We have a remarkable Chef at work. This is what I got the other day. I couldn’t finish my chips or salad. 420grams of VERY rare T-Bone steak, chunky chips and a salad. Cost me a tenner.
And this is what I had in Aya last time I was in Dublin. Well it wasn’t the only thing, but who would have thought fish eggs were so colourful!
EDIT: Rick just realised he’s not in the country on the 11th. So, changing it to then.
Irish Blog Awards – Sat March 11th 7pm, Buswells Hotel, Dublin.
Just made a provsional booking with Buswells* for the Awards. Room cost is €200 ex vat and I’m sure that if everyone puts in a fiver each we should be able to cover the cost of it. If you want Tea/Coffee and biscuits the cost is €4 per head or €8 if you want tea/coffee and sandwiches. I will need numbers in advance if people want to avail of these.
I’m going to try and get everyone free wireless access if they want it but let me know.
Map to Buswells:
*Note to Rick and all the other grammar police, I’ve checked their website and nowhere on it do they call it Buswell’s, instead it is known as Buswells
Now I must go off and figure out what the trophies will be and whether I can get some nice certificates.
1 Category left to sponsor for the Blog Awards
2FM DJ Rick O’Shea has offered to be the MC for the evening.
* Best Blogger – Sponsored by Blacknight
* Best Blog Post – Sponsored by Nooked.com
* Most Humorous Post – Sponsored by BEECHER.NET
* Best Photo Blog – Sponsored by Imagefile Ireland.
* Best Fictional Piece in a Blog – Reserved.
* Best Arts and Culture Blog – Sponsored by Wiki Ireland
* Best Political Blog – Sponsored by Politics.ie
* Best Group Blog – Sponsored by Boards.ie
* Best Comment/Commenter – Sponsored by Spark Ireland
* Best Personal Blog – Sponsored by Hosting365
* Best Use of the Irish Language in a Blog – SSI-Developer.net
* Best Contribution to the Irish Bloggersphere (Tech wise) – Sponsored by Firstpartners.net
I was considering renting out one of the small function rooms in Buswell’s. Have used them before. Nice people. Room is modest but has wifi! Room costs about 350 Euros but if 70 people bring a fiver each it would cover costs. There’s a bar in the hotel too for drinks. Thoughts?
There are just over one computers per 10 pupils in Ireland compared to 3 computers per 10 students in most first world countries.
The study found that around 90% of Irish students have access to computers at school. But only 25% of Irish students say they use a computer in school regularly, compared to around 70% in the UK.
It was also found that Ireland is among a group of countries which show the least positive attitudes among students towards computers.
Seems Nintendo announced a deal today with BT where you can play your Nintendo DS at 270 BT Openzone Hotspots in Ireland. You still have to pay for this Wifi service though, but connecting to the Nintendo network to play other users is free.
What is also interesting is that Nintendo are installing more BT WiFi hotspots in a whole heap of new locations, though it doesn’t say whether these are free or not either. From the press release:
Nintendo will also be installing BT Openzone Wi-Fi hotspots into major video games retailers such as GAME, HMV, GameStop and Smyth’s Toys in addition to other key outlets across Ireland.
I would assume that these are not Nintendo only hotspots so it means Wifi coverage will increase again. The more the merrier.
What BT should be doing, in my opinion, is tying the Hotspots to the broadband customers or business customers who can’t get broadband. So if you have a BT broadband account you can use the hotspots for free and if you are a homeuser then maybe it would cost you can extra fiver or more a month to use these Hotspots. I would think they would make a lot more from their hostpots that way as well as gaining a lot of extra customers. The less bills and logins for people, the better. Course that would mean getting the billing system working properly.
Internet is for Porn – What a great song!
John Handelaar is doing fun things with Google Maps. Try and look up your street address. Mine doesn’t work but when I type in 52 Patrick’s Street, Cork it does. Probably gives way better coverage for Dublin suburbs. John’s looking for feedback, so give it.
I was looking at the ICT Expo Awards 2006 and how much they charge for award sponsorship. 18 awards and to sponsor one is €4500. So what do you get for that?
Branded table of ten at the ICT Excellence Gala Dinner at Burlington Hotel
Branding on the stage area backdrop during award presentation.
Branding on the framed award certificate
Branding on the table menus
Branding on the show website: www.ictexpo.ie
Presentation of the award to the winner on site followed by:
Photo opportunity with the award winner
Promotion in ComputerScope, Irish Computer Channels & Smart Company magazines pre-show and post-show.
I know the Irish Blog Awards are nothing at all in comparison but it is good to know how much awards can be worth if you are looking for sponsors and you put on a professional show.