Inside View from Ireland

K800i Taser Phone

YOU CAN CARRY a taser aboard an aircraft if you have a SonyEricsson K800i cameraphone in your pocket. The K800i's Xenon Flash circuit pumps out nearly 300 volts and that's enough to reach out and jolt someone but not incapacitate them. Creating a K800i taser is quick and easy for anyone used to DIY electronic kits. You open the phone, snip a few wires and connect them to the xenon flash circuit. This means that whenever you activate the flash camera mode, you send 300v across the taser probes on the back of the camera. This taser burst stings worse than a flu shot but it is not lethal. So before you dump your K800i into the recycle bin, consider its second life as a taser cameraphone.

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Previously -- "Build your own stun gun"

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Photoshopped Beauty

CONCERNED FOR BEAUTIES like Georgia Horsley (at left in AP photo promoting St. George's Day), the size 4 Miss England who has been told to "fatten up" by alert Miss World minders, I wonder if authorities have considered applying Photoshop techniques to contestants as a final revision to their appearances on screen and in the newspapers. With freely available tools like Pixenate, it's relatively straightforward to convert a rail into a pumpkin. Horsley (20), who carries herself with the aplomb of Kiera Knightly, does not think she is too thin. She told the Today show this morning, "I'm happy with the way I am. I probably would have been more hurt if they told me to lose weight, I think."

Speaking from my perspective as an international critic of form and fashion, I believe the average Brit woman is taken from the voluptuous, womanly and curvy side of the chart, the place where Geri Halliwell and Melanie Chisholm (see them on screen like 3.1m people) carved out their niches. Kiera's stick-thin figure has actually been adjusted by photoshoppers to enhance her body aesthetic in several film posters. The 5-foot-8 Horsley is up to the challenge, thinking "I could maybe put a bit of weight on ... it might give me those curves." She has until the end of November to fill out and a strategy as well. "I'm going to eat, you know, healthy fats such as nuts and avocado, oily fish, things like that." You can find those comfort food groups inside my fridge.

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Associated Press -- "Miss England told to fatten up" with photo from AP.

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Sousveillance From the Keyboard Outwards

A FEW MONTHS AGO, while walking the streets of Copenhagen, a friend rang to ask if I “had found Wagamama yet”. Not only did he know where to find the best noodles in Denmark, he also knew I was close by the restaurant. That’s because I was carrying a Series 60 third edition Nokia phone with a Jaiku add-on. Months later, Google bought Jaiku and now whenever I use my Nokia phone, Google can log my steps. For some people, Google is their best friend, helping them keep track of their teenagers. For others, Google is getting to be more like Big Brother.

Booking with a Travel Agent

WE HAVE A SWEETHEART of a travel agent who has figured out how to get us across the Atlantic and back for hundreds of euro cheaper than the online fares. We're paying more than economy class but less than business class and we're getting to sit up front. As 10News.com has pointed out when we visited San Diego, you can book coach tickets under codes like YUPP, QUPP, or Z, which award ticketholders automatic upgrades to first class. The YUPP category is normally used by a low-cost carrier in a particular market. If your travel agent can see the category screen when booking  your flights, you could benefit from going YUPP because the opportunities for upgrade happen as a matter of course.

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How to Program a Dream

PSYCHOLOGIST GAYLE DELANEY, author of Living Your Dreams, suggests five steps you should use to dream about a specific thing.

Ears for Music

IRISH PASSENGERS headed to foreign countries often go to shop (wonderful exchange rates at the moment), for dental work (the so-called dental tourists) and now for a form of plastic surgery sure to enhance the next generation iPod listening experience. From the website of Hungarian plastic surgeon Dr Lajos Nagy comes the revelation that "ears pointed as a result of plastic surgery not only enhance the attractiveness of the face, but also improve the experience of listening to music". In Ireland, a mainstream television advertisement features women with large, pointy ears and from the sounds of this emerging trend, those actresses would fit into Faun-Clubs in New York where entrance is only allowed with pointed ears.

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Book Now! Make your hearing perfect! Accentuate your personality! Be amongst the first music fauns in Europe!

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Eirepreneur Pronunciation

FRESH TO THE CHALLENGE of some confused voices in Silicon Valley, several creative multimedia students set aside a few minutes to help those searching for a way to correctly say "eirepreneur".

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Apologies to James Corbett in advance. (Slim MP3 audio also available.)

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Resetting Nokia E61

FROM BRENDAN COLEMAN and Russell Beattie comes instructions on how to reset a Nokia E61. You may need to follow these steps if your E61 starts acting more like a brick than a phone. 

1. Unplug the charger from the phone and take out the battery. Then put the battery back in. Do not connect mains power to the phone.

2. Hold the Green key, 3 and * keys down while you power up the E61. The 3 and * are the same keys as the Y and U. You don't have to "shift" or anything. The Green key is *under* the left soft key.

3. Wait for approximately 20 seconds for your phone to reboot. During that time, keep holding all the keys and the power until the screen returns to normal. The screen should show that new firmware has been installed.

I've seen Brendan Coleman perform this trick several times a month when I'm in his shop in Thurles. If the steps fail to work, Brendan has a technician handy who can reset the phone, perhaps by reflashing it in the back of his shop.

UPDATED: Brendan Coleman is in the Baker Street laneway off Friar Street in Thurles. His Nokia repair service is the best one-stop service point for Nokia phones. in County Tipperary, Ireland.

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Brendan Coleman, Baker Street, Thurles, County Tipperary, Ireland.
Russell Beattie -- "Recovering your Nokia e61 after a firmware upgrade mishap"
Nokia Forum -- "E61 Firmware Failure"

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Comparing Jaiku to Twitter

AS JYRI ENGESTROM, front man for Jaiku, showed Google's business development team an inside view of Jaiku, Pat Phelan asked the Jaiku community to explain why he should migrate from Twitter to Jaiku. The resultant commentary provides an insightful picture of microblogging. Behind all the reasons sit the people who connect and follow each other by using free and easy text-friendly means of communicating. The three biggest microblogging communities revolve around Twitter, Jaiku and Pownce (listed in probable order of their sizes). Each community includes people who maintain accounts in all three systems. After playing with Twitter and Jaiku for nearly 2000 messages in each community, I have throttled back Twitter and will stay active with Jaiku. It feels like I'm leaving friends at the roadside and driving away but I know another bus is right behind--the one with the Twitter logo on the side. All three buses (Jaiku, Twitter and Pownce) have plenty of room inside but most people admit they prefer the wiggle room or amenities or the friendly chatter in one over any other. In my case, I have conversations worth following in Jaiku because they incorporate threads of discussion that have already evolved into business deals. I also have a limited amount of time for follow-up and don't want people to think I will respond to banter on Twitter as quickly as I will respond to a text from Jaiku. I trust Jaiku to push content directly to my mobile phone. I tried that experiment with Twitter and the result messed up my phone for more than a week. As with any other technology, people opt to use the system in ways that suits them best. I'm happy knowing that without any special configuration, Jaiku and its community of regulars slots into my lifestyle with less hassle than any other microblogging system. So I'm a converted resident of Jaikustan. Here are some other reasons I've made the move from Twitter to Jaiku.

What the Sunday Papers Say

MY SUNDAY READING has ground to a halt due a little person still sleeping (at left), but not before I spotted some interesting things today in the Sunday papers. I bought the Sunday Tribune for Mr. Mulley but couldn't find his words or his face in the Sunday broadsheet today. No worries--plenty of broadband stories there to pass the time. (Comments invited.) I thought the little one would appreciate hearing about things that used to be part of life in 2007 when she gets old enough to type her own review of the Sunday papers. Here are some of those things I have noticed, from berries alongside walking paths, to pay packets, along with petrolheads, texting, cartoons, airliners, eco-living, and pledges that make for perfect living.