March 2009 Archives - Ken McGuire

LocalElections.ie Covering Kilkenny / Carlow

March 31, 2009 By Ken McGuire 1 Comment

I stumbled across LocalElections.ie last week via KCLR 96FM, the station running the site as a means to get information to the masses on the local elections in Carlow / Kilkenny for 2009.

The site itself is heavy on the information side of things with plenty of information available on the structure of the elections, the breakdown of the councils within Carlow and Kilkenny, the power of councillors and lists of all current sitting councillors and those standing for election come June. While the names are there, it might be nice to get some profiles added on the actual councillors themselves – pictures, key election points etc. – something I’m sure will appear on the site before the election date in June.

One thing that is happening is that they’re getting blogging. Sue Nunn, who heads to Brussels today in advance of a live broadcast tomorrow with the current Ireland East MEPs, is blogging. There’s also two hustings blogs running, the Kilkenny one packing a bit of a no-holds-barred approach to the local elections while the Carlow one has just gotten off the ground.

Sue’s show is live tomorrow from 10am to 12pm and you can catch the stream via the KCLR website.

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: borough council, carlow, constituency, council, county council, electorate, kilkenny, politician, politics, site, website

Amsterdam In March

March 31, 2009 By Ken McGuire Leave a Comment

Amsterdam

I was away in Amsterdam for the weekend – great city. Heavily overrun by Scottish football fans for the World Cup qualifier on Saturday, but it’s a great city. I was last in Amsterdam around two years ago, some things have changed, a lot of things stayed the same which was a plus and a minus in itself. While we got to spend yesterday playing the complete tourist, including roaring my head off on a short rollercoaster spin through a dungeon, the weekend was good to disconnect, indulge in too much food, revisit a few restaurants I’d been to before, take in the sun and walk around Amsterdam until my legs ached.

Fair play to Aer Lingus too… between a combination of putting the foot down and having the wind at their backs, we had two great flights out of Cork airport. Major kudos too to the Cork International Airport Hotel (blog awards hotel) who lay on a help-yourself continental breakfast from 3am onwards. Chocolate croissants at 4:30am never tasted so good.

For those looking for the photos, there’ll be a bunch live on Flickr likely by this afternoon.

Filed Under: travel Tagged With: amsterdam, travel

Short Film: Attic

March 26, 2009 By Ken McGuire 1 Comment

I mentioned earlier in the week that I’d been along to the premiere of The Suitors, the latest feature to be released under the Young Irish Film Makers banner (note: I’m on the board of directors). Prior to showing The Suitors on Monday night, two other short films made an appearance. First up was Sclever, winner of Caffeine, a recently-held 24 hour online film festival co-ordinated by the YIFM gang. Following Sclever was Attic, writting by David Galster and directed by Peter O’Connor.

If we’re the older generation (not the oldest generation) of YIFMers, then these guys are part of the creme of the current generation when it comes to short film making in Kilkenny. The movie features faces familiar to fans of the Vultures series and was filmed on location in Kilkenny earlier this year. Check out the video above or watch it here on Vimeo (in HD).

Filed Under: Online Video Tagged With: attic, caffeine, david galster, david thompson, john morton, ross costigan, sclever, yifm, young irish film makers

Pushing DineToRead.ie

March 24, 2009 By Ken McGuire 2 Comments

photo credit: lgbsneak

The internet is a great device. Growing up, it was a place to get online, spend hours talking to randomers via ICQ (I still remember my number vividly), the old IRC chat on IOL and knocking together pages on Geocities or Fortune City. That’s what it was for me anyway. Books went out the window, sport went out the window and I immersed myself in the world of the web.

Flash forward the guts of fifteen years and people are moving away from the web. When I say people, I’m moving away from the web. Sure enough, the chats still take place online, but more often than not, they’re carried on into the real world. Those initial conversations are bringing people together, getting them in large fun-filled rooms for the likes of the Blog Awards and the Irish Web Awards. I’m all for sites that create something in the offline world. We do it ourselves at Kilkenny Music when it comes to running the One Take Sessions in Kilkenny.

I’ve heard of these dining nights, the couply ones. Pay 70 or 80 Euro, get a call in a few weeks about an invite to get a group of four guys and four girls around a table to “see what happens”. For some people it’s friendship, for others it’s more. It’s not for me. Speed dating is not for me either. No offence to their sister company either, apologies.

However, Dine to Read is something I would consider as, by the sound of things, your ensured of great conversation and the chance of a good night out. Plus, it’s not going to completely break the bank at 45 Euro when you’re getting dinner thrown into the mix as well. And – you’ve got something to come back to as well.

DineToRead.ie blends the online and the offline. They’ve got an active online community who love to discuss books, but they’re working at taking the conversation online and putting real people together in a room, over a meal (the supper club), to continue the conversation. For those who prefer to immerse themselves in a book at night (sometimes not by choice), maybe they’ve got difficulty meeting people or finding out where people with similar interests hang out, now they’ve got the chance to get out and about.

Each month, ten people are invited to get together in a particular restaurant, to chat about the books they’ve been reading or the current book of the month. The next offline event takes place at ViÃ±a Mara in Galway where the discussion will be about Aravind Adigaâ€™s â€˜The White Tigerâ€™. You can register for free online to enjoy the forums and get chatting straight away. Registering online also gives you access to the online booking and payment should you choose to attend a night out.

Nights are held Monday to Wednesday in Galway, Dublin, Cork and Waterford.

If you’re an avid reader, looking to broaden your circle of friends and maybe even get fed in the process, visit DineToRead.ie

Filed Under: tuesday push Tagged With: connecting, dine to read, dinetoread.ie, networking, reading, socialising, tuesday push, tuesdaypush

Mobile Movie: Mankind Is No Island

March 24, 2009 By Ken McGuire 1 Comment

I attended the premiere screening of The Suitors in Kilkenny last night, the latest in a long line of feature films to get produced by Young Irish Film Makers. This morning in my inbox (via YIFM) came this gem, Mankind Is No Island. The above short was filmed entirely on mobile phone in New York and Sydney and was the winner of Tropfest 2008, the world’s largest short film festival (so they say). Tropfest NY 2009 takes place this coming July.

You can also get a sneak peak at The Suitors, here.

Filed Under: Online Video Tagged With: Film, mankind is no island, mobile phone, movie, Online Video, short film, tropfest

Wing Your Way To A United Game for the Irish Society for Autism

March 23, 2009 By Ken McGuire Leave a Comment

Keith nudged a few of us about a charity auction taking place for the Irish Society for Autism. I’ve done the road trip to a Premier League game. I’ve taken the bus to Dublin, got the ferry, the bus to Liverpool, spent silly money on taxis, the bus back to the ferry, the ferry trip itself, the long road home…

Forget that.

Solicitor to the stars, Gerard Keane has provided a prize of a chauffeur-driven trip to the airport, a private jet to Manchester, overnight accommodation, match tickets to *any* Manchester United game at Old Trafford between now and the end of the season and the same chauffeur and private jet home.

Bidding on the prize closed out yesterday at â‚¬1,200 and to make a bid, you’re asked to email Carl at carl@reviseonline.ie before the auction closes on Sunday coming at 8pm.

Keith’s original post…

Filed Under: Events Tagged With: competition, event, irish society for autism, manchest united, manutd, private jet, prize, travel

Am I Getting Closer To An iPhone?

March 18, 2009 By Ken McGuire Leave a Comment

iPhone 3.0 OS

I managed to remain reasonably disconnected over the weekend thanks to the multitude of other things happening in the real world but did get to catch up with the announcement of the 3.0 version of the iPhone OS. I can usually be found with three mobiles on my person at any one time, plus my iPod Touch, and an O2 broadband dongle not far behind either. My primary handset (N95) is due an upgrade in the next few weeks and I’m starting to wonder am I getting closer to picking up an iPhone.

The N95 is a workhorse of a phone, for me in particular. The 8 gig internal memory is chock full of photos and videos thanks to the 5MP camera within. Every few months I clear 2-3 thousand text messages. Every now and again I fire off a QIK video. But it’s the browsing that lets me down. I’m just not fond (outside of QIK) of using data applications on the N95 which, for the most part, surrounds the likes of Twibble (for twitter) and the mobile browser. Where possible (read: in a wifi area) I’ll switch to the iPod and pull my mail, tweets and everything else there.

The ideal situation is to pick up an iPhone and have it unlocked, jailbroken, call it what you like. It would need to juggle a few sim cards but out and about act as the holder for my O2 data sim, in the process saving me from hitting three different sims with three different data charges.

So with a new spotlight, the ability to copy and paste without a third-party app, 3G tethering for using the iPhone as a modem, a landscape keyboard, added Bluetooth A2DP support, MMS (welcome to the party, Apple), push notification for IM apps and a whole lot more.

Of course, I’m not surprised to see Apple charging $9.95 for iPod Touch users to get the OS (hell, they charged us for the MacBook Pro firmware upgrade for wireless N) but when the OS lands, I’m guessing I’ll be another step closer to picking up an iPhone.

Check out details of the iPhone 3.0 SDK here.

Filed Under: Apple, Handsets, iphone Tagged With: 3G, Apple, data, iphone, iphone features, mobile, mobile handsets, Mobile Phones, n95, os3.0, twibble, upgrade

Tinkering With Muzu.tv

March 16, 2009 By Ken McGuire 3 Comments

One Take Sessions TV on MUZU

I’ve been enjoying some downtime since Friday afternoon and until Wednesday I’m on self-imposed exile from the office, something that doesn’t come along or take place all that often. I endured a long drive to Sligo on Friday, sang my head off at a gig on Saturday, listening to all the Premier League action on Newstalk on the drive home on Sunday and today has been spent dedicating some much-needed time to extending the arms of Kilkenny Music.

There’s a lot coming up for KKM in the coming weeks and months, including the launch of a busking competition we’re running, with over â‚¬3,000 in cash up for grabs. Before the weekend, the One Take Sessions kicked off for 2009 and while the first of the videos hit YouTube from a McDonalds at the Kilmartin N6 centre outside Athlone on Friday, today saw some tinkering with Muzu.tv.

I’ve been doing a lot of viewing on the site, in terms of videos, but have only now gotten around to shifting content onto Muzu. I must upload the videos in a higher quality (mental note) next time around but I’m liking it so far and hope to use it as another strong portal for the artists and acts we’re putting through the ‘Sessions for 2009. Also, you won’t have any problem watching “official” music videos on Muzu, unlike the news hanging over Youtube in the last few days.

By the way, if you’re looking for some free music from some great independent Irish acts in April, join us in Cleere’s Theatre in Kilkenny on Thursday April 2nd at 9:30pm.

Filed Under: Online Video Tagged With: kilkenny, kilkenny music, muzu, muzutv, one take sessions, Online Video, video, youtube

Tuesday Push: MyMunster.com

March 10, 2009 By Ken McGuire Leave a Comment

photo credit: danid330

The latest Tuesday Push is for rugby social networking site, MyMunster.com which allows you to chat and share views with other Munster rugby supporters, view club photos and videos, get the latest news and get your hands on some Munster goodies and match tickets through competitions. They’ve also got their own blog where this evening I learned that Peter Stringer has finally been elevated to the pitch for the Six Nations clash against Scotland in Edinburgh this weekend.

When people think hurling, they should think Kilkenny. When people think rugby, they’re likely to think Munster, such is the success of the club in recent times (also spotting here that 12 of 22 of the panel for the Irish game ply their trade at Thomand Park).

When there’s such a vibrant offline community and “family” for Munster supporters, it’s good to see an online source getting developed for fans of the club at home and abroad, considering it’s also being developed in association with Munster Rugby. Word has you can also hit the site during game time for updates and notes on games as and after they happen and if you’re a Twitter user you can follow MyMunster here.

Filed Under: tuesday push Tagged With: club, munster, new media, rugby, Social Media, social network, sport, tuesdaypush

Tis The Season For BarCamps

March 6, 2009 By Ken McGuire 1 Comment

Tis the season for BarCamps, surely. Tomorrow I’m off to BizCamp in Dublin where I’ll join in the region of 200 other entrepreneurs, freelancers and free thinkers in the first business-focused BarCamp to be held here (nice to see another “themed” BarCamp running). Registration starts from 9am tomorrow and with the early train leaving Kilkenny pre-7am I’ll be hoping to make breakfast in Dublin. Talks are scheduled for between 10am and 5:30pm ish and there’s a draft schedule here.

BizCamp Limerick follows on March 21st for those who can’t make Dublin tomorrow (it being “sold out”) or are looking for another helping of talks from more business people. The Limerick session is being held in UL and at time of writing there are currently 71 attendees and 19 speakers registered.

Two events that I’m going to miss (will be out of the country) are the ACE (Awakening Creative Entrepreneurship) in Derry running March 25th – 27th and OSS BarCamp in Dublin on March 28th which runs in DIT’s Kevin Street Campus. While all the speaker slots have been filled, if you’re interested in going to OSS BarCamp, leave a comment on the attendees list.

Finally, in April we’ve got BarCamp Belfast coming up. I haven’t been to Belfast since August 2006, catching Steel Pulse in the Andersontowns Leisure Centre (what a gig!) and it will be good to get across the border and meet some more web heads for the weekend. It’s going to be held in The Black Box on Saturday April 25th and already there’s over 110 signups, the makings of another great day.

The best thing about all of these events is that they are free.

If you’re looking to get out and meet some likeminded people – business types, designers, web heads, geeks, startups, entrepreneurs and more – then get yourself to one of these events because that’s where you’ll find them hanging out.