Limerick Tech Fair

Taking place on the 1^st of November in Thomond Park Conference Centre this is a technology fair with a difference.

Does the world of technology seem like a scary place? Then come visit the first Limerick Technology Fair and tackle those tech terrors!! The fair takes place in Thomond Park Conference Centre on November the 1st from 11-4. Admission is FREE and there are lots of PRIZES and ATTRACTIONS and maybe even some SURPRISE guests.

Limerick Technology Fair is a fair with a difference, it will feature 50 jargon-free interactive displays that show how simple new technologies are to use. There will be something for everyone at the Fair but it will really benefit people who may not be aware of how every day technology can help them save time and money and be lots of fun!

www.limericktechfair.blogspot.com

Hot Racks

Got a little tour of the Center for High Performance Computing here at UNM yesterday. I’ve been in server basements before ( and pulled a couple of all-nighters tearing my hair out in one in particular – Hi tim ! ) but this was some impressive horsepower…

My fav was the Alienware looking Cabinet…

…and how ’bout these Apples…

Testing

Testing out the iPhone wordpress app. Just re-invested in a used 8GB, 1st gen.

If God gives you lemons……………find a new God

Just saw this last week. Don’t know/care how old it is; it was cracking me up.

and the sequel………………

Preposterone………heh

iClones

Here’s some more iClones/iPodclones to check out. None with all the features of the iPhone of course, but if you can’t afford or don’t want the real thing………………………………..

This first one is from geeks.com (i’ve shopped there before, they’re reliable). It’s basically a media player with voice recorder and a miniSD slot. Nothing special. Might keep that begging kid happy though ! Here it is….

Next up is the CECT P168+, which supposedly has quadband, but i’ve read a lot of sellers are pawning off Tri-Band versions as Quad band, so research this before you buy. Looks like a half-decent substitute for an iPhone and the price is definitely right. It doesn’t have wireless internet which would put me off straight away. But, one cool feature it does have is dual SIM card slots, so you could have two phone numbers going at the same time on one phone (good for those who maybe carry a work phone and personal phone). Here’s one on ebay.

And heres a little more info on the meizu m8 minione that i posted about previously.

………………..and what’s with Apple not selling a Black iPhone . I mean, seeing as i spent enough on the iPhone, i would definitely have spent an extra $50 or so on a black one like that dude’s.

Aw shite, i think i said “iPhone” enough times to attract a bunch of Apple worshippers again .

 

Awards

I’m a little late on this. But from what i’ve read and seen in photos, it looks like the Irish Blog Awards ‘08 were a great success, and seems a grand time was had by all. Well done to Mulley for all his efforts.

Big congrats to The Limerick Blogger too, for joint winner of Best News/Current Affairs Blog along with Maman Poulet

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Meizu M8

Oh, and if you can’t or don’t want to spring for an iPhone, (judging by reaction to my post on my iPhone you may be put off, as i was, and am, by the Apple snobbery that is out there) you could hold out for one of these.

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Due to be released sometime later this year, definitely worth keeping an eye on developments with the meizu M8 minione.

EDIT:

“There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance – that principle is contempt prior to investigation.”                     —Herbert Spencer

I forgot……..

Oh yeah, and “Fake Steve Jobs” is also a cunt.

Former Apple-atheist turns Apple-agnostic

I’ve always been an Apple© atheist. When iPods were fresh and sexy etc, and everyone wanted one i preferred MP3 players, and shelled out for one of these :

———

It’s a Cowon A2, and was perfect for me, with drag and drop ease (no syncing or itunes or any of that bollocks), it has a 30GB drive and plays anything i can throw at it, music and movies. I got a rubber case for it with a heavy duty screen protector and so it was Liam friendly too, perfect for keeping him occupied on road trips etc. It’s got a ton of features like TV-in/out, voice recording and more. See here for more if you’re interested, they have a newer version now called the A3.

Anyway, lately i had been looking at Smartphones/pocket PC’s and such, with the intention of having an all-in-one Phone/MP3 player/Wireless browser, and of course my first criteria was “Fuck a fuckin’ iphone, proprietary Apple shite……blah……blah “. So after looking around and checking specs, reviews etc i plumped for a HTC 8525 running Windows mobile 6.

Off i clicked to ebay, found myself a deal on a new one, and thus began the purchase from hell ! Turned out the seller was a prick, (just look at the bastard’s recent feedback) , never answered emails or calls, took 2 weeks to ship it and when i finally got the thing i opened the box to find it was far from “new” , with scratches and a couple of dings and the unresettable call timers showed over 50hrs of use. Accessories he had advertised were not included, and if he didn’t live so far away, i would have gone to his house to bate my money out of him and stick his fuckin’ “new” phone up his arse.

I opened up a paypal dispute and am getting my money back, but i did use the phone for about a week to check it out anyway. I unlocked it to work with T-Mobile and was having fun playing around with it, but did find that the thing was a bit on the heavy side and kind of clunky to work with, and so wasn’t sure about looking for a replacement of the same model. In the meantime, Alex at work has an iphone, and i played around with that a bit and while some of the features were cool, i wasn’t totally sold on it because of my previously stated opinion of Apple shite in general.

But, the seed was planted, and so the other night, on an impulse i said “fuck it” and went and bought the 16GB iphone. Over here in the US, iphones are locked to the AT&T mobile carrier, but i had already checked into how to unlock it, so the first thing i did when i got it home (after admiring the box it came in for a while ) was hook it up to the PC , do some jiggery-pokery, and in 10 mins i had an unlocked iphone working with my T-Mobile Sim card.

The unlocking was a doddle by the way (don’t even bother with the “we can unlock your iphone for $30″ shite sites out there) . It can be done quite easily & safely for free.

I’ve had the thing for 4 days now, and just can’t put it down. I love it. Best Tech purchase I i’ve ever made.

I keep getting these ooooooh and aaahhh moments when i discover some subtle feature or install some 3rd party app that does something i wouldn’t have expected on a mobile device ( guitar simulator , anyone !?! ) .

I’m still not ever planning on buying a mac, lappy/tower/imac, they just don’t have the flexibilty or modifyabilty ( yes, not a real word ) i want and need when it comes to computers. Right now i’ve got 4 “spare” PC’s I mix/match/mod whenever the mood takes me, and the price is right when it comes to parts etc, as compared to Apple.

But if you are pondering an iPhone, take it from this convert. Just go out, stick it on the credit card and enjoy.

Oh yeah, just in case you think i’m in Apple’s pocket and writing this shite for anything other than personal reasons :

Steve Jobs is a cunt, right.

EDIT : Hey, if i say Bill Gates is a cunt as well, will my blog just asplode ?

………………………….and don’t even get me started on that Linus Torvalds cunt.