ON A DAY RENOWNED for its thinnest Sunday papers, a few news items jumped out in front of my technoculture radar. I would normally go for 10 items but I double-job as a morning shift baby care worker so I don't think Mia will indulge my normal two-hour poring over papers on a Sunday. Besides, I am typing this on a phone with marginal battery reserves.
Violent Ireland. The Sunday Business Post would have readers believe the percentage of incidents violent crime as a function of population numbers is increasing [1] but that is not what the data show. The numbers do show 73 people have been violently killed in Ireland during the past 12 months but one would expect crime to increase with population in Ireland because the current justice minister is fixated on gangland crime involving guns, not on the stabbing crimes that are growing faster in number.
Irish Politician of the Year. The Sunday Tribune gives its "Politician of the Year" Award to hat-trick Bertie Ahern. [2] Regarding Ahern's inevitable decline, turf accountant Ivan Yates offers compelling reasons (and appropriate odds) why Ahern will leave his seat in 2009, not 2010 or later as Bertie has said. [3]
Nialler 9 Cited. Cited for his "influence on the blogosphere," Nialler 9 is "now more popular than the Hot Press website" and gets mentioned as one of the 50 Irish people to watch in 2008.
Eating Out Got More Expensive. Several people in my extended family also enjoyed two pound mini-breakfasts in Flanagan's of Aungier Street seven years ago. Those brekkies would cost €4.60 in euro prices but today your Dublin breakfast roll costs the same as a sit-down meal with coffee less than seven years ago. Nicholas Lander explains [5] some of the economic reasons why breakfast has changed.
Backing up Phone Contacts. In "YourTech", Adrian Weckler answers a question about easily transferring contacts from an old mobile phone to new one. [6] After reading his answer, I wondered if he ever used the online transfer service of ZYB.com
Digital Download Legitimacy. "The digital revolution hit Ireland in a big way in 2007 with downloads accounting for four out of five music singles bought this year." [7]
1. John Burke -- "2007 was most violent year in history of State" on the front page of The Sunday Business Post, 30 December 2007.
2. Kevin Rafter -- "Politican of the year is Bertie" in The Sunday Tribune, 30 December 2007.
3. Shane Coleman "Short odds say Bertie sees Christmas '08" in the Comment Analysis section of The Sunday Tribune, 30 December 2007.
4. Katy McGuinness, Una Mullally, Malachy Clerkin, Isabel Hayes, Shane Coleman, Conor McMorrow, Mick McCaffrey, Martin Frawley, Ali Bracken, Patrick Freyne, Ken Griffin, Maxim Kelly, Jon Ihle, and Olivia Doyle -- "50 to watch in 2008" in the News section of The Sunday Tribune, 30 December 2007.
5. Nicholas Lander -- "The last year of eating out inexpensively" in the Financial Times, 30 December 2007.
6. Adrian Weckler -- "SOS on Christmas present gadgets" in The Sunday Business Post, 30 December 2007.
7. Jan Battles -- "Downloads Dominate Ireland's Pop Charts" in The Sunday Times, 30 December 2007.
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