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Owner:
Mur Lafferty
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Copyright © by Mur Lafferty, 2005 - 2010 - CreativeCommons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0
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605 days ago
I Should Be Writing
Newest Episode: Tue June 15, 2010. 06:43 PM
The podcast for wanna-be fiction writers
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Mon December 08, 2008. 10:35 PM
SOMETIME AROUND 9PM last night in Ireland, someone logged the one millionth view of my primary Flickr photostream. I have set up three Flickr accounts for identity purposes but don't count the hundreds of thousands of views from them into the 1m clicked up in my main account. At the same time the millionth visitor arrived, I was telling the #oeb08 channel on Jaiku about the Photosynth I made of the microblogger meet-up in Berlin last week. It's fair to say that someone might have clicked from Twitter to Flickr to see the screen shot and then they might have gone to see the Photosynth running in 3D mode. While it's important to observe key set points in life, sliding through 1m is nothing new here. This weblog is hit 1m page views without fanfare three years ago, following in the wake of Gavin Sheridan's exceptionally insightful blogging. As I thumb through the snapshot of statistics taken on the occasion of 1m views, I've some personal observations to make.

Images Drive Readers. My Flickr photostream and legacy images (screenshot, blurry photographs, scanned documents, Moleskine tracings) pull more people into my website than Twitter, Jaiku, Facebook, LinkedIn or direct web searches. If you're managing a brand, you should leverage your photostreams.

Most-Viewed Images Are Distributed. I upload a lot of Creative Commons images. This means they can be used on other websites with no ill feelings. For that reason, shots I have of Sam (the ugliest dog) appearing in dog care discussion fora, my giveaway Twitter background set is being viewed hourly, a dozen potential customers look at the screenshot of my Nokia N95 map set daily, and off-the wall things like Stephen Ireland's pink-wheeled Range Rover and the tampon chandelier from the Venice Bienalle always draw loyal viewers. I know all these images are being served up on other blogs or websites, counting as an image view for me, not necessarily a visit to my Flickr photostream.

Screen Captures Have a Purpose. I learn a lot of good analysis of key frames and so I also upload screen captures frequently. Some of the best images I have of third level students come from frame grabs recorded by our DV camera. They feature in my Flickr photostream as well.

The Community Calls. I have left behind active participation in many Flickr groups. In the past, I've enjoyed offering my thematic images into groups and it's something I will reinitate as we build a display for the 2009 Digital Expressions Exhibition. But for the moment, I normally just skim a single page of updates from my contacts whenever I visit Flickr. If I was more active as a commenter or as a group member, I could accelerate my viewership. For the moment, I'm just glad to enjoy Flickr's stability, searchability, and blog-pointing power.

I am Irisheyes on Flickr and topgold on Twitter.
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Mon December 08, 2008. 01:41 PM
I GREW UP in a working class neighborhood where half of the grown men had worn a uniform in the 1940s. Because of the stories they shared, I learned to associate the 7th of December with Pearl Harbor. In the 80s, I got several opportunities to remain overnight in bungalows alongside the harbor channel. I could sit outside the bungalow and watch the submarines set sail towards the Pacific Ocean. I haven't seen a submarine since moving to Ireland in 1994. Those boats helped Japan, an island nation, make its claim for unfettered trade. When other nations interfered with that trade, the Japanese felt they had to lash out and protect their lines of communication. Some of this rationalisation appears in the excellent DVD created by National Geographic. It's time to watch that DVD again, and to open At Dawn We Slept (889 pages) for a careful and measured perspective of what will always be a day to remember.
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Mon December 08, 2008. 12:51 AM
WITH A SMALL DIGITAL DICTAPHONE on the floor (the Sony ICD MX-20 at right), I joined several thousand people to listen to opening remarks at Online Educa Berlin 2008. In fact, I knew most of Michael Wesch's excellent material from YouTube--I was one of the first 500 people to view his Web 2.0 YouTube clip last January right before the Superbowl. But when Michael Wesch offers to share "the rest of the story" anywhere, I want to join the crowd. So I switched on the Sony ICD MX-20, let it run for a half hour, and uploaded the result [1]. Wesch glorifies the power of user-generated content and the trend curve for that part of modern life is accelerating. The consulting firm ABI Research predicts more than a trillion videos will be streamed worldwide in 2013, up from 32 billion in 2006. [2] Meanwhile, the presenters in the Zille Room at #oeb08 documented that web-video viewers are watching less TV. And as Richard Siklos says, "A second front in this battle for eyeballs opened up this year via a flood of professionally-produced webisodes from the likes of Sony, NBC and the respective creators of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "The Family Guy".

Unlike Wesch, who thinks the video space will be dominated by users, Siklos believes "the future of video may be determined neither by users nor media companies, but by marketers."

So, if you believe the 27-minute Wesch presentation, the cloud will be seeded with multiple millions of small screen videos ant that is good. Meanwhile, big media will put more and more full-length material online for two reasons. "One, streaming content actually makes it harder to steal," explains Skilos. "Two, viewers are moving to the web anyway, so it's a zero sum game. CBS and Fox and the rest would rather people watch their stuff online than have them go to Dailymotion, break.com, or any of the sites out there."

Both Wesch and Siklos agree: user-generated video isn't going away. But for the most part, it's a cultural phenomenon, not a commercial one. Perhaps it deserves a prominent space among university educators attending Online Educa Berlin.
1. Download the link from podcasting.ie/edtech/wesch_oeb08.mp3 if you want it directly.
2. Richard Siklos -- "The Re-Rise of Professional Content" in the "Hollyworld" section of Fortune magazine, 8 December 2008.

Michael Wesch has a YouTube channel.
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Sun December 07, 2008. 11:54 PM
I WILL WALK INTO the Berlin Intercontinental Hotel nearly four years after the day Ruth and I enjoyed a hot pot of coffee. We were watching a Sky News report without sound as a gigantic tsunami swept away the lives of an island nation. An overhead satellite captured the moment (see above and see amateur footage). Whenever the end of December approaches, I wonder how Sri Lanka has recovered. I also look at issues that were running through my head at the time.

Beginning Moleskine. By late 2004, I had followed the lead of Antoin O Lachtnain and Eammon Fitzgerald and bought a Moleskine journal because I like its tactile feel. A colleague followed me, going further into the inventory and bought me a pocket-sized Moleskine for carry-around use. That's handy because you never know when you'll be struck by a eureka moment.

Book-buying Habit. During my first 10 years in Ireland, I cultivated a book-buying habit. It normally involved spending hundreds of dollars every year in Hodges & Figgis, motivated by discount vouchers that I rarely used. Today, my habit has evolved to buying books online.

iTunes the Habit. Apple had sold 200m total songs on its iTunes Music store in early December 2004. While it took Apple nearly a year to sell its first 50 million songs--before it opened the service to customers on Windows--it took only another four months to break the 100 million barrier, three more to break 150 million, and then two months to break 200 million. Says Eddie Cue, Apple Vice President of applications: "We like the way this curve is looking." Last month, I dropped €34 into iTunes. I would have spent more if the files were in MP3 format.

Berlin Covered Me. I found inexpensive protective sleeves for my CDs while visiting Berlin in 2004. I also found that I could get protective CD/DVD covers that prevent scratches and smudges. They can be left on at all times and don't affect playback while protecting your discs. They add hardly any bulk, which means they will work with both slot-loading or tray-loading drives.

It will be interesting to see what I discover in Berlin this time around.
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Sun December 07, 2008. 07:55 AM
SPENDING CHRISTMAS TIME in Berlin without maximising your time walking the lights of the Kurfürstendamm seems like a missed opportunity, so when planning my stay at Online Educa Berlin, I sought an economy room (Komfort Zimmer) in a hotel with free and open wifi within 20 minutes walking distance of the Berlin Aquarium . Normally a hotel reservation site like Hotwire will serve up quality results for this kind of accommodation but in my experience, Hotwire favours cheap and cheerful east Berlin options and that would mean taking public transport under Kudamm. I want to see the lights, hear the Christmas carols, smell the gluhwein and taste the bratwursts while walking up top. I found the Berlin Plaza Hotel by remembering the term "Komfort Zimmer" from a few years ago when Ruth and I visited Berlin for Sylvester. Our four-day stay put us right off Kudamm, with easy access to many things that we enjoyed while staying in a room costing less than €70 a night. I'm repeating the experience in the Plaza Hotel, and getting an opportunity to review the dinner specials on the hotel's blog. All good hotels should offer economy accommodation, open wifi, and an updated blog describing good craic in the immediate vicinity. The Berlin Plaza Hotel wins in all three areas.
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Sun December 07, 2008. 02:16 AM
BACK FROM BERLIN with a nasty cough and a raspy voice, I'm making a short [28 MB 3GP file] video about technology items found in today's Irish Sunday papers--then I saw Sean O'Grady viewing my videostream on his newly-christened 22" monitor. I know I'm part of a dying breed of consumers who prefer to hold a standard newspaper on Sunday. I've developed the habit while growing up in a household where getting the Sunday New York Times was a luxury. I think the Sunday Times magazines published in England and in the NYC area are wonderful in their photographic coverage. Today's British edition continues the tradition with "Spectrum" showcasing pictures from the front line of life. [1] Andrew Sullivan continues the thought of the declining newspaper industry in his Sunday Times column. [2] Between March and September the 500 biggest newspapers in America reported an average circulation decline of 4.6%. That's close to a 10% decline per year. Nearly every Irish paper serves up a perspective on the recession. The current Irish government is borrowing €1 for every €10 spent in the next two years. I think two things are missing: (1) Real sacrifice from the Irish public sector and (2) a viable public relations programme by Ireland Inc to restore confidence, credibility and sustainability in national policy. [3]

Declining Fortunes. Many analysts are pointing to major shifts under global financial markets. [4] Higher credit costs, declining advertising revenues and the need to focus on strategic development is pummeling Formula 1 racing. In fact, the motorsport industry will relocate where the investment is. [5] Traditional CD sales are seeing yet another decline [6] while cyberspace sales [7] and savvy investments [11] are holding the line.

Future Auto Manufacturing. Will Hutton writes, "The car was the symbol of the pre-war 20th century." Things have changed dramatically. He says Detroit is out of touch with the needs of 21st century personal transport by assuming cheap petrol is a never-ending American right. "Car companies need to rethink their mission from scratch, for their own sake and the world's." [8]

More Mobile Phone Spectrum. The powerful UHF network that carries national TV in the UK will now be available for phone and data use and that clean spectrum could transform daily life, says James Robinson. An Android handset, capable of using the new spectrum as well as using legacy frequencies, would take location-based services to a whole new level. [9]

Blogging and Business. Adrian Weckler hits it: "For a while, we thought blogs might be the next big thing for businesses. We were wrong: for the majority who tried it, they only generated a couple of hundred eyeballs and a few spots higher up Google's ranking list." Weckler likes Facebook and points to the value Bebo can provide a company in the Irish market. [10]

1. "Illustrated Man" in the opening key frame sequence of today's Qik video comes from Steve Bloom's book Living Africa.
2. Andrew Sullivan -- "Read all about it: newspapers are done for" in the News Review section of The Sunday Times, 7 December 2008.
3. Cliff Taylor -- "Confidence must be restored" in the Sunday Business Post, 7 December 2008.
4. William Keegan -- "I don't want to alarm you, but I think it's time to use the D word" in the Sunday Observer, 7 December 2008.
5. Tim Webb -- "Is Formula One on the skids?" in the business section of the Sunday Observer, 7 December 2008.
6. Caroline Davies -- "High street woes signal the final demise of the CD" in the Sunday Observer, 7 December 2008.
7. Zoe Wood -- "A big day online as shoppers go into cyberspace for bargains" in the Sunday Observer, 7 December 2008.
8. Will Hutton -- "Detroit has run out of road" in the Sunday Observer, 7 December 2008.
9. James Robinson -- "It's the great analogue sale as airwaves go on the block" in the Media section of the Sunday Observer, 7 December 2008.
10. Bryan Collins - "New Way to Hit Target" in the cover story of Computers in Business in the Sunday Business Post, 7 December 2008.
11. Elaine O'Regan -- "VoiceSage sends a profitable message" in the DoneDeal section of the Sunday Business Post, 7 December 2008.
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Fri December 05, 2008. 08:35 PM
FOR THE PAST FOUR YEARS, I have exchanged stories with the e-learning team in the Dublin Institute of Technology. Before setting off to Online Educa Berlin (#oeb08), I dropped into an afternoon session at DIT and shared some thoughts with MSc students concerning the baby steps we are taking in Tipperary Institute in technology-supported learning and training. we have made some adjustments to how we educate Gen Y learners in the hopes that our initiatives will ensure students can produce meaningul items for inclusion in a module portfolio. We have also defined public, online social networks for student interations (i.e, a set of photos collected on Flickr, discussions in our Moodle VLE forums, strands of conversations on Friendfeed and allowances for personalised learning patterns. Meeting fellow practitioners in DIT gives us a "soft" peer review session. We plan to connect with DIT e-learners by leveraging Online Meeeting Rooms (shown on the far wall) since that tech has proved highly successful every time we have used it in our DIT meet-ups. If #oeb08 proves worthwhile, we will return to base with another collaborator, ensuring our use of social media in education is more than babble on Twitter,
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Wed December 03, 2008. 02:19 PM
WHENEVER WE ATTEND LARGE industry events, we know there are direct costs and opportunity costs. Attending Online Educa Berlin (#oeb08 on Twitter and Jaiku costs the Irish Minister for Education €71 for every contact hour I spend in Berlin. Many...
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Tue December 02, 2008. 01:04 AM
THOSE WHO KNOW ME understand I like my phones to weigh in around 140 grams so news of the 150 gram Nokia N97 comes as a bright sunrise spills over Dublin. I need my mobile phones to double as ultaportable computers and the N97 does that. It offers a fl QWERTY keyboard, a 3.5" touchscreen and 32 GB of on-board memory. This beast has both the 5 Megapixel camera optics and the storage space to record a ful work day of video without saving onto removeable memory. Although its micro SD slot can take a 16 GB card if needed.

Like my Nokia E90, the N97 has GPS (handy for geotagging photos and pushing them with a singlw click to Flickr or Ovi), HSDPA, Wifi, and the standard array og GSM antennas to ensure it works in where I travel in Europe, Asia and North America. I appreciate its TV-out jack and its 16 x 9 aspect ratio for 640 x 360 playback on the device. I'm waiting to see how the N97 processor handles 720p movie clips because in an ideal world, I could swap SD movie cards between the N97 and my PVR at home.

A world of social networking widgets sits on the N97's desktop, making this 2009 multimedia device a compelling part of my online working world. I expect to get the Nokia N97 from my O2 channel partner before St Patrick's Day, but I may have to pay up to €900, its unsubsidised price. [UPDATE: The Communication People in Thurles (Co Tipperary) tell me it will be late summer 2009 before they see the product and I might be able to get it over their counter for less than €600).
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Mon December 01, 2008. 07:44 AM
ACCORDING TO THOMAS, our local Mini Meister, the final boat of electric Minis has sailed for the United States, bringing to 500 the number of those electric runabouts on American roads. We have been following the Mini since late 2001, when its solid reputation as an economy go-kart left its mark while dusting us off on the Irish motorways. And now, BMW is making one version of the Mini a fully electric green machine with an estimated range of 150 miles. That's enough to float our boat for a return shopping expedition to Dublin. The American pilot project will test the Mini E in California, New York, and New Jersey as selected customers can lease the cars for one year. Just like a new BMW, all repairs will be warranted by the lease. Thomas doesn't think there's a possibility of an Irish leasing arrangement because there is no trained Mini E technician in Ireland. BMW Recovery Service will dispatch a technician to travel to Mini dealerships if a car cannot return to base.

The Mini E tops up its lithium-ion battery pack (5088 cells grouped into 48 modules) capable of storing 35 kW-hours of electricity. Under maximum acceleration (or max throttle uphill), the motor needs 380 volts. The 201-hp electric motor is coupled to a single-speed gearbox driving the front wheels with 162 lb-ft of torque. These numbers are more powerful than a Cooper S, but the Mini E has to carry 3230 pounds (compared to no more than 2900 pounds in a petrol-powered Mini). The extra weight prevents the Mini E from beating the Mini S in terms of performance, but it matches the nonturbocharged model, scooting from 0 to 62 mph in 8.5 sec. Electric motors feel faster off the line because they offer head-snapping torque.

We have updated our wishlist and have made a fireplace big enough to hang a Mini E, should one fall off a lorry passing by.
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Sun November 30, 2008. 09:20 PM
ACCORDING TO MY WATCH, it's time for a recession in Ireland. The big hand is on 25,000 (the number of people who have emigrated from Ireland this year) and the little hand is on 8, the number of special offers that I've examined for deep discounts on things I could use during these tighter times. So in a fit of positive action, we pointed the Batmobile towards Limerick, the city my mother wants to revisit before she's boxed up. Mom remembers Limerick for the mighty Shannon, the Limerick City Gallery of Art, the big castle, the Milk Market and the Pound Shop. In fairness, mom remembers Limerick in the reverse order that I cited those landmarks. I'm working hard to scope out the perfect route for 80-something mom to walk in the city of Limerick and it means keeping her away from hoodies, a common urban species found in the town. Today, we marked another street as a no-go zone because of pack-running hoodies (two sets of young Gardas were always within 80m of the packs) and we also discovered a nest of shops we know mom will enjoy as she spends her American dollars in Limerick shops. We returned with recession-proof socks, encouraged by our success under the proud red flags of Munster.

Walking Limerick, Dublin, Cork or Clonmel is an exercise in recession education. According to mother-wear shop assistants, sales of maternity dresses are up, so to are till receipts in the Euro Shop (or Pound Shop to the well-initiated). Our friendly travel agent tells us that Ryanair will make a profit in 2009 because that airline knows how to pre-configure every click on the web for another service fee. Our favourite Limerick hotels (Absolute, Clarion, George) all offer ways to stay overnight for less than €50 if you choose your packages correctly. And in Extravision, DVD sales of Mamma Mia! are flying.

Henry in Cashel tells me that his competition will continue selling Fairtrade coffee at their current prices. With a nod and a wink, he takes a few euro off the kilo of Cofesa beans for me--fair trade for me.

According to Tim Harford, "consumers should cut back their spending if they believe that their earning power will fall for an extended period of time, but if they believe the hard times are temporary, they should 'smooth' by borrowing in hard times and paying back with things pick up." That's not going to work in Ireland because this 2008 recession happened on the heels of a banking crisis, meaning it won't be easy to borrow your way out of the tight times.

The Undercover Economist [1] points to data from the 1990s in the report "Shocks, Stocks and Socks." [2] These data document that when people are unemployed they save money in a logical way, by not buying small durables such as socks or clothing. In the short term, people get by and save about 15% of their household budget that way. When they find a new job, they replace the tired socks. Running opposite that flow, we returned with fresh socks for the winter, eager to test them at the Berlin Weihnachtsmarkt next week.
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Sun November 30, 2008. 11:14 AM
MOST IRISH BROADSHEETS give a large swath of coverage to the terrible tragedy in Mumbai last week. It emerged that those terrorists were receiving instructions from Pakistan, some using Blackberries to clarify details with their handlers. [1] At least 195 people died in these attacks, which some experts believe were accompanied by warnings up to six months ago. In an accompanying Qik video [28 MB 3GP file], I skim the Sunday Times, Sunday Observer and Sunday Business Post, finding a few interesting items related to technology along the way. In practical terms, I think it's important to notice that many five-star hotels in Ireland now offer sumptious accommodation at half the normal booking price of the Celtic Tiger era. [2] On the street, petrol is now priced below the price point of Christmas 2007 and some High Street retailers fear they won't sell many pairs of socks in 2009. Details follow in the shownotes and on the Qik video.

How to spend public money. In a tight fiscal environment, the media spotlight now sprays every questionable use of public money all over the place and with predictable public outcry. Unlike Germany, where Angela Merkel's prudent decision to invoke the strong German value of frugality, Irish citizens rise up for their entitlements. It's probably too late for anyone in Ireland to demand the comfort levels of past public services because there's simply no money. However, there are local government elections a few months away and by unseating Fiana Fail councillors, Irish voters will make the hustings by incumbents more difficult when the general election beckons. Not surprisingly, the measured discussion of national broadcaster Marian Finucane get no serious play on Irish blogs, when she explores the serious financial improprieties inside the State employment agency. [3]

Your Diary, Their Book. According to a book Amanda and the Others published in Italy last week, the American student Amanda Knox drew up a list of things to do before she left home in Seattle. Top of the list, according to the diary, was visiting a sex shop. Knox wrote that buying condoms was one of her priorities. Most people consider their diaries private and personal. Diaries are questionable evidence in criminal cases because there is no way to authenticate them. That has not stopped the Italian magistrates from leaking the diaries. Although there is a pattern of partying hard in Meridith's background. [6]

Mid-life Mouse. As Alexia Golez tweets out, the mouse turns 40. The name was never meant to stick. When Doug Engelbart and his team at the Stanford Research Institute designed a computer controller encased in a carved-out wooden block with wheels mounted on its underbelly, one researcher nicknamed it a mouse. [7]
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Sat November 29, 2008. 10:53 AM
ONE OF OUR goals in the creative multimedia programme at Tipperary Institute is to meet inspirational people. Doing that well means achieving two underlying goals. First, we want to meet creatives who might be in a position to give advice to the teaching staff about the quality of third year projects, availability of meaningful work placement and the possibility of evaluations for academic work completed by students in the BSc programme. During this Thanksgiving weekend, I want to share my gratitude to Roseanne Smith, Sabrina Dent, Martha Rotter, Ken McGuire, Pat Phelan, James Corbett, Brendan Hughes and Tim Kirby. Inputs from each of these people have helped the senior lecturer team in Tipperary Institute develop the BSc curriculum along a flight path that ensures a perfect touchdown in Irelaand's creative multimedia industry. If I had the budget for a Mount Juliet tweet-up, I would love to accommodate that crew and their guests for an immersive weekend on the grounds of a place where I have absorbed some of the most invigorating ideas as a curriculum planner. But since this is a recessionary period, my blog post of thanks is as far as I can offer.
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Fri November 28, 2008. 12:21 PM
WITH MORE THAN 365 consecutive days of carrying the Nokia's E90 Communicator around with me, I feel like a very specialised mobile phone customer because nearly every smartphone review in Ireland omits the Nokia E90 from its gallery of phones. Perhaps that's because the phone is more a computer than a mobile phone, ultraportable enough to be used on small tray tables on commuter trains when posting to my blog or reading web items over O2-Ireland 3G (see right). Or maybe it's because its dimensions dwarf the slim and small builds of nearly every other phone on the market. But that larger size means (1) ample battery power that normally lasts me through an entire business day of data and voice usage and (2) significant shock absorbing capability when the phone drops to the pavement. I've dropped several models of Communicators that I have owned since 1997, including the 9000, 9110, 9210i, 9500, and the E90. One interesting thing about the E90 is its browser shares a codebase similar to the iPhone Safari browser, which means my browsing often appears as an iPhone and I can see most iPhone Web Applications through the Nokia E90 browser as well.
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Fri November 28, 2008. 05:18 AM
RACHAEL COOKE, A CREATIVE multimedia degree student in Tipperary Institute, took "best reviewer" honors in the Newstalk-LouderVoice competition this week for her cameraphone review. George Hook, the presenter of The Right Hook national drivetime radio show, announced the results. Rachael wins a prove sponsored by 3 Ireland, taking home a SonyEricsson Walkman phone and a set of Klipsch earbuds. But she also takes home maximum marks for a "technology review" item in the continuous assessment portion of her Media Writing module. It might be a perfect ending if Rachael can also get approval from Clarify PR to keep the cameraphone that she originally reviewed since it continues proving its worth as a mobile learning platform in her college studies.
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Thu November 27, 2008. 10:42 PM
AFTER READING MARIE BORAN'S review of the Nokia E71 in the Digital Ireland section of the Irish Independent, I was surprise that she was hit with the same dose of techno-lust that affected her while checking out the iPhone. It's down to "the looks" the "ultra-slim body with curved edges" and the versatility to work in both casual and business settings. Like my Nokia E90, you can customise the desktop shortcuts on the E71. And being an E-series phone, the Nokia E71 offers those enterprise functions we need (i.e., wireless keyboard connection, easy muting of phone calls, text-to-speech message conversion, PDF reader) along with a potent mixture of Series 60 applications available throughout the internet. And one other thing makes the E71 a useful device when it reaches the end of its normal lifespan: real Bluetooth A2DP capability. That means the phone can stream music clips to earbuds or to many car kits. If I had a five-year-old Nokia E71, it would be the music player my six-year-old daughter would get with her Bluetooth earbuds. And because both of those items would be hand-me-downs, we would enjoy knowing that she could entertain herself at no cost while we avoid sending old phones into the landfill.
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Thu November 27, 2008. 04:53 AM
FIBRE UNDER THE PAVEMENT would generate more tax revenue for the Irish Exchequer than a fresh layer of tarmacadam on the roads. That's the point made by nearly every Irish Minister for Communications in the past five years. At the moment, there's a pot of €435m sloshing around the Irish Government's books, due to be invested in the next generation of Irish broadband. I would be happier knowing the money was going into making it less expensive to connect to backhaul services so that small companies could work out a rate with a middleman and then know they could get onto a main trunk line for less than the €6000 figure that's often batted around. For me to break open the pavement and join onto the Metropolitan Area Network that runs outside of our Cashel office means spending at least €4000 for the pavement works, then an equal amount to share backhaul with another company. That's $10,000 to spend in order to get 20 megabits per second of uncontented broadband service. Then an annual subscription fee between €4000 and €6000 to keep the broadband pipe lighted up. For some, that's the cost of doing business. But that price point isn't achieveable for most of the small business owners I know in Ireland.
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Wed November 26, 2008. 07:52 PM
ALTHOUGH I MISSED the 2008 it@Cork conference because of compelling semesterisation issues, I didn't miss most of the early action at the event because I was following on a virtual back channel. I don't know if the organisers planned to activate this back channel, but I think it is worth mentioning the power of this citizen-generated communications. We microblogged on Twitter and Jaiku during Podcamp Ireland. That's not possible with Twitter, unless you subscribe to a hashtag (like #itc08 today) and watch it bubble back to life. We used it to great effect at Reboot inside a Jaiku channel that occasionally comes back to life with thoughts about next year's event. Some of the functionality would be possible through PeopleBrowsr, if conference organisers arranged a group there. And it's easy to set up a Friendfeed room around an event, a group or an initiative like FIR listeners or fledging communicators have done. We're lucky to have some very proficient live bloggers in Ireland and I've discovered as long as I'm following their short bursts while they're seated, it's often better than burning up the carbon to attend myself. This live blogging skill set and all these microcommunities have evolved with cloud computing. There's no need to set up a dedicated host to empower an audience with a back channel. But there's certainly a need to tell your virtual audience that the channel exists and it's good etiquette to explain to those who paid to attend that some people in the audience are giving away the information to people stalking their microblogs.
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Wed November 26, 2008. 01:49 PM
FOR 12 CONSECUTIVE YEARS, I have watched American Thanksgiving roll by on my calendar but I haven't been near an American dinner table for the occasion. I pretend to observe the occasion by locating an Irish carvery serving turkey and dressing on the day but sometimes that's difficult. So today, it's a turkey breast sandwich with avocado served on Pat the Baker white bread. Somehow, that combination feels like it will take the pain out of missing this traditional American holiday.
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