It’s been reported that Virgin Group have sold it’s chain of Virgin Megastores in a management buyout by the managing director and financial director.
So who’s the most business savvy in this case??? Do Virgin Group realise that the web is the place to be for buying music etc, or do the new owners really believe they have what it takes to make a bigger success of this business?
What a joke this is, I’m not a Microsoft fan, but the thought of getting a new PC that can do absolutely nothing except turn on is frightening. Why shouldn’t Microsoft be allowed to bundle some of it’s software on to a new PC? Because it’s an unfair advantage for those who are creating alternative software?
If those people have a problem, why not go off and develop their software for a different operating system….. Oh yeah, there wouldn’t be as much money in that……
So the court has ruled that that yet again Microsoft are engaging in anti-competitive behaviour - the court oblivious to the fact that there would be no competitive playing field if Microsoft Windows was taken from everyones computers tomorrow.
I’m sorry but I just don’t get it. What’s going to happen in the future? Are we going to buy PC’s that just boot up into an operating system and then we have to go off and buy software to do even the most basic task of playing a media file? Seems absolutely insane.
Maybe the judges should move with the times and drop their pens and paper and see what is actually happening in the world outside their court rooms.
EDIT:
Oh and please don’t come on posting comments about how they should at least open up their code for the world to see. Why should they??? Who will benefit - only everyone else. They created something, they own it, if you want to create good software to work with it…. do it…… Don’t whinge about how hard it is to make an impact. If your software is that good, we’ll all hear about it.
Cormac Moylan has discovered that you can download Kerbdog’s entire On The Turn album for free on their website. He’s even gone as far as to put it into a lovely zip, so you can download it without all the messing…. I’ve just downloaded it now and looking forward to listening to it! Should bring back a few good memories!
I recently purchased a Nintendo DS Lite for my wife, who became hooked on the Brain Training game while playing one at a friends.
A friend of mine then put me wise to a “backup” tool called R4DS or Revolution for DS.
It’s a small cartridge, exactly like a normal game cartridge which has a SD Card slot, in which you can download games from the Internet and load them on to it. In fact, depending on what size SD Card you get, you could in theory put thousands of games on this one cartridge.
So off I went on my merry way to find out about these little thingys. It wasn’t long before I found plenty of information on the Internet about the R4DS, but I also found out about another, more expensive one called the M3 DS Simply. Anyway, after much research, it turned out that the more expensive one, the M3 DS Simply, didn’t offer much more than the R4DS. So my next goal was to find the cheapest place to buy it.
So my searches lead me to www.consolesource.com - a website that seems to be dedicated to tools like this (in some fashion) for all consoles! I purchased the R4DS with the 2 gig SD Card - it cost me just $95 when delivery charge was included. It arrived within 3 days!!!
The R4DS came in a small box which includes the cartrdige, a USB SD Card Reader and a CD with the software required. When you receive it first, you need to put the little what can only be described as, operating system onto the SD card (this is included on the CD). You then need to get your Nintendo DS ROMs and put them on the SD Card too.
When you turn on the Nintendo DS, it boots up into the R4DS operation system. You have 3 options, one is to load games from your card, the second is to play media file such as MP3’s or video files (they must be converted) and the third; I’ve yet to figure out! To play a game, you simply select from your downloaded roms.
Since it’s possible to download 1,000’s of pirated ROMs from sites like www.1rom.net, it means you’d never have to buy a game again, if you were tha way inclined…. quite a worrying thought for Nintendo.
Lately, we’ve seen a significant increase in the number of RFP’s requesting a “few” concepts to be included with the proposal for the web design job. I know some companies have no problem doing this, but for us, we just won’t do it. There are a number of reasons for this.
1. It takes time and costs money
Probably the most obvious reason for not providing concept designs with proposals. With a small company, generally everyone is busy, it’s not in our best interest to take a designer off a paying job to create a design in the hope that you might win a new contract. How many builders would you expdect to build an extension to your house before they’ve got the job and run the risk of not being paid a cent? So why should we?
2. Design is subjective
In a lot of cases, it’s the design that makes or breaks a job. If you’re lucky enough to get a client that simply loves your work and will take anything you put before them, regardless of taste, you are on the pig back. However, this is rarely the case. Design is so subjective, what we think is modern and funky is someone else’s dull and lifeless.
For this reason, I think it’s a really bad idea to submit a design with a proposal, without going through a proper design brief.
3. Devaluing our work
If you do the design work for free….. what else do they expect for nothing????
So all in all, it’s up to us in the industry to cut this culture out.
Value Ireland have posted details on how you can receive world cup rugby on your Sky Digital box without a Setanta subscription by tuning in ITV4 who are showing all of the games in conjunction with ITV1.
Frank Allen, CEO of the Rail Procurement Agency (RPA) announced that the Luas Line B2 will be extended into Bray Town Centre.
The announcement, confirmed in writing by Mr Allen to Wicklow County Manager Mr Eddie Sheehy, follows a period of public consultation into the selection of the Luas route options to the Bray area, connecting to the DART line. The route options for consideration included a spur extension into Bray Town Centre at Bray DART Station, and a spur extension to Woodbrook to the north of Bray between Bray and Shankill.
The extension, which is due to be delivered under Transport 21 by 2015, is subject to the normal planning process for such projects and to securing sufficient funding, including funding from private sources.
As a regular reader of a designer that I have much respect for, I couldn’t help but be pleased that someone else had finally decided to write a piece about the shower that call themselves “Ripe”.
TheMenace writes an article about Ripe’s new move into the SEO arena. I wrote an article about them recently, in which I noted that they have decided to offer SEO services. I gave my reasons why I thought it was a disgrace.
However, when I noticed what TheMenace also noticed, I had to hold myself back from writing another post, so my blog didn’t end up being just a Ripe bashing blog. TheMenance, you are so right, it is a disgrace when he makes claims that we are ripping people off, because that is basically what he is saying.
All I can say now is, Dresses Ireland - I CAN’T SEE YYYYOOOUUUUUUU……………… 
EDIT:
Yet another pro in this business has a gRipe with Ripe…… Red Cardnial
Another disappointing night for Ireland. In fairness though, I should really have been writing this post after Saturdays draw with Slovakia. The Czech Republic aren’t the worst team around and I was really hoping against hope that we could get a win last night.
The Irish side were poor again last night and I don’t think that was the fault of the players. I lay that blame solely on Steve Stauntons shoulders. His team selection was poor, he still doesn’t seem to know how to motivate his team and he is far from a leader off the pitch.
The only ray of hope we seemed to have was when Stephen Hunt came on. Through his OWN desire he took the game by the scruff of the neck and carved out a few opportunities for us. But why wasn’t our manager able to instill this believe in the rest of the players?? That is his job at the end of the day.
I think it’s only fair to say now that that should have been Steve Stauntons last game as manager of the Republic of Ireland soccer team. We need the time now, to give a new manager the best chance of bringing this team to the next World Cup. I also believe it’s time to get rid of that John Delaney guy he seems to be making what he calls “World class” decisions.
Watching the analysis on RTE after the game was quite funny. Eamon Dunphy went off on another one, likening Steve Stauntons lack of training for the job to someone without a train driving license. He posed the question to Bill O’Herlihy, “Would you let someone drive the train to Cork without lessons?”. He even went as far as mimicking out someone with a steering wheel, so one things for sure, don’t let Eamon Dunphy drive a train to Cork, he thinks trains have steering wheels……
One person I felt a bit sorry for though, was Liam Brady. When he was asked did he agree that Staunton should be sacked to allow time for a new manager to come in and do something with the team, he reluctantly agreed. He admitted that he was a good friend of Steve Staunton and that he was only giving his professional opinion, even though he would have preferred not to.
I’m not a Steve Staunton hater, I just never believed he was the right man for the job. Why get rid of Brian Kerr who had at least some experience in coaching and managing to bring in a novice? Anyway, here’s hoping we can qualify for the World Cup, since we’ve another summer of football without our participation 
It was announced today that Dawsons Family Leisure amusements in Bray is closing it’s doors on the 30th of September this year. In operation for the last 50, Dawsons was a huge tourist attraction to Bray seafront. It is expected that their sister business, Star Leisure, will continue to operate.
A sad day for Bray, I’m sure plenty of people have great memories of their days spent there.
