Teknovis

I read an interesting article in The Irish Times recently about Microsoft’s view on cloud computing data centres in Ireland. The article covers comments by John Vassallo who is Microsoft’s Vice-President of EU Affairs, and it can be read online at Data centres may attract 20,000 firms.

It is a short (and slightly meaningless) article. However, one comment by John Vassallo really caught my attention:

Mr Vassallo added that Ireland was cited in a recent publication as “a beautiful place for a data centre” due to its climate.

It is difficult to interpret this comment! I am not even sure if this is serious! Perhaps the cloud analogy is being taken too far :D

Tags: Ireland, Microsoft, The Irish Times

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

A blog all about humorous Google auto-completes: Autocomplete Me.

While I am on this topic, Let me google that for you is also very funny :D

Tags: Google

New Unit of Reviewed Code Quality

Very funny :D

A friend sent me this very humorous link:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=recursion

:D

Update 25/7/2009

Google has updated the results page for this search :o To see how it looked yesterday see Google Helps You Understand Recursion.

Update 4/8/2009

The recursive result is back again!

Tags: Google

I read about a really exciting new programming language during the week called C# Application Markup Language (CSAML). It is basically the merging of C# and XML to create a totally new programming language! You can read more about it in C# Application Markup Language (CSAML): An Evolutionary Leap.

It is even more interesting to see that a few people have actually been discussing this on bulletin boards!

Tags: XML

I have never used Linux as my desktop operating system, but I am currently in the process of changing that. I hope to write about it here.

So I thought that I would start with some humour! I recently came across this really good, but nerdy, joke: “Why GNU/Linux Viruses are fairly uncommon” from Charlie Harvey.

Enjoy!

I heard somebody using the term TLA during the week, and I had to interrupt to ask what exactly this meant.

A TLA is a Three Letter Acronym! Apparently, Intel employees love using TLAs :o

For more about this see Three-letter acronym.

Tags: Intel

There was some good technology related humour yesterday as part of the normal April Fools’ Day celebrations! Here are some of my favourites!

• Electronic tagging for exiles of ‘high net worth’ proposed in Ireland
• The Guardian newspaper will be published exclusively on Twitter according to Twitter switch for Guardian, after 188 years of ink
• Amazon introduced some new cloud computing services in Up, Up, and Away - Cloud Computing Reaches for the Sky
• YouTube developed a way to improve the viewer’s experience in Your New Viewing Experience
• Smellr: It’s like Flickr, but for your nose
• Warner Bros will buy The Pirate Bay according to Warner Bros. Acquires The Pirate Bay
• Google launched CADIE
• Identi.ca has bought Twitter according to Identi.ca acquires Twitter. According to a Twitter executive: “I was worried we were going to have to make a business out of that whole Twitter thing! I’m really glad it’s someone else’s problem now.”

For a more comprehensive overview of the technology related humour see April Fools: YouTube Flails, Amazon Cloud Computing In A Blimp, 3D Chrome Browsing, Google Masters A.I..

Tags: Amazon, Google, Identi.ca, Smellr, The Guardian, The Pirate Bay, Twitter, Warner Bros, YouTube

I heard a really good new word during the week - Marchitecture. According to Wikipedia, Marchitecture means:

The term is applied to any form of electronic architecture perceived to have been produced purely for marketing reasons.

This was the context in which I heard the word being used in a presentation that I attended. Indeed, it was the presenter, who is a marketer, who used the word :)

However, a more serious meaning for it is also provided:

A marketecture…is one page, typically informal depiction of the system’s structure and interactions. It shows the major components, their relationships and has a few well chosen labels and text boxes that portray the design philosophies embodied in the architecture. A marketecture is an excellent vehicle for facilitating discussion by stakeholders during design, build, review, and of course the sales process. It’s easy to understand and explain, and serves as a starting point for deeper analysis.

I can actually appreciate the use of this meaning :o

Tags: Wikipedia