You don\u0026rsquo;t need a cooling system with 50% excess design capacity, since we can prove that 25% is sufficient. We know now that the containment wall is twice as big as it needs to be, for the original design load. So, we can use the safety margins to run the plants longer and to higher capacity than the original design.\nChernobyl obviously is used in spades in either side of the argument. Those who favour Nuclear power point out that it can never happen again. Those who are against it use it as an example of what has happend with us mere mortals.\nby Burning1 (204959)\nThe Chernobyl reactor disaster happened because the operators decided to run a test, and turned off the automatic safety shut-down.\n\u0026hellip;and because the reactor was of such a design that it could not have a proper containment vessel, and because the control rods had a major flaw in that initiating an emergency shutdown (SCRAM) would cause the reaction rate to INCREASE momentarily, and because the reactor had a positive void coefficient (will tend to increase the rate of reaction as the coolant vaporizes, without outside intervention), AND because there was insufficient instrumentation and operator training to identify the critical reactor condition until after the meltdown had started.\nThere was a perfect storm of design flaw and poor decision making that lead to the Chernobyl disaster.\nAlthough the nearby town of Pripyat was abandoned after the disaster, Reactors 1-3 continued operation. Reactor number 2 was damage in a fire, and shut down in 1991. Reactor 1 was decommissioned in 1996, and reactor number 3 was shutdown in 2000.\nPersonally, reading heavily into the Chernobyl accident has gone a long way towards improving my opinion on nuclear power. To see what it took to cause the most recognizable and most cited disaster, really puts things into perspective.\nSpossa came out with a good joke we all love:\nby sopssa (1498795)\nI\u0026rsquo;m a supporter of nuclear energy, but don\u0026rsquo;t let anyone dumb too close a nuclear power plant.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s good we have this guy [yfrog.com] in control of a nuclear power plant.\nOne thing I love Slashdot for is the informative links, like the one below of a back yard nuclear generator!:\nby slewfo0t (679988) \u0026gt; Ahh, I see the eco-nuts are in full force with this post\u0026hellip; Putting on tin-foil hat\u0026hellip;\nNuclear power - PLEASE put one of these in my back yard! http://www.nextenergynews.com/news1/next-energy-news-toshiba-micro-nuclear-12.17b.html\nOne point we should never forget is that Chernobyl has concentrated the mind safety-wise:\nby QuantumRiff (120817\nI am a huge fan of Nuclear Power, however, I sometimes wonder if all the irrational fear of Nuclear Power was Good for the industry? I kinda think all the negative attention and scare tactics and stuff made the nuclear industry have to go over and above to continue proving, without doubt, that they were safe..\nThere was also well versed points that Coal plants would not meet the requirements if it was subject to Nuclear safety regulations. The bulk of the cost of Nuclear is in the safety of the plant and fuel reprocessing/dumping. Most have pointed out it\u0026rsquo;s quite viable to end up with very small amounts of lesser grade material with modern reprocessing.\nWhy all these comments? Well I wish we had a debate like this in Ireland. We are bar none the most reliant on fossil fuels (of which we produce almost none). Everytime it\u0026rsquo;s brought up in the media, ESB and people who represent them or are in the industry say (paraphrased) \u0026ldquo;Thats a matter for the 2030\u0026rsquo;s\u0026rdquo;. If you know it takes at least 20 years to get us up to speed (importing technology and people from France, UK etc) then why aren\u0026rsquo;t we having a debate now and a plan of action after 5 years, 2014/5 and beyond? There was an old Nuclear power board in the 80\u0026rsquo;s but it was disbanded on account of the Carnsore point objections.\nI firmly believe we have the power to think broader now, like we have on divorce, civil partnerships and so forth. That stuff could not have been implemented from what I understand in the 80\u0026rsquo;s either. Times move on and attitudes change. If we had a debate and the facts, I\u0026rsquo;m sure supporters of Nuclear energy in Ireland like myself would at least get an educated debate going - as it\u0026rsquo;s our energy future and money.\n","permalink":"/nuclear-power-debates-why-not-in/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eSome really informative stuff on Slashdot regarding nuclear power:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eby \u003ca href=\"http://slashdot.org/~david.given\"\u003edavid.given (6740)\u003c/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nFrance generates pretty much all of its electricity from nuclear, with\nreprocessing, using pressurised water reactors. Not only do they have a number\nof handy engineering benefits such as isolating the water loop through the\nreactor from the water loop through the turbines, but they also have a\nparticularly useful safety feature in that they\u0026rsquo;re self-regulating \u0026mdash;\ntemperature goes up, power output goes down. France has an excellent safety\nrecord; I can find only one major incident, which was a coolant spill in 2008.\nThey even do their own waste reprocessing into plutonium, which is then reused\nto generate more power. Unaccountably, terrorists don\u0026rsquo;t seem to have stolen\nany of it.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Nuclear Power Debates... why not in Ireland?"},{"content":"Gizmodo seem to think so:\nThe $2,500 Mac Pro, desperately in need of a refresh, gives you a 2.66GHz Quad-Core Xeon (essentially an i7), 3GB of RAM (triple channel, but seriously?), 640GB hard drive (again, seriously?) and a nominal graphics card. Spend $800 more and you\u0026rsquo;ll get a another processor and 3GB more RAM.\nThe $2200, 27-inch iMac obviously includes a screen, plus you get a 2.8GHz Quad-Core (i7), 1TB drive, 4GB of RAM and a nominal graphics card.\nGizmodo does have a good point. Apple does make some models for people with more money than sense. Who said the don\u0026rsquo;t cater to all markets!?!?\n","permalink":"/is-mac-pro-overpriced/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://gizmodo.com/5411073/why-its-gotten-straight-stupid-to-buy-a-mac-pro\"\u003eGizmodo seem to think so\u003c/a\u003e:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe $2,500 Mac Pro, desperately in need of a refresh, gives you a 2.66GHz\nQuad-Core Xeon (essentially an i7), 3GB of RAM (triple channel, but\nseriously?), 640GB hard drive (again, seriously?) and a nominal graphics card.\nSpend $800 more and you\u0026rsquo;ll get a another processor and 3GB more RAM.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe $2200, 27-inch iMac obviously includes a screen, plus you get a 2.8GHz\nQuad-Core (i7), 1TB drive, 4GB of RAM and a nominal graphics card.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Is a Mac Pro overpriced?"},{"content":"I recently used Twitter to post about my journey on public transport from Kilkenny to Dublin. For people outside of Ireland the total Journey distance was about 90 miles.\nI used only my iPhone on the O2 network and close to 50% of the time it seemed like I had 3G. This was on a train moving at speed, and YouTube played very well with little to no stutter. It did drop to Edge the other half of the time, with about 30% of time I still got speeds web browsing was acceptable on. So in summary: 80% of the time it was possible to surf the web.\nAfter that Journey I was also on a Dublin Bus, and I had full 3G coverage which comes as little surprise as Dublin Bus only serves densly populated Dublin and it\u0026rsquo;s environs.\nA few days later I went on a road trip to Athlone, and the coverage on the M4/M6 was not as good as I\u0026rsquo;d hoped. My theory on why the train was better is the fact on the routes I\u0026rsquo;ve been on a lot more urban areas are visited, thus the rollout has been very good to densely populated towns, but along motorways which are far away from such places: your sadly out of luck.\nHutchinson Whampoa (aka 3 Ireland) have recently got the national broadband contract to supply rural areas with 3G coverage, so most of these areas should be covered in the next few years. I should note wireless broadband is hugely needed for mobiles etc,, but a fiber optic service is really what the government should be sticking money into!\nOverall I am very happy to recommend 3G for mobile usage with small devices. People with Laptops should explore their options and try find something else first, like DSL, Cable or fixed point wireless. These can be slightly more expensive then bargain-basement 3G but worth it. As the old adage goes: sometimes you get what you pay for\u0026hellip;\n","permalink":"/3g-coverage-in-ireland/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI recently used Twitter to post about my journey on public transport from\nKilkenny to Dublin. For people outside of Ireland the total Journey distance was\nabout 90 miles.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI used only my iPhone on the O2 network and close to 50% of the time it seemed\nlike I had 3G. This was on a train moving at speed, and YouTube played very well\nwith little to no stutter. It did drop to Edge the other half of the time, with\nabout 30% of time I still got speeds web browsing was acceptable on. So in\nsummary: 80% of the time it was possible to surf the web.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"3G Coverage in Ireland"},{"content":"I recently got an iPhone 3G and away from all that Apple mania; I thought I would give an honest review. This is framed in the mindset of all the past Nokia devices (which I have posted about here also) which I have owned.\nOkay so where to start? Well I think a good place would be what I could have bought instead. Strange place for a review; but its good to see what is out there and what I was looking at beforehand.\nNokia XpressMusic 5800 Nokia make great phones; I have stuck to the reliability of Symbian on their earlier phones for quite some time. I love Nokia; they mean reliability when you need your phone most - always a top feature other manufacturers never got quite right. Maybe its part inertia on my part - I can\u0026rsquo;t really say. Long story short is that this was a major competitor: over the iPhone it has expandability and a lot more hardware features (like RDS Radio), can play a lot more formats also. Downsides: Got terrible reviews for poor Symbian integration with touch; that plectrum looks downright stupid; it is not as sleek as iPhone in form factor (although it is smaller), screen didn\u0026rsquo;t seem as good to me.\nHTC Magic Follow up to the HTC Dream or GPhone; this Android device has probably the coolest developer OS around. Lots of activity is going on around Android at the moment; so the first phones to land in the UK and Ireland should be more polished (using next gen Android: CupCake). Their is even rumors it will be adapted and put on net books: possibly making it the standard of mobile devices if given enough time. This will only bring more cool apps in time and reduce Apple\u0026rsquo;s iTunes Store lead. Downsides: Not available yet; so I couldn\u0026rsquo;t buy it. Doesn\u0026rsquo;t have as much apps yet. Isn\u0026rsquo;t as polished in the software interface as iPhone. All of these can be resolved with time however\u0026hellip;\nPalm Pre I hold out a lot of hope for this! Also Linux based; it promises a cool, open Web developer community as all the apps are online. Web apps need a lot more thought for offline use in my opinion, so I am reserving judgement on this. The interface seems to rock; and developing for it looks super easy\u0026hellip; Downsides: not out yet, thus lack of Apps and pricing info.\nSome junk WinMob Says it all really: a smart-phone but for less than a good plain old non-smartphone. Always made by some obscure Taiwanese outfit - not that is a bad thing; after-all most iPhone parts come from there. For those on a budget this was my last option; but darn cheap; just over €115 for one! I could have bought one for every member of my immediate family for the price of one iPhone: makes you think, doesn\u0026rsquo;t it?\nOn to the review of the iPhone:\nPros:\nBeautiful Interface:\nIt looks amazing: lets be honest. I have never seen a phone look quite this good.\nFingers:\nUsing only your hands is great; lets face it: you cannot forget your hands. You can forget a stylus and even the iPhone itself; but those hands are sticking with ye!\n**Time: **\nI use my phone for time; Apple has it displayed elegantly, in the same place, almost in all the phones\u0026rsquo; screens. I love this as I can keep myself aware of what I have to do next\u0026hellip; All in glorious 24hr goodness, they way time was meant to be displayed\u0026hellip;\nLots of apps:\nThe App store grows bigger every day and all those little useful Apps are really handy.\n**Quick Interface: **\nThe software interface is very fast at getting you to where you want to go; to that Twitter application or your Web mail etc.\nMaps and Location based services:\nI have seen the future: and it is the Internet that is location aware. iPhone has taken the first tentative steps in this area with allowing apps to use location; as well as building it into the camera and maps applications.\nGreat iPod:\nApple doesn\u0026rsquo;t lie on this one. It is a great iPod. The best? I haven\u0026rsquo;t decided yet\u0026hellip; but it\u0026rsquo;s not far off\u0026hellip;\nSafari:\nIt is the real web you get on an iPhone. Not only that: it is surprisingly comfortable to navigate with. I haven\u0026rsquo;t seen a mobile phone device come this close before. The N810 has a great browser with flash; but all round Safari wins on ease of use. I heard the earlier versions were very buggy; maybe I got in just as Safari matured properly.\nAccelerometer:\nChanging the view of applications as you rotate the phone was a masterstroke. Some things just need to be viewed vertically; others horizontally. The iPhone just makes it happen: seamlessly.. no buttons and no fuss. Thumbs up!\nSO-SO\nCamera:\nNot a lot to complain or praise about the camera. It does it\u0026rsquo;s job\u0026hellip; Their is no flash or other trickery other phones have to offer; so any sub-optimal light and the iPhone may as well just not have a camera\u0026hellip;\nCons:\nCost:\nIts darned expensive! I bought it contract-free and to say it burned a hole in pocket is an understatement.\nOne Inbox:\nNokia has this one on the button. I don\u0026rsquo;t care whether its SMS, MMS, E-Mail or a message through telekinesis: put it in one place please\u0026hellip; It\u0026rsquo;s easier to check; and logically it makes more sense to not have to visit ten apps for each. Bonus points for allowing developers to hook in things like Twitter..\nSmudgy:\nIt smudges and scratches like nothing I have seen. They tried to make it too shiny; at the cost of usability. I would prefer a grippier, less pretty surface: but I am sure I am in a minority on this. I could probably have even been overheard muttering \u0026ldquo;Smudgy piece of ****\u0026rdquo; . Add to any price the cost of a cover\u0026hellip;\n**Keyboard: **\nYes I know how ugly hardware keyboards look: but they do work. The on-screen keyboard to me: sucks. I much prefer the N810\u0026rsquo;s on-screen one that I can use with my thumbs. Using my index fingers just doesn\u0026rsquo;t feel right; and more to the point: all onscreen keyboards are crap. This is a major TODO for any willing iPhone competitor\u0026hellip;\nBackground Apps:\nThis may sound like a minor niggle: it\u0026rsquo;s not. Only apps you can run in the background is the phone, iPod, Safari and Mail. I don\u0026rsquo;t even think Safari and Mail are true background apps; in fact I know they aren\u0026rsquo;t: they suspend when they are not at the forefront.\nStatus:\niPhone OS 3.0 is set to fix notifications; apps will be able to display a number next to their icon. I personally don\u0026rsquo;t think that is good enough. Is a notification area as seen on other phones (you know for like calendar?) too much to ask? I would prefer that as the idle screen rather than the pretty picture.\nActivation:\nI already feel Apple doesn\u0026rsquo;t trust me; but to force me to run around trying to find a computer with iTunes to activate the thing (I wasn\u0026rsquo;t near home) is just pure stupid. Do it over the air (for free; at your expense) or just don\u0026rsquo;t bother. Fail on this, major fail.\nRat race jailbreak:\nApple should just give up.. People are going to crack these no matter what. You only inconvenience your customers (hint: not the networks; us little people) with all this DRM nonsense. EA has it right: do the minimal DRM for contract purposes.\nPay to release even a free app:\nIts a shame Apple thought 30% markup wasn\u0026rsquo;t steep enough\u0026hellip; But even developer of free applications have to pay $99 to release it on the store. It would be fine if you could get the app another way\u0026hellip; This just causes more junk apps to appear at a cost\u0026hellip; If they did this on OS X it would be suicide; why not open up the iPhone to free software?\n**\n**\nNo 3.5G:\nI expect this was due to power; which is totally forgivable and understandable. But a nice feature would be 3.5G for extra speed; I expect this and 4G (WiMax?) will appear in later models..\n","permalink":"/iphone-3g-review/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI recently got an iPhone 3G and away from all that Apple mania; I thought I\nwould give an honest review. This is framed in the mindset of all the past Nokia\ndevices (which I have posted about here also) which I have owned.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOkay so where to start? Well I think a good place would be what I could have\nbought instead. Strange place for a review; but its good to see what is out\nthere and what I was looking at beforehand.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"iPhone 3G Review"},{"content":" Dear,\n[My Name]\neircom has not agreed to block any Internet sites from being accessed by\nend-users. As part of the settlement of the above proceedings, it was\nagreed that eircom would not oppose an application by the Plaintiffs to\nseek to have eircom block access to the Pirate Bay website. The Music\nIndustry will still have to establish, in the normal way that there is\nan appropriate basis for the relief which they seek from the Court.\neircom is not supporting or consenting to the application. The\nsettlement makes no provision for any site other than the Pirate Bay\nwebsite.\nIt is important to note that:\neircom will not monitor its customer\u0026rsquo;s activities at any stage. eircom will not implement any form of monitoring equipment or software on its network. eircom will not provide personal details or any information relating to its customers to any third party, including the record companies. No personal data will be transferred from eircom to the\nrecord companies which would enable any customer of eircom to be\nidentified. eircom has agreed to keep confidential and will not\ndisclose any information concerning its customers to the record\ncompanies and it will in particular observe in all respects the laws on\ndata protection.\nWith Thanks\nThomas Ryan\nHead of eircom Customer Care\n","permalink":"/eircom-responds/","summary":"\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDear,\u003cbr\u003e\n[My Name]\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eeircom has not agreed to block any Internet sites from being accessed by\u003cbr\u003e\nend-users. As part of the settlement of the above proceedings, it was\u003cbr\u003e\nagreed that eircom would not oppose an application by the Plaintiffs to\u003cbr\u003e\nseek to have eircom block access to the Pirate Bay website. The Music\u003cbr\u003e\nIndustry will still have to establish, in the normal way that there is\u003cbr\u003e\nan appropriate basis for the relief which they seek from the Court.\u003cbr\u003e\neircom is not supporting or consenting to the application. The\u003cbr\u003e\nsettlement makes no provision for any site other than the Pirate Bay\u003cbr\u003e\nwebsite.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Eircom Responds..."},{"content":" This post is a continuation on the previous one. IRMA is the Irish Music Rights Organisation which represents the big four record companies and their bottom line: never the artist. They have recently tried to regulate the Internet and have forced the biggest Irish ISP: Eircom; to use the three strikes rule and boot people off the Internet\u0026hellip; No Judge, no Jury, no evidence of a crime.. Just an IP address and a sanction which you cannot contest.\nI have sent a poignant email to IRMA\u0026rsquo;s solicitor based on their letter of attack on the ISP\u0026rsquo;s. If you think any of the language is too harsh by me; please have a look at a sample of the threat letter this solicitor sent out here. This is a legal firm who were suing individuals for thousands of euro; which I would hazard a guess most couldn\u0026rsquo;t pay. So in my eyes this is a form of legal terrorism; and a joke letter to give this solicitor a heads up that there are people out there like me who read and know the tactics of the Irish Music Rights Organisation; and the parent companies like IFPI, RIAA and the Anit-Piracy Bureau they spring from\u0026hellip;. It is my opinion that nothing short of punishment (jail time) for frivolous threat letters should be carried out, plus damages (x10 like they do in their cases) to individuals and companies wrongly stressed out by this. I will compile a blog post of all the FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) that IRMA has spread soon; and a rebuttal of why their actions may even increase piracy. One thing is for sure; my analysis will be a whole lot cheaper (free) and probably more accurate! Note: I have taken out names, but the legal firm and the acting solicitor can be examined in the letter above ^\nDear [Solicitor for IRMA\u0026rsquo;s name],\nIt is my position that you are morally bankrupt through your actions via IRMA vs. ISP\u0026rsquo;s. If you need independent advice on how this technology works (I am in Computer Science; but I can explain things slowly; so who knows?) I would be most delighted to help. Please note my hourly rate is at least twice yours; but I\u0026rsquo;m worth it!\nI look forward to hearing from you in 7 days; lest I contact a credit agency for non-payment. As this email constitutes services rendered by me. But I am willing to trade for legal advice on disbarment of a solicitors firm I know which abuses the law; only because I am a reasonable person!\nKindest Regards \u0026amp; Love,\n[My Footer]\nPS: This is intended as Humour\u0026hellip; only slightly\u0026hellip;(joke!). I will publish any response you make on the Internet; so keep this in mind; if you don\u0026rsquo;t wish it so; don\u0026rsquo;t respond.\nRest assured I will publish any response; but I don\u0026rsquo;t expect one\u0026hellip;.\n","permalink":"/love-letter-to-irmas-solicitor/","summary":"\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis post is a continuation on the previous one. IRMA is the Irish Music\nRights Organisation which represents the big four record companies and their\nbottom line: never the artist. They have recently tried to regulate the\nInternet and have forced the biggest Irish ISP: Eircom; to use the three\nstrikes rule and boot people off the Internet\u0026hellip; No Judge, no Jury, no\nevidence of a crime.. Just an IP address and a sanction which you cannot\ncontest.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Love letter to IRMA's Solicitor"},{"content":"I always hoped for better for Ireland; but it seems the thieving hand of \u0026ldquo;rights\u0026rdquo; organizations which pretend to represent the artist have struck gold. Being able to cajole and bribe the largest Irish Internet Service Provider (ISP) - Eircom; has worked only too well. Although Eircom has said it will only obey by having a court order - it has agreed never to oppose these - which makes it complicit in the act of censorship. My Letter to Our ISP, Eircom, IRMA, EFF:\nDear [OUR ISP],\nWe are a loyal customer of yours. We are writing this because we\u0026rsquo;re concerned about recent news regarding IRMA (Irish Music Rights Ass.) relationship with your company (the recent letters sent out).\nIt would seem that they are seeking to become self-appointed censors of Irish Internet communications. We do not think that a third-party company should be permitted to arbitrarily decide which Internet sites Eircom users; or more importantly any Irish Internet user should be allowed to visit. Will IRMA want to block sites that merely link to copyrightable material, proxy sites that circumvent the block, blogs that criticize its actions? This is a very slippery slope and should be nipped in the bud.\nIn the recent high profile case against The Pirate Bay in Sweden; IRMA\u0026rsquo;s handlers (IFPI, RIAA) have shown their hand: they don\u0026rsquo;t even understand the underlying technology. John Kennedy, CEO. IFPI:\nKennedy said he qualified as a lawyer since the 70’s but hasn’t practiced recently. He was asked if he understood BitTorrent. Kennedy said he did, but in “very vague terms.” When the defense lawyers asked more detailed questions, about uTorrent for instance, Kennedy said he’d heard of it but had no idea of the details. It was very clear he knew nothing about any remotely technical issues.\nThis is the the kind of people who wish to regulate the Internet. Questions need to be asked that if you follow IRMA\u0026rsquo;s requested actions does this open you up to legal action for any other kinds of material which rights holders are protective of (Church of Scientology) ? and can you retain common carrier status like An Post; and need warrants issued instead of some rights organisation sending you a vague letter pretending to represent XY\u0026amp;Z ?\nWe understand the \u0026lsquo;concern\u0026rsquo; about Internet piracy. Artists definitely need to be paid for their hard work. It is an important issue in this day and age, and it must be addressed correctly. Censorship is not the answer. It is avoiding the issue. As has always happened in these cases, it is normal customers who are inconvenienced and have their free speech restricted the most. We need solutions that work, not knee-jerk reactions that are doomed to fail. We recommend you read the EFF’s whitepaper on a better way forward for online music. http://www.eff.org/wp/better-way-forward-voluntary-collective-licensing-music-file-sharing\nThere are opportunities here that are being missed. I think it would be for the benefit of both artists and music fans if a solution could be found that combines the technologies developed by the pirates with a fair system for paying artists.\n**There was a very similar case in Italy where ISPs were forced to block The Pirate Bay’s website after pressure from the music industry (the result was that Italian traffic to the site increased by 5%) . The ban was judged illegal in court under European Directive, 2000/31 CE which is also applicable in Ireland. **\nIf this ban goes ahead, Eircom and indeed Ireland will have a tarnished image on the world stage as a place where misguided efforts to protect revenue supersede freedom of communication. We would also be strongly considering abandoning our Internet subscription for an ISP who doesn\u0026rsquo;t cave to these demands, and we imagine many other business\u0026rsquo; will too.\nPlease, make the right choice. The world is watching. Your decision will have an important impact on the future of the Internet in Ireland.\nYours faithfully,\n[Footer]\nI will posting more on this issue as it happens. Stay Tuned!\n","permalink":"/this-post-is-censored-by-irma/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI always hoped for better for Ireland; but it seems the thieving hand of\n\u0026ldquo;rights\u0026rdquo; organizations which pretend to represent the artist have struck gold.\nBeing able to cajole and bribe the largest Irish Internet Service Provider\n(ISP) - Eircom; has worked only too well. Although Eircom has said it will only\nobey by having a court order - it has agreed never to oppose these - which makes\nit complicit in the act of censorship. My Letter to Our ISP, Eircom, IRMA, EFF:\u003c/p\u003e","title":"This post is censored by IRMA"},{"content":"What are Desktop Environments? Wikipedia defines it as:\nIn graphical computing, a desktop environment (DE) commonly refers to a style of graphical user interface \u0026hellip;\u0026hellip; A desktop environment typically consists of icons, windows, toolbars, folders, wallpapers, and desktop widgets. (See WIMP.)\nI would add a file manager and browser to this list also! Let\u0026rsquo;s look at the two most popular consumer Operating Systems (in three variants) and their Desktop Environments:\nOS Name Widgets Window Manager File Manager Browser Windows XP Luna Stack Window Manager Windows File Explorer Internet Explorer 6 Windows Vista Aero Desktop Window Manager Windows File Explorer Internet Explorer 7 Mac OS X Cocoa Quartz Compositor Finder Safari 2.X Now take Linux; really a Kernel, but packaged means an Operating System. Which way you package it makes all the difference! You still use the same drivers, the boot process is still the same, but when your machine finishes its boot and launches all that graphics stuff anything can appear: anything. It\u0026rsquo;s abstraction to have no real graphics in a kernel other than that which are drivers to control hardware. This is very strange to people who think in the Windows way (nb. I used to be one of these). At the end of Windows XP booting I have never seen anything but Luna; and most people don\u0026rsquo;t know its called that. So it is very strange for people my age and slightly older who grew up over DOS and Windows 3.1/95 line to have this fundamental shift in logic.\nWhen most people say Linux they \u0026rsquo;never\u0026rsquo; (as Home Desktop user) normally mean the Kernel; they mean \u0026lsquo;Gnome\u0026rsquo;, \u0026lsquo;KDE\u0026rsquo;, \u0026lsquo;Fluxbox\u0026rsquo;, \u0026lsquo;Enlightenment\u0026rsquo; and I could go on! To confuse further; people who say Linux may mean \u0026lsquo;Ubuntu\u0026rsquo;, \u0026lsquo;Fedora\u0026rsquo;, \u0026lsquo;OpenSuse\u0026rsquo;, \u0026lsquo;Mandriva\u0026rsquo; which are all packaged versions of Linux Kernel with a Desktop Environment such as Gnome or KDE (and GNU Toolkit). So here\u0026rsquo;s the table:\nDesktop Environment Widgets Window Manager File Manager Browser Gnome GTK2 Metacity Nautilus Firefox/ Ephiphany KDE QT KWin Dolphin/Konqueror Konqueror XFCE GTK Window Manager Thunar Midori\nThe interesting part\u0026hellip; Yes there really was a point to all of this rambling! The point is the you are not bound to any graphical way in Linux:_ there is none_. It is completely your choice what you choose to use. If you go with a pre-package distribution the choice is made: Ubuntu uses Gnome, Kubuntu uses KDE, and Xubuntu uses XFCE. The really neat part: all can co-exist happily on the same machine. I have KDE, Gnome and XFCE all installed right now. I can open up Konqueror in Gnome; Thunar in KDE and Epiphany in XFCE. All my KDE programs appear in my Gnome menu and vice-versa; same with XFCE. This is a strange concept from being able to use say Mac OS X Finder on Windows: it can\u0026rsquo;t be done! Open source plays nice ;) Now for the part I like; lovely screenshots to help you on your journey to choose!\nGnome 2.20 KDE 4 XFCE Enlightenment\nNB. I wrote this post as I noticed some in my Computer Science class struggled with this concept, in many ways I couldn\u0026rsquo;t understand this at first either\u0026hellip; so I just thought what would normal people think? My response is this post; with a few screenshots to hopefully brighten things up! Wikipedia has a more in-depth comparison of X11 Linux-compatible Desktop environments here for those interested.\n","permalink":"/linux-desktop-environments/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eWhat are Desktop Environments? Wikipedia defines it as:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn graphical computing, a \u003cstrong\u003edesktop environment\u003c/strong\u003e (\u003cstrong\u003eDE\u003c/strong\u003e) commonly refers to\na style of\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphical_user_interface\" title=\"Graphical user interface\"\u003egraphical user interface\u003c/a\u003e\n\u0026hellip;\u0026hellip; A desktop environment typically consists of\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icon_(computing)\" title=\"Icon (computing)\"\u003eicons\u003c/a\u003e,\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window_(computing)\" title=\"Window (computing)\"\u003ewindows\u003c/a\u003e,\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toolbar\" title=\"Toolbar\"\u003etoolbars\u003c/a\u003e,\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directory_(file_systems)\" title=\"Directory (file systems)\"\u003efolders\u003c/a\u003e,\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_wallpaper\" title=\"Computer wallpaper\"\u003ewallpapers\u003c/a\u003e,\nand\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widget_engine\" title=\"Widget engine\"\u003edesktop widgets\u003c/a\u003e.\n(See\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WIMP_(computing)\" title=\"WIMP (computing)\"\u003eWIMP\u003c/a\u003e.)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI would add a \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_manager\"\u003efile manager\u003c/a\u003e and\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_browser\"\u003ebrowser\u003c/a\u003e to this list also! Let\u0026rsquo;s\nlook at the two most popular consumer Operating Systems (in three variants) and\ntheir Desktop Environments:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://draft.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7231752728434532377\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eOS Name\u003c/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eWidgets\u003c/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eWindow Manager\u003c/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eFile Manager\u003c/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eBrowser\u003c/strong\u003e Windows\nXP Luna Stack Window Manager Windows File Explorer Internet Explorer 6 Windows\nVista Aero\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_Window_Manager\" title=\"Desktop Window Manager\"\u003eDesktop Window Manager\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Explorer\"\u003eWindows File Explorer\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer\"\u003eInternet Explorer 7\u003c/a\u003e Mac OS X\nCocoa Quartz Compositor\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finder_(software)\"\u003eFinder\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safari_(web_browser)\"\u003eSafari 2.X\u003c/a\u003e Now take\nLinux; really a Kernel, but packaged means an Operating System. Which way you\npackage it makes all the difference! You still use the same drivers, the boot\nprocess is still the same, but when your machine finishes its boot and launches\nall that graphics stuff anything can appear: \u003cstrong\u003eanything\u003c/strong\u003e. It\u0026rsquo;s abstraction to\nhave no real graphics in a kernel other than that which are drivers to control\nhardware. This is very strange to people who think in the Windows way (nb. I\nused to be one of these). At the end of Windows XP booting I have never seen\nanything but Luna; and most people don\u0026rsquo;t know its called that. So it is very\nstrange for people my age and slightly older who grew up over DOS and Windows\n3.1/95 line to have this fundamental shift in logic.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Linux Desktop Environments?"},{"content":"Last year was me celebrating four years of using the best operating system out there: Linux and the best distro Ubuntu. Ubuntu was my first foray in to Linux; and I haven\u0026rsquo;t left it since; although I have tried all the other major distros. I started with the first version of Ubuntu; Warthy Warthog:\nWarthy had a text only installer and it took me quite a while to not only get used to the idea of this strange operating system; but the fear of leaving Windows-land where all that power usage knowledge would mean nothing. It meant nothing in terms of the registry and other superficial stuff; but the more I used Ubuntu and Linux the more I liked it. In fact in 2005 I ditched my XP installation altogether. I noticed there wasn\u0026rsquo;t an Irish Ubuntu users group; so I mailed one of the few people (around 5 I guess) that were around Mark Shuttleworth to set it up and get a website going. It was an ill-advised effort since I was too busy with examinations really to take it on; so I gave it up soon after. But it is still going today, people are still involved.\nHoary Next came Hoary in 2005 and I was blown away how fast improvements were made; I still couldn\u0026rsquo;t believe all this could be free\u0026hellip; It seemed too good to be true really; I thought if Mark Shuttleworth ever left that would finish off Ubuntu and that would be it. While that might be still true; other distributions out there do tremendous work: Fedora is one I\u0026rsquo;d use if there were no Ubuntu.\nAll I can say is this: while I was definitely interested in Information Technology before (and knew I was heading for a Computer Science course); I owe a lot to Linux and Ubuntu for showing me the nitty gritty (that I wanted to see) and has helped me immesureably in my College life. Of course now that Ubuntu is one of the most polished Linux distrobutions out there it helps me when I need to get away from the nitty gritty too ;) To end this post it is only fitting to see the latest version:\n","permalink":"/ubuntu-in-four-years/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eLast year was me celebrating four years of using the best operating system out\nthere: \u003ca href=\"http://kernel.org/\"\u003eLinux\u003c/a\u003e and the best distro \u003ca href=\"http://www.ubuntu.com/\"\u003eUbuntu\u003c/a\u003e. Ubuntu was my first foray in to\nLinux; and I haven\u0026rsquo;t left it since; although I have tried all the other major\ndistros. I started with the first version of Ubuntu; Warthy Warthog:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d0/Ubuntu-desktop-2-410-20080706.png/180px-Ubuntu-desktop-2-410-20080706.png\" alt=\"Warthy Warthog\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWarthy had a text only installer and it took me quite a while to not only get\nused to the idea of this strange operating system; but the fear of leaving\nWindows-land where all that power usage knowledge would mean nothing. It meant\nnothing in terms of the registry and other superficial stuff; but the more I\nused Ubuntu and Linux the more I liked it. In fact in 2005 I ditched my XP\ninstallation altogether. I noticed there wasn\u0026rsquo;t an Irish Ubuntu users group; so\nI mailed one of the few people (around 5 I guess) that were around Mark\nShuttleworth to set it up and get a website going. It was an ill-advised effort\nsince I was too busy with examinations really to take it on; so I gave it up\nsoon after. But it is still going today, people are still involved.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Ubuntu in four years"},{"content":"Recently I downloaded the Kubuntu packages of the new KDE 4.2 beta 2. For those of you who don\u0026rsquo;t know; KDE is the K Desktop Environment; which includes a window manager (KWin), common desktop applications, its own menu (Kickoff), browser (Konqueror), file manager (dolphin) etc. Basically it is the most popular desktop environment on Linux next to Gnome.\n*KDE 4.2 Beta 2 with Kickoff Menu visible\n**What is so special about KDE? **\nThe philosophy of KDE is the advanced configuration it allows through its Graphical User Interface (GUI), this is versus Gnome which chooses sane defaults and leaves configuration in hard to reach places and out-of-sight. This isn\u0026rsquo;t to say KDE doesn\u0026rsquo;t choose sane defaults; it does and is very user-friendly. KDE has always been the more Windows-like of the major desktop environments and this hasn\u0026rsquo;t really changed in KDE 4.X series. KDE is available in popular distributions of Linux such as Kubuntu, Mandriva, OpenSuse. The special part about 4.X series is that for the first time for any Linux desktop environment; it is fully cross-platform, easily installs and works on Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac OS X. KDE 4.2 Panel; with KOrganizer calendar open\nWhats new in 4.2?\nStability. Ever since KDE started the really beautiful 4.X branch they have gotten harsh criticism for stability problems. This is not surprising as KDE 3.5 was the result of years of bugfixing and stability fixes and was really rock solid stable; in fact I don\u0026rsquo;t remember it crashing at all in the times I used it; but I have been a Gnome user for a while. This criticism was deserved; but perhaps premature: KDE always stated this almost ground-up rewrite of everything major wasn\u0026rsquo;t going to be pretty and it wasn\u0026rsquo;t. I used KDE 4.0 and KDE 4.1 and both crashed frequently; especially Plasma since it powers almost everything on the desktop.\nDesktop Effects\nWith this release comes the introduction of desktop effects; if your graphics card is supported. I think this is a great move since projects like Compiz required hacked in dectection of KDE or Gnome and I suspect this was coded in; it really makes sense to have desktop effects in the core; as it will really help stabilise them as the KDE4.X branch matures.\nBetter Customisation\nYou can now control height and length of the menu bar; as well as add many more plasma applets to it. The Kmenu replacement Kickoff has stepped up to the plate in this release and features almost a complete set of icons for any application (much to my chargrin in earlier release a lot of ? icons could be seen). Also more customisation and preference panes of Plasmoids are allowed. Desktop Effects in KDE 4.2 Beta 2\nFull major feature overview is here.\nSo whats the final assessment?\nWhen this is released I definately recommend you try it! This is the first release of the 4.X branch I would be happy to install and support on my family\u0026rsquo;s desktop. Since I don\u0026rsquo;t often get to access it physically to fix problems; this is one area I couldn\u0026rsquo;t trust either 4.0 or 4.1 to behave. It still isn\u0026rsquo;t as feature-completed or as stable as 3.5 series; but in my opinion it is damn close and approaching fast; get it while its hot!!\nKubuntu Instructions to get KDE 4.2 Beta 2 on Kubuntu Intrepid 8.10\n","permalink":"/beta-2/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eRecently I downloaded the \u003ca href=\"http://www.kubuntu.org/\"\u003eKubuntu\u003c/a\u003e packages of the new\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.kde.org/\"\u003eKDE\u003c/a\u003e 4.2 beta 2. For those of you who don\u0026rsquo;t know; KDE is\nthe \u003ca href=\"http://www.kde.org/\"\u003eK Desktop Environment\u003c/a\u003e; which includes a window\nmanager (\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwin\"\u003eKWin\u003c/a\u003e), common desktop\napplications, its own menu\n(\u003ca href=\"http://home.kde.org/~binner/kickoff/sneak_preview.html\"\u003eKickoff\u003c/a\u003e), browser\n(\u003ca href=\"http://www.konqueror.org/\"\u003eKonqueror\u003c/a\u003e), file manager\n(\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolphin_(software)\"\u003edolphin\u003c/a\u003e) etc. Basically it\nis the most popular desktop environment on Linux next to\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNOME\"\u003eGnome\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://kde.org/announcements/announce_4.2-beta1/desktop_thumb.png\" alt=\"image\"  /\u003e\n\n*KDE 4.2 Beta 2 with Kickoff Menu visible\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e**What is so special about KDE? **\u003cbr\u003e\nThe philosophy of KDE is the advanced configuration it allows through its\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUI\"\u003eGraphical User Interface\u003c/a\u003e (GUI), this is\nversus \u003ca href=\"http://www.gnome.org/\"\u003eGnome\u003c/a\u003e which chooses sane defaults and leaves\nconfiguration in hard to reach places and out-of-sight. This isn\u0026rsquo;t to say KDE\ndoesn\u0026rsquo;t choose sane defaults; it does and is very user-friendly. KDE has\nalways been the more Windows-like of the major desktop environments and this\nhasn\u0026rsquo;t really changed in KDE 4.X series. KDE is available in popular\ndistributions of Linux such as Kubuntu, \u003ca href=\"http://www.mandriva.com/\"\u003eMandriva\u003c/a\u003e,\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.opensuse.org/en/\"\u003eOpenSuse\u003c/a\u003e. The special part about 4.X series is\nthat for the first time for any Linux desktop environment; it is fully\ncross-platform, easily installs and works on Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac\nOS X.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://kde.org/announcements/announce_4.2-beta2/panel.png\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://kde.org/announcements/announce_4.2-beta2/panel_thumb.png\" alt=\"image\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cem\u003eKDE 4.2 Panel; with KOrganizer calendar open\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","title":"KDE 4.2 Beta 2"},{"content":"I downloaded Firefox 3.1 beta 2 (after trialling other development snapshots over the last few months) to see Ogg Theora video support is coming on really well. Opera, as well as Mozilla has committed to including this royalty-free video codec for web use. This is really good news; as one Opera Developer said:\nSomething however is still not quite there about web video. The video solutions mentioned above are proprietary closed solutions that rely on plugins to display in a web page - what we need to make video a first-class web citizen is an easy, open solution to integrate video into web pages, and native support for video in browsers.\nIn short, we need a \u0026lt; video \u0026gt; element in HTML, and we must also agree on a baseline video format that will be universally supported, just like the GIF, JPEG and PNG image formats are universally supported for images. It\u0026rsquo;s important that the video format we choose can be supported by a wide range of devices and that it\u0026rsquo;s royalty-free (RF). RF is a well-established principle for W3C standards. The Ogg Theora format is a promising candidate, which has been chosen by Wikipedia.\nSo all that basically means that video should be a first class citizen of the web like images. For too long has it been wrapped up in Flash and Silverlight. They could still wrap ogg theora and degrade nicely if no plugin for their format is detected (dependent on Adobe and Microsoft which is unlikely). Anyhoo enough of all this text; how about some nice video?!?\nTheora decoder not found\n","permalink":"/firefox-and-opera-lead-web-video-way/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI downloaded\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-beta.html\"\u003eFirefox 3.1 beta 2\u003c/a\u003e (after\ntrialling other development snapshots over the last few months) to see\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogg_Theora\"\u003eOgg Theora\u003c/a\u003e video support is coming on\nreally well. \u003ca href=\"http://www.opera.com/\"\u003eOpera\u003c/a\u003e, as well as\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.mozilla.org/\"\u003eMozilla\u003c/a\u003e has committed to including this royalty-free\nvideo codec for web use. This is really good news;\n\u003ca href=\"http://dev.opera.com/articles/view/a-call-for-video-on-the-web-opera-vid/\"\u003eas one Opera Developer said:\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSomething however is still not quite there about web video. The video\nsolutions mentioned above are proprietary closed solutions that rely on\nplugins to display in a web page - what we need to make video a first-class\nweb citizen is an easy, open solution to integrate video into web pages, and\nnative support for video in browsers.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Firefox and Opera lead the web video way"},{"content":" My Current Firefox Extensions: A-Z*\nAdblock Plus; because ads are for people that don\u0026rsquo;t know how to avoid them! Not only do they stop your banwidth from being wasted; they make a ton of websites more usuable. It takes care of Flash Ads as well as static ones; using a filter that is constantly updated. So even if some of the webs more devious and sneaky advertisers try to circumvent it; AdBlock can have a fix to everyone online within hours. It is definately my favourite extension! I don\u0026rsquo;t block certain ads like Google, Yahoo, Microsoft (the ones with decent reputations) as that is how the people behind really good websites I frequent make a living. But for all the rest trying to do pop-ups and pop-unders; I am sorry your days are numbered! (Some people higly recommend flashblock but I haven\u0026rsquo;t had a need to use it with AdBlock Plus yet).\nCustomizeGoogle adds neat tricks to Google services such as always using a secure connection to Gmail; links to other search engines, page histories, Favicons to search and streaming results pages. Comes in handy once in a while; but I don\u0026rsquo;t use it daily.\nFireGPG adds the full encryption and signing power of PGP to your Firefox browser. They have built in buttons for Gmail and right click options to sign, decrypt, encrypt and much more. A must have for privacy-aware people out there. Only downside is you need to create a Web of Trust with the keys you choose to use.\nFoxmarks: synchronises your bookmarks, passwords accross any computer with Firefox installed (they have plans for Internet Explorer and Safari). It is definately my most used extension; comes in handy almost daily. I use a lot of different computers; and Foxmarks keeps them all in sync! Only thing they are missing is extension syncing (while keeping your preferences); but hopefully that will happen in the future!\nGears: enables offline access in Google Reader and Google Docs. I have been hoping for awhile that they would extend this to gmail; but no such luck yet. It is mildly useful; but I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t use it daily.\nPingFire allows you to use Ping.fm service to send quick status messages to Bebo, Facebook, Twitter, Jaiku, Blogger, Wordpress.com and 100\u0026rsquo;s more. Really useful to alert people to what you are up to!\nSpeedDial: Opera\u0026rsquo;s innovative approach has been replicated in 100\u0026rsquo;s of Firefox Add-ons; not least this one. But this is very handy when you have a handful of websites you visit every day. It has a window with squares filled with images of the websites which you most frequent. It makes checking news and your favourites websites a breeze. Customisation options for the tinkerers among us are quite good also\u0026hellip;.\n","permalink":"/profiling-firefox-extensions-i-have/","summary":"\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMy Current Firefox Extensions: A-Z*\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"/img/08/74.png\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"/img/08/74.png\" alt=\"image\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865\"\u003eAdblock Plus\u003c/a\u003e; because\nads are for people that don\u0026rsquo;t know how to avoid them! Not only do they stop\nyour banwidth from being wasted; they make a ton of websites more usuable. It\ntakes care of Flash Ads as well as static ones; using a filter that is\nconstantly updated. So even if some of the webs more devious and sneaky\nadvertisers try to circumvent it; AdBlock can have a fix to everyone online\nwithin hours. It is definately my favourite extension! I don\u0026rsquo;t block certain\nads like Google, Yahoo, Microsoft (the ones with decent reputations) as that\nis how the people behind really good websites I frequent make a living. But\nfor all the rest trying to do pop-ups and pop-unders; I am sorry your days are\nnumbered! (Some people higly recommend\n\u003ca href=\"https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/433\"\u003eflashblock\u003c/a\u003e but I haven\u0026rsquo;t\nhad a need to use it with AdBlock Plus yet).\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"/img/08/943948800.png\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"/img/08/943948800.png\" alt=\"image\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/743\"\u003eCustomizeGoogle\u003c/a\u003e adds neat\ntricks to Google services such as always using a secure connection to Gmail;\nlinks to other search engines, page histories, Favicons to search and streaming\nresults pages. Comes in handy once in a while; but I don\u0026rsquo;t use it daily.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Profiling Firefox Extensions I have installed"},{"content":" I am not a big gamer; I primarily love systems and how they work. I do own a PS3 (amazing hardware I might add) and I prefer FPS and generally devious natured video games (like the GTA franchise). Does that make me a bad person who wants to kill people? Of course not; nothing could be further from the truth. But some people stick their fingers in their ears and shout \u0026ldquo;LA LA LA Columbine LALALA Terrorists LALALA Violent Video Games!\u0026rdquo;. They say it is destructive to childrens young precious minds. The \u0026ldquo;Think of The Children\u0026rdquo; argument always disgusted me; its like shouting Fire in a packed room when their is no danger: it is false, just to garner attention and a sickening twisted version of the facts. Are violent video games harmful to kids? Probably; I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t advocate giving them access since they; just like movies are clearly rated for Adults. *\nWhat is so hard to understand about that? Its is clearly an issue of parenting and morals whether you allow your child access to such material. So it is clear the real issue is the lack of proper guidance by parents; either to not bother enforcing the ratings, block their children from receiving them as gifts, or monitor to check if they spend pocket money on such items. They gladly do so for other adult items like adult content, movies, cigarettes and alcohol; why not video games? Today\u0026rsquo;s consoles even have ratings built-in (PS3, Wii, Xbox 360) which are enforceable by a password the parent can set. This makes it a breeze to block adult games and really hard for the average child (never mind adult) to circumvent. They could still play it at a friends house of course; you can\u0026rsquo;t lock your children down, but even so you can actively limit their exposure to such material. The study points out what others and I have always known: Video games don\u0026rsquo;t corrupt a mind by themselves, other factors (mainly social/upbringing) have a much bigger impact (Highlighting mine for brevity):\nResearch at Smith \u0026amp; Jones seems to imply that feelings of anger and powerlessness often pre-exist a compulsion to play violent games. In some cases these people find each other in the gaming world and form a bond based on those feelings of alienation and anger.\nMr Bakker believes that if there was more commitment from parents and other care givers to listen to what their children are saying then these issues of isolation and frustration could be dealt with at source and bring many young people out of the virtual world and back into real life.\n\u0026ldquo;If I continue to call gaming an addiction it takes away the element of choice these people have,\u0026rdquo; he says. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s a complete shift in my thinking and also a shift in the thinking of my clinic and the way it treats these people.\u0026rdquo;\nMr Bakker sees a time when addiction centres like Smith \u0026amp; Jones could close down if parents and adults in the community took more responsibility for the habits of their children. \u0026ldquo;In most cases of compulsive gaming, it is not addiction and in that case, the solution lies elsewhere.\u0026rdquo; - Courtesy BBC News\n","permalink":"/research-proves-video-games-lack-harm/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a0/Gtalogowhite.svg/200px-Gtalogowhite.svg.png\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a0/Gtalogowhite.svg/200px-Gtalogowhite.svg.png\" alt=\"image\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003eI\nam not a big gamer; I primarily love systems and how they work. I do own a\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3\"\u003ePS3\u003c/a\u003e\n(\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3_hardware\"\u003eamazing hardware\u003c/a\u003e I might\nadd) and I prefer \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-person_shooter\"\u003eFPS\u003c/a\u003e and\ngenerally devious natured video games (like the\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto_(series)\"\u003eGTA\u003c/a\u003e franchise). Does\nthat make me a bad person who wants to kill people? Of course not; nothing could\nbe further from the truth. But some people stick their fingers in their ears and\nshout \u0026ldquo;LA LA LA\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_High_School_massacre\"\u003eColumbine\u003c/a\u003e LALALA\nTerrorists LALALA Violent Video Games!\u0026rdquo;. They say it is destructive to childrens\nyoung precious minds. The\n\u0026ldquo;\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_The_Children_(politics)\"\u003eThink of The Children\u003c/a\u003e\u0026rdquo;\nargument always disgusted me; its like shouting Fire in a packed room when their\nis no danger: it is false, just to garner attention and a sickening twisted\nversion of the facts. Are violent video games harmful to kids? \u003cem\u003eProbably\u003c/em\u003e; I\nwouldn\u0026rsquo;t advocate giving them access since they; just like movies are\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_European_Game_Information\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eclearly rated for Adults\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/a\u003e. *\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Research proves video games lack harm"},{"content":"**Note: This Guide was written for use by my Computer Science class on Linux (and Mac OS X where noted). I haven\u0026rsquo;t used SSH on Windows; but hopefully someone can make sure this guide works also on Windows by noting differences). SSH comes with nearly all Linux distros and all Mac OS X releases.\n**\nOS Specific Colours: Linux - Mac OS X - Windows\n**\n**\n**Download SSH For Windows\n**\n***Windows: ****You need to follow README located in Start \u0026gt; All Programs \u0026gt; OpenSSH \u0026gt; README to set up password directories and files. After that is done; just do Start \u0026gt; Run; type cmd and hit enter to get Windows command line. All commands beginning with SSH should run unmodified. ****\nBy default it allows access to your username and password; which is okay but not totally secure! If you are logging on from a machine which has the same username as one you are trying to access you can drop \u0026lsquo;myusername@\u0026rsquo; bit. mylaptop represents the IP address of the machine you are trying to contact!\n$ ssh myusername@mylaptop\nTo forward X server (use the flag -Y on Mac OS X) :\n$ ssh -X myusername@mylaptop\nTo use a different port (where port is WXYZ) also: (use the flag -Y on Mac OS X):\n$ ssh -X myusername@mylaptop -p WXYZ\nHow to get it more secure:* * *Generate your own key (this will ask for a password; can be left blank but not recommended):*\n$ ssh-keygen\nCopy your key to machine you want to login to:\n$ scp ~/.ssh/id_dsa.pub mylaptop:~/.ssh/authorized_\nkeys2\n(This command uses SCP (Secure Copy) to copy your key into a list of keys allowed on remote machine. You also have an authorized_keys2 on your computer)\nEdit Configuration File: Finally edit configuration to make it more secure (nano is a lightweight text editor - this command will be very different on Windows; since it won\u0026rsquo;t have sudo command, nano editor or the SSH configuration file in the same place; I currently have no clue what it would be on Windows):\n$ sudo nano /etc/sshd_config\nOptions I recommend changing (hash at the start means it is commented out; so remove to take effect) :*\n#Port 22 - change to whatever; recommended between 2000-65000\nEnable these three:*\n#RSAAuthentication yes** **\n#PubkeyAuthentication yes #AuthorizedKeysFile .ssh/authorized_keys\nSet to \u0026lsquo;yes\u0026rsquo; and uncomment to allow forwarding of visuals:*\n#X11Forwarding no\nSet to \u0026lsquo;yes\u0026rsquo; and uncomment if you want to use your machine as a proxy:*\n#AllowTcpForwarding yes\n#PermitTunnel no *Now save the file with you changes ( CTRL and X; it will ask to save; enter Y and enter key). These will not come in to effect until to stop and start the SSH server! * Stop/Start on Linux To stop SSH server, enter:\n$ sudo /etc/init.d/ssh stop\nTo start SSH server, enter:\n$ sudo /etc/init.d/ssh start\nTo restart ssh server, enter:\n$ sudo /etc/init.d/ssh restart\nStop/Start OS X To stop SSH Server, enter: $ sudo /sbin/service ssh stop To Start SSH server, enter: $ sudo /sbin/service ssh start **\nThat is it!**\nMost of the options you can skip based on preference. I recommend not allowing password only login and setting up keys. It is much harder to break; and there is no \u0026lsquo;known\u0026rsquo; way to break it\u0026hellip;.\n","permalink":"/ssh-guide/","summary":"\u003ch2 id=\"note-this-guide-was-written-for-use-by-my-computer-science-class\"\u003e**Note: This Guide was written for use by my Computer Science class\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eon Linux (and Mac OS X where noted). I haven\u0026rsquo;t used SSH on Windows; but\nhopefully someone can make sure this guide works also on Windows by noting\ndifferences). SSH comes with nearly all Linux distros and all Mac OS X\nreleases.\u003cbr\u003e\n**\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOS Specific Colours: Linux - Mac OS X - Windows\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n**\u003cbr\u003e\n**\u003cbr\u003e\n**\u003ca href=\"http://downloads.sourceforge.net/sshwindows/setupssh381-20040709.zip?modtime=1089331200\u0026amp;big_mirror=0\"\u003eDownload SSH For Windows\u003c/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n**\u003c/p\u003e","title":"SSH Guide"},{"content":"As part of Computer Science you do a couple of general modules which are general in nature about computing; but I think that just reflects the broad use of IT in every part of society today. As things go digital or are created digitally; understanding of this concept is vital; that is where Web Multimedia comes in. For my first project of this second year; I had to do a movie made of stills with custom sound effects. Restrictions on sources of images and sounds (very high percentage had to be self made). Here it is:\n","permalink":"/web-multimedia-project-1/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eAs part of Computer Science you do a couple of general modules which are general\nin nature about computing; but I think that just reflects the broad use of IT in\nevery part of society today. As things go digital or are created digitally;\nunderstanding of this concept is vital; that is where Web Multimedia comes in.\nFor my first project of this second year; I had to do a movie made of stills\nwith custom sound effects. Restrictions on sources of images and sounds (very\nhigh percentage had to be self made). Here it is:\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Web Multimedia Project 1"},{"content":" I am an avid Gmail user through Google Apps. I use the calender, chat, code, sites, pages, docs the whole lot. One of my friends even jokes \u0026ldquo;You should just work at Google Marketing\u0026rdquo;. Yes I like most of Google\u0026rsquo;s products; but I am a products guy; I use whats good, cheap and fast (pick two). Google has the cheap down due to ad-revenue; for the moment anyways in the current financial turmoil.\nSo I was delighted when I seen Gmail Video and Voice released. I have used it on my computer and I can say thats its really good: better than SIP video; better than Skype on the quality front. Google Talk has always had the clearest voice calling from my usage of it vs. the others.\nMy family use Gmail; I have converted almost everyone I know to use it. Most of my Computer Science class have it (some just use the student hotmail); so I will really use this feature. There are a few problems however:\nGoogle Talk itself has no video; a curious decision It is not encrypted like Skype; there should be an option No Linux client: Unbelievable when Mac OS X is supported! Not compatible with Nokia Internet Tablets; an early testbed for Google Talk Video Open Standards but not Open Source: patent issues with licensed video codecs Features missing which would really benefit me as a CS student:\nMulti-way voice calling Multi-way Video calling Whiteboard function (Integration into GDocs?) Compatibility with SIP video Scheduling of Video/Voice through resource availibility option in Google Calendar These are mainly organisational for group projects etc. which would be very handy not only to me; but business through apps and Google the company itself. Get working on it Google!\n","permalink":"/gmail-video-chat/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_JE4qNpFW6Yk/SRkwSMYD_aI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/gsDJdA4WBgY/s1600/video_chat.png\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_JE4qNpFW6Yk/SRkwSMYD_aI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/gsDJdA4WBgY/s200/video_chat.png\" alt=\"image\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\nI am an avid \u003ca href=\"http://mail.google.com/\"\u003eGmail\u003c/a\u003e user through Google Apps. I use\nthe calender, chat, code, sites, pages, docs the whole lot. One of my friends\neven jokes \u0026ldquo;You should just work at Google Marketing\u0026rdquo;. Yes I like most of\nGoogle\u0026rsquo;s products; but I am a products guy; I use whats good, cheap and fast\n(pick two). Google has the cheap down due to ad-revenue; for the moment anyways\nin the current financial turmoil.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Gmail Video Chat"},{"content":"I usually get both of Ireland\u0026rsquo;s daily national papers to my email inbox every morning. I think it\u0026rsquo;s very important to catch up on the latest news; as I think you are more informed and have conversation pieces to talk to people (for those awkward silences where \u0026ldquo;Ye the weather is terrible\u0026rdquo; just won\u0026rsquo;t do). So I was highly informed when I read this piece: DCU head hits out at \u0026lsquo;out-of-date\u0026rsquo; O\u0026rsquo;Keeffe.\n\u0026ldquo;There is a tension between the traditional expectation that universities will primarily teach students, and the more recent requirement for universities to underpin economic development and attract corporate research and development into Ireland . . . not to mention the role of universities as agencies of cultural regeneration and of tackling disadvantage and structural poverty,\u0026rdquo; said Prof von Prondzynski.\nI couldn\u0026rsquo;t agree more. I think it is disgraceful that students who try to improve themselves; their standard of living and their community by getting a great education are penalised with higher fees. The equal access to education that the state is trying to promote will be further harmed by an increase in fees. It is [relatively] cheap to go to college as it is; and still the economic underclass are under-represented.\nNothing is for free don\u0026rsquo;t get me wrong\u0026hellip; But these students turn in to some of the hardest and most innovative workers in the world; and most get a really good salary to match; which means they pay the most tax on average of any socio-economic class. People in the super-rich category can afford to off-shore; not so for these professional people. People in the lowest socio-economic classes pay the standard rate of 20% as they\u0026rsquo;d earn under the average industrial wage (about 30,000) and rightly so. So that just leaves the \u0026lsquo;higher\u0026rsquo; if-you-will middle class (although all terms are relative; I don\u0026rsquo;t agree with the labels personally); which pay disproportionate amount. So the Governments policy seems to discourage many of these people from actually educating themselves and getting a good job. This shocking tidbit sums up the government:\n\u0026ldquo;I think he (Batt O\u0026rsquo;Keeffe) has a view of how universities should operate which is fairly far removed from what my view would be. For example, he raised the issue of whether we do too much research,\u0026rdquo; said Prof von Prondzynski (Dublin City University Head)\nToo much research? Oh my god; I actually cannot believe I read that. Maybe I should write to Batt O\u0026rsquo;Keefe and remind him what research gets you\u0026hellip; Just in the Tech field alone (which I know most about); research is everything. The Internet? Check, American Military Research (Arpanet). The Web? Check, CERN Particle Physics Laboratory. Graphical Interfaces? Check, Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). Not to mention the massive contribution by Bell Labs/AT\u0026amp;T to Unix etc. These are only ones right off the top of my head. All I can say is I hope 3rd Level (as Colleges are known in Ireland) gets their own government minister (and department) and is free of this man: Batt O\u0026rsquo; Keefe and his 20th century Department of Education.\n","permalink":"/innovation-right-here-dept-of-education/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI usually get both of Ireland\u0026rsquo;s daily national papers to my email inbox every\nmorning. I think it\u0026rsquo;s very important to catch up on the latest news; as I think\nyou are more informed and have conversation pieces to talk to people (for those\nawkward silences where \u0026ldquo;Ye the weather is terrible\u0026rdquo; just won\u0026rsquo;t do). So I was\nhighly informed when I read this piece:\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.independent.ie/education/latest-news/dcu-head-hits-out-at-outofdate-okeeffe-1532789.html?from=dailynews\"\u003eDCU head hits out at \u0026lsquo;out-of-date\u0026rsquo; O\u0026rsquo;Keeffe\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Innovation Right Here - Dept. of Education is Wrong"},{"content":"Seriously: what an awesome song. Every Geek should love it! It\u0026rsquo;s got the famous line \u0026ldquo;My heart is human, my blood is boiling, my brain IBM\u0026rdquo;. If this is not in every Geeks top ten songs; then I resign! I even listen to it as I type this! Anyways enough sounding like a DJ who just got his Payola check off the RIAA; I\u0026rsquo;ll just post the free video so y\u0026rsquo;all can watch\u0026hellip;. :\nBarenaked Ladies also do a cover of it interspersed with their own song (King Of Bedside Manner):\n","permalink":"/domo-arigato-mr-roboto/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eSeriously: what an awesome song. Every Geek should love it! It\u0026rsquo;s got the famous\nline \u0026ldquo;My heart is human, my blood is boiling, my brain IBM\u0026rdquo;. If this is not in\nevery Geeks top ten songs; then I resign! I even listen to it as I type this!\nAnyways enough sounding like a DJ who just got his\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payola\"\u003ePayola\u003c/a\u003e check off the\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recording_Industry_Association_of_America\"\u003eRIAA\u003c/a\u003e;\nI\u0026rsquo;ll just post the free video so y\u0026rsquo;all can watch\u0026hellip;. :\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Domo Arigato, Mr.Roboto"},{"content":"One cannot help but be amazed at Kilkenny; true masters of the Irish Gaelic Sport of hurling. I mean as my previous posts mention I have moved to Kilkenny; and rural South Kilkenny at that. They live and breath Hurling down here: it\u0026rsquo;s literally a way of life. That is why they are so good; no mystery here folks: its is literally bred into children in schools and everyone plays it. More people playing means even though Kilkenny is only around 100,000 people it still has a large amount of people to pick from and they get the best training which equals the best results.\nThe City\u0026rsquo;s mayor Pat Crotty said (paraphrased as I read it and cannot find the quote): \u0026ldquo;People say Kilkenny winning all the time is bad for hurling, not with displays like that\u0026rdquo;. That is referring to the utter decimation of the county that adjoins South Kilkenny: Waterford. They were beaten by the biggest scoreline in over 50 years I think it was; yes it was a savage display. I speak as a Kildare man from a county that has achieved little to no success (sorry lads lets face facts!); and I wish they would emulate Kilkenny\u0026rsquo;s prowess and agility. The press raved about how it was the best display of Hurling this century. As things go I was working; but the vibe was unreal. I was also working when over 25,000 people showed up to greet them home.\nAnyways in South Kilkenny where my folks live is called Danesfort; and to prove how into Hurling they are they even have a song (bear in mind this is not a town or village; its basically a pub, church and houseS with less than 80 people living here); proof if it\u0026rsquo;s needed Kilkenny are mental about Hurling:\n","permalink":"/hurling-four-in-row/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eOne cannot help but be amazed at Kilkenny; true masters of the Irish Gaelic\nSport of hurling. I mean as my previous posts mention I have moved to Kilkenny;\nand rural South Kilkenny at that. They live and breath Hurling down here: it\u0026rsquo;s\nliterally a way of life. That is why they are so good; no mystery here folks:\nits is literally bred into children in schools and everyone plays it. More\npeople playing means even though Kilkenny is only around 100,000 people it still\nhas a large amount of people to pick from and they get the best training which\nequals the best results.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Hurling - Four in a row?"},{"content":"I just read one of the most informative and insightful blog posts of my entire life. Half serious a guy takes a look back at when he had to beat up a Girl. Weird stuff!\nYes, you read that right, I had to beat up a girl … not a woman. She was asking for it and she deserved it.\nI Had to Beat Up a Girl\n","permalink":"/geek-thug-i-had-to-beat-up-girl/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI just read one of the most informative and insightful blog posts of my entire\nlife. Half serious a guy takes a look back at when he had to beat up a Girl.\nWeird stuff!\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYes, you read that right, I had to beat up a girl … not a woman. She was\nasking for it and she deserved it.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.geekthug.com/?p=18445\"\u003eI Had to Beat Up a Girl\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/blockquote\u003e","title":"Geek Thug - \"I Had to Beat Up a Girl\""},{"content":"Well I think so! Got one there 2 months ago and forgot to write a blog post about it. I got a \u0026lsquo;01 model for a bargain price I believe; but this theory has yet to be tested (I\u0026rsquo;ll wait for a year to be up). As I mentioned before in previous posts my parent\u0026rsquo;s house is now in a remote location with no train/buses anywhere nearby. So transport was essential! At this time also there was a major crack down on learner drivers not being accompanied by a fully licensed driver (of two years). So by the time I\u0026rsquo;d saved the money for the car; got 10 lessons and convinced anyone I knew with over two years full driving experience to accompany me; even to work - was just to much hassle - hence the moped which has no such onerous requirements. In fact only one it does really have is that you can\u0026rsquo;t have passengers - I won\u0026rsquo;t be carrying anyone anyways - so I am not too bothered. Anyhoo take a look at the photos I took when I got it. I have done it up since then: new tyres, resprayed exhaust, full service; new mirrors; repaired exhaust; flushed out radiator and put in proper coolant just to name a few. So it sounds allot better and drives better than ever!\n","permalink":"/yamaha-yq-aerox-best-moped-ever/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eWell I think so! Got one there 2 months ago and forgot to write a blog post\nabout it. I got a \u0026lsquo;01 model for a bargain price I believe; but this theory has\nyet to be tested (I\u0026rsquo;ll wait for a year to be up). As I mentioned before in\nprevious posts my parent\u0026rsquo;s house is now in a remote location with no train/buses\nanywhere nearby. So transport was essential! At this time also there was a major\ncrack down on learner drivers not being accompanied by a fully licensed driver\n(of two years). So by the time I\u0026rsquo;d saved the money for the car; got 10 lessons\nand convinced anyone I knew with over two years full driving experience to\naccompany me; even to work - was just to much hassle - hence the moped which has\nno such onerous requirements. In fact only one it does really have is that you\ncan\u0026rsquo;t have passengers - I won\u0026rsquo;t be carrying anyone anyways - so I am not too\nbothered. Anyhoo take a look at the photos I took when I got it. I have done it\nup since then: new tyres, resprayed exhaust, full service; new mirrors; repaired\nexhaust; flushed out radiator and put in proper coolant just to name a few. So\nit sounds allot better and drives better than ever!\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Yamaha YQ Aerox - best moped ever?"},{"content":"Open Source star of the blogging world\u0026hellip;\n","permalink":"/wordpress-26/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eOpen Source star of the blogging world\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Wordpress 2.6"},{"content":"Well one month in Summer 2008! Summer has been okay so far; I\u0026rsquo;ve had nothing much to report hence lack of Tech posts. Sure the iPhone 3G looks good, Google/Yahoo/Microsoft spats interesting but after a while it become a bit circular and repetitive.\nI\u0026rsquo;ve recently started working at the UK\u0026rsquo;s leading retailer for touring/car/bike and accessories; as well as a move to the south east of Ireland; that much further to the capital: Dublin. It\u0026rsquo;s Ireland\u0026rsquo;s smallest city and home to Ireland\u0026rsquo;s very first Parliament about 400 years ago: Kilkenny. It\u0026rsquo;s steeped in culture and it\u0026rsquo;s the only city in Ireland to rival Dublin\u0026rsquo;s culture, nightlife and restaurants and hold it\u0026rsquo;s own.\nI am trying to acquire a moped (aka. Scooter or Italian \u0026lsquo;ped) to have a run-around to work and back. I am doing it in reverse however as were still moving to our house in the county of Kilkenny (in the city rentig at the moment until it\u0026rsquo;s ready!). I\u0026rsquo;ll be getting Scooter first, then license so in other words it will be arseways! Their is always a backlog in summertime as students like me clamour to get driving!! Whoops should have scheduled during the leaving cert (Ireland\u0026rsquo;s answer to SAT/GCSE)!!\nMore will follow soon as I complete the move and get the bike; expect a few picture posts dedicated to the bike!!\n","permalink":"/summer-one-month-on/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eWell one month in Summer 2008! Summer has been okay so far; I\u0026rsquo;ve had nothing\nmuch to report hence lack of Tech posts. Sure the iPhone 3G looks good,\nGoogle/Yahoo/Microsoft spats interesting but after a while it become a bit\ncircular and repetitive.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI\u0026rsquo;ve recently started working at the UK\u0026rsquo;s leading retailer for touring/car/bike\nand accessories; as well as a move to the south east of Ireland; that much\nfurther to the capital: Dublin. It\u0026rsquo;s Ireland\u0026rsquo;s smallest city and home to\nIreland\u0026rsquo;s very first Parliament about 400 years ago: Kilkenny. It\u0026rsquo;s steeped in\nculture and it\u0026rsquo;s the only city in Ireland to rival Dublin\u0026rsquo;s culture, nightlife\nand restaurants and hold it\u0026rsquo;s own.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Summer - One Month On....."},{"content":"I had a trip in to the faire capital city of Ireland today: Dublin. Okay I\u0026rsquo;ll get this out of the way: I had a Frappacino in Starbucks and I\u0026rsquo;m a student; so not too poor of a student ;)\nBut I saw the inside of Brown Thomas for the first time. I don\u0026rsquo;t shop for fashion at all: but what I found was the kind of vulgarity and fake-ness I\u0026rsquo;d expect of London or New York; not Dublin. To paraphrase Bono: \u0026ldquo;In America if you have your mansion on a hill people look up to you and think \u0026lsquo;I want to be like him and afford a house like that one day\u0026rsquo;; if you have the same mansion in Ireland people say \u0026rsquo;look at the fucken eejit on the hill with that house; thinks he\u0026rsquo;s god or sumthen\u0026rsquo;\u0026rdquo; and that to me was always an endearing part of Irish culture; people around you being the great leveller if you thought you were the bomb. Inside BT (Brown Thomas) was all the names you\u0026rsquo;d expect; all the major names more at home in Paris, London or New York. I confronted my friend who was showing me round about my opinions (in my usual polite manner: just say it). To my surprise he agreed 110%. Yes he said: for the people who buy this stuff can tell who else is wearing it; and I think he meant that by this logic movers and shakers also wore all the brands to look the part. Soon after he told me he was also learning Golf because he knew it would be a great benefit for his future career: \u0026ldquo;All important people also play golf\u0026rdquo; he assured me.\nI see this divide in society and I admit it bothers me. Where I go to College, there is an estate across the road which is by any standards not had the full benefit of the Celtic Tiger (the Irish Boom Economy). I get the bus from this place and everytime it bothers me that I see some social problems: everything from unruly kids trying to ruin the place to alcholics. But I also have people in my class from that estate: some of the nicest you\u0026rsquo;d ever care to meet. I\u0026rsquo;ve been asked by them my opinion on where they live and what do I think other people think.\nThen comes my home town. It is on the border of Dublin (city) and Kildare (farmers and horsebreeders) and we\u0026rsquo;ve got a mix of both. But Leixlip is decidedly middle class; low enough crime; not much social tension to be heard of; certainly nowhere near the likes of South Dublin (seen as upper class) or North Dublin (seen as lower class). Which is why I don\u0026rsquo;t feel comfortable in either: maybe middle class is the real stigmata?\n","permalink":"/ive-decided-im-decidedly-middle-class/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI had a trip in to the faire capital city of Ireland today: Dublin. Okay I\u0026rsquo;ll\nget this out of the way: I had a Frappacino in Starbucks and I\u0026rsquo;m a student; so\nnot too poor of a student ;)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut I saw the inside of Brown Thomas for the first time. I don\u0026rsquo;t shop for\nfashion at all: but what I found was the kind of vulgarity and fake-ness I\u0026rsquo;d\nexpect of London or New York; not Dublin. To paraphrase Bono: \u0026ldquo;In America if you\nhave your mansion on a hill people look up to you and think \u0026lsquo;I want to be like\nhim and afford a house like that one day\u0026rsquo;; if you have the same mansion in\nIreland people say \u0026rsquo;look at the fucken eejit on the hill with that house; thinks\nhe\u0026rsquo;s god or sumthen\u0026rsquo;\u0026rdquo; and that to me was always an endearing part of Irish\nculture; people around you being the great leveller if you thought you were the\nbomb. Inside BT (Brown Thomas) was all the names you\u0026rsquo;d expect; all the major\nnames more at home in Paris, London or New York. I confronted my friend who was\nshowing me round about my opinions (in my usual polite manner: just say it). To\nmy surprise he agreed 110%. Yes he said: for the people who buy this stuff can\ntell who else is wearing it; and I think he meant that by this logic movers and\nshakers also wore all the brands to look the part. Soon after he told me he was\nalso learning Golf because he knew it would be a great benefit for his future\ncareer: \u0026ldquo;All important people also play golf\u0026rdquo; he assured me.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"I've decided - I'm decidedly middle class"},{"content":"It\u0026rsquo;s been all over the tech news world lately; apparently Google is muling over taking Skype off of Ebay\u0026rsquo;s hands. Ebay has already written down the value of Skype as a large loss on their purchase price of $2.6 billion in stock and cash. But w ould Skype\u0026rsquo;s G-branded future be any better?\nI think it would be. Skype is a strong international brand for voice calls, instant messaging and video calls; but of course it competes directly with Google Talk. Skype as a company has made a lot of mistakes; but they actually produces some of the best technology for p2p VOIP out there in the marketplace. Skype is particularly strong in redundancy, cost of network operation (since it\u0026rsquo;s p2p every user carries\u0026rsquo; each others traffic; most people have no idea of this fact) and routing around the most draconian network admins out their through their routers.\nAll of this is a strict propreitary network and is centrally controlled at the moment for Ebay. All voice is encrypted accross Skype; but it is well-speculated that Skype has a back door to snoop on anyone it so wishes (although it would never publicly admit to this). Legislation hasn\u0026rsquo;t caught up to protect voice calls like they are on \u0026ldquo;traditional\u0026rdquo; PSTN [Pretty Simple Telephone Network].\nI think Google could open up Skype\u0026rsquo;s network; to what extent is anyone\u0026rsquo;s guess. I hope they integrate XMPP like Gmail Chat capability (which is an open standard); and do the same for voice/video (could take a while based on patents) . I predict the client will most likely stay propreitary and closed-source; as opening it up could reveal back-doors; patent and copyright issues and more. But overall I think the transaction could go quite well for both parties\u0026hellip;\n","permalink":"/will-google-buy-skype/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eIt\u0026rsquo;s been all over the tech news world lately; apparently\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.google.ie/\"\u003eGoogle\u003c/a\u003e is muling over taking Skype off of Ebay\u0026rsquo;s hands.\nEbay has already written down the value of\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skype\"\u003eSkype\u003c/a\u003e as a large loss on their purchase\nprice of $2.6 billion in stock and cash. But\nw\u003ca href=\"http://about.skype.com/online.png\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://about.skype.com/online.png\" alt=\"image\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003eould\nSkype\u0026rsquo;s G-branded future be any better?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI think it would be. Skype is a strong international brand for voice calls,\ninstant messaging and video calls; but of course it competes directly with\nGoogle Talk. Skype as a company has made a lot of mistakes; but they actually\nproduces some of the best technology for p2p VOIP out there in the marketplace.\nSkype is particularly strong in redundancy, cost of network operation (since\nit\u0026rsquo;s p2p every user carries\u0026rsquo; each others traffic; most people have no idea of\nthis fact) and routing around the most draconian network admins out their\nthrough their routers.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Will Google Buy Skype?"},{"content":"I recently read a Slashdot article \u0026ldquo;EU Commissioner proposes 95 year copyright\u0026rdquo;. I am a staunch supporter of the European project; or at least the ideals it is based on to create a peaceful, demcratic union of countries with a common background and share similiar goals. Intrigued by the article I read it only to find out that a local man who used to represent my area was responsible. I had to write to him to ask how he lost his mind\u0026hellip;.\nDear Mr. McCreevy;\nI am writing to you from Kildare. You have served our county over the years; and I even thought you would become Taoiseach (Prime Minister of Ireland) one day (being the Minister for Finance is a front-runner position- let\u0026rsquo;s be honest) but then you went to Europe.\nBut that\u0026rsquo;s not the subject of this correspondence. I am writing to you to voice my disgust for your proposed levies and taxes in conjunction with an even longer copyright extension. What are you thinking Mr. McCreevy? The average musician does not live for 95 years. I am responding to points made by you in the International Herald Tribune (Original article: AP Newswire; Published 14/02/2008) and the legislation proposed at your level in the commission (through which you will have direct influence).\nYour Misguided view of copyright: \u0026ldquo;If nothing is done, thousands of European performers who recorded in the late 1950s and 1960s will lose all of their airplay royalties over the next ten years,\u0026rdquo; said EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy, the union\u0026rsquo;s internal market chief. \u0026ldquo;These royalties are often their sole pension.\u0026rdquo;\nI don\u0026rsquo;t know about you Mr. McCreevy; but I will have to set aside money from my earnings for my pension;. why shouldn\u0026rsquo;t artists? Copyright is supposed to encourage innovation; not reward old creations. Copyright on these works should have rightfully expired on these a long time ago; forcing these musicians to create more music we all love and enjoy, instead of idly collecting money for work done sometimes as much as fifty years ago. These Musicians were already paid for their works a long time ago; and they signed it over to a [record] company. You are only enriching a company that contributes zero cultural value back by extending a copyright term. This has been proven time and time again if you would do your research.\nExtra Copies / Levies The EU executive also wants to look again at reforming copyright levies charged on blank discs, data storage and music and video players to compensate artists and copyright holders for legal copying when listeners burn an extra version of an album to play one at home and one in the car.\nWhy should as a consumer I have to pay twice for a music recording? You know this will only have the effect of driving up the cost of a CD and increasing piracy? \u0026ldquo;You can\u0026rsquo;t charge me twice if I choose to pirate it!\u0026rdquo;; and this is how a lot of consumers will see it; like double tax evasion only easier with less risk! You must recognise also that the music collection agencies are run by cartels that is the music industry (Big Four: SonyBMG, Warner, EMI, Universal ) which is almost never fair to artists? (Look at SoundExchange in the United States for this). What about when I use disks for backup of my data (which is the only reason I use them for) why should I pay royalties for music I never pirated? How also can you tell which artists deserves more royalties than the next? You can\u0026rsquo;t; and that is why this idea is so stupid you should put it to bed now!\nWho it benefits? The extension would not benefit only stars such as French crooner Charles Aznavour or British pop star Cliff Richard, McCreevy said. Session musicians who played on a recording would also be able to draw on a new fund.\nAh-ha-ha-ha You see Mr. Mc.Creevy case in point! These men actually own; or have very liberal licensing terms with their record companies; allowing them in the first place to be spokespeople for longer copyright terms. The same cannot be said for the vast majority of artists; who don\u0026rsquo;t have that luxury. Please remind me what exactly these men have contributed to society musically in the last few years? Oh riiiiiight; thats nothing; zero; zilch! What about others of that era? Elvis? dead and buried! Beatles? no longer around! and I could go on and on and on about how they are literally getting money for nothing\u0026hellip;.. The only beneficiary will be the record companies who own the recordings to 70\u0026rsquo;s and 80\u0026rsquo;s material which is lucrative (for this see Michael Jackson owning some of the Beatles catalogue).\nMy plea to you is to stop this insanity and work towards less copyright restriction not more. Copyright was originally designed to safeguard an original author to make back the time and the effort he/she put into the creation which benefitted society (ie. compensation usually in the form of monetary gain). With this understanding it\u0026rsquo;s plain to see these people have long since got back many times the creative energy they put in and societies debt to them has long since passed.\nRegards,\nYour former constituent;\nN Grogan\n14/02/2008\nP.S. I am eagerly awaiting you reply and any comments you have on what I have said\u0026hellip;\nI got a reply from someone in the commissioners office (I have removed the name); better than nothing but I\u0026rsquo;d still like to hear from him on the matter\u0026hellip;. Anyway here it is:\nDear Mr Grogan,\nThank you for your e-mail of 14 February concerning the term of protection for sound recordings.\nThe Commissioner has noted your most interesting comments. These will be taken into account in the elaboration of the formal Commission proposal.\n","permalink":"/year/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI recently read a Slashdot article\n\u0026ldquo;\u003ca href=\"http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/14/1626228\"\u003eEU Commissioner proposes 95 year copyright\u003c/a\u003e\u0026rdquo;.\nI am a staunch supporter of the European project; or at least the ideals it is\nbased on to create a peaceful, demcratic union of countries with a common\nbackground and share similiar goals. Intrigued by the article I read it only to\nfind out that a local man who used to represent my area was responsible. I had\nto write to him to ask how he lost his mind\u0026hellip;.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Letter to EU Commissioner on 95 Year Copyright Extension [Updated]"},{"content":"I just purchased an Amarok hoodie andt-shirt; and I couldn\u0026rsquo;t be happier supporting one of my favourite open source projects! What makes it so good? Have you ever heard of Amarok? Chances are if your an OS X or Windows user; you haven\u0026rsquo;t. All this is about to change! The amarok team are busy porting it from it\u0026rsquo;s UNIX underpinnings to Windows and OS X.\nWhats to like about Amarok then? also is cool phonetically: am a rock!\nAlbum covers in full glory (see picture right) Full lyrics support; even for the most obscure songs you have laying around! Wikipedia integration: truly a gem; you can do what Amarok says \u0026ldquo;Rediscover your Music\u0026rdquo; in looking up artist, song or album in the free encyclopedia. Playlists form the backone of the player; great for people like me who like to compile sub-sections of songs for car journeys and the like! Smart playlists: you get playlists which can update based on how your rate them; which artist or what genre; sorting conditions ar infinite! Example is a 5 Star playlisat with all my top rated tunes! Dynamic playlists: built from your static and smart playlists; it can show the last X songs you played and Y upcoming. So I could select my 5 star faves and my Strokes favourites; set it to show 5 last played songs and 15 upcoming. I never need to edit the playlist again as it will auto choose and update the list! Statistics: Show all your stats on your collection! From favourite artists to most played albums: it\u0026rsquo;s all there waiting! Last.fm \u0026amp; Tags: Tag and compiles your music listening tastes with integration in the most popular social music site online! IPod integration is second to none (as well as many 0ther popular players!)! Amarok will convert it to mp3; sync podcasts and playlists; transfer ratings and even submit listened tracks to last.fm! All the added extras: Equaliser with presets; Random and Repeat capability; Visualisations! You can even sort you collection by mood with Moodbar installed! Scripts!?! One of the coolest thing is scripts: think Firefox extensions only slightly more powerful! Built-in editing of song names; album names and all info! Don\u0026rsquo;t bother telling Amarok to add the music you just ripped; as long as it\u0026rsquo;s in your music folder its automatically picked up and added! An intuitive interface: built for function and power: Amarok is almost perfect in its balance between feature and function. The OSD )On-Screen Display) with show you any details your playlist does; like Artist Name; Album name; Rating and how long a track is! Man I am exhausted already and I haven\u0026rsquo;t even covered all of the features; their is just too many hidden gems I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t be doing you justice by telling you them all (see: Scripts)! That\u0026rsquo;s why Amarok rocks my world! (As a side note: yes I will get my picture on this page eventually!)\n","permalink":"/why-i-think-amarock-rocks/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI just purchased an\n\u003ca href=\"http://49100.spreadshirt.net/en/DE/Shop/Article/Index/article/Amarok-Hoodie-Navy-1117657\"\u003eAmarok hoodie\u003c/a\u003e\nand\u003ca href=\"http://49100.spreadshirt.net/en/DE/Shop/Article/Index/article/Amarok-Classic-Sports-Tee-1094948\"\u003et-shirt\u003c/a\u003e;\nand I couldn\u0026rsquo;t be happier supporting one of my favourite open source projects!\nWhat makes it so good? Have you ever heard of Amarok? Chances are if your an OS\nX or Windows user; you haven\u0026rsquo;t. All this is about to change! The amarok team are\nbusy porting it from it\u0026rsquo;s UNIX underpinnings to Windows and OS X.\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"http://amarok.kde.org/features\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nWhats to like about Amarok then?\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://rokymotion.pwsp.net/promowiki/images/1/18/Amarok_Features-covers.png\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://rokymotion.pwsp.net/promowiki/images/1/18/Amarok_Features-covers.png\" alt=\"image\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nalso is cool phonetically: am a rock!\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Why I think Amarok rocks...."},{"content":" I last discussed the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet in October; when details were only starting to filter out. It wasn\u0026rsquo;t expected for Nokia to introduce an upgrade to the N800 Internet Tablet (which I also reviewed here) so soon. I certainly don\u0026rsquo;t envy the position of a small team getting the hardware and software for a mini-computer right in such a short space of time. But needless to say the N810 feels right; in fact it feels more right than the N770 which I thought had the best design of all (be it functionality not so much style). The N810 has bags of style; in a flashy brand-new-car sort of way; it looks expensive and I believe Nokia plays to this in their pricing.\nWell the best new feature has to be the operating system: OS 2008. It is clean; stable enough and illustrates beautifully in a Apple Mac sort of way when hardware and software are matched beautifully you get an unrivaled product. But that runs on N800 also; so why bother with the N810? GPS is inbuilt for one; but the mapping software is pretty horrible. Luckily the Open Source MaemoMapper is the original (and still the best) GPS program for any maemo platform (OS 2007, OS 2006). No offence to WayFinder but their software isn\u0026rsquo;t ideal and feels like a shabby port to the Internet Tablets; like it was ripped off another device and thrown at Nokia\u0026rsquo;s devices. Nokia also dropped the ball in other areas; such as keylocking and the home applets: home applets are little bubbles of information you immeadiatly see on the N810\u0026rsquo;s home screen. The problem you ask? The move (by design; older OS ones were fixed) and the keylock made to keep them stable is not functional as I believe it could be. Why can\u0026rsquo;t I set an auto screen lock when I flip the keyboard back in? That kind of commission is what I\u0026rsquo;d call a \u0026lsquo;schoolboy error\u0026rsquo;.\nApps make any device and the N810 has a few good ones; but nothing totally wow or killer just yet. Skype as many people are aware is semi-included in the device (after a download) and as of yet unlike its desktop Linux counterpart; it lacks full video support (on a device with a decent vga webcam camera\nno sense here!). There is also full GoogleTalk integration; with SIP support coming up (perhaps with full video on SIP; maybe as of yet with GoogleTalk if they adopt SIP?). Other than that great apps include FBreader a great Windows/Linux ebook reader; and some fun pass the time games like TuxPuck, IceBreaker and LXDoom can be downloaded. What about the apps included I hear you ask? Well the Web Browser is quality from Mozilla and far outshines the Opera browser which graced both the N770 and N800. Updates are not really noticeable in the core non-essential apps like Email (an awful excuse for an email client), RSS reader (decent enough) and Filemanager. To the core I suspect they made a bevy of changes; but I\u0026rsquo;m not that hardcore so I\u0026rsquo;ll skip technical details like that; needless to say its startup time was reduced; battery life seems longer; and it feels more responsive on OS 2008. So should I buy it? If you don\u0026rsquo;t have a N800 I would say definitely go for it; as long as you think the price is right. As with any tech device; shop around for a bargain on the price over Nokia\u0026rsquo;s retail listed price. Who is it aimed at? People in college like me who like to keep in touch with friends; read their pdfs docs; and cringe to be away from some sort of connectivity. This also applies to business users who would have similar uses with clients; but unfortunately the necessity of a second device in non-wifi connected areas kills this devices true potential until Nokia decides to inbuild 3G or Wimax.\n","permalink":"/few-days-with-nokia-n810/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"/img/08/HPIM0193.JPG\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"/img/08/HPIM0193.JPG\" alt=\"image\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"/tablet-to-hit-shops-soon\"\u003eI last discussed the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet in October\u003c/a\u003e;\nwhen details were only starting to filter out. It wasn\u0026rsquo;t expected for Nokia to\nintroduce an upgrade to the\n\u003ca href=\"/nokia-n800\"\u003eN800 Internet Tablet (which I also reviewed here)\u003c/a\u003e so soon. I\ncertainly don\u0026rsquo;t envy the position of a small team getting the hardware and\nsoftware for a mini-computer right in such a short space of time. But needless\nto say the N810 feels right; in fact it feels more right than the N770 which I\nthought had the best design of all (be it functionality not so much style). The\nN810 has bags of style; in a flashy brand-new-car sort of way; it looks\nexpensive and I believe Nokia plays to this in their pricing.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"A few days with A Nokia N810"},{"content":"Apple does it again: explosive growth in the computer market, no doubt in part to its Macbook/Macbook Pro line of laptops. As Ars Technica points out:\nAs predicted last quarter, however, Apple broke its tie for third place with Gateway by shipping 1.33 million units and growing by a whopping 37.2 percent (double that of any other US vendor) from third quarter 2006 to claim 8.1 percent of the US market for the quarter. These numbers also continue the company\u0026rsquo;s trend of steadily gaining market share every two quarters for at least the past year.\nHere\u0026rsquo;s the graph of the figures:\nIs it the most popular desktop UNIX? No, as until Leopard comes out it is not officially a UNIX stamped and sealed POSIX compliant system; but then again neither is Linux. Apple has the benefit of reporting numbers with hard sales; something thats impossible for Linux. With estimates of 22 million Mac users, compared to Ubuntu and Fedora (the two most popular user-friendly distributions) which reported 8 million dynamic IP\u0026rsquo;s updating from mirrors (16 million total). That doesn\u0026rsquo;t include SuSe, Red Hat, Slackware, Debian, Mandriva and other popular distributions, which means Linux has most likely a bigger install base, although Apple is gaining ground fast. As Rob Malda (founder of popular geek news site: Slashdot) said:\nLinux will have a strong position on the server for a long time, but as GNOME and KDE bickered with each other, Apple came along and gave the world a great desktop UNIX. It\u0026rsquo;s sad, but true, and there\u0026rsquo;s a huge lesson to learn there.\n","permalink":"/apple-mac-os-x-most-popular-desktop/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eApple does it again: explosive growth in the computer market, no doubt in part\nto its\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.apple.com/macbook/macbook.html\"\u003eMacbook\u003c/a\u003e/\u003ca href=\"http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/\"\u003eMacbook Pro\u003c/a\u003e\nline of laptops. As \u003ca href=\"http://arstechnica.com/\"\u003eArs Technica\u003c/a\u003e points out:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs\n\u003ca href=\"http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2007/07/19/apple-poised-to-become-number-three-pc-maker-in-us\"\u003epredicted last quarter\u003c/a\u003e,\nhowever, Apple broke its tie for third place with Gateway by shipping 1.33\nmillion units and growing by a whopping 37.2 percent (double that of any other\nUS vendor) from third quarter 2006 to claim 8.1 percent of the US market for\nthe quarter. These numbers also continue the company\u0026rsquo;s trend of steadily\ngaining market share\n\u003ca href=\"http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2007/03/02/7296\"\u003eevery two quarters\u003c/a\u003e\nfor at least the past year.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Apple Mac OS X: the most popular Desktop Unix?"},{"content":"Nokia have announced an upgrade to the N800 Internet tablet, called the N810. I suspect its called that because it is more of an incremental upgrade than a total visual refresh it was going from an Nokia 770 to N800. Here it is:\n(Picture Courtesy: Internet Tablet Talk)\nIt sports a nice new hardware keyboard; inbuilt GPS (For satellite mapping) and OS 2008 (an upgrade to the operating system it runs). The N800 will also benefit from OS 2008, which will include GoogleTalk, Skype, Mozilla browser, among the usual such as its email client, media player, file manager, control panel, assorted games and an image/PDF viewer. The one feature it will emit is an inbuilt FM Radio, which was axed to make the N810 a smaller tablet. It still retains the best screen size for web browsing, bluetooth connectivity, and of course Wifi which is central to the tablets existance! No word on what easter eggs are included if any; on the N800 it was a radio and the N770 it was the microphone. Engadget has a great writeup on it, choc-a-bloc full of high resolution photos with size comparisons to Apples iPhone.\n","permalink":"/tablet-to-hit-shops-soon/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eNokia have announced an upgrade to the N800 Internet tablet, called the N810. I\nsuspect its called that because it is more of an incremental upgrade than a\ntotal visual refresh it was going from an Nokia 770 to N800. Here it is:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"/img/07/n810gps.jpg\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"/img/07/n810gps.jpg\" alt=\"image\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e(Picture Courtesy:\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.internettablettalk.com/2007/10/17/the-nokia-n810-internet-tablet/\"\u003eInternet Tablet Talk\u003c/a\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt sports a nice new hardware keyboard; inbuilt GPS (For satellite mapping) and\nOS 2008 (an upgrade to the operating system it runs). The N800 will also benefit\nfrom OS 2008, which will include GoogleTalk, Skype, Mozilla browser, among the\nusual such as its email client, media player, file manager, control panel,\nassorted games and an image/PDF viewer. The one feature it will emit is an\ninbuilt FM Radio, which was axed to make the N810 a smaller tablet. It still\nretains the best screen size for web browsing, bluetooth connectivity, and of\ncourse Wifi which is central to the tablets existance! No word on what easter\neggs are included if any; on the N800 it was a radio and the N770 it was the\nmicrophone.\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.engadget.com/2007/10/17/nokia-n810-hands-on/\"\u003eEngadget has a great writeup on it\u003c/a\u003e,\nchoc-a-bloc full of high resolution photos with size comparisons to Apples\niPhone.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Nokia N810 Tablet to hit the shops soon..."},{"content":"So I read the news Novell and Red Hat are being sued for patent infringement. This is all about multiple workspaces that can hold various graphical user elements, a Xerox Parc patent which dates to the early 1990\u0026rsquo;s. Xerox Palo Alto Research center invented the graphical user interface in the 1980\u0026rsquo;s, only to been, licensed and used by Steve Jobs in Mac OS Classic. Now IP Innovation, a submarine patent troll, who make no products and bought the patent want their payday. The logical step is to go after the biggest infringer to set a precedent for your patent, and then make your way to all the smaller companies who infringe. Well logically of course that would be Apple or Microsoft. Apple has already paid them a reported 20 million dollars, and well no-one knows what Microsoft has done, but this fish is smelly. From the Register Article:\nThe complaint, available here as a pdf, says \u0026ldquo;the Red Hat Linux system, the Novell Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop and the Novell Suse Linux Enterprise Server all breach held patents. The companies seek increased damages for the willful infringements of their patents and an injunction to prevent further infringements\u0026rdquo;.\nSo we already know they bought a patent thats years old, are patent trolls, they extorted money from Apple and Microsoft appears to have no dealings with them. But wait! We see Steve Ballmer (Microsoft\u0026rsquo;s CEO) saying recently Linux should have to pay like Microsoft does in the \u0026ldquo;IP Regime\u0026rdquo;. Regime always seemed a rather nasty word to me, something your forced to put up with - like Robert Mugabes regime in Zimbabwe; come to think of it Steve, I would have said that exact same thing - a dirty rotten evil patent regime - but thats not what you meant. You meant you wanted a cut for every Linux support contract and if its free like Ubuntu - well though, you want money anyway. Steve you claim innovation Microsoft produced is in Linux, but refuse to show any evidence. Your bold statements which could be considered illegal under Sarbanes-Oxley in the United States hasn\u0026rsquo;t stopped you. But a patent lawsuit has, you know it will destroy Microsoft and can never kill Linux- maybe Linux business but you\u0026rsquo;d settle for that (If we can\u0026rsquo;t make money off it, no one can!). Now we have a patent troll, and Open Source legal resources Groklaw has exposed it to employ Microsoft employees who specialise in patents. We are well aware as a community you have a hand in this - how much remains to be seen. The community warned you through the Open Invention network ( a patent clearinghouse which vows to protect open source through pooled patents by Sony, HP, IBM, Google, Phillips, Novell, Oracle, Red Hat and others) and a petition of thousands of people to put up or shut up about patents. Now you have released SCO II when we are done killing off the first one\nthrough copyrights - now its patents. Well we are not going to stand for this any more; I am hoping Red Hat and Novell stand strong and fight this; and I hope the lawyers at the Open Invention Network and the Software Freedom Law center seriously consider a pre-emptive attack on you. We\u0026rsquo;re all peace loving hippies in open source right? Wrong, wrong and now I think it is time we make YOU pay\u0026hellip;.. ","permalink":"/linux-and-patents-just-patently-wrong/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eSo I read the news\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10/12/novell_red_hat_linux_patent_sued/\"\u003eNovell and Red Hat are being sued for patent infringement\u003c/a\u003e.\nThis is all about multiple workspaces that can hold various graphical user\nelements, a Xerox Parc patent which dates to the early 1990\u0026rsquo;s. Xerox Palo Alto\nResearch center invented the graphical user interface in the 1980\u0026rsquo;s, only to\nbeen, licensed and used by Steve Jobs in Mac OS Classic. Now IP Innovation, a\nsubmarine patent troll, who make no products and bought the patent want their\npayday. The logical step is to go after the biggest infringer to set a precedent\nfor your patent, and then make your way to all the smaller companies who\ninfringe. Well logically of course that would be Apple or Microsoft. Apple has\nalready paid them a reported 20 million dollars, and well no-one knows what\nMicrosoft has done, but this fish is smelly. From the Register Article:\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Linux and Patents: Just Patently Wrong"},{"content":"Planning to build a computer can be fun also. Researching parts, making sure they work well together (if they are on Manufacturers QVL). Making a list of all the parts you need is the beginning of the purchasing, assembly and then seeing your machine in action! Lots of guides online help with the planning stage; but nearly all are advice and tips. How do you know which is biased? Are the benchmarks relevant to what you are building your machine for? Probably not most of the time. If you\u0026rsquo;re not a hardcore gamer like myself, your machine can mid-range and cheaper than a pre-built solution, saving you money. I am using my machine as a long term investment: I plan to have it long into the future and just replace components. I think that could save me at least €3000 over ten years (two €1,500 machines every 5 years, not beyond possibility) if not more. I can also re-use perfectly good parts when my other machines have departed to that big waste recycling plant in the sky.\nOne tool besides lots of online-based computer review reading is a custom made spreadsheet I created for the job. It allows me to see Part name, Quantity, Unit Price, Delivery Cost, Part Description, Link to Manufacturers site and best of all: it\u0026rsquo;s easily modified for other items. I coloured it real nice too; so its easy to read and understand. I hope it\u0026rsquo;s useful to anyone out there, so I am making it available under CC-BY-NC-SA. Here is a screenshot of it:\nHere is the Microsoft Excel (97/2000/XP/2003) Template For Computer Parts Here is the Open Document Template for Computer Parts ","permalink":"/planning-computer-build/","summary":"\u003cp\u003ePlanning to build a computer can be fun also. Researching parts, making sure\nthey work well together (if they are on Manufacturers QVL). Making a list of all\nthe parts you need is the beginning of the purchasing, assembly and then seeing\nyour machine in action! Lots of guides online help with the planning stage; but\nnearly all are advice and tips. How do you know which is biased? Are the\nbenchmarks relevant to what you are building your machine for? Probably not most\nof the time. If you\u0026rsquo;re not a hardcore gamer like myself, your machine can\nmid-range and cheaper than a pre-built solution, saving you money. I am using my\nmachine as a long term investment: I plan to have it long into the future and\njust replace components. I think that could save me at least €3000 over ten\nyears (two €1,500 machines every 5 years, not beyond possibility) if not more. I\ncan also re-use perfectly good parts when my other machines have departed to\nthat big waste recycling plant in the sky.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Planning the Computer Build"},{"content":"I found a new pastime: dismantling pc\u0026rsquo;s. It my not sound like great fun, but its a challenge to do it right and make sure you don\u0026rsquo;t break your pc at the end of it all. Nothing feels of so much relief when you see the BIOS boot up again after ripping everything you can out and cramming it all back in. It stands to you in developing problem solving skills, which of course employers love. It is so much more visual than any theory, plus it is what the majority of people like: physical objects like Lego going together. I am writing this on a computer I stripped everything out of at the moment: a Dell 3100c, a Celeron D machine I bought in August of last year. Today I dismantled a very old Optiplex PIII, and the difference between the machines is marked, even though there are only a few years between them. I have included some photos below to show the inside internals:\nHere is My Dell 3100c Internals:\nHere is the shell of a computer I am building:\n","permalink":"/computer-systems-dismantling-pcs-is-fun/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI found a new pastime: dismantling pc\u0026rsquo;s. It my not sound like great fun, but its\na challenge to do it right and make sure you don\u0026rsquo;t break your pc at the end of\nit all. Nothing feels of so much relief when you see the BIOS boot up again\nafter ripping everything you can out and cramming it all back in. It stands to\nyou in developing problem solving skills, which of course employers love. It is\nso much more visual than any theory, plus it is what the majority of people\nlike: physical objects like Lego going together. I am writing this on a computer\nI stripped everything out of at the moment: a Dell 3100c, a Celeron D machine I\nbought in August of last year. Today I dismantled a very old Optiplex PIII, and\nthe difference between the machines is marked, even though there are only a few\nyears between them. I have included some photos below to show the inside\ninternals:\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Computer Systems - Dismantling PC's is fun!"},{"content":" Is the much beloved Apple the new Microsoft? First there was IBM, the big all crushing corporate machine that was humbled by the next big giant in the form of Microsoft, so it seems Apple\u0026rsquo;s turn is long overdue. The next few weeks are crucial to this crossroads in which Apple finds itself: It owes a HUGE amount to the BSD (an open source Unix clone) which is the foundation for not just OS X, but the iPhone and now the iPod Touch. Basically without the kernel that runs these fantastic devices, Apple would still be up shit creek without a paddle. Granted the iPod would have been a huge success probably still, but OS X\u0026rsquo;s core is the foundation for the real money making Apple will do over the next few years, a point that is not lost on Mr. Jobs as the company intelligently markets different segments to different markets of which I have first hand experience of: Go to the Apple site for education and they extol the brilliance of a Macbook and make they deal sweeter by throwing in an iPod Nano. But if you go to a link I was provided in a college advert; they bring to a page pointing out key areas a mac can make a difference. I picked Computer Science naturally, and the site extolled the virtues of Open Source, a Unix base and programming tools like Xcode.\nSo whats the big deal? Well the fact the new iPods are locked solid with a new encrypted hash, meaning nothing besides iTunes will work with the new iPods. The iPhone also gets similar treatment, no third party development is allowed: no only Apple Applications are allowed. This stinks to high heavens of monopolistic behavior akin to Microsoft or IBM of old. Not to mention gouging both networks and customers with the iPhone. Apple may not yet be important enough to endure the wrath of the European Union Antitrust bodies or the US Department of Justice; but they are certainly on a slippery slope as the popularity of their products and lock in seem to increase day by day. Interestingly enough Apple may be also feeling the heat of Linux, with the much-famed poster child of the free software revolution now making it into Apple\u0026rsquo;s marketing material; meaning Apple sees Linux as a future threat. After taking so much from Open Source, including the GNU Tool chain, the BSD Kernel, the Samba Networking protocols to interact with Windows (to name a few) Apple should be a good free software citizen and not aggravate core customers like myself of which Open source is a key factor in OS X.\n","permalink":"/apple-play-nice/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"/img/07/AppleLogo.jpg\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"/img/07/AppleLogo.jpg\" alt=\"image\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nIs the much beloved Apple the new Microsoft? First there was IBM, the big all\ncrushing corporate machine that was humbled by the next big giant in the form of\nMicrosoft, so it seems Apple\u0026rsquo;s turn is long overdue. The next few weeks are\ncrucial to this crossroads in which Apple finds itself: It owes a HUGE amount to\nthe BSD (an open source Unix clone) which is the foundation for not just OS X,\nbut the iPhone and now the iPod Touch. Basically without the kernel that runs\nthese fantastic devices, Apple would still be up shit creek without a paddle.\nGranted the iPod would have been a huge success probably still, but OS X\u0026rsquo;s core\nis the foundation for the real money making Apple will do over the next few\nyears, a point that is not lost on Mr. Jobs as the company intelligently markets\ndifferent segments to different markets of which I have first hand experience\nof: Go to the Apple site for education and they extol the brilliance of a\nMacbook and make they deal sweeter by throwing in an iPod Nano. But if you go to\na link I was provided in a college advert; they bring to a page pointing out key\nareas a mac can make a difference. I picked Computer Science naturally, and the\nsite extolled the virtues of Open Source, a Unix base and programming tools like\nXcode.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Apple - Play Nice...."},{"content":"This is the guy who runs Stanford University Undergraduate programme. He talks about the future of computer science:\nComputer Science will evolve more than most other subjects as it expands into other areas, especially Biology and other areas people don\u0026rsquo;t normally associate with it Industry ties with Colleges are going to be very important Computer Science with Law is the next big area Thanks to Robert Scoble for doing the interview.\n","permalink":"/comp-sci-interview-with-stanfords/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eThis is the guy who runs Stanford University Undergraduate programme. He talks\nabout the future of computer science:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eComputer Science will evolve more than most other subjects as it expands into\nother areas, especially Biology and other areas people don\u0026rsquo;t normally\nassociate with it\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIndustry ties with Colleges are going to be very important\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eComputer Science with Law is the next big area\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThanks to\n\u003ca href=\"http://scobleizer.com/2007/08/31/google-sun-yahoo-hp-cisco-and/\"\u003eRobert Scoble for doing the interview\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Comp Sci - An Interview with Stanford's Undegraduate Professor"},{"content":" The Ubuntu Book (2nd Edition) is a nicely put together book for dealing with the Linux operating system in a number of clearly laid out and well presented chapters. Chapters are as follows:\nIntroducing Ubuntu Installing Ubuntu Using Ubuntu on the Desktop Advanced Usage and Managing Ubuntu Ubuntu Server Support / Typical Problems Using Kubuntu Ubuntu Community Ubuntu-Related Projects Using Edubuntu This book is a very complete introduction and contains suprising elements related to finding out and joining the community of users - which you will not find in other Ubuntu Books (such as O\u0026rsquo;Reilly\u0026rsquo;s Ubuntu Hacks) which make it a unique and worthwhile addition to any Ubuntu users personal library. It is most helpful to new users to Ubuntu, which sections on installing and help with problems that could be faced. Having said that, it falls short on the amount of truly unique information that it contains - most of the books contents can be found on the web. What you are paying for is a well-laid out, well written account of the Ubuntu-sphere and all that goes along with it.\nThe price of €37.50 which I paid (less in the US, about $34.99 RRP) might be a bit much for some, but when you consider the operating system itself is free, you can easily justify the cost. A DVD comes included with the book which contains Ubuntu, Kubuntu and Edubuntu, rather handy if you do not want to download the cd image.\nThe Server section is obviously a bit more for the advanced user, but still is a quint introduction to the basics which is 34 pages long - probably not enough to warrant a purchase by a sever administrator or other power server user. The Edubuntu section offers an introduction to the school-based flavour of Ubuntu which tips on how they differ and administration of multiple machines (including a nice introduction to thin clients and servers for schools).\nWhos the book for?\nPeople new to Ubuntu, people moving from Windows, School Administrators all fit the test case. If your an Ubuntu power user, don\u0026rsquo;t mind taking down your system or messing with the kernel than you should stick to online help. However I bought the book to show to others and promote Ubuntu as a viable and successful alternative to Mac OS X and Windows - it gives a great impression of the project and it\u0026rsquo;s success to date and I also bought it to support Ubuntu financially.\nMy Rating: 8.5/10\n","permalink":"/review-of-official-ubuntu-book-second/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51tftxZawYL._SS500_.jpg\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51tftxZawYL._SS500_.jpg\" alt=\"image\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003eThe\nUbuntu Book (2nd Edition) is a nicely put together book for dealing with the\nLinux operating system in a number of clearly laid out and well presented\nchapters. Chapters are as follows:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIntroducing Ubuntu\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eInstalling Ubuntu\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUsing Ubuntu on the Desktop\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAdvanced Usage and Managing Ubuntu\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUbuntu Server\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSupport / Typical Problems\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUsing Kubuntu\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUbuntu Community\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUbuntu-Related Projects\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUsing Edubuntu\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis book is a very complete introduction and contains suprising elements\nrelated to finding out and joining the community of users - which you will not\nfind in other Ubuntu Books (such as O\u0026rsquo;Reilly\u0026rsquo;s Ubuntu Hacks) which make it a\nunique and worthwhile addition to any Ubuntu users personal library. It is most\nhelpful to new users to Ubuntu, which sections on installing and help with\nproblems that could be faced. Having said that, it falls short on the amount of\ntruly unique information that it contains - most of the books contents can be\nfound on the web. What you are paying for is a well-laid out, well written\naccount of the Ubuntu-sphere and all that goes along with it.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Review of the Official Ubuntu Book, Second Edition (2007)"},{"content":" I have got a place in a 4 year Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Computing, or more commonly known as Computer Science (or comp sci as I am lazy and like to abbreviate). This means I might be blogging slightly less sometimes, but it should be a hell of a lot more interesting and I promise to keep my posts not too technical as I have up to this point.\nI would like to thank you all for subscribing and I hope you\u0026rsquo;ll enjoy what is to come in the future!!\nMany Thanks,\nDuey Finster\nDueyFinster.com sole author/blogger/all-round-technophile\n[EDIT]: I thought I\u0026rsquo;d add this cool map of my Bus ride (I get the train from my house then its a bus)\nView Larger Map\n","permalink":"/institute-of-technology-blanchardstown/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.itb.ie/site/Images/newitbbanner760x95.jpg\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://www.itb.ie/site/Images/newitbbanner760x95.jpg\" alt=\"image\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003eI\nhave got a place in a 4 year\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.itb.ie/site/courses/bn104.htm\"\u003eBachelor of Science (Honours) in Computing\u003c/a\u003e,\nor more commonly known as Computer Science (or comp sci as I am lazy and like to\nabbreviate). This means I might be blogging slightly less sometimes, but it\nshould be a hell of a lot more interesting and I promise to keep my posts not\ntoo technical as I have up to this point.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown"},{"content":" Microsoft has settled with Eolas over a number of patents regarding browser plugins which chicago based Eolas filed patents for in 1998. A jury in Chicago then found Microsoft guilty of infringing on Eolas’ patents and was told to pay $521m US Dollars in \u0026lsquo;damages\u0026rsquo;. That ruling was overturned and a fresh trial ordered which was due to start very soon, but it seems Microsoft has decided to pay out:\nDetails of the settlement have not yet been released but Eolas Technologies’ chief operating officer, Mark Swords, told the New York Times that a certain number of Eolas’ shareholders would get US$60 to US$72 per share.\nI think it is a sign of a deep crisis in the technology industry as a whole when companies have to pay out over patents over which the holder has no product. With patents there should be a use em\u0026rsquo; or lose em\u0026rsquo; theme. My biggest concern now is that I hope Microsoft are not trying to validate the patent by paying out and then encouraging Eolas to use it against competitors, sort of like the Apple and Creative deal comes to mind.\n","permalink":"/microsoft-settles-with-eolas-over/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.cbi.cnptia.embrapa.br/xmeeting/include/img/microsoft-logo.jpg\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://www.cbi.cnptia.embrapa.br/xmeeting/include/img/microsoft-logo.jpg\" alt=\"image\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/news.nv?storyid=single9119\"\u003eMicrosoft has settled with Eolas\u003c/a\u003e\nover a number of patents regarding browser plugins which chicago based Eolas\nfiled patents for in 1998. A jury in Chicago then found Microsoft guilty of\ninfringing on Eolas’ patents and was told to pay $521m US Dollars in \u0026lsquo;damages\u0026rsquo;.\nThat ruling was overturned and a fresh trial ordered which was due to start very\nsoon, but it seems Microsoft has decided to pay out:\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Microsoft settles with Eolas over Internet Explorer"},{"content":" I just tried Herd 5 of Gutsy Gibbon, a beta release which will be Ubuntu 07.10 released in October. Obviously it is still early stages and a lot of things aren\u0026rsquo;t working quite as they should, but it looks very promising. Here\u0026rsquo;s some new stuff which should hit the final release:\nCompiz Fusion - Pretty Graphics that leave you in awe\u0026hellip; Bullet Proof X - Making sure you\u0026rsquo;ll never see a terminal prompt not of your own choosing, basically the graphics server should be \u0026lsquo;bulletproof\u0026rsquo; Appearance Manager - Making it easier to change yourbuntu\u0026rsquo;s look and feel Better Driver Support - More of those restricted drivers to make sure you can see your screen and use your wifi card Simplified Codecs install - It will now be painless, install ubuntu-restrictedcodecs (or kubuntu-restricted codecs) and you can see Youtube in all its glory, play a dvd, watch that porno WMV file (just kidding but I think thats all WMV is used for) and other such niceties of the propreitry world we have to put up with Firefox Codecs Plugin - Firefox will be hooked up to the package manager and prompt to install Flash/Java if you haven\u0026rsquo;t got it already, much the same way it prompts to get a codec when you throw a file at it that it cannot play in the movie player. The free software Gnash replacement for Flash will come as standard and can play Youtube Vids. Dual Screen Glory - If your like me you have a nice and small portable laptop, but that screen just won\u0026rsquo;t do all of the time, thats why I personally have a 19\u0026quot; to plug my 13\u0026quot; MacBook into. With Gutsy I should be able to plug and play over DVI. These are just some of the features that are being worked on for the final release. Probably not all of them on the list will get into Gutsy final, but lets hope they do! Gutsy+1 (slated for release April 2008) has been announced as \u0026ldquo;Hardy Hereon\u0026rdquo; and should be a long term release (5 years server and 3 years desktop updates and patches). Dell refunded me €18.15 for Windows Home Edition, to be honest I thought I\u0026rsquo;d get more, but alas that\u0026rsquo;s life\u0026hellip;..\n","permalink":"/gutsy-coming-along-update-to-dell/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.ubuntu.com/themes/ubuntu07/images/ubuntulogo.png\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://www.ubuntu.com/themes/ubuntu07/images/ubuntulogo.png\" alt=\"image\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nI\njust tried Herd 5 of Gutsy Gibbon, a beta release which will be Ubuntu 07.10\nreleased in October. Obviously it is still early stages and a lot of things\naren\u0026rsquo;t working quite as they should, but it looks very promising. Here\u0026rsquo;s some\nnew stuff which should hit the final release:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCompiz Fusion - Pretty Graphics that leave you in awe\u0026hellip;\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBullet Proof X - Making sure you\u0026rsquo;ll never see a terminal prompt not of your\nown choosing, basically the graphics server should be \u0026lsquo;bulletproof\u0026rsquo;\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAppearance Manager - Making it easier to change yourbuntu\u0026rsquo;s look and feel\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBetter Driver Support - More of those restricted drivers to make sure you can\nsee your screen and use your wifi card\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSimplified Codecs install - It will now be painless, install\nubuntu-restrictedcodecs (or kubuntu-restricted codecs) and you can see Youtube\nin all its glory, play a dvd, watch that porno WMV file (just kidding but I\nthink thats all WMV is used for) and other such niceties of the propreitry\nworld we have to put up with\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFirefox Codecs Plugin - Firefox will be hooked up to the package manager and\nprompt to install Flash/Java if you haven\u0026rsquo;t got it already, much the same way\nit prompts to get a codec when you throw a file at it that it cannot play in\nthe movie player. The free software Gnash replacement for Flash will come as\nstandard and can play Youtube Vids.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDual Screen Glory - If your like me you have a nice and small portable laptop,\nbut that screen just won\u0026rsquo;t do all of the time, thats why I personally have a\n19\u0026quot; to plug my 13\u0026quot; MacBook into. With Gutsy I should be able to plug and play\nover DVI.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese are just some of the features that are being worked on for the final\nrelease. Probably not all of them on the list will get into Gutsy final, but\nlets hope they do! Gutsy+1 (slated for release April 2008) has been announced as\n\u0026ldquo;Hardy Hereon\u0026rdquo; and should be a long term release (5 years server and 3 years\ndesktop updates and\npatches).\u003ca href=\"http://blog.kir.com/archives/dell_logo2.jpg\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://blog.kir.com/archives/dell_logo2.jpg\" alt=\"image\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Gutsy coming along, Update to Dell Windows Refund.."},{"content":"As many of you know I am a Linux and Mac aficionado. For my Linux machines, all of them are Dell. I have been always pleased with Dells prices, how their machines work with Linux, their customer service and the fact they are made in Limerick, Ireland (I am from Ireland). I politely emailed Dell (well got up on my high horse), heres my first mail:\nI would like a refund of Windows XP since I am installing Ubuntu Linux on the computer when I get it. When I turn on the computer I am going to decline the EULA, and I am within my rights to request this refund (as part of Irish consumer laws). This also applies in Britian, see here: ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6144782.stm )\nSo yeah I wasn\u0026rsquo;t the most polite, but I was trying to make a point because I guessed they\u0026rsquo;d be not \u0026lsquo;welcome\u0026rsquo; to the idea. Boy was I wrong, I got a lovely call from a Dell representitive telling me they would refund it:\nAs per our phone conversation I have arranged for you to be refunded for this part. Please allow approximately 5 working days for the money to show back on your credit card.\nIf you have any further queries please do not hesitate in responding directly to this mail and I will be glad to assist you further.\nAll I can say is I am definitely a Dell customer from now on. The sad part of this story is perhaps Dell is out of pocket because of licensing deals with Microsoft. But they did the right thing, and that is honourable, it seems IdeaStorm and Michael Dell returning is working. I would gladly deny the refund. Why did I do this? I did it because I oppose the ridiculous notion every PC has to come with Windows, its like selling all black cars. People want choice and variety, and consumer laws are supposed to protect and promote this ;-) I won\u0026rsquo;t be using XP and I will be true to my word and deny the EULA as soon as I receive the laptop.\nBootnote: Ubuntu Dells are available in France, Germany, UK and the US but not in Ireland. I ordered through small business and specced the laptop to the exact parts the Ubuntu Inspirons in the US have, all that is different is the model numbers. Come on Dell, sell those Ubuntu machines in Ireland, I\u0026rsquo;ll buy another!!\n","permalink":"/dell-refunds-me-for-windows/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eAs many of you know I am a \u003ca href=\"http://www.ubuntu.com/\"\u003eLinux\u003c/a\u003e and\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.apple.com/mac\"\u003eMac\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.google.ie/search?q=define:aficionado\u0026amp;ie=utf-8\u0026amp;oe=utf-8\u0026amp;=t\u0026amp;=com.ubuntu:en-US:official\u0026amp;=firefox-a\"\u003eaficionado\u003c/a\u003e.\nFor my Linux machines, all of them are \u003ca href=\"http://www.dell.com/open\"\u003eDell\u003c/a\u003e. I have\nbeen always pleased with Dells prices, how their machines work with Linux, their\ncustomer service and the fact they are made in Limerick, Ireland (I am from\nIreland). I politely emailed Dell (well got up on my high horse), heres my first\nmail:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI would like a refund of Windows XP since I am installing Ubuntu Linux on the\ncomputer when I get it. When I turn on the computer I am going to decline the\nEULA, and I am within my rights to request this refund (as part of Irish\nconsumer laws). This also applies in Britian, see here: (\n\u003ca href=\"http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6144782.stm\"\u003ehttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6144782.stm\u003c/a\u003e\n)\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Dell refunds me for Windows!"},{"content":"I come into contact everyday with people asking how to fix their machines due to the inevitable spyware and viruses found on a Windows machine. Lately I have been switching people to Ubuntu, and even getting them to buy machines to install it on (Dell). But I understand and have no zealotry for Linux when it comes to fixing peoples\u0026rsquo; real world problems. I always mention Ubuntu as a matter of course, and also Macs. I follow up peoples Ubuntu installs with friendly emails explaining the free help open to them, but also as common (probably moreso) are my emailed tips to people guiding them how to fix there Windows XP computer. So I\u0026rsquo;ll list the steps here which are generic and should help anyone out their with such problems; this is not a miracle cure and I fix these problems on a case by case basis, so expect better perfromance, but not a new computer!!\nGo to Control Panel (Click on My Computer, then a link to it appears at the side) \u0026gt; Add/Remove Programs Remove all Norton Antivirus and/or Symantec Security products Download This: Avast Home Edition 4 When Avast installs and asks to perform a boot time scan, click: yes, then restart your computer as it suggests Register for a (free) Avast Home Edition 4 Serial key Start Avast from the Start Menu (Start \u0026gt; All Programs \u0026gt; Avast). It will flash an \u0026ldquo;A\u0026rdquo; on a round ball in the status area, click it and enter serial number recieved in email Download: Spybot Search and Destroy It will guide you through this when it starts up the first time: Backup your registry, download all available updates, immunise and then do a full scan (it sounds harder then it is), then remove all spyware I should also mention the open source ClamAV, but I find Avast more suitable for this guide. I hope this helps fix issues that people have. I hate to see new computers being bought every day when the old ones can be made to run very fast with the right amount of TLC!\n","permalink":"/have-you-got-viruses-or-spyware-heres/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI come into contact everyday with people asking how to fix their machines due to\nthe inevitable spyware and viruses found on a Windows machine. Lately I have\nbeen switching people to \u003ca href=\"http://www.ubuntu.com/\"\u003eUbuntu\u003c/a\u003e, and even getting them\nto buy machines to install it on (\u003ca href=\"http://www.dell.com/open\"\u003eDell\u003c/a\u003e). But I\nunderstand and have no zealotry for Linux when it comes to fixing peoples\u0026rsquo; real\nworld problems. I always mention \u003ca href=\"http://www.ubuntu.com/\"\u003eUbuntu\u003c/a\u003e as a matter of\ncourse, and also \u003ca href=\"http://www.apple.com/mac\"\u003eMacs\u003c/a\u003e. I follow up peoples Ubuntu\ninstalls with friendly emails explaining the free help open to them, but also as\ncommon (probably moreso) are my emailed tips to people guiding them how to fix\nthere Windows XP computer. So I\u0026rsquo;ll list the steps here which are generic and\nshould help anyone out their with such problems; this is not a miracle cure and\nI fix these problems on a case by case basis, so expect better perfromance, but\nnot a new computer!!\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Have you got viruses or spyware? Here's my tips!"},{"content":" I recently read a very insightful article on 7 factors every company should seriously consider about Microsoft Windows, here they are summarised:\nLicensing Costs\nEveryone in the IT industry today knows that proprietary operating systems and the applications that run on them will cost you a lot of money on licensing fees. According to a recent Forrester study, U.S. companies overall are expected to spend $100 billion on software maintenance in 2007.\nHardware Costs\n\u0026ldquo;You need to throw lots of hardware at it,\u0026rdquo; says Central Desktop founder Arnulf Hsu about Windows. The minimum hardware requirements for Server 2003 call for a Pentium III 550MHz, 512MB of RAM, and at least a 3GB hard drive. Linux, on the other hand, can go on an old Pentium II with only 64MB of RAM and 1GB of hard drive space.\nInefficient Security Control\nIt\u0026rsquo;s going to take more labor to keep a Windows system secure. Virus makers and crackers target Windows systems because it is easier to break into.\nHeavy Vendor Influence\nBecause so many corporations have a company policy that specifies \u0026ldquo;Microsoft-only,\u0026rdquo; it discourages independent thinking and technological savvy; many end up simply relying on the sales guy to tell them what applications they need.\nInefficient use of Manpower\nWhile it is true that it is relatively easy to find Windows-skilled IT admins, it\u0026rsquo;s still not exactly cheap. Though many Unix-based admins are more expensive, it takes fewer of them to maintain more servers, which saves money in the long run.\nFeature Lock-in\nProprietary systems like Windows are not easily customizable. Companies that need the flexibility to drop in or remove features on an as-needed basis find themselves either paying for unneeded feature bloat, starving for the features they do need because commercial vendors rarely are willing to drop everything to accommodate a one-off request\nForced Upgrade Path\nWith Microsoft, you\u0026rsquo;re on a forced upgrade path. Once it drops support on your version of Windows, you\u0026rsquo;re out of luck when it comes to fixing those above mentioned security holes-if you can even continue to use that version.\nThefull article on CIO is here, and is a very interesting read (it expands on the points I quoted above). No person in a company responsible for IT should go without reading this, especially if your are a \u0026ldquo;Microsoft-Only\u0026rdquo; shop.\n","permalink":"/seven-financial-reasons-not-to-use/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://img516.imageshack.us/my.php?image=windowslogo2oy4.jpg\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/8713/windowslogo2oy4.jpg\" alt=\"image\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nI\nrecently read a very insightful article on 7 factors every company should\nseriously consider about Microsoft Windows, here they are summarised:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLicensing Costs\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEveryone in the IT industry today knows that proprietary operating systems\nand the applications that run on them will cost you a lot of money on\nlicensing fees. According to a recent Forrester study, U.S. companies\noverall are expected to spend $100 billion on software maintenance in 2007.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Seven financial reasons not to use Windows"},{"content":"HP it seems is responding to Dell\u0026rsquo;s initiative to sell Ubuntu on their computers. With the Ubuntu Dells reportedly selling very well and Dell rolling out the program worldwide, this hasn\u0026rsquo;t escaped the notice of the world\u0026rsquo;s number one computer manufacturer - HP. This is speculation from blogs that has been going on for months since Dell started to offer Ubuntu. The Direct to Dell Blog states:\nThis recent post from Tom Dryer caught my eye a couple of days ago, and thought I\u0026rsquo;d comment on it here. If the rumors about HP offering Ubuntu are true, we\u0026rsquo;re glad to see other vendors join us in support of Ubuntu and open source. We welcome HP and other system vendors that want to join in this initiative.\nThis is very good news indeed and I am glad Dell is being very receptive to the idea, they even made this humorous video about their new foray into Open Source:\nUbuntu Home Server is a newly announced project by Ubuntu community members to compete with Windows Home Server. Personally I think Microsoft is barking up the wrong tree with this, I don\u0026rsquo;t think many home users will bother with this type of product, maybe it will take off in a couple of years, but most people are not tech-savvy, and even if they are, chances are there already doing this with Linux, Xbox360 or a PS3. Many people can\u0026rsquo;t tell me even what a server is, never mind what it can do. Also it won\u0026rsquo;t make sense because people expect to have everything on their pc ready to go, and to not have to purchase another one to throw in a storage closet. Nevertheless to paraphrase Bill Gates and Steve Jobs at D5 Conference: We Built things we wanted to have. So in that tone and considering the Home server product is just modified Windows (it would not cost as much as say a whole new project like Zune or Xbox 360), I can see where Microsoft is betting that this is one of many avenues in the future. Personally I think it will be specialised hardware devices that will win this space, like Intel VIIV, Apple TV or one of the many consoles I mentioned.\n","permalink":"/hp-to-follow-dell-into-open-source/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eHP it seems is responding to Dell\u0026rsquo;s initiative to sell Ubuntu on their\ncomputers. With the Ubuntu Dells reportedly selling very well and Dell rolling\nout the program worldwide, this hasn\u0026rsquo;t escaped the notice of the world\u0026rsquo;s number\none computer manufacturer - HP. This is speculation from blogs that has been\ngoing on for months since Dell started to offer Ubuntu. The Direct to Dell Blog\nstates:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis\n\u003ca href=\"http://tomdryer.com/blog/index.php/2007/07/03/is-hp-going-to-start-offering-ubuntu/\"\u003erecent post from Tom Dryer\u003c/a\u003e\ncaught my eye a couple of days ago, and thought I\u0026rsquo;d comment on it here. If the\nrumors about HP offering Ubuntu are true, we\u0026rsquo;re glad to see other vendors join\nus in support of Ubuntu and open source. We welcome HP and other system\nvendors that want to join in this initiative.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"HP to Follow Dell into Open Source? and Ubuntu Home Server"},{"content":"After reading a nice article written by Jeff Jones, a security researcher for Microsoft. He says he isn\u0026rsquo;t biased, saying he worked over 75% of his career outside Microsoft, using Slackware Linux, Unix, HP Unix etc. He claims Windows Vista has less security holes than popular versions of Linux, such as Ubuntu (he also compares Red Hat, Novell, Mac OS X). First let me say why his facts are distorted, and why he knows his facts are distorted. His facts do raise an issue of slow patching of vulnerabilities across the software Industry, but Linux performs the best consistently because anyone can audit the code. Here\u0026rsquo;s why his comparisons are uneven:\nLinux is open source, so various tools can be used to find vulnerabilities. We don\u0026rsquo;t have this luxury with Windows, any holes found are needles in a haystack, but the target of the Windows monopoly allows greater incentive to find these needles Linux has used SUDO and ROOT users properly since its inception (Think of Administrator in Windows). Anyone who is not a root user on Linux cannot install programs, make system wide changes, and you can even stop them from using USB keys, CD Drives etc if you are paranoid. Now this has received much attention, Vista has retroactively inserted this kind of security, but by my experience, it is very obtrusive, and can be switched off. Root in Linux is alot harder to stop, and theres no graphical way to do it, so the average user won\u0026rsquo;t. A link to my second point above, Programs in Linux can only access what they need to, the home folder of the user that is running it and very little else. I don\u0026rsquo;t know what the case is in Vista, but in Windows XP, almost any program could destroy your system, by picking at the much famed registry. He provides pretty graphs, let me provide my own: (click on Graphs to Enlarge)\nAs you can see, Ubuntu Linux 7.04 (released April) compares comparatively better to Vista, available since January. The Graphs are provided by Secunia, an independent security research firm. Microsoft often downplays vulnerabilities other companies like Secunia find, which is also a factor that Jeff Jones did not mention (maybe he forgot?). I forget where this famous quote comes from but I have paraphrased: \u0026ldquo;You cannot depend on a man understanding a problem if his salary depends on him not understanding it\u0026rdquo;, which I think affects Mr. Jeff Jones.\n","permalink":"/windows-vista-security-better-than/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eAfter reading a\n\u003ca href=\"http://blogs.csoonline.com/node/218\"\u003enice article written by Jeff Jones\u003c/a\u003e, a\nsecurity researcher for Microsoft. He says\n\u003ca href=\"http://blogs.csoonline.com/exactly_how_biased_am_i\"\u003ehe isn\u0026rsquo;t biased\u003c/a\u003e, saying he\nworked over 75% of his career outside Microsoft, using Slackware Linux, Unix, HP\nUnix etc. He claims Windows Vista has less security holes than popular versions\nof Linux, such as Ubuntu (he also compares Red Hat, Novell, Mac OS X). First let\nme say why his facts are distorted, and why he knows his facts are distorted.\nHis facts do raise an issue of slow patching of vulnerabilities across the\nsoftware Industry, but Linux performs the best consistently because anyone can\naudit the code. Here\u0026rsquo;s why his comparisons are uneven:\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Windows Vista Security - Better than Linux?"},{"content":"After reading about Tom Cruise being banned from filming at certain German military sites because of his belief in Scientology, I was a bit outraged at first, despite my abhorrence of their beliefs, which I think are crazy and nonsensical.\nGermany has barred the makers of a movie about a plot to kill Adolf Hitler from filming at German military sites because its star Tom Cruise is a Scientologist, the Defence Ministry said on Monday. Cruise, also one of the film\u0026rsquo;s producers, is a member of the Church of Scientology which the German government does not recognise as a church. Berlin says it masquerades as a religion to make money, a charge Scientology leaders reject.\nSo far this seems very unreasonable from the the German Government, to target a faith based group like that, akin to the Jews perhaps? No, it is not that at all, Scientology are part of Holocaust denial and masquerading, blaming it (the Holocaust) on Psychologists. Germany is just enforcing its rights as a state to use its own systems of law, and its right to debar anyone whom they see as unfit from entering the country. If Mr. Cruise was a German citizen, this case would be different, he most likely would end up in jail like Neo-Nazis do. Is this unjustified? No I don\u0026rsquo;t think so, although the reporting of it is unclear at best and confuses people. The German Ministry does not wish to persecute Mr. Cruise, but as he is a member of an organization who break a law going back even before L. Ron Hubbard created the myth of Scientology, a post-World War II law.\nWhat is the picture above you may ask? Well that is the \u0026ldquo;Threats to Democracy\u0026rdquo;, a picture taken in Nuremburg, Germany (Photo Credit: Caesura). Once the bastion of hate that was the Nuremburg Rallies of WWII, it lists (left to right) Islamic Extremism, Scientology and Organised Crime as the biggest threats Western Democracy faces in the 21st Century, and I couldn\u0026rsquo;t agree more. The are all forms of extremism practised by the fringes of Western Society, and contrary to Western values of the rule of law, freedom of faith, democracy etc.\n","permalink":"/threats-to-democracy/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eAfter reading about\n\u003ca href=\"http://uk.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUKL253889920070625?feedType=RSS\u0026amp;rpc=451\u0026amp;sp=true\"\u003eTom Cruise being banned from filming at certain German military sites because of his belief in Scientology\u003c/a\u003e,\nI was a bit outraged at first, despite my abhorrence of their beliefs, which I\nthink are crazy and nonsensical.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"/img/07/Image:Scientology_warning_leaflet.jpg\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"/img/07/Scientology_warning_leaflet.jpg\" alt=\"image\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGermany has barred the makers of a movie about a plot to kill Adolf Hitler\nfrom filming at German military sites because its star Tom Cruise is a\nScientologist, the Defence Ministry said on Monday. Cruise, also one of the\nfilm\u0026rsquo;s producers, is a member of the Church of Scientology which the German\ngovernment does not recognise as a church. Berlin says it masquerades as a\nreligion to make money, a charge Scientology leaders reject.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Threats to Democracy"},{"content":"If you haven\u0026rsquo;t heard of Apple\u0026rsquo;s latest Operating system, have a look at Wikipedia Article on Mac OS X Leopard. Here are some of the features:\nTime Machine: an automated backup utility which allows the user to restore files that have been deleted or replaced by another version of a file. Front Row currently only available with the purchase of a new Mac, but will be included with Leopard. It has been reworked to closely resemble the interface used by the Apple TV. Photo Booth, currently only available with the purchase of a new Mac, but will be included with Leopard. Spaces: an implementation of \u0026ldquo;virtual desktops\u0026rdquo; (individually called \u0026ldquo;spaces\u0026rdquo;), allowing users to have multiple desktops per user and be able to place certain applications and windows in a desktop. Users can organize certain Spaces for certain applications (i.e., one for work-related tasks and one for entertainment) and switch between them. Exposé will work inside Spaces, allowing the user to see at a glance all desktops on one screen.[9]) Spotlight incorporates additional search capabilities such as Boolean operators, as well as the ability to search other computers (with permissions). Redesigned Finder: a redesigned Finder based on iTunes 7. New Desktop: a redesigned desktop, which is comprised of a redesigned 3-D dock which uses a new feature called Stacks, as well as a new menu-bar which adapts itself to the desktop so menu-bar text is easily readable. Quick Look This allows documents to be viewed without actually opening them in an external application. Universal access: significant improvements to applications including VoiceOver, along with increased support for Braille, closed captioning and a new text-to-speech engine. Enhancements to Mail including the additions of RSS feeds, Stationery, Notes, and to-dos. To-dos use a system-wide service that is available to all applications. Dashboard enhancements, including Webclip, a feature that allows users to turn a part of any web page into a live Dashboard widget, and Dashcode to help developers code widgets.[14] iChat enhancements, including multiple logins, animated icons, and tabbed chats, similar to features present in Pidgin, Adium and the iChat plugin Chax; iChat Theater, allowing users to incorporate images from iPhoto, presentations from Keynote, and videos from QuickTime into chats; and Backdrops, which are similar to chroma keys, but use a real-time difference matte technique which does not require a green or blue screen. iChat will also implement desktop sharing, a feature previously available with Apple Remote Desktop.[15][16][17] Enhancements to Parental controls include the ability to place restrictions on use of the Internet and to set parental controls from anywhere using remote setup. iCal calendar sharing and group scheduling. Leopard will also include the software assistant known as Boot Camp, which has been available as a beta release download for Mac OS X v10.4 from Apple\u0026rsquo;s website since April 5, 2006.This assists the installation of Windows XP or Windows Vista to a separate partition (or separate internal drive) on Intel-based Macs. Menu Bar The new menu bar is now transparent and is no longer rounded like all previous Mac OS versions. Safari 3.0 will be included. While some seem to be not impressed by Leopard, it is by all accounts an OS upgrade, with every major application recieving attention. To me I am overjoyed the finder is getting a revamp, though I am not certain following iTunes layout is such a good idea. I think this is Steve Jobs (CEO. Apple Inc) idea to \u0026ldquo;switch\u0026rdquo; windows people since they already use iTunes, although I am not sure it is the right path. I choose Mac OS X because its unique, it has a fresh take on how a user interacts with a computer, moreso than Linux (which adopts tried and true in the case of Gnome and KDE), and certainly Windows which has only tweaked the look since Windows 95: its the same concept. The fanning out of dock icons, and grouping them won\u0026rsquo;t be used by the vast majority of users: its the same reason they don\u0026rsquo;t use \u0026ldquo;smart\u0026rdquo; folders: its a feature that has little in the way of wide appeal. I know the same can be said of the dashboard, and I personally will most likely end up buying and using fanning out and collections in Leopard, but my experience of novices is that they are afraid of the unknown.\nPerhaps why I wrote this is that I don\u0026rsquo;t understand what people really expected from Apple. Comments such as \u0026ldquo;everything in Leopard has been done before\u0026rdquo;, well I think this statement is true of every consumer Operating System: things (generally) don\u0026rsquo;t get tried out on novice users. So back to my question: is it worth the wait? Look at the above list and decide for yourself. I feel Tiger is good enough (then again Technology never stays still, Bill Gates \u0026ldquo;128K RAM is good enough for anyone should tell us that), and I predict Leopard will face adoption like Windows does: Tech buffs will buy the boxed retail version (I include myself in this), while everybody else will get it through a new computer purchase.\n","permalink":"/leopard-worth-wait/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eIf you haven\u0026rsquo;t heard of Apple\u0026rsquo;s latest Operating system, have a look at\nWikipedia Article on\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X_v10.5\"\u003eMac OS X Leopard\u003c/a\u003e. Here are some\nof the features:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Machine_(software)\" title=\"Time Machine (software)\"\u003eTime Machine\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e:\nan automated backup utility which allows the user to restore files that have\nbeen deleted or replaced by another version of a file.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front_Row\" title=\"Front Row\"\u003eFront Row\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e currently\nonly available with the purchase of a new Mac, but will be included with\nLeopard. It has been reworked to closely resemble the interface used by the\nApple TV.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photo_Booth\" title=\"Photo Booth\"\u003ePhoto Booth\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e,\ncurrently only available with the purchase of a new Mac, but will be included\nwith Leopard.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaces_(software)\" title=\"Spaces (software)\"\u003eSpaces\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e:\nan implementation of\n\u0026ldquo;\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_desktop\" title=\"Virtual desktop\"\u003evirtual desktops\u003c/a\u003e\u0026rdquo;\n(individually called \u0026ldquo;spaces\u0026rdquo;), allowing users to have multiple desktops per\nuser and be able to place certain applications and windows in a desktop. Users\ncan organize certain Spaces for certain applications (i.e., one for\nwork-related tasks and one for entertainment) and switch between them.\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expos%C3%A9_(Mac_OS_X)\" title=\"Exposé (Mac OS X)\"\u003eExposé\u003c/a\u003e\nwill work inside Spaces, allowing the user to see at a glance all desktops on\none\nscreen.\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X_v10.5#_note-Expos.C3.A9InSpaces\"\u003e[9]\u003c/a\u003e)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotlight_(software)\" title=\"Spotlight (software)\"\u003eSpotlight\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\nincorporates additional search capabilities such as\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boolean_operators\" title=\"Boolean operators\"\u003eBoolean operators\u003c/a\u003e,\nas well as the ability to search other computers (with\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permissions\" title=\"Permissions\"\u003epermissions\u003c/a\u003e).\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRedesigned\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_Finder\" title=\"Macintosh Finder\"\u003eFinder\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e:\na redesigned Finder based on\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes\" title=\"ITunes\"\u003eiTunes\u003c/a\u003e 7.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNew Desktop\u003c/strong\u003e: a redesigned desktop, which is comprised of a redesigned 3-D\ndock which uses a new feature called \u003cstrong\u003eStacks\u003c/strong\u003e, as well as a new menu-bar\nwhich adapts itself to the desktop so menu-bar text is easily readable.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quick_Look\" title=\"Quick Look\"\u003eQuick Look\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e This\nallows documents to be viewed without actually opening them in an external\napplication.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eUniversal access\u003c/strong\u003e: significant improvements to applications including\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VoiceOver\" title=\"VoiceOver\"\u003eVoiceOver\u003c/a\u003e, along with\nincreased support for\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braille\" title=\"Braille\"\u003eBraille\u003c/a\u003e,\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closed_captioning\" title=\"Closed captioning\"\u003eclosed captioning\u003c/a\u003e\nand a new\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text-to-speech\" title=\"Text-to-speech\"\u003etext-to-speech\u003c/a\u003e\nengine.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEnhancements to\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_(application)\" title=\"Mail (application)\"\u003eMail\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\nincluding the additions of RSS feeds, Stationery, Notes, and to-dos. To-dos\nuse a system-wide service that is available to all applications.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashboard_(software)\" title=\"Dashboard (software)\"\u003eDashboard\u003c/a\u003e\nenhancements\u003c/strong\u003e, including\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webclip\" title=\"Webclip\"\u003eWebclip\u003c/a\u003e, a feature that\nallows users to turn a part of any web page into a live Dashboard widget, and\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashcode\" title=\"Dashcode\"\u003eDashcode\u003c/a\u003e to help\ndevelopers code\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widgets\" title=\"Widgets\"\u003ewidgets\u003c/a\u003e.\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X_v10.5#_note-8\"\u003e[14]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IChat\" title=\"IChat\"\u003eiChat\u003c/a\u003e enhancements\u003c/strong\u003e,\nincluding multiple logins, animated icons, and tabbed chats, similar to\nfeatures present in\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pidgin_(software)\" title=\"Pidgin (software)\"\u003ePidgin\u003c/a\u003e,\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adium\" title=\"Adium\"\u003eAdium\u003c/a\u003e and the iChat plugin\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chax\" title=\"Chax\"\u003eChax\u003c/a\u003e;\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IChat\" title=\"IChat\"\u003eiChat Theater\u003c/a\u003e, allowing users to\nincorporate images from\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhoto\" title=\"IPhoto\"\u003eiPhoto\u003c/a\u003e, presentations from\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keynote_(software)\" title=\"Keynote (software)\"\u003eKeynote\u003c/a\u003e,\nand videos from\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QuickTime\" title=\"QuickTime\"\u003eQuickTime\u003c/a\u003e into chats;\nand Backdrops, which are similar to\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chroma_key\" title=\"Chroma key\"\u003echroma keys\u003c/a\u003e, but use a\nreal-time difference matte technique which does not require a green or blue\nscreen. iChat will also implement desktop sharing, a feature previously\navailable with\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Remote_Desktop\" title=\"Apple Remote Desktop\"\u003eApple Remote Desktop\u003c/a\u003e.\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X_v10.5#_note-9\"\u003e[15]\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X_v10.5#_note-10\"\u003e[16]\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X_v10.5#_note-11\"\u003e[17]\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEnhancements to\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parental_controls\" title=\"Parental controls\"\u003eParental controls\u003c/a\u003e\ninclude the ability to place restrictions on use of the Internet and to set\nparental controls from anywhere using remote setup.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICal\" title=\"ICal\"\u003eiCal\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e calendar sharing and\ngroup scheduling.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLeopard will also include the software assistant known as\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boot_Camp\" title=\"Boot Camp\"\u003eBoot Camp\u003c/a\u003e, which has\nbeen available as a\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_release_cycle#Beta\" title=\"Software release cycle\"\u003ebeta release\u003c/a\u003e\ndownload for Mac OS X v10.4 from Apple\u0026rsquo;s website since\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_5\" title=\"April 5\"\u003eApril 5\u003c/a\u003e,\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006\" title=\"2006\"\u003e2006\u003c/a\u003e.This assists the installation\nof \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP\" title=\"Windows XP\"\u003eWindows XP\u003c/a\u003e or\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Vista\" title=\"Windows Vista\"\u003eWindows Vista\u003c/a\u003e to\na separate partition (or separate internal drive) on Intel-based Macs.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_menu\" title=\"Apple menu\"\u003eMenu Bar\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e The new\nmenu bar is now transparent and is no longer rounded like all previous Mac OS\nversions.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safari_(web_browser)\" title=\"Safari (web browser)\"\u003eSafari\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\n3.0 will be included.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile some seem to be not impressed by Leopard, it is by all accounts an OS\nupgrade, with every major application recieving attention. To me I am overjoyed\nthe finder is getting a revamp, though I am not certain following iTunes layout\nis such a good idea. I think this is Steve Jobs (CEO. Apple Inc) idea to\n\u0026ldquo;switch\u0026rdquo; windows people since they already use iTunes, although I am not sure it\nis the right path. I choose Mac OS X because its unique, it has a fresh take on\nhow a user interacts with a computer, moreso than Linux (which adopts tried and\ntrue in the case of Gnome and KDE), and certainly Windows which has only tweaked\nthe look since Windows 95: its the same concept. The fanning out of dock icons,\nand grouping them won\u0026rsquo;t be used by the vast majority of users: its the same\nreason they don\u0026rsquo;t use \u0026ldquo;smart\u0026rdquo; folders: its a feature that has little in the way\nof wide appeal. I know the same can be said of the dashboard, and I personally\nwill most likely end up buying and using fanning out and collections in Leopard,\nbut my experience of novices is that they are afraid of the unknown.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Leopard - Worth the wait?"},{"content":"I just bought a HP Photosmart R927, an 8 Megapixel camera from Hewlett-Packard. While I had seen and briefly used one before, I was excited again upon using my own one (as all tech people are [read: geeks]). First of all don\u0026rsquo;t confuse me as anyway into photography: I\u0026rsquo;m not and far from it. I had a criteria in mind when I purchased and this was it:\nMust work under any OS (Windows [a given], Mac and Linux [latter two I only use]) Every camera I have come across mounts as a disc drive [think looking at files on a cd or your local computer], but there is also PTP or \u0026ldquo;Picture Transfer Protocol\u0026rdquo; in other words it doesn\u0026rsquo;t appear as picture files, rather PTP triggers your computer to open your camera in your photo application. I was unsure if this PTP would work under Mac or Linux, since I had only briefly seen it as an option in digiKam. It turns out on Mac there is Image Capture, and Ubuntu (My Linux distribution of choice) it automatically detects it and asks to import photos intoF-Spot.\nIt must have decent Image Quality Now decent to me means decent as in \u0026ldquo;a 128kbps MP3 sounds the same as a cd\u0026rdquo;! I am not talking uber-quality, far from it. There is already a Samsung 6MP camera in my household, and it more than does the job, despite occasionally messing up focus and being nearly two years old. I want a \u0026ldquo;point and click\u0026rdquo; with decent image quality, and I believe we are mostly there with todays cameras (compared to old 35mm film. I know only SLR come under the term \u0026ldquo;decent image quality\u0026rdquo; to some [professionals].\nIt must have portability Phone cameras are an indication of the future, there won\u0026rsquo;t be any real cameras besides ones used by professionals eventually. Why? Portability. People don\u0026rsquo;t want 20 devices and the weight attached to it, I have trouble making sure wallet, keys and my phone are on me, and a camera adds to this striuggle today.This is the same reason people are ditching cd\u0026rsquo;s for iPods: portability.\nNow for my review: The R927 looks good, but with camera sizes decreasing, it ends up being bigger than most. Its brushed metal feel is somewhat amusing, maybe a tribute to Apple Computers Brushed Metal theme in iTunes? The picture quality is great, and it certainly matches and beats many other cameras I have tried. My R927 came with a dock, and the camera itself has only one port: a usb one [This as I am after finding out is not true, the one port on the camera is non-standard usb it seems, so it can only be used through a dock, rather annoying if your travelling it seems to me!]. I really liked that fact as it clears up clutter and removes confusion, with only one slot, for one cable (I am thinking of many other similar sized cameras than try to have the kitchen sink with a port for video, a second memory card port, usb port, basically: every port possible).\nIts screen is something to behold: bright, clean, clear and crisp. This apparently comes at a cost though, in a PC World review ( in which this camera ranked #2 out of #10 \u0026ldquo;Point and Click Cameras\u0026rdquo;), they said it had the shortest life at 114 photos of any in the top 10. Since I only have mine a few hours, I can\u0026rsquo;t comment on this yet, but one thing I will say: the battery is easily replaceable: I found the exact same 3.7 V Li-ion battery in my Bluetooth GPS Receiver (a low end one), so buying a backup battery they said might be a good option.\nThe Cameras photo manipulation is full featured, as are the menus in this camera. You can crop, change contrast, brightness, add frames and dozens of other features without touching photo editing software on a computer. Is that a plus or minus? Depends on the user really, I might use it the odd time, but as someone who likes long lasting batteries: it won\u0026rsquo;t be too often I will. It modes are variful and plenty also: beach mode, auto mode, landscape, portrait, theatre, panaroma etc. Panorama is a lot of fun, but it takes a while for the camera to \u0026ldquo;stitch\u0026rdquo; the photos, and if made out of high quality images: beware, the panorma won\u0026rsquo;t be as of the same quality. Document Mode puzzled me, the camera says it captures text clearly. This wasn\u0026rsquo;t the case in my experience and with no text recognition software in the camera or accompanying software, one could be left typing a long document from looking at an image of one!!\nIt\u0026rsquo;s design and layout are elegant and useful. The main navigation d-pad feels a bit clicky (with a clicky sound to match) and the zoom is controlled by the far-edges of an upside-down \u0026ldquo;L\u0026rdquo; shape. It has a: Flash Button, Contrast Button, Sharing Button. Preview button and On/Off. The sharing button is linked to HP\u0026rsquo;s software and allows you to select photos to email, print and share upon your connection to a computer. I found this annoying as I do things manually, but some average users might consider this a bonus. I got a dock, a power cable, usb cable, and UK \u0026amp; Ireland plus a European plug within the camera\u0026rsquo;s very nice package.\nOverall I\u0026rsquo;d give it an 8.8/10 so far. Battery life leads me to lower its score somewhat, and the fact that the camera is bulkier than most. Other than that it is a great buy, and well recommended thus far. I will update this if I ever have any problems with it!\n","permalink":"/hp-photosmart-r927/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI just bought a HP Photosmart R927, an 8 Megapixel camera from Hewlett-Packard.\nWhile I had seen and briefly used one before, I was excited again upon using my\nown one (as all tech people are [read: geeks]). First of all don\u0026rsquo;t confuse me as\nanyway into photography: I\u0026rsquo;m not and far from it. I had a criteria in mind when I\npurchased and this was it:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMust work under any OS (Windows [a given], Mac and Linux [latter two I only use])\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEvery camera I have come across mounts as a disc drive [think looking at\nfiles on a cd or your local computer], but there is also PTP or \u0026ldquo;Picture\nTransfer Protocol\u0026rdquo; in other words it doesn\u0026rsquo;t appear as picture files, rather PTP\ntriggers your computer to open your camera in your photo application. I was\nunsure if this PTP would work under Mac or Linux, since I had only briefly seen\nit as an option in \u003ca href=\"http://www.digikam.org/\"\u003edigiKam\u003c/a\u003e. It turns out on Mac there\nis \u003ca href=\"http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/imagecapture/\"\u003eImage Capture\u003c/a\u003e, and\nUbuntu (My Linux distribution of choice) it automatically detects it and asks to\nimport photos into\u003ca href=\"http://f-spot.org/\"\u003eF-Spot\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"HP Photosmart R927 Review"},{"content":"Hard to believe really, Mr.Gates lists Windows Vista \u0026lsquo;innovations\u0026rsquo;. Now Apple has been shipping everything he mentions since 2005, and I have tried Vista, it doesn\u0026rsquo;t even surpass Apples\u0026rsquo; attempt at the software (which should be his aim). Some things have been around for years, but it\u0026rsquo;s how well your software can do it is the key. Personally I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t tout features that another competitor does better, but thats just me. It seems irresponsible and unbelieveable the head of a public company can say and get away with this - not knowing the competition that is. I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t trust my money to anyone who does not keep up with the latest and greatest trends in the industry.\n","permalink":"/bill-gates-lists-vista/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eHard to believe really, Mr.Gates lists Windows Vista \u0026lsquo;innovations\u0026rsquo;. Now Apple\nhas been shipping everything he mentions since 2005, and I have tried Vista, it\ndoesn\u0026rsquo;t even surpass Apples\u0026rsquo; attempt at the software (which should be his aim).\nSome things have been around for years, but it\u0026rsquo;s how well your software can do\nit is the key. Personally I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t tout features that another competitor does\nbetter, but thats just me. It seems irresponsible and unbelieveable the head of\na public company can say and get away with this - not knowing the competition\nthat is. I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t trust my money to anyone who does not keep up with the\nlatest and greatest trends in the industry.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Bill Gates lists Vista 'innovations'"},{"content":"Dell Computers has started selling Ubuntu Linux 7.04 on consumer machines in the United States. This can only be good news, as a supporter of Linux since late 2004/early 2005 I am fully behind this initiative to put Linux as a choice in front of people who buy computers. They are testing the market at the moment which explains why they are shipping stock drivers with the hardware, and no multimedia codecs (which is unfortunate, but understandable that this deal was done in 60 days). I think this is quite an achievement for Canonical and Mark Shuttleworth (Ubuntu Founder), as they get to do the traditional Linux business model: you pay for support, and if you don\u0026rsquo;t need it, you don\u0026rsquo;t buy it. This could confuse some people in the shorter term, but long term its a winner: Dell does what it does best (Hardware) and Software is left to Ubuntu\u0026rsquo;s parent company Canonical. This is opposed to Microsoft getting Dell to provide support for both hardware and software, sometimes a messy business in which the consumer does not know which to turn to and can often be left out in the cold. I hope Dell extends this to Europe and 6the rest of the world soon, and makes a decent stab at promoting a free software desktop. Dell list advantages in one of their videos:\nFree to use Upgrades are free All major software included Not prone to Viruses/Spyware/Malware As easy (if not easier) to use than Apple Mac OS X / Microsoft Windows ","permalink":"/dell-sells-ubuntu-704/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eDell Computers has started selling Ubuntu Linux 7.04 on consumer machines in the\nUnited States. This can only be good news, as a supporter of Linux since late\n2004/early 2005 I am fully behind this initiative to put Linux as a choice in\nfront of people who buy computers. They are testing the market at the moment\nwhich explains why they are shipping stock drivers with the hardware, and no\nmultimedia codecs (which is unfortunate, but understandable that this deal was\ndone in 60 days). I think this is quite an achievement for Canonical and Mark\nShuttleworth (Ubuntu Founder), as they get to do the traditional Linux business\nmodel: you pay for support, and if you don\u0026rsquo;t need it, you don\u0026rsquo;t buy it. This\ncould confuse some people in the shorter term, but long term its a winner: Dell\ndoes what it does best (Hardware) and Software is left to Ubuntu\u0026rsquo;s parent\ncompany Canonical. This is opposed to Microsoft getting Dell to provide support\nfor both hardware and software, sometimes a messy business in which the consumer\ndoes not know which to turn to and can often be left out in the cold. I hope\nDell extends this to Europe and 6the rest of the world soon, and makes a decent\nstab at promoting a free software desktop. Dell list advantages in one of their\nvideos:\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Dell Sells Ubuntu 7.04"},{"content":"Unbeknownst to me, with my quick thinking on the positive developments regarding CBS releasing democratic debates under a permissive license in the United States has caused quite a few Irish bloggers to echo my call on RTE\u0026rsquo;s stance on releasing the Irish Election 2007 debates. If you agree we should be allowed to download, remix and share the debates while giving RTE credit for production, please:\nSign the Petition!\nUPDATE: Poll is now closed as the leaders debates are now finished. It was not my petition, I would have left it open to deliver to RTE anyway in respect to other programming for their consideration. Thanks to all who voted!\n","permalink":"/update-on-rte-and-creative-commons/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eUnbeknownst to me, with\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.dueyfinster.com/2007/05/irish-elections-creative-commons.html\" title=\"RTE, Irish Elections \u0026amp; Creative Commons\"\u003emy quick thinking on the positive developments regarding CBS releasing democratic debates\u003c/a\u003e\nunder a permissive license in the United States has caused\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.ferguscassidy.ie/2007/05/08/one-for-everyone-in-the-audience/\"\u003equite\u003c/a\u003e\na \u003ca href=\"http://www.cearta.ie/2007/05/speech-just-wants-to-be-free/\"\u003efew\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.mulley.net/2007/05/08/first-come-the-parodies/\"\u003eIrish\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.irishelection.com/05/web-roundup-day-10/\"\u003ebloggers\u003c/a\u003e to echo my call\non RTE\u0026rsquo;s stance on releasing the Irish Election 2007 debates. If you agree we\nshould be allowed to download, remix and share the debates while giving RTE\ncredit for production, please:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.petitiononline.com/Speech/petition.html\" title=\"RTE Creative Commons Petition\"\u003eSign the Petition!\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Update on RTE and the Creative Commons"},{"content":"This is the text of an email I sent to RTE. In America, CNN Television network is allowing the copying, remixing and free use of presidential debates as long as they are given credit, I believe RTE should follow its lead and extend to other programs:\nFirst of all, sorry this isn\u0026rsquo;t to the right department, I couldn\u0026rsquo;t find the right one. The technical department which runs the website would make likely be able to deal with and respond to this issue.\nI would like to say thank you for the fantastic RTE.IE live service. I am writing this email to ask you follow America\u0026rsquo;s CNN in releasing Irish Election broadcasts under a permissive license, like Creative Commons. This would allow people to reproduce the content freely, and give RTE the credit it deserves. Like Democracy, Culture wants to be free and open to the people. This could serve as a trial to Creative Commons licensing other RTE produced programs.* Thanks for your time, I look forward to your comments/response on this issue!* Hopefully I\u0026rsquo;ll get a response!\n","permalink":"/irish-elections-creative-commons/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eThis is the text of an email I sent to RTE. In America, CNN Television network\nis allowing the copying, remixing and free use of presidential debates as long\nas they are given credit, I believe RTE should follow its lead and extend to\nother programs:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eFirst of all, sorry this isn\u0026rsquo;t to the right department, I couldn\u0026rsquo;t find the\nright one. The technical department which runs the website would make likely\nbe able to deal with and respond to this issue.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Irish Elections and Creative Commons"},{"content":" Well this is not a technology related post, but I get asked about it alot and people have sketchy details about what it is (ie. they know my vision is messed up). Keratoconus (from Greek: kerato- horn, cornea; and konos cone), is a degenerative non-inflammatory disorder of the eye in which structural changes within the cornea cause it to thin and change to a more conical shape than its normal gradual curve. In plain English, light bends in a distorted way to make vision ghosted, blurry and less sharp. Glasses cannot fix this problem as they fix issues with your natural lense behind the cornea, as usually it has improper focus.\nThankfully it is a rare disorder, perhaps genetic and it only occurs in 1 out of every 1,000 people or so, I am wearing hard gas permeable (Oxygen can go through them) lenses which are the biggest pain in the world to wear, hard pieces of plastic literally sitting on your eye. This is a short term solution however, as my eyes will continue to degenerate for the next 20 years or so, then will be most likely followed by a Cornea transplant (ie. I recieve some other [usually dead!] persons\u0026rsquo; corneas). There is technology being worked on, such as slicing the cornea and inserting half a contact lense (literally) in each side to prop it up. Most likely I am more fortunate then a person diagnosed with it 10 or 20 years ago, as time is on my side. The reason I don\u0026rsquo;t talk about it as I don\u0026rsquo;t want it to be a sop story or people to have pity, it is just a fact of my life, one which I am optimistic of for the future. Maybe awareness can help raise money for reasearch and such forth, that would make make me happy. Really my only cause for concern is this: will computers catch up enough on screen readers and other disability technology by the time I am blind??!!!! The Wikipedia article is fantastic, and was my first port of call about it when I found out I had it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerataconus\n","permalink":"/kerataconus-me/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f3/KC-lens.jpg\" alt=\"image\"  /\u003e\nWell this is\nnot a technology related post, but I get asked about it alot and people have\nsketchy details about what it is (ie. they know my vision is messed up).\n\u003cstrong\u003eKeratoconus\u003c/strong\u003e (from Greek: \u003cem\u003ekerato-\u003c/em\u003e horn, cornea; and \u003cem\u003ekonos\u003c/em\u003e cone), is a\ndegenerative non-inflammatory disorder of the eye in which structural changes\nwithin the cornea cause it to thin and change to a more conical shape than its\nnormal gradual curve. In plain English, light bends in a distorted way to make\nvision ghosted, blurry and less sharp. Glasses cannot fix this problem as they\nfix issues with your natural lense behind the cornea, as usually it has improper\nfocus.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Kerataconus and Me"},{"content":"I got inspiration over this past Easter holidays, being bored, I gave Linux Gaming a shot. I am not much of a gamer myself and most websites aren\u0026rsquo;t very helpful or have too small a focus (only shoot-em-ups, or only certain Linux distros etc.). Inspired by the fine folks at OpenSourceMac.org and OpenSourceWindows.org, I announce my own project: Ultimate Games Disc. UGD is a project I think I can make very successful. My aims are as follows:\nHas to be free, either price and/or freedoms. Huge emphasis placed on Open Source Licenses that conform to the OSI\u0026rsquo;s free software (and Debian) guidelines. Preference on cross platform multiplayer games. Each version should contain mostly the same games, with a few exceptions, based on quality. There will be three versions, Win, Mac \u0026amp; Linux (Each a DVD-R full) Must have brain-dead easy installers (Mostly a non-issue) We won\u0026rsquo;t host any software, just do documentation and folder structure. We then provide a site where people can cherry pick what they want their UGD to contain. So that pretty much sums this project up. It will be organised on Launchpad. The overall aim is to introduce as many people on as many platforms to open source gaming!\n","permalink":"/ultimate-games-disc/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI got inspiration over this past Easter holidays, being bored, I gave Linux\nGaming a shot. I am not much of a gamer myself and most websites aren\u0026rsquo;t very\nhelpful or have too small a focus (only shoot-em-ups, or only certain Linux\ndistros etc.). Inspired by the fine folks at OpenSourceMac.org and\nOpenSourceWindows.org, I announce my own project: Ultimate Games Disc. UGD is a\nproject I think I can make very successful. My aims are as follows:\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Ultimate Games Disc"},{"content":"I heard the news one hour before it was announced: Apple and EMI are going Digital Rights Management (DRM) free, albeit at a slightly higher cost and quality. One of my pet hates is people who bash the European Union, often citing I will admit its not glowing charachteristics. These same people never admit the things Europe does right, which may well be this hopefully landslide affect against destroying DRM. To quote The Register:\nIn the space of 24 hours Apple has gone from announcing an all-singing, all-dancing DRM-free deal with EMI, to facing the possibility of being slapped by EU fines of up to 10 per cent of the firm\u0026rsquo;s worldwide annual turnover.\nAnd it is not alone - the major record labels, including EMI, could also be hit by the same fines.\nAs we reported earlier, the European Commission has issued a Statement of Objections \u0026ldquo;against alleged territorial restrictions in online music sales to major record companies and Apple\u0026rdquo;.\nWhile although the EU certainly wasn\u0026rsquo;t the main motivation, I think that was profit, but nonetheless it should be given credit for the stick and carrot treatment of Apple and the record labels. I count the consumer organisations of Germany, France and the toughest one to Apple: Norway, as part of the Europe wide effort. Next the EU aims to get rid of different pricing structure of iTunes Store across the continent, which like transatlantic air travel, it could literally \u0026lsquo;open up the skies\u0026rsquo;.\n","permalink":"/apple-emi-deal-thank-eu/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI heard the news one hour before it was announced: Apple and EMI are going\nDigital Rights Management (DRM) free, albeit at a slightly higher cost and\nquality. One of my pet hates is people who bash the European Union, often citing\nI will admit its not glowing charachteristics. These same people never admit the\nthings \u003cem\u003eEurope does right\u003c/em\u003e, which may well be this hopefully landslide affect\nagainst destroying DRM. To quote\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/03/apple_emi_ec_fines/\" title=\"The Register: EMI and Apple Deal\"\u003eThe Register\u003c/a\u003e:\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Apple / EMI Deal - Thank the EU?"},{"content":"Here\u0026rsquo;s a few items I\u0026rsquo;d like to share with everyone as I find them extremely useful, hopefully you will too, thats if you have never used them! My Top 10 Apps of 2007 in descending order:\n10. Spybot Search and Destroy\nAlways a must on spyware infested Windows XP installs I come across (Unfortunately all to often). It removes a lot of the bad stuff, and my most used feature is system startup section, as I can stop all that crud from loading and slowing everything to a crawl. 9. iTunes (OS X Version)\nApple\u0026rsquo;s Music player definitely has a nice feel to it, shame about the copy protection from the iTunes Store. That doesn\u0026rsquo;t really impinge on my use of it however, I use it to manage my iPods , Podcasts etc. and occasionally l listen to Internet Radio. 8. The Gimp - Ugly as sin, but useful as anything you\u0026rsquo;ll ever find for free. The Gimp is the image editor of choice when I do my (admittedly very light) photo editing. It also cross platform, on Linux, Mac and Windows. While there are alot of other good free image editors, for all round utility I find the Gimp has it sewn up.\n7. ** _**Google Earth _- Okay Google Earth is pointless for most things, but it is nice to watch a tour of famous landmarks you have never seen (Eiffel Tower anyone?). While its utility is perhaps limited, it still provides good fun and a break from productivity.\n6. *Spotlight, Beagle \u0026amp; Google Desktop *- Whatgood is any system if you can\u0026rsquo;t find anything? I have to admit I am a neat freak when it comes to files on a computer, I have them properly hierarchically sorted, I only wish I was as organized in real life. But for those occasional files I misplace, these three utilitys are invaluable. Spotlight on Mac OS X launches most of my prigrams, Beagle on Linux is super fast and unobtrusive and on Windows it doesn\u0026rsquo;t get better than Google Desktop with all those handy widgets for information blurbs.\n5. OpenOffice / KOffice / NeoOffice- All the suites are free, and they come with great legacy document handling. I don\u0026rsquo;t use office applications a whole lot for personal use, but these two I would would pay cold hard cash for, because there that good. I use Koffice on Linux where possible, due to its improved speed (as I use KDE Desktop). Koffice will be going multiplatform by the end of this year, and OpenOffice is working on a native Mac OS X port (a void which NeoOffice already fills), all in all a good time for free office suites.** **\n**4. ** Google Talk \u0026amp; Adium - When on Windows, its got to be Google Talk, even better now that they have a gadget (it\u0026rsquo;s on my contact page). When I am on my Mac laptop, its got to be Adium. Adium is the first Open Source application on this list, and for good reason, it has made beautiful use of GAIM libraries to craft a stunning messenger application. Linux messengers miss out for a variety of reasons, but Psi came close to the two above.** **\n**3. **iPhoto - An OS X only app, it is a beautiful centre-piece to the invaluable iLife suite from Apple. iPhoto lets me export whole albums as movies (which I then upload to YouTube), original sized pictures and more. It makes my life easier so much so, I have stopped photos being put on any other machine in my home network, they go straight to iPhoto, waiting to get to a critical mass to be wiped and copied to a DVD and my protable hard drivr, which iPhoto does in a few clicks. It does it with style als0, something which Apple is now much lauded for. Although it doesn\u0026rsquo;t come close to what photography pro\u0026rsquo;s want, it makes my life that much easier, plus I get all those nice embarrassing ones (of other people) on my iPod ready to be shown on the move! iMovie missed out as we don\u0026rsquo;t really video anything important in my household.\n2. Mozilla Firefox - While it still has quirks as all browsers do, nothing makes me feel as good about the web as Firefox does. Its myriad of extensions and huge community which keep it secure is just somethings worth mentioning about this wonderful browser.\n1. Amarok - Without a doubt the best music manager on the planet. I am amazed at its handling of Digital Music Players, including iPods. It is lighting fast with a proper database behind it, so even if you have a large music collection as I do, it will not go slow or die on you. Its built in music store serves fresh mp3\u0026rsquo;s, and its onscreen display of songs lets you know what tunes you\u0026rsquo;re listening to. It has a million and one scripts to make it do anything, an alarm clock perhaps? done. Tell your friends what your listening to on your contact list? done. A web interface so you can use a remote or laptop to control it? done. All of these are a few clicks away, even for new users it\u0026rsquo;s a breath of fresh air. Visualizers, faders, any music type you can dream of is playable, I could go on all night, Amarok has it all and more. Like Koffice it is only really on Linux (well, Unix-based) at this point, but its development team are promising OS X and Windows versions. My bet is it\u0026rsquo;ll fly faster off the shelves than Mozilla Firefox has\u0026hellip;\nI plan to follow this up and make a series, I have a lot to say! As I am know by a lot of people who know me as \u0026ldquo;the\u0026rdquo; Techie person, I plan to write a few short posts on cleaning up windows, saving space on OSX etc. and other interesting stuff alot of people ask me questions about.\n","permalink":"/applications-of-2007/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eHere\u0026rsquo;s a few items I\u0026rsquo;d like to share with everyone as I find them extremely\nuseful, hopefully you will too, thats if you have never used them! My Top 10\nApps of 2007 in descending order:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e10.\u003c/strong\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.safer-networking.org/\" title=\"Spybot Search and Destroy\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eSpybot Search and Destroy\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAlways a must on spyware infested Windows XP installs I come across\n(Unfortunately all to often). It removes a lot of the bad stuff, and my most\nused feature is system startup section, as I can stop all that crud from\nloading and slowing everything to a crawl.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e9.\u003c/strong\u003e \u003ca href=\"http://www.apple.com/itunes/\" title=\"iTunes\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eiTunes\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e (OS X Version)\u003c/p\u003e","title":"My Top 10 Applications of 2007"},{"content":"I recorded a tutorial, showing people how to extract YouTube (and other flash based sites videos\u0026rsquo;) and get them onto your iPod. It was recorded on my Mac, so unfortunately its Mac specific, but really only iSquint program is, so if anyone can suggest a replacement on Windows or Linux, I will add it to the details of the video. I use Garageband for audio, iMovieHD to edit the video and audio and Copernicus to record my screen. I started by getting everything I needed ready (all the Firefox tabs etc.) and hit record in Copernicus. I imported that .mov into iMovieHD, and then proceeded to open Garageband, watch the video and talk myself through my own recording. I saved the voice part in Garageband, exported it and then imported it into iMovie. I checked to make sure the audio and video lined up perefectly (what I done on screen matched what I was saying) and then exported it as a .mov from iMovieHD. Then I uploaded the result to Youtube, which I think for a first try ain\u0026rsquo;t bad!! Watch it here:\n","permalink":"/mac-ipod-video-tutorial/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI recorded a tutorial, showing people how to extract YouTube (and other flash\nbased sites videos\u0026rsquo;) and get them onto your iPod. It was recorded on my Mac, so\nunfortunately its Mac specific, but really only iSquint program is, so if anyone\ncan suggest a replacement on Windows or Linux, I will add it to the details of\nthe video. I use Garageband for audio, iMovieHD to edit the video and audio and\nCopernicus to record my screen. I started by getting everything I needed ready\n(all the Firefox tabs etc.) and hit record in Copernicus. I imported that .mov\ninto iMovieHD, and then proceeded to open Garageband, watch the video and talk\nmyself through my own recording. I saved the voice part in Garageband, exported\nit and then imported it into iMovie. I checked to make sure the audio and video\nlined up perefectly (what I done on screen matched what I was saying) and then\nexported it as a .mov from iMovieHD. Then I uploaded the result to Youtube,\nwhich I think for a first try ain\u0026rsquo;t bad!! Watch it here:\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Mac iPod Video Tutorial"},{"content":" Tor, (or The Onion Router) is a service which connects people all over the world with one aim: privacy. Tor protects from traffic analysis, basically where you have been. Benn to you Banks website? Feel like buying something off Amazon or Ebay? Your behaviour online is by no means private, you hand over your numerical address, browser details, country, city, versions of which plugins you use, where you came from, just to name a few. You may have seen on sites something to the effect of \u0026ldquo;Welcome Google user!\u0026rdquo;, that website knows exactly what you typed to get to it. Tor routes your online activity through different computers, for example mine went through an educational institution in the US and an Internet Service Provider in the Netherlands.\nBut if you want privacy you have something to hide! Not true. You don\u0026rsquo;t hand over records of everywhere you go in reality, nor documents, or details of medical conditions etc., their is a genuine use case for privacy in the modern world which is sadly being eroded. I just watched ABC news repeat on Sky News, and it reported of the FBI sending letters out asking for information from librarys, banks and every institution inbetween. It involved no court, no checks and balances, nothing. Tor is also used by the law itself, to conceal government surveillance of illegal activity (for example, child pornography). So not only is Tor needed, but it can extend to everything online, Instant Messaging. Tor limits abuse with a high degree of success and it is cross platform, on Linux, Windows and Mac. Get it here: Tor.eff.org\n","permalink":"/tor-helps-privacy/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://img89.imageshack.us/my.php?image=efftorlogo400x282kw9.jpg\" title=\"Tor Logo\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/3386/efftorlogo400x282kw9.jpg\" alt=\"Tor\nLogo\"  title=\"Tor Logo\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003eTor,\n(or The Onion Router) is a service which connects people all over the world with\none aim: privacy. Tor protects from traffic analysis, basically where you have\nbeen. Benn to you Banks website? Feel like buying something off Amazon or Ebay?\nYour behaviour online is by no means private, you hand over your numerical\naddress, browser details, country, city, versions of which plugins you use,\nwhere you came from, just to name a few. You may have seen on sites something to\nthe effect of \u0026ldquo;Welcome Google user!\u0026rdquo;, that website knows exactly what you typed\nto get to it. Tor routes your online activity through different computers, for\nexample mine went through an educational institution in the US and an Internet\nService Provider in the Netherlands.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Tor helps Privacy"},{"content":"Just like software. it can be really useful to open source other things in life, collaboration is nearly always a good thing. John Buckman, CEO of Magnatune Records knows this principle all too well. He gave a speech at a Red Hat conference a while back, and he talked about the importance of music artists sharing the \u0026ldquo;source\u0026rdquo;, i.e. basically sharing the method of how the produced the music in the first place. This allows easier mixing, and a higher chamnce your work could be featured on TV or in a film, and you get paid\nthe open source model applied to music. I am trying this technique with Google Docs and Spreadsheets. Once it was launched for Google for your domain, I immeadiatley searched for files to put on it, unfortunately, I had no such luck, all my files were pdfs! I stumbled across my regular writely account (old Google Docs and Spreadsheets), and found some files I had forgotten all about. I shared my CV with some family members, and already I am getting real good feedback, I wonder what else the open source model ccan be applied to? See Red Hats intriguing \u0026ldquo;Truth Happens\u0026rdquo; advert:\n","permalink":"/open-sourcing-your-cv/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eJust like software. it can be really useful to open source other things in life,\ncollaboration is nearly always a good thing. John Buckman, CEO of Magnatune\nRecords knows this principle all too well. He gave a speech at a Red Hat\nconference a while back, and he talked about the importance of music artists\nsharing the \u0026ldquo;source\u0026rdquo;, i.e. basically sharing the method of how the produced the\nmusic in the first place. This allows easier mixing, and a higher chamnce your\nwork could be featured on TV or in a film, and you get paid\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Open Sourcing your CV"},{"content":"I found this doing a search for Domino Records DRM. I looked up some of my favourite artists to see if they were part of the \u0026ldquo;MAFIAA\u0026rdquo; that is the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), not surprisingly some were (70% of sold music worldwide is put out by this cartel). I got rather confused when a Franz Ferdinand album appeared on the list, when their debut album did not. Seems the record label did a deal with Sony for distribution. I found a piece of information quite old now (May 2006), but interesting anyway:\n\u0026ldquo;Opponents also challenge the idea that back catalogue revenues provide investment for new ventures and to support new artists. Peter Jameson of the BPI (British Phonographic Industry) argued in The Guardian on 24 April that such investment had contributed to a boom in new British music, citing artists such as Arctic Monkeys, James Blunt and Kaiser Chiefs. However, Arctic Monkeys are with Domino Records, which was founded in 1993 and rarely re-releases records that predate itself, and James Blunt was signed by the US label Custard Records, which was set up only in 2004 and so has little back catalogue material to release; the same is true of Kaiser Chiefs, who are signed to B-Unique, which was also founded in 2004. Those are hardly good examples of recording companies that rely on significant revenue from the back catalogue profits that would be under threat if we were to stick at the 50-year copyright term.\u0026rdquo; ( Via Digital Rights Network and associated other sources)\nI find the whole Digital Rights Management thing very interesting, will the greedy dinosaurs of the recording industry win? Or will technologists like Corey Doctorow or Steve Jobs suceed in getting the point across? After all you don\u0026rsquo;t see many technologists being record bosses!\n","permalink":"/uk-parliamentary-debate-is-not-pension/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI found this doing a search for Domino Records DRM. I\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.riaaradar.com/\" title=\"RIAA Radar\"\u003elooked up some of my favourite artists\u003c/a\u003e\nto see if they were part of the \u0026ldquo;MAFIAA\u0026rdquo; that is the\n\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RIAA\" title=\"Recording Industry Association of America\"\u003eRIAA\u003c/a\u003e\n(Recording Industry Association of America), not surprisingly some were (70% of\nsold music worldwide is put out by this cartel). I got rather confused when a\nFranz Ferdinand album appeared on the list, when their debut album did not.\nSeems the record label did a deal with Sony for distribution. I found a piece of\ninformation quite old now (May 2006), but interesting anyway:\u003c/p\u003e","title":"UK Parliamentary debate \"Copyright is not a pension fund\""},{"content":" Just a note on the new look, hope you like it. I am very fortunate to be running Wordpress, the world\u0026rsquo;s best blogging tool (and it is open source). I looked up the fabulous theme site to go with it, and I came across this one and liked it very much. The last design was my own, but I had awful trouble implementing to look the same in all browsers (especially Internet Explorer, even the latest one, argh). I know the old one can be improved, so I am submitting to WP Themes directory, which I will update this post with the link. I love the new theme, it brings what I couldn\u0026rsquo;t to the old one: choosable colours and sameness across browsers. I\u0026rsquo;d like to thank Justin Winslow for that! Did I mention that the exact same colours are used in this theme? It brings a total different look though, the power of perception! So now you know these are the official DF\u0026rsquo;s colours!\nFurther to this, I appreiciate the way posts (on their own page) now take up the whole page. I don\u0026rsquo;t know about all of you, but I hate intrusive sidebars. Sidebars in general are a necessary evil (for navigating the site!), but I am also happy this design is more \u0026ldquo;ergonomic\u0026rdquo;. I have also added one more adblock, so now the top and bottom of posts will feature ads by Google. While I don\u0026rsquo;t make a lot of money at all, every bit goes towards my costs and promotes two software packages I recommend personally anyway: Firefox and Google Pack. I see this as a win-win situation, so I hope readers won\u0026rsquo;t mind. The ads in the sidebar should no longer feature any Microsoft advertisements, as I have done my best to filter them through the competitive ad filter. Microsoft\u0026rsquo;s policy on just about (almost) everything is contrary to my opinion, so I don\u0026rsquo;t feel I should give them exposure. But credit where credits due, hopefully when I see good things I\u0026rsquo;ll write about it!\n","permalink":"/updates-and-new-look/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/9038/wordpresslogoxv7.jpg\" alt=\"Wordpress\nLogo\"  title=\"Wordpress Logo\"  /\u003e\nJust\na note on the new look, hope you like it. I am very fortunate to be running\n\u003ca href=\"http://wordpress.org/\" title=\"Wordpress Blogging Software\"\u003eWordpress\u003c/a\u003e, the world\u0026rsquo;s\nbest blogging tool (and it is open source). I looked up the fabulous theme site\nto go with it, and I came across this one and liked it very much. The last\ndesign was my own, but I had awful trouble implementing to look the same in all\nbrowsers (especially Internet Explorer, even the latest one, argh). I know the\nold one can be improved, so I am submitting to\n\u003ca href=\"http://themes.wordpress.net/\" title=\"Wordpress Themes\"\u003eWP Themes directory\u003c/a\u003e, which I\nwill update this post with the link. I love the new theme, it brings what I\ncouldn\u0026rsquo;t to the old one: choosable colours and sameness across browsers. I\u0026rsquo;d\nlike to thank Justin Winslow for that! Did I mention that the exact same colours\nare used in this theme? It brings a total different look though, the power of\nperception! So now you know these are the official DF\u0026rsquo;s colours!\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Updates and New look"},{"content":" I have one of those new Nokia N800 Internet Tablet, as many of you know I was one of the first to buy its predecessor, the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet. What do I think? Well I have put of writing this for 4 days, as I wanted to really test it out. Before I start, I should say I was part of the Nokia Developer Device program, and I got the Nokia N800 at a big discount, €300 off the €399 retail price in fact. Under headings below I will take about the N800, and compare it to the 770:\nBattery Life:\nThis sees an improvement in the N800 alright, as it is meant for standby. The N770 hadn\u0026rsquo;t got great battery life really at all, so it seems Nokia payed more attention to the fact it is a communications device, and like phones it needs the juice for use! I guess part of this is that they cut out lots of unesscessary stuff from the Linux kernels boot up, as the device also boots way faster, and has more of a touch a button and your in business type-of-feel.\nErgonomics \u0026amp; Design:\nThis is a dissapointment on the N800. It looks nice, all the buttons on the front are okay, but the ones on top are disastrous. I bet a marketing person, or a designer who knows nothing (but should) about ergonomics got a hold of it. It feels like buttons on a phone at the top of the N800, hunched together as they have no room. I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t complain if I didn\u0026rsquo;t use these so often, but they are used by almost every program you want to use on the N800! The N770 had much better idea, spaced out the Zoom (+ \u0026amp; -), fullscreen (on/off) and the power button.\nBluetooth:\nStill relatively the same as the N770, yet Nokia have modified software so that it will accept Bluetooth keyboards, headsets(? Haven\u0026rsquo;t tried) and other devices officially through the control panel on the device. This marks a push by Nokia to sell all of these when you are buying the N800, which is an improvement in my eyes.\nStorage:\nBig improvement here, the N800 not only accepts paltry RS-MMC cards, but SD amongst others. Not only that but the device has two memory card slots, each capable of 2GB cards. The N770 recieved critiscism for using a format not widely in distribution (RS-MMC), so they listened to what the feedback was. Now its a snap for me to swap in my camera\u0026rsquo;s SD card and look at those photos on the move!\nMemory:\nAlso a huge improvement. The N800 comes with 128mb RAM, and it shows. Since I have h ad the device, I had as much as ten windows open (Browser, RSS Reader, Maemo Mapper, Media Streamer etc) and it ran like as smooth as any device I have ever used. I guess they are really optimising the software for the platform, which shows, like in the boot time above. The N770 had 64mb, a slower processor and you felt it. It did what it was supposed to, but under 4-5 windows it would screech to a halt, not good for a tablet. You had to resort to memory swapping applications (basically using the memory card as RAM).\nWeb Browsing \u0026amp; Messaging:\nWeb Browsing seems the same as the N770, it mighty be faster, but that could be due to RAM. A huge dissapointment is no Flash 9, which means no Youtube or other flash content. Did I mention this is a huge mistake? People who buy these devices expect their favourite websites to just work, so a big thumbs down on that front, but hopefully it will be fixed. Messaging is superb on the N800, and its touchscreen thumb keyboard is a joy to use. I feel I could type faster on it given enough time compared to a real keyboard, so this is definately good. I am a big fan of Google Talk and open standards jabber, so I love the voice calling part of it. It seems crisp, clear and almost as good as normal phone. I have tried a video call, and well it is not as good as I expected. The camera doesn\u0026rsquo;t seem good quality, but it serves ita purpose. I tried Nokia Video call feature, and well it was also not good. It dropped voice, video was grainy and the software not on the N800 was for PC only, not Linux or Mac. I guess this is because Nokia don\u0026rsquo;t own a messaging service, but I have one piece of advice: don\u0026rsquo;t bother. Better leave the messaging to people in the know, like Skype. Although Skype is against everything I believe in (open standards) its inclusion in the N800 gives better choice, and should be welcomed.\nPersonal Information Management:\nA big let down I am afraid. Being a Mac user, I expect seamless integration of contacts and syncing. Maybe Nokia\u0026rsquo;s PC suite works with the N800, I have\u0026rsquo;t tried. But that said, why doesn\u0026rsquo;t it sync with my Nokia 6234 phone? With GoogleTalk set to include SIP calling, and Skype has SkypeOut, I need an easy way to reach all my numbers, to avoid my mobile phone networks high prices! I don\u0026rsquo;t think they worked on PIM features since the 770, and it shows. This is fundamental to a communications device!\nOverall, the N800 is a nice device and a definate improvement on the 770, but I have a few software and device design issues. I understand their is limitations in price (what market will accept) and that maybe Nokia were on a deadline, release something after Christmas to boost sales which I imagine level off. That said the N800 is not a PDA, or a phone, so what is it? A tiny laptop? This one I think even confuses Nokia, but I like it. It makes the Internet Tablet range stand out, and they mean different things to different people. I give it 7.5/10 which can rise to a nine if Nokia fix some issues!\nRead another great review by Luis Villa on Planet Gnome.\n","permalink":"/nokia-n800/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://img76.imageshack.us/my.php?image=nokian800internettabletdn5.jpg\" title=\"Hosted Kindly by Imageshack\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/8830/nokian800internettabletdn5.jpg\" alt=\"Nokia\nN800\"  title=\"Nokia N800\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003eI\nhave one of those new\n\u003ca href=\"http://europe.nokia.com/phones/n800\" title=\"Nokia N800 Internet Tablet\"\u003eNokia N800 Internet Tablet\u003c/a\u003e,\nas many of you know I was one of the first to buy its predecessor, the Nokia 770\nInternet Tablet. What do I think? Well I have put of writing this for 4 days, as\nI wanted to really test it out. Before I start, I should say I was part of the\nNokia Developer Device program, and I got the Nokia N800 at a big discount, €300\noff the €399 retail price in fact. Under headings below I will take about the\nN800, and compare it to the 770:\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Nokia N800 Review"},{"content":"Well as I write this it is a few days after Vista\u0026rsquo;s launch, and it has yet to set the software market alight. But this is nothing new, it happend with XP. How do you convince people the latest and greatest is worth the money? Microsoft is in a tough position due to stiff competition - old, working, fully-compatible windows machines don\u0026rsquo;t disappear into thin air. There has been a lot more FUD (Fear Uncertainty and Doubt)abput Vista already from the Free and Open Source camp. Some of the harsh critiscims will be justified, others probably not. Regardless this will not hurt Microsofts marketing whatsoever, the average user doesn\u0026rsquo;t share concerns over digital restriction/rights management - yet. Microsoft say it will be on 100m PC\u0026rsquo;s by years end. I don\u0026rsquo;t think it will be as fast as Microsoft would like, due to: 1) People wait for service packs. 2) People don\u0026rsquo;t upgrade PC\u0026rsquo;s as fast now. Most things people identify their computer with is increasingly online, a worrying trend if I were Microsoft, this creates platform independence for the average user, granted not the gamers, or other highly specialised software vendors.\nUbuntu/Debian are working on a Windows installer. This is great news which I welcome 100%. I think Ubuntu could eclipse Firefox as the Free/Open Source poster child if it plays it\u0026rsquo;s hand correctly. Top of the list would be the best migration of settings from Windows possible- Language, Keyboard, Preferences, Address Book etc. Make this as seamless and as thoughtless as changing from Internet Explorer to Firefox, and it is nothing surer to be a huge way of increasing Linux installs. Picture this: no CD-Recordables to be burnt, no settings to set, 10 minute .exe click install just like any Windows application and you will see what I mean. Add to that no partitioning (Ubuntu uses a disk image in Windows), no modification of Windows file and an Add/Remove option to get rid of it, and instantaneously you see the appeal, I cannot wait for this project to be mature, and heres hoping Ubuntu use it for mass distribution. It can instantly be that cure all for viruses, spyware etc. we have all come to accept on the windows platform, but why?\n","permalink":"/vista-is-released-ubuntu-gets-exe/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eWell as I write this it is a few days after Vista\u0026rsquo;s launch, and it has yet to\nset the software market alight. But this is nothing new, it happend with XP. How\ndo you convince people the latest and greatest is worth the money? Microsoft is\nin a tough position due to stiff competition - old, working, fully-compatible\nwindows machines don\u0026rsquo;t disappear into thin air. There has been a lot more FUD\n(Fear Uncertainty and Doubt)abput Vista already from the Free and Open Source\ncamp. Some of the harsh critiscims will be justified, others probably not.\nRegardless this will not hurt Microsofts marketing whatsoever, the average user\ndoesn\u0026rsquo;t share concerns over digital restriction/rights management - yet.\nMicrosoft say it will be on 100m PC\u0026rsquo;s by years end. I don\u0026rsquo;t think it will be as\nfast as Microsoft would like, due to: 1) People wait for service packs. 2)\nPeople don\u0026rsquo;t upgrade PC\u0026rsquo;s as fast now. Most things people identify their\ncomputer with is increasingly online, a worrying trend if I were Microsoft, this\ncreates platform independence for the average user, granted not the gamers, or\nother highly specialised software vendors.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Vista is released; Ubuntu gets .exe!"},{"content":"I am embarking on a journey I believe everyone should: digitise as much photo, video and documents you can. It serves as a record of your existance, a guide to people of what your life was like. Why? is the most obvious question you might ask. Well I will tell you what prompted me, which is the culmination of a lot of different things.\nThis brings me to the first reason: Television. I find shows fascinating where people discover their ancestors were orphans, incredibly wealthy or died from exhaustion in a mine. It really makes you think what makes you the person you are, so to speak. David Attenborough says (although I have paraphrased) that if people look back at his 100-150 hours of television, they will get a snapshot of what the glaciers, mountains, desert and animals were like in the latter half of the twentieth century, not a complete picture, but one nonetheless of what Earth was like at that time.\nIf not for other people, do it for yourself is another reason. Memories are their to cherish and recall. As I try to quantify the future I feel that if I have any childeren, it will be incredibly weird they have been missing a whole segment of my life. But no better time has existed to preserve these memories, in an age where digital devices are commonplace and cheap. They also are disposable though, so I will have to be careful to keep my data in a medium that can be read, a challenge in itself. But I believe I am up to it, and I hope to have every photo, video and document I have in a digital format sometime in the near future.\n","permalink":"/my-plan-to-digitise-my-past-for-future/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI am embarking on a journey I believe everyone should: digitise as much photo,\nvideo and documents you can. It serves as a record of your existance, a guide to\npeople of what your life was like. Why? is the most obvious question you might\nask. Well I will tell you what prompted me, which is the culmination of a lot of\ndifferent things.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis brings me to the first reason: Television. I find shows fascinating where\npeople discover their ancestors were orphans, incredibly wealthy or died from\nexhaustion in a mine. It really makes you think what makes you the person you\nare, so to speak. David Attenborough says (although I have paraphrased) that if\npeople look back at his 100-150 hours of television, they will get a snapshot of\nwhat the glaciers, mountains, desert and animals were like in the latter half of\nthe twentieth century, not a complete picture, but one nonetheless of what Earth\nwas like at that time.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"My Plan to Digitise my past, for the future"},{"content":" BBC are putting together a Mac, Windows and Linux user, to debate the pros and cons of being a users for each operating system. While this in itself is good news (more airtime for alternatives), most of the comments are highly in favour of Linux, then Mac and lastly Windows. This is part of the BBC\u0026rsquo;s coverage of Windows Vista. My hope for the future is that Mac and Linux gain at least 10% each (20% total) over the next 5 years of the home desktop market, as this will push innovation forward, like AMD and Intel competition.\nI am selling my first item on auction giant Ebay, my Nokia 770 Internet Tablet. It has served me well, but I recently got a mail the other day that prompted me to sell my 770. It was Nokia: they informed me since I was one of the first to purchase the 770 and I was an influential blogger, they are giving me a lot of money off, and are going to let me have the n800 for a token sum. Hopefully the auction will go well, I will get the n800 and have a bit of cash to spare. Not bad as one might say!\n","permalink":"/bbc-to-host-multi-os-debate-my-first/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://img111.imageshack.us/img111/7099/tuxcasefront7rw.jpg\" alt=\"Tux, the Linux\nPenguin\"  title=\"Tux, the Linux Penguin\"  /\u003e\nBBC\nare putting together a Mac, Windows and Linux user, to\n\u003ca href=\"http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6288119.stm\" title=\"Mac Linux and Windows Debate\"\u003edebate the pros and cons of being a users for each operating system\u003c/a\u003e.\nWhile this in itself is good news (more airtime for alternatives), most of the\ncomments are highly in favour of Linux, then Mac and lastly Windows. This is\npart of the BBC\u0026rsquo;s coverage of Windows Vista. My hope for the future is that Mac\nand Linux gain at least 10% each (20% total) over the next 5 years of the home\ndesktop market, as this will push innovation forward, like AMD and Intel\ncompetition.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"BBC to host Multi-OS Debate and My First Web Auction"},{"content":"Just a quick blurb about some things Microsoft like to say: Don\u0026rsquo;t believe it, well at least not it all anyway. On the Irish \u0026ldquo;Get the Facts\u0026rdquo; page (on Windows Server vs. Linux), they make critical errors of judgement a person reasonably well versed in computing could deconstruct. First of all, Linux isn\u0026rsquo;t a server, its a kernel, like the Windows kernel. So comparing \u0026ldquo;Windows Server 2003\u0026rdquo; to \u0026ldquo;Linux\u0026rdquo; is misleading to say the least, and stupid to say the most. You could run any server software on Linux you wished, even Windows Server 2003 if Microsoft ported it! For the sake of argument, I think they are comparing themselves to Apache, which runs 60% of worldwide servers[1].\nIt gets better though! They use Case Studies to show companies who have switched. Now what they forget to mention, out of the case studies is that some of the companies still use and sell Linux solutions to customers (like Rackspace and GoDaddy)! It took me \u0026lt;15 seconds to search for these companies on Google and find that out. Please Microsoft, save some face and release actual independent verifiable data. Fact is I would not buy off a company who can\u0026rsquo;t even defend and sell its products properly.\n","permalink":"/get-facts-about-get-facts/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eJust a quick blurb about some things Microsoft like to say: Don\u0026rsquo;t believe it,\nwell at least not it all anyway. On the\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.microsoft.com/ireland/getthefacts/default.mspx\" title=\"Irish Get the Facts\"\u003eIrish \u0026ldquo;Get the Facts\u0026rdquo; page\u003c/a\u003e\n(on Windows Server vs. Linux), they make critical errors of judgement a person\nreasonably well versed in computing could deconstruct. First of all, Linux isn\u0026rsquo;t\na server, its a kernel, like the Windows kernel. So comparing \u0026ldquo;Windows Server\n2003\u0026rdquo; to \u0026ldquo;Linux\u0026rdquo; is misleading to say the least, and stupid to say the most. You\ncould run any server software on Linux you wished, even Windows Server 2003 if\nMicrosoft ported it! For the sake of argument, I think they are comparing\nthemselves to Apache, which runs 60% of worldwide\nservers\u003ca href=\"http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2007/01/05/january_2007_web_server_survey.html\" title=\"Netcraft Server Marketshare\"\u003e[1]\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Get the facts, about \"Get the Facts\""},{"content":" Just a quick post on Google Sketch UP for Mac (also available for Windows), it is a very nice application. I drew my Engineering project (Leaving Certificate) on it, to see if it was easy enough for a novice (Read: Me) to mess around and get something functional out of it. Most people have heard of Computer Aided Design, but usually the applications are expensive to say the least. Not so with Google Sketchup, it is totally free and can import some of the most popular 3D drawing formats. It is easy to use, but difficult to master is how I would best describe this product. The video tutorials Google provides on their website is a huge help, and got me off to a good start. They represented what every tutorial should be: short, snappy and to the point. The User Interface should be designed a little better and be a little clearer, but for a free product, it does exactly what it says on the tin. So I got down to business, and I present my very first drawing in Google Sketchup: ","permalink":"/engineering-drawing/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/8779/logogsubq2.gif\" alt=\"Google Sketchup Logo, Copyright\nGoogle\nInc.\"  title=\"Google Sketchup Logo, Copyright Google Inc.\"  /\u003e\nJust\na quick post on Google Sketch UP for Mac (also available for Windows), it is a\nvery nice application. I drew my Engineering project (Leaving Certificate) on\nit, to see if it was easy enough for a novice (Read: Me) to mess around and get\nsomething functional out of it. Most people have heard of Computer Aided Design,\nbut usually the applications are expensive to say the least. Not so with Google\nSketchup, it is totally free and can import some of the most popular 3D drawing\nformats. It is easy to use, but difficult to master is how I would best describe\nthis product. The video tutorials Google provides on their website is a huge\nhelp, and got me off to a good start. They represented what every tutorial\nshould be: short, snappy and to the point. The User Interface should be designed\na little better and be a little clearer, but for a free product, it does exactly\nwhat it says on the tin. So I got down to business, and I present my very first\ndrawing in Google\nSketchup:\u003ca href=\"http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=bb5ff31dbd15ed08cfc639184f913fdf\" title=\"Engineering Project (c) Neil Grogan 2007, in Google 3D Warehouse\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/1066/epnggg1.jpg\" alt=\"Engineering Project (c) Neil Grogan. Kindly Hosted by\nImageshack\"  title=\"Engineering Project (c) Neil Grogan. Kindly Hosted by Imageshack\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Engineering Drawing"},{"content":" Thanks to Dashcode, the tool for making dashboard widgets, there is now an RSS one for this site! Currently it only works on Mac OS X, but KDE 4 should support dashboard widgets (they are really just bits of javascript, css and html).\n","permalink":"/new-widget-for-our-rss-feed/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/1396/picture2tn0.png\" alt=\"Duey Finsters RSS\nWidget\"  title=\"Duey Finsters\nRSS Widget\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThanks to Dashcode, the tool for making dashboard widgets, there is now an RSS\none for this site! Currently it only works on \u003ca href=\"http://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/index.html\" title=\"Mac OS X\"\u003eMac OS X\u003c/a\u003e, but \u003ca href=\"http://www.kde.org\" title=\"K Desktop Enviroment\"\u003eKDE\u003c/a\u003e 4 should\nsupport dashboard widgets (they are really just bits of javascript, css and\nhtml).\u003c/p\u003e","title":"New Widget for our RSS feed!"},{"content":" Well I guess you can call me a hardcore Apple Computer fan, I have a Macbook, an iPod Nano (1st Gen 4GB) and now a 80GB iPod Video! I bought i for a couple of reasons, namely price and storage. I had been put off before since I thought they were too bulky ( I know a couple of people who have older generation iPod Videos) after being with the Nano for over a year (its still chugging along gleefully). What can I say? I am impressed! Battery life is huge to me and well to be frank, its amazing. My first MP3 player was a Creative Nomad Jukebox II (circa 2002), which I still have. I know only one person who owned an MP3 player before me, and its nice to be there from the start, you appreciate the little details most people don´t, as they are new to mp3 players, so they expect it as standard. I now get all the latest tech podcasts, so I am very happy with that!\nAnother thing is I now have Freespire, the Open Source version of Linspire. Linspire is a commercial Linux distribution, so they include all of the proprietary codecs most others simply can´t for reasons of cost. Freespire is not up to Ubuntus standard (not as big pool of developers/community) and the stable version uses an out-dated KDE and a horrible menu. Despite this, it has its charm, like click and run, a better implementation of the APT packaging system (common to [Debian][s]-based distros) and is probably the easiest distro I have seen to install and run. It don´t have a partitioner, so it will overwrite Windows (Hey not always a bad thing ;-) ). But setup is easy, and I love the way it brings you to configure your own settings at one simple screen after an install. My family love it, and complement it left-right and center! So although Ubuntu is nice and cleaner (suitable for people new to computers), Freespire definately wins over the Windows fans!\n","permalink":"/video-ipod-and-freespire/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/8155/imageshj0.jpg\" alt=\"IPod Video (Image Hosted by\nImageShack.us)\"  title=\"IPod\nVideo (Image Hosted by ImageShack.us)\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWell I guess you can call me a hardcore\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.apple.ie\" title=\"Apple Computer\"\u003eApple Computer\u003c/a\u003e fan, I have a Macbook, an\niPod Nano (1st Gen 4GB) and now a 80GB iPod Video! I bought i for a couple of\nreasons, namely price and storage. I had been put off before since I thought\nthey were too bulky ( I know a couple of people who have older generation iPod\nVideos) after being with the Nano for over a year (its still chugging along\ngleefully). What can I say? I am impressed! Battery life is huge to me and well\nto be frank, its amazing. My first MP3 player was a Creative Nomad Jukebox II\n(circa 2002), which I still have. I know only one person who owned an MP3 player\nbefore me, and its nice to be there from the start, you appreciate the little\ndetails most people don´t, as they are new to mp3 players, so they expect it as\nstandard. I now get all the latest tech podcasts, so I am very happy with that!\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Video iPod and Freespire"},{"content":"AOL, the longtime dialup king, who esperate to keep customers at its\u0026rsquo; site who have switched to broadband, is offering free dot com and dot net domains. There are a few caches however, one must be in possession of a US mobile phone (cell) number. Luckily I have a cousin stateside willing to help out ;-) . I got to register NeilGrogan.com (My actual name) which I hadn\u0026rsquo;t bothered with before. AOL is the legal owner however, so has all the say legally to the name. At the minute it provides 100 2GB email accounts with the free domain, and if you visit the address online, it redirects to an AIM Pages profile of the owner (for all intents and purposes, it\u0026rsquo;s another social networking site). Its a good way to drum up interest in its online offerings, but they should be more flexible. If anyone is in any doubt, this is just an \u0026lsquo;alright\u0026rsquo; kind of deal, AOL say they will give you the option to buy the name back in the future, but I won\u0026rsquo;t hold my breath.\nI am a longtime Google Apps For your domain customer, which like AOL is totally free. Google however help you to register your own domain (which is not to far off market price at $10) so you legally own it. Google offers webspace (Google Pages), email (Gmail), Instant Messaging (Gtalk) and a start page. If anything AOL have a lot of catching up to do, but who knows, maybe Google will provide free registration in the future? It all depends on ad revenues likely garnered from the services they offer. Microsoft also offers a similiar service, but I have yet to try it out\u0026hellip;\u0026hellip;\n","permalink":"/free-domain-name-off-aol-too-good-to-be/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.aol.com/\" title=\"AOL\"\u003eAOL\u003c/a\u003e, the longtime dialup king, who esperate to keep customers at its\u0026rsquo; site\nwho have switched to broadband, is \u003ca href=\"https://domains.aol.com/personaldomain/app/domainHomeSearch\" title=\"AOL Free Domains\"\u003eoffering free dot com and dot net\ndomains\u003c/a\u003e. There are a few caches however, one must be in possession of a US mobile\nphone (cell) number. Luckily I have a cousin stateside willing to help out ;-) .\nI got to register NeilGrogan.com (My actual name) which I hadn\u0026rsquo;t bothered with before.\nAOL is the legal owner however, so has all the say legally to the name. At the minute\nit provides 100 2GB email accounts with the free domain, and if you visit the address\nonline, it redirects to an AIM Pages profile of the owner (for all intents and purposes,\nit\u0026rsquo;s another social networking site). Its a good way to drum up interest in its online\nofferings, but they should be more flexible. If anyone is in any doubt, this is just\nan \u0026lsquo;alright\u0026rsquo; kind of deal, AOL say they will give you the option to buy the name\nback in the future, but I won\u0026rsquo;t hold my breath.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Free Domain name off AOL, too good to be true?"},{"content":"Well apparently I am a new kid on the block, according to the Irish Blog awards blog). Irish Blog Awards from what I can gather is a new event, hoping to happen in March 2007. They have an impressive list of backers, so I expect significant (although maybe minor) coverage in the media. Unfortunately they called it Duey Fensters, but I thank them for the link nonetheless! These are the categories that will be adjudicated on:\nBest Blog Best Blog Post Most Humorous Post Best Photo Blog Best Arts and Culture Blog Best Political Blog Best Group Blog Best Personal Blog Best Use of the Irish Language in a Blog Best Contribution to the Irish Bloggersphere Best Technology Blog/Blogger Best Designed Blog Best Sport \u0026amp; Recreation Blog Best News/Current Affairs Blog Best Specialist Blog Best Newcomer Best Business Blog Best Music Blog Best Podcast Best Podcaster Best videocast Well if you think I will fit into any of these categories, let me know. I\u0026rsquo;ll keep an eye on the event, and update you when the nominating begins! I think it would be rather cool to win something, anything really!\n","permalink":"/irish-blog-awards/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eWell apparently I am a new kid on the block, according to the \u003ca href=\"http://awards.ie/blogawards/2006/11/27/new-blogs-on-the-block-november-27th-2006/\" title=\"Irish Blog Awards\"\u003eIrish Blog awards\nblog\u003c/a\u003e). Irish Blog Awards from what I can gather is a new event, hoping to happen\nin March 2007. They have an impressive list of backers, so I expect significant (although\nmaybe minor) coverage in the media. Unfortunately they called it Duey Fensters, but\nI thank them for the link nonetheless! These are the categories that will be adjudicated\non:\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Irish Blog Awards"},{"content":"I recently got a hold of my Christmas present in advance, a new Nokia 6234 from Vodafone Ireland. I did a short video test, maybe this could be the start of my VideoBlogging career:\nWell maybe not! But I do hope to have more videos on my blog! The video is of me describing my living quarters and about my laptop. I needed to be a bit closer to the phone as hearing me is difficult sometimes (not so in real life!), but basically I just point out what you see and explain the phone won\u0026rsquo;t sync address+calendar with my macbook :-( (My old phone did just that :-) ). I don\u0026rsquo;t really mind, bluetooth works a charm and I can exchange files between it. All I need now is a super 2GB mini memory card, for some quick music on the go!\n","permalink":"/video-test/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI recently got a hold of my Christmas present in advance, a new Nokia 6234 from\nVodafone Ireland. I did a short video test, maybe this could be the start of my\nVideoBlogging career:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWell maybe not! But I do hope to have more videos on my blog! The video is of me\ndescribing my living quarters and about my laptop. I needed to be a bit closer\nto the phone as hearing me is difficult sometimes (not so in real life!), but\nbasically I just point out what you see and explain the phone won\u0026rsquo;t sync\naddress+calendar with my macbook :-( (My old phone did just that :-) ). I don\u0026rsquo;t\nreally mind, bluetooth works a charm and I can exchange files between it. All I\nneed now is a super 2GB mini memory card, for some quick music on the go!\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Nokia 6234 Video Test"},{"content":"I managed after ages of trying hard, to get my NAT transverse to work :-) !! This means the computer sitting in my house should be reachable worldwide at dueyfinster.com. It\u0026rsquo;s login screen is from Ampache music center, a php+mysql solution to a large music catalogue such as mine. It means (for those who can login :-) ) that my whole collection is streamable, downloadable, rateable and generally all round goodness and what you\u0026rsquo;d expect from a top class open source media+web application! I am excited about this, as I have already tried it from a remote family members house. Unfortunately it does not work too well half way across the world in the US (speed is *really* slow I have been gleefully informed), but I am not too bothered, upgrades in speed will come with better broadband (which may be years, this is Ireland). I am trying to restrict peoples usage of it at the moment, as I really do not want a letter from my Internet Service Provider!\nFor those interested in hardware, its a cheapo Dell PC I picked up during the summer for less than €400. I\u0026rsquo;d say I\u0026rsquo;ll get a little more than a year (If I am lucky) out of it, than I will be asking heavy users of it to donate for new hardware (likely some weak point in it, methinks), I just hope I won\u0026rsquo;t be the only heavy user ;-) I also set up proftpd on it, so I should be able to modify its web directory, and my home directory on it. Check out my hardware page and see the 2Ghz Dell for the PC I am on about. As and ever, it runs Kubuntu Linux, and as I write it chugs away gleefully (for now\u0026hellip;\u0026hellip;\u0026hellip;)\n","permalink":"/home-made-server/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI managed after ages of trying hard, to get my NAT transverse to work :-) !!\nThis means the computer sitting in my house should be reachable worldwide at\ndueyfinster.com. It\u0026rsquo;s login screen is from Ampache music center, a php+mysql\nsolution to a large music catalogue such as mine. It means (for those who can\nlogin :-) ) that my whole collection is streamable, downloadable, rateable and\ngenerally all round goodness and what you\u0026rsquo;d expect from a top class open source\nmedia+web application! I am excited about this, as I have already tried it from\na remote family members house. Unfortunately it does not work too well half way\nacross the world in the US (speed is *really* slow I have been gleefully\ninformed), but I am not too bothered, upgrades in speed will come with better\nbroadband (which may be years, this is Ireland). I am trying to restrict peoples\nusage of it at the moment, as I really do not want a letter from my Internet\nService Provider!\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Home made server..."},{"content":"We all want to stop spam and phishing domains, it hurts the Internet and confidence in it. Their is a lot of debate on this issue, even from the registrars. But I believe, as I know there are probably many out their like me, that the Irish Domain Registry have taken this one step too far. One only has to look to Slashdot to see what the rest of the world thinks about our backwards, censorship-driven domain registry. My favourite rule they have about domains is perhaps the one which requires the least amount of bureaucracy:\nPersonal names must consist of the initial letter from each of two or more of the words which comprise the legal personal name of the applicant, in the order in which these words occur in the name, followed by any two digits to be requested by the applicant. As an example, John Citizen could register jc01.ie.\nThis is indicative of a backwards registrar that wants you to accept numbers in your domain, what the hell? I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t take the dot ie of NG89.ie, it seems cheap, like a social networking site. One has to only look at Technorati and the top Irish bloggers to see IEDR is failing in its service to the Irish people.\nSorry to all those people trying to email me, I had a bit of trouble with my DNS settings. It should be all fixed now!\n","permalink":"/iedr-too-stringent-sorry-about-my-email/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eWe all want to stop spam and phishing domains, it hurts the Internet and\nconfidence in it. Their is a lot of debate on this issue, even from the\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.bobparsons.com/EULandrushFiasco.html\" title=\"Bob Parsons Blog\"\u003eregistrars\u003c/a\u003e. But I believe, as I know there are probably many out their like\nme, that the \u003ca href=\"http://www.iedr.ie/\" title=\"Dot IE Domain Registry\"\u003eIrish Domain Registry\u003c/a\u003e have taken this one step too far. One\nonly has to look to \u003ca href=\"http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/14/2142204\" title=\"Adult .IE Domain Names Banned As Immoral\"\u003eSlashdot\u003c/a\u003e to see what the rest of the world thinks about\nour backwards, censorship-driven domain registry. My favourite rule they have\nabout domains is perhaps the one which requires the least amount of bureaucracy:\u003c/p\u003e","title":"IEDR too stringent? Sorry about my email!"},{"content":"I have a Wiki for messing about! I haven\u0026rsquo;t found a purpose for it yet, but I\u0026rsquo;d like to have it all set up incase one day I turn out to need it (maybe for collaboration or something?). If you have any skill at themin' MediaWiki (the most popular wiki software, run but Wikipedia, no less) please, please get in touch! I would do it all myself, but my time is constrained at the moment, but I will eventually do it myself I suppose ;-)\nSome of you may have noticed downtime lately, that\u0026rsquo;s because of the wordpress.com domains add-on is a shambles, at least for dot-eu anyhoo. Support tried to be helpful, and to be fair it was a new feature, but I wasted $10 (about €7.50) for nothing, as I couldn\u0026rsquo;t use dueyfinster.eu with it. Half of it was perhaps my fault, as I couldn\u0026rsquo;t use MX records (for redirecting mail requests) to my GFYD so I tried to add more nameservers, having the first pointing at Wordpress.com and the rest pointing at Google. Needless to say after to-ing and fro-ing I decided to keep my self hosted solution, as it offers total control (such as my own template, javascript, etc.). That is why the site was down, it kept resolving at different locations :-( I got the Macbook back from Mactivate, complete with a new logic board (aka. the PMU I often and painfully referred to in my earlier posts).\nI had a bit of a scare though, as less than two hours after I got it back, the Macbook would only show the LED light when I tryed to power it on. I was worried I\u0026rsquo;d face at least another two weeks away from my laptop! I saw another Apple knowledge base article, describing it could be the RAM unseated. I popped off the battery, only to see the smallest phillips head screws you could imagine. It took me well over a day to find a jewellers screwdriver (luckily a relative of mine had one :-) ). I guess Apple do this, so it is awkward to buy RAM from others. To my hope of all hopes, I popped the RAM out and in, and hey presto it works! I have not had a problem since (fingers crossed). Writing this post from it now by the way\u0026hellip;\u0026hellip;.\n","permalink":"/wiki-goes-live-downtime-and-macbook/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI have a \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki\" title=\"Wikipedia Article on Wiki\"\u003eWiki\u003c/a\u003e for messing about! I haven\u0026rsquo;t found a purpose for\nit\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://wiki.dueyfinster.eu/skins/tango/tango-logo.gif\" alt=\"Duey\nFinsters Logo\"  title=\"Duey\nFinsters Logo\"  /\u003e\n\nyet, but I\u0026rsquo;d like to have it all set up incase one day I turn out to need it\n(maybe for collaboration or something?). If you have any skill at themin'\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.mediawiki.org\" title=\"MediaWiki\"\u003eMediaWiki\u003c/a\u003e (the most popular wiki software, run but \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page\"\u003eWikipedia\u003c/a\u003e, no less)\nplease, please get in touch! I would do it all myself, but my time is\nconstrained at the moment, but I will eventually do it myself I suppose ;-)\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Wiki goes live, downtime and Macbook Back!"},{"content":" Looks like Mactivate got it wrong, it wasn\u0026rsquo;t the heatsink, as referred to by my earlier post. Looks like I have seen good advice from the Web, never buy a first generation Apple product, until they work out the kinks! I guess Mactivate have been snowed under with heatsink problems, that they never bothered to check other parts of my Macbook, since it is such a common problem.They have ordered me a new \u0026ldquo;logic board\u0026rdquo; (I am guessing the PMU like I thought it was ;-) ). In other news Apple released a firmware update for those poor unfortunates that have been suffering Random Shutdown Syndrome (or RSS) for short :-D ). Hopefully I should have it back by this Tuesday (November 7th) plus a new heatsink and logic board\u0026hellip;. fingers crossed anyway!\n","permalink":"/broken-macbook-update-part-ii/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/moria/252792233/\" title=\"Macbook Black\"\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://static.flickr.com/111/252792233_4d87e73e02_m.jpg\" alt=\"Macbook\nBlack\"  title=\"Macbook Black\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLooks like \u003ca href=\"http://www.mactivate.ie/\"\u003eMactivate\u003c/a\u003e got it wrong, it wasn\u0026rsquo;t the\nheatsink, \u003ca href=\"/2006/11/01/macbook-issue-identified.html\"\u003eas referred to by my earlier post\u003c/a\u003e. Looks like I have seen good\nadvice from the Web, never buy a first generation \u003ca href=\"http://www.apple.com/\"\u003eApple\u003c/a\u003e product, until they\nwork out the kinks! I guess Mactivate have been snowed under with heatsink\nproblems, that they never bothered to check other parts of my Macbook, since it\nis such a common problem.They have ordered me a new \u0026ldquo;logic board\u0026rdquo; (I am guessing\nthe \u003ca href=\"http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303319\"\u003ePMU\u003c/a\u003e like I thought it was ;-) ). In other news \u003ca href=\"http://www.macfixit.com/article.php/2006110107475681#\"\u003eApple released a\nfirmware update\u003c/a\u003e for those poor unfortunates that have been suffering Random\nShutdown Syndrome (or \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS_(file_format)\"\u003eRSS\u003c/a\u003e) for short :-D ). Hopefully I should have it back\nby this Tuesday (November 7th) plus a new heatsink and logic board\u0026hellip;. fingers\ncrossed anyway!\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Broken Macbook Update Part II"},{"content":"Turns out my prediction wasn\u0026rsquo;t quite correct, it was not the Power Management Unit (PMU), it was the heatsink. Mactivate have informed me they have one on order from Apple, so it will take a bit longer than I anticipated to get my Macbook back. I found this strange as I had not experienced random shutdowns like the ones that have been widely reported across the web. it was like I described in my earlier post, something to do with the battery not being able to charge. Then again, I am no expert on this and their is wide evidence (over 1600 people have identified heatsink as a problem in their Macbooks) that the heatsink is a definite issue. Sounds like good or bad I will have a lot more to say about Apple Computer in the future, thats why I have decided to add them as a category.\n","permalink":"/macbook-issue-identified/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eTurns out my prediction wasn\u0026rsquo;t quite correct, it was not the Power Management\nUnit (\u003ca href=\"http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303319\"\u003ePMU\u003c/a\u003e), it was the heatsink. \u003ca href=\"http://www.mactivate.ie/\"\u003eMactivate\u003c/a\u003e have informed me they have\none on order from \u003ca href=\"http://www.apple.ie/\"\u003eApple\u003c/a\u003e, so it will take a bit longer than I anticipated to\nget my \u003ca href=\"http://www.apple.com/macbook/macbook.html\"\u003eMacbook\u003c/a\u003e back. I found this strange as I had not experienced random\nshutdowns like the ones that have been widely reported across the web. it was\nlike I described in my earlier post, something to do with the battery not being\nable to charge. Then again, I am no expert on this and their is wide evidence\n(over 1600 people have identified heatsink as a problem in their Macbooks) that\nthe heatsink is a definite issue. Sounds like good or bad I will have a lot more\nto say about Apple Computer in the future, thats why I have decided to add them\nas a category.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Macbook Issue Identified"},{"content":"Reading my favourite tech news site: Slashdot ( /.), I see the Internet Explorer team have sent the Firefox Team a nice cake:\nOne comment I read said it all really:\nSeems even the IE team knows that IE is dead.\nAs for the ex-lax, bugs, pubes in the cake of course none of that is true. Those things would only be possible if someone at Microsoft actually made the cake, and that\u0026rsquo;s not how MS does things. They knew they couldn\u0026rsquo;t make a good cake so they just went out and bought a cake from someone who already knew how to make one and then stuck their logo on it and called it theirs.\nThis is of course just lighthearted banter, but on a serious note, many Internet Explorer developers have Firefox to thank for a job. Microsoft disbanded the Internet Explorer team after version 6 and had no plans to make version 7 until Firefox blazed a trail, irony or what? Here\u0026rsquo;s to many years of competition between Firefox, Internet Explorer (on whatever platform!), Opera, Safari, Konqueror and the rest!\n","permalink":"/internet-explorer-thanks-firefox/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eReading my favourite tech news site: Slashdot ( \u003ca href=\"http://slashdot.org/articles/06/10/26/1238239.shtml\"\u003e/.\u003c/a\u003e), I see the \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/\"\u003eInternet\nExplorer team\u003c/a\u003e have sent the \u003ca href=\"http://getfirefox.com/\"\u003eFirefox Team\u003c/a\u003e a nice cake:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://static.flickr.com/118/278562314_14716c0232.jpg\" alt=\"MS IE Cake for Firefox\n2\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne comment I read said it all really:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSeems even the IE team knows that IE is dead.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs for the ex-lax, bugs, pubes in the cake of course none of that is true.\nThose things would only be possible if someone at Microsoft actually made the\ncake, and that\u0026rsquo;s not how MS does things. They knew they couldn\u0026rsquo;t make a good\ncake so they just went out and bought a cake from someone who already knew how\nto make one and then stuck their logo on it and called it theirs.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Internet Explorer thanks Firefox, sincerely?"},{"content":"Well first of all, there has been some blog updates, inspired no less by my Grandfather! He\u0026rsquo;s at a fragile old age, so he can\u0026rsquo;t read the screen all too well. This is not a problem however, as he sets all fonts to 16 and higher in Firefox (which is out of beta and into version 2.0!). That got me thinking, as I really struggled to read this page being marginally away from the screen, as I am a [Keratoconus][] sufferer. As a result, I have enlarged all fonts in my blog, in an effort to make them more readable\u0026hellip; I encourage everyone to do the same, or at least follow the [web standards][] so that it can be properly auto resized by browsers.\nAlso I have updated my Calendar for well into 2007! All the dates I can forsee have been duly added and accounted for. Please consult to it and collaborate (if you have a google account, you can add appointments, invite me to yours etc.) I use it all the time (especially as I have [iSync][]), which syncs it to my Nokia 6021) and iPod through iTunes) Google now sends me an SMS (although it costs standard rate [13c per message for me] :-( ) two days before every appointment as a friendly reminder.\nAs the title reads, my Macbook was well and truly borked, well at least the charging function is. I rang Apple, which were more helpful than I expected. They offered to send me a replacement charger, which I offered to take, but the operator agreed with my assesment that it was the [Power Management Unit][], and that another AC adaptor would not cut it. I have since taken it to an Apple service center, called Mactivate. Also just a quick footnote, but I recently read of spammers hiring people in the third wirld to read [capthcas][] (like ones I use) and post spam. It seems I may have been affected by this, luckily it was still filtered by akismet!! muhahahahaha\n[capthcas]: http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captcha) [Power Management Unit]: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303319 [Keratoconus]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keratoconus [web standards]: http://www.w3c.org/ [SMS]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_message_service [iSync]: http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/isync/\n","permalink":"/blog-updates-calendar-updates-broken/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eWell first of all, there has been some blog updates, inspired no less by my\nGrandfather! He\u0026rsquo;s at a fragile old age, so he can\u0026rsquo;t read the screen all too\nwell. This is not a problem however, as he sets all fonts to 16 and higher in\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.getfirefox.com/\"\u003eFirefox\u003c/a\u003e (which is out of beta and into version 2.0!). That got me thinking,\nas I really struggled to read this page being marginally away from the screen,\nas I am a [Keratoconus][] sufferer. As a result, I have enlarged all fonts in my\nblog, in an effort to make them more readable\u0026hellip; I encourage everyone to do the\nsame, or at least follow the [web standards][] so that it can be properly auto resized\nby browsers.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Blog Updates, Calendar Updates, broken Macbook"},{"content":"This Ladies and Gents, needs no introduction, for you all know George W. \u0026ldquo;Dubya\u0026rdquo; Bush. What you may not know is the Daily Show, which is a popular news satire show in the US. If you have time I recommend you have a look on YouTube for more videos\u0026hellip;\n","permalink":"/best-bush-satire-ever/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eThis Ladies and Gents, needs no introduction, for you all know George W. \u0026ldquo;Dubya\u0026rdquo;\nBush. What you may not know is the Daily Show, which is a popular news satire\nshow in the US. If you have time I recommend you have a look on YouTube for more\nvideos\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Best Bush Satire, Ever."},{"content":"I haven\u0026rsquo;t posted in a while :-( Ah well here it goes: Well we\u0026rsquo;ve all seen the news Google has bought YouTube for a reported 1.65 Billion US dollars, the deal was reportedly sealed at at Dennys in California (gotta admire that style and sophistication). I think its way overvalued Youtube, at 24m per employee! We all know it serves 100m videos a day, but it has been living off measly venture capital and hasn\u0026rsquo;t got a verifiable steady income stream, which I guess is where Google enter with Adwords\u0026hellip;.\nGtalk has now opened up to everyone with an email address, this is great news for Jabber. While yourname@jabber.org was okay, people prefer to have one unified address (well I do) for email and instant messaging. Also comes news of deal with Skype, and old news of AOL joining their IM services with Google Talk. This is great for the Jabber Platform, and should halp fight competition from the recent Yahoo-MSN messenger tie up, hooray for open standards!\nI am seriously thinking of moving this blog to blogger, and migrating from (the wonderful) wordpress. I want to do this of reasons of cost (for one, I pay hosting) and I want to trial hosting it myself, with Blogger as a backup. I don\u0026rsquo;t think I will ever get slashdotted now, but it always helps to have as robust of a network as Google does behind you. That is the reason I use Google hosted, it is reliable and dependable , not to mention feature-rich.\nI would also like to quickly metion Firefox 2, which is in beta stage at the moment. I am writing the blog post on my MacBook through it, and the spell checker is smething quite special (It has a red line under that purposeful spelling error as I type, rather useful!). Anyways, I hope to post more often and soon\u0026hellip;\u0026hellip;\u0026hellip;\u0026hellip;..\n","permalink":"/google-buy-youtube-gtalk-for-everyone/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI haven\u0026rsquo;t posted in a while :-( Ah well here it goes: Well we\u0026rsquo;ve all seen the\nnews Google has bought YouTube for a reported 1.65 Billion US dollars, the deal\nwas reportedly sealed at at Dennys in California (gotta admire that style and\nsophistication). I think its way overvalued Youtube, at 24m per employee! We all\nknow it serves 100m videos a day, but it has been living off measly venture\ncapital and hasn\u0026rsquo;t got a verifiable steady income stream, which I guess is where\nGoogle enter with Adwords\u0026hellip;.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Google buy YouTube, GTalk for everyone and Blogger Bliss"},{"content":"I have ordered and I am expecting delivery of my brand new Apple MacBook (or BlackBook as some call it)! It will be a Black, 2Ghz Core Duo, 1 GB RAM, 120 GB HDD (5400 RPM) MacBook, complete with a remote, Bluetooth 2 and Wifi functionality. Not mention cool applications such as iSight built in Camera, Front Row ( a media center) and Spotlight search technology. It cost me close to €2.000, so hopefully it will be worth it ;-)\nI have also joined, for a month, a commercial darknet. Don\u0026rsquo;t know what that is? It is basically me paying for an extra layer of security, 128-bit encryption to a Swedish Internet service provider. Why? Well that means that if my ISP ever got a court order from a company, they would not have any records on me, since it will be encrypted, leaving them with no trace of what I have been upto. Don\u0026rsquo;t get me wrong I am a totally law abiding person, and the law says I have a right to privacy. I am just enforcing that right, in case my ISP was collecting anything (BT is my ISP), like my passwords. I also share my connection through my FON router, so as I will be using VPN encrypted network, I can prove 100% it wasn\u0026rsquo;t me who abused my internet connection, clearing me of liability. Ars Technica has an interesting article on the matter. That said, I have heard little of file sharing implications in Irish Law.\nAlso, I am one of the newest members of the FON community Wifi project. What the hell is this I hear you ask? Basically you share your internet connection, either for free (like I do)or for a small fee to others. If you share yours for free, you get free access to other FON routers worldwide. If however you \u0026ldquo;milk your wifi\u0026rdquo; (aka. make people pay) you hve to pay to use other foneros[sic] routers.\nI see Leaving Cert results are out today! I am not looking forward to the year ahead, my last year of secondary school, 6th Year. I will be sitting the Leaving Cert next June, and well to say its no easy task to do well would be an understatement! I do Physics, German, Engineering, Irish, English, Maths, Geography which all will be tested! I wish everyone who has done it, the very best of luck this year, and I hope they all get the results they want. Each of your six best subjects is picked, all weighted on points and automatically submitted to the Central Applications office which holds a list of predetermined points on courses in registered institutions. Based on the availabilty (read \u0026ldquo;supply and demand\u0026rdquo;) is whether you get the course, as points fluctuate. They have rounds of offers, until all places are filled. No idea what I want to do, but I am looking in the sub \u0026lt;350 points range, shouldn\u0026rsquo;t be too hard to achieve!\n","permalink":"/macbook-update-fonero-haven-commercial/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI have ordered and I am expecting delivery of my brand new Apple MacBook (or\nBlackBook as some call it)! It will be a Black, 2Ghz Core Duo, 1 GB RAM, 120 GB\nHDD (5400 RPM) MacBook, complete with a remote, Bluetooth 2 and Wifi\nfunctionality. Not mention cool applications such as iSight built in Camera,\nFront Row ( a media center) and Spotlight search technology. It cost me close to\n€2.000, so hopefully it will be worth it ;-)\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Macbook Update, Fonero Haven, Commercial Darknet and College!"},{"content":"I feel I need to confess why I am buying a MacBook, have I turned soft to my Open Source/Free Software ways? No, definately 100% NOT. I’ll explain why: I think Apple Computer has an incredible product in Mac OSx. For anyone who has not used it before, pop into a 3G store and ask to have a go. When someone releases a good a product as that, they deserve money, in my opinion. Under “the” free software license (GNU General Public License) it is permissable for anyone to charge for software licensed under it, as long as an offer of source code is given (for 3 years afterwards). Deep down I love Ubuntu, and I will install it as soon as possible when they release a version for the Intel powered Apple computers. In fact I will use my Laptop to showcase Ubuntu you had of told me November last year I’d spend well over €1,000 on an Apple Computer, I would have told you that I hated Apple, and would never consider it! What has changed my mind? I got a iPod Nano for Christmas ‘05 and thought it was great, but the Nano on its own still wouldn’t convince me to get a Mac.\nI was always going to buy a laptop this year, but the turning point was me using Mac OSX on a computer in work, that sold it itself. Don’t get me wrong, I still despise Apple for their copy protection (why can’t I play songs I bought on non-Apple mp3 players? Its Anti- competitive!) on songs bought on iTunes, but I feel this was forced by the record companies, it just had a nice side affect for Apple to lock people to iPods. Mac OS X is built on top of Open Source, partly the reason for it being so good! So in reality, instead of me paying for lets say RedHat, Suse or Linspire (all Linux) with proprietary drivers and an open source kernel, I am buying into Mac OS X which also has an open source kernel, but with more proprietary applications. Also I have Ubuntu on my two desktops, my Nokia 770 runs Linux and I do not use Windows whatsoever. So I am still as big of a Free and Open Source FanBoi as I ever was, perhaps even more, hey your talking to a guy who plays Ogg Vorbis on his rockboxed iPod!\n","permalink":"/feel-i-need-to-confess-why-i-am-buying/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI feel I need to confess why I am buying a \u003ca href=\"http://www.apple.com/uk/macbook/macbook.html\" title=\"MacBook\"\u003eMacBook\u003c/a\u003e, have I turned soft to my\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.opensource.org/\" title=\"Open Source\"\u003eOpen Source\u003c/a\u003e/\u003ca href=\"http://www.fsf.org/\" title=\"Free Software Foundation\"\u003eFree Software\u003c/a\u003e ways? No, definately 100% NOT. I’ll explain\nwhy: I think Apple Computer has an incredible product in Mac OSx. For anyone who\nhas not used it before, pop into a 3G store and ask to have a go. When someone releases\na good a product as that, they deserve money, in my opinion. Under “the” free software\nlicense (\u003ca href=\"http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.txt\" title=\"GNU General Public License\"\u003eGNU General Public License\u003c/a\u003e) it is permissable for anyone to charge\nfor software licensed under it, as long as an offer of source code is given (for\n3 years afterwards). Deep down I love \u003ca href=\"http://www.ubuntulinux.org/\" title=\"Ubuntu Linux\"\u003eUbuntu\u003c/a\u003e, and I will install it as soon\nas possible when they release a version for the Intel powered Apple computers.\nIn fact I will use my Laptop to showcase Ubuntu you had of told me November last\nyear I’d spend well over €1,000 on an \u003ca href=\"http://www.apple.com/\" title=\"Apple Computer\"\u003eApple Computer\u003c/a\u003e, I would have told you that\nI hated Apple, and would never consider it! What has changed my mind? I got a iPod\nNano for Christmas ‘05 and thought it was great, but the Nano on its own still wouldn’t\nconvince me to get a Mac.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Why I am getting an Apple MacBook"},{"content":"I am writing this because, I regret to say, the stupidity of humanity. People nowadays define their own law on the Web and the Internet (don’t know the difference, you should), while disregarding real life. Maybe its a lack of understanding about technology or law, I don’t know. One things for sure, common sense can go a long way. Take for example this website on the Commitments, which prohibits linking from unauthorised sites! You see? I just broke the law right there, amazing dontcha think? The person who designed or put the statement up, is a total complete and utter idiot, and I don’t care if thats considered slander! Imagine if every site was to do this? Search engines would be just another litagation filled business, like so many other. With Lawyers reviewing every site to go into the database, Google would have a handful, maybe a 100 sites, instead of the usual billions it indexes.\nThis stupidity isn’t only defined to obscure bands from movies, it also happens at Reuters, the big multinational news site. In their conditions, it says you may not cache any part of the story on their website. For those not in the know, caching is storing a site temporarily (usually) for viewing later, or to increase load times on often visited webpages (eg. Googles Logo). Only one problem with this: every browser for more than a decade has done just this, are we all breaking the law? Also Google, Yahoo! and MSN have vast caches of sites, incase it is temporarily down while you visit.\nMy point is this: When people claim to know about Law and/or the interweb, please check facts first, and be very careful while doing so. Just because the internet “technically” has no law (standardised one anyway), doesn’t mean black is the new white, quote sources, state laws and reasearch wether your mumbo jumbo violates their rights, also state which country your site is hosted and where complaints can be made. This should be standard practice! /endrant\n","permalink":"/law-and-interweb/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI am writing this because, I regret to say, the stupidity of humanity. People\nnowadays define their own law on the Web and the Internet (don’t know the\ndifference, you should), while disregarding real life. Maybe its a lack of\nunderstanding about technology or law, I don’t know. One things for sure, common\nsense can go a long way. \u003ca href=\"http://www.thecommitments.net/\" title=\"The Commitments Official Website\"\u003eTake for example this website on the\nCommitments\u003c/a\u003e, which prohibits linking from unauthorised sites! You\nsee? I just broke the law right there, amazing dontcha think? The person who\ndesigned or put the statement up, is a total complete and utter idiot, and I\ndon’t care if thats considered slander! Imagine if every site was to do this?\nSearch engines would be just another litagation filled business, like so many\nother. With Lawyers reviewing every site to go into the database, Google would\nhave a handful, maybe a 100 sites, instead of the usual billions it indexes.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Law and the Interweb"},{"content":"Hope you like the new look Duey Finsters. Like Google style hoo-pah, we are still in “Beta” mode (or is it “Alpha”? Depends on who you ask!). I would be extremely grateful for people to report issues, with the folloxing browsers IE 5.5, 6 \u0026amp; 7, Opera 9, Firefox 1.5.X , Mozilla 1.X , Safari on all platforms Windows, Linux and Mac (BSD if you want!). Great news also in ranking, the site has gone from 8.5 millionth, to just under 4 million (#3,945,836 to be exact) in three and a half months! I am working on releasing the design to OSWD and in Wordpress theme format, for others to extend and enjoy (If you feel like helping out, contact me).\nThe latest Nokia 2006 tablet edition has just been released , I have yet to Flash my device, but I hope its good. The Beta lived up to its name, it was buggy. It has only been just over a month since that release, so I hope they fixed vast majority of the bugs, but to me it seems its rushed. This would go against Nokia’s ethos of quality software (you only have to look at Symbian, rock solid).\nSpeaking of Beta’s, I got Gmail hosted recently. It is not much different than normal Gmail, in fact it lags behind in the feature list of actual Gmail. For one it does not use pictures of contacts and is not linked to a Google account. I suspect that is intentional, to woo customers knowing that they won’t be fiddling with Googles latest toy. I had Spreadsheets on my Gmail account, but on hosted I could not use it, as I did not have a “Gmail” account. Same thing when I tryed Picasa Photo Albums.\nI recently came across a fascinating website, one called YouOS ( www.youos.com). It is a virtual desktop which is 100% online. Although, it is the first of its kind, so don’t expect everything. Its features are impressive for the limitations of a website and it takes on a familiar look, that in the form of the GNOME Desktop. Check it out if you have time!\n","permalink":"/new-design-ranking-gmail-hosted-os-2006/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eHope you like the new look Duey Finsters. Like Google style hoo-pah, we are\nstill in “Beta” mode (or is it “Alpha”? Depends on who you ask!). I would be\nextremely grateful for people to report issues, with the folloxing browsers IE\n5.5, 6 \u0026amp; 7, Opera 9, Firefox 1.5.X , Mozilla 1.X , Safari on all platforms\nWindows, Linux and Mac (BSD if you want!). Great news also in ranking, the site\nhas gone from 8.5 millionth, to just under 4 million (#3,945,836 to be exact)\nin three and a half months! I am working on releasing the design to \u003ca href=\"http://www.oswd.org/\"\u003eOSWD\u003c/a\u003e and\nin Wordpress theme format, for others to extend and enjoy (If you feel like\nhelping out, contact me).\u003c/p\u003e","title":"New Design, Ranking, Gmail Hosted, OS 2006 Finale and YouOS"},{"content":"This is my letter to U.S. Dept. of Commerce, stating what I believe should happen to the Internet. Fell free to email your opinions to them directly: ** DNSTransition@ntia.doc.gov**. As a net citizen, get your voice heard on the most important public debate of our times! Dear Sir/Madam, I, as a citizen of Ireland and the EU, think with respect, the Internet should have a world governing body, fairly appointed by each country who has more than 30% of their respective populations online. For those under 30% they should get to have a sub-committee, to prioritise and promote the Internet in their countries. I think while although ICANN has generally not been a bad governing body, vast improvements can be made, such as not allowing pressure from companies to increase domain prices, when the cost of providing them has come down dramatically over the past few years. I do recognise, that the Internet was partially created with the help of U.S. government funding, but this comes from the people of America, who would want the Internet to be a force for change, like for example, the way it is helping Chinese dissidents.Also, as with all US government generated ideas, it is free from patent and copyright which applies worldwide, such as NASA images, for example. This should be true of the Internet also, as it is with GPS (which I use regularly, Thanks for that!). I am not a whole believer in the U.N. however, I think the Internet governing body should be free form all Government and International organisational pressures (but not those that seek to limit abuse, such as child pornography, obviously). I thank you for offering a public debate on this issue and I sincerely hope the outcome will be of benefit to everyone living on earth.\nThank you,\nNeil Grogan\n","permalink":"/my-letter-to-us-dept-of-commerce-re/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eThis is my letter to U.S. Dept. of Commerce, stating what I believe should\nhappen to the Internet. Fell free to email your opinions to them directly: **\n\u003ca href=\"DNSTransition@ntia.doc.gov\"\u003eDNSTransition@ntia.doc.gov\u003c/a\u003e**. As a net citizen, get your voice heard on the\nmost important public debate of our times! Dear Sir/Madam, I, as a citizen of\nIreland and the EU, think with respect, the Internet should have a world\ngoverning body, fairly appointed by each country who has more than 30% of their\nrespective populations online. For those under 30% they should get to have a\nsub-committee, to prioritise and promote the Internet in their countries. I\nthink while although ICANN has generally not been a bad governing body, vast\nimprovements can be made, such as not allowing pressure from companies to\nincrease domain prices, when the cost of providing them has come down\ndramatically over the past few years. I do recognise, that the Internet was\npartially created with the help of U.S. government funding, but this comes from\nthe people of America, who would want the Internet to be a force for change,\nlike for example, the way it is helping Chinese dissidents.Also, as with all US\ngovernment generated ideas, it is free from patent and copyright which applies\nworldwide, such as NASA images, for example. This should be true of the Internet\nalso, as it is with GPS (which I use regularly, Thanks for that!). I am not a\nwhole believer in the U.N. however, I think the Internet governing body should\nbe free form all Government and International organisational pressures (but not\nthose that seek to limit abuse, such as child pornography, obviously). I thank\nyou for offering a public debate on this issue and I sincerely hope the outcome\nwill be of benefit to everyone living on earth.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"My Letter to U.S. Dept of Commerce, RE: The Future of the Internet"},{"content":"I recently found a great documentary, about 9/11, entitled Loose Change 9/11][]. It is easily the most powerful about the event, much more so than Fahrenheit 9/11. In fact I would even argue, that if this documentary had of aired during the U.S. presedential election, I would have bet on a different result. Backed up by trusted resources such as the BBC which confirmed at least 8 of the 19 highjackers are alive and well. Filled with outrageous facts, it sets the scene for either a highly competent Bush regime that new what it was doing, or the worst domestic tragedy that happend under maladministration. Either way the American people have serious questions to ask, which I hope in time will get the aired in time. Maybe George W. is taking a leaf out of Charlie Haugheys book? That is that corruption can be a force for the good of the public, and my rich friends?\nAlso I would like to unreservedly apologize that this site has been down for so long. The thing is my ex-hosting provider, which I won’t even honor with a link, was an incompetent mess. I have now moved to an Irish company, Hosting365.ie, which gives me freephone support all for a little extra money. Also their premises is in Dublin, which means I can call in at any time and I get the protection of Irish Law (even though we know its a mess [e.g. Mr.A child abuser being set free], I still think we have an alright civil liberties protection, even though I know nothing about law, so I am most likely misguided, anyhoo!) of course not without paying the 21% VAT, which needs to be lowered might I add.\nThis isn’t my usual tech babble I know, but I’ll end this post with the news that I am BETA testing the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet Edition 2006 [maemo.org]. It rocks so hard, I can’t even begin to say\u0026hellip; First of theirs GoogleTalk built in, with support for SIP (might be from Gizmo). Notwithstanding that, their are cool native applications such as MaemoPad Plus [Sketch/Notes] and MaemoMapper [GPS+ Google Maps]. Somehow they have squeezed more battery life out of this gadget, and now you can create a swap on the memory card, meaning its, I’d say (pure speculation, obviously) 80% more efficient. Warning to people who actually use the 770 for important stuff, don’t upgrade until Nokia has released it, as it is very buggy, with applications crashing [somewhat] alot. Wait until all of us in the know, report those pesky bugs! But a real geek can see through the flaws and see the Nokia 770 for what it is, a truly cool Internet tool.\n","permalink":"/questions-hosting-and-it-2006/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI recently found a great documentary, about 9/11, entitled Loose Change 9/11][].\nIt is easily the most powerful about the event, much more so than Fahrenheit\n9/11. In fact I would even argue, that if this documentary had of aired during\nthe U.S. presedential election, I would have bet on a different result. Backed\nup by trusted resources such as the \u003ca href=\"http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1559151.stm\" title=\"BBC which confirmed at least 8 of the 19 highjackers are alive and well\"\u003eBBC which confirmed at least 8 of the 19\nhighjackers are alive and well\u003c/a\u003e. Filled with outrageous facts, it sets the\nscene for either a highly competent Bush regime that new what it was doing, or\nthe worst domestic tragedy that happend under maladministration. Either way the\nAmerican people have serious questions to ask, which I hope in time will get the\naired in time. Maybe George W. is taking a leaf out of Charlie Haugheys book?\nThat is that corruption can be a force for the good of the public, and my rich\nfriends?\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Questions, Hosting and IT 2006!"},{"content":"I regularly read other Irish blogs to see whats happening and whats the latest tech thing amongst others. It seems that may have come to fruition, with FON, a community wifi project, sending me out a free router!! I am exicted about this, as I hope to convince all my neighbours eventually to get it, and maybe who knows, I may even achieve the biggest fon hotspot, if I take my campaign estate wide, to neighbours all around! I want to “eat my own dog food” as they say, so I will wait until I have recieved and used my router before I recommend it to non-technical people. I have read of long delays on FON’s forums, so I expect iot should be here within two to three weeks, maybe a little longer. Also it comes with a european plug, not a Irish/British one, which is a bit of a disappointment that I will have to root out the screwdriver to make it fit!!!\nAlso, I was recently employed by the Irish National Lottery contractors, GTECH Ireland Operations, part of GTECH Corporation (who trade as GTK on New York Stock Exchange). It was voted one of the fifty best places to work last year. I am very exicited at the prospect, as I will gain many insights on the life of working. They own a number of franchise lotterys around the world, including the United Kingdom, Portugal and Spain. I also, as part of my new job, join the Dublin commute. Iarnrod Eireann, while after coming on in recent years is a fine company, I still believe it has a long way to go. The lack of a cheap, clean and friendly transport system does hurt Dublin in terms of tourism and business, of that I have no doubt. I was recently in Rome, which you get 75 minutes unlimited travel on the bus, plus one metro journey, all for, get this, €1! Yes you read that correctly €1! Why can’t we do this? I think we can, but we need an integrated transport system first. How come after all these years you still cannot get a ticket for Bus, Train and Luas in one? Thats what baffles me the most, and it could make a huge difference, one ticket!\n","permalink":"/fon-new-job-and-commuting/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI regularly read other Irish blogs to see whats happening and whats the latest\ntech thing amongst others. It seems that may have come to fruition, with FON, a\ncommunity wifi project, sending me out a free router!! I am exicted about this,\nas I hope to convince all my neighbours eventually to get it, and maybe who\nknows, I may even achieve the biggest fon hotspot, if I take my campaign estate\nwide, to neighbours all around! I want to “eat my own dog food” as they say, so\nI will wait until I have recieved and used my router before I recommend it to\nnon-technical people. I have read of long delays on FON’s forums, so I expect\niot should be here within two to three weeks, maybe a little longer. Also it\ncomes with a european plug, not a Irish/British one, which is a bit of a\ndisappointment that I will have to root out the screwdriver to make it fit!!!\u003c/p\u003e","title":"FON, New Job and Commuting!"},{"content":" In Ireland we, like the rest of the world, have though questions to answer. Ireland being an island economy, is especially reliant on oil, none of which we produce. I was surprised earlier this week to hear one of George W. Bush’s top aides, saying that the U.S. needs to lose dependence on foreign oil and research alternatives. I was never more shocked, to hear Bush’s change of heart, from using improved technology, to one of his aides saying they need to use less oil. Part of me was angry, as he defiantly rejected Kyoto agreement, when the United States produces 25+% of all greenhouse gases.\nSo we get to the question of Nuclear power, which has been controversial in Ireland, but not continental Europe for years. We all know about Chernobyl, and its harrowing effects on the world. But we also cannot cut off our hand to spite our face, should we ban footballs because they hurt people? or Cars because people get killed? The reality is, Cars have killed more people throughout history, than all nuclear incidents combined (50,000 every year in the U.S. alone). The reality is also this, within 100 miles of Dublin (Ireland’s Capital), there at least 10 nuclear plants, within 1,000 miles, this rises to over 100 nuclear plants. France generates over 70% of its power through Nuclear power, whilst the U.K. generates 25%. We cannot produce enough power in Ireland, so we buy power from the United Kingdom, being in direct benefit of that 25%.\nEverybody I have spoken to, around my age, have nearly all said the exact same thing, we will have to use nuclear power, whether we like it or not. If one of those plants were to suffer a meltdown, it is unavoidable that we will suffer, so why not benefit from Nuclear power while we can? People will bring up Chernobyl, but the fact is, plants like Chernobyl are old soviet technology, which is no longer used and was designed when we were naive about nuclar power. Also radiation effects are most damging to humans, whilst animals are starting to return to Chernobyl. The Ukraine is commissioning more and more nuclear plants, and it was one of the worst affected areas of the whole disaster. Nuclear Power : We cannot afford to live without it, even one of the founders of Greenpeace, one of the most militant enviromentalist groups, now accepts this. The Internet literally buzzes with Nuclear news and developments, compared to renewables.\n","permalink":"/nuclear-or-nothing/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://static.flickr.com/56/138071833_708a52b884.jpg\" alt=\"Nuclear Shelter\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn Ireland we, like the rest of the world, have though questions to answer.\nIreland being an island economy, is especially reliant on oil, none of which we\nproduce. I was surprised earlier this week to hear one of George W. Bush’s top\naides, saying that the U.S. needs to lose dependence on foreign oil and research\nalternatives. I was never more shocked, to hear Bush’s change of heart, from\nusing improved technology, to one of his aides saying they need to use less oil.\nPart of me was angry, as he defiantly rejected Kyoto agreement, when the United\nStates produces 25+% of all greenhouse gases.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Nuclear or Nothing?"},{"content":"Even while podcasts are relatively new (well a couple of years - like blogs), Irish Radio Stations are surprisingly well in on the act. Even our incumbent state broadcaster, RTE, is podcasting en-masse on both RTE Radio 1 and RTE 2FM. To recieve podcasts, you need podcasting software, start by getting Juice Reciever(Formerly iPodder), available for Linux, BSD, MAC and Windows. I will start with my top 5 Irish Radio podcasts:\nMatt Cooper’s The Last Word, Today FM The Weekly Ryan, Gerry Ryan, RTE 2FM Breakfast Show with Eamon Dunphy, NewsTalk 106 (Dublin-Based) The Saturday Show, RTE 2FM The Tubridy Show, RTE Radio 1 Now for my Top Technology Related Podcasts:\nLug Radio BBC Digital Planet Diggnation Most importantly, all of the above are free, some even are advertising free (Lug Radio, Digital Planet, Ryan Weekly).This is not a definitive list, only a select few popular ones that I myself listen to. If you want to suggest more, go ahead, tell me whats the best podcasts in your area, I would be interested to know! In the meantime, hours of listening lies ahead of you, mp3 players at the ready. Also almost all are update continually, so more to listen to every day!\n","permalink":"/best-radio-podcasts/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eEven while podcasts are relatively new (well a couple of years - like blogs),\nIrish Radio Stations are surprisingly well in on the act. Even our incumbent\nstate broadcaster, RTE, is podcasting en-masse on both RTE Radio 1 and RTE 2FM.\nTo recieve podcasts, you need podcasting software, start by getting\n\u003ca href=\"http://juicereceiver.sourceforge.net/index.php\"\u003eJuice Reciever\u003c/a\u003e(Formerly\niPodder), available for Linux, BSD, MAC and Windows. I will start with my top 5\nIrish Radio podcasts:\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Best Radio Podcasts"},{"content":" Spam has become a fact of life nowadays, but is their anything we can do to stop it? The answers boils down to no, we can’t. If we make it illegal, the spamsters move abroad or go underground, as we have seen in the United States. People have been prosecuted, but again this does not deter people. Spamhaus have a novel idea, by trusting domains on reputation, based on spam reports. But this has one fatal flaw, it involves people reporting spam.\nThe situation is not as bad if you use Gmail, that is Google Mail. For over a year and a half,I got spam, but it was properly sorted and easily deletable. Before that I used Yahoo Mail, which like Hotmail before that, would mark items I wanted as spam, which is never acceptable. I am not saying Gmail is perfect, as I have recieved 3 spam messages into my inbox (thats 3 out of well over 3000 emails, so a tiny percentage, .3). What can we do to deter people from spamming us? I believe awarness is the key. Google, Yahoo and all major web companies should advertise a charity set up to inform people on spam, phising and the like. Have a nice flash guide on how to spot fraudulent behaviour! Why should these companies do this? Because it will save them money, if spammers get the message!\n","permalink":"/spam-will-it-ever-stop/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://static.flickr.com/54/136808455_58aae5f13d_t.jpg\" alt=\"CAN Spam\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSpam has become a fact of life nowadays, but is their anything we can do to stop\nit? The answers boils down to no, we can’t. If we make it illegal, the spamsters\nmove abroad or go underground, as we have seen in the United States. People have\nbeen prosecuted, but again this does not deter people. Spamhaus have a novel\nidea, by trusting domains on reputation, based on spam reports. But this has one\nfatal flaw, it involves people reporting spam.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Spam, will it ever stop?"},{"content":"Google have released a calendar, as part of their mission to “Organise the Worlds Information”. While it is what you expect from Google, the Calendar did not impress me a whole lot. It does have an intuitive interface, that is easy to use. It does integrate with Gmail, although the full extent has yet to be seen, as they fall short of mentioning it in Gmail at all, but I would expect this to change. I see great potential for users though, and where Google is heading. They will eventually integrate it with GoogleTalk and Gmail, producing a hybrid interface where you can organise a conference on GoogleTalk, schedule it on your calendar (which is syncronised with your PC and your workgroup server [therby informing fellow employees]), submit video of it to Google Video, write minutes with writely, email minutes with Gmail, that mail (with document and video) being attached to the meeting on the Calendar, which is in turn archived on your PC in Google Desktop and your Gmail Drive. While that is only one scenario, it is very possible. Google have already leaked information on their eagerness to hold the entire contents of ones\u0026rsquo; hard drive on the internet.\nThis of course leads to privacy fears, will the U.S. or Chinese governments have access to literally anything on your computer? The Electronic Frontier Foundation is an online rights advocacy group, and they recently discouraged people from downloading the latest Google Desktop, due to the fact it will backup your information online for 30 days. You can exclude folders and files from Google Desktops index, but this is a manual process. So where will the future lie, and how far will Google go to get the most relevent results? Who knows, but one thing is for sure, with their increase in market share at expense of MSN and Yahoo, Google is here to stay.\n","permalink":"/google-will-organise-your-life/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eGoogle have released a calendar, as part of their mission to “Organise the\nWorlds Information”. While it is what you expect from Google, the Calendar did\nnot impress me a whole lot. It does have an intuitive interface, that is easy to\nuse. It does integrate with Gmail, although the full extent has yet to be seen,\nas they fall short of mentioning it in Gmail at all, but I would expect this to\nchange. I see great potential for users though, and where Google is heading.\nThey will eventually integrate it with GoogleTalk and Gmail, producing a hybrid\ninterface where you can organise a conference on GoogleTalk, schedule it on your\ncalendar (which is syncronised with your PC and your workgroup server [therby\ninforming fellow employees]), submit video of it to Google Video, write minutes with\nwritely, email minutes with Gmail, that mail (with document and video) being attached\nto the meeting on the Calendar, which is in turn archived on your PC in Google Desktop\nand your Gmail Drive. While that is only one scenario, it is very possible. Google\nhave already leaked information on their eagerness to hold the entire contents of\nones\u0026rsquo; hard drive on the internet.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Google will organise your life"},{"content":"I am all for open standards, but they face huge problems. Not least is lack of intergration between them. Take SIP used by VOIP providers, such as OpenWengo. While OpenWengo is open source, and it is SIP, they are not helpful in informing you how to use other clients, or dial other OpenWengo users from other networks.\nWhat I am really talking about is the need for an all-in-one communications program, that is multi-platform. Their is already open source code for: Google Talk (aka Jabber), MSN, AOL, ICQ, SIP, H.323, Yahoo! but why isn’t their an all-in-one client? Surely it would be easy to reimplement some code from other programs into Ekiga (SIP, H.323) , Kopete or Gaim (both Jabber, MSN, Yahoo, AOL and ICQ)? I know GoogleTalk is based on SIP, so why not SIP compatability? That is poor implementation which is fragmenting the Open Source community, how are we going to challenge MSN’s userbase with this sort of fragmentation? That said I like Google Talk and its way of doing things. Also it is rumoured GoogleTalk will be interoperable with AOL at protocol level, since Google owns 5% of AOL.\nThis is also a factor across open standards, such as Ogg Vorbis, the open alternative to MP3. Rather than people developing a kernel to run Matrix backgrounds on an iPod, why not develop an Ogg Vorbis decoder? That way nearly 80% of the digital music player market could possibly play Ogg Vorbis, rather than the current selection of a few iRivers, less than 1%. If Open Source is serious about the desktop and its formats, we have to work together and stop forking our efforts! Good news is it is getting there all the time, albeit too slow for most of us!\n","permalink":"/ekigas-vorbis/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI am all for open standards, but they face huge problems. Not least is lack of\nintergration between them. Take SIP used by VOIP providers, such as\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.wengo.com/\"\u003eOpenWengo\u003c/a\u003e. While OpenWengo is open source, and it is SIP, they are not\nhelpful in informing you how to use other clients, or dial other OpenWengo users\nfrom other networks.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat I am really talking about is the need for an all-in-one communications\nprogram, that is multi-platform. Their is already open source code for: Google\nTalk (aka Jabber), MSN, AOL, ICQ, SIP, H.323, Yahoo! but why isn’t their an\nall-in-one client? Surely it would be easy to reimplement some code from other\nprograms into Ekiga (SIP, H.323) , Kopete or Gaim (both Jabber, MSN, Yahoo, AOL\nand ICQ)? I know GoogleTalk is based on SIP, so why not SIP compatability? That\nis poor implementation which is fragmenting the Open Source community, how are\nwe going to challenge MSN’s userbase with this sort of fragmentation? That said\nI like Google Talk and its way of doing things. Also it is rumoured GoogleTalk\nwill be interoperable with AOL at protocol level, since Google owns 5% of AOL.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Ekiga's Vorbis"},{"content":"As tech savvy readers will be aware, dot EU is the latest domain to go into public use. What is a domain? A domain is the name used for internet site like \u0026ldquo;dueyfinster.eu\u0026rdquo;. It has already sold over 1.25 million names already, this entering the third day of the public sale. Their have been bitter critics of how it has dealt out, with heated arguments over some domains such as Polo.eu, which was claimed by no less than 3 entities: Volkswagen, Ralph Lauren and Nestle. Volkswagen won out eventually, all because they got their application in first.\nWhy is it important? Well I think it is, not only because I own one, but because it creates a Europe wide identity, suitable for individuals and companies. I think personally, it wasn’t handled the best way possible, with all major companies not having control of their domains by Landrush period (Landrush is the public sale). It will be months for PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Belgium to sift through all documents companies have submitted. Surpisingly, United Kingdom has registered the most domain names and is one of the most Eurosceptic countries, while France have only slightly registered more than other smaller countries such as Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands.\nTheir is also speculation that Swiss and Norweigan companies may miss out, as they are not part of the European Union (EU). Maybe this explains why Nestle weren’t so lucky registering Polo.eu? I don’t know, but I hope this domain brings new meaning to European citizenship, and makes us all proud to be part of the largest trading block in the world.\n","permalink":"/europes-new-voice/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eAs tech savvy readers will be aware, dot EU is the latest domain to go into\npublic use. What is a domain? A domain is the name used for internet site like\n\u0026ldquo;dueyfinster.eu\u0026rdquo;. It has already sold over 1.25 million names already, this\nentering the third day of the public sale. Their have been bitter critics of how\nit has dealt out, with heated arguments over some domains such as Polo.eu, which\nwas claimed by no less than 3 entities: Volkswagen, Ralph Lauren and Nestle.\nVolkswagen won out eventually, all because they got their application in first.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Europe's New Voice"},{"content":" Do you say Baybo or Beebo? Do you have a clue what I am on about? Apparently 22 million of you out there will, welcome to Bebo.com the social network growing faster than ever! What is a social network? Apparently (by Google Definitions):\nThe personal or professional set of relationships between individuals. Social networks represent both a collection of ties between people and the strength of those ties. Often used as a measure of social “connectedness”, recognising social networks assists in determining how information moves throughout groups, and how trust can be established and fostered.\nWhats interesting, is the sheer amount of Irish users on Bebo, 500,000! Thats 1/8 of the Irish population! In a recent interview with Matt Cooper on Ireland’s Today FM, Bebo CEO Michael Birch tried to explain it himself, here are some excerpts:\nBebo is a social network, and online community. People put content on their pages, and link them to others. Worldwide we have about 22 million, in Ireland we have 500,000. Ireland has the most active members in the world. Bebo originally started as a photo sharing network. We work with WiredSafety.org, with Perry Afstab, to give advice to people to stay safe. We have not have any direct issues [related to bullying/abuse]. If you’re shy, its easier to send a message [on Bebo]. In Ireland, we are the largest website under Google and Yahoo!\nI have to admit I own a Bebo page, but I am trying to cut down……Caffeine or Bebo….ugggh such a hard choice!\n","permalink":"/bebo-and-beyond/","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/7163/logo6cd.gif\" alt=\"Bebo\nLogo\"  title=\"Bebo Logo\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDo you say Baybo or Beebo? Do you have a clue what I am on about? Apparently 22\nmillion of you out there will, welcome to \u003ca href=\"http://www.bebo.com/\" title=\"Bebo.com\"\u003eBebo.com\u003c/a\u003e the social network\ngrowing faster than ever! \u003cem\u003eWhat is a social network? Apparently \u003cem\u003e(by Google\nDefinitions)\u003c/em\u003e:\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe personal or professional set of relationships between individuals. Social\nnetworks represent both a collection of ties between people and the strength\nof those ties. Often used as a measure of social “connectedness”, recognising\nsocial networks assists in determining how information moves throughout\ngroups, and how trust can be established and fostered.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Bebo and Beyond.."},{"content":"Only now is it truly becoming clear, their is [serious money in Open Source][]/ With Mozilla reported to have made tens of millions of dollars. One blogger reported 70m was made by the corporation, with a Mozilla insider confirming thats a reasonable ballpark figure. Christopher Blizzard, board member of Mozilla, had this to say on his blog:\nBlizzard added that an earnings figure of $72m (£41m) quoted on some blogs was incorrect. “I won’t comment on the dollar amount except to say that it’s [$72m] not correct, though not off by an order of magnitude. I also won’t comment on sources of that money, except to say that some of the assertions that I’ve seen in the comments are pretty far off, both in terms of numbers and sources,\nOne obvious source of the money is Google Inc., which Firefox gives prominance to as the default search engine, of the open source browser. Jason Calacanis, the chief executive of blogging network Weblogs, wrote in his blog that an unnamed source at BarCampLA told him:\nCalacanis claimed that when a Firefox user does a Google search using the browser’s search box, Mozilla receives approximately 80 percent of the ad revenue from any associated ad clicks.\nPretty impressive for a company, which only earned 5m in 2004. The continued success in Firefox is shown in the the 10-fold increase of Mozilla’s profits. Most People wish Mozilla well, with some questioning the Corporations commitment to better development, in favour of more lucrative contracts, this, of course, is denied by everyone at Mozilla Corp. Only time will tell! In the meantime, rumours are abound, Mozilla is to distribute its cash to big developers, and increase its workforce form 40 to 150.\n","permalink":"/mozillas-millions/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eOnly now is it truly becoming clear, their is [serious money in Open Source][]/\nWith \u003ca href=\"http://www.mozilla.com/\" title=\"Mozilla Corp\"\u003eMozilla\u003c/a\u003e reported to have made tens of millions of dollars. One blogger\nreported 70m was made by the corporation, with a Mozilla insider confirming\nthats a reasonable ballpark figure. Christopher Blizzard, board member of\nMozilla, had this to say on his blog:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBlizzard added that an earnings figure of $72m (£41m) quoted on some blogs was\nincorrect. “I won’t comment on the dollar amount except to say that it’s\n[$72m] not correct, though not off by an order of magnitude. I also won’t\ncomment on sources of that money, except to say that some of the assertions\nthat I’ve seen in the comments are pretty far off, both in terms of numbers\nand sources,\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Mozilla's Millions"},{"content":"One of the biggest complaints of Linux is that software doesn’t install to well, or is very difficult to install. “Dependency Hell” (When software relies on other bits of software to work), used to be quite commonplace. Ubuntu has cleaned a lot of dependency hell up, and a new program for installing software from the internet, is included in the new version, due to be released 1st June 2006.\nThat’s when I discovered a little gem called Klik for many Linux distributions. Simply lookup the piece of software you need, click on it and you have it! No need to install! It places the whole program on the desktop, so it is easily deletable and easily transferable. For example, if you have an office application, and your friend doesn’t, simply copy that file on desktop to your usb key or a cd, and copy to friends pc, done and dusted - Your friend has the whole application! This is an obvious feature bonus over current Windows version, XP.\nTheir is some teething problems, some applications fail to work, and in Ubuntu it has a dependency of libstdc++, a library of files to make it work. Easy instructions to install Klik are included on their website, though. It seems they are seeking co-operation from Ubuntu aneedsd other distributions to iron out problems, which is always a good sign. Klik also trys to have “bleeding edge” stable versions of software, so in distrobutions not upgraded frequently, this can cause more problems. Out of ten, I’d give Klik an 8.5, as it still needs ironing-out. But then again I have been using the web for over ten years, so novice users may feel different on its ease of use.\n","permalink":"/just-klik-it/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eOne of the biggest complaints of Linux is that software doesn’t install to well,\nor is very difficult to install. “Dependency Hell” (When software relies on\nother bits of software to work), used to be quite commonplace. Ubuntu has\ncleaned a lot of dependency hell up, and a new program for installing software\nfrom the internet, is included in the new version, due to be released 1st\nJune 2006.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat’s when I discovered a little gem called \u003ca href=\"http://klik.atekon.de/\" title=\"Klik it!\"\u003eKlik\u003c/a\u003e for many Linux\ndistributions. Simply lookup the piece of software you need, click on it and you\nhave it! No need to install! It places the whole program on the desktop, so it\nis easily deletable and easily transferable. For example, if you have an office\napplication, and your friend doesn’t, simply copy that file on desktop to your\nusb key or a cd, and copy to friends pc, done and dusted - Your friend has the\nwhole application! This is an obvious feature bonus over current Windows\nversion, XP.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Just Klik it!"},{"content":"So you have heard of Ubuntu, maybe they have even shipped you a free disc or you have downloaded one? Like most users, even advanced PC users, they get nervous about installing Linux and afraid of what they might have to learn. Touted as the brighest star, Ubuntu really does outshine other Linuxes, with usability, features and great range of software. Now you can try Ubuntu on Windows.\nHow can I try it, is what I always get asked, without risk to my computer? First of all, you need to download Ubuntu Virtual. This in laymans terms, is Ubuntu compressed into one file. Think of that file as the “Tape”, now you need the “Tape Player”, along comes VMWare Player. Simply install VMware Player, and then find the “Ubuntu Tape” file, in VMware Player. Thats it! No installation required of Ubuntu.\nSimilarly, you can use VMware player to emulate Windows on Ubuntu. Also you can try the LiveCD of Ubuntu, which you insert at time you turn on your computer and it loads Ubuntu, without affecting your PC or any files on it. Both install and live disc of Ubuntu can be ordered free of charge.\n","permalink":"/virtual-ubuntu/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eSo you have heard of Ubuntu, maybe they have even shipped you a free disc or you\nhave downloaded one? Like most users, even advanced PC users, they get nervous\nabout installing Linux and afraid of what they might have to learn. Touted as\nthe brighest star, Ubuntu really does outshine other Linuxes, with usability,\nfeatures and great range of software. Now you can try Ubuntu on Windows.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://www.vmware.com/img/ubuntu.gif\" alt=\"Ubuntu Logo\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Virtual Ubuntu"},{"content":"I use Linux, I also use Windows. I see the merits of the two, as they are different. Most people don’t see this distinction, that although the two OSes do many of the same functions, they remain lightyears apart. I have to admit I preach Linux to the hilt, I shouldn’t, but I do. I get skeptical Windows users who ask me what Linux does better, and I am stuck for an answer, as it does a lot of tasks better.\nFor example, half life of Windows vs. Ubuntu (My Distro of Choice), Ubuntu wins hands down. Its the way that its very hard to install stuff to decrease system speed, yet on Windows it is terrifingly easy. I am on my cousins computer at the moment, sure enough its at the year stage and takes ages to load anything. Its got the usual bloatware, such as a very bulky antivirus/firewall, they own an iPod which starts iTunes and Quicktime, Use MSN \u0026amp; Skype and other stuff that start automatically, which is why Windows is crippled, they all have the computers resources for breakfast! I get one of two answers, either A) Sure I use all of them, thats convienience! or B) Sure you can switch it off in the programs preferences. My answer to A) No it isn’t, you try run a game, or office suite, you soon find you won’t be able to listen to that song in the background on iTunes, or watch that movie on Quicktime, or message those friends of yours on MSN, you soon find you can’t do any of them, and to B) Most users don’t want the hassle to turn it off, why can’t their computer “Just Work”, like Windows users are fond of pointing out?\nMy issue with Microsoft, is that, in the course to make software accessible, they left security and their morals at the door. In Linux, we have a permissions system, you don’t have permission to modify a file, though. On Windows every user gets equal access, but this means so does every Virus and piece of spyware. What good is the Banking document if the whole world knows its contents? What Linux does best is it focuses on Software, and quality is the bottom line. If a feature isn’t ready, it will not be released to the public, full stop.\nStill I get Windows people that refuse to budge, even though concerns are well documented. I havesome things to say to them, it doesn’t matter what you think, let me illustrate this to be clear: Their are 900 Million pc’s in the world, of which 90% use Windows. In India and China, lie 1/3 of this earths population ( 2 Billion ), most popular OS? Linux. Give it twenty years, when wealth increases, this will be reflected when Windows share dwindles. Case in Point: South America: the Brazilian Govt. has switched totally to Linux, now the countries most popular OS, this trend is continuing across South America, buoyed by Anti-Americanism. Also Africa, the worlds poorest continent is set to see huge influxes of Linux wind up laptops. This continues to the developed world albeit at a much slower pace, with most European countries registering a decent linux percentage and even the European commision talking about Europe wide Open Source intiatives.\nWho Will Win? The average computer user, as software gets cheaper, choices and competition become more apparent.Even if your a loyal Windows user, I argue you try and encourage Linux developement, as in the end it will force Microsoft to be more competitive and make better software. Computing is not a luxury any more, it is an essential way of life, and its due to change more lives this century than ever before.\n","permalink":"/linux-vs-windows/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI use Linux, I also use Windows. I see the merits of the two, as they are\ndifferent. Most people don’t see this distinction, that although the two OSes do\nmany of the same functions, they remain lightyears apart. I have to admit I\npreach Linux to the hilt, I shouldn’t, but I do. I get skeptical Windows users\nwho ask me what Linux does better, and I am stuck for an answer, as it does a\nlot of tasks better.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Linux VS. Windows"},{"content":"Well I can’t believe I only had one post in February! A lot has happened since then, with Danish cartoons, Dublin Riots and a few policy changes to the site. First of all the cartoons, I mean, whats all the fuss? Christianity is banned in Saudi Arabia and Muslims in the middle east just don’t get the idea of ‘free press’. No one should be allowed to immigrate to the western world, if they do not hold the core values which we hold, such as human rights, free of expression/press and other values. Should we worry about the middle east? Not at all, they’re behind the times, their loss. Why is it that movies which parody Christianity are so popular with Christians (like Monty Python)? We have evolved and can tolerate jokes and laugh at ourselves, many, but not all Muslims have not learned to do this, but they will, its called evolution, and sooner or later, it will hit the middle east. I am not defending the Cartoons, and I know Muslims do not produce images of Muhammad, and offense to this, I can understand. But they need to relax, maybe try some of the many drugs they like to export to us?\nI could not but laugh at all the scumbags fighting each other in Dublin! In the end all the unionists got on their buses and went back, being entirely safe. Now if that doesn’t make you support the new prison in North Dublin, I don’t know what will. I was reading some of the free newspapers and they claim that the underprivileged in Irish Society were showing the Government up, I disagree, all they wanted was notoriety with their friends for “wreckin de gaff” in Dublin\u0026rsquo;s famous streets. I say we make them all do community service in some of Belfast\u0026rsquo;s most staunchest unionist estates, maybe that might revert their need to be “mad scones”? I fully supported the march, even if it was discriminatory against Catholics (Only for Protestant Victims of IRA), as every one has the right to march, whether unionists, republicans or socialists (wait aren’t the last two the same thing? I am confused!).\nFinally some updates to the site, I have reversed the ‘free edit’ policy, now you have to login to edit articles. Although vandalism was by no means rampant, I felt it easier if people took the 2 minutes to register, if they want to contribute. Also, we now have RSS feeds! Powered by feedburner, it lets me track readership and other useful values. I am just working on getting listed on all major blog sites. Also I am currently installing a gallery to house my photos of Germany, expect it soon!\n","permalink":"/gallery-riots-and-policy-change/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eWell I can’t believe I only had one post in February! A lot has happened since\nthen, with Danish cartoons, Dublin Riots and a few policy changes to the site.\nFirst of all the cartoons, I mean, whats all the fuss? Christianity is banned in\nSaudi Arabia and Muslims in the middle east just don’t get the idea of ‘free\npress’. No one should be allowed to immigrate to the western world, if they do\nnot hold the core values which we hold, such as human rights, free of\nexpression/press and other values. Should we worry about the middle east? Not at\nall, they’re behind the times, their loss. Why is it that movies which parody\nChristianity are so popular with Christians (like Monty Python)? We have evolved\nand can tolerate jokes and laugh at ourselves, many, but not all Muslims have\nnot learned to do this, but they will, its called evolution, and sooner or\nlater, it will hit the middle east. I am not defending the Cartoons, and I know\nMuslims do not produce images of Muhammad, and offense to this, I can\nunderstand. But they need to relax, maybe try some of the many drugs they like\nto export to us?\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Gallery, Riots and Policy Change"},{"content":"I recently travelled to Munich, Germany on a recent exchange (1st-9th Feb, 2006). Not knowing what to expect, I found a very different Germany from the text book one you read about (Bavarian Trad Dress, Beer-drinking, Pretzel Eating, Sausage loving etc!). Of course all of these elements were present, but I think a modern German society closely reflects American one, in a lot of ways. Germans are the largest group by ethnicity in United States, so maybe its just German culture prevalent in America?\nHere is a short explanation of what I found as I wrote to Family, explaining how I was getting on:\nTheir school system is very different. Students talk over teachers, play with their mobile phones or throw things at one another! Its a continous assessment system with A-F represented by numbers 1-6. I have had a trip to Friedberg (Watch capitol of Europe once) and a brief visit to Augsburg(guided tour with trip). Also visited Dachau KZ (Konzantrationslager - Concentration Camp) its very sad, the words “Arbeit Mich Frei” (Work will set you free) are on the front gate. Lots of people were there, but you could literally hear a pin drop. I also visited Bavarian Alps, got a ski lift to a traditional restaurant they were all dressed in green and white! Got loads of photos! English usage is very heavy, most Germans have a good command of it, the radio plays exact same songs as ours.\nI am also getting on great with all the girls (mostly girls chose to go), now that I have seen what there really like, there even sounder outside of school. I get a bus to school with Jens (My Exchange Student), sometimes his mother drives us. It is very cold here -10c most of the time. Snow can be upto 1m high, then again I am told they get nice summers! Turkish influence is very noticeable, every town nearly has a kebab shop. Houses here are a lot cheaper(than Ireland)! Approx 3 times size of my house is only €20,000 more. I should have photos soon!\n","permalink":"/german-trip/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI recently travelled to Munich, Germany on a recent exchange (1st-9th Feb,\n2006). Not knowing what to expect, I found a very different Germany from the\ntext book one you read about (Bavarian Trad Dress, Beer-drinking, Pretzel\nEating, Sausage loving etc!). Of course all of these elements were present, but\nI think a modern German society closely reflects American one, in a lot of ways.\nGermans are the largest group by ethnicity in United States, so maybe its just\nGerman culture prevalent in America?\u003c/p\u003e","title":"German Trip"},{"content":"Well the last couple of weeks have been interesting! You will notice the website is now a wiki based on Wikipedias engine, metawiki. I had a load of problems with making the theme work with a wiki with loads of menus. I think I did well considering I only spent about 3 days doing it. The code still aint how I want it and some features were lost, such as rss and del.icio.us bookmarks. But pages are now easier than ever to navigate and comment on which brings more features.\nI also won an award for webbdesign for Colaiste Chiarain website. It was run for second level students in IT Tallaght, Dublin. I scooped top prize with Thomas Whelan, which was €400 or €200 each. As promised I went to Dublin to St. Stephens Green Shopping Centre and tested out my Nokia 770.\nI failed to find the cafe that reportedly offered free wifi, so instead I settled for cafe kylemore, bought a coffee (€2.30) and got a half an hour of surfing time. It was cheaper to buy a coffee and surf than pay BitBuzz the service provider for a half an hour which would have cost €3! We certainly do live in rip-off Ireland, anyone in doubt needs a head examination!\n","permalink":"/wiki-awards-and-wifi/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eWell the last couple of weeks have been interesting! You will notice the website\nis now a wiki based on Wikipedias engine, metawiki. I had a load of problems\nwith making the theme work with a wiki with loads of menus. I think I did well\nconsidering I only spent about 3 days doing it. The code still aint how I want\nit and some features were lost, such as rss and del.icio.us bookmarks. But pages\nare now easier than ever to navigate and comment on which brings more features.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Wiki, Awards and Wifi"},{"content":"Well another year has passed, so I thought I’d make a short recap of it, and tell you what I am looking forward to in 2006. The year was firmly in the hands of mother nature as we saw in both Pakistan, New Orleans/Gulf of Mexico and the Tsunami’s after effects. International consensus was reached at the G8 as London was being bombed - not by the IRA, but by their new enemies in the middle east. Iran esculated its pressure on the world by resuming its nuclear activities. George W. Bush took office in January, much to the distaste of the Daily Mirror in the UK, who scored their most famous headline, “How Could 59,054,087 People, Be So Dumb?”.\nGood Year For… For Natural Disasters (Katrina, Earthquake) George W. Bush Daily Mirror (Bush Headline) Charles and Camilla (Wedding) Live 8 and Bob Geldof U2 (How to Dismantle’s Continued Success) Palestine (Regained Control of Gaza Strip) Irish Soccer Team (Knocked out of World Cup) Chelsea (Win Premiership) and Liverpool (Win Champions League) Bad Year Catholic Church (Fearns Sex Scandal, Unpopularity of New Pope) Michael Jackson (Didn’t he deserve it?) New Orleans Kashmir (Pakistani Part) Israel (Pullout of Gaza Strip) Liam Lawlor (Died in Car Crash, and Misreports of Prostitution) Ukraine (400% Gas Hikes, Ouch!) Manchester United (Glazer Takeover, Roy Keane Leaves, Vodafone Withdraw Sponsorship) Broadband in Ireland (Still one of the lowest take ups in Europe) 2005 was a good year for Ireland, as continued growth keeps jobless figures one of the lowest in Europe. What do we have to look forward to in 2006?\n2006\u0026hellip; Wifi, set to increase ten fold Playstation 3 and Nintendo Revolution due to be released Government Savings Scheme Matures Dublins newest radio station, Phantom FM to come online The End of Big Brother Intel’s new DVD lookalike Computers St. Patricks Day (Again) Dublin Pubs losing money (Yay!) Skype introducing Video Rise of VOIP, killing off Eircom Chewing Gum Tax (dont we need it?) More rises in cost of living Well thats what 2006 may hold, so lets hope some of the better things come true! It’s gonna be another great year for technology and gadgets, with more MP3’s predicted to be sold in 2006 than ever before, lets just hope Time Magazine doesn’t give iPod gadget of the century this year!\n","permalink":"/new-year-lets-review/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eWell another year has passed, so I thought I’d make a short recap of it, and\ntell you what I am looking forward to in 2006. The year was firmly in the hands\nof mother nature as we saw in both Pakistan, New Orleans/Gulf of Mexico and the\nTsunami’s after effects. International consensus was reached at the G8 as London\nwas being bombed - not by the IRA, but by their new enemies in the middle east.\nIran esculated its pressure on the world by resuming its nuclear activities.\nGeorge W. Bush took office in January, much to the distaste of the Daily Mirror\nin the UK, who scored their most famous headline, “How Could 59,054,087 People,\nBe So Dumb?”.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"New Year, Lets Review!"},{"content":"A student in England has almost reached his target of one million dollars, and he is only 21! He came up with the idea after jotting down ideas before he went to bed on how to become a millionaire before he went to university. Then he came up with the million-dollar idea, sell pixels at USD $1 a piece on his homepage, MillionDollarHomepage.com . This man is Alex Tew, hailed as an advertising genius by the many companies who are using his site to make Internet history.\nAlex believes he can make his goal by the end of 31st December 2005. In fact as of writing this, he has already made USD 936,700. The student says advertisers get to keep their ads for a period of five years from purchase and he says he will use the money he has made to guarantee it. Alex has said he has already got numerous job offers from companies aiming to secure his money making talent.Alex is doing business management course at Nottingham and needed GBP7000 a year to complete his studies. He is understandably overwhelmed by the success he has achieved:\nIt is just nuts. I am in a state of disbelief. It\u0026rsquo;s like Monopoly money but then I look at my bank account and there is a lot of cash in it. The method is simple, his website is made up of one page divided into 10,000 boxes, each 100 pixels in size. Companies can buy one or more boxes for USD $100 each and cover it with a logo, which, when clicked on, transports web users to the customers own site.\nThe figures add up with the site now carrying over 240 advertisements and has 30,000 hits a day. Even the actor Jack Black, star of School of Rock and Shallow Hal, is using the site to advertise his band Tenacious D. The British National Union of Students say 90% of students are in debt.\nBut the only money worries Alex now has is what to spend it all on. He has already splashed out on a black mini for himself, as he thinks of what to do with his new found fortune.\n","permalink":"/million-dollars-nice/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eA student in England has almost reached his target of one million dollars, and\nhe is only 21! He came up with the idea after jotting down ideas before he went\nto bed on how to become a millionaire before he went to university. Then he came\nup with the million-dollar idea, sell pixels at USD $1 a piece on his homepage,\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com\"\u003eMillionDollarHomepage.com\u003c/a\u003e . This man is Alex Tew, hailed as an\nadvertising genius by the many companies who are using his site to make Internet\nhistory.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Million Dollars, Nice!"},{"content":"In case you have never looked at it, Click Online is the flagship technology program for the BBC. It broadcasts on the Internet and can be viewed even on a 56k modem. I have been watching click online for over a year and a half now, I first saw it on BBC World, while holidaying in Portugal. It also broadcasts on BBC News 24 at 7am on a Sunday morning (I have never seen it at this time!). Although by its nature a technical program, it is very much aimed at the average PC user and so most things are explained fully.\n","permalink":"/click-online/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eIn case you have never looked at it, Click Online is the flagship technology\nprogram for the BBC. It broadcasts on the Internet and can be viewed even on a\n56k modem. I have been watching click online for over a year and a half now, I\nfirst saw it on BBC World, while holidaying in Portugal. It also broadcasts on\nBBC News 24 at 7am on a Sunday morning (I have never seen it at this time!).\nAlthough by its nature a technical program, it is very much aimed at the average\nPC user and so most things are explained fully.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Click Online"},{"content":"What a fantastic service Google now offer with their Google Video platform. There are a couple of reasons why I like it, mainly because it is available to upload your videos on all platforms (Windows, Linux and Mac) and is available on Mozilla-based browsers (Firefox, Netscape), Opera and Internet Explorer.This is important in creating a better all round user experience. If only Yahoo! would follow Googles example and open up Launch Cast to other browsers besides an outdated version of Netscape and Internet Explorer.\nI have a criticism of Google Video also, and that is it takes too long to approve videos (8 days in my case), the should at least give an expected time- frame and allow notification through email when your video is accepted and available live on Google. Other than that the service is pretty good and as it is still in the Beta testing phase, Google have promised to make it better. This could be a precursor to Google trying to launch its own media-for-sale in the form of Music videos, who knows? One things for sure, it is going to steal the thunder from launchcast.\nMy first video I have uploaded is below, it is called \u0026ldquo;We Hate Coogie Bear : The Motion Picture\u0026rdquo;:\n","permalink":"/google-video/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eWhat a fantastic service Google now offer with their Google Video platform.\nThere are a couple of reasons why I like it, mainly because it is available to\nupload your videos on all platforms (Windows, Linux and Mac) and is available on\nMozilla-based browsers (Firefox, Netscape), Opera and Internet Explorer.This is\nimportant in creating a better all round user experience. If only Yahoo! would\nfollow Googles example and open up Launch Cast to other browsers besides an\noutdated version of Netscape and Internet Explorer.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Google Video"},{"content":"I got it! UPS delivered the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet. What can I say? It is pure magic! The features are great, it includes:\nWeb Browser (Opera) Flash Player version 6 Email Client Internet Radio News Reader Media players, Image viewer PDF viewer File Manager Search Calculator World Clock Notes Sketch Games It runs on Linux, making it totally extendable. It even has its own developer site at maemo.org, where applications can be downloaded. Hot on my list were Doom (the Game) and GAIM (Instant Messenger, uses Google Talk, AOL, MSN, Yahoo, Jabber, IRC, etc). Unfortunately their is no Skype for Nokia 770 just yet, but hopefully it will be here soon. Nokia has promised an upgrade in 2006, that will include VOIP, such as skype.\nAll major formats have good support on the Nokia 770, including:\nAudio: MP3, MPEG4-AAC, WAV, AMR, MP2, [OGG - (With download from Maemo)] Image: JPEG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, PNG, Animated GIF format, SVG-tiny, ICO Video: MPEG1, MPEG4, Real Video, H.263, AVI, 3GP As soon as I took it out of the package, within minutes I was surfing, the only delay was trying to find MAC address (as my router uses access control list) which I eventually found underneath the battery. I thought this was a bit odd as Mac Address\u0026rsquo; are easily attainable when it is connected to a network, so hopefully Nokia will revise this! The media card is also only 64mb, which gives a total free of about 108mb space. RS-MMC (The media card it uses) only come in prohibitive sizes and are expensive, this will most likely change if it is widely used. The stand that comes with it is the most difficult part of the package! It took me 20mins to try and figure out how to use the stand. All in all it is not a great stand, just two lumps of plastic. The battery seems respectable at the moment, with a predicted time of three hours battery life and seven days standby. I got a bit more then three hours when I first opened it, it worked out just a little over 3hrs 20mins. Not bad for a 2/3 full battery Nokia packs with new devices!\nNot surprisingly, reviews are excellent for it. A lot of noise is made of the fact that it is so customisable and that all of the programs for it are free! Abiword is also a must have, it opens and edits documents. It compared to other tablets is quite cheap, at about €369 including delivery, in Ireland.\nI will be posting updates on my free Wifi testing campaign soon, its all about to kick off! I will let you know best free wifi spots in and around Dublin area!\nAnywhere you think I should go? Please tell me, it will be useful!\n","permalink":"/internet-tablet/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI got it! UPS delivered the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet. What can I say? It is\npure magic! The features are great, it includes:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWeb Browser (Opera)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFlash Player version 6\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEmail Client\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eInternet Radio\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNews Reader\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMedia players, Image viewer\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePDF viewer\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFile Manager\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSearch\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCalculator\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWorld Clock\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNotes\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSketch\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGames\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt runs on Linux, making it totally extendable. It even has its own developer\nsite at maemo.org, where applications can be downloaded. Hot on my list were\nDoom (the Game) and GAIM (Instant Messenger, uses Google Talk, AOL, MSN, Yahoo,\nJabber, IRC, etc). Unfortunately their is no Skype for Nokia 770 just yet, but\nhopefully it will be here soon. Nokia has promised an upgrade in 2006, that will\ninclude VOIP, such as skype.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Nokia 770 Internet Tablet"},{"content":"The British Press annoys me so much, they way they constantly get it wrong across the board about the EU. I am a fond supporter of the EU for all its faults and cracks. But I love freedom of the press and like organisations who uphold basic journalistic standards, such as the BBC. This leads me onto the evil man behind it all, Rupert Murdoch owner of The Sun, BSkyB Television, The Times and other media outlets. It seems all he pushes is his agenda, whether it be the Bush Right-Christian agenda on Fox in the US or Eurosceptic view in his British interests.\nI speak of this because of the shocking facts I discovered on an EU website, by the commissioner for the EU in The UK. Honestly some of the things that are published are unbelievable! One can only guess Murdoch motives (maybe to foster the special relationship between UK and USA even further?) Who knows? One thing is for certain, the US resent the EU bargaining power and good relations with China and Russia. One to hit the headlines was US supposedly using spy planes to ferry people to be tortured in countries such as Egypt (Known for bad Human Rights record).\nI think British People do not realise how beneficial giving money to aid development is, take my own country , Ireland for instance. Forty years ago we were a backward nation with no prospects, Now we are one of the richest in Europe and will become a contributor to the EU soon. We should aim to replicate the Ireland Effect in the new accession countries to help the develop. If they grow, it means an enlarged market for British made products, thereby helping generate more wealth - what goes around comes around, this is not a battle for identity with France or Germany any more!\n","permalink":"/eurosceptics/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eThe British Press annoys me so much, they way they constantly get it wrong\nacross the board about the EU. I am a fond supporter of the EU for all its\nfaults and cracks. But I love freedom of the press and like organisations who\nuphold basic journalistic standards, such as the BBC. This leads me onto the\nevil man behind it all, Rupert Murdoch owner of The Sun, BSkyB Television, The\nTimes and other media outlets. It seems all he pushes is his agenda, whether it\nbe the Bush Right-Christian agenda on Fox in the US or Eurosceptic view in his\nBritish interests.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Eurosceptics"},{"content":"While using instant messenger I had a brainwave, what will the tech landscape look like in the future? So here is What I think could happen: IBM will buy Sun MicroSystems and make a new opensource OS, it will be based on Ubuntu. Microsoft will purchase AOL and roll out its products on the Web, such as MS Office, it will have a slow start to Vista, but it will pick up through peoples eagerness to buy the latest hardware. Google will buy Opera, invest in Mozilla and consolidate Opera into Mozilla, it will also buy Adobe (for their PDF format), get its way to publish an online bookstore through Google Book Search. Yahoo will continue to buy extra companies to add to its list of a zillion services, such as Flickr and Del.icio.us.\nWhat do you think? Post me comments!\n","permalink":"/future/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eWhile using instant messenger I had a brainwave, what will the tech landscape\nlook like in the future? So here is What I think could happen: IBM will buy Sun\nMicroSystems and make a new opensource OS, it will be based on Ubuntu. Microsoft\nwill purchase AOL and roll out its products on the Web, such as MS Office, it\nwill have a slow start to Vista, but it will pick up through peoples eagerness\nto buy the latest hardware. Google will buy Opera, invest in Mozilla and\nconsolidate Opera into Mozilla, it will also buy Adobe (for their PDF format),\nget its way to publish an online bookstore through Google Book Search. Yahoo\nwill continue to buy extra companies to add to its list of a zillion services,\nsuch as Flickr and Del.icio.us.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"The Future....."},{"content":"I have a throat infection, so I get a week off!! I went to the doctor and I am on vibramycin antibiotics. I was coughing blood (not nearly as nasty as it sounds). Now I can get some relaxation in before Christmas!! I hope to do a guide to restricted formats on Ubuntu soon, especially W32 Codecs and how to get all the good formats it offers (Divx, MPEG1-4, Windows Media, Quicktime Media and RealMedia)\nWe should all be using free formats, but everyone uses proprietary formats. If anything makes the transition to Linux that bit smoother, its the ability to play and view all their media.\n","permalink":"/in-sickness-and-in-health/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eI have a throat infection, so I get a week off!! I went to the doctor and I am\non vibramycin antibiotics. I was coughing blood (not nearly as nasty as it\nsounds). Now I can get some relaxation in before Christmas!! I hope to do a\nguide to restricted formats on Ubuntu soon, especially W32 Codecs and how to get\nall the good formats it offers (Divx, MPEG1-4, Windows Media, Quicktime Media\nand RealMedia)\u003c/p\u003e","title":"In Sickness and in Health!"},{"content":"Welcome to the new and improved Duey Finsters. As I mentioned before, I hope to receive a Nokia 770 Internet Tablet soon, so I will be checking the free wireless services offered by Eircom in Dublin and at McDonalds restaurants.\nYou may have noticed the new look and this revamped blog. You may also question where has Duey Finsters Web Services gone? It is still here, but me and Thomas Whelan, who run it, cannot decide on a name. Maybe you all could help us out? Since well over 97% of all the words in the dictionary are registered as dot coms, we have no clue what to call ourselves.\nWe are looking for a unique name, that could be trademarked, so anything you suggest, you give us permission to use royalty-free (We might throw you a million, when we make ours). Once we get a name, the dot com will be registered and a totally new site will be designed.\nAlso new is a guides section, which will be part of the blog. The idea is I can write guides so other people can see how easy it is to actually do stuff. I plan to write a guide (Including pictures) for Linux and Windows using encrypted mail. On Linux, I will show both command and KGPG (the KDE graphical key maker) and on windows I will use WinPT (Windows Privacy Tools).\nThe Music and Bookmarks section are going to take a while for me to implement properly, as I am still practicing using PHP to render XML, but it should be fun. They both use feeds, Last.fm for music and del.icio.us for bookmarks. That reminds me, I just saw del.icio.us was bought by Yahoo!, I hope they do not ruin it like they did to Flickr and stick their name and advertising in every conceivable space on the page.\n","permalink":"/wireless-new-design-and-web-services/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eWelcome to the new and improved Duey Finsters. As I mentioned before, I hope to\nreceive a Nokia 770 Internet Tablet soon, so I will be checking the free\nwireless services offered by Eircom in Dublin and at McDonalds restaurants.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou may have noticed the new look and this revamped blog. You may also question\nwhere has Duey Finsters Web Services gone? It is still here, but me and Thomas\nWhelan, who run it, cannot decide on a name. Maybe you all could help us out?\nSince well over 97% of all the words in the dictionary are registered as dot\ncoms, we have no clue what to call ourselves.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Wireless, New Design and Web Services"},{"content":"Awake Mornin at nearly six am I am writing this at six am in my cousins home because I heard this is a good way to get a gmail invite!\n","permalink":"/dueyfinster/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eAwake Mornin at nearly six am I am writing this at six am in my cousins home\nbecause I heard this is a good way to get a gmail invite!\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Duey Finster"},{"content":"Software Engineering Manager at Ericsson in Athlone, Ireland, managing teams in our commercial O\u0026amp;M rApp Development which work with Ericsson Intelligent Automation Platform (EIAP). Before that, I was managing EIAP Developer Portal and open source rApps. Before that again, JEE Platform, User Interface SDK and 5G Topology teams in Ericsson Network Manager.\nI originally graduated with a first class honours degree in computer science at\nTechnological University, Dublin. I also graduated with a first class masters in computer science from University College Dublin. See the Colophon if you\u0026rsquo;re interested to know how I put this site together. You might like some of my favourite podcasts or some of my favourite articles.\nGet in touch!\n","permalink":"/about/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eSoftware Engineering Manager at \u003ca href=\"http://www.ericsson.com\"\u003eEricsson\u003c/a\u003e in \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athlone\"\u003eAthlone, Ireland\u003c/a\u003e,\nmanaging teams in our commercial \u003ca href=\"https://www.ericsson.com/en/ran/intelligent-ran-automation\"\u003eO\u0026amp;M rApp Development\u003c/a\u003e which work with \u003ca href=\"https://www.ericsson.com/en/ran/intelligent-ran-automation/intelligent-automation-platform\"\u003eEricsson Intelligent Automation Platform\u003c/a\u003e (EIAP). Before that, I was managing EIAP Developer Portal\nand \u003ca href=\"https://github.com/ericsson-iap/\"\u003eopen source rApps\u003c/a\u003e. Before that again, JEE Platform, User Interface SDK and 5G Topology teams in \u003ca href=\"https://www.ericsson.com/en/portfolio/digital-services/automated-network-operations/network-management/network-manager\"\u003eEricsson Network Manager\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI originally graduated with a first class honours degree in computer science\nat\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.tudublin.ie/\"\u003eTechnological University, Dublin\u003c/a\u003e. I also graduated with a first class\nmasters in computer science from \u003ca href=\"http://csi.ucd.ie\"\u003eUniversity College Dublin\u003c/a\u003e. See the\n\u003ca href=\"/about/colophon\"\u003eColophon\u003c/a\u003e if you\u0026rsquo;re interested to know how I put this site together. You\nmight like some of\n\u003ca href=\"https://huffduffer.com/dueyfinster/tags/mustlisten\"\u003emy favourite podcasts\u003c/a\u003e or\nsome of\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.pinboard.in/u:dueyfinster/t:mustread/\"\u003emy favourite articles\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"About"},{"content":"This site is made with Hugo static website generator (using PaperMod theme), posted to Github and built with GitHub Actions, which deploys the result to FastMail. SSL is freely provided by LetsEncrypt.\nI author the site (usually) in NeoVim or online in Github, using Markdown for posts and HTML/CSS/Javascript for anything else.\n","permalink":"/about/colophon/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eThis site is made with \u003ca href=\"https://gohugo.io\"\u003eHugo\u003c/a\u003e static website generator (using \u003ca href=\"https://github.com/adityatelange/hugo-PaperMod\"\u003ePaperMod\ntheme\u003c/a\u003e), posted to \u003ca href=\"https://www.github.com\"\u003eGithub\u003c/a\u003e and built with \u003ca href=\"https://github.com/features/actions\"\u003eGitHub Actions\u003c/a\u003e, which deploys\nthe result to \u003ca href=\"https://www.fastmail.com\"\u003eFastMail\u003c/a\u003e. SSL is freely provided by \u003ca href=\"https://letsencrypt.org\"\u003eLetsEncrypt\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI author the site (usually) in \u003ca href=\"http://www.neovim.io\"\u003eNeoVim\u003c/a\u003e or online in Github, using\n\u003ca href=\"https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/\"\u003eMarkdown\u003c/a\u003e for posts and HTML/CSS/Javascript for anything else.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Colophon"},{"content":"My preferred way of reaching out is on Mastodon. Alternatively you can reach me by email by using my first name at my last name dot org.\nLinkedin ","permalink":"/contact/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eMy preferred way of reaching out is on\n\u003ca href=\"https://mastodon.ie/@dueyfinster\"\u003eMastodon\u003c/a\u003e.\nAlternatively you can reach me by email by using my first name at my last name\ndot org.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilgrogan\"\u003eLinkedin\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e","title":"Contact"},{"content":"View and Download You can get a PDF copy of my resume.\n","permalink":"/cv/","summary":"\u003ch4 id=\"view-and-download\"\u003eView and Download\u003c/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou can get a \u003ca href=\"/cv/ngrogan-CV.pdf\"\u003ePDF copy of my resume\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"CV"},{"content":"Below is some of the presentations I have given:\n5G Overview - Maynooth University, October 2019 Newsfast M.Sc. Project Final (Speakerdeck Mirror) - University College Dublin, August 2015 Newsfast M.Sc. Project Midterm (Speakerdeck Mirror)- University College Dublin, June 2015 ","permalink":"/presentations/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eBelow is some of the presentations I have given:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e5G Overview - \u003ca href=\"https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie\"\u003eMaynooth University\u003c/a\u003e,\nOctober 2019\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"/presentations/newsfast-final.pdf\"\u003eNewsfast M.Sc. Project Final\u003c/a\u003e\n(\u003ca href=\"https://speakerdeck.com/dueyfinster/newsfast-msc-ucd-final-project-presentation\"\u003eSpeakerdeck Mirror\u003c/a\u003e) -\nUniversity College Dublin, August 2015\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"/presentations/newsfast-midterm.pdf\"\u003eNewsfast M.Sc. Project Midterm\u003c/a\u003e\n(\u003ca href=\"https://speakerdeck.com/dueyfinster/newsfast-midterm-msc-project-in-ucd\"\u003eSpeakerdeck Mirror\u003c/a\u003e)-\nUniversity College Dublin, June 2015\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e","title":"Presentations"},{"content":"Some projects I\u0026rsquo;ve done are listed below, hopefully you can find some of them useful.\nAWS Lambda Web Scraper with Slack Notifications A function on Amazon Web Services Lambda platform to scrape useful information from a website and post the results to Slack. Can be used to get a restaurant menu, bus times, sports scores or anything you can think of in to Slack!\nAWS Lambda PDF to Text A function on Amazon Web Services Lambda platform to transform a PDF file in to the text it contains. Can be used to get the text from any PDF file in a fast a scaleable way.\nSAP Timesheet Filler A Python 3 script to load SAP timesheet and fill in your 40 hours per week automatically. Uses Firefox and Selenium to automate the process!\n","permalink":"/projects/","summary":"\u003cp\u003eSome projects I\u0026rsquo;ve done are listed below, hopefully you can find some of them\nuseful.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" src=\"/img/17/lambda-scraper-logo.png\" alt=\"AWS Lambda Slack Web Scraper\"  title=\"AWS Lambda Slack Web Scraper\"  /\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch4 id=\"aws-lambda-web-scraper-with-slack-notificationshttpsgithubcomdueyfinsterlambda-scraper\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://github.com/dueyfinster/lambda-scraper\"\u003eAWS Lambda Web Scraper with Slack Notifications\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA function on Amazon Web Services Lambda platform to scrape useful information\nfrom a website and post the results to Slack. Can be used to get a restaurant\nmenu, bus times, sports scores or anything you can think of in to Slack!\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Projects"},{"content":"Editor + Terminal For Editor I use Neovim and VS Code.\nFor shell I use ZSH with Starship installed. For terminal I use Ghostty.\nFor AI CLI tools, I use Codex, Kiro and Claude.\nMy dotfiles are here\nDesktop Apps For web browser - I usually use Firefox.\nFor RSS reader I use the excellent Reeder (mac/iOS).\nFor work, I use Microsoft Excel, Powerpoint and Word - I never use these on a personal machine (I use Apple iWork suite on rare occasion).\nBackup Strategy I host my files on a Synology NAS and back it up to Rsync.net - with mirrors to local USB and cloud sync where needed.\nMobile setup Framework 13 AMD 7040 - runs Omarchy On my phone (iPhone 15 Pro) I use:\nWorking Copy for Git Blink as terminal mosh to keep sessions open anywhere Desk Setup I have separate work and personal desks in my home office.\nPersonal Desk (New) AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 32GB RAM 2TB Samsung NVMe SSD RTX 5080 ASRock B850 LiveMixer WiFi Phanteks Evolv X2 Black Case 27\u0026quot; PG27UCDM ROG Swift OLED Monitor (4K, 240hz) Ikea Bekant Sit/Stand Desk Razer Basilisk V3 Unbranded office chair ErgoTron HX Monitor Arm Doxie Q for receipt scanning mydpi 300v1 thermal printer for labels Work Desk Dell Monitor Dell Dock Macbook Air M2 Kinesis Advantage 360 Pro - Keymap on Github Logitech MX Master 3 Monitor and Laptop VESA mount arms (I mostly automate Microsoft Teams/HomeAssistant) Unbranded Sit/Stand Desk Herman Miller Aeron Chair Dell 4K Web Cam Elgato Stream Deck Elgato Stream Deck Pedal Elgato Prompter with a Elgato FaceCam Pro Elgato Wave XLR paired with a Shure S7MB and Sennheiser HD 280 PRO In storage Blue Snowball Mic Packed for travel to the office ZSA Voyager + Navigator (trackball) Roost Laptop Stand Other Gear Headphones I mostly use in the \u0026ldquo;office\u0026rdquo; office and they are Airpods Pro ","permalink":"/uses/","summary":"\u003ch3 id=\"editor--terminal\"\u003eEditor + Terminal\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor Editor I use \u003ca href=\"https://www.neovim.io\"\u003eNeovim\u003c/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https://code.visualstudio.com\"\u003eVS Code\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor shell I use \u003ca href=\"https://www.zsh.org/\"\u003eZSH\u003c/a\u003e with \u003ca href=\"https://starship.rs/\"\u003eStarship\u003c/a\u003e\ninstalled. For terminal I use \u003ca href=\"https://ghostty.org/\"\u003eGhostty\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor AI CLI tools, I use Codex, Kiro and Claude.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://github.com/dueyfinster/dotfiles\"\u003eMy dotfiles are here\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"desktop-apps\"\u003eDesktop Apps\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor web browser - I usually use Firefox.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor RSS reader I use the excellent \u003ca href=\"https://reederapp.com\"\u003eReeder\u003c/a\u003e (mac/iOS).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor work, I use Microsoft Excel, Powerpoint and Word - I never use these on a\npersonal machine (I use Apple iWork suite on rare occasion).\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Uses"}]