Inside View from Ireland

What the bleep

KILKENNY -- One of the disadvantages of living in a provincial city is the narrow range of media options. If I am to see "What the #$*! (Bleep) Do We Know" I will have to hope it shows in the Irish Film Institute or that it's running in NYC or Philly when I'm there near Christmas. Several friends have seen it twice.

Evelyn Rodriguez went back to take notes. That's not unusual because much of the audience sees a lot of diverse things in the short film. Rodriguez says the film "explains in crisp, scientific terms how the process of self-observation ... works in rewiring our neural pathways and thus, interrupting ingrained reactionary (stimulus-response) patterns."

How iPods think

KILKENNY -- One of the biggest problems with having an inexensive broadband solution is that I have an endless playlist from Yahoo Launchcast. The downside is that well into the evening, visiting friends can hear dodgy songs I culled from years past. The songs stay in the playlist after I vote on them. Ditto for the iPod.

To do 2004

KILKENNY -- It's important to review touchstones, such as Danny O'Brien's Life Hacks. The last time I looked, my "todo.txt" file fit on a floppy. Yep--still a tidy 800k.

Synergy in the news

KILKENNY -- While many people know that big papers often follow the leads of others, most probably don't know that some papers can lead you inside the cost walls of others. I've learned it pays to start at certain points when doing my daily newsreads because those starting points get me around registration issues at other places.

Laptops for Irish schoolkids

BACKSEAT DRIVERS -- Dick O'Brien has kicked off a lively thread about kite-flying from IBEC about giving away free laptops to school kids. There's merit in the proposal, even if you acknowledge that laptops given to teenagers will create a new generation of instant bullies. And for those who wonder where the development efforts could be best energised--go read what Irish Moodlers have to say. Or attend the event in DCU on 10 Sep. There's a logical Open Source pathway to start and at least three third level institutions in Ireland willing to lead the way of best practise.

Chronic News Stories

POYNTER -- We think places like Kilkenny--regional towns in Ireland--have 10 or 12 recurring stories that have legs. Steve Yelvingon says, "Every metropolitan area has half a dozen news stories that just won't go away: the perennial fight over a new stadium plan, light rail transit, urban sprawl, and so forth. And every website has an opportunity to place the chronically incremental reporting on those issues into a meaningful context by building permanent resource centers."

PayPal Pain

TECHNOCULTURE -- Karlin Lillington finds PayPal to her liking, continuing her endorsement of the service from the time it launched. I don't share her enthusiasm.

Perl Mongers

PM -- Expect to see a strong Irish contiongent at the annual European Perl Conference in Belfast between 15-17 September 2004. The Dublin chapter of the global Perl Mongers User Group holds regular social and technical meetings that include five-minute presentations.

Idiotic copyright warning

KILKENNY -- I'm the guy using the digital camera to take shots of the MPAA copyright warnings in cinemas throughout southeast Ireland. I am not alone. And now I have a poster for my efforts. An 11"x18" 200 dpi poster.

How to get deleted from Amazon

NEW MEDIA MUSINGS -- JD Lasica explains one sure-fire method of getting your book review removed from Amazon: focus on "your personal opinions of the subject matter, rather than reviewing the title itself." Amazon pulled Lasica's review of We the media and told him "while we appreciate your opinions on the subject, the intent of customer reviews is to assist our customers in making an informed purchase decision. We provide our customer reviews section for you to comment on the merits of the book and the author's writing style. We ask that you not use it as a place for discourse on the subject matter." Ouch! New Media Smackdown. I was encouraged to review We the Media by Lasica's earlier mention of the book on his blog and on Mindjack. So I uploaded one that seems to remain in place.