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The Wisdom of Crowds

Last weekend, I asked a question on twitter, Google Plus, Facebook and here, in preparation for a presentation to journalists on using social media. For the record, the question and the answers I received are …

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The Social Media survey

I’m conducting a quick survey in advance of a presentation I’ve been talking into giving to Dublin Freelance NUJ members tomorrow on using social media. Naturally, no presentation on social media is complete without reference …

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Solar weather and planet Earth

An interview with Dr Lyndsay Fletcher, Glasgow University, about solar weather, recorded for Scibernia in June 2011. scisolar

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Irish Science Teachers Association

An interview with Yvonne Higgins, chairperson of the Irish Science Teachers Association, for Scibernia, recorded in April 2011. sciberniateachers

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The Wisdom of CrowdsThe Social Media surveySolar weather and planet EarthIrish Science Teachers Association

Jan 29

A torrent of words

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I write. As a freelance, I hold copyright on those words. “Ireland’s SOPA” wants to protect those words. But copyright already protects them.

My words have been pirated a few times. The first time, articles were cut and pasted wholesale from a website and re-used.

Not by a pirate website, but by an old-established company. We eventually settled for a rather handsome sum.

More recently, a story I wrote was lifted by two media companies, and placed on websites.

One was outside the jurisdiction. The publisher sent me a very nice letter when I complained, which basically said he had no intention of paying.

The second was a media company in Ireland. The claimed they got the story from a different source. I know this to be untrue.

A story I wrote once appeared on a blogger’s site. When I contacted him, he apologised, and removed it immediately.

It’s not greedy teenagers who are pirating my work. It’s respectable old media companies.

My submission to the Copyright Consultation Committee argued that my problem wasn’t teenagers torrenting my precious words, but lack of a small claims court to resolve my issues with these old media companies. “Ireland’s SOPA” won’t help there.

[Image by Faduda. using background from Morguefile.com]

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Jan 21

Banging on the same old drum

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The average industrial wage is a moveable feast. Last year David Cullinane told me he took home €530 a week. Pearse Doherty takes home €540 a week at present. That’s the thing with averages. They change over time. How Sinn Féin managed a wage increase when incomes are falling is a question for another day.

In accounts published yesterday, Pearse Doherty revealed he employed a constituency worker costing €24011.24. Since Pearse presumably pays employer’s PRSI, I’m guessing the employee’s gross wages are less than that figure. Pearse himself took home €29170 net.

In 2009, Pearse donated €6000 to Sinn Féin. SIPO has yet to update their website to show donations in 2010. Pearse’s accounts for 2011 show no similar donation.

Earlier on twitter, I was told I was “the only one saying SF draw the AIW from the taxpayer. Doherty gets AIW rest to party”.

Yet that cannot happen. Pearse’s account show he is paid €57550 by the Oireachtas (€93K less taxes). He then uses part of that money to pay an employee.

Contrary to what my twitter debater thinks, Pearse couldn’t possibly hand over €24011.24 to the party. That would be illegal. The maximum allowed donation is €6348.59.

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Jan 20

Pearse Doherty and the Average Industrial Wage

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Sitting in my inbox for a while now has been a letter from SIPO, along with various records of politicians’ expenses, all revolving around the issue of Sinn Fein and the “average industrial wage”.

On Friday, Pearse Doherty published a set of accounts on the Donegal Daily website, which makes it time to revisit the exercise. [Pádraig Mac Lochlainn did the same thing, so I'd guess we'll see similar disclosures from all SF politicians soon.]

Recap: Sinn Féin representatives regularly point out that they only “draw down” the average industrial wage. Others (myself included) have pointed out, they in fact “draw down” their full wage from the taxpayer, even if they choose to donate it to the party. How you spend your money doesn’t make it cheaper to pay you, in other words.

Doherty’s account can be read in detail here. In brief, in 2011, he earned (net of taxes) €48213.17, and expenses (tax free) of €57550.63.

Of this he “paid” himself €29170.

He paid an employee working in his constituency office €24011.24

He apparently spent the balance on various office and administrative expenses, including a computer, a carpet, phone and electricity bills, and an FOI request.

More to follow.

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Jan 17

Poll positions

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Fine Gael senator Catherine Noone writes about a phone poll of local councillors attitudes:

“Two-thirds of Councillors from the two Government parties would support changes to the Croke Park Agreement, according to this survey carried out by my office. A total of 529 City and County Councillors responded to the phone poll, with 56% of the members from Opposition parties also stating they would support a renegotiation of the deal.”

No other information is given about who the senator’s office contacted. From the way it’s described, I suspect an attempt was made to contact all 883 local councillors in Ireland, reaching 529.

The trouble is, I have no idea how representative that 529 is, either of the general public, or of councillors as a subgroup. Does the sample contain any inherent bias? I can’t tell. Maybe older councillors are less likely to have mobile phones? Maybe some councillors are more or less likely to answer a call from Fine Gael? I don’t know, because I’m not told. And so, the poll result has no meaning.

As to the usefulness of the exercise? Well, at least the senator knows what way her own electorate is leaning, whatever about the wider public.

Image via MorgueFile

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Jan 08

Flying by the seat of your pants

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Last week, the Sunday Independent front page carried a Ryanair story.

Michael O’Leary addressed a conference on innovation, the newspaper reported, where he outlined how the European Commission invited him to Brussels, but refused to pay for his flight because it was booked through Ryanair.

And he said he was told “there is a ban within on low fare flights within the Commission.”

It’s a great story, but no one from the Commission was asked for their side of the story, so I thought I’d check it out.

“The Commission of course allows for its own staff and for visiting experts to use low cost flights,” a spokesperson told me. “If they use low-cost airlines, speakers, experts at Commission events are entitled to reimbursement on the presentation of original supporting documents.”

“The misunderstanding that has arisen in this case is because the Commission for this specific event asked a travel agency to handle the transfers and accommodation for the speakers.

“Since low-cost flight bookings require immediate purchase by credit card at time of booking to guarantee the actual fare and since these fares are heavily restricted in case of changes or cancellations, the travel agency does not provide this service.”

Image via MorgueFile

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Dec 07

Roll call

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Kieran Allen.
Michael Clifford.
Karl Deeter.
John Drennan.
Diarmuid Ferriter.
Fergus Finlay.
Maureen Gaffney.
Constantin Gurgdiev.
Eoghan Harris.
Eddie Hobbs.
Gemma Hussey.
Pat Leahy.
Tina Leonard.
Diarmaid McDermott.
Sean McDonagh.
Michael McDowell.
Harry McGee.
Tom McGurk.
Joseph O’Connor.
Mary-Louise O’Donnell.
Niall O’Dowd.
Emer O’Kelly.
Olivia O’Leary.
Michael O’Regan.
Mary O’Rourke.
Fintan O’Toole.
Jim Power.
Terry Prone.
David Quinn.
Fionnan Sheehan.
John Waters.
Noel Whelan.

Fine people all of them, but here’s the thing. I’ve heard each one of them so many times on panel discussions, talking about everything from the latest euro-crisis to the mysteries of twitter, that I can pretty much predict their opinions on the topic of your choice. And yet I know that by the end of the week, I’ll have heard at least half of those voices again, some several times, sharing their worldview with Mary Wilson or George Hook or Pat Kenny.

And every time they share their now-predictable worldviews, they do a little bit to limit everyone else’s worldview too.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the researchers working for RTÉ, Newstalk and Todayfm tried to get through one week without any of them, and let us hear a few fresh voices on the airwaves.

On the wireless. Image via Morguefile

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Dec 04

Street value

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Hang around the courts for a while, as many journalists do, and you begin to notice some odd patterns.

Consider these snippets from a google search of reports on drugs convictions, for example:

“16.43 grammes of cocaine valued at €1150″
“a kilogram of cocaine worth € 70000″
“962 grammes of cocaine worth €67340″
“932 grammes of cocaine with a street value of €65261″

The price per gram of cocaine in each of the stories above is, respectively, €69.99, €70, €70 and €70.02. That’s a remarkably stable market, spanning four years.

Press reports don’t always carry the exact quantity and valuation of drugs, but the price seems to be increasing over time. Older reports suggest a price of €68/gramme, newer reports indicate €72/gramme.

And some cross-examinations I’ve seen suggest that the garda price remains constant whether the contraband is pure, or heavily diluted.

Why does this matter?

Well, people now face harsher sentences for possessing the same amount of a drug which would have led to a lesser charge a few years ago.

And when Garda statistics are prepared, the value of illegal drugs siezed has gone up, even though the quantity may be unchanged.

Success in the war against drugs!

The Four Courts: Image via Wikimedia Commons

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Nov 27

A thought on the Occupy movement

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At a crucial point in V for Vendetta, as the populace, wearing now-iconic Guy masks, march on Parliament, a stand-off develops between citizens and soldiers.

It is resolved when the soldiers refuse to fire.

It’s not the first time I’ve seen the meme. It also occurs in the pre-911 film The Siege, where crazed general Bruce Willis backs down as Americans protest at the racial profiling following a terrorist attack in NYC.

In real life, the same faith that the Army Will Not Fire had been seen in protests from Tiananmen Square 1989 to Tunisia 2011.

In real life, the Army usually opens fire.

The faith that an army Will Not Fire is behind the surprise that Occupy protesters have been assaulted. And it is Occupy’s real test. Civil disobedience rests on the certainty that the army (or paramilitary police) WILL fire. The entire point of the protest is to provoke a reaction, demonstrating the inequity of the power resisting demands for justice.

Occupy has had the mood of a student party so far. Meanwhile in Egypt, protesters assemble despite – even because – the Army will open fire.

It remains to be seen whether Occupiers have the same mettle.

Occupy: Image via Wikimedia Commons

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Nov 15

Concern at post-graduate cutbacks

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The director general of the statutory body charged with funding basic science research has expressed his concern at proposals to abolish funding for postgraduate students.

Dr Graham Love was speaking at the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Summit in Athlone, an annual event bringing together researchers funded by the body to carry out basic scientific research and promote cooperation between government, universities and industry.

“I don’t know a huge amount about it yet but I am concerned about what I am hearing,” Dr Love said.

“But If it does anything to reduce the numbers and the attractiveness of science then that’s a deep deep concern to me.”

“One of our jobs is not only to produce good science, we’ve got to make it attractive to the young people of Ireland because they’re going to be the ones who keep this going.”

Dr Love said he understood that the 1200 PhD and Masters students funded by SFI would not be affected by the proposal, which he understands applies to funds provided through local authorities.

The director general was interviewed for Scibernia.ie, a podcast on science issues also broadcast by community radio station Near FM.

Image via Morguefile

[more from SFI Sumit coming soon at Scibernia.ie]

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Nov 12

It’s PC gone mad

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Spoof accounts are nothing new on twitter. From @OsamaBinLaden and @Jesus to the cast of Spooks, the spoof account is a part of the experience. Ireland is no exception, as accounts like @CardinalBrady or @Madam_Editor show.

The controversial '@PeterCollinsRTE' tweet

Less common than the “spoof” is the “fake”. While the spoof is clearly a take-off, fakes look and feel real.

Perhaps the most notorious Irish example is @McGuinness4Pres. Oddly, the fake account name sounds more “official” than @Martin4Prez2011, the account set up by Sinn Fein during the recent presidential election.

Which brings us to Peter Collins.

Shortly after, a second Peter Collins account appeared. Then the fake account explained which was real

Collins is one of those vaguely familiar RTÉ faces, the kind of guy who ends up as a tiebreaker in the pub quiz picture round.

@PeterCollinsRTE caused a bit of a twitter row earlier this week. This morning, Collins spoke to Marian Finucane about how a fake account was set up in his name.

Most twitter observers are mystified by the incident. Why would a fake tweet anodyne observations about Formula 1 and soccer before causing a row with an unfunny tweet about Travellers? How did a fake get added to twitter lists compiled by RTÉ staff? And why would a fake account delete most of its history?

@PeterCollinsRTE in quieter times

Though it wasn't always dull

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