Open Data Challenge
June 16, 2011 at 1:54 pm
If you’re a fan of those think-in’s where different types of skilled people get together and work on something for 18 hours, then this one is for you. It’s Ireland’s first open data challenge, taking place on 4 & 5 July in the Digital Hub, Dublin.
Open Data is part of a new wave of governance. Public data is being released across the world, with the aim to inform citizens, stimulate new economic activity, innovation and competition, and foster cultures of openness whereby governments are more responsive and accountable to their citizens. The purpose of this – Ireland’s first Open Data Challenge – is to show how viable businesses can be developed.
They’re looking for entrepreneurs, facilitators, product and graphic designers to work with local council experts to brainstorm; generate and prototype new ideas based on Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council open data sets.
It should be a bit of fun. And a great way to expend lots of creative juice in a very short space of time. If this kind of thing floats your boat, then cruise on over to inventorium to register. You have to register in order to take part.
We are not jam jars…
April 27, 2011 at 11:31 am
So quit the labelling.
“We are extraordinary, brilliant, limitless people” – so says Caroline Casey of Kanchi at Ted Talks.
Caroline Casey is amazing. I would not be one bit surprised if she became President of Ireland someday.
Tags: TedTalks Kanchi Caroline Casey
In Tests, 8 out of 10 cats…
March 16, 2011 at 3:39 pm
Have their emails set to display the most recent ones up top.
I recently posed this question on Twitter to confirm that the set up we had for the inbox on Ireland Town Social Game was right.
Imagine my surprise when 12 people on Twitter replied that they put the newest messages on top?
I put mine down the bottom and only 1 other person does the same!
That’s 7.6% on bottom, all the rest on top.
Human beings are amazing… the only one above who does what I do is a gorilla!!
Anarchy in Dublin 3….
December 12, 2010 at 8:29 pm
Last night I realised that I am now in fact an Anarchist! I always thought of those people as black jumper wearing, nail biting, nobodies, but I am now one of them.
Why do I say this?
Because I firmly believe that we need to make a paradigm shift in the way this country is run. When Lehman Bros bank collapsed, I thought it might have been an opportunity for the world to shake up the banking system and realign it to represent what is needed today, utilise technology to match those with money and those who need it, and remove a lot of the fat.
But that didn’t happen.
Now I am certain that a paradigm shift needs to occur in Ireland to ensure that what is happening now NEVER gets a chance to happen again.
What do I want to see?
The best people for the job in each of the main depts – Finance, Health, Education, Justice. A system that’s based on a model of social principles, and commercial efficiency. Not one that is based on old school party politics. I support many of the things that Fintan O’Toole asks for in his petition – you can read and sign here.
I was told last night that what I describe is Anarchist - – if that is so, let that be my new belief system. This revolution will not be televised. We know that. But it sure as hell can be Facebooked, Tweeted, Flickrd, blogged, and of course Youtubed. I’m ready and willing to my bit if I’m asked. But there seems to be a lot of talk, and nobody doing the asking.
What do you think?
Tags: Anarchy Ireland, Ireland IMF Scandal, Politics Ireland
Great Things About Ireland Twitter Meme
November 17, 2010 at 6:42 pm
In case you’ve been living under a stone, you might have missed the good vibes and intelligent humour emanating on Twitter about what’s great about Ireland. Seemingly it was started by @shanehegarty at The Irish Times and it just ran and ran – mainly on Monday through to today. Here’s a list the Irish Times published of their top 50. A nice feel good but valuable insight too into what makes us tick.
Tags: greatthingsaboutireland, twitter meme
That thing you always mean to do…
October 14, 2010 at 1:29 pm
I just did something that I’ve been meaning to do for – oh – about 3 years now! Have you ever been running to a city centre meeting, find a car park space, and have your stress levels rise a little due to trying to find a nearby parking machine AND having change to put in the machine? Or you’re in a meeting somewhere around Merrion Square where the parking police are nazis, and the meeting is dragging on and on. You know you’re paid up to 4.57pm, it’s now 5.36pm and you’re wondering whether you’ve got clamped or not?
If you answered yes, then you, like me, have probably glanced at the ad for mobile phone paid parking on the back of the parking ticket and think ‘what a good idea, I must sign up for that’.
Three years on, I’ve just done it. And what a pleasure it was too. Much has been written about some of the awful car fee related sites in this country. The ParkingTag.ie site is easy to use once you get past the fact that the main call to action on the home page that looks like a link is in fact an image (the click here):
It’s a smart service that will save me money. Now I will only pay for parking used. When the parking fairies are fluttering away on their gossamer wings having found me a space, I will take out my mobile phone, text a number, and go on my way. No more clicking in high heels down uneven Georgian pavements to find a meter. No more jangling of loose change.
If there’s one thing you to do make your life easier today, sign up for Parking Tag.
Tags: mobile car parking payments, parking tag
Festival of World Cultures Needs You
July 5, 2010 at 8:34 pm
I came across this on The Wheel – am happy to see the Jobs section we created on that site being used (also happy to see the Twitter-like “Sector Connector” in hot use):
Festival of World Cultures looking for volunteers
Festival of World Cultures is one of my favourite things about summer in Dublin. It’s always good, is family friendly and most of it is free.
Tags: festival of world cultures, wheel volunteer
This Should Have Been Yesterday
June 17, 2010 at 5:19 pm
Brightspark was 7 years old yesterday. I was busy getting out the door with my new baby boy to catch some rays and have the usual celebratory lunch (this time sans alcohol!). I really intended to get something up here to mark the cycle of 7, here is something I found that is kind of nice:
Spinning, laughing, dancing to her favorite song
A little girl with nothing wrong Is all aloneEyes wide open, always hoping for the sun
And she’ll sing her song to anyone that comes along
I won’t sing my song to anyone these days; 7 years of being in business has made me more discerning than that. But definitely dancing to my own tune these last 7 years of self employment has made my heart sing.
Enjoy the music, even if it is a bit high on the cheese quotient:
Tags: 7 years internet marketing business, brightspark birthday
What Did You Do?
May 11, 2010 at 9:28 am
In years to come, when economic historians look back on this period and our children are still paying for the mistakes and excess of recent years, what will you say when you’re asked “what did you do?”
“I was too busy working to pay an exorbitant mortgage. In those days we were glad to have a job…”
-Nobody forced you to take out a mortgage you couldn’t afford. True you had to work, but in this age of connectivity you have choices and options in getting your voice heard. The good news is this evening, a sunny May Tuesday when, let’s face it, there’s nothing on the telly – you can get out and protest the old fashioned way. Head to the Garden of Remembrance at 7.30pm and add your voice to the crowd who will be there to be make a stand and express dissatisfaction with the way things are being handled.
I’m going because it’s not just a Trade Union / Socialist Workers Gig.
Speakers include:
- Fintan O’Toole (Journalist)
- John Kidd (SIPTU Firefighters)
- Janette Byrne (Patients Together)
- Walter Cullen (Unite trade union)
- John Bisset (Canal Communities Project)
- Professor Kathleen Lynch (UCD)
- Siobhan O ’Donoghue (Community Workers Co-op)
I feel very strongly that the Government is bailing out the banks and not dedicating the same resource to making sure that businesses get looked after in the same way. Weren’t we all led to believe after the first bank bailout in Sept 2008 that banks were open for business and would keep lending? Yeah right! I know of many businesses who are on the rocks because they cannot get finance to keep afloat. My own brother who is a true entrepreneur is unable to continue expanding his operation which employs close to 50 peoeple – because he can’t get the banks to match his own investment in his enterprise. And sadly, we’ve all heard the shocking statistics of small businesses closing. These aren’t just numbers – these are people’s sweat and hard work – gone in a moment because there is no-one willing to help them.
Ireland got praised yesterday for being ahead of Spain and Portugal in terms of the austerity measures taken in Budget 2010. But the truth is that Budget was an anti-youth budget. The very strong message I heard was if you’re under 25, and without a job, feck off because we don’t want ya. We’re about to engage in a truly horrible social experiment. One in which we’ve seen working class areas transformed through employment these last years. Young fellas had bright futures as carpenters, plasterers, plumbers. They jumped at the opportunity and worked hard. Now that’s all come crashing down and the next generation is facing the same old shit that’s been available for time immemorial – unemployment or emigrate.
I finished college in 1993 when there weren’t really that many jobs. At least we had the option of going to the bright lights of London or New York. I chose the former and made my way there. Today’s graduates have no such choices – they’ve been hauling themselves through college while the Celtic Tiger has been dying around them… and now they don’t even have the safety net of London or New York to go to. I’d hate to be 22 again….
Yet my niece of 25 says she’d hate to be my age … because we all jumped into the property market and have mortgages around our necks.
We’re all sitting around feeling sorry for ourselves and each other. We’re happy to moan about what’s happening, being forced to do more with less in our jobs and our lives. Well tonight at 7.30pm you can join a bunch of like-minded people who want to show that they are not happy with what’s going on. I’ll be there – I’m the one with the bump!
Tags: Bank Protest Dublin May 2010
Me in Sunday Business Post
May 3, 2010 at 5:05 pm
A quality Sunday paper!
Be The Master of Your Own Domain Name
