Category: Community Interest

Community Interest

Lisbon Treaty exit poll

I voted in the Lisbon Treaty this morning. Probably my last time voting in this country (as I am moving to Spain next week!).

I’m curious, if I run a poll here and enough people respond truthfully, we should get an accurate exit poll!

So, if you voted in the Lisbon Treaty, how did you vote?

How did you vote in the Lisbon Treaty?
( surveys)

[Update] Apologies, I accidentally closed the poll earlier when trying to make it legible in IE6!!!

Open again now.

[Disclaimer – obviously this is totally unscientific but it will be fun to compare the answer here with the final answer tomorrow]

Community Interest

Fast food lies

I saw fellow CIX director Adam Beecher’s post on fast food, the ads and the reality last night and it reminded me that I had taken similar photos in Supermacs Hueston Station, a couple of months back and never uploaded them.

I dug them out and uploaded them – big difference between the promise and what is delivered, isn’t there?

The promiseThe reality

This always reminds me of the Michael Douglas character in the movie Falling Down!

Shouldn’t they be done for false advertising?

Community Interest

Pedophile caught after Interpol published his photo

I posted a photo of a pedophile last week which Interpol had released to try to solicit help in capturing him.

A week later and I was delighted to see that the Guardian is reporting that he was caught in a remote part of Thailand after fleeing there to hide when the photos were released.

Pedophile caught

His name is Christopher Neil. He is Canadian and before posting his photo on the Internet police had been trying to identify and catch him for three years.

Community Interest

Help Interpol catch this pedophile

Interpol want help to catch this pedophile.

pedophile unscrambled

Interpol came across images of this guy abusing young boys in South East Asia. His face was digitally disguised but Interpol was able to unscramble some of the photos and they have posted them on their site.

Interpol’s request is,

Anyone with information on his identity or whereabouts should contact their local police or INTERPOL’s Trafficking in Human Beings Unit via email.

Community Interest

Business women – get your training here!

I received an email this morning from Margaret Durand of FEIW (Female Entrepreneurship Ireland Wales).

Feiw are currently setting up

a pioneering enterprise development course for women in business in the South East. We have designed the programme around the training needs of businesswomen in the region based on the input of these women and the programme is the first of its kind in Ireland. We are currently recruiting for the next intake of participants and are trying to reach a new audience of businesswomen including those working in the technology and ICT sector.

If you are interested in this course you can download the application form from the FEIW website. A parallel course is running in Wales at the same time, so if you are based there, or know someone who is, and could benefit from this course head on over to the FEIW website for more info.

Community Interest

Charity gig in the Spailpín Fánach

Donal has a post up about a gig in the Spailpín Fánach tonight to benefit the ISPCC. From Donal’s post:

Performers on the night include The Fuchsia Band, back from their travels and who always put on an energetic and entertaining show; Cork singer Ger Wolfe singing some of his distinctively Cork ballads; Dan O’Callaghan, a piper from Cork who has travelled around the world playing music; Tommie Cunniffe on accordion, who is currently recording his debut album; and, last but not least, John Mitchell on flute accompanying Donal O Caoimh on the uilleann pipes.

So, if you are based in or around Cork and can spare some time for some great music, drop along to the Spailpín Fánach. The doors open at 8:30pm.

Community Interest, Technology

Simon says

The Irish national elections are coming up sometime in the next twelve months (note to self – check I’m on the register since we moved!).

By 2007 the current coalition government will have been in government for 17 of the last 20 years. Simon McGarr has written an empassioned post listing some of their many failures and calling for change in Ireland.

It kind of reminds me of Sidney Lumet’s movie Network and Peter Finch’s character, news anchor Howard Beale imploring his viewers:

You’ve got to say, ‘I’m a HUMAN BEING, Goddamnit! My life has VALUE!’ So I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell, ‘I’M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!’

I want you to get up right now, sit up, go to your windows, open them and stick your head out and yell – ‘I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!’ Things have got to change. But first, you’ve gotta get mad!… You’ve got to say, ‘I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!’ Then we’ll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis. But first get up out of your chairs, open the window, stick your head out, and yell, and say it:

[screaming at the top of his lungs] “I’M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!”

Well, possibly Simon wasn’t quite that impassioned, but then again maybe he should have been!

Blogging, Community Interest, Podcast, Technology

Everything you blog is false!

Today’s podcast is an interview I did with TJ McIntyre – TJ is Chairman of Digital Rights Ireland, and is a lecturer in Law in UCD.

The interview was fascinating, and should be compulsory listening for any Irish blogger. TJ informed me that everything published on a blog is automatically considered defamatory in the eyes of the law, if reported as such (guilty until proven innocent anyone?), until the blogger can satisfactorily prove to a jury that it is indeed true!

TJ also spoke about how copying music from legally purchased CDs is against the law, the pointlessness of national ID cards in terms of national security, and the governments position on data retention.

See below a list of the questions I asked TJ and the times in the interview that I asked them:

  • What is DRI – what is its raison d’etre? – 0:21
  • Why is there such a difference between our rights in the offline and online world? – 0:56
  • What sparked you to start this up Digital Rights Ireland? – 1:36
  • Digital Rights Ireland isn’t formally launched yet? 2:18
  • Who do you represent/speaking on behalf of? – 2:39
  • If you copy songs from legally purchased CDs onto your iPod or mp3 player, are you breaking the law? – 4:03
  • In terms of blogging and podcasting, where do you see DRI fitting in? – 5:58
  • What’s the function of the Press Council going to be? – 7:06
  • As a blogger, who do I need protection from? – 7:35
  • If I make a post about XYZ co. claiming dodgy practices on their behalf, what is the mechanism of action? – 9:17
  • So, they can either try to drag you to court or they can take your site offline? – 10:25
  • Of course, if you have a backup, you can get your site up on another host…? – 12:35
  • Could you just get a summons without a cease and desist? – 13:29
  • If you get a summons, can you put your hands up at that point? – 14:14
  • And it doesn’t matter that what you wrote is true? – 14:29
  • So, even if you have copied the article from a reputable news source, they will go after you because you are the ‘low hanging fruit’? – 15:16
  • In a defamation case, if it goes your way, are the costs always awarded against you? – 16:01
  • Is free legal aid available to bloggers? – 17:06
  • Is there such a thing as anti-defamation insurance? – 17:53
  • It seems that in defamation cases it is the person with the bigger resources who calls the tune… – 19:08
  • Why is that? – 20:14
  • Why are defamation cases heard by jury? – 21:09
  • Why isn’t it the case that the plaintiff must prove that they have been defamed? 21:59
  • I assume this is the same for podcasting also? – 23:26
  • Does DRI have a position on the passing of data by EU airlines to the US government? – 24:30
  • In three years time the government will know where I was today even if I can’t remember because of mobile phone data retention laws? – 26:05
  • So, call centre operatives for mobile operators will have access to three years of my data? – 28:53
  • Do DRI have a position on biometric passports? – 29:21
  • Is it a valid argument that national ID cards give greater security? – 30:28
  • Why do governments want to introduce compulsory ID cards then? – 32:02
  • What other things are coming down the line that we should be aware of? – 33:30
  • When is the launch of Digital Rights Ireland? – 36:09
  • Whats the website of Digital Rights Ireland? – 36:29

You can download the full interview here 8.4mb mp3.