Inside View

Chastity belt around Google

UNDERWAY -- I work with a team of censorware afficionados who are trying to develop a rule base that allows Internet access with tighter restrictions on academic grazing than exists in most seminaries. The problems arise in the definition of "acceptable usage." The definition appears to extend to all MP3 files, all translations rendered by Google, any cached page from Internet space, known gaming sites, and gay enclaves. My predicament is not unique, as Declan McCullagh reports.

Movable Type 3.0

SIX APART -- Some helpful comments track back to Mena Trott's overview of MT 3.0 and they deserve careful reading before I set aside several weeks in July to reconfigure student online work areas by upgrading to Movable Type 3.0.

Update 24 April 2004: Dave Winer points out a need for a corrective comment -- he quotes Mena in the reference below. I mistakenly thought he had a quick look around the system--he hadn't--my mistake. Dave's comment points to a hazard in aggregation--if you read news aggregates, then act (publish or comment) on them without viewing the original source, you could be caught out in the process, like I was. I don't think I will stop reading my aggregator while using public transport, but I guess I can rein in some of my mail-to-blog activity. Doing that would free up more money to spend in (smoke-free!) Kilkenny pubs.

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Mena Trott -- "Where's the beef?"
Dave Winer -- "not intended to be a feature release" (Comment noted. See updated above. -- Ed )
Sent mail2blog using Nokia Communicator O2 Typepad service aboard Kavanagh Bus.
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Syndicting art info

TEMPLE BAR -- We are knocking together a basic information site that provides art information through a blog framework to journos, teachers and collaborators. It will be a real deliverable, accompanied by documentation that shows how to deploy the concept to any cultural venue or art festival. Some of what we're doing has not been done inside one interface. We will have sample in public view within a week.

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Part of the MAVIS degree programme. Sent mail2blog using Nokia Communicator O2 Typepad service.
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Touching stone

TEMPLE BAR -- I enjoy the surprised look on people's faces when I tell them that I was 16 before I touched a cobblestone. Even though I grew up a short trip away from the well-preserved streets of Philadelphia, I walked on sidewalks, not cobblestones. Today, I cannot get enough of the feel of cobbles, especially stones well-polished by the feet of thousands of pedestrians.

Marcus Tanner¹ and Tom Ryan know what I mean. In the summer of 1988, Tanner was in Mostar (Bosnia) on holiday. "Feel the stones!" he called out, as he padded across in socks, "enjoying the sensation of the smooth, almost silken white flagstones" cooling his sweaty feet.

My first GMail

STAR BULLETIN -- Curt Brandao aka Digital Slob offers the world a sample of the first GMail. David Swann, editorial cartoonist, warns "his column is so spot-on funny, a few may think he's serious, which, he kinda is." Paul Boutin says "Curt's the kind of guy whose dream technology is a TiVo that knows when to order pizza 45 minutes in advance."

Best bread in Paris

GUARDIAN -- The best bagettes in Paris come from ovens in Le Boulanger de Monge, Dominque Saibron's remarkable establishment at 123 rue Monge in the 5th arrondissement. The master baker's assistants produce, before your eyes, organic round loaves, chestnut or olive-flavoured crusty rolls and a range of mouth-watering fruit tarts.

Kilkenny People and Jobs

KILKENNY -- You can count on the Kilkenny People to lead with a headline about employment if there is news about jobs. Sean Keane delivers his story about the Portuguese employer of our new "refugees" who decided to base its operations in Kilkenny City instead of Castlecomer.¹

Working in Canice's Tower

KILKENNY -- Each year the Cathedral Church of St Canice receives a large number of visitors and they need summer tourism assistants for the June-August 2004 period. Applicants must be over 16 years of age. The ability to speak other languages besides English and Irish is desireable. Applications must be by CV and covering letter by Friday 30 April 2004.

Kilkenny Arts Travelogue

KILKENNY -- Six artists display award-winning work in the Butler Gallery through mid-May 2004. The six artists won the Tony O'Malley Travel Award in separate years. They include Clare Cashman, Eoin Llewellyn, Alan Keane, Eamon O'Kane, Colin Martin, and Tom Climent. I believe this is the best exhibit of the 2004 season thus far. It captivated my senior multimedia students for more than the hour we allocated for our visit.The westernmost gallery space should be viewed both early in the day and in mid-afternoon to appreciate the varied effect of natural light on "Bathers" and "Ark."

Day of Welcomes

KILKENNY -- On the day when the official "Programme of Events" for the May 1st Day of Welcomes floods Kilkenny's main streets, another hesitant welcome rolls out for two groups of "refugees" who quietly take up residence in a housing estate on the edge of the city. The Kilkenny Day of Welcomes Programme includes a very diversed set of offerings. Venues include Ormonde Hotel, Kilkenny Train Station, Rothe House, Gallery One, Ormonde Leisure Club, and Kilkenny Castle.