The bog-standard wordpress theme was starting to get a bit old, ah lets be honest, it was boring out of the box. So today we thought was a good time, after all, to update the site with a snazzy new theme.
We’re still getting used to this new design, and would like to hear what our readers think of the new design. We’ll be considering it for the next week or so, and probably updating it to suit our needs.
On the 15th Febuary 2008, applications for Eircom’s Web Innovation fund will end. The fund was launched last november ‘to promote, mentor and sponsor innovative web applications in the Irish Internet industry‘, aimed at focusing on and stimulating web 2.0 technologies in the Irish market place, awards for successful submissions range from a financial contribution to the development of the product/project, Eircom products (from the broadband, ISP and hosting portfolio), marketing promotions and more - the fund is valued at 100,000EUR.
If your one of the Irish entrepreneurs out there with a product or project that fits the criterea, you have exactly 3 days to submit, which means RUN!!!!!! get submitting pronto. Even I think I may have something to qualify, and will be doing all I can to submit on time.
Demonstrating true Internet broadband on the go, Intel WiMAX-enabled Segways are cruising the streets of Barcelona this week. During the Mobile World Congress, the first mobile WIMAX demonstration network in the city of Gaudi lets drivers enjoy Internet enhanced navigation, make VoIP phone calls and stream live video and images captured by a webcam to visitors at Intel’s booth at the event.
Okaaaaay, and the point is?
You know, I dont have anything against Segways in particular, but despite what most tech-startup ceo’s might think, the Segway is far from the coolest way to travel, you look like a weirdo - and lets be honest, you’ve got to have a few bits loose upstairs to even get on one of those things; add to that the fact that they are notoriously difficult to master, and have been the cause of a number of padestrian near misses [1]. Its not like the nerds that ride it need exercise… oh wait.
So when Intel announces that there are Segways roaming around Barcelona fitted with WiFi, I have to ask… WHY????? Its hard enough to control these things without adding the ability to go onto Bebo or Facebook and answer a bunch of quizes about what sexual position you are. Besides all the web 2.0 nonesense you’ll be able to pay attention to, instead of watching where your going, I cant imagine such a thing would ever be street legal.
The International Herald Tribune reports ‘EU plans to require biometrics of all non-European visitors‘
The plans - arguably the biggest shake-up of border management in Europe since the creation of an internal travel zone - would apply to citizens of the United States and all other countries that now enjoy visa-free status.
We in Ireland know the debacle created by the electronic voting system. This current trend of consuming every last bit of private information about a person, whether it comes from governments or social networking websites, which extend so far as to their very biological nature, is a disturbing one to say the least. Just imagine if the database holding the biometrics of all europeans, and non-european visitors, was operated as successfully as the electronic voting system in Ireland.
The beeb are reporting that lawmakers are considering drafting legislation that would ban Filesharers from the internet should they be found to be sharing copyrighted content without authorisation.
Some of the UK’s biggest internet providers, such as BT, Virgin and Tiscali have been in talks with the entertainment industry over introducing a voluntary scheme for policing pirate activity, but no agreement has been reached.
You might ask why this interests us over the pond, well as is too often the case, lawmakers in the republic copy/paste legislation from the UK - if this goes through it presents a worrying trend that could translate to Irish Internet users.
Following on from our coverage of the Anonymous versus The Church of Scientology (here and here), we wrap up for today with a photo gallery and videos of the protest. There are far too many photos to display all here at once, so we’ve set up a Flickr stream and YouTube channel for the event. Photos & Videos after the jump…
I’d like to start off by addressing some criticism we’ve recieved since yesterdays posting, about not asking ‘the hard questions’ when interviewing Gerard Ryan yesterday. A phrase comes to mind here: ‘Catch more bees with honey than lemon’. There is already a great wealth of decidely anti-Scientology literature and media (which we linked to in our original post), its necessary sometimes to remember these are real people who really believe in the ‘religion’ created by L. Ron Hubbard. It is our goal to present as much a balanced argument as possible, so we make no apologies for attempting to hear the other side.
What is Scientology?
Scientology is a self-described ‘religion’ based on the writings and talks of the Science Fiction writer, Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986) [0]. The Church of Scientology defines Scientology as “the study of truth”. However even on a cursary look at the Church of Scientology reveals that such truth comes at a price. Where most other major religious groups share their teachings as ‘absolute truths’, which they believe will stand out on their own merits, it will cost you to ’study truth’ in scientology. Approximately $100,000 to learn the core beliefs. The Church of Scientology argues that the work they do, such as the auditing sessions, are labour intensive and thus justify the fees they charge; in stark contrast to most if not all other religions which survive on optional donations alone. As Gerard Ryan of The Church of Scientology (Ireland) admits, if you dont have the money to pay for the ‘religious services’, your pretty much out of luck - so from the point of view that Scientology is only for those with money seems at least in part to be true. One might reasonably ask, why spiritual enlightenment should carry a monetary levy.
As mentioned previously, we endeavour to cover the Anonymous vs Church of Scientology events with a balanced but informed position. To this end, we contacted the Anonymous group to get their side of the story. Here we present Anonymous’ side of the debate…
With the threat of protests looming the air is heavy with the feeling of anticipation. Today just before the day of the worldwide protest organized by Anonymous against the Church of Scientology, and in an effort to get the full story we have gone out and gotten in contact with Scientology Ireland’s official spokesman Gerard Ryan to discuss Scientology in Ireland today, and the looming protest tomorrow.
Walking around Dublin City center, you’ll notice Eircom have rolled out Free Wi-Fi Access at every telephone box. We take these ‘free public wifi’ hotspots for a spin, heres what we found out..
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