25 November 2002

Asset Manager Rocks David Davies -- Thanks to assetManager 0.987, I can email pictures to categories. You can get the tool at http://radio.weblogs.com/0001161/publictools/assetmanager/assetmanager.root and onece you have the tool, you activate it by going to http://127.0.0.1:5335/assetmanager/mailtoblog   [Comment on Shoptalk]

IDSA Call for Entries IDSA org -- The Industrial Design Excellence Award Competition Call for Entries recognises the importance of design to economic growth.   [Comment on Shoptalk]

Finding: Vodafone Live! Signing Them Up Garringreen Hotspot -- Vodafone CEO Christopher Gent told Business Week that 50,000 have already signed up for Vodafone Live! That's remarkable, considering the service costs €300, once you factor in the cost of a MMS phone. ["Wireless Web, Take Two" by Katie Cappel in Business Week.]   [Comment on Shoptalk]

Sponsored by the Letter G GOOGLE BLOGSPACE com -- Have a look at Google's top results for the 26 letters of the alphabet. Would the letter I belong to Intel or Ireland? Well, neither. Google gives the letter I to Disney on the strength of the number of links containing the phrase "I disagree" that point to Disney. Honorable mentions go to iVillage.com, iWon, ICQ.com, I, Cringely. And the letter G belongs to The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, showing how Google's algorithm rewards single letters encapsulated by punctuation marks. [Google Weblog]   [Comment on Shoptalk]

Moblogging: Personalcast Blogging in your Mobile THE FEATURE -- Justin Hall considers the blogosphere resident in mobile phones. He coins the phrase "moblog" to describe the personalcast blog one creates with a cell phone. I have played in this space since starting my Underway in Ireland blog, often sending "mail2blog" from my Nokia 9210i to an always-on DSL laptop. A weblog is a record of travels on the Web, so a mobile phone log (“moblog”?) should be a record of travels in the world. Weblogs reflect our lives at our desks, on our computers, referencing mostly other flat pages, links between blocks of text. But mobile blogs should be far richer, fueled by multimedia, more intimate data and far-flung friends. As we chatter and text away, our phones could record and share the parts we choose: a walking, talking, texting, seeing record of our time around town, corrected and augmented by other mobloggers. [...] (S)ome of our daily activities would be enhanced by sharing them, both with our circle of friends around the Web, and the people nearby with like minds. Each of our moblogs, our mobile information profiles and archives, could search people in the area for compatible data. Think of it as a Web search on the real world. The results would be constant, part of conversation, tracked by your moblog. [Justin Hall and Dan Gillmor and Karlin Lillington and Cory Doctorow]   [Comment on Shoptalk]

Sighting: FlatStack Internet Remote Control TIMOTHY -- With an innovative new device known as the FlatStack, a user can log on to a Web page and operate home appliances with point-and-click commands issued through an ordinary Web browser. Timothy Technology's FlatStack is a tiny circuit board with an embedded operating system that functions as a Web server. The device connects to the Internet. The user logs on to the Internet, opens the Web page and is presented with various options. It's easy to switch on a coffee maker, TV, lights or any other home appliance to which the FlatSstack device is connected. "Wouldn't it be nice if your refrigerator could do your shopping on the Internet? Or if you could operate your air condition with a UMTS mobile phone?" asks LG [Newzcrawler]   [Comment on Shoptalk]

Open Spectrum Broadband INFOWORLD -- The US Senate is set to discuss Open Spectrum Broadband. Open spectrum activists such as Kevin Werbach had hoped for this and although changes may take years to fully come into effect, it continues the trend towards affordable, available high-speed Internet from anywhere. [Jeremy Allaire's Radio]   [Comment on Shoptalk]

McGuinness Stirs Up a Party Rebellion John McGuinness -- The deputy for Carlow-Kilkenny continues publicly criticising the current government. McGuinness has hit a chord, claiming Fianna Fail is drifting away from its core values. It's a fact -- the governing party reflects IBEC more than it favours the common working man. McGuinness has stoked a fire that is fanned by nearly half of the dominant party. Journalist Brian Dowling thinks that McGuinness "may be seen by colleagues as a loner, but the party leadership could make a serious miscalculation if they reckoned he was simply a maverick, engaging in solo runs on his own." "McGuinness Shapes Up as a Rebel with a Cause," by Brian Dowling in The Sunday Times, 24 Nov 02.   [Comment on Shoptalk]

Impressive O2 Results Brian Carey -- In case anyone needed proof that a duopoly produces profits, the Sunday Tribune on 24 Nov 02 provided the numbers. O2 Ireland operating profits are ahead by 34% for the six months ending Sep 02. O2 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation per subscriber in Ireland was £65.4 while in Britain it was £35.4. Irish Ebitda were 33% and only 26% in Britain. On a quarter by quarter basis, the number of text message sent has risen 47% tp 221m per quarter (that's 2m per day). Text messaging is 70% higher in Ireland than in the UK.   [Comment on Shoptalk]

Absurd Irish Neutality SHANNON, Ireland -- Visit this international airport any day of the week and you will spot USAF military aircraft refueling. Some Irish do not support this action even though Ireland voted in favour of UN Security Council Resolution 1441, declaring the terms for renewing arms inspection in Iraq. Aircraft refueling come hand-in-hand with arms inspections. Trying to deny this reality while posturing behind neutrality is an absurdity. The most critical issue in the current situation is the primacy of international law. Saddam Hussein has mocked the international community for years. If he flouts the current UN Resolution, he should face the consequences. Some of those consequences involve Irish refueling military aircraft.   [Comment on Shoptalk]

IT Issues for Small Firms SFA ie -- Members of the Irish Small Firms Association can download the "Comprehensive Guide to IT Management" and those who can't should know some key details. Government subsidised IT training courses were identified as the number one priority by 64% of small business respondents. Flat-rate internet access rated as a main priority for 40% of small businesses in Ireland. 73% of small businesses viewed the promises and predictions of e-commerce experts as overhyped. 70% of all porn is downloaded between the hours of nine to five. At this stage of its economic development, Ireland must cultivate knowledge networks between companies, suppliers and financial backers. Increased investment in and use of technilogy must become a day-to-day reality for small business.   [Comment on Shoptalk]