Inside View from Ireland

Do not talk

TEMPLE BAR -- All across the Friday papers in Ireland is the story of convictions quashed in the stomping to death of Brian Murphy outside a nightclub 4½ years ago. Careful readers will note another fact--those prosecuted were the ones who talked to police. Those who did not give statements were either not prosecuted nor convicted. At this stage, no one has been blamed for an alcohol-fueled rage attack that was observed by more than a dozen people. Justice works slowly but one principle is sacrosanct--do not incriminate yourself by speaking freely with investigators. Let your attorney release relevant details. Use any other approach in a homocide and you will be on the receiving end of the judicial process.

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Sent mail2blog using my Nokia 9500 on "Eircom 130", a Wi-Fi acess point in Temple Bar Square.
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Teaching Thinking

TEMPLE BAR -- I surround myself with visual thinkers every Friday, perhaps to offset my normal working environment where I am surrounded by technical thinkers. I have discovered a strand in both camps that suggests a multi-disciplinary way of improving critical thinking skills. Indiana University's School of Informatics blends computer science and liberal arts, and its students "are more specialized than business majors in technology, but not overly specialized in only computer programming," says one graduate. The new programmes boast problem-solving, innovation communication and teamwork, and create an unconventional hands-on environment. IU's program requires each student to complete a practical senior-year project, such as building an online survey system to improve dorm life for incoming freshmen.

Promoting Irish Art

IRISH TIMES -- Culture Ireland has been established to promote Irish arts overseas. Chaired by composer, performer and chair of music, Professor Mícheál Ó Súilleabbháin from the University of Limerick, the agency includes the director of the Arts Council and the senior officials from the Departments of Arts and Foreign Affairs. It is formulating a strategic plan for the international promotion of Irish art and culture.

Besides advising the Minister for Arts, its major roles include:

Google rewrites web content

IRISH EXAMINER --  On the day Yahoo announced its European headquarters would be in Dublin, Google released a new beta of its toolbar. The resultant firestorm might cause Google to neuter parts of the toolbar because it can actually rewrite web pages—it hijacks content.

Random Knowledge Works Best

CLONMEL -- I spent the morning showing six colleagues how I produce knowledge objects--the elements of media text most valuable when delivered as part of the degree programme I teach. They were interested in the process I use to acquire and recycle knowledge. I was interested in persuading them to share knowledge.

Featuremaniacs need to chill

HBS -- Companies like Nokia have figured out consumer technology and they don't try to offer every feature on all phones. Some critics don't get this so they moan about the lack of a function when it is not bundled on a new device. That expectation is worse than unrealistic; it makes the success of a consumer device untenable and it limits a service like podcasting if the end product is targeted only at portable music players.

Commercial by-product of education

CLONMEL -- I supervise third level academic projects and believe it is important to explore the commercial value of that academic work. However, all academic study should not be evaluated under that commercial framework.

Secret report on MLE

HACKWATCH -- Years ago, John McCormac told Irish web developers of the fatal flaws in the Media Lab Europe (MLE) project. Regular readers of the Irish webmaster shoptalk list and the Open Mailing List will remember McCormac droning away concerning the viability of the commercial applicability of MLE research. He also pointed to the high operating costs for the venture and how it skewered budgets that could have been sprinkled around research institutes throughout Ireland. McCormac didn't trust the concept and many on the code face of Irish technology did not trust the blow-in style of east coast Media Lab management.

Some of McCormac's insights have emerged in the pile of papers released under a Freedom of Information Act request on the MLE project. The MLE flagship technology research institute in Dublin closed recently, "crippled by weak management and tensions between its two shareholders, the State and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The tensions stem from factors discussed by McCormac at the time the Irish government first mooted MLE to the public. With €35.5m now spent on the project, the Irish government is looking for ways to rebadge the premises in Sugar Lane, Dublin. Here's hoping the Irish government can emerge from the MLE experience and establish a strong foundation of collegial networking in either the physical space or virtual domain of the Liberties in Dublin. This is not an easy tasking. But if it is done correctly, Ireland will be able to leverage a natural synergy through a shared pot of research money.

Get Spyware with Blogspot

POLITECHBOT -- Alvin Borromeo spotted a problem with the "Next Blog" button on blogspot sites. Hitting the button takes users to a randomly selected blog on blogspot. Some of the blogs download viruses and adware as soon as you visit the site.

Geekcorps

TECHNOLOGY REVIEW -- Developing nations certainly need the kind of help that Peace Corps volunteers give them -- building schools and engineering sewer systems -- but these days they need tech expertise as well. Enter Geekcorps -- volunteer programmers, network designers and tech support personnel who travel to some of the most impoverished cities in the world to lend a hand. Geekcorps is the brainchild of Tripod co-founder Ethan Zuckerman, who started the program after a visit to Ghana in 1993. The program has grown from the original six volunteers to about 1,600 who are assigned to a partner business based on their experience and the local IT needs.