I bought a new toy today, although I’ll only get to play with it for a couple of days. My parents, both approaching seventy, decided they want to check out the internet, so for Christmas I bought them an Asus …
Monthly Archive: December 2008
Dec
19
Bank Woes
Twenty four hours ago, I posted the early details of the evolving Anglo Irish Bank story, the resignation of chairman Sean Fitzpatrick and brief details of loan movements which led to his decision. Since last night, chief executive David Drumm …
Dec
19
Money Talks
Sean Fitzpatrick today resigned his position as chairman of Anglo-Irish Bank. ‘My decision to tender my resignation has been prompted by the fact that at the 30th September, 2008, I had fully secured loans, on normal commercial terms, with the …
Dec
17
Lost in Cyberspace
Microsoft just isn’t having a good year. The dubious Mojave experiment. A strange series of advertisements with Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates. The botched Yahoo! takeover. Net books promoting Linux to the masses. The refusal of XP to die. And …
Dec
17
Joe The non-Plumber
It’s one of those memes that’s crept into public discourse in the last year or two. It’s not enough for a politician to say how tough it is for a typical married couple, they have to give a concrete example, …
Dec
15
Septic Tiger
‘The Government has decided either through the National Pensions Reserve Fund or otherwise and subject to terms and conditions, to support, alongside existing [bank] shareholders and private investors, a recapitalisation programme for credit institutions in Ireland of up to €10 …
Dec
13
What’s Up Doc?
As of yesterday, Google Chrome is out of beta. I know this should be a big deal, but somehow, I just can’t bring myself to care. Chrome, in case you haven’t heard, is the new browser from Google, designed apparently …
Dec
12
The Count
So there it is. Lisbon II is all set to go ahead next October. Probably. Provided the British don’t lose their bottle in the face of falling poll numbers. And provided José Manuel Barrosso doesn’t extend the commission’s term of …
Dec
11
By My Oath
According to legend, actor Colm Meaney managed to sneak the word ‘bollocks’ past American television network censors during an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine because they didn’t know what it meant. Maybe that’s true. Or maybe they knew …
Dec
09
Pork Barrel Politics
The EU member States agreed in principle when negotiating in 2000 ‘to reduce the size of the Commission once the Union reached 27 countries. This was in recognition of the reality that there would be insufficient portfolios to go around.’ …