Jan 17 2012
Ireland is due to get a new university, according to Quinn to approve technology university in southeast.
I think this is a bad move :o I think that the new university will not be up to existing university standards in Ireland, and I think that it will ultimately damage our reputation.
I would prefer to see the number of universities in Ireland reduced, and the standard of student improved!
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Jan 16 2012
After reading Apple granted patent for using apps during calls over the weekend, I realise that I have been infringing this patent for years :)
Actually the article seems misguided:
At present, smartphone users can either make calls or use apps – they can’t do both.
And
… for example, being able to take part in a conference call over your smartphone and interacting with information or data contained within a specific business app.
I have actually been doing both of these examples for years on my HTC P3600 (with the help of a hands-free kit)!
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Jan 13 2012
I was very surprised to read today that Openwave is going to sell all of its products and focus exclusively on its patents! See Openwave Puts Products Up for Sale.
I notice that Openwave’s web page now reads “Inventors of the Mobile Internet”, but maybe it has been like this for a while!
I have not decided yet if this is a good or bad strategy! I guess that it would be bad if Openwave pursues a patent troll approach. On the other hand, I wonder how much manufacturing Apple does (if any).
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Jan 12 2012
I read a fascinating story about overspending in Irish Universities – ‘Worrying’ level of overspending at Irish universities, says TD.
The most surprising revelation related to UCC:
The deputy was particularly critical of the University College Cork’s €138,000 spend on taxis in the 12-month period.
It really is depressing to see (yet again) that some in the public service do not yet have an understanding of where their money comes from, and the price that we are all paying for it :(
I really would love somebody to be held accountable for this, but unfortunately accountability is not valued in Ireland :(
Jan 10 2012
Google has been buying more patents to strengthen its IP portfolio. This time it bought over a thousand patents from IBM, according to Google buys another round of IBM patents as its Oracle trial nears.
I have heard that buying patents from IBM is like buying sweets in a sweet shop :) IBM is very willing to sell patents (albeit at a high price), and there are plenty for sale, but the difficulty is actually finding one that is useful!
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Jan 08 2012
I read during the week that the Collins Dictionaries are now available online in Collins launches free dictionary site.
The dictionary site seems very nice, and I am going to try using it as my main online dictionary.
The address is www.collinsdictionary.com.
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Jan 07 2012
A humorous story for Saturday afternoon…
A group of 3,000 Swedish file sharers have succeeded in getting their organisation, called the Church of Kopimism, recognised as a religion by the Swedish authorities.
The full story is Sweden recognises church of file sharing as a religion.
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Jan 04 2012
If you are one of the many hard working private sector employees in Ireland that earns the average industrial wage, and you are facing the prospect of paying substantially higher taxes in 2012, then you may be wondering what is the Irish Government doing with your money.
You might find the answer, or at least part of it, in the following article: Most public servants on under €60,000.
Almost 20,000 public servants earn €20,000 or less per annum; more than a third are paid €40,000 or less and another third get between €40,000 and €60,000.
So two thirds of Irish public servants earn more than 40,000€ per annum. As far as I remember, the average industrial wage in Ireland is approximately 40,000€. So this means that two thirds of public servants earn more than the average industrial wage!
The fact that so many private sector employees are supporting the privileged positions (inflated salaries, guaranteed job security, and defined benefit pensions to mention a few privileges) of their public sector counterparts needs to be considered in the context of a government that is only surviving due to a financial bailout.
Again this highlights one of major problems we have in this country, and it really cries out for reform!
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Jan 01 2012
Happy New Year everybody! I hope that it will be a good one for you! I thought that I would start the year with something light-hearted :)
I have not been following the recent Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) arguments, but I know enough about it to know that I am against it :) Anyway, I came across the following humorous comment by Dave Piscitello:
If #SOPA passes, supporters will seek to change Internet’s TCP/IP to Trademark Copyright Patent/Intellectual Property
Enjoy!
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Dec 31 2011
I finished reading “The Shadow Factory” by James Bamford today. (Amazon link to book.)
"The Shadow Factory" by James Bamford
It was an interesting read, but I felt that it lost its sense of direction somewhere in the middle :( In the beginning it read very like a novel describing the events leading to the 9/11 attacks. This was very gripping! However, the writing style then became more factual, and it seemed to randomly jump from topic to topic.
It was an interesting time to finish reading this book, because I see that part of its subject matter is in the media: Telecom Immunity Ruling Upheld by U.S. Appeals Court.
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