It’s with a sense of nostalgia that I looked at Paul’s video of the new FeedHenry offices in Waterford. The reason being that I used to be based there in what increasingly seems like a previous life. That was when I shared an office with Brendan Jennings and Sven van der Meer as the leader of the TSSG’s Services & Frameworks group. Those were actually pretty cool times and I’m looking forward to going back and seeing what they’ve done with the place.
While skimming Paul’s blog I also saw a reference to Empire’s list of the 50 best tv shows. In response to Paul’s query about Scully in the X-Files. I saw Ms. Anderson standing a few feet away in London once.. and the TV doesn’t do justice 🙂
Now, the list itself is arse. Seriously where in the top 10 is MASH, one of the most influential TV shows of all time? MSG may be addictive but 2nd best show ever? Yeah, it was good but that good? Then there’s LOST which makes me feel seasick as it’s chaotic sea of plots bob and sway. Every episode I feel they jump a new shark!
Month: May 2008
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100 million on servers
I’ve been talking to Paul Watson about the reg’s article on the Facebook CTO taking an extended holiday. Obviously I wish Adam D’Angelo well and he’s done a really cool thing but… 100 million dollars on servers?? WFT???
Have they heard of utility computing? Storage and computational outsourcing deals? These are really useful when you want to variabilise a business cost which is usage dependent. Especially, if you’re actually making money from your customers. Not for the first time I can’t see where FB are going with this but if all these servers are required for their FB Connect service I hope they have a business model to justify this beyond “get bought”.
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Today’s whinge – property photos
Today’s sermon is on auctioneers and the photographs they use to advertise properties on their websites. Is there an official course in taking misleading photographs which distort a small, pokey and drab house crammed onto tiny site into a rambling mansion with a sweeping driveway?
There should be a feature in the Sunday papers. Instead of “Property of the Week” try “Most Disappointing Viewing of the Week”. And it’s more egalitarian than you might think. (Almost) Regardless of your budget, there’s a hugely disappointing viewing experience tailormade just for you. and everyone else unfortunate enough to get excited about it.
As our house hunting continues I’ve learned to look at the houses ourselves initially, just cheekily drive by and have a gawk. It saves the time of visiting something entirely unsuitable. If only this was in any way discernible from the photos in ads. In true High-Fidelity fashion here’s my top 5 gripes with auctioneers photos.
- The photo makes the property look bigger and more private than it is.
- Obvious negative factors of the property are missing from the photograph. 2 examples that spring to mind are a tiny site and a busy road a few feet away. The neighbour’s burnt out car is not photographed for some reason 🙂
- Part of the property or site is run down but it is mysteriously unphotographed.
- The photos misrepresent the layout of the house.
- The photos make the decor look fresher and more contemporary than it is.
The amazing thing is that I’ve yet to see a set of auctioneers photographs which understate the attractiveness of a house. Maybe I’m missing the point. I’m starting to believe there must be people out there who fall so much in love with the photos they buy the crappy real(i)ty.
Our wonderful Minister for Education Of Everybody Outside the South East, that’s Mary Hanafin, has decided “clear criteria for university designation would have to be established before the WIT application could be addressed in any detail.”. The Irish Times report can be found here
I’m glad she’s decided clear criteria should be put in place, that will waste another year or so as did the Port Report and Professor Farquhar’s report. Funny thing is that when you read the port report it creates some reasonable evaluation criteria of its own and essentially endorses WIT’s claim for University status. Indeed Dr. Port appears apologetic for having to craft a report in the absense of the “clear criteria” that he foresees as a governmental imperative to make the decision. Professional timewasting rather than the amateur kind. Despite the endorsement from Dr. Port that we have the facilities, strategy and administration to be upgraded It’s nice to know that Ministers for Education need to carefully consider anything which may benefit the South East when they can unilaterally upgrade all RTC’s to IT’s without any evaluation criteria clearer than appeasing voters. So long as they’re not in the South East…
Yet out regional need is overlooked and the process is being drawn out unnecessarily. From a time of optimistic prosperity to our current sober economic climate. If the delaying tactics continue much longer the Dept of Education will suggest with some reasonableness they can’t afford it. It’s a question of priorities of course but suffice to say that Mary is one minister I’d like to see reshuffled.