Machine Nation

The X-Files Movie is out this weekend - are you a Scully or a Mulder?

Auditor #9 — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 02:38:32 GMT

I wish I had a test to give you but I don't though I'm sure there's one out there, just like the Truth.

Do you believe in anything paranormal or supernatural like Mulder or are you more of a Scully type who only believes in science when she's not in the Church praying to get into Mulder's knickers?

Sometimes I believe there are Supernatural occurences like synchronicity but they don't happen very often and I'd love to know what they mean if they mean anything. I'd say I had a slightly ...

Open letter to Kevin Myers

Aragon — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:01:51 GMT

This letter to Kevin Myers is doing the rounds - thought some MN readers might be interested. It's a response to this article:

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/kevin-myers/africa-is-giving-nothing-to-anyone--apart-from-aids-1430428.html

12 July 2008

"Dear Sir

Kevin Myers article 'Africa gives absolutely nothing to anyone � apart from Aids' on Thursday 10th July , plumbs new depths of egregious bad taste and offensiveness.

I hope other readers will forgive my ...

Useful software

riven — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:08:39 GMT

CCleaner. ~~Good~~ Excellent programme that easily allows regristry fixes and tempory file cleanup.

Suggest others

THe Cost of "Free" Education in Ireland

cactus flower — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:13:45 GMT

Annual Summer Rant - Here goes......

School books at �150 a child and the school brings in a "new" jumper with blurry badge costing �50.00.

School uniforms are so badly made and out of such cheap and nasty fabrics that you may was well resew the whole thing on day one. The price bears no relation to the product.

School books are an outrageous scam - other countries have free books and a curriculum that is only changed when there is a substantial shift in the knowledge ...

Sarkozy Egged - But for Breton not Irish Independence

cactus flower — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 21:13:25 GMT

The egg thrower arrested at Government Buildings during yesterday's Sarkozy visit turns out to have been a Breton separatist, resident in Ireland. The trend to unravelling of nation states is strong, with Spain, Belgium, Serbia and the UK all suffering from various kinds of fractures and potential fractures. Is a federal EU the only way to hold Europe together in any kind of coherence? I wonder what an EU of many small states would be like ?

http://www.chez.com/emgann/lang/anglais.htm?

Email Providers

Kate P — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:06:19 GMT

I recently got an ireland.com address and it's very unreliable - it can take several attempts to log in and it sometimes doesn't log out properly. This is annoying for lots of reasons, one of which is that it's a subscription account.

I've got a hotmail account I've had for years but because some places (Councils for example) don't like hotmail, it's been a niusance sending attachments which don't arrive or get twisted. Or the mails don't arrive at all. I've had experiences where I've ...

Bad Samaritans�Rich Nations, Poor Policies and the Threat to the Developing World

Pax — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:54:26 GMT

With the WTO talks on and a lot of misdirection on protectionist policies and their benefit (and absence of talk on their historical use...) I thought a thread in this area would be interesting. The title of the thread is actually the title of a book by the development economist Ha-Joon Chang*.

The same author wrote "Kicking Away the Ladder" which also looks at the real history of the use of tariffs and various infant industry protectionist policies and judicious patent protection ...

More Ferrero Rochers for Richard Boyd Barrett and Patricia McKenna

Auditor #9 — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 02:22:43 GMT

The Labour leader turned down the invitation to meet Sarkozy on Monday saying of the hour-long meeting that

"In all probability such a meeting would probably become a re-enactment of the Lisbon debate. That debate is over and the referendum has delivered a result"

But the Irish Times today also says of Labour and Fine Gael that Both party leaders were angered by the plan for an hour-long meeting at the French embassy, at which they would be accorded the same status as unelected ...

Housing and the Economy

Squire — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 01:39:09 GMT

A house costs about 1000 Euro per sq metre to build, in addition you have to add on site costs, roads, service connections and any abnormals such as deep foundations on bad ground or a high standard of finish.

Sites can be quite pricey and costs depend on area.

In addition you have to add on the cost of financing, site purchase, employing professionals, statutory approvals and construction costs before you start to make a return. Any delays at all can really ratchet up the costs.

It ...

The Persistence of Time in Windows Vista

Auditor #9 — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:00:04 GMT

Time and tide wait for no-one. Tempus fugit. Time flies when you're having fun. There's no time like the present. Time time time - there is so much time then there is Microsoft Vista Time !

From this article in the Guardian today, this chica has put her finger on it - for all the supposed bells and whistles, Vista developers have paid no attention to how Vista deals with time.

Take Windows Vista. In many areas, it outperforms Windows XP, but it doesn't feel that way. In fact, ...

Anyone get any bargains lately ?

EvotingMachine0197 — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 01:11:40 GMT

Tonight, I just picked up a copy of Grand Theft Auto III for PS2 in Tescos for �7. Runs perfectly on the PS3.

Bargain !

It's quite hard to find a bargain these days, if you found one, post it up !

Famous Last Words

cactus flower — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:01:26 GMT

William Pitt the Younger's last words were a matter of dispute and it looks as if Hague has got it wrong in his biog. "Oh my country! How I leave my country" was the official version for many years until it came out that Pitt's dying words were really: "I think I could eat one of Bellamy's meat pies."

The latter are definitely my favourite last words, as they show a vivacity and relish for life to the last, and are much better than the moany first version. Does anyone ...

'Death of free internet imminent'

Aragon — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 02:36:08 GMT

According to this article Canada is to be a test case for global privatisation of the internet - which would spell the death of this and thousands of other internet sites - and mark the end of a short-lived golden era of free information exchange. Observers say the plans will probably be preceded with dire warnings about the 'evil threat of the net' and cite security concerns as a pretext for this move.

Via Information Clearing House:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20330.htm

...

On This Day 23rd July in Irish History

Lestat — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:19:48 GMT

1745- Bonnie Prince Charlie landed in the Hebrides and began the 1745 Rebellion.

1803- Robert Emmet led a rebellion in Dublin. In the proud tradition of Irish rebellions it was a glorious failure, mostly remembered for Emmet�s speech from the dock at his trial in September. Lack of support from Wicklow and Kildare rebels led to the proposed attack on Dublin Castle degenerating into a riot in Thomas St, in which the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, Lord Kilwarden, was hacked to death.

Births

1948- ...

Anybody know anything about powering your stuff with solar?

Auditor #9 — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:39:35 GMT

I'd like to start a little project for myself but I'm too lazy to do some research on the internet anyway I'd like to share it with ye if anyone knows anything.

Some solar panels and a modest project budget and energy wise might be interesting to bash out here if anyone else is so inclined. I have no idea where to start really so if anyone has any ideas please pipe up.

What I'm thinking of is some battery banks which could be charged by photovoltaic panels and the batteries used to ...

Water wastage WTF?

Auditor #9 — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:03:28 GMT

Feck the Examiner I'm copying the whole thing in here until I find out how to find their archives after or they learn how to archive them, whichever is true.

Mother of God but this is an awful shame if true...

685 million litres lost daily over leaks - Examiner Link

Wasted water: 685m litres lost daily over leaks

By Claire O�Sullivan

More than 43% of the water produced across the country is being wasted.

AT LEAST 685 million litres of our water is being lost every ...

Wind Energy

Auditor #9 — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 22:18:56 GMT

Global Wind Energy Council - 240 GW installed globally by 2012

http://www.gwec.net/

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

ISET - Institute for Alternative Technologies

LIST of wind energy associations worldwide

Eirgrid

Commission for Energy Regulation

http://www.thewindpower.net/index_en.php

Two men fighting for their rights against Shell and the Irish Government arrested in Glengad

Hermes — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:43:52 GMT

John Monaghan & Naoise O'Mongain have been arrested because they attempted to prevent Shell from working in the area that allegedly will be the landfall area where the pipe comes to shore.

Shell were attempting to work in the area, eventhough they have yet to receive planning permission.

More locals who are currently being threatened with arrest, are standing their ground at the cliff face. Things are getting tense. Anyone who wishes to ring Belmullet garda station to enquire about ...

Swirly pipes revisited

Auditor #9 — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 03:10:24 GMT

You're gas AfricanDave ! you obviously didn't see the thread a few of us kept going for a week once on p.ie - it concerned the efficiencies of twisty pipes over normal straight pipes so there would be an energy saving at the pump driving the water around. It was originally posted in Environment by Qtman. ibis was involved and so was EvotingMachine and we compared the twisty pipes to the barrel of a gun; some lads dragged in fluid equations; others dragged in other theories and it went ...

Solar Energy

cactus flower — Wed, 28 May 2008 18:15:04 GMT

I know we have a few posts on solar, but as wood energy has its own thread I thought I would start this.

The flexible, cheap roll out Nanosolar printed non-silicon "fabric" looks like it might revolutionise the collection and use of solar energy.

It seems to have the potential to make solar cheaper than coal, particularly taking transportation costs into account.

http://www.goodnewsindia.com/index.php/Supplement/article/590/

They are in their first year of production ...

Can America switch from oil to renewables in 10 years?

Auditor #9 — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:39:10 GMT

Gore's next mission is to push for American independence from oil in 10 years - hopefully the next 10 if his opinions on global warming are a reality. (thanks to unaligned for the link

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/07/al_gores_energy_speech.html )

Americans each have a co2 footprint of 20 tons per year while we are over 10 and the Chinese each about 4 tons of co2 annually.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dioxide_emissions_per_capita

Given ...

What is your personal "world outlook"?

cactus flower — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 12:23:47 GMT

Are you a Positivist? An existentialist ? A Deconstructivist ? A Christian ? A Buddhist ?

Marxist? Agnostic? Neoconservative ? Social Democrat ? An Arsenal Supporter?

If we were in France or Germany, it is more than likely that we would have each of us conciously adopted to some extent a distinct philosophy by which we attempt to live and that it would guide our life decisions and strategies.

In Ireland and even more so in the UK there is a tradition of pragmatism, a "suck it and ...

The WTO - WTF?

cactus flower — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 20:32:52 GMT

This is from Breaking News - I have been meaning to start a thread on this for a few days.

I am hearing a great deal of dissent in Europe from where Mandelson has been taking the WTO negotiations and have the feeling that in not following these negotiations I have my eye off a very big ball. Objectors have said, amongst other things, that the negotiations are based on conditions well before the food crisis emerged.

I haven't seen much reporting in the Press and would really appreciate ...

A Seanad for the 21st Century

Kate P — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:26:51 GMT

Ard Taoiseach's plans for a Council of State brought me back to this old chestnut.

This is what we've got (courtesy of Wikipedia).

Seanad �ireann consists of sixty members:

Eleven appointed by the Taoiseach (prime minister)

Six elected by the graduates of certain Irish universities:

Three by graduates of the University of Dublin.

Three by graduates of the National University of Ireland.

43 elected from five special panels of nominees (known as vocational panels) ...

Nationalise the Banks !?! Is Friedman dead ?

cactus flower — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:03:07 GMT

Well yes, I believe he (Friedman) is (dead).

'Nationalise the Banks' used to be a slogan of the left. Now we are watching the most right wing free market regime doing just that.

With vast sums of public money being used to back Indymac and Fannie and Freddie, Friedman's legacy is in tatters.

We can't build a few houses in a village without planning it first. When are we going to admit that free market capitalism is in failure and start intervening to properly plan the economy ...

Sarko goes to Ireland

arnaudherve — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 23:00:22 GMT

I thought this deserved a separate thread. Sarkozy's visit is maybe anecdotal, but it can be used as a preparation to follow the manoeuvres of the Irish government in the months to come.

A video from the Ukip, with Nigel Farage as a very loud mouth as always:

Star Trek: The Search for Answers

Ard-Taoiseach — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:07:10 GMT

I haven't done a Star Trek quiz in ages so I'm going to set another one now. The prize for the most correct answers is a weekend trip for two to Risa with 500 strips of latinum spending money.

1.The Grand Nagus leads which civilisation?

2.What is this?

3.Hikaru Sulu is played by which actor?

4.What rank does Data have in Star Trek: The Next Generation?

5.Galor, Legate, Gul

What links the above three words?

6.What is this?

7.What class was the ...

Star Trek: The Deep Space Nine

Ard-Taoiseach — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:36:47 GMT

Here's another instalment of the Star Trek Quiz Competition, and instead of the usual ten, there's nine to set your Ferengi fangs into!

The prize for this round is a bottle of Andorian ale. Special prizes may also be awarded.

1.What are the Khitomer Accords?

2.Terrans, Andorians, Vulcans, Tellarites.

What common distinction do these species share?

3.What do Romulans use to reach warp?

4.Which group use the following computer layout?

5.What is an Okudagram?

6.In ...

On This Day 22nd July in Irish History

Lestat — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:19:01 GMT

1812- The Battle of Salamanca was fought in Spain, during the Peninsular war. The allied forces of Britain, Spain and Portugal won. The Irish contribution apart from the Commander in Chief, Wellington, was the Inniskilling Dragoons and the 27th (Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers), 83rd (Royal Irish Rifles), 88th and 94th (1st and 2nd Battalions Connaught Rangers) Regiments of Foot.

1817- William Sadler became the first man to fly across the Irish Sea, from Dublin to Anglesey, in a balloon.

1933- ...

Zimbabwe - is it the beginning of the end for Mugabe?

Edo — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 01:44:16 GMT

Just caught this - it seems like the writing is on the wall

The world holds it breath

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/mugabe-the-writings-on-the-wall-802717.html

Say a little prayer to what ever God or diety you believe in tonight before you hit the sack that this transfer of power can be done with as little bloodshed as possible - its the very least the people of Zimbabwe deserve.

Questions about the ECB

EvotingMachine0197 — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 01:41:33 GMT

Firstly: from wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Trichet)

Banking scandal

In January 2003 Trichet was put on trial with 8 others charged with irregularities at Credit Lyonnais,

one of France's biggest banks. Trichet was in charge of the French

treasury at that time. He was cleared in June 2003 which left the way

clear for him to move to the ECB.[2]

Did anyone know about this or am I the only financial leper here.

Secondly:

Now that I have almost assured myself ...

Your pictures of your local weeds

Auditor #9 — Tue, 27 May 2008 20:15:45 GMT

There are some lovely flowers around here in North Clare - have a gawk. (sorry I don't know any of the names)

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Technical Details

Sony Ericsson W810i with macro switched on for the close ups

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Between the ears with cookiemonster

cookiemonster — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 22:23:23 GMT

Less disappointment in this thread title than the other one.

The other option was "Here be Music".

Anyway...

This evening I have been listening to Iorn and Wine - The Shephards Dog.

It's got a Ray Lamontagne feel about it with a hint of a funky vibe.

Also a great version of The Killers Sams Town, abbey road remix.

Seamus Brennan TD - RIP

EvotingMachine0197 — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:58:47 GMT

I've only just heard.

Wiki wrote:S�amus Brennan died in the early hours of 9 July 2008 at his home in Churchtown in Dublin. He had been unwell for some time.[3]

He is survived by his wife Ann, their two sons and four daughters.

Brian Cowen said Brennan would remembered as "a brilliant political

strategist, a dedicated constituency TD, a reforming minister and a

very popular colleague".

Data Protection

Atticus — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:24:38 GMT

In the middle of posting a lah-di-da post over on the Dessert Thread just now, I got a call from a v good friend telling me of a letter she received from her local Health Trust this weekend. Expect to read about it in the media cos she is seriously gonna hit the Guardian, LBC, local press, whoever else will listen in the next couple of days.

Shouldn\'t really be surprised I guess, as it apparently happens all the time now, in the UK anyway if not in Ireland. As usual, apologies if I am ...

The Dessert Thread

Kate P — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 16:47:14 GMT

Today I made bread and butter pudding made with brioche and lashings of nutmeg - it's my brother's favourite and I'm always charmed to see a hard man turn mushy for custardy French bread.

My personal preference is for Tiramisu. The best I had was spooned from a huge dish by the proprietor of a restaurant in Florence for four slavering teachers while we escaped from shopaholic students. I've never really been able to replicate it. Though, on thinking about it now, it might be a worthy way ...

The M50 Toll - WTF

cactus flower — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:13:54 GMT

I caught a bit of a discussion on the radio last night about the M50 toll. The NRA representative ripped into a corporate type who seemed to be saying the NRA was advertising a service (selling toll passes?) that they had not agreed to provide. The manner of the NRA guy did not seem to bode well for future negotiations.

The horrible vista seemed to be opening up that the many people who use the M50 on an occasional basis to reach the airport and so on will either be expected to buy a 40 ...

On This Day 21st July in Irish History

Lestat — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 08:52:38 GMT

1903- King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra visited Ireland.

1922- The Free State army, under Gen John Prout captured Waterford from the Republicans.

1972- The IRA killed 19 and injured 130 in 22 bomb attacks in Belfast. The day became known as 'Bloody Friday'.

1976- The IRA assassinated the British Ambassador to Ireland, Christopher Ewart-Biggs, in Dublin, aged 54. Also killed in the explosion was Judith Cooke, aged 26. She was the Private Secretary of Sir Brian Cubbon who was injured ...

Should have listened to Joseph!

johnf�s — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:10:08 GMT

'Cliche and jargon are, like the order of the day' - Vincent Browne

Aragon — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 12:56:25 GMT

A brilliant article by Browne on how the language of politics and public discussion has been infected by meaningless, unoriginal thought and speech.

http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=VINCENT+BROWNE-qqqs=commentandanalysis-qqqid=34555-qqqx=1.asp

Politicians have somehow managed to convert the purpose of speech into its opposite - in their mouths it's the art of talking a lot without saying anything - a form of non-communication as communication. Bertie Ahern was ...

Film Review Thread

Kate P — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 20:00:27 GMT

I can't believe we've lasted so long without this.

Is there any interest in having a running commentary on what's current in the cinema that people are watching - to offer recommendations or views or criticisms?

Last night I went to Sex and the City.I didn't get it. Maybe that says more about me than the film but I found it vacuous tat. And the clothes didn't even make it worthwhile. Let's just say I'm looking forward to seeing The Incredible Hulk.

What the Mainlanders are saying

EvotingMachine0197 — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:27:02 GMT

Die Welt

Gut, dass die Iren Nein zum EU-Vertrag sagen

Le Monde

Les Irlandais en passe de rejeter le trait� de Lisbonne

L'Unita

Referendum sul Trattato Ue, l'Irlanda dice no

On This Day 18th July in Irish History

Lestat — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 14:47:02 GMT

1561-At the Battle of Red Sagums Shane O'Neill defeated the English.

1579-James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald landed with a force of troops in Dingle to lead an uprising against England. He was killed in battle with the Burke clan shortly after.

1916- 2nd Bn Royal Munster Fusiliers, part of the 1st Division, captured a German Trench called Munster Alley and part of the original German support trench, south of Pozieres in the Battle of the Somme.

1969- Ted Kennedy crashes his car into ...

On This Day 20th July in Irish History

Lestat — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 11:02:07 GMT

1798- The United Irish rebels surrendered at Timahoe.

1914- Brigadier Hubert Gough led the Curragh Mutiny. Mutiny was a bit of a exaggeration. The 'mutiny' consisted of almost the entire body of officers of the 5th Cavalry Brigade, stationed in the Curragh, accepting the government�s offer of resignation rather than enforce Home Rule in Ulster. The government, realising it would have no officers left in the army (two weeks before the Great War kicked off) backtracked and everybody saved face. ...

Vive La France ! Vive le Non!

cactus flower — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 22:33:18 GMT

I can't let Merkozy stop me loving la belle France!

What better way of celebrating the glorious and honourable No vote than in French Style

Wicklow Cyanide Debacle - More Shameful Madness

Kate P — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:40:48 GMT

http://www.politics.ie/viewtopic.php?f=160&t=36965

I came across this while trawling the environment threads on p.ie. I have to admit that with work for the last three weeks, I've had my head in the sand - the pile of unread newspapers has been growing and the radio has been switched off all day, but I can't believe that I missed hearing about this. It's a scandal.

A private company has been given permission to dispose of 15kg Hydrogen Cyanide - in the middle of the Wicklow Mountains, ...

Why Does Ireland Look the Way it Does ?

cactus flower — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:24:32 GMT

Do you ever wonder why Ireland looks the way it does ? This article goes some way towards explaining.

16/07/2008 - 16:39:11 (Breaking News)

Clare is the worst county in Ireland to live if you�re looking for planning permission, architects claimed today.

The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) said its survey of members revealed the Banner county had lowest levels of satisfaction with planners.

Clare County Council rubbished the claims, insisting its own recent in-house ...

On This Day 19th July in Irish History

Lestat — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 14:56:30 GMT

1920- Terence McSwiney was arrested in Cork.

Births

1735- Garrett Wellesley, 1st Earl of Mornington, was born in Dublin. His son, Arthur, would one day become the Duke of Wellington.

Deaths

1543- The other Boleyn girl died. Mary Boleyn had been Henry VIII�s lover before her sister Anne. To give this the Irish angle the Boleyn�s were related to the Butler�s of Ormond.

Hypermiling - Wringing the Last out of Oil

cactus flower — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 11:12:42 GMT

http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/01/king_of_the_hypermilers.html

Hypermiling seems to be creeping up on property as a discussion topic so here is our very own Hypermiler Thread.

I've been hypermiling for years on the back of a lesson from Stirling Moss and a careful read of my car manual. I am that person doing 50 who pulls over to let you pass. How many miles per gallon do you get?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypermiler

http://www.hypermiling.com/

Collaboration - A Carbon-Free Energy Plan for Ireland

cactus flower — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:45:10 GMT

It amazes me how much oil was a substitute for thinking. I've seen an old print of medieveal Waterford with the River Suir with five or six tidal mills along the shore. There were over 200 mills in County Kilkenny. There was a report in the early 1980s ( since when turbines have much improved ) that said we could get 15% of our energy from river-based hydro.

I would like to see a ball park plan for Ireland for

20% conservation/reduction

and for the remainder

20% river and lake ...