I LEARN A LOT from the Sunday newspapers in Ireland and this week my phone told me who was in the cover photo of the short seven minute video clip below the break I made while reading the newspapers.
I had set my cameraphone to ask Google Goggles to cross-check images and one of the results pointed to the model's name in the Swiss field with an alpaca. If Mark Little's face also accompanied some of the press Storyful got today, I imagine Goggles would have identified him as well. I might be among a dying breed who doesn't mind buying and reading two or three different Sunday newspapers. It's the only way to get a sense of balanced coverage in the Irish media market. It's only fair to support the Sunday Business Post (SBP) since that's the paper in which many Irish start-ups hope to earn their column inches. If it's not selling, there won't be inches for promotion. I also like the first Sunday of every month for the Computers in Business magazine inside the Sunday Business Post. In today's CIB, Dick O'Brien gives the cover story to "10 Technologies that could change your business". I'm putting all ten technologies into a long bet on my Educasting blog, betting that by 2016 at least half of the technologies cited in the article are part of the working world in Ireland.
I've summarised some of the high points of my seven-minute newsround below the break. It's also on YouTube and Audioboo.
I pull things out of a cross-section of Irish Sunday papers based on feedback from ex-pats who are more than five time zones away from Ireland. Some of the content is useful in the creative multimedia modules I teach on the Clonmel campus of Limerick Institute of Technology.
Front Page Cuts.
Analysts continue speculating where the axe will fall in the next Irish budget. Because of a continuing drip feeding of social welfare benefits leaking to journalists like Sarah McInterney on the front page of the Sunday Times, welfare cuts are surely in the cross hairs. McInerney's front page item documents how "there is no incentive for unemployed parents to take a job paying €28,000 a year, thanks to the high level of welfare benefits." On the Comment pages of the SBP, David McWilliams thinks "we will grind down wages and prices over years, practically guaranteeing the stagnation that we are trying to avoid."
Job Bridge
One unexpected problem with the much-parodied national intern scheme has been the lack of interest in many seemingly attractive jobs. Some speculate that working a full week as an intern would constrain the number of opportunities for nixers (cash-only jobs).
Technology
All the evidence suggest there will be room for both the Apple iPad and the Amazon Kindle Fire. Forecasts from Infinite Research predict the total number of tablets on the market will reach 147m units in 2015. This is a growth pattern that will outstrip the historic adoption of smartphones, MP3 players and computer games consoles.
The InGear section of the Sunday Times recommends the Kodak Playsport ZX5 mini HD camera. It's €115 and has removable SD media storage.
Linda Daly writes about HP's ePrint technology, the cloud solution we use when creating photo albums through online printing services.
New collaborative and distribution technologies affect the Irish broadcaster. RTE's Director General, Noel Curran, has suggested a "fundamental change" in the way the broadcaster conceives and makes programmes. A new RTE digital division is ramping up to replace RTE Publishing and will manage the broadcaster's overal digital strategy.
In terms of consumer electronics, Adrian Weckler likes the Vodafone Mobile Broadband USB modem. So do I. But I like messenger bikes more and several used Dutch options are now available through the Dutch Bike Shop.
Women in Ireland.
Jennifer O'Connell explains research published by Newsweek and the Daily Beast in which Ireland ranks 22nd in the world in terms of women's access to justice, health, educational opportunities, economic parity and politics.
Black September
The official version of what happened on the night of 28 September 2008 won't be public until after most of those close to the action are deceased. Most of the principals who decided to leverage Ireland's economic sovereignty are now enjoying handsome pensions. Former National Treasury Management Agency chief executive Michael Somers will discuss some of the evening's events with Aine Lawlor in an RTE Radio One documentary One to One at 2340 on 4 October 2011. I plan to put the clip into Huffduffer.
Storyful Funding Round.
Former RTE journalist Mark Little has sealed a funding deal worth over €1m for Storyful. Bill Liao, a venture partner with SOS Ventures, said that Storyful had "a truly unique approach to discovering the true news behind the social noise." I know several on the Storyful team and believe they know more about how to detect and validate the provenance of breaking news than any other team of mainstream press fact checkers.
Last Week: "10 Years Blogging", September 23, 2011.
One Month Ago: "Goldbach Sommerfest", September 2, 2011.
One Year Ago: "Revising About Me", October 2, 2010.
Five Years Ago: "Two Million Mile Car", October 1, 2006.
