Déardaoin (Thu), Meán Fómhair (Sep) 30th

FTP for Firefox
Just discovered a cool new project for Firefox: Fireftp (an ftp client), a much needed and valuable add-on. I'd recommend waiting for the 1.0 release before installing though. more..
maca @ 02:35.

Bono's speech at Labout Party Conference
As you probably know yesterday Bono (yes the U2 frontman) made a speech at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton. Being a big fan of U2 and having so much admiration for Bono for exploiting his fame and harassing political leaders over their failure to act against the problems in Africa I hunted down the text of Bono's conference speech. more..
maca @ 12:11.

US-Visit scheme
Just reading about the new procedures which visitors to the US will be subjected to as of today. These prodecures apply also to us, members of the VWP (Visa Waiver Program). Under this new scheme you will be photographed and fingerprinted and your information stored. After October 2005 you should have a "smart" or "biometric" passport which contains unique details about you; fingerprint, picture of the eye etc. Now add this to the fact that the EU has agreed that airlines can hand over passenger information such as credit card numbers, address or email. Don't know about you but it makes me feel very uneasy. Travel to the US can be difficulty enough and now this? Bugger! more..
maca @ 10:18.

Dé Céadaoin (Wed), Meán Fómhair (Sep) 29th

Pitcairn sex trials
Interesting case on the tiny British-colony of Pitcairn [Pitcairn Gov | CIA Factbook] where 7 men are facing various accusations including rape even though it's a "tradition" for women as young as 12 to have sex. Their defence is likely to include a challenge to Britains authority over the island. more..
maca @ 09:42.

Be John Kerry in shoot em up
Kuma Reality Games has created a Vietnam war game where you can play the role of John Kerry and lead a 3-boat team through the Meykong Delta (among other missions). The first and third-person, tactical squad-based military game for PC is based on the navy's records of the encounter on 28 February 1969 where John Kerry won a Silver-star. more..
maca @ 09:20.

Dé Máirt (Tue), Meán Fómhair (Sep) 28th

Racist attack at Keane home
Roy Keane was the target of a racist attack of sorts on Sunday. "..vandals set off industrial fireworks outside his home. The powerful rockets were ignited from a crate daubed with language of a racist and abusive nature". Nice. more..
maca @ 12:47.

U2 new album track listing
Any U2 fans out there? The new album "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" is set for release on November 19th, and the tracklisting is now available. more..
maca @ 12:45.

Dé hAoine (Fri), Meán Fómhair (Sep) 24th

Staff at Garda vetting unit to be doubled
Good news in the fight for child protection in Ireland. Staff numbers at the garda Central Vetting Unit for potential childcare workers are to be more than doubled which "will enable the garda vetting services to be extended to all people working with children and vulnerable adults".
more..
maca @ 12:14.

Déardaoin (Thu), Meán Fómhair (Sep) 23rd

News War
Came across this piece on war between RTÉ, TV3 and Sky News Ireland. Quite funny, worth a read. more..
maca @ 02:28.

Flashing ain't cheap
The CBS TV network has been fined an astonishing $550,000 for Janet Jacksons quick flash at the super bowl. The FCC fined 20 CBS-owned TV stations the maximum penalty for indecency - $27,500 each. It's gas that a tiny flash of tit can create so much fuss, and considering the size of the porn industry in the US it's not as if it's the first tit they've seen. more..
maca @ 01:46.

Dé Máirt (Tue), Meán Fómhair (Sep) 21st

Firefox as Gaeilge
As we speak a team is putting together an Irish translation of the user interface for Mozilla Firefox. The translation team are getting very close to unleashing their first version, hopefully within the next 3-4 weeks there will be a version available for download. Of course i'll post a link when that time comes.

In the mean time here are a couple of recent (today) screenshots for you to get a sneak preview! Bain taitneamh as! Enjoy!

http://gaeilge.mozdev.org/images/1-0PR.png
http://gaeilge.mozdev.org/images/roghanna1-0.png

Older screenshots:
http://gaeilge.mozdev.org/screenshots.html
more..
maca @ 12:32.

Dé Luain (Mon), Meán Fómhair (Sep) 20th

Fahrenheit 1 Million: The temp at which the web explodes
In just under 100 hours Mozilla have achieved their target of 1 million downloads of the Firefox browser. They had set a deadline of 10 days in their 'match to 1 million campaign' so to achieve it with 6 days to go was amazing. Next target 2 million! more..
maca @ 02:47.

Europe win Ryder Cup
Oh you know this already but I just want to push it home, Europe walloped the American team 18½-9½ in the Ryder Cup. more..
maca @ 10:47.

Don't do it Kerry councillors!
This is a heart felt appeal to the members of Kerry Co. Council. Please do not support the motion to nominate Dana Rosemary Scallon for the presidency!
[Update] I see she's also seeking nominations in Longford! more..
maca @ 10:29.

Dé hAoine (Fri), Meán Fómhair (Sep) 17th

RnaG.ie - cá bhfuil sé?
Cá bhfuil an suíomh idirlíon Raidió na Gaeltachta www.rnag.ie? Níl ann ach suíomh ón RTÉ [www.rte.ie/rnag] anois ach nach raibh suíomh eile de RnaG? Cad atá an scéal? more..
maca @ 01:13.

EU launches crisis police force
Five EU countries have launched a new European Police Force called The European Gendarmerie Force (EGF) which will be based in Vicenza, Italy. more..
maca @ 12:56.

Mother & daughter died in tragedy
It's always very sad to hear stories like this one of a mother and daughter who died after their car plunged into a river near Bantry. Hard to imagine what it must be like when your two kids are facing such danger. more..
maca @ 10:27.

Firefox on the march
The Fox (Madra Rua for Dav.) is on the march and gaining market share. M$'s Internet Exploder dropped an amazing 1.8% over the past three months, and of that 1.8% Mozilla Firefox gained 1.7% while Opera took the remaining 0.1%.
IE still holds approx 93.7% of the market but slowly good browsers like Firefox are eating into that. Firefox fans spread the word.

Victory will be ours!! Mwah wah wah! more..
maca @ 10:04.

Déardaoin (Thu), Meán Fómhair (Sep) 16th

Irish Language Rant
I was searching for the spelling of an Irish word and came across this Irish dictionary. They have an excellent new section on verbs but unfortunatly not all verbs are available to Joe Anonymous, you have to be Joe Registered* to have access** to all 760 verbs. Even the dictionary search is limited. more..
maca @ 01:01.

An bhfuil Fáinne agat?
The Fáinne, for those of you not familiar with this item, is a ring-shaped pin which is worn to show that you can and will speak Irish. I just surfed by CNnaG's page on the Fáinne and I was trying to remember the last time I saw anyone wearing the pin. I know two people who wear the Fáinne but that's it. Anyone else wear a fáinne or have seen one been worn?
[Thanks D.] more..
maca @ 12:16.

Johnny Ramone dies
Sad news today for fans of the Ramones. Johnny Ramone has died at the age of 55, after a long battle with cancer. He is the third member of the Ramones to die in recent years. Joey Ramone died of cancer in 2001 and bassist Dee Dee Ramone died from a drug overdose in 2002. more..
maca @ 11:45.

Bring back third level fees?
The OECD (Education Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) team which visited Ireland last year has recommended that we reintorduce fees for 3rd level education. Buggers! more..
maca @ 11:41.

Leeds Talks
Talks on Northern Ireland are starting today in Leeds Castle in Kent. What are the odds that they'll reach a workable agreement? 9/2 11/1 10000/1? Must check with Paddy Powers. more..
maca @ 11:35.

Irish workers second in attendence poll
"Workers in southern Europe have the lowest rates for sickness absence in the European Union (EU) while their counterparts in northern Europe have the highest, researchers say. " "Greece had the lowest rate, of 6.7%, followed by Ireland (8.3%)", Finland had the highest rate at 24%! more..
maca @ 11:26.

NHL Lock Out
It looks like the player lock out at the NHL is set to go ahead. The season is supposed to start on October 13 but it's likely to be delayed quite a bit, it may even wipe out the whole season. Many European players are heading back to Europe to find teams!
Very bad for ice hockey and it all boils down to money! more..
maca @ 11:21.

Dé Céadaoin (Wed), Meán Fómhair (Sep) 15th

Hyvää Suomi!
Repeat after me, Suomi! Suomi! Suomi!
Canada won the World Cup of ice Hockey last night beating the Finns by 3-2. The Finns will feel disappointed because in truth they could have won the game but for a couple of soft goals. Although the Canadians looked the better team (and were playing at home I might add) the Finns were able to match them but just couldn't get the goals needed. Still, the Finns can leave with their heads held high. more..
maca @ 10:58.

Linux Standard Base 2.0
More on the Linux release ... from the horses mouth ... Free Standards Group - Free Standards Group Announces General Availability Of Linux Standard Base 2.0 more..
maca @ 10:37.

More flaws found in Microsoft Windows
"Patch time again" states the headline. More bloody holes and more bloody patches for Windows and related products. This time the issue is with jpegs, or rather how MS handles these graphics which is open to exploitation.

To tempt you away from the dark side The Free Standards Group has released Linux Standard Base 2.0, a new Linux standard that has gained the backing of most major Linux suppliers. "Analysts said the standard should go along way towards preventing a serious roadblock to widespread acceptance of Linux: the fragmentation of open-source distributions." Sounds promising ... more..
maca @ 10:29.

Dé Máirt (Tue), Meán Fómhair (Sep) 14th

Windows Nuke 0.1
Oh lord, this is so good to know. The UK Navy is using a Windows 2000 for their Combat Management Systems in the new Type 45 Destroyer. For your information these Destroyers carry thermo-nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles. That's so reassuring to know!! more..
maca @ 01:22.

Dé Céadaoin (Wed), Meán Fómhair (Sep) 8th

US death toll in Iraq
The US death toll in Iraq has hit the 1,000 mark with a further 7000 or so injured!
"The grim milestone follows a surge in fighting and attacks in recent days with more than a dozen US soldiers killed in the last 24 hours alone."
The number of civilian deaths is believed to be over 11,000. more..
maca @ 09:40.

Dé Máirt (Tue), Meán Fómhair (Sep) 7th

Irish homecoming for Viking boat
Interesting one here. The Danes have built an exact replica of a Viking ship which had originally being built in 1042 near Dublin!
"Your name shall be Havhingsten (Stallion of the Sea) from Glendalough," said Denmark's Queen Margrethe II as she, in Norse tradition, poured water from a nearby creek on the stern of the 30-metre longship - billed as the world's most ambitious Viking ship reconstruction.
A crew will now train for two years before sailing the boat to Ireland in 2007! more..
maca @ 09:50.

It's a dirty job ...
King Mswati III of Swaziland has chosen a 16-year-old beauty queen to be his 13th wife!! While a 16 year old beauty queen might sound delicious to you perverts just think ... 13 wives?!? Could you handle it? more..
maca @ 09:42.

"Show me the line."
Very interesting look at the role of women in combat with the US military. While the ban on women in combat jobs still exist many women are still placed in combat situations and performing well. more..
maca @ 09:38.

Dé hAoine (Fri), Meán Fómhair (Sep) 3rd

US Elections - Bush's speech
If anyone is interested (why would u be?): Bush's address from yesterdays convention.

I balked when i read "we have seen Americans in uniform ... ... liberating millions, with acts of valour that would make the men of Normandy proud". How he can make that comparison is beyond me! more..
maca @ 12:20.