Weird Web

Skyhook sends me to Kansas

2008-02-02T00:28:00.000Z

I've been playing a bit with Skyhook's system for locating you based on nearby Wi-Fi networks. It's quite funky and comes built into new iPhones and the latest iPod Touch firmware. They've mapped a lot of the US and the top 50 European cities, including Dublin.

The way it works apparently is that the do a wardrive and log the MAC addresses of all the APs, along with the GPS co-ords of where they're visible. When you run their location service it scans for nearby APs and sends the list to Skyhook; they send back their best guesstimate of where you are. Works great around town.

They also have a neat "self-healing" feature: each time you query for your location, they add any unknown APs to their DB, so their coverage area slowly expands as people use the service, at no cost to them. Neat, right?

Well, almost. I tried the service in my apartment last week, and Skyhook didn't know where I was. Fair enough, since I'm in a block of apartments surrounded by more blocks and the Google Europe HQ. Then, tonight I fire up the client again, and Skyhook happily pinpoints my location... to here. About 4000 miles away from where I am. Wha?

It took me a while to figure out what's going on (at least, what I think is going on...). There's a new AP visible from my apartment, with an SSID that looks like it's a PS3. Best I can tell, someone went home for a vacation (loads of American
googlites here) and brought back their PS3... which Skyhook thinks is still in Kansas.

The interesting thing is going to be what happens with the "self-healing" algorithm... I imagine that now Skyhook thinks that all the previously unknown APs I can see are in Kansas too, and that bit of Dublin that they think is in Kansas will grow steadily as more people do lookups. Eventually it'll collide with something they think is in Dublin, and then who knows....

Unqualified Reservations: Five problems with Google Android

2007-11-20T09:11:00.000Z

This article has a nice list of things that are goin to hold Android (Google's mobile platform) back. I did a piece on Newstalk on Saturday about Android and I agree with most of the article -- Android is cute, but it's basically a way to get people to use Google's real products (search & advertising)
on phones.

Vodafone Gets Restraining Order On T-Mobile's iPhone Sales

2007-11-20T09:07:00.000Z

Aww, someone's not liking their sour grapes. Voda in Germany has apparently gotten a restraining order against T-Mobile
to prevent T-Mobile's iPhone sales, on the basis of "Waaaah they won't share!". OK, not really -- it's on the basis that Voda say t-mobile's exclusivity on iPhone sales may be illegal.

Get over it guys, you dropped the ball on the iPhone and now you don't have anything cool to sell for Christmas. Don't cry about it!

Pointless IT project of the year

2007-11-05T10:40:00.000Z

From ENN -

"The Sunday Business Post also reports on a planned broadband link from Cork to Donegal, which will allow firms with branch offices to link all their premises. The brainchild of Co Clare-based Ai Bridges, the project has already got underway, with a metro Ethernet from Cork Airport linking Clare, Limerick and Galway. The service is hoped to be available in Donegal by the second quarter of 2008."

Just what we need - more infrastructure connecting places with dubious broadband demand. Probably taxpayer-funded too.

Dell refund me €50

2007-02-02T21:40:00.000Z

So, in my quest for a Windows license refund, Dell have sent me a credit note for €50 (and presumably credited this to my Mastercard, although I can't check this at the moment). The only problem is they offered me 50 pounds and gave me 50 euros. This may be cheeky, but I mailed them again and asked them to look into the issue (hey, that's another €25).

419 scams now coming to your postbox

2007-02-02T21:36:00.000Z

My girlfriend got an advance-fee fraud scam (the one where you've won the lottery) by post today. This is the first time I've seen one of these by post, and it was surprising to see in come to Dublin, Ireland of all places. Apparently this one is well known though.

This one originates in Spain (a Spanish PO box and phone number, but they could be forwarded of course). Some "small" giveaways are

- It's been printed on a colour inkjet printer
- The "official stamp" on the bottom is clearly printed on -- the text is actually on top of it.
- One page tells you how much you've "won" but on the "claim form" you have to fill in the amount of your winning yourself.

(see some pitures of a similar letter on this site)

The return address is
Tridenta Seguros S.A. Espana
Calle Juan De Mariana 25
C/P 28045 Madrid Spain
Tel 0034 650 273 803

Of course, this is just the advance fee fraud scam going full circle. The original version was called the Spanish Prisoner scam and dates from
1588. The Nigerians just popularised it online, and the Spanish are taking it back to its roots!

More on Boston "bomb hoax"

2007-02-02T08:49:00.000Z

After the Boston "bombing" suspects were charged, the judge points out that it's basically a ridiculous case. At the subsequent press conference, the artists say they will talk "only about 1970s hairstyles". Class.

Someone set us up the bomb

2007-02-02T08:48:00.001Z

So, in a "guerilla marketing" stunt, the Cartoon Network had some art students make signs showing characters from the cartoon series Aqua Teen Hunger Force and hang them around various US cities. This goes completely ignored everywhere except Boston, where police are immediatey beseiged by 911 calls reporting the "devices"; highways, metros and the Charles River are closed; the artists are charged with causing a terror hoax. Jesus.

Dell offer to refund my Windows license

2007-01-26T11:43:00.000Z

Dell have offered my "50 pounds" for my Windows license. Mind you, they don't admit that they owe me for it.

So, should I take it or hold out for the $115?

Full text of the email:

Dear Mr French

We have checked this out and this would be an issue with Microsoft not Dell, but as a gesture of goodwill we wi;l refund your account with 50 pounds, can you please forward us your full order no and we will have the actioned for you to-day.

Kind regards

[name with-held to protect the innocent]

Dell sell Windows-free desktops in US

2007-01-24T14:35:00.000Z

It looks like Dell have realised that not everyone want Windows! In The US, they've started selling the Dimension n-Series Desktop which comes with the drive unformatted.

Enquirer slams Dublin Airport Wi-Fi

2007-01-24T09:44:00.000Z

In a short article, the Enquirer has slammed the quality of Eircom's Wi-Fi service in Dublin airport, saying "The 'buy online' option is bugged and none of the shops have scratch cards left." When will DAA listen?

Espion publishes Irish Wi-Fi network evaluation

2007-01-22T19:54:00.000Z

If you haven't seen it yet, yet out Espion Research's evaluation of the three Irish Wi-Fi networks (Bitbuzz, Eircom and BT). Bitbuzz comes out quite well :-)

Xbox in a shipping container

2007-01-20T13:55:00.000Z

Since I'm on a "get money back from MS" theme, check out this article about the Big Box Project. Bascially, if you have to return an Xbox 360 under warranty, you have to send it back in your own box. However, MS will ship it back in the same box, at their expense. Three words: massive shipping container.

Suing Dell in small claims court?

2007-01-19T15:08:00.000Z

Good article on someone getting a refund from the Small Claims Court in Califoria for a copy of Windows. He got $199.

Getting a refund for XP on a new computer

2007-01-19T15:01:00.000Z

I recently read this article about a guy in the US getting Dell to refund him the cost of the copy of Windows that came bundled with his new PC. Well, we just bought a new server in work from the Dell Outlet store, and I figured I'd try the same thing. I rejected the license agreement (which says I can get a refund from the hardware vendor), took pictures, and so far have had 5 calls with Dell.

Up to now I was dealing with various perky people with Indian accents but today they booted me to somone local; a very nice lady named Cora rang me today and tried to talk me out of it; she told me she's never heard of anyone trying to do this and asked for copies of my pics. I also sent her a link to the Linux.com article.

According to mailing list archives, a couple of people in Ireland have apparently tried this but only one unsubstantiated story of a refund here. I asked them for €50 which I think is fair. Alan suggested I should insist on someone from M$ presenting me with a big cardboard cheque :-)

A candid interview with Seagate's CEO - Nov. 30, 2006

2006-12-08T23:07:00.000Z

In a cool candid interview, Seagate's CEO says "We're building a product that helps people buy more crap - and watch porn."

IrelandDigital Podcast #25

2006-11-29T13:41:00.000Z

The latest episode (#25) of the IrelandDigital podcast is now available here. It'll be up on iTunes later today.

10 Minute Mail

2006-11-28T19:45:00.000Z

Great idea for people who have giving an email to register for websites. 10 Minute Mail gives you an email address that's valid for 10 mins. You can rspond to mails, or reset the 10 mins if needed. After that, the address vanishes.

Vista launch in Dublin to feature Neil Armstrong

2006-11-28T11:52:00.000Z

Kudos to Microsoft for making their
Vista launch more interesting. I suspect that they had a realization that not too many "tech decision-maker" would willingly spend a day in Croke Park surrounded my MS marketing folks to see Vista's launch (motto: "It's only two years late!"). So they've enlisted none other than Neil Armstrong to launch Vista here. That's a real cracking idea and I know quite a few people who would go *just* to see him.

Oh, and you get a free Vista Home license if you go, too :-)

Now, to wangle an invite...

Eircom craziness

2006-11-22T12:07:00.000Z

So, let's say you're an incumbent telco who's lost lots of voice customers to smaller, more nimble startup voice providers. This is "phase one" after liberalisation of a telecoms market.

But then, people start to get a little cheesed off with these startups. Some have billing problems; some are two guys in a basement; one of the biggest doesn't pay its eircom bill and gets all its customers cut off. People start to switch back to eircom (suggested motto: "The Devil You Know"). This is a common "phase two" backlash in telecoms liberalisation -- it's been happening in the UK for a while.

So, if you're eircom, what do you do? Do you target users for winback? Do you agressively try and switch people back to eircom? Apprently, no. You staff your winback backoffice team with just one or two people and make people wait weeks to switch back to eircom. At least, that's been my experience trying to move an office line back to eircom.

The only people with more of a right than me to be p*ssed off are the Australian pension funds who own eircom. Suckers.

New Ireland Digital podcast

2006-11-22T10:59:00.000Z

Our latest podcast is up; get it on iTunes or download the MP3 here

Weird Web is back

2006-11-22T10:55:00.000Z

I took a blogging hiatus for a while to concentrate on promoting my book. Back now. It's been too hard to resist blogging during the demise of Smart Telecom :-)

To start on a lighter note, my last blog post was about the death of the World's Ugliest Dog. Rest assured that his successor Archie has been crowned at the World's Ugliest Dog Contest 2006. And an ugly dog he is indeed.

IrelandDigital Podcast No.13

2005-12-15T11:00:00.000Z

Podcast episode 13 is now online, this week we talk about new NBC shows on video iPod, Ricky Gervais podcast, Yahoo buys del.ico.us and with our special guest Graeme Slattery , Communications Manager at Mobile Operator '3' ,we talk in detail about the Irish market for 3G services.

Listen at the link above or subscribe in iTunes

IrelandDigital Podcast No.11

2005-11-27T12:54:00.000Z

Episode 11 is now online, sorry it's late getting up. This week's guest's are John Kennedy and John Gunnigan. We talk about Irish Internet Awards, Sony, Mobile Masts and the new 3G license. We'll get the next podcast up a bit sooner, promise!

Links:
Smart Telecom

Magnet

Listen at the link above or subscribe in iTunes

World's Ugliest Dog dies

2005-11-25T09:16:00.000Z

Weird Web mourns that passing of Sam, the world's ugliest dog, who died this week at the age of 14.

IrelandDigital Podcast No.10

2005-11-14T22:34:00.000Z

Episode 10 is now online, with Alex & Steve and guests Adrian Wecker from The Sunday Business Post and Jessie Ward from CultureSluts podcast and WildLight Film Channel.

Topics include:

* SuicideGirls iPod Video
* Sony's CD "rootkit" of all evil
* Tim Berners-Lee goes to Galway
* LPT Ireland Video podcast

Video Podcasts:

Diggnation
1UP.com
Rocketboom
SuicideGirls

and more!

Listen at the link above or subscribe in iTunes.*

Geek gifts: The Ultimate Star Trek Collection released

2005-11-07T18:25:00.000Z

It comes on 212 (yes, two hundred and twelve) DVDs and costs US$2,500, but the Ultimate Star Trek Collection gives you every single episode of every TV series, all 10 feature films, additional commentary etc. If you're on Bill Gates's xmas list, this might hit the spot.

Girl kills mother, blogs about it

2005-11-05T12:16:00.000Z

Talk about misuing a blog... a Japanese schoolgirl slowly poisoned her mother over the period of a few months and blogged about it regularly, according to The Times Online. The blog has now been taken down. No word on whether Google Cache still has it...

IrelandDigital Podcast No.9

2005-11-01T18:56:00.000Z

Episode 9 is now online, with Alex & Steve back in studio. Topics include Telefonica buys O2, RTE announces Podcasts, Mobile Phones in the Irish Market and more.

Listen at the link above or subscribe in iTunes.

For sale: Britain’s underground city

2005-10-30T18:31:00.000Z

The Sunday Times reports that a secret bunker-like underground city, complete with Cold War furnishings and a pub, is now for sale. It was built to house the royals and the British government in case of a Soviet nuclear attack.

Independent Newspapers apologises for Lawlor coverage

2005-10-24T22:56:00.000+01:00

Liam Lalor dies in car with woman who apparently is not a prostitute (well, she was on payroll. Gravesite to be zoned for apartments, shopping centre.

IrelandDigital Podcast #8 up

2005-10-20T00:38:00.000+01:00

Podcast episode 8 is now online, with guests Nancy Gohring (IDG), Alan Henson (Bitbuzz) and Dan King (Hosting 365). Topcis include the BT boob MP3 player; the state of web hosting in Ireland; and a special report from Steve in Cannes.

Listen at the link above or subscribe in iTunes using the icon on the left...

US prepaid mobile platform closed down

2005-10-19T13:36:00.000+01:00

RCRnews reports that BCGI, a provider of prepaid mobile platforms in the US, has been ordered to shut down its systems, leaving thousands of Sprint/Nextel and Cingual prepaid customers soon to be without service.

The dispute stems from an elleged infringement by BCGI of patents owned by rival Freedom Wireless. Slashdot reports that BCGI has 90 days to close down the systems, during which it has to pay a staggering 2.5 US cents per minute for each customer call carried on the systems.

Anyone know if an European carriers are affected?

New iPod possibilities?

2005-10-14T13:35:00.000+01:00

The always-amusing Defamer today has a nice link to this parody of possible future iPods. "iPod Collostomy Bag" is my favourite.

AOL buys Weblogs

2005-10-10T23:18:00.000+01:00

As mentioned in our podcast, AOL has bought WEBLOGS, Inc.
Here is a link to Jason Calacanis's blog post on the subject.
So, Congrats Jason, well done - We look forward to seeing how you develop the blogs inside AOL - CEO of AOL maybe?

Also - I like this quote from his post, this could be the a guideline for all companies and how they deal with corporate blogs and cluetrain-ish transparency :

"In the same way I’ve talked about building a startup company on this blog for two years, I’ll be spending the next couple of years talking about integrating a small company into a really big one. As I have in the past I’ll be as transparent as I can without giving away our secret sauce."

Engadget podcasts on the Google Wi-Fi debate

2005-10-10T23:16:00.000+01:00

Engadget covers the same Wi-Fi/Google/San Fran topic that we talked about in our last podcast - work checking out if you are hungry for more on this subject

SonyEricsson announces Wi-Fi smart phone

2005-10-10T23:12:00.000+01:00

Sony Ericsson has announced their next smartphone, the
P990i. I haven't seen one in the flesh, but the specs look impressive: UMTS 3G, 2 megalpixel camera, QWERTY keyboard, and best of all, Wi-Fi!

Still looks like a larger form factor than I would personally like to carry around with me, but a nice feature set.

O2 do have a 3G card for sale

2005-10-10T22:12:00.000+01:00

Steve asked during the podcast today whether O2 have a publicly-available 3G datacard. The answer is, yes they do. It's a GPRS/3G data card but doesn't have Wi-Fi built in.

Cost per MB goes from €1.75 on the lowest plan up to €129 for "unlimited" plan (actually, 1.5G/month).

New IrelandDigital podcast

2005-10-10T21:37:00.000+01:00

IrelandDigital Podcast No.7 with Alex + Steve and special guest Shane Deasy MD of Bitbuzz, Ireland's Largest Indie Wi-Fi company. In this week's show: Wi-Fi in Ireland, Eircom Takeover rumours, AOL buys Weblogs, Inc and Spin Podcasts!

Subscribe using the iTunes button on the left, or download the mp3 here.

Peering wars start again

2005-10-06T19:51:00.000+01:00

News.com is reporting that Level 3 is starting to cut of some IP peers, and is asking them to pay for transit instead.

Peering wars have happened in the past, but things have been relatively stable in the past couple of years. The trend at the moment is towards more open peering, with ISPs of different sizes increasingly peering freely and even content providers joinging peering points.

Here's hoping that members of INEX don't start suqabbling like this. At the moment, most Irish ISPs have quite open peering policies, as shown by this page. They'll usually exchange traffic, free of charge, with any other member of the INEX. (The exceptions are usually multinational ISPs, who often only exchange traffic for Irish customers for free).

In theory, the larger ISPs like eircom, BT and Hosting365 could start to cut off peering to the smaller players like Netsource, IBB etc, and only peer with each other. In the past, these larger ISPs have engaged in extremely liberal peering, to their credit. Let's hope they keep it up!

NetNanny nominated for radio award

2005-10-04T10:11:00.000+01:00

Woo hoo! Net Nanny (series 1) has been shortlisted for a PPI Radio Award in the "Spoken Word" section.

We're up against the likes of Mariane Finucane and Sean Moncrieff, so we're in good company, whether we win or loose!

IrelandDigital Podcast No.6

2005-10-03T17:51:00.000+01:00

IrelandDigital Podcast No.6 mp3 with special guests John Kennedy from Silicon Republic and John Gunnigan, Independent Telecoms Consultant.

IrelandDigital podcast and content distribution

2005-10-01T16:37:00.000+01:00

At the moment, the mp3 files for the IrelandDigital podcast are hosted on my Hosting365 account, but my server bandwidth limit is being absolutely trashed. I've now set it up to use CoralCDN, which is a free content distribution network (basically, a distributed caching network). The new URL for Episode 5 is here.

I'll let you know how it goes and post the configuration if it goes well...

Comreg v 3 -- correction

2005-09-29T10:43:00.000+01:00

So, a reader more knowledgeable than I in regulatory matters has pointed out that my previous post re 3 Ireland winning its appeal againt ComReg confuses two regulatory decisions: ComReg had found Voda and O2 jointly dominant in mobile call origination, but that was a separate decision. The one that was appealed relates to call termination on each provider's network. The appeal means that 3 can now basically charge what they want for other carriers to terminate calls on their network.

This could mean that 3 can make a large pile of cash by charging other operators big fees to terminate calls to 3 customers. However, I presume that other carriers will try to do the same thing and appeal their dominance decisions...

Thanks for the correction!

IrelandDigital Podcast episode 5

2005-09-28T17:23:00.000+01:00

The next episode of our IrelandDigital Podcast is up. You can get the mp3 here, or subscribe using iTunes by clicking the icon on the left.

Sound quality is a bit twangy this week due to some problems encoding in postproduction (this is my fault, not the studio's!) but we have some good content, including a remote interview wirth Steve via Skype from CTIA in San Francisco.

Topics include:

- Tom Kitt's article regarding e-enabling us all
- More on eircom and VoIP
- Alan's review of his Clearwire wireless broadband

... and more.

Send us your comments at irelanddigital at gmail.com.

Common sense prevails in 3 Ireland vs ComReg

2005-09-28T13:14:00.000+01:00

A few months ago, ComReg found Ireland's 3 mobile operators to be "jointly dominant" in the market here. This included 3 Ireland, who hadn't even really launched its mobile service, let alone signed up any customers. Now, if you're not a regulatory nerd, you may not realise that being found to be "dominant" basically leads you to a world of pain, since ComReg can essentially regulate the crap out of you.

Today, the Electronic Communications Appeals Panel (ECAP) ruled against ComReg and found that 3 Ireland is not dominant, something that is intuitively obvious in every way except in the world of regulation.

Interestingly, this gives 3 an advantage versus O2 and Vodafone, who are still dominant (although they have appeals pending, too). As it stands, 3 will have a lot more flexibility than the other two, especially when it comes to whether they have to offer virtual network services to other wannabe mobile operators.

Score one for common sense!

VoIP a boon to eircom or a threat?

2005-09-25T18:24:00.000+01:00

Revisting a topic we talked about in our last IrelandDigital podcast, the Sunday Times has an article today about how VoIP will actually help eircom.

The argument is that eircom has essentially lost the battle for international call revenue -- once a hugely lucrative market, it now makes up only 6% of eircom's revenue.

As people move to VoIP telephony (the article talks about Skype, but the likes of Irish company Blueface are probably more relevant to eircom) more and more people will switch to broadband. Broadband is an increasingly important revenue segment for eircom. Remember, whether you buy DSL from eircom, British Telecom, Netsource or Digiweb, the largest chunk of revenue goes (directly or indirectly) to eircom.

Although this argument is persuasive, I agree with it only in the short term. It ignores a couple of important things: first of all, people are switching to broadband for lots of reasons, and VoIP is (and is likely to remain) a small motivator compared to all the other reasons people get broadband.

Most importantly, DSL and broadband are not the same thing, something that most media commentators seem to have difficulty grasping. Although DSL has been the first taste of broadband we Irish have gotten, it's hardly going to be the last. Experience in other markets shows that the availability of cable and wireless broadband can quickly cut DSL's market share.

The end result is that eircom are happy if people use DSL and VoIP but their revenues are going to be rightly screwed when people get used to VoIP and realise that they can get a far better, cheaper broadband (and VoIP) service over cable or wireless.

NTL's broadband rocks, for example; I've got NTL broadband and have ditched my eircom line completely in favour of a Blueface VoIP account. Eircom makes absolutley nothing from me every month! Digiweb's Metro service shows great promise, too. It gives you broadband + a VoIP line for only slightly more that eircom's line rental alone (although I've yet to test it out personally).

While eircom can try and convince themselves that VoIP is a boon to them, they'll have to do some real innovation to maintain broadband market share with so many competing technologies and companies poinsed to eat their lunch.

CTIA 2005

2005-09-23T12:39:00.000+01:00

Steve is currently on his way to the CTIA wireless & entertainment conference in San Fran, which is on all next week.

He'll be joining the podcast via Skype next week to give us a full report live from the conference. No expense spared from the IrelandDigital podcat!

Tom Kitt on e-everything

2005-09-23T12:08:00.000+01:00

Junior minister and government chief whip Tom Kitt has written an article about the government's efforts to e-enable us all. As you might expect from a politician, it's a bit long on buzzwords starting with "e-" and short on hard policies, so I emailed him and invited him to guest on the IrelandDigital podcast.

The one point he does consistantly make is that content, not access, is the key to a wired country. I'm not sure I agree, but if so ther'e no better way for him to support Irish content that to do our podcast!

I believe he'd be the first Irish politician to come on a podcast, and I'd love to ask some real questions about the government's strategy. So here's hoping he agrees.

No response at all since Monday. I suspect he has a staffer running around trying to find out what a "podcast" is :-)

Comments on Podcast 4

2005-09-20T09:42:00.000+01:00

Just some comments from me on our IrelandDigital podcast #4... the sound quality is finally getting really good, thanks to the guys in Digital Audio Productions who have given us studio time in their excellent Dublin city facility. Give them a call if you're looking for studio space for a podcast (or anything else).

One more sponsor plug: Irish online marketing company Twelve Horses have come in as sponsors of this month's podcasts, so a big-up to them for supporting Irish podcasts!

In Podcast #4 we talk about ComReg's recent backing down over local loop unbundling; new environmental waste charges applied to electronic goods; a meaty bit on the eircom/Meteor takeover; and a quick review of the PSP.

Thanks to guests Adrian Weckler of the Sunday Business Post and Donogh O'Donovan of McCann Fitzgerald Solicitors for providing us with some excellent commentary.

The links for the podcast again are

To get the podcast using iTunes, use this link
To get the MP3 directly, try this.

Ireland AM sites

2005-09-19T23:30:00.000+01:00

So, tomorrow morning I'm covering sites for people moving house or looking for property.

www.newaddress.ie
I know I said previously that these guys were blacklisted for having dumbass PR people, but I relented because the site is cool. If you're moving house, you give them your new address, and your ESB, eircom, NTL etc account details, and they change all your accounts over to your new address. And it's free.

www.myhome.ie
This is probably Ireland's best site for buying property. It's got lots of cool features like a zoomable map of Ireland with all the properties marked on it.

www.daft.ie
If you're looking for a place to rent, this is the site to use. You may have come across DAFT already, but I'm always surprised by how many people haven't tried it and still use the Evening Herald or something similar. I've found my last 4 apartments on Daft, so I know it works!

IrelandDigital Podcast No.4

2005-09-19T11:56:00.000+01:00

Latest IrelandDigital Podcast No.4 mp3 with special guests Adrian Weckler from the Sunday Business Post and Donogh O'Donoan from McCann Fitzgerald.

RePOD of IrelandDigital No.3

2005-09-17T11:25:00.000+01:00

Because of problems with the original Mp3 file of IrelandDigital NO.3, this is a RePod for those Listeners who got the corrupted file. mp3 .

Real-time spam map

2005-09-15T16:48:00.000+01:00

Mailinator (spam filtering guys) have used Google Maps to produce a Realtime Spam Map that you can click to see actual spam subject lines that have just been sent from different places around the world. Very addictive.

O2 announces new wifi phone

2005-09-14T15:52:00.000+01:00

From The Register.... O2 announces new wifi phone..... is this the start of a trend?

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/14/o2_unveils_universal/

The Daft Report: Irish rental property market analysis

2005-09-14T14:07:00.000+01:00

If you rent in Ireland, you'll know about Daft, by far the best rental property website around these parts. They've run some cool stats on rental prices, average time-to-let, and other trends, broken down by city and Dublin postcode. It's all in The Daft Report.

That's a great use of the mountains of raw data they must have lying around!

Prob with Podcast No.3

2005-09-14T11:57:00.000+01:00

Sorry folks - we had some gremlins with our garageband mixdown, and some music crept into the middle of our latest podcast.
This has now been rectified - so we hope you can redownload it again - either through iTunes or via the link in the podcast post below..

PSP working like a dream in Bitbuzz WiFi hotspots!

2005-09-14T00:45:00.000+01:00

This pic of a PSP with new firmware successfully logging on to the net via wifi at the Bitbuzz Hotspot at Odessa Club, Dublin.
Schweeet!!

We might have to get a few now :-)

Ireland Digital Podcast No.3

2005-09-13T23:36:00.000+01:00

New IrelandDigital podcast mp3 for Sept. 12th 2005.

This week we have a special guest Nancy Gohring from IDG and we discuss the new Apple Products ( nano, ROKR ) , Virtual Playboy Babes, New Broadband Service Metro, WiMax and much more.

Embargoing a website

2005-09-12T22:55:00.000+01:00

So, I was going to feature the very cool site newaddress.ie on Ireland AM tomorrow but their PR agency emailed me and told me the site is "embargoed" until Wednesday so I'm not allowed to talk about it on TV til then. Now, you can embargo a press release, but this is a live website. WTF?

Anyway, the long and the short of it is, no plug for them! (and no link on this blog ;-)

New Net Nanny series in production

2005-09-08T11:10:00.000+01:00

We're currently recording the next series of Net Nanny, the RTE (Irish national broadcaster) radio show about computers, the internet and wired life. We're looking for people with a story to tell about how the net made an impact you their life. If you want to get in touch, just click over to the Net Nanny minisite and fill in the contact form.

Next IrelandDigital podcast

2005-09-08T11:05:00.000+01:00

The next podcast is coming Monday... some cool things to look forward to: we have a great guest coming on the show. Nancy Gohring, of WiMax Net News and IDG is goign to join us to talk about the situation in Ireland re wireless broadband.

Also, we'll have a real, professional studio this time so the sound issues we've had in the past should be gone. If you're looking for studio space for a podcast (or anything else) talk to Dusty in Digital Audio Productions. These guys rock.

Of course, we'll be covering Apple's announcements yesterday about the new iPod and iTunes phone, as well as our regular news roundup and the wireless broadband feature.

Check back Monday evening for the podcast! In the meantime, check out the CultureSluts podcast if you're interested in Irish culture, music, bars etc. I guest star on the most recent episode :-)

Ireland AM sites

2005-09-07T14:20:00.000+01:00

On Ireland AM yesterday I reviewed three sites for wine & beer lovers in Ireland.

www.simplywines.ie
Home delivery of a wide selection of quality red & white wines by the case (you can also mix cases). There's lots of info about each wine to help you make your choice. Free delivery on most orders over €60, and 13-for-the-price-of-12 on all wines. Funky.

I have friends who use SimplyWines all the time and swear by it.

www.goodglug.com
If you're a wine novice, this site will help you get started with answers to simple questions like "What win goes with Chinese food?", and what it means for a win to be "corked". I'm sure that if you asked a real wine lover what wine to drink with Chinese food they'd beat you about the head with a bottle of Chablis.

www.realbeers.ie
If you're a beer lover and sick of the poor selection in your local pub or off-license, this site is for you. You can order dozens of beers from countries as varied as Belgium, Thailand and the USA (or even Ireland!), delivered to your door. Mmmmm beeralicious.

World's First Wi-Fi -Enabled Digital Cameras

2005-09-03T23:37:00.000+01:00

Nikon lanuches digital cameras with built-in Wi-Fi. Each picture gets uploaded as soon as it's shot. Cool.

RunningWithBulls.com blogs about Wi-Fi battle in Dublin Airport

2005-09-02T12:03:00.000+01:00

Bernard's RunningWithBulls.com blog has a good piece on the battle we're having to get cheap Wi-Fi into Dublin Airport, aainst the wishes of the airport authority who want to maintain a monopoly.

Podcast enters Irish Top 10

2005-09-02T12:00:00.000+01:00

We're thrilled to say that our podcast has now hit #8 on the Irish iTunes charts. Thanks to all our readers & listeners for making it happen!

Alex & Steve

iTunes Store Link

2005-09-01T09:07:00.000+01:00

The IrelandDigital Podcast is now live in iTunes - link here

IrelandDigital Podcast No.2

2005-08-31T23:20:00.000+01:00

New IrelandDigital podcast mp3 for Aug. 31 2005.
This week we look at Google Talk, Apple Video iPod rumours, Irish Podcasts, the Irish iTunes Music Store, Imagine Broadband and Laptops for all Irish kids schoolkids!

Some links mentioned in show:

www.electricnews.net
www.imagine.ie
CultureSluts Podcast

all comments to irelanddigital at gmail dot com

iTunes Podcast Store

2005-08-30T11:42:00.000+01:00

We are still waiting for iTunes to index our Ireland Digital Podcast ( see below ), so as soon as it's up we'll post the link.

RSS

2005-08-30T11:37:00.000+01:00

The RSS feed for this blog and the PODCast is http://feeds.feedburner.com/IrelandDIGITAL. We must get around to putting up the orange icon ;-)

ComReg parody site

2005-08-29T17:46:00.000+01:00

I got an email from the guys who ran EircomTribunal.com pointing out that they've launched a new website that's a pardoy of the ComReg site (ComReg is Ireland's telecoms regulator). They've called their site ComWreck. Can't say I agree with everything they say, but it's amusing if you've done some regulatory work here.

New Podcast!

2005-08-25T15:24:00.000+01:00

Pods at the Ready! Ireland has a brand new PODCAST, called "IrelandDigital".
So here it is - listen with care - this is our first attempt, so it's a bit crap - sound is bad and we are a bit rambling, but bear with us, we will get better! MP3 here and also on Apple iTunes Store ( Just search the podcast section for "IrelandDigital" - we'll put the direct link to iTunes when we figure out how to do that :-)

Myself and Alex decided that Ireland needs some local podcast content and podcasters, so in the absence of anybody else ( with Talent! ) doing it, we decided to take the plunge and start one. The podcast is mainly concerned with Tech Industry goings-on, Wired (+Wireless! ) Culture and all things Internet and Digital Entertainment related - ALL FROM AN IRISH PERSPECTIVE.
We hope to do it bi-weekly and more often if we can.

And remember if you want to come on the show, give us feedback or suggest an item - email us at irelanddigital at gmail dot com.

STEVE&ALEX

New series of Net Nanny starts taping

2005-08-15T20:59:00.000+01:00

We started taping the new series of Net Nanny today. It's due to go out later this year on RTE radio, and we taped some really cool interview today... more details on the show as and when I know it.

Cell phones make you go blind?

2005-07-28T10:25:00.000+01:00

No, nothing to do with downloading video content to your phone... a
report suggests that cellphone use can cause irreversable damange to the lenses of your eyes. This has not been verified in humans yet, but Yuk! anyway.

Political Statements in Wi-Fi

2005-07-04T22:46:00.000+01:00

It seems that as personal Wi-Fi networks become more prevalent in the US, people are using the SSIDs to make political statements. Hmmm, I wonder would you only use the networks whose politics you agree with?
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/07/02/wifi_war.html

Mobile WiMAX Coming Sooner Than Expected: Analyst

2005-05-31T22:42:00.000+01:00

"A limited form of mobile WiMAX could come sooner rather than later, according to a report released Tuesday by ABI Research.
That's because there are parts of the existing 802.16 WiMAX standard that increase the reception sensitivity of WiMAX, the study points out. That makes laptop add-ons, such as PC cards that can take advantage of WiMAX, viable now. Most observers believe mobile WiMAX, which will be embodied in the 802.16e standard, is at least two years away.
The result would not be as satisfactory as fully mobile WiMAX, but it still would be useful, Philip Solis, an ABI Research senior analyst, said in a statement."

http://informationweek.mobilepipeline.com/news/163702172

[via Fiercewireless]

Bitbuzz Stats coverage round-up

2005-05-31T14:14:00.000+01:00

More coverage on the Bitbuzz stats release..

http://www.irishdev.com/NewsArticle.aspx?id=630

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/news.nv?storyid=single4893

http://europe.wifinetnews.com/archives/2005/05/bitbuzz_boasts.html

Maybe it's now time for all the other Irish Operators to be open about their usage stats.
Come, show us your stuff!

Bitbuzz releases wi-fi usage stats

2005-05-30T17:36:00.000+01:00

Bitbuzz gets 5000th customer.

http://www.enn.ie/frontpage/news-9610195.html

2005-05-17T16:49:00.000+01:00

Today we reviewed sites to help you find a short break in Ireland (June bank holiday coming up!)

www.cruise-ireland.com
Cruise on the Shannon; this site has maps, information, 360-degree views of the boats and live availability and pricing.

www.ireland.ie
The new Failte Ireland site with details of hundreds of short breaks around the country. Great for finding deals on packages, especially if you don't have a destination in mind yet.

www.tripadvisor.com
Get unbiased reviews on hotels all over Ireland -- see what real people think of them!

We didn't have time to cover this one, but it's good...
www.greatdaysout.ie
Fancy trying your hand at falconry, or trying horse riding for a day? This site has a wide range of activites all over the country to try.

Boingo goes Bitbuzz...

2005-05-13T00:09:00.000+01:00

News roundup from the recent Bitbuzz-Boingo announcement:

Boingo and Ireland's Bitbuzz Partner for Wi-Fi Access on the ...
PR Newswire (press release) - USA
... Largest Independent Wi-Fi Network SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Boingo Wireless today announced a roaming agreement with Bitbuzz Ltd., marking ...

Boingo and Ireland's Bitbuzz Partner for Wi-Fi Access on the ...
Yahoo News (press release) - USA
SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Boingo Wireless today announced a roaming agreement with Bitbuzz Ltd., marking the first Boingo® Roaming System ...

Boingo Goes Wireless In Ireland
Wireless IQ (subscription) - Oyster Bay,NY,USA
Boingo Wireless announced a roaming agreement with Bitbuzz Ltd., marking the first Boingo® Roaming System deployment offered in Ireland. ...

Bitbuzz signs transatlantic Wi-Fi roaming deal
Siliconrepublic.com - Dublin,Ireland
10.05.2005 - High-growth Irish Wi-Fi provider Bitbuzz has signed a roaming agreement with California-based Wi-Fi hotspot player Boingo Wireless that will ...

Castro-Fi in SF
Wi-Fi Networking News - Seattle,WA,USA
Boingo Roams to Ireland: Boingo officially announced its roaming agreement with Irish hotspot operator Bitbuzz: The deal is the first for Boingo in Ireland. ...

News Briefs for May 9, 2005
Wireless Week - USA
... mode handsets. Boingo Wireless has inked a roaming agreement with Bitbuzz that includes more than 50 locations in Ireland. The agreement ...

Oxford students not so smart after all

2005-05-05T00:15:00.000+01:00

Off topic, but I couldn't resist...
"More than 30 people were injured yesterday after dozens of Oxford undergraduates misjudged the level of the River Cherwell during a May Day celebration. A record number of students jumped 25 feet from the Magdalen Bridge in the ritual soaking, ignoring emergency barriers erected to deter them ... But most were unaware that the Cherwell, after an unusually dry spring, was just 3 feet deep."

Verizon dumps payphone Wi-Fi

2005-04-29T09:03:00.000+01:00

WNN is reporting that Verizon will turn off its Wi-Fi hotspots in payphones. Wi-Fi in payphones was always a silly idea, I think.

Cellphone pic saves man from spider bite

2005-04-28T12:49:00.000+01:00

In the only documented case I've seen of a cellhpone camera actually being useful, an English chef was saved
when he snapped a picture of a poisonous spider that bit him. ER staff used the picture to have the Bristol Zoo ID the beast, saving the chef.

No word on what spidey power he may now have...

New York looks into broadband for all

2005-04-26T15:52:00.000+01:00

New York is looking at the whole area of a city's role in providing broadband

"We need to ensure that the city has the infrastructure to provide our small businesses, non-profits and low-income residents with the tools they will need to compete and flourish" said Council Member Brewer, chair of the City Council’s Technology in Government Committee.

Full article here.

MSN search biased?

2005-04-26T15:36:00.000+01:00

MSN Search is apparently biased towards sites using Microsoft's software. Surprise!

Dublin Airport penguin safe?

2005-04-25T23:40:00.000+01:00

Given that Dublin Airport are happy to let bombs, guns and knives through security, will they follow Colorado's example and start x-raying penguins (see story and priceless photo).

HK launches 1G home broadband

2005-04-24T23:35:00.000+01:00

Honk Kong has announced the launch of its 1Gbps broadband service that's already available to 800,000 homes. It's priced at US$215 per month. The story also mentions that the "entry level" 10Mbps service costs US$16/month. Why, why is Ireland so bad?

Vodafone announce Bitbuzz roaming deal.

2005-04-22T17:05:00.000+01:00

Stories here (Silicon Republic) and here (WNN)

The ballad of Philadelphia

2005-04-15T17:25:00.000+01:00

From www.philly.com: a great comment on the plans for the city council to provide their own Wi-Fi service:

"I read, with much enthusiasm, of Mayor Street's plan to make the city
wireless. Unfortunately, I can't afford a laptop because I was laid off from
my city job.

"In fact, I can't afford a computer, which stinks because my kid, who used
our local library's computer, can't because of the cutbacks, which is just
as well because I was getting sick of him having to dodge bullets on his way
home. (What ever happened to that Safe Streets thing?) I'd pick him up, but I bent the axle on my car driving into one of the million potholes in my
neighborhood, but good luck with the whole wireless thing."

Classic.

North Pole Gets Wireless Hotspot

2005-04-15T10:02:00.000+01:00

From the "wha?" department: Sci-Tech is reporting that two Intel employees have put a Wi-Fi hotspot at the North Pole. Nowhere is safe from us Wi-Fi people!

EsatBT becomes BT

2005-04-11T23:26:00.000+01:00

So, tomorrow EsatBT becomes BT, in a big rebranding exercise. No problem with that. We have a lot of global brands and some are good and some are bad. EsatBT are not a bad telco and have contributed a lot to opening the telecoms market in Ireland and have some innovative services and good people - their CEO Bill Murphy has even brought braces back to the forefront of executive fashion :-) However, I do hate when companines don't localise properly. I logged on to a EsatBT Wi-Fi hotspot in a Dublin Hotel the other day and was dismayed to see that the support number on the portal page was a Freephone that only works in the UK and they listed a +44 number for "Callers outside UK" - surely BT, of all people, could organise an Irish 800 number. Also, a lot of prices were listed in UK Pounds - even though as far as I know, we use the EURO in IRELAND. It just demonstrates laziness or arrogance - you decide.
I hope things get better when they become British Telecom. ;-)

Eircom completes DSL upgrades nationwide

2005-04-08T11:56:00.000+01:00

I hear that the planned eircom speed upgrades of DSL lines nationwide have been completed (apart from a few they may have overlooked). This means that the minimum broadband speed is now 1M.

Since most broadband providers in Ireland are basically wholesalers of Eircom's service, this upgrade applies to most DSL lines. Some providers such as Esat (which will be renamed to BT on Tuesday) and Leap have "unbundled" a few exchanged, so they set their own speeds and pricing. No word on whether they're doing a similar upgrade.

Also, note that not all lines can support the new speeds so YMMV (your mileage may vary).

Genetic Nutrition Analysis

2005-04-08T11:52:00.000+01:00

A little off-topic, but I just heard that a company called Genelex is offering DIY "Genetic Nutrition Analysis" based on your DNA profile. You send them a swab, they test your DNA and tell you what you might be allergic to, what foods you might have trouble metabolising etc. They also send you a personalised diet that's supposed to help you live longer. Cool.

Blogging (anonymously) about work

2005-04-08T10:59:00.000+01:00

Blogging about work can get you into trouble fast. EFF has published a guide to blogging anonymously about work (or anything else). Good references to anonymizing software, and also explains the legalities about talking about your work (US-centric, but most of it applies everywhere).

WNN Europe covers DAA story

2005-04-06T10:45:00.000+01:00

WiFi Net News Europe has a story about our row with Dublin Airport. This is some of the best coverage so far, and really gets to the nub of the issues.

The Truth About Toothing

2005-04-05T11:46:00.000+01:00

Remeber "Toothing" from 2004? Droves of people allegedly using Bluetooth-enabled phones to find casual sex partners? Turns out it was all a hoax (surprise!). BCC, Reuters and even Wired reported it as fact.

Ireland Am websites reviewed

2005-04-05T08:59:00.000+01:00

On Ireland AM this morning we reviewed sites relating to Pope John Paul II's death.

http://www.catholiccommunications.ie/
Official Irish diocese site with online book of condolences. Handy if you want to send your wishes but can't get to somewhere with a paper book of condolences (or you're lazy...)

http://www.time.com/
Has a great selection of articles from the past two decades of JP's
papcy, including stories, timelines etc. Good site if you want to
read up on the importance of the Pope in recent history. You can also see the numerous Time cover pictures that feature the Pope (and buy them too).

http://www.americamagazine.org/papaltransition.cfm
This is the site of one of the major Catholic magazines in the US. Good section on how the papcy works, how the elections are held, etc from the

We didn't show this in TV3, but www.paddypower.com lets you bet on who the next Pope will be!

ElectricNews.net:News:In the papers 4 April

2005-04-04T12:58:00.000+01:00

ENN have picked up on the DAA sotory with a brief mention in their "in the papers" section.

Wi-Fi row hits Dublin Airport

2005-04-03T12:26:00.000+01:00

Today's Sunday Business Post has coverage of the row we're having with Dublin Airport over putting Wi-Fi in public areas there. This issue has previously come up in the US and been resolved in favour of providers like us.

WNN Europe on Eircom hotspot in a box

2005-04-02T20:06:00.000+01:00

WNN Europe covers the eircom WNN hotspot in a box press release and quotes me :-)