Microsoft launched Internet Explorer 8 today. To be honest, the news left me underwhelmed. There are some software releases I look forward to (a new Firefox or OpenOffice, or the latest Ubuntu distro) but Explorer is an unloved child on my ageing XP desktop, sitting there looking rather forlorn, rarely touched except on Patch Tuesdays …
Monthly Archive: March 2009
Mar 18
The Accused
There’s a stairwell in the middle of the courtroom, linking the district court to the nearby Bridewell Garda station. Guards lean against the balcony as they listen to the cases. When he emerges from the tunnel, his body language defines fatigue. He moves to the bench in front of the stairwell, while lawyers shuffle papers. …
Mar 13
Heartbeat
How much does PULSE cost? PULSE, in case you’re wondering, stands for Police Using Leading Systems Effectively, a name that screams Retro-Acronym. More importantly, PULSE is the computer database used by An Garda Síochána to record details of everything from police intelligence on criminal gangs to whether you’ve racked up any penalty points in your …
Mar 11
Any Questions?
Questions and Answers is no more, though truth be told, it’s been limping for a long time. In it’s heydey, it could point to the confrontation between the elder Brian Lenihan and Garret Fitzgerald that changed a presidential election. But that was then. When was the last time people talked about QandA on Tuesday morning? …
Mar 11
Striking An Odd Note
Meteor, the third place mobile telephone company in the Irish marketplace behind Vodafone and O2, has a new advertisement. The new commercial, which I caught on one of the radio stations as I drove home this evening, promotes the company’s mobile broadband offering. The service can be used for “those embarrassing music downloads, you know …
Mar 09
Faduda v. Microsoft Part II
Today I got a reply to my letter to the Competition Authority about the Windows Tax. Reproduced below are key sections, along with my thoughts. Computer manufacturers tend to bundle laptops with pre-installed Windows. This may lead to significant cost saving or efficiency gains. It is therefore less expensive for computer manufactures to acquire a …
Mar 06
Blame Game
I blame the baby boomers. The most spoilt generation in history, the boomers were born at the end of World War II. In the sixties, as they hit puberty, they acted as if they were the first generation ever to discover sex. In the seventies, they were responsible for the decade that taste forgot as …
Mar 05
Average Guy
I spend as lot of time covering circuit courts, so I see him every day. He left school before the Leaving, in many cases when he was as young as thirteen. He’s a heavy smoker, has been since he was in his early teens. He probably started drinking around the same time. When he drinks, …
Mar 04
Faduda v. Microsoft
Some time ago, I blogged about my frustration when I tried to price a microsoftless computer to replace my main laptop, which is starting to show signs of ageing. Happily, I arranged affordable repairs, but when I ended up on the Competition Authority website checking some facts, I decided to click the link at the …