Home on a Friday night: When I was small I remember how hard it was to have to go to bed while the sky was still lit with summer dusk (especially at summer camp). And that was in California, where summer nights are lovely but it really doesn't stay bright out all that late. Pity the poor Irish kids (or Finnish kids, even worse!) who have late, late brightness, evenings that go on and on. It's 10:40pm and just getting dusky here among the celts, and I feel I am somehow wasting a perfectly good evening by thinking of going to bed. We are still such primal creatures, tied to ancient cycles of light and darkness that make us feel we should be up (and hunting a wooly mammoth, I suppose), not wasting long summer evenings sitting in the back of the cave.

But it's been a long day and tomorrow will be a long one as well: the Saturday pilgrimage to the fruit and veg market in Temple Bar; a bit of time to watch the police sub-aqua team swim with the Special Olympics torch down a bit of the River Liffey (now THAT was an unusual idea...); a swim at the gym; writing up an interview with a CEO I always find interesting for next Friday's paper. Then, the big Special Olympics gig, which goes on for FOUR HOURS... Yep, better get that darn sleep. I will blog the show, I will, I will!

10:48:51 PM  #   your two cents []

I don't know about you, but I'd love to wear a choker that says "guarded" or "severe"...

From Boing Boing Blog: Homeland security adornment.  "For sale: silver and plexiglas homeland security chokers, in every color of the terrornoia rainbow." Link Discuss

8:27:22 PM  #   your two cents []

NASD: Treat IM like e-mail. And archive it, too--for three years, the Nasdaq Stock Market regulator tells its members in response to the growing use of instant messaging in financial houses. [CNET News.com]
10:33:15 AM  #   your two cents []

Gore TV channel to outfox US rightwing media. Former US vice president Al Gore plans liberal cable network to challenge dominance of rightwing media such as Fox. [Guardian Unlimited]
10:32:02 AM  #   your two cents []

Conway speech ignores Oracle bid. PeopleSoft CEO Craig Conway at CeBit America on Thursday talks up enterprise software and makes only a veiled reference to a rival's hostile bid for his company. [CNET News.com]
10:31:26 AM  #   your two cents []

Lots of excitement and a sense of fun growing across Ireland as the Special Olympics athletes arrive in to their host cities. I was on a plane from London this week which had a group of athletes from Korea. The pure joy that comes across from the athletes is such a pleasure to behold.

I'm looking forward to attending a number of events with my Aussie sister-in-law, Dawn, who arrives here to visit me for a week on Wednesday. Dawn worked for the Special Olympics in Sydney before making the mistake of marrying my little brother Barry :^) and moving to California. But now, she works with the Northern California Special Olympics in Marin. Barry can't get the time off, but Dawn will be over and we'll be catching a few events together (I hope some swimming!).

I'm really looking forward too to the opening ceremony at Croke Park tomorrow night, which features U2, the Corrs, Arnold Schwarzenneger, Jon Bon Jovi (eh?!) and Nelson Mandela. The mind boggles. Oh, and the longest Riverdance chorus line ever assembled, of 100 people. I'll have to blog it! O'Brien's Sandwiches -- which did a heroic effort of raising well over €1 million in support  -- kindly gave me a pair of tickets in return for having raised some cash for them by cycling on their fundraising event from Dublin to Sligo -- in a day (DeepHeat was my best friend that evening...). I was sponsored almost entirely by the Irish technology industry, including some extremely generous contributions from individuals, and raised over €10,000. This is a small public thanks to those companies and people who backed my sore butt that day because this week, with all the world athletes in the country and ready to compete, is what it's all about.

If you are in Ireland, get some tickets for some of the events. I can guarantee you that you'll have a blast.

9:56:39 AM  #   your two cents []

From the Guardian's Onlineblog. The news.com version of the story is here:

Intellect tells UK government to avoid the GPL. "When the Government decides to develop software using a restrictive licensing base, such as the GNU GPL, (it) should be aware that this would prevent it from deriving commercial gain from any subsequent derivative programs and prevent or severely limit the opportunities to work with commercial companies on such projects," says Intellect, an IT trade organisation, in its response paper. The story is at ZD Net.

You can download a copy of Open Source Software (OSS) As a Possible Default Exploitation Route for Government Funded Software - Intellect Response (pdf 82KB) from Intellect
[onlineblog.com]

9:39:15 AM  #   your two cents []

Jane Wagner. "Reality is the leading cause of stress amongst those in touch with it." [Quotes of the Day]
9:36:30 AM  #   your two cents []

Spacecraft Give 'Deeper' Picture of the Origin of Galaxies. Astronomers unveiled the first results from what they said was the most searching look yet into the origin of galaxies and how they grew. [New York Times: Technology]
9:35:17 AM  #   your two cents []

Linux Clustering [Slashdot] ...And for more on Linux and open source/free software, the Irish Times has really gone to town today with a big spread. I have a piece I wrote about the Guadec conference which includes some comments I got from a chat with Alan Cox after his keynote. They've rolled that together with an interview with some SCO people by my colleague Ed Power, and some additional wire coverage for background.
9:33:43 AM  #   your two cents []

Ballmer sets date for next Xbox. The next version of the game console will arrive in 2006, Microsoft's CEO says, prompting renewed speculation about Nvidia's role. [CNET News.com]
9:28:19 AM  #   your two cents []