I have almost completed my Christmas shopping for 2009. I did all of this online for the second year in a row! (Last year’s shopping is described in Online Christmas Shopping 2008.)
I did not buy a single item in Ireland this year, and this was mainly due to the ridiculously high costs. I understand that part of this is due to the higher VAT on items in Ireland (see Online Shopping just got Cheaper), but I also think that retailers are still ripping-off consumers. Indeed, the most expensive single item I bought was a piece of Japanese electronics. The Irish price was over 50% more expensive than the price I bought it for abroad!
While I am writing about shopping, I came across a very entertaining online shop - http://producten.hema.nl/ (You need sound, and a small amount of patience, for this :D )
Tags: eShopping, Ireland, Tax
I read yesterday that an Irish company called Cauwill Technologies won the Best Emerging Company category in the 2009 Seedcorn Business Competition. For more about the winners see Intertradeireland Seedcorn Competition Announces Winners.
Cauwill Technologies develop GPS based solutions for use with LBSs.
Tags: Cauwill Technologies, GPS
I came across an interesting article on company names during the week - List of company name etymologies.
I was familiar with the reasoning behind a lot of the listed companies, but some really surprised me such as Adobe and Apple!
Tags: Adobe, Apple
There were two interesting conferences on in Dublin this week.
Unfortunately, I did not have time to attend either conference :( (Even if I did have time, I would not have been invited to one of them :D )
Tags: BizCamp, Ireland
I just heard this afternoon that a friend of mine has recently launched a new company called Glorsoft. In the company’s own words…
Glorsoft is a leading software company focused on the development of .NET based IVR and Voice Application development tools.
Our goal is to simplify telephony programming to the extent that any .NET developer can create voice applications without the need to learn any new skills.Velocity 2.0 is our flagship development toolkit.
I hope that this new venture experiences great success!
Tags: .NET, Glorsoft
A friend told me about this lovely graphic depicting the acquisitions and investments made by Amazon.
Amazon Acquisitions and Investments
Tags: Amazon
The Irish Government will implement 17 of the suggestions from the Ideas Campaign, as described in Recession ideas to be acted upon.
There were two ideas that caught my attention. The first idea is:
Provide a one-stop-shop virtual helpdesk for start-ups with advice on legal, HR, patents, accountancy issues etc.
I think that is a great idea, and I can easily imagine it being very useful. I guess that funding it will be a problem :(
The second idea that caught my attention is:
Teach business skills as part of all PhD education as a means of promoting the knowledge economy
This sounds great, but I seriously doubt that many PhD students would be interested in this :o Generally, PhD students just want to focus on their research, and they generally dislike attending classes of any type :o
Tags: Ireland
Amazon is starting a virtual recruitment fair right now in Second Life. I have never attended one of these virtual recruitment fairs before, but I image that it is a good compromise between no interaction with potential employees and normal interaction with potential employees at a recruitment fair. For more details about this see Amazon Second Life Job Fair.
I was discussing this event recently with a friend who works for Amazon. Actually, the discussion was more about Rufus and the dog friendly work environment. My friend said that it feels like a zoo walking around the part of the building containing the dogs and their owners!
Cool B)
Tags: Amazon, Recruitment, Second Life
During the week I had a meeting with a company in The Digital Hub in Dublin. It was my fist time there in over a year, and it was my first time ever there in daylight.
I must admit that I was extremely disappointed with the area. I was expecting it to have a very high-tech feeling. Instead my overall impression is that it is the epicentre of low budget 1€ Shops in Dublin!
Most of the old buildings look run-down and unmaintained. This then attracts a certain type of bottom-of-the-market type shop.
The area was very busy, and it had a lively feeling. However, this was due to the fact that the majority of the people there are visiting the Guinness Storehouse :o
I have heard a rumour that one of the large ICT companies that are currently located in the area are moving out later this year. This company is rumoured to be relocating to a new office development in a different, and more prestigious, part of the city :o Apparently, the cost per square metre is far lower in the new location :o
Tags: Ireland
I read last night that Vodafone is abolishing all roaming charges for the summer!
I think that this is brilliant, and I hope that it becomes permanent! Also, I hope that this is rolled-out across all Vodafone operations!
You can read more about this in Summer roaming promotion – mobile roaming service from Vodafone.
Tags: UK, Vodafone
