Ken McGuire

Author: Ken McGuire

  • Laptop If You Win, Nano If You Don’t

    Listening to Today FM on the way to work this morning and they’ve got a pretty good competition going if you’ve got kids at primary school level. The daily winner gets themselves a nice new Dell Inspiron laptop (missed the model number), while the runner up gets an iPod Nano. Not a bad ole deal. Any doting dads that fancy a new laptop (I might suggest you ask for an XP laptop instead of a Vista one – pffft) might want to have a listen to the radio this week on Today FM after the 8 o’clock news and sport (morning) for the details.

    I haven’t spotted any details on their site so keep an ear to the Ian Dempsey breakfast show in the morning…

  • Nothing Like Perseverance

    Always good to see people who don’t know what ‘give up’ means and I reckon Pat Phelan is certainly one of those. That, or its all those crates of Red Bull have gone to your head, but judging by Pat’s latest blog post it should only be a matter of days before AllFreeCalls.net resurfaces out of the murky depths of the deadpool. I’ve used AllFreeCalls.ie for calls to the States and was pleased with the pure ease of the service so hopefully the .net edition can get its feet back on terra firma before too long.

  • Booyaka Johnson

    Silly title for a blog post, I know, but then again some people in Amsterdam themselves are quite silly, in particular one chap we were approached by last night.

    I’ve made it back from Amsterdam, still alive and in one piece and with the batteries mildly recharged. Such a fantastic city, everything “just works” (so my brother says after the few days away), tons of photos, way too much food and drink (all good of course), and so much to see.

    Days were spent strolling the streets (did manage to hit a museum or two along with Madame Tussauds), drinking too many cappuccinos (those Dutch know how to brew a good coffee), and ducking in and out of places for breakfast, lunch, dinner, a croissant here, a donut there. Found loads of amazing little shops, am amazed at the amount of English in the city (by language and nature) and would certainly go back again.

    The hotel we booked wasn’t exactly as advertised but for the amount of time we actually spent there it was totally reasonable, and given it’s proximity to everything I wouldn’t have a problem booking there again for a short stay – comfy beds, well lit rooms, friendly staff. Didn’t see that breakfast room they’re supposed to have (and a big sign in the lobby suggested that you have to go up the street for breakfast) but with a wealth of options within a minutes walk you’re not going to have any trouble eating.

    Did take a river cruise and managed to squeeze in a few photos but it was great to just shut off for the few days (bar a quick check to the office on Monday morning) and just take everything nice and easy.

    While the Red Light District is something I’d suggest to absolutely anyone for the sheer experience of walking around, you’ve got to be weary of the drug dealers. Jesus Christ – they’re everywhere. You can’t walk five minutes up the road without someone whispering “smack, charlie, cocaine” in your ear but if you keep on walking you’re grand rather than even dignify them with a response – not that it matters to them or anything.

    Go back again? Most certainly, might even play the tourist next time and actually get to see some of the better known sights and sounds….

    For now it is high time to get to bed, get set for the morning, get back to some regular blogging….

  • Better Be An Internet Cafe In Amsterdam

    I’m heading to Amsterdam on Saturday morning for a short break… only there better be an internet cafe open first thing in the morning on Tuesday. Not risking the laptop and going in search of a WiFi connection….

    No doubt the website will come crashing down around the ears of those at Ticketmaster…

  • Is Adsense Wasted On Irish Blogs?

    Is there anyone in the Irish blogosphere who is making a healthy revenue from AdSense? And by healthy revenue I mean at least three figures a month. I know of one such individual who happened to mention his Adsense revenue at the last Bar Camp in Waterford but beyond that, is anyone else happy with their Adsense revenue stream?

  • Been A Busy Few Days

    Jesus its been a busy few days. Started another podcast, first one a little rough but it’ll get there, just have to put the pennies aside to open a radio station at some stage. Auditions underway for the big show in August – I can see it being something of a musical bootcamp, though the musical numbers aren’t massive by any standard. Between script meetings, directors meetings, gigs, a dodgy foot, sleepless nights, lack of energy I’ve got seven posts sitting in draft status. Bah humbug.

    Must… press…. publish…..

    And someone wants to kill someone through their blog? Sure is one way of telling you’re getting popular…

  • Pain In The MySpace

    Honestly, I’ve been trying to register an account on MySpace for someone for the last hour with an email address, trying varying rotations of their home country, language selection, password and their idiotic captcha (which doesn’t offer plaintext or audio support) and EVERY time I’m left with

    We’re sorry. Based on the information you have submitted to us, you are ineligible to register on MySpace.com.

    You’d think they were just trying to stop people signing up. Too many members…

    Update: over 3 hours since I’ve started, I’ve been able to register. MySpace registration downtime? No alerts within the site itself from what I could see…

  • Those Spammers Strike Again

    Damn them all to hell….

    MODERATORS – This is a test from an automated software aimed at posting to “dead” forums only. If this is not an abandoned forum we apologize, simply block this nickname and we’ll not attempt to post again.

    This one (above) just popped up on KilkennyMusic.com’s forum. Upgraded to latest version of phpBB and they’re still coming… time to make a few additions to the scripts I guess. Maybe a timer check? I’m only guessing that bots are filling out forms in record time, as well as avoiding the graphic captcha. Anyone been in a similar position?

    Between the increase in forum spam as well as a heavily noted increase in blog spam across the board it is getting a little tiring…

    At least in this case it wasn’t extreme NSFW links….

  • Apple TV Has Launched

    I’ve always had a desire to go mad on the house technology wise – computer in every room, server in the garage downloading new music and movie clips daily, VOIP phones for the house, an RFID reader in the fridge to read RFID tags instead of barcodes to let me know when to shop (lazy but interesting if I can telnet into my fridge from work to see what was available for dinner…).

    Apple TVBUT!

    All of these things cost money and you can’t have everything you want at once. I should be picking up a new TV this coming Friday, finally replacing the broken Sony widescreen thats been in the corner for the bones of the last three years. What I wouldn’t mind getting in addition to it is Apple TV.

    Apple TV launched yesterday, pretty much as a set-top box allowing you to send your movies, music, podcasts etc. via wifi to the included 40gb hard drive. Take one teeny-tiny remote control, hook Apple TV up to your own TV and you’ve got a short and sweet entertainment system without the fuss of masses of cables.

    You are going to need a widescreen TV and a copy of iTunes would be handy too – Apple TV syncs itself with every iTunes update so as soon as you buy something through iTunes it can be picked up at the tv. The system also works the other way, tell Apple TV to go off and download a particular movie, track or clip from the iTunes store and away you go…

    After watching in awe of the clips belting out full screen on John’s iMac yesterday, I think the US$299 price tag is paltry. Of course in typical bloody fashion, a $299 price tag in the US means a €299 pricetag on European soil. Still, looks to be a fantastic investment, particularly for someone who prefers TV from the computer instead of forking out for Sky Digital or another expensive monthly TV service.

  • How Does Google Rank Your Blog?

    Catching up on a little weekend reading (lack of any reasonable internet connection over the past four days) and Steve Rubel makes an interesting post on how Google ranks your blog. Being away for the weekend I had a little time to reflect (but a lot less time to put the reflection into action) on my own blog but this post matches some of my weekend thoughts, the sum of which should generate a change or two around kenmc.com 🙂

    See Google BlogRank by Steve Rubel and the original post here.

  • Are You Open For Coffee In Cork This Morning?

    Sure, I’m not from Cork but thought I’d give the Cork OpenCoffee morning a wee net-plug anyway, think they’re a pretty good idea. Dublin’s one took off recently with a big bang in Morrisson’s hotel but if you’re in Cork this morning, pop your head into Luigi Malone’s for a crackin’ cup of coffee and a chin-wag with fellow entrepreneurs and business investors.

    Kick-off is 10am.

  • Paul Browne – Pure Genius

    Meant to post this one earlier on in the week (sorry Paul), but I got back from Sligo on Monday lunch time to find a nice surprise in the post for me. I’m no Guinness drinker by any stretch of the imagination but never let it be said that Paul B doesn’t stand by his word.

    You might remember the FeedBurner madness that went on prior to the Blog Awards, divided into a few rounds the winner of the first round would get a pint courtesy of Paul. While I never got a chance to catch up with Paul at the awards (or loads of other people for that matter) I did get pint in the post, so cheers for that one Paul.

    Hopefully next time it will be a cold pint of Heineken from a glass 🙂

  • Spam From The New York Times?

    Is someone inside the New York Times trying to reach out to blogs or is there someone sitting at home spamming away, PRETENDING to be from the New York Times? Amongst the new wave of spam mails and comments I’ve been filtering come comments from the New York Times – not only on this blog but Aidan has also noticed it for HelpYourself.ie The comments look legit, there’s no links only one going back to the New York Times homepage.

    Reading techscape.tv this morning, it isn’t just here the comments are appearing…

    Just on another note… is anyone getting empty comments from non-existant posts via mail asking you to moderate?

  • €813.99 For A Sony Playstation 3? Are You PS3 Mad?

    Seriously – does anyone actually think the price tag for launch is worth the money for the Sony Playstation 3? Picked up an email this afternoon from Play.com offering this particular package (not an affiliate link) which clocks in at over 800 quid. Speaking to someone in Xtravision during the week, they’re not allowed (seemingly) to sell the console on its own and will only be offering bundle deals for the first few months.

    A console with the 60gb HD, 3 games…. for that price.

    Can they seriously justify over 800 quid? I’d get a half decent HD ready TV, Xbox 360 and something class of a decent game for that price. God help parents around confirmation and communion time I tell ya….

    By the way – it’s just over a week to the release date…

  • 31% With Mobile Web Access Use It

    Doing the mobile browse this evening, Stephen Wellman writes that of 77% of users questioned in a European survey across the UK, Germany, Italy, France and Spain (no Ireland eh?) with mobile web access, only 31% actually make use of it. The percentage in the US goes that bit higher, with 41% out of 71% making use of mobile web access.

    Mobile web of course referring to the use of the web (internet access) via a mobile device such as a mobile phone, pdas etc.

    Rankwise in Europe it looks like the UK is the leader with over half the people responding to the survey saying the use mobile web access regularly with Italy second with just over 40%. No mention of how many people were targeted in the US and through Europe (equal numbers on both sides) but the statistics are interesting all the same.

  • €114.3m Buys Eircom A 3G License

    So, Eircom, and presumably (I’m presuming), Meteor as the mobile arm of Eircom, have been granted the country’s 4th 3G license – the one that was supposed to be taken by Smart Telecom before they went belly-up big style.

    Comreg confirmed the deal is worth €44m up front with the remainder spread over the next fifteen years, provided of course that Eircom meet a few targets including 33% demographic coverage by the end of next year.

    Guess things are on the up for Eircom. A turnaround in their developments going forward, a big push on customer services (seen as they’re always harping on about it on the radio with their new CS head guy) and all since their sale last summer. I’ve still no interest in returning to Eircom as a home phone provider, and have questioned their business broadband in the last few months (I’ve found Chorus to be more reliable) AND I’ve certainly no plans to change mobile provider – but all the same – its great to see the introduction of more competition.

  • Twitter Widgets / Find Me On Twitter

    Having fun on the Twitter train, really nice way of social interaction online – a short, sweet, to-the-point service allowing you to broadcast a stream of thought, what you’re doing us quick notes to other Twitter users. Looking forwards to Alex King’s development to integrate Twitter with WP, while I’m using Twitterific on the mac as a handy desktop application.

    Also stumbled upon two widgets available from the Apple downloads area as dashboard widgets – check Twitterlex or twidget, both free downloads. Interfaces aren’t as nice as Twitterific but I’d rather the dashboard widget than the desktop app.

    If you’re looking for me there check http://twitter.com/kenmcguire

  • Sexifying Kilkenny Music

    Uploaded the new theme for KilkennyMusic.com. Have to drop the ole MP3 player back in later on (its getting late, 11:17pm now). With this design I took the theme mobileblogr.com is based on and ripped it a new one. A tweak or two left for myself but I’m on track with it.

    Just need to get the damn gallery problem sorted out. Ideas, criticisms, critiques appreciated if you’re offering…

  • End Of The Road For Mobileblogr.com

    I’m more keen on starting up blogs than winding them down but I’m pulling the plug on mobileblogr.com as a dedicated blog. Simply put, I haven’t been putting as much time as I want into it due to concentrating on other blogging adventures and so have decided to call it a day.

    The blog itself has been running since a few months but it fell into the blogging trap of a good hive of activity in the opening stages and serious lack of activity – to the point where it hasn’t seen a post in three weeks and I’d rather it was a daily or bi-daily blog.

    So, thanks to the import/export featured of WordPress 2.1x I’ve pulled all the mobileblogr.com blog posts in here (just need to review their categories) so as not to lose them as they’re all relevant when it comes to technology.

    I’ve no further plans for the domain (current PR3) if anyone is interested and will be pulling the hosting plug on it tonight. Rather pull the whole thing now than just let it drag on and on and on…. 🙂

    It doesn’t mean the end of mobile tech coverage, just means the posts will end up in a new home on kenmc.com. Thanks to those who read the blog and passed comments over the few months but I reckon it has to be done. Now, on with the day…

    See also: Post on mobileblogr.com

  • Blog Awards Inspiring New Bloggers

    If the Irish Blog Awards achieved one thing at the weekend it was in inspiring new bloggers to emerge and contribute to the social web. While I’m currently leading the blog count in the KKM team (some of which I think I’m going to trim unfortunately), the other three (pictured amongst the latest flickr upload) have become inspired to blog their own developments and interests.

    Looking forward to Daw’s upcoming blog on sound production techniques and tips (certainly more niche), Mickey’s not ONE but TWO proposed sports blogs and hopefully Ross’s further development of Rants By Ross.

    Amazing what an awards show can bring out in people once you spend a few hours immersed in the company of other drinkers bloggers at a pissup blog awards ceremony.