Teknovis

Mick O’Pedia

Teknovis — Fri, 18 May 2012 16:38:57 +0000

I came across Mick O’Pedia today! It is like Wikipedia, but it is tailored for Irish people :)

Friday afternoon silliness ;)

TU Me

Teknovis — Wed, 16 May 2012 19:26:27 +0000

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!

Brazilian Clothes Hangers and Facebook

Teknovis — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:36:42 +0000

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!

EU Capping Data Roaming Charges

Teknovis — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:56:19 +0000

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!

Pirate Bay Blocked in the UK

Teknovis — Tue, 08 May 2012 17:30:05 +0000

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 :|

Weightless

Teknovis — Mon, 07 May 2012 16:54:29 +0000

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!

Commercialisation of Irish Universities

Teknovis — Sat, 05 May 2012 10:46:13 +0000

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!

The Cost of Academic Publishing

Teknovis — Thu, 03 May 2012 20:17:56 +0000

There have been some interesting moves by some of the top universities and academics recently regarding the costs of publishing and viewing published content. For example, see Mathematicians Organize Boycott of a Publisher, Academic publishing doesn’t add up, and Harvard University says it can’t afford journal publishers’ prices.

I wonder if this is the start of a major change!

Vodafone Smart Tab 10

Teknovis — Tue, 01 May 2012 11:30:56 +0000

I have just noticed that Vodafone Ireland are offering a new tablet called the Vodafone Smart Tab 10.

I think that for an unbranded tablet it is overpriced!

Annual All-Ireland Schools’ Programming Competition

Teknovis — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 09:22:09 +0000

The deadline for entry into the Annual All-Ireland Schools’ Programming Competition is the end of this week! It is a great competition, and the standard at the final in DCU is always extremely high!

For more details see How to Enter.