May 24 2012
I read an interesting article today describing how Yahoo basically killed Flickr since taking it over! The article is How Yahoo Killed Flickr and Lost the Internet.
I never liked Flickr due to its old-fashioned interfaces, and its lack of usability. Also, I associate it more with low quality and high volume photo sharing. Everybody whom I know that is serious about photography uses other newer photos sharing web sites!
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May 22 2012
There is another indictment of our failing third level education system described in Digital Marketing Institute says Ireland has ‘unemployable’ marketing graduates.
This time it relates to marketing graduates, and their lack of digital marketing skills.
The institute’s Ian Dodson said that 100% of marketing jobs now involve digital marketing, but that just 10% of third level graduates have those skills.
I think that digital marketing should be a mandatory requirement!
“Unfortunately, third level students are coming out, not just with poor digital literacy in Office applications, but with woeful levels of literacy when it comes to using the more modern tools and technologies, like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, to promote and market business,” he added.
I often think that academics in Irish universities become lazy, and simply regurgitate the same material despite it often being many years out of date!
It really makes a farce out of the government promoting Ireland as a knowledge economy :|
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May 20 2012
A slightly worrying review of the Renault Fluence ZE – Seeking a surge but suffering range anxiety.
I am still not convinced about leasing the battery, but at least the first two years are now free!
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May 18 2012
I came across Mick O’Pedia today! It is like Wikipedia, but it is tailored for Irish people :)
Friday afternoon silliness ;)
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May 16 2012
Telefónica has launched a new mobile app that allows free calls and messages to other users! The app is TU Me (I do not “get” the name), and it is described in Introducing TU Me: the free all-in-one communications app from Telefónica.
It is an interesting move, because it would appear to be an over-the-top app launched by a mobile network operator!
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May 14 2012
I read a fascinating article today about a Brazilian clothes shop that is using clothes hangers that display the number of “likes” that the clothes items have received on Facebook. The article is Brazilian store uses hangars that tell customers how many people like the clothes online.
This is one of the most imaginative M2M ideas that I have seen to date! I can definitely see this appealing to the Facebook generation of clothes shoppers!
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May 11 2012
I read that the European Parliament is introducing further caps on data roaming charges this summer, according to EU mobile data roaming charges to be capped as of 1 July.
I am not sure if the telcos will be happy about this, but I actually think that it will encourage greater usage (and hence higher revenues)!
I found the following statement particularly interesting:
She went on to say that, from 2014, the European Parliament would be delivering a “permanent solution” to the roaming issue.
I have never understood why roaming is even allowed within the EU! After all, it is a single market, and very often it is a single operator that is both the home provider and the roaming provider!
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May 08 2012
Last week I read that the UK’s courts have declared that access to The Pirate Bay must be blocked in Pirate Bay must be blocked in UK, High Court rules.
It is disappointing that the UK is becoming the most censored country in the EU in terms of Internet access :|
May 07 2012
I came across Weightless today in Experience Weightlessness.
The value in machines having wireless communications has long been understood and a large market is predicted for many years. That this has not transpired has been because of the difficulty of meeting all the requirements within the constraints of the available radio spectrum. These constraints changed significantly with the advent of white space availability which provides near-perfect spectrum with free access.
However, the combination of the unique and unusual nature of that access and the very different characteristics of machine traffic compared to human traffic means that using any existing standard is far from optimal. Hence, the need for a standard designed specifically for machine communications within white space. Weightless technology has been optimised for this specific scenario and is now being delivered as a royalty-free open standard.
For more details see Weightless (wireless communications) or Weightless SIG. I see that the SIG is having its first meeting tomorrow according to First Weightless Plenary Conference!
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May 05 2012
I read an interesting article during the week by a UCD professor lamenting the drive by Irish Universities towards greater industrial linkage. The article is The bleak future of the Irish university.
I disagree with most of his opinions, and I think it is very important that Irish universities become more relevant to Irish industry!
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