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