Raiméis

Was having coffee this morning and flicked through a week-old Sligo Post when I noticed the following…

TV Watch Highlights for the Week: Bourne Supremacy RTE One Wednesday @9:30

“The second chapter to the 2002 thriller, Bourne has to abandon his life and examine everything that happens with careful scrutiny in a bid to save his life. Bourne knows he must become a deadly assassin again in order to have any hope of ever seeing Marie. The kidnappers tell Bourne in order to get his wife back he needs to capture the “new” Jason Bourne, an impostor using his reputation to earn massive amounts of money. While he tries to capture this impostor however, he is forced to fake a sadistic killer responsible for killing one of his few real friends. But, will things turn out as he hopes?”

Robert Ludlum fans will recognise this summary straight away as it a summary of the book!
But it’s no where near what happens in the film. So who ever wrote this piece obviously never even saw the film!

They’ve probably hired a 15 year old to write their tv reviews and much like doing homework they copy and pasted from Wikipedia last thing before going to bed except this 15 year old copy and pasted the wrong summary.
That’s an F- young lad(y)!

Monday morning, I needed a whinge, this is the best I could come up with ok?

SERIOUSLY sweet models. It doesn’t get much better than this.

Yesterday I said that I’d missed blogging in the few months I’ve been off … that few months is actually nearly 8 months! Time flies when you’re not blogging!

My situation hasn’t changed at all much really, time is still an issue. However I noticed in these intervening months the urge to voice my opinion on certain issues and without the blog I felt I had no voice.
There was nowhere I could go and shout about shite Irish drivers, the failure of both the Irish rugby and soccer teams, the ridiculous airport security measures I faced recently, Sligo Co.Co. who I’m not pleased with at the moment, the weather, the whatever.
Without Raiméis I was forced to keep my opinions to myself … something I just don’t like doing, as you may have figured out by now.

I’m a Facebook user, god knows why; it’s a pile of shite, but Facebook isn’t much of an outlet unless you find a good discussion forum and some people to chat with. And those are few and far between. I’d also given up on other outlets such as Slugger.

So back to Raiméis it is. Poor yous. And off I go now to find something to whinge about.

On the canvas alright, but not out for the count. I’ve missed blogging and might just have to start up again to release all these pent up feeling that have been stirrin’ this past few months.
While I try to think of a comeback post I’ll leave you with something I spotted today.

The following is a sponsored link which I noticed in Gmail earlier on today …

However clicking the link when you have Google Desktop installed yields a Badware Alert …

So you pay Google for advertising yet they warn visitors to your site that it may harm their computer. Seems a tad wrong doesn’t it?

Can’t believe it’s been a month since I last posted. I’ve really struggled recently to work up the motivation to post, plenty of thoughts on various subject matter but little desire to inflict them on others.

I missed the Blog Awards recently, it crept up on me during a busy period and I was really disappointed because i’ve had this feeling that I wouldn’t be blogging in 2008. I thought i’d at least last to the summer though.
But as my interest in web technologies has increased (I’m doing short online courses in javascript, photoshop and some other design related subjects) my interest in blogging has decreased.

So i’m going to take an extended break and hopefully come back sometime in future with a new design and new ideas i.e. I’m going to do a TCAL.

If anything exciting happens in the mean time you can use the guide below to guess what I would have to say on the matter.

Irish Politicians – they are all cunts
NI Politicians – they are even bigger cunts
US – Bush is a cunt
Iran, Iraq, N.Korea etc – all cunts
Soccer – Stan is a cunt
Rugby – Roll on the world cup! (The French are cunts)
Cricket World Cup – well done Ireland but it’s still a shit sport.

Take care, be good, talk to you soon.

The term Web 2.0 has been floating around for a couple of years now and until a while ago I had absolutely no idea what it meant. “Could it be another version of the internet?” thought I. Perhaps a parallel internet so we’d have de current internet and then anudder internet because 2 internets is just behher than 1, nach bhfuil? Níl!

WTF is Web 2.0 then? Well, tiz a buzz word, created during an O’Reilly Media (owned by Tim O’Reilly, a Cork man (believe it or not)) brainstorming session. What else is it? In the words of the aforementioned Cork man:

“Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform. Chief among those rules is this: Build applications that harness network effects to get better the more people use them.”

In English, and no offence intended to Corkonians, or geeks, or Corkonian geeks even, Web 2.0 essentially refers to the “second generation” of internet applications such as social networking tools, blogging, rss, wikis etc which emphasise online collaboration and sharing. To put it a more direct way Web 2.0 is Myspace, Google maps, Bebo, RSS, eBay, Wikipedia, Skype, Gmail and so on; technologies that more or less exist only online, technologies where the focus is on sharing content rather than boxing content into the boundaries of a simple design focussed web site.

Web 2.0 is also Ajax, Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, the stuff wot they make Google Maps, GMail, Flickr & Netvibes with. The old technologies repackaged which have spawned a whole new generation of internet software. These applications can pretty much replace desktop applications … Gmail instead of your email client, Google Docs & Spreadsheets instead of Office etc etc. This is one of the key principles of Web 2.0, the internet can act as a platform!

Web 2.0 is user generated content. Wikipedia, blogging, what do they have in common? Free sources of information created by you the user. You never need to buy a newspaper ever again because all the news on any event is available online. And with sites like Digg (or any of their clones), news & blog aggregators, collaborative bookmarking networks like del.icio.us you can filter the mass of user generated content to get the information you want. And it’s free and often as good as if not better than the garbage you’d read in newspapers.

Web 2.0 might mean different things to different people. To some it might mean “free and easy”. Look at how easy it is to register with sites like Google or netvibes, a username and password and off you go unlike some sites in the past where you’d nearly have to share your family history to register. Some sites even require(d) you to pay to register. Take a quick look at Google’s services and see what you can get for free and just how easy you can sign up for it … search, maps, gmail, docs and spreadsheet, analytics, reader, calender, base, co-op and so much more.

I suppose, in a way, Web 2.0 is the true nature of the web finally emerging! [pause for reflection] But what do I know?!?

This article has been brought to you by the number 7 and the word havntafuckingcluewhatimtalkingabout.

Winzip must be one of the most popular data compression programs, with good reason, it’s one of the best programs available, in my own humble opinion. Winzip has always been a commercial program, which means after the evaluation period you are supposed to pay for a licence key. In the past however you could keep using the program years after the evaluation period was over. This has changed with the release of version 11.0 as I discovered this morning. So before you decide to upgrade from version 10.0 to 11.0 be aware that after the evaluation period is over Winzip will simply stop working. Your choice then is to pay the $30, downgrade to version 10 (if you have saved a copy somewhere) or switch to 7-zip (a very good alternative) or similar.
Just so ya know…

I’m really looking forward to this weekend’s game in Croker … who isn’t?? I’d love to be there, the atmosphere is going to be amazing!! It’ll be even better if Ireland finally turn on the style after two disappointing performances against the Welsh and the French.

There are two things I am really hoping for on Saturday. The first is that Ireland give England that thrashing of their lives, that England walk away bruised and battered after an almighty thumping by the men in green. Not only should they go home with crushed pride, cuts, bruises, stretched sinews, torn ligaments and even broken bones, they should go home with a feeling of ‘what the fuck just happened’ after been physically battered on the field and aurally battered by 80,000 crazed Irish men and women surrounding the pitch in Croke Park.

The second thing I am hoping for is what when England step onto the field that the English team and their national anthem gets treated with respect. They are our nearest neighbours and friends and let’s be honest they’re a decent aul bunch. Let us remember that some of our own team are British, some of our own team sing God Save the Queen with as much pride and passion as their team mates sing Amhrán na bhFiann (those who know the words that is). So to denigrate the English and their national anthem is not only an insult to our closest neighbours it is an insult to some of our own on the field and in the stands who will be wearing green on Saturday. The whole reason they brought out Ireland’s Call was out of respect for our British compatriots, so that the rugby following people of both British and Irish traditions on this island would have a common anthem to sing. It doesn’t mean they have given up on their own anthem. When God Save the Queen rings out this weekend remember it’s the anthem of some of our own, so threat it with the respect you’d treat Amhrán na bhFiann.

So I say welcome the English team to Croker, cheer them onto the field, stand silently for their national anthem and when the whistle blows beat the livin’ shite out of them!!! C’MON IRELAND!!!!!!!!!

Edit: Ireland 43-13 England

Simply magnificent!

Troubled Irish blogger Maca has entered rehab (tiz all the rage these days ya see), his legal representative said in a statement on Thursday morning.

Maca, who first shot to fame for his supporting role in Bouncie Bernie Does De Midlands before turning his talents to blogging, is believed to regularly suffer from bouts of lethargy and insouciance has recently been seen in shops in the North West sucking the white stuff out of Cadbury’s Cream eggs and binging on Snickers and Yorkies … the ones in the brown wrapper with the nuts.
“Following an intervention by close friends and family Maca has been checked into an undisclosed rehab facility today,” the statement said. “We ask that the media respect his privacy as well as those of his family and friends at this time.” it added. Fans are encouraged to send messages of good will however a representative said “If you want to send grapes please make sure they are squashed, fermented and bottled, thanks.” Maca’s management could not be immediately contacted for comment.

p.s. When I win the lotto I’m going to open up a pub called Rehab so anyone can go into rehab and get completely and utterly flutered! That’d be way fucking cool.

I think i found my new toy … the Skype DUALphone 3088 … it’s not cheap, €139 (€153,05 inc. shipping), but at the rate herself is making calls back to Finland I’ll make that back in a matter of weeks. Anyone out there have this particular piece of wizardry?