Monday, December 22, 2008

Blogger turned author wins global cook book award

A Kerry-based blogger who runs an ice-cream shop in Dingle and Killarney, and whose blogging exploits led to a book deal, has just won the Gourmet Cook Book of the Year Award at the Gourmand World Cook Book Awards.
Kieran Murphy, director of Killarney and Dingle-based Murphy’s Ice Cream, started a blog that not only won the Best Business Blog at the 2008 Irish Blog Awards, but landed a book deal with Mercier Press for Murphy’s Ice Cream Book of Sweet Things, which is choc-full of new ice-cream and dessert recipes. Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

First look: IGOpeople

Brand new Ireland-based social-networking site IGOpeople officially opened its shiny new beta doors to the public today, and straightaway you can throw out the comparisons to Bebo, Facebook or MySpace because it has a slightly different mission – to be a ‘network for the real world’.
So how exactly do you go about being a real-world network? Well, the IGO stands for individuals, groups and organisations, which each get their own category on the site, but can cross over. So if you join as an individual, you can also become part of special-interest groups where you share information with others, and you can also contact the official firms through the organisations part of the network...Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Major security flaw in Internet Explorer

Microsoft has warned users of Internet Explorer (IE) 7 that hackers have been attacking a vulnerability in the current version of the web browser that, in a worst-case scenario, could potentially lead to remote takeover of their computer – and the threat is rising rapidly.
Basically, a vulnerability in the browser has left it, according to Microsoft, ‘exploitable’, while the older IE 6 and Beta 2 version of IE 8 are also potentially vulnerable. On Microsoft’s Threat Research & Response blog, authors Ziv Mador and Tareq Saade said that “a significant number of users have been affected” by the vulnerability... Read More

Friday, December 19, 2008

Sheachtain na Gaeilge 08

Bhronn Leas-Mhéara Chomhairle Contae Átha Cliath Theas, Guss O’Connell, duaiseanna dhá chomórtas scoile, a seoladh le linn Sheachtain na Gaeilge 2008, Dé hAoine seo caite an 12 Nollag. Comórtas scríofa a bhí ann do dhaltaí Meánscoile agus comórtas póstaeir do dhaltaí Bunscoile, an dhá cheann faoi stair meánaoiseach an chontae/na tíre. Bhuaigh Dominic Berkeley ó Scoil Ospidéal an Rí, Baile Phámar, an chéad duais do dhaltaí Meánscoile agus bhuaigh Shane Dolan, ó Scoil Shantáin, Tamhlacht, an chéad duais do dhaltaí Bunscoile. Luach €1000 de bhogearraí nó crua-earraí don scoil a bhuaigh an bheirt acu. Chuir an Tionscnamh Nascadh, de chuid Comhairle Contae Átha Cliath Theas na duaiseanna ar fáil do na scoileanna. Read More


Courtesy: Oifigeach Gaeilge Cúnta Comhairle Contae Bhaile Átha Cliath Theas

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Cyber Scams At All-Time High

Cyber criminals are targeting online consumers amid a growing climate of fear and anxiety due to the credit crunch, new research shows.
The findings, in McAfee's Virtual Criminology report, also suggest the Government is not doing enough to fight cyber crime.
Professor Lilian Edwards, one of the report's authors, told Sky News Online that consumers are "very vulnerable".
An internet law expert at the University of Sheffield, she explained confusion over banking and credit arrangements has made unsuspecting shoppers a ripe target. Read More

Courtesy: Sky News

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Conference seeks to end European digital divide

Minister for the Information Society, Seán Power, has met with counterparts from other EU nations at an e-inclusion Conference in Vienna.
The purpose of the conference was to report on the progress being made towards reaching the Information Society Declaration signed at Riga in 2006 and to share ideas and information for the development of an e-inclusive society across Europe.
E-inclusion is the use of technology to ensure that no one in society, regardless of demographics, age or skill set is excluded from the benefits information and communication technology has to offer.To this end, a number of issues were examined at the conference including accessibility, information society and older people, digital literacy for life, investment in e-inclusion and next generation broadband. Read More

Courtesy: RTE

Tallaght Christmas Sparkle


From the 13th December, Tallaght will sparkle with a spectacular projection of local children’s images on the walls of the County Library daily from 4.30pm and a Magical Carousel running until Wednesday 24th December in Library Square
Workshops take place in the new County Library Tallaght on all things Christmas from making angels to flower arranging.
Click here for more information.

http://www.sdublincoco.ie/images/corporate/a5%20%20flyer%20(4)03122008.pdf

Irish firms are suckers for cybercrime and punishment

One in four Irish organisations were victims of external hacking attempts last year, a new survey shows.
One in four Irish organisations were victims of external hacking attempts last year, a new survey shows.
The findings show cybercrime is a serious problem for many Irish businesses, according to Owen O’Connor, vice-president of the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) and author of the survey.
The second Irish Cybercrime Survey was conducted jointly by the ISSA’s Irish chapter and University College Dublin’s Centre for Cybercrime Investigation, and gathered information based on data for 2007.
Three out of 10 companies suffered denial of service (DoS) attacks last year, and 25pc said their systems or networks had an unauthorised intrusion by an external party. O’Connor says this is an alarming statistic. Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Future media moguls can now monetise their own TV and video content

A Limerick-headquartered technology firm that allows users to create their own TV channels has developed a new advertising programme that will turn these users into future media moguls.
WorldTV, which has over 750,000 users in 190 countries, is a next-generation online video service that lets users create full-screen, TV-like channels online.
A user can integrate webcam footage, live mobile phone video and favoured clips from online video sites. A web-based editor allows the channel owner to organise their video content and publish it on blogs, websites and social networks.
The new system introduces advertisements alongside the channels and enables the channel owner to share in 50pc of the advertising revenue the channel generates. Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Entrepreneur cracks micro-payments for an enlightened age of giving

Micro-philanthropy could give real meaning to ‘social’ networking revolution.
In the next few weeks, CEOs of Irish businesses will receive a little card that will enable them to donate €5 to any cause of their choice, locally and globally. What they don’t realise just yet is this colourful little card could open a whole new dimension in terms of social networking, micro-philanthropy and empathy marketing, but also enabling that instant online payments of all sizes get to the charities and non-profits that need them most.
On a cold Friday night in Dublin, one of Ireland’s most accomplished tech entrepreneurs, Peter Conlon, surveys boxes of these cards piled in the corner of his office. He expresses his conviction that he has embarked on his most important start-up yet – one that has some of the world’s biggest brands and household names in technology taking note.
His social-networking site Ammado.com aims to harness the energy that the social-networking revolution – currently dominated by players Facebook, Bebo and MySpace – has brought about, and channel that energy into good causes worldwide. Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Green energy – how electricity 2.0 will be bigger than Web 2.0

As the ghost of the Celtic tiger haunts half-filled housing estates in mid-west towns, it’s time for forward thinkers to embrace Ireland’s future economic edge: green energy.
You could be forgiven for thinking that the technology industry today is all about smart phones and Web 2.0. But the smartest minds in Silicon Valley have their eyes and wallets on a bigger prize, and it’s a century-old resource called electricity.
Tech firms from Google to Microsoft and IBM realise that smart energy usage from homes to cars that can manage their own use of electricity and fuel, and even sell surplus electricity back to the power companies, will bring about a technological revolution that could eclipse even the internet. Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Official Lighting of the Christmas Tree, Civic Square, County Hall Tallaght

Official Lighting of the Christmas Tree, Civic Square, County Hall Tallaght 4pm-6pm Saturday 6th December.
Mayor Marie Corr on behalf of the Members of South Dublin County Council will officially switch on the Christmas lights in Civic Square, County Hall Tallaght on Saturday 6th December at 4pm. It is expected that this event will attract residents and families in the County and offer a little respite and fun in the run-up to the festive season. The theme selected by Mayor Marie Corr for this years ceremony is inclusiveness and is particularly aimed at children and the fun that is Christmas. Local choirs will perform carols and provide musical entertainment along with face painters, stilt walkers, story tellers and dancers. Light refreshments will be provided in the County Library and Santa will take some time from his very busy schedule to stop and say hello. Mayor Marie Corr said this event is aimed at bringing all members of the community together in the new civic space created by the recently extended County Library, the New County Arts Centre and Library Square and added I encourage people to take the opportunity to come along on the day with their families and friends and to be part of the fun and celebrations in South Dublin County.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Schoolbots challenge students to improve IT skills

Student participation in computer games programming can help boost interest in mathematics and should be used to help reinvigorate the subject at second level, an information communication technology programme specialist has stated.
Announcing a major computer games competition, Schoolbots, for transition year students, Dr Liam Noonan from Tipperary Institute's ICT department explained how computer game programming can illustrate the implementation of key mathematical concepts in a host of real-life applications. Taking theory from the text book and translating it into a tangible project not only makes the subject more interesting, it is also proven to improve results in the subject. Read More

Courtesy: RTE

Friday, November 21, 2008

Review of existing Development Plan 2004-2010 and Preparation of new County Development Plan 2010-2016

You are invited to attend any of the public consultation evenings that have been arranged by South Dublin County Council as part of the pre-draft Development Plan consultation. These will be held as follows;

Public Consultation:

26/11/08
Lucan Library
7.30-9.00 p.m.

27/11/08
County Library, Tallaght Town Centre
7.30-9.00 p.m.

From the 4th November 2008 South Dublin County Council began the process of reviewing the County Development Plan 2004-2010 and preparing a new County Development Plan for the period of 2010-2016. An integral part of the success of any plan is consultation and consensus.

For more information you can email devplan@sdublincoco.ie or go to www.southdublin.ie

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Election 2.0

THE OBAMA campaign made the most of a range of so-called Web 2.0 social networking technologies that are particularly popular with the 20- and 30-year-olds who were some of the president-elect's initial, ardent supporters.
The Obama website, created by personal profile site Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, was considered a showcase and a model for using such technologies, but internet and mobile users connected to the campaign off-site as well. Read More

Courtesy: Irish Times

Online presents new challenge for market research

Online research panels and social communities were firmly on the agenda at the ESOMAR Panel Research 2008 conference, which was held recently in Dublin, and was attended by more than 200 delegates from 30 countries.
The whole future direction of panels was questioned, with the programme committee chair, Niels Schillewaert (pictured), of the opinion that classic access panels are currently overheated. “Opportunities lie in the evolution towards a combination of high-quality, dedicated (eg branded, in-house) panels, and sourcing new platforms that rely and embed the web’s newest semantic developments (eg social media),” he said. “The future of the market research industry needs to embrace collaboration and connections between end-users, agencies and participants.” Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Friday, November 14, 2008

Magnet launches full broadcast TV station with on-demand capabilities

Broadband and TV provider Magnet Entertainment has joined forces with TV production company Intermission Studio to launch the first youth-oriented TV channel in Ireland that will combine TV with fibre and broadband-based video-on-demand downloads.
The new channel Magnet Infinity TV (MiTV) will air on channel 100 on the Magnet fibre TV service, but will also be available online on www.mitv.ie.
The new service follows the launch in recent months of Magnet’s PCTV service. Magnet chief executive Mark Kellett said the new station will feature on-demand content and a range of shows that include specialist music, movies and entertainment.
He said the move is in response to the growing prominence of sites like Bebo, YouTube and Facebook, which are capturing the drift of young audiences away from traditional TVs to watching content on their PCs and laptops.Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Science Week Ireland 2008 looms large

Over 90,000 people are expected to attend events across the country during Science Week Ireland 2008, which starts on Sunday, 9 November and runs until the following Sunday.
Science Week Ireland is organised by Discover Science & Engineering, the Government's programme for science awareness and promotion.
Over 450 events are planned across the country during the week with over 18,000 visitors expected to visit science exhibits and workshops in Galway alone while in Cork over 5,000 people are expected to visit the Discovery 2008 event at Cork City Hall. Read More

Courtesy: RTE News

Keep up with the Teenagers!

For more information Click here

Courtesy: SDCC Library

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Excellence in Local Government Award 2008 for South Dublin County Council

South Dublin County Council won the Excellence in Local Government Award 2008 in the Technology Sector at the awards sponsored by Chambers Ireland on November 6th. The Council were nominated by South Dublin Chamber for the Virtual Learning Environment – Connect Schools programme at St Aidan’s Community School, Tallaght for bringing the benefits of Information Technology to students and staff.
The Minister John Gormley, T.D. and David Pierce, President Chambers Ireland presented the Deputy Mayor Guss O Connell with the award. "I am delighted to accept this award on behalf of South Dublin County Council and St Aidan’s Community School. The Connect School project is a wonderful initiative and a new way of working. Technology is the key to the future and it is great that the students in St Aidan’s are getting the opportunity to work in this way" said the Deputy Mayor.
The Virtual Learning Environment is an online resource designed to support teaching and learning. This technology is a tool that the Teachers use to focus Students and deliver material in new ways.
The Connect School, St Aidan’s Community School, is developing student-centred technology through an innovative learning culture in order to improve school attendance, participation in class and educational outcomes for the students.
South Dublin County Council is the primary sponsor of the project and the Connect School Partners include St Aidan’s Community School, The Department of Education and Science, The Institute of Technology Tallaght, The Dublin West Education Centre and the National Centre for Technology in Education.
South Dublin County Council was short listed in the following categories:-
Environment initiative – Bring Bank surveillance system
Outstanding Customer Service – County Library, Tallaght RFID system

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Moving services online could save Irish Government millions

The recent medical card debacle could easily have been avoided if the Irish Government had moved more services online in order to save money.

Courtesy: www.siliconrepublic.com

Irish Government in major US jobs drive

Ireland’s Tánaiste, and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mary Coughlan TD, is on a whistle-stop tour of the US, aiming to encourage more American technology, pharma and financial firms to invest in Ireland.
Some 480 US firms already employ almost 100,000 people in various sectors in Ireland, with a further 220,000 people indirectly employed by these firms.
Minister Coughlan’s visit to the US, where she will meet the heads of top US ICT, medical devices, pharmaceutical and financial services firms, comes following news today that the Marriott hotel chain is to create 220 jobs at a new hi-tech call centre that will handle more than 1.5 million calls by the end of 2009.

Courtesy: www.siliconrepublic.com

Is free internet TV over broadband the next big thing?

Sick of hearing broadband providers harp on about speeds and contention ratios? Magnet chief executive, Mark Kellett, has said providers should offer something different and, true to his word, today the company introduced free, live IPTV to PCs on 10Mbps and 24Mbps connections.
Magnet has created a basic free package of five TV channels including RTÉ, RTÉ2, TV3, TG4 and Bubble Hits. The package includes 12 free radio stations that will come as part of a choice of broadband and phone packages starting at €29.99.
Magnet said it intends to broaden the offering by including additional bundles of channels, such as those provided by Virgin and Dave, for an additional subscription fee.

Courtesy: www.siliconrepublic.com

Thursday, October 30, 2008

IIA Net Visionary Awards 2008

Connect iWalks has been nominated for an IIA award in the e-Government section.

The IIA & Enterprise Ireland Net Visionary Awards 2008 are bigger and better than ever before. This year we have introduced 3 new categories reflecting the prolific business use of the Internet in Ireland. These new categories are Best Online Exporter, Best Online Business Use of Irish and Best Use of Social Media.
The Net Visionary Awards are unique as they are run and voted on by the internet industry in Ireland. The Awards evening remains one of the best in Ireland - the perfect occasion to meet your Internet profession peers. Read More

Courtesy: http://www.iia.ie/

Internet voting starts for US citizens

The first Internet votes in US history were cast last Friday (24 October) in an experiment to judge the effectiveness of the system.
Soldiers in Mildenhall in England, Ramstein in Germany and Kadena in Japan will have a chance to cast their ballots online in a test conducted as part of the Okaloosa Distance Balloting Pilot (ODBP) in Florida.
"The ODBP project will establish a secure and scalable distance balloting environment for approximately 600 self-selecting overseas voters," said ODBP organisers. Read More

Courtesy: RTE

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Launch Of NOISE website for South Dublin Countys Creative Young People ages 13 to 25

Mayor Marie Corr, members of South Dublin County Council and the Youth Arts community will celebrate the launch of NOISE South Dublin, a website dedicated to creative young people in the area from ages 13 to 25.NOISE South Dublin (www.noisesouthdublin.com) is a site that showcases and celebrates the creative work of young people. It also serves as a central point of information on opportunities for young people to participate in creative activities, workshops, exhibitions and gigs both in and outside the County.
Finally, it is the home of an active NOISE Community of members who participate in creative projects actually on the space of the website. These projects are developed by international, national, and local artists exclusively for NOISE. Read More

Courtesy: SDCC Website

Intel conference address Ireland's economic future

HOW CAN the European Union - and Ireland - remain competitive in research, innovation and high value manufacturing?
A broad panel at Intel's recent European Research and Innovation conference at their Irish headquarters in Leixliip gamely tackled those issues.
First up was Intel's Irish managing director, Jim O'Hara, who considered Ireland's position.
He recalled that "Intel chose Ireland for a number of reasons" including its pro-business policies, its workforce, EU membership, that it was an English speaking country and "it was a low cost location, in those days".
What's changed, he said, is that because of our own success we've lost our cost advantage.
This is something that can be addressed by reaching for "a higher level of capability", he said, and one of Ireland's advantages may well be its small size and flexibility. Read More

Courtesy: Irish Times

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Ireland needs to be better than average when it comes to broadband

While Ireland has moved from just 5pc to 60pc of households with broadband connections, which places us above the OECD average, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resource, Eamon Ryan TD, yesterday told the telecoms industry that it needs to do better.
Minister Ryan , who was addressing yesterday’s annual Telecommunications and Internet Federation (TIF) Annual Conference in Dublin Caste, said the Government recognised the contribution of the technology industry to the country’s GDP today and going forward, and that supporting the growth of the knowledge economy is vital.
“Positioning Ireland as a knowledge economy is not just talk; it is backed up by investment in R&D,” he said, referring to the Government’s Budget decision to increase the R&D tax credit from 20pc to 25pc.
“That R&D in this fast-changing industrial world will determine where new companies locate and new jobs are created. Read More

Irish digital-marketing firm scoops global award

Dublin-based digital-marketing firm Cybercom walked away on Monday night with the prestigious title of Best Digital Communications Campaign from the global marketing communications awards, the 2008 MAA Globes, in Toronto for its ‘Never Give Up’ ad campaign.
Cybercom, sponsor of the Best eCommerce/Services Website at this year’s inaugural Irish Web Awards, designed the winning digital campaign for Powerade, which included a viral video campaign with a personalised pep talk from Munster rugby player Paul O’Connell. Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Monday, October 20, 2008

Social Inclusion Competition for 2nd Level Schools

This competition is open to all students in Leaving Certificate Applied, Transition Year and 3rd Year Civic, Social and Political Education who are attending schools in the South Dublin County Council administrative area. For further information Click here

Courtesy: SDCC

PollDaddy acquired by Automattic

Sligo Web-application company PollDaddy has been acquired by Automattic for an undisclosed amount. Based in the US, Automattic is best known for operating WordPress, the world's most widely used blogging platform.
Writing on their company blog, PollDaddy founders Eoin Gallagher and David Lenehan said: "We have been working closely with the Automattic team for the past few months on building better integration with WordPress and, in the end, it just seemed like the perfect fit for us to join them."Read More

Courtesy: RTE

Amulet finds its voice with remote control that listens

DUBLIN TECHNOLOGY start-up Amulet Devices has been shortlisted as one of 15 international finalists for the inaugural i-stage awards from the influential Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).
The CEA is the organisation behind the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Las Vegas every January, where new products for the year are showcased. Amulet has been recognised for its voice-enabled remote control which allows digital media to be controlled using spoken commands, such as "play artist U2". Founded in late 2007, Amulet displayed a proof-of-concept at a consumer show in Ireland that year and following a year of development will be introduced to the US market over the next six months. Read More

Courtesy: Irish Times

Thursday, October 16, 2008

YouTube to sell music and games while Google gets ready to play

Google is planning to enter the casual video gaming market, while subsidiary YouTube has revealed plans to sell music, films and games online through alliances with Amazon.com and Apple’s iTunes store.
This morning, in what may be one of the most strategic moves out of the Googleplex this year, Google has updated its AdSense advertising platform to incorporate the massive market for online casual gaming, a move that no doubt will feed into mobile too.
It said that over 25pc of internet users worldwide play online games, which amounts to over 200 million people. Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Irish online shoppers cautious due to downturn

THE ECONOMIC downturn has hit Irish online shoppers, with a new report finding a reduction in the products and services bought online since 2007.
The Net Behaviour Report found that luxury items were hit the hardest, with purchases of flights, videos and DVDs falling by 5 per cent since last year.
Hotel bookings slipped 7 per cent, the survey found, compared to a 2 per cent fall overall in online shopping. Read More

Courtesy: Irish Times

Companies fail to exploit IT, says survey

IRISH COMPANIES are failing to capitalise on the potential of IT to bring innovation and improvements to their business and increase revenue, a new survey has shown.
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers' IT Technology Value survey, IT is still being viewed as a means of cost reduction, rather than a way to boost revenue.
Sixty-eight per cent of chief financial officers (CFOs) who took part in the survey said they had experienced no increase in the revenues of their organisation in 2007 that could have been attributed to IT. Read More

Courtesy: Irish Times

Thursday, October 9, 2008

New improved "Pay as you Go" Bin Charge System

What do you have to do?
Register your bin
· All waste collection customers in the listed estates will receive a letter containing a label
· Attach label to your black bin underneath the handle - see diagram

Put your bin out for registration on your usual bin collection day on week commencing 22nd and 29th September and leave it out until 5pm. Read More

Courtesy: Environment South Dublin

Reader's Day 2008

Reader's Day 2008: Saturday 8th November at the Tower Hotel Tallaght.

This year, our annual Reader's Day will take place in the Shannon Suite, Tower Hotel, Tallaght on Saturday 8th November. As always, the event will be hosted by eminent Irish author Dermot Bolger. Guests will include Patricia Scanlan, John Minihan, Claire Kilroy, Brian Keenan, Glenn Patterson and John Boyne. So another great line-up this year - not to be missed! Read More

Courtesy: South Dublin Libraries

Dublin Community Games 2009

Dublin Community Games are looking for new groups and volunteers from the South Dublin area to take part in Sport and Cultural activities of the Community Games 2009 If you are interested please contact Niamh Murphy 086 3188727 for further information. Read More

Courtesy: SDCC

A time and a place name for everything

DESPITE ONLY launching officially on Wednesday, www.Logainm.ie, an online database of close to 100,000 Irish place names, logged 260,000 page views and 30,000 searches in September, without advance publicity.

The website is aimed at students, teachers, journalists, translators and researchers, who need what the site calls the "authoritative" Irish form of place names.

Developed by Fiontar, Dublin City University's Irish-medium teaching and research unit, the project was carried out on behalf of the Place Names Branch of the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. Read More

Courtesy: Irish Times

Monday, September 29, 2008

Community Alive

Community Alive takes place in the County Library, Tallaght from 1st-4th October. There are a series of events with helpful information and practical workshops on how to get involved in your Community.
The event is free and open to everyone in the Community.


Community Alive from Wayne Gaffney on Vimeo.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

I swear to blog! Bloggers are now mainstream

The activity of blogging is now considered a mainstream activity and is here to stay, said Technorati in its annual State of the Blogosphere report, with some one million posts a day going online.
Technorati said that not only are blogs hitting the mainstream with 184 million blogs worldwide and some 346 million readers, but 95pc of the top 100 newspapers in the US have reporter blogs.
The 2008 report surveyed more than 1.2 million bloggers who have registered with the Technorati index, and found that the lines between what is a blog and what is a mainstream media site are becoming less clear. Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Big blow as LHC knocked out of action for a year

Instead of recreating a Big Bang, scientists the globe over who were anticipating a new era in scientific discovery instead got a Big Blow yesterday, when it emerged CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will be out of action until next year.
Last week it emerged that a 30-tonne power transformer which helps run the massive LHC at CERN on the French-Swiss border malfunctioned, affecting the cooling system on the world’s largest scientific experiment. Further complications arose when a helium leak was discovered. Subsequent investigations into sector 3-4 of the 27km tunnel have indicated that the most likely cause of the incident was a faulty electrical connection between two of the accelerator’s magnets. Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Community Alive Week 1st - 4th October

Community Alive takes place in the County Library, Tallaght from 1st-4th October. There are a series of events with helpful information and practical workshops on how to get involved in your Community.
The event is free and open to everyone in the Community. Read More

Thursday, September 18, 2008

YouTube Bans Videos Of Weapons

Video-sharing site YouTube has changed its UK policy to exclude videos which show weapons being used to intimidate people. The move, which does not affect the rest of the world, comes amid growing concern about knife and gun crime in the UK.
YouTube has certain guidelines which are used to vet videos appearing on the site.
White material cannot be vetted as it goes up, the company checks any video which is reported to it to see if it contravenes guidelines.
The change will not be retrospective, meaning that YouTube in the UK is not currently clear of videos showing intimidatory violence, as if they had been reported previously they would not have gone against YouTube policy. Read More

Courtesy: Sky News

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

You're on a loser with Irish websites

Further evidence of how Irish customers are being fleeced comes from another reader's experience of renting a car at Holyhead. "Despite their advertised sales prices (which never seem to meet their promises), fares for ferries between Ireland and Britain are ridiculously high (compare them to the fares between Britain and France or Holland), and for a short trip (or even a longer trip) it makes no sense to take the car," she writes. "So we went as foot passengers and rented a car."
The only rental company with an office in Holyhead terminal is Hertz, she says, "but beware of booking through Hertz's Irish site - I was quoted a staggering €278 on www.hertz.ie, while for the exact same rental of their basic economy car, for the same period of five days, with the same pick-up and drop-off points, the Hertz.co.uk site quoted £118, which worked out at about €149." Read More

Courtesy: Irish Times

Hewlett Packard to cut up to 25,000 jobs

Hewlett Packard has announced it is cutting 24,600 jobs worldwide over the next three years.
This is about 7.5% of the company's global workforce.
The company employs around 4,000 people in Ireland, with staff in Leixlip, Dublin, Galway and Belfast.
A spokeswoman for HP Ireland said it has no knowledge of how many, if any, jobs will go in Ireland as a result of the global cuts. Read More

Courtesy: RTE

Google is planning profound changes to advertising model

Google is understood to be planning major changes in how it delivers advertising, including alterations to its AdWords system, and also developing mobile ads customised to location and preference. New research suggests that advertising in the social media landscape could hit US$7.3bn in 2013.
As Google celebrates its 10th anniversary this month, the company’s search business encapsulates hundreds of thousands of advertisers with millions of products and services.
A crucial aspect of this is the company’s AdWords business, which endeavours to ensure correct ad placement according to keywords following a Google search, so that ads are delivered to the right audience in a timely and measurable way. Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Mad scientists plan an even bigger bang with a bigger Collider

If you thought the kerfuffle over the switching on of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) this week and the threat of an Earth-sucking black hole was bad, then think again because scientists are planning an even bigger particle-smashing machine some 40 to 50 times larger.
The LHC at CERN has only just kicked into action and the large-scale experiments which a certain group of scientists fear could bring about the word’s demise will take place over the coming weeks and months.
But results-hungry scientists don’t intend to stop there and are planning a massive particle collider called the International Linear Collider that will make the LHC seem like a child’s toy. Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Google’s Blogger ‘follows’ Twitter’s lead

They say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery and messaging site Twitter must be very flattered since search giant Google has decided to add a ‘follower’ mode to its Blogger blogging tool.
The search company has introduced a new gadget that allows readers to follow their favourite blogs.
To follow a blog with the Followers’ Gadget on Blogger, users click the ‘Follow This Blog’ link. They can also show support for the blog by following it right from their Blogger Dashboard or in Google Reader. Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Has Ireland really passed the one million broadband user milestone?

According to the latest quarterly report from ComReg, if you count in mobile broadband, the total number of broadband subscribers at the end of June in the Republic of Ireland stood at 1.05 million people. Excluding mobile broadband, the total was 832,590 subscribers.
The news was hailed by the Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan TD as evidence that competition in the telecoms market is finally beginning to work.
“Exceeding one million broadband subscriptions is undoubtedly a huge achievement,” the Minister said. “We are definitely making great strides in broadband penetration in Ireland and continue to grow. Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

E-learning giant creates 450 Dublin jobs – €350m investment in R&D

E-learning global player Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) – formerly known as Riverdeep – is to create 450 jobs at a new R&D headquarters in Dublin, it emerged today.
Riverdeep had its origins in Dublin in 1995 and under the leadership of businessman Barry O’Callaghan became a global brandname in the e-learning business.
In November 2006, Riverdeep merged with Houghton Mifflin bringing together expertise in education textbooks and interactive digital curriculum. Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Interactive website for kids is right on the money

A new non-commercial website www.moneyville.ie has been developed, which is aimed at raising levels of financial literacy among Irish children.
Supported by National Irish Bank, the website is a learning tool designed to help parents and teachers educate five to seven year olds about money in a fun and informative way.
The idea is to provide children with a basic understanding of money, how they can prioritise and save it so they can eventually manage their own finances. The site was developed in association with leading experts in e-learning, including media researchers, child psychologists, representatives from teacher training organisations and online media experts. On top of this, it was fully tested by children around the country. Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Businesses warned of internet registry scam

Irish businesses are being warned not to fall for a scam from a company calling itself Internet Register Ireland.
Internet Register Ireland is a trading name used by a German company called DAD Deutscher Adressdienst GmbH.
If a business signs and sends back the letter it receives from DAD Deutscher Adressdienst GmbH, it will be liable for a sum of €958 for a listing in their directory, as well as entering into a three-year contract. Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Monday, September 8, 2008

Google Chrome first look: it’s fast, very fast

I’m usually quite reticent about installing new browsers on my machines. Generally, they shake the order of things around enough to frustrate me to the point of being cranky and inevitably going back to my trusty Explorer.
While I wasn’t baffled by the revelation that Google had developed its own browser – it was a logical move – I had reservations about how it would pull it off. First thoughts? It has done so with a relative ease that should in turn make software rivals uneasy. Google Chrome is a sturdy operating system that appears simple, but ‘under the bonnet’ is complex. Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Thursday, September 4, 2008

eBay wants to do world of good by going green

Online auctioneer eBay plans to chase the hearts – and pockets – of eco- and socially-minded shoppers with the launch of a new ethical marketplace.
The company said the new e-commerce marketplace World of Good will only sell products that will have a positive impact on people and the planet, “empowering consumers to align their social values with their shopping.” Read More

Courtesy:Silicon Republic

Monday, September 1, 2008

Ireland's Olympians return home

Olympians Homecoming : Ireland's Olympians completed the final leg of their journey home after the Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt landed at Dublin Airport this evening, complete with a tricolour flying from the cockpit window.
The plane carrying the Irish athletes, including the three boxing medal winners, was escorted by three fire and rescue tenders as it taxied to Pier C, where hundreds of friends and family waited to welcome their heroes home.
Medal winners Kenny Egan (silver), Paddy Barnes (bronze) and Darren Sutherland (bronze) came down the front steps of the aircraft to much applause before meeting with family and friends. Read More

Courtesy: Irish Times

Keeping data safe and private

WIRED: New technologies are beginning to show how we might have more independent, safer and more private lives online, writes Danny O'Brien

WHOM DO you trust? That's the question that users (and businesses) should be asking - with the entirety of their personal data and their backups in the balance.

From home-spun programs written to dump your computer's hard drive on Amazon's servers, to enterprise-level systems that backup an entire company's digital assets far from the office while its employees sleep, everybody wants to save their data offsite using the internet. Some might even store data on the internet that they don't keep in their offices, for ease of access from any location that has internet access. Read More

Courtesy: Irish Times

You can fool some of the people

NET RESULTS: Adults allow themselves to be duped by websites requesting bank and credit card numbers, writes Karlin Lillington
A COMMON complaint I hear from teachers, whether they are working with young children or young adults, is that students today lack digital media literacy skills.
This does not mean that they are not digitally literate. These are the generations that grew up with and regularly use the internet, downloads, uploads, podcasts, websites, weblogs, social networking, chat and the rest.
The concern, in a world where one UN survey shows that children spend about twice as much time absorbing information from electronic media such as the internet, television and video games as they spend in school, is that they do not have very good skills at interpreting information from online sources. Read More

Courtesy: Irish Times

eBay insect fossil is new species

A scientist who bought a fossilised insect on the web auction site eBay for £20 has discovered that it belongs to a previously unknown species of aphid.
Dr Richard Harrington, vice-president of the UK's Royal Entomological Society, bought the fossil from an individual in Lithuania.
He then sent it off to an aphid expert in Denmark, who confirmed the insect was a new species, now extinct. The bug has been named Mindarus harringtoni after the scientist. Read More

Courtesy: BBC NEWS

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Total of 21 million electronic goods recycled in the past three years

The equivalent of over 21 million individual old or broken electrical items have been collected and recycled by the scheme since the WEEE Directive was introduced in Ireland in August 2005. Read More

Courtesy:Silicon Republic

Memories lost forever due to lack of backup

Research out today shows over one third (36pc) of people have lost holiday photos from a memory card without having a backup. As more and more people use digital cameras, there’s a growing demand for new ways to store photographs for fear of losing them. Read More

Courtesy:Silicon Republic

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Irish Olympic hopefuls see RTÉ web viewers rocket

If you were online on Tuesday watching breathlessly as Paul Hession took part in the 100m sprint semi-final or when Ken Egan and Paddy Barnes guaranteed themselves at least a bronze medal in the Beijing Workers’ Gymnasium, then you were watching one of the 12,736 concurrent live video streams served from the RTÉ.ie website, making it the highest ever peak online viewership for the broadcasting company.Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Firefox and Safari users under cyber attack

Windows and Mac users of the popular Firefox browser as well as users of the Apple Safari browser are being warned about a new cyber attack that targets the clipboard where copied text is stored.
After attacking the user’s clipboard, it then tries to spread poisonous links, which then stay in place even after the user copies new text. The only way to remove the programme is to reboot.Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Think before you click

While spam containing compromising programs has declined steeply, e-mail containing links to malicious sites is rising, writes Karlin Lillington

THE E-MAILS promise a slew of interesting and urgent stories: "McCain declares Obama a fraud, liar"; "Hamilton fined for speeding in France"; "Woman chokes after swallowing Tiffany diamond"; "Huge oil spill off California coastline".

But the links in such provocative e-mails take the unsuspecting to malicious websites that will try to get bank account or credit card details or - increasingly - have embedded malicious code that accesses the user's computer via their web browser.Read More

Courtesy: Irish Times

Friday, August 15, 2008

EU member states urged to get closer to a European digital library

The European Commission is calling on EU member states to make more effort to provide digital versions of works from their cultural institutions so the dream of a European Digital Library can be realised this autumn. Read More

Courtesy:Silicon Repbulic

A Heritage Plan for South Dublin

South Dublin County Council, with the support of the Heritage Council, is commencing the process of preparing the County’s first Heritage Plan. The importance of heritage in the County is recognised in the South Dublin County Development Plan 2004-2010, where the preparation of a County Heritage Plan is a stated objective. Read More

Monday, August 11, 2008

Expert reveals more about internet flaw

FURTHER DETAILS of a major flaw in the internet’s naming system, which can allow malicious hackers to attack, were revealed at the annual Black Hat security convention in Las Vegas this week.
Dan Kaminsky, the researcher who discovered the flaw in the internet’s domain name system (DNS), said the flaw was the most severe discovered in the last decade and could provide a freeway for criminal identity-theft gangs to exploit. Read More

Courtesy: Irish Times

Video game can help in cancer treatment

PLAYING A specially designed video game can help adolescents and young adult cancer patients adhere more closely to their prescribed treatment, according to a report in the journal Pediatrics.
Dr Pamela M Kato of the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands, the study’s lead author, says: “Targeted video games can help improve the lives of young people with cancer, most importantly improve their adherence to their treatment.” Read more

Courtesy: Irish Times

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Will Facebook stock push value beyond US$4bn?

When Microsoft bought a stake in Facebook last November for US$240m, the social networking site was valued at a staggering US$15bn – unheard of for a company so young and strange given its recent formal valuation, which now puts it at a considerably more modest US$4bn.
It is difficult to know whether this US$4bn is nearer the mark or if it is merely a placeholder value as the firm moves to allow employees to sell stock this coming November, while staying private. Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

IBM plans to ‘unlock the desktop’ from Microsoft monopoly

Technology companies IBM, Novell, Canonical and Red Hat, which offer an alternative to the Microsoft PC, have spotted what they see as its Achilles heel: the current Vista operating system.
“The slow adoption of Vista among businesses and budget-conscious CIOs, coupled with the proven success of a new type of Microsoft-free PC in every region, provides an extraordinary window of opportunity for Linux,” said Kevin Cavanaugh, vice-president for IBM Lotus Software. Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Re-using technology to liberate and educate

Former investment banker Cormac Lynch believes education is key to solving Africa’s problem and has persuaded Irish businesses to donate 7,000 computers for schools and colleges on the troubled continent. Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Faster services and lower prices herald mobile broadband arms race

07.08.2008 Does 3G technology offer a viable alternative to fixed-line broadband?
When it comes to broadband, Ireland scarcely figures on most European league tables – with one exception. According to research by the telecoms consultancy Analysys Mason, Ireland is second only to Austria in adopting mobile broadband. Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Ancient Greek 'computer' decoded

Scientists have used modern scanning technology to unlock the secrets of an ancient Greek 'computer', the Antikythera Mechanism.
The astronomical calculator, considered a technological marvel of antiquity, was also used to track dates of the ancient Olympic games, researchers reported today in the British science journal Nature. Read More

Courtesy: RTE

South Dublin County Ethiopian Partnership Project takes the Public Sector Award in the inaugural Africa Day Awards

On Sunday 27 July 2008 South Dublin County Council was successful in taking the Public Sector Award in the inaugural Africa Day Awards at a ceremony in the splendid surroundings of St Patrick's Hall, Dublin Castle for its South Dublin County Ethiopian Partnership Project.
This project is a unique venture that seeks to improve the well being of two towns in Ethiopia; Butajira and Werabe and which also provides financial support for a slum regeneration project in Addis Ababa – the Integrated Holistic Approach Urban Development Project. Read More

Courtesy: SDCC

Polish / Irish Family Day 23rd August 2008

For the first time ever in South Dublin County, the Community Services Department of South Dublin County Council are organising a Polish/Irish Family Day in the grounds of the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght on Saturday 23rd August from 2.00 pm – 6.00 pm. Read More

Courtesy: SDCC

RTÉ Special Series

RTÉ.ie, in association with the Simon Cumbers Media Challenge Fund, present a special series about technology in the developing world.We go to India, Rwanda and Kenya where three programmes, including the Irish charity Camara, are using three very different approaches to achieve the same goal: educating the world's youngest citizens.Read More

Courtesy: RTE

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Tech jobs are still out there

Despite recent increases in the unemployment rate, an estimated 7,000 vacancies remain unfilled in the technology sector while average salaries are continuing to increase, writes John Collins.

Shane Dempsey, director of the Irish Software Association, says the industry is now facing a potential "skills gap" as there is a time lag between students training in technology and being available to work.Read More

Courtesy: Irish Times

Patent for taxi texting service

A SMALL Irish company has been granted a patent for a new type of system that will allow customers to order taxis by text, writes Ciara O'Brien .
The TextaTaxi service is the brainchild of Text One Group, a small firm based in Inishowen, Co Donegal, which specialises in database, SMS delivery and application development.Read More

Courtesy: Irish Times

Facebook's future outlined

Founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg this week outlined at Facebook's annual conference how the company's features will run on affiliated sites outside its own.

Facebook Connect will transform the social network from a private site where activity occurs entirely within a "walled garden" to a web-wide phenomenon where software makers, with user permission, can tap member data for use on their sites.Read More

Courtesy: Irish Times

Women who blog empowered at 'BlogHer'

Last weekend BlogHer, the conference for women who blog, was in San Francisco, and I'm one of the handful of men around, writes Danny O'Brien .

It's fascinating in the way that attending any conference that's not really aimed at you is fascinating. You get to see otherwise invisible allegiances and networks; you hear stories and terminology that you wouldn't normally hear, and the general level of the conversation raises to a professional point that is usually dimmed or simplified when others are around.Read More

Courtesy: Irish Times

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Cylinders Containing Hydrogen Cyanide (HCN) Have Been Successfully Chemically Neutralised

South Dublin County Council has successfully chemically neutralised seven cylinders containing agricultural fumigant (Hydrogen Cyanide/HCN) that were stored at pest control company Rentokil. A US company, Integrated Environmental Services (IES), specialists in on-site management of waste compressed gas cylinders undertook the project at a County Council owned compound at Grange Castle, Co Dublin. There was no risk to the public. The nearby golf course was closed during the neutralising process. No explosives were used. Four IES personnel travelled from Atlanta and using specialist equipment flown in from the US, carried out the safe disposal procedure. Read More

Courtesy: SDCC

Digital dosh is still lurking

FORGET THE jet-cars and food-in-a-pill - whatever happened to the promise of digital cash? When the internet first reared its global head in the early 1990s, the area where it was expected to have the most dramatic impact was the world of money. Not making it or sending it or even saving it: but the very idea of money itself. Read More

Courtesy: Irish Times

Crackdown on jobless benefit claims

People signing on the Live Register will now have to collect their weekly benefit payment at a post office instead of having it paid into their bank account.
The Government says this is to reduce the likelihood of people claiming benefits while they are not resident in Ireland. Read More

Courtesy: RTE

ThinkPad update

IF EVER there was a symbol of the onward march of globalisation it is Lenovo. Acquiring IBM's consumer PC division in 2005, the Chinese company made assurances that ThinkPad fans would still get quality business notebooks.
But instead of just continuing the ThinkPad range, Lenovo innovated and extended into the consumer space with its V series machines. This week...... Read More

Courtesy: Irish Times

Funding our future

The Government must invest more money in school ICT programmes so Irish pupils get the same tech training as those in other countries... Read More

Courtesy: Irish Times

Ubuntu Ireland goes for open source success

Microsoft Windows remains the standard operating system (OS) for most personal computers throughout the world but advocates for the open source Linux-based OS Ubuntu are pushing its benefits for personal, educational and organisational uses, not least because it is free and community developed. Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Thursday, July 17, 2008

National College of Ireland Part-time Programmes Open Evening

Do you want to step up your career, develop new skills and knowledge, or build on an existing qualification? If so, then call into the Part-time Programmes Open Evening at National College of Ireland on Wednesday 23rd July in the IFSC, Dublin 1 Read More

Courtesy: Community Exchange

New website for Irish Charities Seeking Funding

A new website,developed by The Wheel, aims to provide Irish charities with an efficient and cost effective way to diversify their funding. – A unique service providing comprehensive information about hundreds of funding schemes currently available to Irish charities, including EU funds, independent trusts and corporate and central and local government grants. Read More

Courtesy: Community Exchange

New Councillor Dorothy Corrigan

At the Council Meeting held on 14th July 2008 Cllr. Dorothy Corrigan was co-opted to fill the casual vacancy on South Dublin County Council.Read More

Courtesy: SDCC

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Gas, electricity prices to rise

RTÉ News has learned the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) is considering a gas price increase of between 35% and 40%.
The announcement follows a 17.5% interim increase in electricity prices, which will take effect from August.
The ESB sought and secured the electricity price increase as a response to ongoing volatility in the international energy market.Read More

Courtesy: RTE

A Heritage Plan for South Dublin

South Dublin County Council, with the support of the Heritage Council, is commencing the process of preparing the County’s first Heritage Plan. The importance of heritage in the County is recognised in the South Dublin County Development Plan 2004-2010, where the preparation of a County Heritage Plan is a stated objective.Read More

Courtesy: SDCC

Monday, July 14, 2008

Web Innovators get €100,000 research funding

14.07.2008 Four innovative start-up technology companies – HeyStaks, Locle, TouristR and Playza – have been unveiled as the winning recipients who will each share in the Eircom €100,000 Web Innovation Fund. Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Launch of Copper Bucket Making Programme

On Wednesday 9th July 2008 in South Dublin County Council Headquarters the Mayor of South Dublin County, Councillor Marie Corr launched the Copper Bucket Making Programme. The Copper Bucket Making Programme is part of the Traveller Culture Project the Sports & Recreation Officer, Social Inclusion Officer and Arts Officer are undertaking.Read More

Courtesy: SDCC

Deputy Seamus Brennan T.D. R.I.P (16 February 1948 – 9 July 2008)

The Mayor Marie Corr, Elected Members, County Manager and Staff wish to express their sympathy to the Brennan family on their sad loss. Funeral arrangements are as follows: Reposing from 4.00 pm today(Thursday) at Fanagans Funeral Home, Lower Main Street, Dundrum prior to his removal at 6.30 pm to the Church of the Holy Cross, Dundrum arriving at 7.00 pm.

Funeral Mass tomorrow (Friday) after 12.00 O’Clock Mass to St. Nahi’s Cemetery.
May he rest in peace, Ar dhéis lámh Dé go raibh a anam dilís

Smart and ESB in deal for next generation fibre network

Smart Telecom has concluded a multi-million euro deal with ESB Telecoms (ESBT) enabling Smart Telecom to provide high capacity Next Generation broadband services throughout Ireland.
The 3-year deal will see ESBT provide Smart Telecom with up to 10Gbps of capacity around Ireland across two national fibre rings spanning the entire country.Read More

Courtesy: RTE

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

New Mayor for South Dublin County Council


New Mayor elected for South Dublin County Council for 2008/2009. Cllr. Marie Corr was elected Mayor at the Annual Meeting of the Council on Friday 27th June 2008.

New Deputy Mayor elected for South Dublin County Council for 2008/2009. Cllr. Guss O'Connell was elected Deputy Mayor at the Annual Meeting of the Council on Friday 27th June 2008.The following Councillors were elected Area Chairpersons:-


Cllr. Derek Keating - Lucan/Clondalkin
Cllr. Caitriona Jones - Tallaght
Cllr. Paddy Cosgrave - Terenure/Rathfarnahm

Courtesy: SDCC

Friday, July 4, 2008

Welcome for release of Ingrid Betancourt

World leaders have welcomed the rescue by the Colombian military forces of Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages. The hostages had been held captive by FARC rebels in remote jungle areas of the country for six years.Read more

Courtesy: RTE

Fuel: The road to where?

RTÉ News looks at how fuel costs are affecting how we travel and looks at the reasons for recent surges.Read more

Courtesy: RTE

Bill Gates retires from Microsoft

Sensing the start of a personal computer revolution, Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard University in 1975 to start Microsoft Corp and pursue a vision of a computer on every desk and in every home. Read more

Courtesy: RTE

Friday, June 27, 2008

ICT green initiatives could save €600bn

Global eSustainability Initiatives could see ICT companies worldwide reduce their emissions to at least 15pc below 1990 levels by 2020, or an energy efficiency cost saving of €600bn.Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Changes at the till

Technology is at the top of the shopping list as retailers check out ways of controlling costs and improving efficiency in the face of increased competition and a slowing economy.Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Major digital sector report planned for government

Stakeholders now have the opportunity to contribute to a major report that will advise the Irish Government on the best way forward for the country’s digital sector over the next 20 years, siliconrepublic.com can reveal. Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Planting the seeds for growth on the campus

The smart money is on the next generation of Irish campus companies that could drive future jobs and investment.After a slow start, there are promising signs that efforts to turn ideas from Irish universities into products or companies are having some success. Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Bebo judgments affect users on the double

11.06.08 The courts have censured a 27-year-old man for posting inappropriate content on a teenage girl's Bebo page, while a former employee of clothing chain A-wear received over €4,000 in damages for unfair dismissal following a comment posted on the site. read more

Courtesy: RTE

Introducing Trinity College Dublin's podcast channel

11.06.08 Trinity College Dublin is proud to announce the launch of its podcasting service. The aim of this first series of podcasts is to provide prospective students an opportunity to learn about the Trinity experience. read more

Courtesy: Trinity College Dublin

Monday, June 9, 2008

Official Opening of South Dublin County Councils newly extended County Library

09.06.08 The newly extended County Library in Tallaght will be officially opened by John Gormley TD., Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in the presence of the Mayor on Monday 9th June 2008 at 6.30pm. Read More

South Dublin County Council New Logo Launch

Branding is something which we see about us in a commercial sense in many thousands of guises, all concerned with positioning of products in the public mind, increasing product reputation, customer loyalty and ultimately increased sales or product usage. This is achieved through product visibility, accessibility, value-for-money and by updating the offer as necessary to cater for changing consumer and societal needs.

As a local authority, South Dublin County Council is responsible for delivery of a wide and ever-increasing range of public services to the citizens whom we serve, in an innovative, effective and cost-efficient manner. Read More

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

30pc increase in science excellence amongst primary schools

04.06.2008 - A total of 654 primary schools around Ireland will be receiving awards in science excellence over the coming fortnight as part of Discover Primary Science, the flagship project from the government organisation Discover Science and Engineering. Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Friday, May 16, 2008

First Irish assistive technology site launched

16.05.2008 - Ireland’s first web-based library for electronic assistive technology (EAT) has been launched. The site www.try-it.ie is a collaboration between a number of groups that work with people with disabilities. Read More.

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Report finds growing use of mobile in public sector

16.05.2008 - A growing number of public sector organisations are using mobile communications in innovative and cost-effective ways, a new study has found.Read More

Courtesy: Silicon Republic

Friday, May 9, 2008

South Dublin County Council Connect iWalk Launch



South Dublin County Council Connect iWalk Launch
Deputy Mayor Gus OConnell launched the first public park iWalk today, Wednesday 7th May, 2008 at the Visitor Centre, Corkagh Park, Clondalkin.Read More

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Community Awards Closing Date this Friday, 2nd May

The closing date for receipt of applications for the Community Awards 2008 is this Friday, 2nd May.

This years Community Awards Ceremony will be held on 13th June. There are 2
extra awards this year and €2500 in prize money!
Best Connect Overall Website Award of €1,000
Best Community Centre Website Award of €1,000
Best Newcomer Website Award of €500 (website live since June 2007)

Fill in your application form online now

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Dell marks Earth Day with green tech tips

22.04.2008 - Dell is celebrating Earth Day today by reminding owners of small and medium businesses that turning over to green practices need not be expensive, and in fact will be an exercise in cost-cutting.Read More

Courtesy: Silcon Republic

The County Library re-opens!

On Wednesday April 23rd, the County Library will re-open in its newly extended, redesigned and rejeuvenated space.

We are really excited to be providng our full range or services to our public again in our new library.
BUT, watch out for more and newer facilities. Staff will be on hand to help and guide you. Read More

Call for schools’ broadband to benefit communities

21.04.2008 - The Schools Broadband Service should be expanded to enable communities to avail of high-quality broadband cheaply, the incoming president of Chambers Ireland has suggested.Read More

Courtesy:Silicon Republic

Friday, April 18, 2008

Corkagh Park Video

This Corkagh Park Video highlights the many amenities to be found in Corkagh Park and introduces Connect iWalks.


The first in a series of exciting Connect iWalks for South Dublin County are now available for download. When loaded onto your iPod or Mp3 player, they act as an informative accompaniment to a walk. The new iWalks for Corkagh Park are filled with stories and information about Corkagh Park, it's history and it's many amenities.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Website Review: Consumerconnect.ie

The National Consumer Agency (NCA) has a site at www.consumerconnect.ie advising consumers of their legal rights, as well as tips and “how-to guides” for consumers in general.
Read More

Writers' strike boosts online video traffic

The writers' strike in the US has led to an increase in the number of online videos being watched, according to Nielsen Online.Read More

BLOOD DONORS NEEDED IN OLD BAWN

The Irish Blood Transfusion Service Board’s mobile unit team will be at St. Martin De Porres National School, Heatherview Lawn, Aylesbury/Tallaght on Wednesday 7th May 2008 from 3.00pm to 4.45pm and 7.00pm to 9.30pm. Some 3000 units (pints) of blood are needed overall each week to cater for emergency and routine cases requiring transfusions of blood and blood products in hospitals all over the country. Blood donors are especially needed, at this time, to meet the needs of those who are depending on the resources of the transfusion service to be available to them. If you want any further information about giving blood you can contact the donor services department of the transfusion service in advance of this or indeed any mobile unit donor clinic on 1 850 731 137 or log on to the IBTS web site www.ibts.ie.

SDCC developing podcasts for parks

18.03.2008 - Visitors to parks in south Dublin will be able to enjoy the company of a virtual guide thanks to an innovative new project by South Dublin County Council.
Read More

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

New internet safety director appointed

The Government has appointed John Laffan as the director of the Office for Internet Safety (OIS) in Ireland. Mr Laffan will take up his post at the beginning of next month.

Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan, who made the announcement today, said the OIS will "encourage greater cohesion across state agencies and develop closer relationships with the gardaí on the practicalities for the application of blocking technologies".

The Minister was speaking at the publication of the final booklet in the Government's Get with IT series advising safer internet usage. The booklet is a guide for parents to social networking sites and the practicalities involved in allowing children to use them. It is available free of charge through libraries, community information centres and credit unions, or online at the Department of Justice website.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Get with IT! - A Parents' Guide to New Media

A parents' guide to new media technologies, has been published by the Internet Advisory Board.
Get with IT - a Parents Guide to New Media (PDF - 1.31MB)
Get with IT - A Parents Guide to Filtering Technologies (PDF - 1.06MB)
Get with IT - A Parents Guide to Social-Networking Websites (PDF - 2.73MB)

All documents are available here:
http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/Get_with_IT

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

O2 Ireland launches mobile safety website

12.02.2008 - O2 Ireland has launched a dedicated website aimed at promoting safer use of mobile phones by young teenagers and children.
Read More

Monday, February 11, 2008

Satellite - an exhibition in light and dark


Library Square Tallaght / 13 – 17 February.

New websites launched – Satellite and Bacon Instead!

Two great websites for the arts in South Dublin have just been launched. Newly designed website http://www.satellitesouthdublin.com for Satellite, features the new artworks of In Context 3 artists in the newly built Library Square, which will shortly see the opening of the impressive new County Library. htp://www.BaconInstead.org is the interactive website for Jackie Sumell’s Bacon Instead project has a stop motion Flash interface, a real contrast to corporate website styles – which is entirely appropriate as Bacon Instead is all about reclaiming advertising space for personal use.

You can contribute to the site with ideas on what you would like to see instead of advertisements or download DIY booklets submitted by other artists.

Award for New Tallaght Library


The new Tallaght Library Building has picked up the Best Public building Award at the recent Lama Awards. Congratulations to all involved. The library building will open in the coming weeks. Further information available on: www.southdublinlibraries.ie

Emmet & Devlin Committee

The Emmet & Devlin Committee and Dublin City Public Libraries
Present 4th Annual Robert Emmet Spring Lecture on Monday March 3rd 2008 at 7:00 p.m.
in Dublin City Library and Archive (The Gilbert Library) 138 - 144 Pearse Street, Dublin 2.

The Military career of Lt. Col. Sean Clancy 1901 - 2006 - Veteran of the War of Independence and Civil War and Longest surviving associate of Michael Collins presented by Gerry MacCann.

With author and broadcaster Aidan O’Hara as MC. Doors open 6:30 p.m. Admission free - all are welcome. Fáilte roimh cách. Further details from the Library on (01) 6744873.

Launch Party of SnaGct, Seachtain an Gaeilge Nationally and Ceol 08

South Dublin County Council is delighted to announce that we are hosting the local launch of Seachtain na Gaeilge tha Cliath Theas & also the National Launch of Seachtain na Gaeilge and Ceol 08!! This night promises to be hugely entertaining with well known artists such as Declan ORourke, Fiach, Lir, Bastable Warren Irish Dancers, Gerry O Connor, Johnny Connolly, Mattie Joe Shamuis Flatharta, Marcus Hernon, Aisteoir Chrnin, Rincedance and more. Dith S is Fear an T for the night.

There is no cover charge for the launch or SnaG 08 but booking is essential at Gaeilge@sdublincoco.ie or 086-8228916. The event will take place @ 19.00 on the 6th March 2008.

For more information contact the Irish Office in South Dublin County Council at above details; or visit www.athcliaththeas.ie

For information in relation to national events contact Orla Nic Shuibhne at 0879845760 or www.snag.ie

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Anam Cara Parent Bereavement Support

Anam Cara Parent Bereavement Support will be launched in Dublin today. The group was formed to address the needs of bereaved parents and families. The loss of your child is like no other and bereaved parents often find them selves isolated and lonely in their grief. Who can really understand how you are feeling? Only someone else who is walking the same road as yourself.

Anam Cara will not take the pain away but we hope it will make it easier to bear. We offer information, support and events during the year to let you know you are not alone in your darkest hours.

Weblink: http://www.anamcara.ie/

Laptops rolled out in St. Aidan's


It has been a busy few weeks in St. Aidan's with the rollout of the laptops now complete and students are now accessing the VLE.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

PURE Education Pack Launched

The Mayor of South Dublin County Council Billy Gogarty launched the PURE (Protecting Uplands and Rural Environments) Education Pack for Primary Schools in County Hall, Tallaght on Wednesday 9th January 2008 at 11am.

Pupils from Glenasmole National School, who took part in the recent PURE Poster Competition, were present at the launch along with their Principal and representatives from South Dublin County Council and PURE. The winner of the poster competition was Orla Mooney and her poster is included in the Education Pack which will be distributed to all Primary Schools in South Dublin County.
Press Release

Satellite - showcase of artwork

A showcase of artwork in light-based media by artists from In Context 3, South Dublin County Councils Per Cent for Art programme.

February 13th - 17th 2008
Library Square, Tallaght, Beside Tallaght Luas stop
Best viewed from twilight onwards (after 5.15 pm)

Light, colour and imagination will transform the pavements, windows and walls of Library Square around the new County Library building. Poetry, films and images by artists from In Context 3 will light up this new public space. Satellite is a free event and the artworks will be visible from the outside, particularly during the darkening of early evening. Poetry written in light on the paved areas, films appearing in windows and animations of trees moving across walls are some of the surprises in store for passers-by.

http://incontext.southdublin.ie
Contact: Rachel McAree, tel 01 414 9321

Thursday, January 31, 2008

On the trail of Ireland’s paperless tigers


Could cost-conscious firms’ use of technology finally bring about the paperless office?

Eoin O’Connor may just have made Irish legal history without meaning to. Last January, the solicitor had been waiting for a report to arrive by fax to Bray District Court on the morning of a hearing...

Full Story on Silicon Republic

Monday, January 28, 2008

Flour Power Returns...

Odlums National Pancake Party - 1st to 5th February

The Odlums National Pancake Party is back for its third year running this February.

Schools, community centres, office canteens, cafes, reception areas, town halls - these are all excellent locations for a tasty Pancake Party!

To take part all you need to do is fill out the online registration form or download a registration form. Once The National Children’s Hospital, Tallaght receive your registration form they will send you out your fundraising pack which tells you all you need to know about hosting your Odlums National Pancake Party.

Email: info@thenationalchildrenshospital.ie
Weblink: The National Children’s Hospital, Tallaght

Tallaght Adult Learners' Fair

On Thursday 7th February, 11am - 7pm at the Tallaght Library (beside Tallaght Luas stop) Find out how to:
- Learn new skills or brush up on existing skills
- Return to work, or progress your existing career
- Take a second chance course
- Do a Higher Certificate, or a Degree
- Apply for a Grant
- Avail of the Department of Social and Family Affairs Back to Education Schemes

Weblink: http://www.activelink.ie/ce/active.php?id=3038

South Dublin County wins LAMA Local Government Awards

South Dublin County Council picked up 4 LAMA Awards on last Saturday night at the Local Authority Members Association (LAMA) Awards, which were presented in the presence of Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, John Gormley

The winning South Dublin County projects were:

The new County Library in Tallaght for Best Public Building
The Adamstown development in South Lucan for Best Private Housing Development
The Adamstown development for Best Affordable Housing Development Project and
The Arena Development in Tallaght for Best Mixed Development Project

Online 'shopping assistant'

When you are ordering goods or services online, how do you know that you can trust the website? The European Consumer Centre (ECC) in Dublin and other members of the ECC network across Europe have launched an "online shopping assistant" to do just that.

The online assistant called Howard helps consumers find out how reputable a website is. Howard is particularly useful the first time you use a new website and also has plenty of good advice on online shopping.

Basically it is a web search tool that gets key information about an online shopping site, in order to work out how trustworthy it is likely to be. This includes how old the site is, whether it is a member of a trustmark scheme, and how long the "right to cancel" period is in the country where the business is based.

Weblink: http://www.eccdublin.ie/

Monday, January 14, 2008

Making the Connection

Making the Connection: Creative Approaches to Intercultural Dialogue in Youth Work

A National Youth Arts Programme seminar on 31st January 2008
at Arás Chronáin, Orchard Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 22
Making the Connection will explore artistic and creative approaches to intercultural dialogue in youth work. It will investigate which aspects are of prime concern to youth workers and how they might be addressed.

Themes identified so far include: participation, involvement, inclusion; identity, perception and preconception; communication; creative expression; understanding and empathy.

http://www.activelink.ie/ce/active.php?id=3380

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

IBM helps consumers recycle electrical goods

In the wake of Christmas, thousands of retired television sets, computers, MP3 players, George Foreman grills and other assorted electronic and electrical goods are left festering in cupboards and under stairs as their owners switch allegiance to shiny new upgrades.

Don’t let them linger say IBM Ireland as the company plans to hold a waste recycling day this Saturday, 12th January, where members of the public can bring “anything with a plug or battery”.

The recycling day will be held on IBM’s Mulhuddart Technology Campus, Dublin 15 in association with WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Ireland and Fingal County Council from 10am to 4pm.

See the full Silicon Republic Article here.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Connect nominated for LAMA Award

The Local Authority’s Member’s Association (LAMA) are pleased to announce the release of the shortlist for their upcoming awards. The awards aim to reward initiatives and private companies for outstanding contributions and projects of benefit to the community.

Each of the finalists was nominated by their local LAMA representative as the best in their county and then the nominees’ entries judged by an independent panel of experts.

The awards, which last year were attended by over 800 of Ireland’s key Local government executives and communities business leaders, are receiving an even more impressive welcome and interest this year.

The gala Awards ceremony to announce the winner will be held on Saturday 19th January in the Citywest Hotel, hosted by RTE presenter – Sharon Ni Bheolain and attended Mr John Gormley, T.D., the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

The Local Authority Members’ Association represents elected councillors nationwide. They play a pivotal role in local government, being charged with representing their constituents in local issues, providing leadership within the community and being responsible for the provision of local services.

For full list of finalists log onto www.lamaawards.org