Ken McGuire

Tag: Technology

  • Jason Roe on RTE News (Video)

    I was looking for this during the week (having missed the initial broadcast). While Ryanair are still in the headlines over charging people to use in-flight toilets, last week it was all about the comments flaring upf on Jason’s blog.

    Video here.

  • Tuesday Push: Tuesday Push

    Pushing
    Creative Commons License photo credit: Valerie Everett

    Some say you should crawl before you can walk, walk before you can run, look before you leap. On a Tuesday, it’s nice to push before you’re pushed. The Tuesday Push is a chance to shed the light on a company or service in Ireland, introducing those getting the push to the Irish blogosphere, tech readers, blog readers, tech journalists and the public at large. As the site itself says, it is “a way for the small but growing tech community in Ireland to make some noise about ourselves by picking a good example of an Irish Tech Company and highlighting their product(s) every second Tuesday”.

    While it’s nice to see companies getting “the push”, it’s nicer still when they push back. It’s all about the community involvement. You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. Or in this case, it’s technology startups in Ireland helping each other out. Since it’s launch last year I’ve managed to push a few of the names including Twitter Mosaic (Sxoop), DownloadMusic.ie, IGOpeople to name a few.

    One of the great things about the growing tech community in Ireland is just that, the community. The spirit is seen in blogs, comments, through Twitter, LinkedIn, referrals, BarCamps, PodCamps, BizCamps, CreativeCamps and the likes. We’re great at helping each other out, which is why Tuesday Push is a great initiative for having the community highlight the rising stars within.

    Of course, not everybody can get featured. The service in question has to be unique, has to be new, has to be different. Not sure what I mean? Check here for details.

    I’ll keep on pushing where and when I can. Maybe some day I’ll need a push with something. But I’ll keep pushing because it puts another mark on the map for Irish tech companies. And it’s not only me that’s doing it. Dozens of great posts have been written about the ten companies featured since last July, across dozens of blogs, who have hundreds of readers each… do the maths.

    Request a Tuesday Push here.

  • Up Close With a Twitter Mosaic Mug

    My Twitter Mosaic mug arrived in the post yesterday evening. If you’ve not yet seen one and wondering what the buzz floating around the Irish Twitosphere was in the past week or two, check the video or read my last Tuesday Push post.

    Update: Neville Hobson (@jangles) has another video review here.

  • Surprises and Familiar Faces at the Irish Blog Awards

    Blogging in the lobby of the 2009 Irish Blog Awards hotel in Cork

    It’s back to grindstone this morning after a great weekend in Cork at the 4th annual Irish Blog Awards. Whether you’re nominated for an award or not, it really has become one of the “must attend” nights of the year in Irish web circles. The extra perk for me was in representing The Devious Theatre Company who had been shortlisted for Best Arts & Culture Blog, the gong going to Fiona of Pursued By A Bear.

    I had debated on Twitter all my transport options – train, bus or drive via Waterford or via Clonmel, turns out the best way (suggested by Bernie and Mike) to get to Cork from Kilkenny is heading out the Urlingford direction. You don’t get into Urlingford but hop on the M8 a few minutes outside the town, motorway all the way to Mitchelstown, a hop skip and a jump on the N8 before linking back up with the M8 into Cork. If going down was quick, coming back was great, leaving about 12:30pm only to be sitting in the Newpark for lunch by 2:10pm. One of the top roads the country has to offer at the moment.

    I’m hoping the 5th ‘Blog Awards return to Cork. My God, that hotel is great. Quirky, funky design, great rooms, great staff, great selection of 90s music playing in the restaurant, top notch food (had dinner in the restaurant) and they were willing to let 300+ bloggers and friends have the run of the entire downstairs for the night. There aren’t many places who would do it! Then again, was there anyone staying in the hotel that wasn’t there for the awards? I’d heard at one stage that 130 of 150 bookings were for the awards, with only 2 rooms in the hotel by midnight. If it gets announced for Cork again, get the bookings in early! Plus, breakfast rocked the following morning as well and I’m looking at staying down there in May before heading away for some foreign wedding celebrations.

    Across some of the categories I felt there were a few surprises, a few blogs I also didn’t know or read (yet) and one or two firm favourites coming to the front. Nialler9 made it three-in-a-row for Best Music Blog (can he make it four, or do you duck out after three as others have done?), Blacknight bagged Best Blog of a Business, Trust Tommy nicked Best Newcomer and Suzy Byrne took the gong for Best News/Current Affairs Blog before going on to scoop the Grand Prix prize for Best Blog.

    There were recognition awards too for Brian Greene and Damien Mulley, without whom nights like the Blog Awards just don’t happen.

    I did manage to avoid the dancefloor and resist the temptations of giant Twister (rather adamantly), spending part of the second half of the night swanning (sitting) around the lobby. The expanse of the hotel did make for a different atmostphere. Compared to memories of 2008 and 2007, things seemed a lot more spread out, creating a much relaxed atmosphere as things got later into the night. People were able to find their own corners, start their own conversations and take their own space.

    It was great to catch up with the usual suspects of Darragh, Darren, Niamh, Deb, David, Liz, Anto (I DO know Anto), the Belfast connections of Phil, Andy (proper pintage next time around), Keith and more besides with Niall, Campbell, Jason, Robin, Conn, Johnny (who I didn’t get back to after, sorry!) and everyone else I managed to get to say hello to in the run of the night before sneaking off about 1am. Also, after two years of looking to say hello to the man it was high bloody time I said hello to Pat Phelan (and cheers Keith) who had his snazzy Google phone on display. I want! If you’ve heard about the intro videos, but haven’t yet seen them, they’re all available now in glorious technicolour. Surprised to see my own face in one of them… grrr.

    Some great conversations, some great introductions – not as many as I would have liked to have made or had but such was the scale of this year’s event that it really was hard to get to everyone you wanted to see. That said, I’m going along to Bizcamp in Dublin on March 7th for the day where hopefully I’ll get to catch up with a few more people.

    A full list of winners in each category and links out to all nominated blogs can be found here.

    Update: more links to come in a bit…

  • Kilkenny Open Coffee Today (Wednesday)

    Just a reminder to folks that the second Kilkenny Open Coffee takes place at 11:30am this morning in the Kilkenny Cafe at Market Cross Shopping Centre, High Street, Kilkenny.

    There’s a “meeting room” space at the back of Kilkenny Cafe that offers up free wifi, some couches and the likes. Last (and first) time around there seven of us there and we’ve contacted a few more people this time around, locally, to let them know what’s going on.

    If you’re in Kilkenny this morning, involved in the internet or tech space and want to drop in for a tea / coffee / scone / demo / yarn then feel free to join us from 11:30am. Last time I checked they were also running an offer of two scones and two coffees for a fiver, plenty to keep one going!

    See the map here or follow the crowd over on IGOpeople.com

  • Pushing for IGOpeople

    IGOpeople launched late last year in beta, billed as the “network for the real world”. So far, it’s living up to it’s name.

    Real individuals, real groups, real people – and they all tie together in one very neat, clean and easy to use environment. The clock tells me it was December 17th when I registered (about when IGOpeople launched) and since then I’ve been using it to keep track of Kilkenny Open Coffee – that’s where the conversations grew out of Tweets. Being able to group the threaded conversation in the one public place, accessible by those participating in the first Kilkenny Open Coffee made the planning a breeze, but also attracted the attention of the IGOpeople team (of Campbell and David) who also joined us earlier this month to talk about the launch of IGOpeople.com and plans for where things may be going.

    They’re on top of things too. Watching the conversations online, watching feedback, and more importantly actioning something based on the feedback. For a real network to evolve, the input of the end users is vital. Listening to those users is key and from the outside (and based on conversations at Kilkenny Open Coffee), that’s what’s happening at IGOpeople.

    While you can group the conversations nicely – Dell Limerick, Working From Home, Web Designers, Kilkenny Open Coffee – and openly contribute to these groups, it’s nice to see actual organisations taking an interest in the space, not only on an Irish front, but on a global front. Vodafone are there (and were running a competition this week where I bagged some free mobile credit), Blacknight, Tibus, dbTwang, Flexitimers, FBD Insurance – all offering their customers and userbase another opportunity for online customer support and contact.

    While there are plenty of big name companies listed – MTV, Ryanair, Canon, Google, Dell, FedEx etc. – it will be nice to see what happens when representative of these companies get on board and start sharing that bit more with what’s quickly becoming a very active community.

    If you’ve not yet signed up for IGOpeople.com, take a minute or two out of your day or evening and take a look for yourself. Best of luck to Campbell, http://www.igopeople.com/o/2-IGOpeople/people/10-David-Cotter and all at IGOpeople with their growth in 2009.

    (They must be working overtime this evening as an application to get The Devious Theatre Company on board as an organisation was approved real quick – never mind a few hours or days, I think this was more like minutes – good stuff!)

  • People Still Get Blue Screens, Unmountable Boot Volumes

    Crashed train station display
    Creative Commons License photo credit: sethschoen

    One of my most popular blog posts of 2008, judging by comments and hits on the post overall, was this one – Unmountable Boot Volume (Dell, Fix) – where I outlined in October 2007 some steps that can be used to get around that boot volume blue screen error on Windows XP.

    Since I published the post, I haven’t had a blue screen error. Primarily because I moved over to a Mac and started using OSX, but that’s another thing altogether.

    I’m amazed at how many people still get the issue – but moreso by some of the comments. Specifically people being told by customer support and technical support agents that the hard drive must be fried, people will lose all their data and they really have no hope.

    I’ve been there. I’ve worked in a call centre. I’ve read the instructions from the screen as you step through the case. But I’ve also used my initiative and given people a few “off the books” instructions that would see them right, because you’ve experienced something similar yourself.

    To those of who who managed to repair your drive from the steps included in the blog post and went on to become a regular reader and commenter in other areas, I’m glad I was of some assistance to you. To those people who seek out advice from blog posts and the web and get their own second opinion online, more power to you.

    Sure enough, in the long run your hard drive might kick the bucket, but at least you’ve taken the initiative to seek out a solution online. Hopefully, when you arrive on it, it works for you too.

    If you’re having an unmountable boot volume issue, click here for some steps to help you through it.

  • D-Day For Dell?

    Update: Following the action on Twitter and again via RTE, Dell are to cut 1900 employees from the Limerick plant with job losses phased between April 2009 and January 2010. That’s a serious casualty for jobs both in Limerick and technology in general in Ireland.

    —

    I was listening to Newstalk on the way into work earlier this morning, and have it on here in the office but it looks like it’s D-Day for Dell. Or, on the official line, workers in the Limerick plant have been called in to a meeting due to start a few minutes ago.

    The possible closure and loss of jobs in four figures has long been whispered. I knew that Dell were manufacturing in Poland but didn’t realise that Irish orders through Dell.ie, which I thought were being manufactured in Limerick, were actually coming from Eastern Europe.

    This goes back to one of the deliveries I was waiting on (which kept me in Kilkenny a few days longer than anticipated at Christmas) with my brother awaiting a delivery of a laptop from Dell, out for delivery on the morning of the 18th of December. Knowing Interlink carry the Dell deliveries coming this direction I had thought I’d be able to collect the laptop on the 19th (Friday) and get on the road. Nothing on the 19th, nothing the following Monday and you should have seen the look of surprise on my face when I rang Dell only to find out they were waiting on the delivery to come in from Poland before it hit the road in Ireland.

    I still found it incredible that given it’s a manufacturing plant in Limerick, they’ve got to send all the way to Poland and back for an order that’s only going two hours up the road. Do laptops ordered for delivery in Limerick go to Poland as well?

    RTE reports that the manufacturing staff are meeting first, with the IT, legal and marketing meeting at 10am.

    Looks like today we’ll know the true reality of the situation in the Limerick plant.

  • Kilkenny Open Coffee? It’s A Possibility, It’s This Week

    Hot Cup Of Clay
    Creative Commons License photo credit: Gary Denness

    Having an Open Coffee morning in Kilkenny has long been whispered and suggested amongst Kilkenny-heads. I spoke to a few people about it at PodCamp and the whispers appeared again before Christmas on Twitter.

    Over on IGOPeople.com, Keith has set up a Kilkenny Open Coffee Group where a few of us have agreed to a first meeting at the Kilkenny Cafe tomorrow (Wednesday) at 11:30am. You’ll find the Kilkenny Cafe located downstairs in Market Cross Shopping Centre and The Meeting Room is up at the back of the cafe. There’s plenty of tables, chairs, big seats, power points for laptops and free wifi as well.

    If you’re in the Kilkenny area, drop in, have a coffee, let’s see what happens.

  • Talking Mice On The Radio

    Seemingly, I’ll be heading over to the KCLR studio in a half hour (for an 11:40am slot) talking about mice. Not the run around and eat cheese kind but rather, the clicky kind.

    The mouse, as we all know it and love it in its various shapes and sizes has celebrated its 40th birthday and I’ve been roped into talking for a few minutes about its life to date.

    In case you didn’t know, the first computer mouse went public 40 years ago, back in 1968, demonstrated for the first time on December 9th at a conference in San Francisco. Xerox developed mice in the 70s before Apple acquired the license to manufacture mice in the 80s and things took off from there.

    When you look at the likes of the voice commands, the iPhone, the Wii, and other gesture-based devices, things have come a long way.

  • Following The Apprentice Final, Live

    I’ve found myself parked in front of the TV on a Monday night, working online, and happened upon The Apprentice, final. Admittedly I’ve only seen one or two weeks of the TV programming but there’s been a massive following on Twitter over the weeks.

    That following has landed me on Darren’s blog where you’ll find himself and a host of others in Le Cirk tonight live blogging The Apprentice final on TV.

    It’s a right flurry of activity over there…

  • Tuesday Push For DownloadMusic.ie

    DownloadMusic.ie

    It’s about time I offered up a post for the Tuesday Push and I’m happy to see my first one being for DownloadMusic.ie.

    With almost 900 artists on the books and close on 45,000 legal music downloads – which, by the way, contribute to standings in the Irish music charts – DownloadMusic.ie has become the place to be seen for independent Irish acts looking to make any kind of a name for themselves.

    I’ll admit, I’ve never purchased music from the site. However, I use the site from the other side, as an artist and promoter helping other acts to get online and start selling their music.

    While anyone can go online and purchase music via credit card or online payment, it’s nice to see DownloadMusic.ie give bands the chance to sell their music via text message. In a mobile-hungry country where mobile handset saturation exceeds 100% (I know myself I’ve got three active handsets on three different numbers with two spare handsets just in case), the service seems ideal. We are a texting nation. We’re possibly there-or-there abouts for phone calls, but we’re certainly there for texting.

    Texting is where it’s at for DownloadMusic.ie. Fans of the bands can send a short code to 57501 e.g. ‘music XYZ’. They’ll be charged just a Euro for the text with the revenue split between the operator, DownloadMusic.ie (DownloadMusic.ie don’t actually take any money, leaving more to the artist again), the bulk going to the band (yes, IMRO are in there too looking for their percentage if you’re IMRO registered). The result is a text link and password for a secure download area to grab your new track and in the process of doing so you’re helping a band move one step closer to inclusion in the national music charts.

    There’s no doubt that the majority of acts I work with through KilkennyMusic.com and under the One Take Sessions gig series have a presence on DownloadMusic.ie. Vesta Varro (were due in Kilkenny on Saturday), currently touring in support of new single ‘Believe’ are the featured artist on the DownloadMusic.ie homepage.

    Local favourites Saving J, Myp Et Jeep and The Fundamentals are there too. At the last One Take Sessions in Kilkenny, Carlow performer Joe Cleere made a great point of asking people to text his shortcode to the DownloadMusic.ie number (57501) to buy his new single ‘Queue’.

    CDs at gigs will shortly become a thing of the past. Further proof to this is the relase of DownloadMusic.ie’s first USB album (I was on the panel of judges asked to select the acts for inclusion), which is also registered for the Irish music charts and features the likes of Dirty Epics, Vesta Varro, Ro Tierney, Codes and more – €12.99 for a 1gb USB key with 15 tracks included isn’t a bad deal at all.

    But you can get so much more – browse artists, get gig listings, check out the DownloadMusic.ie blog and there’s also the future possibility of bands selling tickets for gigs, band merch and more.

    DownloadMusic.ie is an absolute credit to the independent Irish music scene and long may the service continue.

  • I Should Really Get Mobile Broadband

    I’ve noticed a change in my blogging trends of late. The free time that I wish to dedicate to blog posts finds me in areas where my connectivity is completely restricted. My work within the theatre has increased dramatically (no pun intended) over the last few weeks (I spent the last two weeks of June in preparation for and producing a run of ‘Trainspotting’ only to take last week off before starting pre-production this week on a new show for August) and the gig count is going up.

    I find myself with downtime in venues and restaurants where no laptops go, or where there’s no wifi signal to be found. That said, the Watergate Theatre were kind enough to allow me use of their connection to make the occasional tweet, check email etc.

    During the Trainspotting run I pulled out a piece of paper and marked all the dates for July on it noticing more Xs (away) than spaces (home) between evenings and weekends. August, not so bad.

    So now I look towards a mobile broadband solution. I’ve been tempted once again by O2 and their reduced offer for the summer months (€19.99p/m and a modem for €19.99). Having spoken with Bernie Goldbach and some O2 support people, the thoughts of running a 3G sim through an iPhone are quite tempting (my desire for an iPhone exists as a secondary phone to my N95 8GB though the 3G model has me very interested).

    Pat wonders why there is no interest in the 3G iPhone though I’ll agree that the price and dataplans are a pain in the arse. Is it possible to pick up a 3G iPhone away from O2 (I’m happy on my current contract, thanks) but fire a 3G datasim in there from the broadband dongle? If so, sign me up.

    When I find myself in Sligo (such as this weekend and at least 2 of the next 3 weekends), my options are limited around the lake but there are healthy signals 2-3 miles away which I don’t mind the short spin in the van for.

    I’ve recently added another musical promotion string to my bow so it would certainly make work life that bit easier.

    Perhaps I’m just trying to convince myself to go out and get it sorted. Lifehacker’s guide to sharing your internet connection from your iPhone to your MacBook Pro also has me wondering.

  • Biting The Bullet, Upgrading To N95 8GB

    8GB Nokia N95I’ve been waiting, and waiting, for the Nokia N95 8GB to hit O2. While Vodafone have recently announced the dramatic price drop in the N95 8GB model (moving to Vodafone could bag you for phone for under the €200 price mark), I’ve opted to stick with my mobile operator and take the N95 upgrade, available from today online.

    Of course, my local O2 shop knew about this but won’t have any phones in stock until the end of the week at the earliest. Carphone Warehouse didn’t actually know anything, their response being “It’s only available on Vodafone, you know that?” until directed to the O2 website. There doesn’t seem to be any physical stock available in Kilkenny, Waterford or Carlow (trying all the numbers listed on the O2 website, yes, I was willing to make an early morning Saturday spin 40 minutes and back in one direction or another) so I’ve taken the opportunity to upgrade the phone online, saving €30 in the process and picking up 300 free texts to match.

    When I caught wind of the phone in August I thought, excellent, there’s my Christmas present. When asked what the next gadget I would buy was I replied “Nokia N95 8GB” please.

    I learned a valuable lesson in the purchase of a sim free iPaq early in 2006 which didn’t last me six months so I’ve held off again and again in switching to a pricey mobile phone. However, in terms of productivity, further ability to work on the move, as well as tie in some terrific online resources (e.g. Qik) into activities outside of the office (thinking KilkennyMusic.com and The Devious Theatre Company), I feel I’ve made the right move.

    The next part of the plan is to pick up an O2 mobile broadband connection before the end of the month, allowing me a bit of freedom when I hit the road for Sligo or find myself driven in the direction of the studio (which doesn’t have any form of web connection) later in the year.

    While Carphone Warehouse couldn’t offer any assistance (I wouldn’t have bought the phone there anyway given the grief I had to put up with in 2005), the 3G store in Carlow (Meteor dealers) did tell me that Meteor are also bringing the handset to the market for April 21st / 22nd, something of interest to you Meteor contract holders looking for an upgrade in handset.

    Needless to say, I’m looking forward to the phone arriving in the post mid-week.

  • iQ Boot Camp On The Way

    iQ Content Boot CampThe annual iQ Content Boot Camp is on the way, taking place in the Radisson SAS Royal Hotel in Dublin from April 22nd to April 24th. Early bird registration passes today but if you’re working in the web industry in Ireland (or anywhere else for that matter) and you’re available to attend, it would be well worth considering given the variety of courses on offer.

    Here’s the lineup over the three days, with full details of each course available here.

    Tuesday 22nd April

    • Killer Web Applications
    • Web Analytics 101
    • Kick-start Your Web Strategy
    • Email Marketing
    • Writing For The Web 101
    • Practical User Testing
    • Search Engine Marketing 101

    Wednesday 23rd April

    • Writing For The Web 202
    • Personas – Getting In The Head Of Your Customers
    • Accessibility For Web Managers
    • Web Analytics 202
    • iQ FutureNow Seminar
    • Apres Boot (mid conference drinks)

    Thursday 24th April

    • Information Architecture That Works
    • Web Governance
    • Online Advertising
    • Content Strategy
    • Website Healthcheck
    • Web Project Management
    • Search Engine Marketing 202

    There are also free iQ Clinics running where you can make use of one-to-one sessions to answer any questions you may have regarding your own website.

    How much? You’re looking at three-day packages starting at €1,100, with tickets also available on a one day or two day basis. For pricing and registration details see here or phone Liz on +353 1 8170768.

  • Get Your Grill On With Open Coffee BBQ This Summer

    The Open Coffee collective is moving away from coffee and biscuits in a cosy hotel / coffee shop / business centre / technology centre for one day this summer and switching the biscuits out for burgers, sausages and everything BBQ’able.

    • Where: Terryglass, Tipperary (Lough Derg)
    • Why: Sure why not? An outdoor gathering of Open Coffee attendees, fans and anyone up for a lake-side networking session and chinwag, possibly under the watchful eye of the country’s All Ireland BBQ Champion!
    • When: This summer, but you have to vote for your preferred date between June and July.

    Whatever date it falls on will likely be midweek at some point in June or July which will mean you’ll need to free up some hours out of the office (should be no problem to regular Open Coffee attendees). Plus, word has the area will be that bit quieter midweek.

    I think I can safely say I’ve been to Terryglass on just one occasion, but wouldn’t mind going back for a feed and a meetup in the summer. Anyway, didn’t you know that fresh air is good for you?

    Evert has all the details here so click on to find out more.

  • Irish Microsoft Technology Conference Tomorrow

    The 2008 Irish Microsoft Technology Conference gets under way tomorrow April 2nd to Thursday April 4th. Kickoff is 7pm tomorrow (Wednesday) in the Cineworld Complex on Parnell Street.

    The IMTC 2008, is an 8 track, 40 session extravaganza covering a breadth of Microsoft’s latest emerging technologies. Throughout the festival there will be numerous networking opportunities, coffee and session re-runs.

    Now in its third year, the IMTC 2008 is the second of seven major technology conferences in IrishDev.coms IxTC Series 2008. Co-organised with the Irish Microsoft Technology User Group and First Port Jobs, it’s an event by the Irish technology community for the Irish technology community.

    The event delivers 40 Developer and IT-Professionals including LINQ, VS 2008, SBS 2008, Virtualisation, Business Intelligence in SQL 2008, SQL Server 2008, Sharepoint, Silverlight, WCF, Scrum, Volta, CSharp, Next generation Web Apps, XNA, BizTalk, XML Web Services, OCS, IIS for ASP.NET, Hyper-V and Windows Server 2008.

    Full information and details on how to book to attend

  • More From The Playlist Mix Podcast (And Podcasting)

    The 27th Playlist Mix podcast has gone live and it marks (at least technically) a full year since the launch of the podcast. Granted, after three shows I took the bones of five months away from the podcast to decide whether or not I would make a full run of it but having revived the podcast in October last, it has become a weekly habit of mine and I’m delighted I decided to press ahead.

    Such to the point that my 2008 diary (I keep a physical diary for the music / theatre side of life) is marked with podcast recording dates straight up to the end of December which should see the Playlist Mix having well passed the 50-show mark and the Sound System Podcast having passed the 70 or 80 show mark, that podcast too having gone weekly late last year.

    There is an element of ease at this point in recording a solo podcast, the gremlins instead tending to hold off until the Wednesday night when the Sound System Podcast records for KilkennyMusic.com (listeners to both podcast shows might realise).

    The transition from working in Adobe Audition to working in ProTools has been a slow one. The last two weekends away in Sligo have given me time to toy around with different recording setups, discover the ins and outs of the various plugins at my disposal, find out where things are hidden in the menus, learn off a few keyboard shortcuts, that kind of thing. But, I’m adapting.

    From a podcasting point of view I will say that I’m delighted with the purchase of the Mbox 2 (Factory bundle) from Digidesign. It’s a purchase I had been toying with for far too long but its sheer portability (lighter and more suited to a podcasting environment compared to the Digidesign 002 rack we used in the live environment) is worth the investment. It’s lightweight, fits in my laptop bag or backpack (depending on the setting), packs 2 XLR / line / DI inputs as well as phantom power for the condenser (which I must get back!). The fact that it’s powered via USB as well helps portability matters, meaning there’s room for high quality recordings wherever I wind up.

    Given the nature of the One Take Sessions and recordings for their respective podcasts it’s a certainty it will be travelling with me every three weeks to the venue (it will actually be there tonight as well as we welcome Bonnefires, John O’Hanlon, Nassau Royal and Joey Ryan to Kilkenny – Cleere’s Theatre tonight at 9:30pm).

    Anyway, check out PlaylistMix.com for this week’s podcast or see the links below to play / download.

    Playlist Mix Podcast #27 (Download @ 26mb)
    [audio:http://www.playlistmix.com/podpress_trac/web/62/0/podcast027.mp3]

  • Delighted The Internet Has An Off Switch

    In comments on my post prior to the weekend, Bernie Goldbach suggests that

    you have to shut off the warbles, the beeps, the bubble-ups, and the vibrating text alerts at least once every three months.

    To certify this, Pavlos adds

    Isn’t it great when we find ourselves in places and situations where the absence of technology goes by unnoticed?

    Such was the case for the weekend. Granted, there was no complete absence of technology – I did bring my laptop and Mbox in order to process some tracks from the One Take Sessions (two weeks ago this Thursday) and I did watch a few episodes of Seinfeld on DVD – but I did marvel in the ability to disconnect.

    There is no land line in the house in Sligo. There is no land line for a reason. There is no satellite TV, pipe TV, cable TV or antenna capable of picking up a TV signal again all for a reason. I took joy in leaving my mobile phone in a corner of the house where the only useful function I could get from it is to tell the time.

    The result?

    A great weekend.

    Kayaking across an open lake in high winds, walking mountain roads at 7am, tucking into a bag of chips at the Aclare St. Patrick’s Day Parade (which far surpasses the quality of the Kilkenny parade, at least from what I can remember of it anyway), enjoying quality pints in the local and all without a care for what’s happening in the online world.

    Given I spend way too much time “connected” as it is, it’s a great escape to shut off for a few days and I’d advocate it to anyone – throw yourself into the outdoors for a weekend and forget about everything else, just for a little while anyway.