Unwired

I'm moving.

noreply@blogger.com (Evert) — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 21:00:00 +0000

After a template change messed up this blogs layout I have decided it is time for a move to Wordpress.

This blog will stay up until the wordpress blog is fully active at which stage I will delete it and setup a re-direct.
Thank you for your attention!

What did Twitter do for you in 2008?

noreply@blogger.com (Evert) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 13:07:00 +0000

Like many others that I know I have become a heavy Twitter user in 2008. Honesty requires me to say that I like the structured discussions on Jaiku more but Twitter wins out due to user density.
My twitter use is almost 24/7 and spans my professional & private life. I spew comments, thoughts, observations and questions into the Twitterverse.
There are a lot of ongoing discussions on what Twitters business model is. In my opinion nobody knows and most of us are still feeling our way in the unknown darkness of micro-blogging. For the moment Twitters value is best measured by individual benefits.
So what does it do for me? Does Twitter actually have any real benefit for me?
The best way to measure this is to list what it has added to my day-to-day life & work:

- I have connected to a lot of people that I either never met or never would have met if it wasn't for Twitter.
- I have engaged directly with people that I otherwise would not have had a chance to speak to. Forget 6 degrees of separation, Twitter creates a universe of 1 degree of separation or less.
- Because of one of my Twitter contacts I am now the owner of a horse (with another one to follow). yes, that's right, a real life, non-virtual benefit!
- I have used Twitter as a tool to directly engage with end-users of one of AirAppz's service and have seen others do the same.
- Twitter has made me aware of breaking news long before the traditional media has caught on.
- Twitter DM's have taken over from email as my preferred method of contacting (or pinging) a contact. Replies are much faster.
- And off course I have taken part or followed lots & lots of excellent discussions or exchanges of opinion on Twitter.

Off course there is lots more but the above highlights the most important benefits twitter has had for me.
I would love to hear what benefits Twitter has had to you so please post a comment!

Wifi in hospitals.

noreply@blogger.com (Evert) — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 17:19:00 +0000

Throughout the last few years I have sat in quite a few meetings discussing public wifi access in hospitals. I have also read quite a few reports on this subject. Still there are very few hospitals offering public wifi access to their patients and if they do it is limited to recreation rooms or the likes.
I do not see why. Patients are generally "forcibly" tied the to hospital location. Having Internet access will go a long way to making their stay more enjoyable and productive.
I find it especially lacking that children's' wards do not have this type of access.
I am at the point now where I will install wifi in the first (Irish) children's hospital ward to contact me. For Free!
Yes, they will have to provide their own Internet connectivity but I will supply, install and configure the wifi part at no costs.
So if you work in a children's hospital ward or know someone who does please point them at this post and tell them to contact me.

Update: While I have so far not been contacted by any hospitals I have had some interesting chats about my "initiative" with a few people. While my idea in itself is good and helpfull it would be great if there would be some way of getting a complete "package" together consisting of wifi connectivity, laptops, video conferencing hardware etc. So here's a callout to anyone who can has any contact that work with any of the laptop manufacturers or distributors as well as suppliers of video conferencing facilities etc. Please send them a link to this post or tell them to contact me.
And if you don't have any contacts in those areas you can still help by generating publicity; forward a link to here to your friends, write about it on your blog or Twitter about it!

Happy Christmas!

noreply@blogger.com (Evert) — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 14:45:00 +0000

Inspired by Pat Phelan's generosity I've decided to also get in the Christmas spirit and give away a Christmas gift.
I'm giving away two Buffalo Technology WHR-G54S wifi routers. Not only can you win one for yourself but I will also give one to a primary school of your choice. Schools are generally very badly served in the IT area and this would be a good way to help them a bit.
Now while this router is a great piece of kit in itself we've improved it by flashing the router with DD-WRT firmware.
This firmware gives the router a shot of steroids by greatly enhancing the capabilities:
* 13 languages
* 802.1x Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP)
* Access Restrictions
* Ad Hoc
* Afterburner
* Client Isolation Mode
* Client Mode (supports multiple connected clients)
* DHCP Forwarder (udhcp)
* DHCP Server (udhcp or Dnsmasq)
* DNS Forwarder (Dnsmasq)
* DMZ
* Dynamic DNS (DynDNS, easyDNS, FreeDNS, No-IP, TZO, ZoneEdit, custom, and
others)
* Hotspot Portal (Sputnik Agent ,Chillispot)
* IPv6
* JFFS2 (JFFS2)
* MMC/SD Card Support (hardware modification required)
* NTP
* ntop Remote Statistic (ntop)
* OpenVPN Client & Server (only in -vpn build of the firmware)
* Port Triggering
* Port Forwarding
* PPTP VPN Server & Client
* QoS Bandwidth Management
* QoS L7 Packet Classifier (l7-filter)
* RFlow
* Routing (BIRD)
* Samba FS Automount
* Syslog
* Rx Antenna
* Tx Antenna
* Show Status of Wireless Clients and WDS with System Uptime/Processor
Utilization
* Site Survey
* SNMP
* SSH server & client (dropbear)
* Startup, Firewall, and Shutdown scripts (startup script)
* Static DHCP
* Style (Changeable GUI; v.23)
* Supports New Devices (WRT54G V3, V3.1, V4, V5 and WRT54GS V2.1, V3, V4)
* Telnet server & client
* Transmit Power Adjustment (0-251mW, default is 28mW, 100mW is safe)
* UPnP
* USB
* VLAN
* WOL (Wake On Lan) (WOL)
* WDS Connection Watchdog
* WDS Repeater Mode
* Wireless MAC Address Cloning
* Wireless MAC Filter
* WMM (Wi-Fi MultiMedia)
* WPA over WDS
* WPA/TKIP with AES
* WPA2
* Xbox Kaid (Kai Engine)

Anyway, just post a comment on this post and I will randomly pick one comment next week.

LeWeb: another disconnected conference...

noreply@blogger.com (Evert) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 12:38:00 +0000

All the net & web heads of the world seem to have gathered at "Le Web" 09 in Paris. While I think that conferences like this are great for people to meet in realtime and for start-ups to showcase their products I am again disgusted by the reports coming from Paris on the disfunctional wifi at the conference.
Feedback through Twitter indicates that the wifi is more down than up. This is not the first time as the wifi at last years events was innitially just as bad. It is also not the only technology conference with lacking connectivity. TechCrunch had similar problems and it seems to be the norm that working wifi is more a sporadic luxury than an essential service at most conferences.

As a someone who has been working as a wifi provider for nearly 10 years now this disgusts me. It is not rocket science! What's needed is for someone knowledgeable to carry out a site survey and to use the results of this to work out a radio-plan. Take in consideration all possible sources of interference, the network load (i.e. amount of bandwidth needed) and make sure that you implement correct channel management and you should be OK. Coverage area and number of users can just be plugged into this matrix as it is scaleable.
Provide a number off VLAN's for the different access groups (attendees, conference staff, press etc.) and don't forget to add redundancy.
Yes, you need to do some prior planning and preparation but so do all others areas of organising conferences.

What is also amazing is the amounts of money alledgedly paid out for this. Rumour has it that the sum off 100k(euro) changed hands for this years Le Web wifi connectivity. Has anyone ever looked at what this really costs or is it just sponsors money wasted?

I have offered our services to the organisers of these events via Twitter and other channels before (without any feedback) and will do it again. We can provide working wifi at any event at a cost well below the one mentioned above. I will also provide a guarantee that it will work. On top of that I will talk to anyone organising an event and explain to them what to look out for when organising wifi connectivity.

Really people, crappy wifi at a technology event is just a very poor show.....

802.11n: Is it alphabet soup?

noreply@blogger.com (Evert) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 11:48:00 +0000

One of my favorite wireless blogs is "The Ruckus Room" written by Ruckus Wireless's PR guy.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Today he has written a good piece about the problems with the 802.11n standard:
"The biggest problem with 802.11n systems today is lack of consistency of performance. There's no getting around it.

Under certain conditions 802.11n devices yield tremendous performance gains over older .11g/.11a systems (and these are the numbers vendors typically quote), but under a wide variety of conditions that are typically encountered in real world deployments their performance suffers.

Inconsistent performance of .11n is one of the huge unspoken problems in the Wi-Fi industry. No one wants to talk about it since most vendors don’t have adequate means to address the problem."

Read more here.

Flipping the finger to VC money.

noreply@blogger.com (Evert) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 11:39:00 +0000

Even though it seems that every and all start-ups are chasing the VC dollar it seems that there are good reasons NOT to do so.
Tom Foremski lists 7 reasons not to go looking for VC money and why it makes sense not to do so:

-If you start by selling your concept to potential prospects (rather than stock to VCs), you will either end up with initial customers or a conviction that your idea won't work. Why raise money and then find out which one it will be?

-Raising money takes time away from understanding your market and potential customers. Often more time than it would take to just go sell something to a customer. Let your customers fund your business through product orders.

-Adding VCs to the mix early gives you an additional set of masters you must serve in addition to your customers. It is always hard to serve two masters, especially in a startup.

-With no money you can't make a fatal mistake. This is a blessing. Without VC money, you are forced to figure out how to extract funds from your customers for value you deliver. Ultimately that is the only thing that really matters.

-Money removes spending discipline. If you have the money you will spend it - whether you have figured out your business model and market or not. -Raising VC money determines your exit strategy. You will either sell the business or take it public. What if you end up with a very profitable, modest sized business that you want to just run? That is no longer an option once you raise VC money.

-You sell your precious equity very dearly before you have a proven business model. This is the worst time to raise money from a valuation perspective. I know this is a contrarian view. And some of you are saying that might be fine for a small company.

-Don't forget Dell, HP, Microsoft all originally started without VC funding; you can build a big business with bootstrapping and without VC money.

I can't say I disagree completely with him...

I won't eat my hat (but I might just look up a few recipes...)

noreply@blogger.com (Evert) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 12:47:00 +0000

I have been openly critical of Enterprise Ireland in the past. However I had a meeting with my EI development advisor last week that was a breath of fresh air.
We sat down and he went trough my business with a fine tooth comb. No punches were pulled and we had a very frank exchange of views.
He pointed out where they could offer me support and how.
He told me how I could (and should) improve the business etc.
In short he did exactly what I would expect from an EI development advisor to do.
I have a feeling that our working relationship will improve greatly!

Codes of practice, slow broadband and fast 3G...

noreply@blogger.com (Evert) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 10:58:00 +0000

OFCOM has drafted a voluntary Code of Practice for ISP's. This is an excellent innitiative in my opinion and something that we could do with in Ireland. It's mainstay is that ISP's have to communicate clearer to their customers what speeds they will actually be getting for their money. Currently most, if not all, ISP's juggle theoretical speeds to dazzle customers but apart from business users nobody is really getting the speeds advertised. The Code of Practice states:
1. headline or advertised speed - This is the speed that ISPs use to describe the packages that they offer to consumers. They are often described as ‘up to’ speeds but these are often only a guide as to the speed an ISP can provide and at what price.
2. access line speed - This refers to the maximum speed of the data connection between the broadband modem and the local exchange or cable head end. This constitutes the maximum speed a consumer will be able to experience.
3. actual throughput speed - This is the actual speed that a consumer experiences at a particular time when they are connected to the internet. This figure is often dependent on factors such as the ISP’s network, its traffic shaping and management policy, the number of subscribers sharing the network at the same time and the number of people accessing a particular website.
4. average throughput speed – This is an average of actual throughput speed for each different broadband product offered by an ISP.

There's a lot more worth reading. I suggest that you download an copy and email it to your ISP's customer service desk. One fault in the Code is that it only applies to fixed line broadband providers. I think that a similar code for Wireless ISP's is even more needed. The business practices in this part of the industry need even more "streamlining".

Another interesting read is PCMag's survey of broadband speeds in the USA. It gives a good overview of what speeds are being delivered by the different "broadband" technologies:
"In the modern world of Internet service, two things go without saying: Fiber optic service is dramatically faster, and satellite service is substantially slower. Our results support these shocking statements. Among satellite services, including industry leader HughesNet and competitors like WildBlue, SurfSpeeds averaged just 145 kilobits per second (Kbps). Taken as a whole, DSL and cable connections were more than five times as fast. And fiber optic connections, including the well-publicized Verizon FiOS and lesser-known regional carriers like Utah's Mstar and New Mexico's CityLink Fiber, were 152 percent faster than that." However the most surprising bit is that the fastest provider is Surfspeeds with an average speed of just 724 Kbps. Not exactly broadband is it now?!
Anyway, go read the article, it puts everything into perspective.

Lastly here's an blog post about 3G speeds generated in an almost lab environment. Maximum speeds reached where of 5.76 MBit/s. The test were performed on the Hanover exibition ground, where both T-Mobile and Vodafone have upgraded their 3G network and their base station backhaul to support these speeds. It again illustrates the difference between theoretical and actual speeds.

WiFi still on the increase...

noreply@blogger.com (Evert) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:55:00 +0000

In spite of all the recent comments that wifi would lose out to wimax & 3G recent figures clearly indicate that the number of users as well as the actual usage is increasing (and not by single digits either).
British Telecom (BT) reports that between April and September 2008, customers spent twice as much time on its WiFi networks as in the preceding six months. People spent more than a million minutes a day on the average on BT OpenZone and BT FON networks.
Also Icomera, who specialises in wifi access on public transport systems reports a staggering 272% increase in this type of service.
The actual figure are impressive:
* By the end of October 2008, over one million passengers had used Wi-Fi services in trains, buses and ferries, approximately 3.72 million times, a 272% increase over the past year. Among Icomera’s customers are large transport operators such as Arriva, First Group, National Express, Stagecoach and Go-Ahead.
* Average Wi-Fi session on trains: 83 minutes
* Average Wi-Fi session on buses: 30 minutes
* Average number of sessions per week: 50,000

Choo-choo train....

noreply@blogger.com (Evert) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 10:28:00 +0000

I have blogged on the topic of wifi on trains at the start of this year (here, here and here). The posts centered about the lack of wifi on Irish Trains and the apparent unwillingness by Irish Rail to even consider offering this service. All this culminated in a discussion between Barry Kenny (Irish Rail spokesman) and myself on the “Last Word” show on TodayFM. During this discussion I made the offer to Irish Rail to install a wifi service on their trains at no expense to Irish Rail. Even though he clearly wasn’t happy with my offer Mr.Kenny agreed to meet with me in order to discuss this.

Due to a strike by Irish Rail staff the actual broadcasting of this discussion was delayed by several weeks and I decided not to chase Irish Rail up in regards to this offer unless I didn't hear from them after the broadcast. The broadcast came and went without a word from Irish Rail. It took several emails and calls from my side and eventually a press release before I received a reply from them. The matter was passed on to Paul O’Kelly their “Corporate & e-marketing” manager. I contacted Mr. O’Kelly to arrange a meeting during which we could discuss our offer and their requirements/parameters for such a service. After a few weeks of emails to-and-fro I was told that they were not willing to meet me unless I submitted a complete proposal for a wifi service. I replied by outlining that we were offering them to take a 3 million+ cost of their hands and that it was ridiculous to expect us to submit a complete proposal without actual having met and discussed their parameters for such a service. Obviously there would be requirements specific to Irish Rail that would needed to be met so preparing such a proposal without this information would be non-sensical and would doom the project to failure before it even started...

Irish Rail obviously saw the logic in this and forwarded technical information and requirements allowing us to start work on a proposal. I also arranged a meeting with Mr.O’Kelly to discuss our proposal further. During the meeting we discussed the deployment & benefits of a train-wide wifi network and the structure under which we could offer this to Irish Rail. Even though there were no costs involved in our proposal for Irish Rail he kept insisting that the provision of this service would have to be out out to tender. After some more prodding I was told that there was also another possibility whereby we would pay Irish Rail for the right to provide the service (i.e. similar to arrangements that they have with vending machine owners etc.) through this construction we could (legally) avoid the tender process. We agreed that I would consider both options and would contact him over the next few weeks to make clear which option we would prefer to take and also to receive further information needed to prepare full technical project specifications.

After we had considered the two options and explored the pros and cons of both I emailed Mr. O'Kelly some weeks later to let him know that we preferred the option whereby we would pay Irish Rail a fee in order to be allowed to provide a wifi service on their trains. I also included a list of questions. His reply took weeks to arrive (via email). I was informed that after internal decision they had made the decision that the provision of wifi services would be put out to tender and that they were preparing the tender document.
A bit of a disappointment but I asked him to please keep me up to date on the tender process. Weeks later I had still not received a reply or an update so I emailed him again. No reply...
Last week, weeks later again, I sent him another email politely asking for an update. As expected I also still have to receive a reply to that email.
As none of my emails have bounced back I assume that he has received them.

It is becoming clear to me that in spite of being offered the service at NO COST Irish Rail is still not interested and hopes that I will just go away if they ignore me often and long enough. Fact is that this won't happen! There is a need for this service along with a clear benefit for Irish Rail (increased ticket sales, more satisfied customers, improved internal & external communication). I still have to come across someone who does not see the benefit in the provision of this service. The fact that a state-owned body (i.e. paid for by the tax-payer) willfully ignores the need for this service even when they would not incur any capital expenses in providing this is un-acceptable. Taking weeks to reply to an email or not replying at all indicates a lack of respect and is unprofessional to say the least...

Investing for the masses (recession beater)!

noreply@blogger.com (Evert) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:27:00 +0000

Over the last five years or so I have "risen" from the level where you started a business with your own money and made sure that it financed itself to a level whereby most of my current ventures have been at least partly funded by outside investors. Anyone with a passing knowledge of this business knows what it entails: you come up with an idea, do your research, write your business-plan, develop your product/service and then you do the big song & dance with either a private investor or a VC (a good insight can be found here). Banks will generally not come into the picture if you're a start-up. The result of all this is hopefully a sizable investment that will allow you to expand your team, bring your product to completion stage and to go out and sell it resulting in revenue.
One of the side-effects is also that smaller investors generally don't get a look-in (unless at seed/angel stage). Funding seems to have moved to larger amounts, even in first round funding, resulting in a declining angel investor culture.
The angel/seed investor culture in Ireland is almost non-existent due to a lack of interest and opportunities.
It also means that smaller investors are left with no other opportunities than to invest their cash via the institutionalised route (funds etc.) or to set up an account with a broker and invest in mostly established companies. No real "exciting" opportunities.
This has got me thinking; I think that it's time to change this situation.
I have two ventures starting up in the next few weeks, they're relatively small start-ups with good potential. Both are technology based; one is a security service and the other operates in the communications sector. Both however require a start-up investment.
It would be great if a culture existed through which I could open this opportunity to anybody who is interested in investing. It wouldn't be targeted at high net worth individuals but at people with some "spare" cash who would like to invest in the right early stage company and profit from the potentially high margins (mind that your investment could also crash & burn). There would be a minimum investment of something like a 1000 euro. In exchange the investor would get equity in the company. They would also get the option to purchase shares at preferential rates in any future offerings. Personally I would prefer to raise my funding through a number of smaller investors rather than one large investor. As a rule of thumb larger investors are using other peoples money (pensionfunds most likely) and will play a different game than private inventors. They will generally look for a quicker exit and want more involvement. From an entrepreneurs viewpoint private investors are easier to deal with.
I am going to spend some time thinking about this "concept" over the next few weeks in order to establish it's feasibility.
Comments & suggestions are very welcome!

What way forward for broadband...

noreply@blogger.com (Evert) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:29:00 +0000

I spent the afternoon of September 30th in Dublin Castle at the "invitation" of minister Eamonn Ryan. The occasion were the "Next Generation Broadband Forum Consultative Forum" aimed at formulating the long term policies in this area. This was an interesting and relatively new approach by the government that actually showed an interest in the opinion of people in the "broadband industry", the interest groups and the "average users".
The event was taking place in a large conference room with about 14 tables with 6-8 people per table. I shared a table with Sean Galagher, Antoin O Lachtnain, Damian Callan (blogger), Aebhric Mc Gibney (Director of Policy & Communications Dublin Chamber of Commerce) and a few others.
The afternoon was very tightly organised with specific topics to be discussed by each table. Each topic was given 30 minutes after which the table "moderator" would present the tables conclusions to the room.
Topics to be discussed were:
- "What broadband do we use"
- "How will Next Generation Broadband be delivered"

The discussions were very frank and some very valid points were raised. The general consensus was that the current approach does not work and that a change of direction is badly needed. Also the term "joined up thinking" was used often targeted at different departments and private sector operators actually working and thinking together. We also had a very good discussions about how broadband is used and what speeds and capacities will be needed towards 2010 and 2015. It was surprising to find out that by most people Youtube was still seen as a "new technology" and an example of future broadband use. Very few (if anybody) had heard of Qik, Seesmic, Vimeo or other video based applications. My Twittering of the discussions also raised some eyebrows.
One point that was raised by our table is that we should look at "untethered broadband service" meaning not just broadband into residential or business premises but also broadband to mobile devices and in public spaces. Also Broadband is not just an economic force but also a social & demographic driver and should be recognised as such. The provision of a widely available broadband service will change the make-up, quality and spread of our society.
As for required speeds we put forward 10Mbps by 2010 and 100Mbps by 2020 as an indication of what would be needed. However it was also agreed that quantity was as important as quality. This in relation to issues such as contention ratios and synchronous upload and download speeds.
Something that became apparent from the other tables' conclusions was that the private sector has no interest in rolling out broadband in areas currently not serviced without a guarantee of revenue.

The round table discussions ended at 3:20 at which time there was a well needed coffee break followed by a number of break-out sessions. I decided to participate in the session on "Models for open access" which looked like the one drawing the most people.
There were people from all the telcos, Comreg and some government departments. Initially the discussion was full of woolly talking with now specifics about the specifics of open access. I quickly dragged it back into reality by actually asking the group "what the open access should be to" i.e. privately owned or publicly owned infrastructure. Thus raised a lot of hackles as most incumbents did not want to build an infra-structure in unserved areas but also did not want to the government to intervene in the market. A director from Smart Telecom actually made a statement that their market research had shown that "SME's did not want broadband" and that the should only be government support for (privately owned) companies to supply broadband to multi-nationals and large corporates (he forgot to mention that this is exactly the market that Smart is targeting). Besides utterly stupid, his statement is indicative of the thinking within the industry. Everyone wants to run a closed shop with as only target immediate ROI and a serious lack of long term vision is prevalent.
I was pleasantly surprised to notice that there was a certain level of agreement with or at least interest in) my opinion from both the people from the various government departments as well as Comreg. I put forward that the recent & current as failed miserably and that a drastic change of policy and thinking is needed.
Privately owned companies clearly have no interested in rolling out broadband in underserved areas as there is no profit to be made. While it shows a lack of vision it is understandable as they are only looking at their bottom line.
What is needed in Ireland is a completely new broadband infrastructure. The current infra-structure could not support a sufficient broadband service even if we wanted it.
What is needed is a government owned broadband (fiber) network that will bring fast backhaul connectivity into every community. This infra-structure should be opened up to everyone on a fee paid basis and run by either a government body or a private operator for the government. As long as they do a better job than E-net.
Last mile delivery of broadband should be left to the private sector but this backhaul infra-structure opens up the market and will make service delivery in 90% of the country an achievable target. Obviously my complete proposal on this is ever so slightly more elaborate and detailed than just that but it surmises it nicely.
As you can imagine this proposal did not go down well with the telcos. Because "jayzus didn't they go and spend buckets of money to bring us into the broadband heaven that we are in"....
After this frank exchange of opinion there were 20 minutes for all the breakout session to present their opinions and conclusions. Unfortunately the minister was no longer present as he was needed in the Dail to assist in dealing with some "financial problems".
This was followed by a brief "thank you" from the organisers which ended the day.
I must say that I was impressed by the overall level of the discussions and the frank exchanges of opinion and I hope that all the views and opinions will be considered by the minister and his department when they draw up there long term policies.

Big Bang for dummies...

noreply@blogger.com (Evert) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 16:12:00 +0000

There's been a lot of talk about the Large Hadron Collider recently. Most of it was about the world ending when it was switched on.
However most people did not really seem to understand what the thing really did.
Let the CERN staff explain it to you:

Arrrghhhhh - its wifi, not rocket science, sort it out Techcrunch

noreply@blogger.com (Evert) — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 20:07:00 +0000

The title of this post is one of the many Twitter messages over the last few days complaining over the bad quality of the wifi access at the TechCrunch50 event. I am really surprised and slightly disgusted by this. As far as I can recall last year there was either no wifi access or it was plagued by problems.
Really guys, it's not *that* hard. You just need someone in charge of the wifi who knows what they're doing.
You need to consider signal propagation paths, interference, reflection, channel management and roaming. And that's the wireless part.
Connect that to managed switches and sufficient backhaul and Bob's yer uncle...
Not that TC50 is the only conference that suffers from bad wifi. Most technology conferences are marked by dire connectivity.
I have repeatedly made the offer via Twitter but want to repeat it here; if TechCrunch wants someone to supply them with working public wifi access at their next event all they need to do is contact me.
And no, I am NOT boasting. Those that have used wifi services supplied by me/Airappz can testify that it works.
So there you go; if TC (or you) need wifi for an event or public location feel free to contact me...

Apple "news"...

noreply@blogger.com (Evert) — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:10:00 +0000

With the recent launches of the iphone one would imagine that there would some sensational news coming from Apple's upcoming "Let's Rock" event.
Not really...
According to AppleInsider the biggest rumours are about: "a new version of the iPod shuffle will be made available in 5 colors, while an update to the iPod classic will arrive in just two colors -- black and silver as the options exist today. The iPod touch will not be offered with a color choice and look very similar to today's model."

But that's not all!!

"information passed on to MacRumors earlier this morning indicates the three new colors for the nano will include Purple, Yellow, and Orange. The nano is expected to be available in 8GB and 16GB models, while the iPod touch remains 8GB, 16GB and 32GB capacities"

So new colours and more space?! That's it?!
For a company which consistently has been at the forefront of innovative design this would be a lack-lustre show.
Are they suffering from the fiasco that is the iphone?
I hope not.
Let's see what the event will bring us....

Looking for a coder/programmer...

noreply@blogger.com (Evert) — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 11:05:00 +0000

I am looking for someone who can write/code a tool for me that can do the following;

- Measure backhaul throughput (upload, download, ping times) at preset intervals.
- Take a GPS reading.
- Tag the throughput reading with the GPS reading.
- Export the above in a format that can be used with Google maps.

Anyone?

Wardriving & why public wifi should be free...

noreply@blogger.com (Evert) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:49:00 +0000

Classic!

noreply@blogger.com (Evert) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:19:00 +0000

"What's the difference between Sarah Palin and Barack Obama?"

"One is a well turned-out, good-looking, and let's be honest, pretty sexy piece of eye-candy.

"The other kills her own food."

I think that the woman is the best thing that has come to international politics in a long time.

Gissajob!

noreply@blogger.com (Evert) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:07:00 +0000

Oisin O'Connor forwarded an interesting vacancy on to me via email thinking that I might know someone that would be interested and qualified for this position.
Rather than just contacting those people that I deemed qualified I decided to put the full vacancy up here. Contact details will be at the end of the post:

Title: Managing Director for Leading Digital Media Technology Company

Decription:
Managing Director for a Digital Media Technology Company in Limerick, Ireland

DavenportMajor Executive Search has been retained to recruit the Managing Director, DTS Licensing Limited (DLL), for DTS, Inc. (www.dts.com).
DTS, Inc. (NASDAQ: DTSI) is a digital technology company dedicated to delivering the ultimate entertainment experience. DTS decoders are in virtually every major brand of 5.1-channel surround processor, and there are hundreds of millions of DTS-licensed consumer electronics products available worldwide. A pioneer in multi-channel audio, DTS technology is in home theatre, car audio, PC and game console products, as well as DVD-Video, HD DVD, Blu-ray Disc and Surround Music software. Founded in 1993, DTS is headquartered in Agoura Hills, California and has offices in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan and China.
Located in Ireland and reporting to the Senior Vice President and General Manager, Consumer Division, this is a prestigious position requiring a minimum of fifteen years of proven and progressively responsible experience in a global company within the Mobile Consumer Market: Digital Media, Wireless Communications, Broadband Infrastructure, Consumer Electronics, IT, PC or Automotive industry segment. This individual will be responsible for worldwide licensing processes, agreements and administration as well as the Managing Director functions for all European operations. Their depth of experience will include:
• Progressively increased responsibility in the areas of Product Management, Strategic Marketing or Business Development. Prior Intellectual Property Licensing experience is a significant plus
• Prior experience as a Managing Director or General Manager in Europe is preferred. Experience working for a U.S. multi-national company is required.
• Ability to leverage technical background and strategic marketing skills for successful client relationships.
• Experience in P&L management.
• Exceptional financial analysis and analytical skills.
• In-depth knowledge of licensing programs and processes with an understanding of “ingredient” technology and how it is licensed.
• Experience working internationally.
• BS Engineering, or equivalent

Any suggestions of strong potential candidates will be appreciated and all referrals held in strict confidence. We feel this will be a tremendous opportunity for the right individual. Thank you very much for your help.

Best regards,

Lynn Alderete
Executive Recruiter
DavenportMajor Executive Search
12770 High Bluff Drive, Suite 320
San Diego, CA 92130
858-273-1602
lynn@davenportmajor.com
www.davenportmajor.com

Limerick Open Coffee Club...

noreply@blogger.com (Evert) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 18:27:00 +0000

Seeing that there was only a horrible Yahoo Groups page I have taken it upon myself to start developing the Limerick Open Coffee Club website.
I will be fitting the development in between my other activities so it will probably be an ongoing work in progress.
Your contributions, suggestions & comments are welcome: http://opencoffeeclublimerick.com/

Enterprise Ireland International Markets Week.

noreply@blogger.com (Evert) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:34:00 +0000

I might sound like a PR person for Enterprise Ireland but I received another email from them about an interesting event taking place on 13-16 October 2008.
It's called the "International Markets Week" and offers an opportunity for people from Irish companies to get in direct contact with EI representatives from their foreign offices.
Full details are as follows:

We are pleased to give you details of International Markets Week which takes place this year during week commencing 13 October. Attached please find a brochure for this event. Full details are also on our website.
The focus of International Markets Week is to identify how Enterprise Ireland can assist your company in generating export sales.

Our overseas-based marketing staff will be in Ireland to meet with you on an individual basis to discuss your company’s international growth strategy. Your Development Adviser will also attend these meetings to agree joint action plans for the future.

Venues
We are holding meetings in two locations during International Markets Week; in Shannon on Monday 13 and in Dublin on Tuesday 14, Wednesday 15 and Thursday 16 October.

Monday 13 October:
Enterprise Ireland, Westpark, Shannon, Co. Clare

Tuesday 14 – Thursday 16 October:
RDS, Shelbourne Hall, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4

You can register for meetings here. A member of the team will contact you to confirm your meetings.

There is no participation fee for this Enterprise Ireland event.

We believe International Markets Week will be of great benefit to your company and we look forward to receiving your registration as soon as possible. If you require assistance or have any queries, please contact us at:

International Markets Week Desk
Tel: 01 2300943 | email: internationalmarketsweek@enterprise-ireland.com

Google's "Chrome" browser is not all that shiny...

noreply@blogger.com (Evert) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:21:00 +0000

When looking at the T&C for Google's new "Chrome" browser I something interesting.
For reference i have copied the complete T&C and printed the part that (11.1) I found dubious in bold:

Google Chrome Terms of Service

These Terms of Service apply to the executable code version of Google Chrome. Source code for Google Chrome is available free of charge under open source software license agreements at http://code.google.com/chromium/terms.html.

1. Your relationship with Google

1.1 Your use of Google’s products, software, services and web sites (referred to collectively as the “Services” in this document and excluding any services provided to you by Google under a separate written agreement) is subject to the terms of a legal agreement between you and Google. “Google” means Google Inc., whose principal place of business is at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States. This document explains how the agreement is made up, and sets out some of the terms of that agreement.

1.2 Unless otherwise agreed in writing with Google, your agreement with Google will always include, at a minimum, the terms and conditions set out in this document. These are referred to below as the “Universal Terms”. Open source software licenses for Google Chrome source code constitute separate written agreements. To the limited extent that the open source software licenses expressly supersede these Universal Terms, the open source licenses govern your agreement with Google for the use of Google Chrome or specific included components of Google Chrome.

1.3 Your agreement with Google will also include the terms of any Legal Notices applicable to the Services, in addition to the Universal Terms. All of these are referred to below as the “Additional Terms”. Where Additional Terms apply to a Service, these will be accessible for you to read either within, or through your use of, that Service.

1.4 The Universal Terms, together with the Additional Terms, form a legally binding agreement between you and Google in relation to your use of the Services. It is important that you take the time to read them carefully. Collectively, this legal agreement is referred to below as the “Terms”.

1.5 If there is any contradiction between what the Additional Terms say and what the Universal Terms say, then the Additional Terms shall take precedence in relation to that Service.

2. Accepting the Terms

2.1 In order to use the Services, you must first agree to the Terms. You may not use the Services if you do not accept the Terms.

2.2 You can accept the Terms by:

(A) clicking to accept or agree to the Terms, where this option is made available to you by Google in the user interface for any Service; or

(B) by actually using the Services. In this case, you understand and agree that Google will treat your use of the Services as acceptance of the Terms from that point onwards.

2.3 You may not use the Services and may not accept the Terms if (a) you are not of legal age to form a binding contract with Google, or (b) you are a person barred from receiving the Services under the laws of the United States or other countries including the country in which you are resident or from which you use the Services.

2.4 Before you continue, you should print off or save a local copy of the Universal Terms for your records.

3. Language of the Terms

3.1 Where Google has provided you with a translation of the English language version of the Terms, then you agree that the translation is provided for your convenience only and that the English language versions of the Terms will govern your relationship with Google.

3.2 If there is any contradiction between what the English language version of the Terms says and what a translation says, then the English language version shall take precedence.

4. Provision of the Services by Google

4.1 Google has subsidiaries and affiliated legal entities around the world (“Subsidiaries and Affiliates”). Sometimes, these companies will be providing the Services to you on behalf of Google itself. You acknowledge and agree that Subsidiaries and Affiliates will be entitled to provide the Services to you.

4.2 Google is constantly innovating in order to provide the best possible experience for its users. You acknowledge and agree that the form and nature of the Services which Google provides may change from time to time without prior notice to you.

4.3 As part of this continuing innovation, you acknowledge and agree that Google may stop (permanently or temporarily) providing the Services (or any features within the Services) to you or to users generally at Google’s sole discretion, without prior notice to you. You may stop using the Services at any time. You do not need to specifically inform Google when you stop using the Services.

4.4 You acknowledge and agree that if Google disables access to your account, you may be prevented from accessing the Services, your account details or any files or other content which is contained in your account.

4.5 You acknowledge and agree that while Google may not currently have set a fixed upper limit on the number of transmissions you may send or receive through the Services or on the amount of storage space used for the provision of any Service, such fixed upper limits may be set by Google at any time, at Google’s discretion.

5. Use of the Services by you

5.1 In order to access certain Services, you may be required to provide information about yourself (such as identification or contact details) as part of the registration process for the Service, or as part of your continued use of the Services. You agree that any registration information you give to Google will always be accurate, correct and up to date.

5.2 You agree to use the Services only for purposes that are permitted by (a) the Terms and (b) any applicable law, regulation or generally accepted practices or guidelines in the relevant jurisdictions (including any laws regarding the export of data or software to and from the United States or other relevant countries).

5.3 You agree not to access (or attempt to access) any of the Services by any means other than through the interface that is provided by Google, unless you have been specifically allowed to do so in a separate agreement with Google. You specifically agree not to access (or attempt to access) any of the Services through any automated means (including use of scripts or web crawlers) and shall ensure that you comply with the instructions set out in any robots.txt file present on the Services.

5.4 You agree that you will not engage in any activity that interferes with or disrupts the Services (or the servers and networks which are connected to the Services).

5.5 Unless you have been specifically permitted to do so in a separate agreement with Google, you agree that you will not reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, trade or resell the Services for any purpose.

5.6 You agree that you are solely responsible for (and that Google has no responsibility to you or to any third party for) any breach of your obligations under the Terms and for the consequences (including any loss or damage which Google may suffer) of any such breach.

6. Your passwords and account security

6.1 You agree and understand that you are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of passwords associated with any account you use to access the Services.

6.2 Accordingly, you agree that you will be solely responsible to Google for all activities that occur under your account.

6.3 If you become aware of any unauthorized use of your password or of your account, you agree to notify Google immediately at http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/answer.py?answer=48601.

7. Privacy and your personal information

7.1 For information about Google’s data protection practices, please read Google’s privacy policy at http://www.google.com/privacy.html. This policy explains how Google treats your personal information, and protects your privacy, when you use the Services.

7.2 You agree to the use of your data in accordance with Google’s privacy policies.

8. Content in the Services

8.1 You understand that all information (such as data files, written text, computer software, music, audio files or other sounds, photographs, videos or other images) which you may have access to as part of, or through your use of, the Services are the sole responsibility of the person from which such content originated. All such information is referred to below as the “Content”.

8.2 You should be aware that Content presented to you as part of the Services, including but not limited to advertisements in the Services and sponsored Content within the Services may be protected by intellectual property rights which are owned by the sponsors or advertisers who provide that Content to Google (or by other persons or companies on their behalf). You may not modify, rent, lease, loan, sell, distribute or create derivative works based on this Content (either in whole or in part) unless you have been specifically told that you may do so by Google or by the owners of that Content, in a separate agreement.

8.3 Google reserves the right (but shall have no obligation) to pre-screen, review, flag, filter, modify, refuse or remove any or all Content from any Service. For some of the Services, Google may provide tools to filter out explicit sexual content. These tools include the SafeSearch preference settings (see http://www.google.com/help/customize.html#safe). In addition, there are commercially available services and software to limit access to material that you may find objectionable.

8.4 You understand that by using the Services you may be exposed to Content that you may find offensive, indecent or objectionable and that, in this respect, you use the Services at your own risk.

8.5 You agree that you are solely responsible for (and that Google has no responsibility to you or to any third party for) any Content that you create, transmit or display while using the Services and for the consequences of your actions (including any loss or damage which Google may suffer) by doing so.

9. Proprietary rights

9.1 You acknowledge and agree that Google (or Google’s licensors) own all legal right, title and interest in and to the Services, including any intellectual property rights which subsist in the Services (whether those rights happen to be registered or not, and wherever in the world those rights may exist). You further acknowledge that the Services may contain information which is designated confidential by Google and that you shall not disclose such information without Google’s prior written consent.

9.2 Unless you have agreed otherwise in writing with Google, nothing in the Terms gives you a right to use any of Google’s trade names, trade marks, service marks, logos, domain names, and other distinctive brand features.

9.3 If you have been given an explicit right to use any of these brand features in a separate written agreement with Google, then you agree that your use of such features shall be in compliance with that agreement, any applicable provisions of the Terms, and Google's brand feature use guidelines as updated from time to time. These guidelines can be viewed online at http://www.google.com/permissions/guidelines.html (or such other URL as Google may provide for this purpose from time to time).

9.4 Other than the limited license set forth in Section 11, Google acknowledges and agrees that it obtains no right, title or interest from you (or your licensors) under these Terms in or to any Content that you submit, post, transmit or display on, or through, the Services, including any intellectual property rights which subsist in that Content (whether those rights happen to be registered or not, and wherever in the world those rights may exist). Unless you have agreed otherwise in writing with Google, you agree that you are responsible for protecting and enforcing those rights and that Google has no obligation to do so on your behalf.

9.5 You agree that you shall not remove, obscure, or alter any proprietary rights notices (including copyright and trade mark notices) which may be affixed to or contained within the Services.

9.6 Unless you have been expressly authorized to do so in writing by Google, you agree that in using the Services, you will not use any trade mark, service mark, trade name, logo of any company or organization in a way that is likely or intended to cause confusion about the owner or authorized user of such marks, names or logos.

10. License from Google

10.1 Google gives you a personal, worldwide, royalty-free, non-assignable and non-exclusive license to use the software provided to you by Google as part of the Services as provided to you by Google (referred to as the “Software” below). This license is for the sole purpose of enabling you to use and enjoy the benefit of the Services as provided by Google, in the manner permitted by the Terms.

10.2 You may not (and you may not permit anyone else to) copy, modify, create a derivative work of, reverse engineer, decompile or otherwise attempt to extract the source code of the Software or any part thereof, unless this is expressly permitted or required by law, or unless you have been specifically told that you may do so by Google, in writing.

10.3 Unless Google has given you specific written permission to do so, you may not assign (or grant a sub-license of) your rights to use the Software, grant a security interest in or over your rights to use the Software, or otherwise transfer any part of your rights to use the Software.

11. Content license from you

11.1 You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services. By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services. This license is for the sole purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute and promote the Services and may be revoked for certain Services as defined in the Additional Terms of those Services.

11.2 You agree that this license includes a right for Google to make such Content available to other companies, organizations or individuals with whom Google has relationships for the provision of syndicated services, and to use such Content in connection with the provision of those services.

11.3 You understand that Google, in performing the required technical steps to provide the Services to our users, may (a) transmit or distribute your Content over various public networks and in various media; and (b) make such changes to your Content as are necessary to conform and adapt that Content to the technical requirements of connecting networks, devices, services or media. You agree that this license shall permit Google to take these actions.

11.4 You confirm and warrant to Google that you have all the rights, power and authority necessary to grant the above license.

12. Software updates

12.1 The Software which you use may automatically download and install updates from time to time from Google. These updates are designed to improve, enhance and further develop the Services and may take the form of bug fixes, enhanced functions, new software modules and completely new versions. You agree to receive such updates (and permit Google to deliver these to you) as part of your use of the Services.

13. Ending your relationship with Google

13.1 The Terms will continue to apply until terminated by either you or Google as set out below.

13.2 If you want to terminate your legal agreement with Google, you may do so by (a) notifying Google at any time and (b) closing your accounts for all of the Services which you use, where Google has made this option available to you. Your notice should be sent, in writing, to Google’s address which is set out at the beginning of these Terms.

13.3 Google may at any time, terminate its legal agreement with you if:

(A) you have breached any provision of the Terms (or have acted in manner which clearly shows that you do not intend to, or are unable to comply with the provisions of the Terms); or

(B) Google is required to do so by law (for example, where the provision of the Services to you is, or becomes, unlawful); or

(C) the partner with whom Google offered the Services to you has terminated its relationship with Google or ceased to offer the Services to you; or

(D) Google is transitioning to no longer providing the Services to users in the country in which you are resident or from which you use the service; or

(E) the provision of the Services to you by Google is, in Google’s opinion, no longer commercially viable.

13.4 Nothing in this Section shall affect Google’s rights regarding provision of Services under Section 4 of the Terms.

13.5 When these Terms come to an end, all of the legal rights, obligations and liabilities that you and Google have benefited from, been subject to (or which have accrued over time whilst the Terms have been in force) or which are expressed to continue indefinitely, shall be unaffected by this cessation, and the provisions of paragraph 20.7 shall continue to apply to such rights, obligations and liabilities indefinitely.

14. EXCLUSION OF WARRANTIES

14.1 NOTHING IN THESE TERMS, INCLUDING SECTIONS 14 AND 15, SHALL EXCLUDE OR LIMIT GOOGLE’S WARRANTY OR LIABILITY FOR LOSSES WHICH MAY NOT BE LAWFULLY EXCLUDED OR LIMITED BY APPLICABLE LAW. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OR THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR LOSS OR DAMAGE CAUSED BY NEGLIGENCE, BREACH OF CONTRACT OR BREACH OF IMPLIED TERMS, OR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES. ACCORDINGLY, ONLY THE LIMITATIONS WHICH ARE LAWFUL IN YOUR JURISDICTION WILL APPLY TO YOU AND OUR LIABILITY WILL BE LIMITED TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

14.2 YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK AND THAT THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND “AS AVAILABLE.”

14.3 IN PARTICULAR, GOOGLE, ITS SUBSIDIARIES AND AFFILIATES, AND ITS LICENSORS DO NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT TO YOU THAT:

(A) YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS,

(B) YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE OR FREE FROM ERROR,

(C) ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED BY YOU AS A RESULT OF YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES WILL BE ACCURATE OR RELIABLE, AND

(D) THAT DEFECTS IN THE OPERATION OR FUNCTIONALITY OF ANY SOFTWARE PROVIDED TO YOU AS PART OF THE SERVICES WILL BE CORRECTED.

14.4 ANY MATERIAL DOWNLOADED OR OTHERWISE OBTAINED THROUGH THE USE OF THE SERVICES IS DONE AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK AND THAT YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR OTHER DEVICE OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE DOWNLOAD OF ANY SUCH MATERIAL.

14.5 NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM GOOGLE OR THROUGH OR FROM THE SERVICES SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THE TERMS.

14.6 GOOGLE FURTHER EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

15. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

15.1 SUBJECT TO OVERALL PROVISION IN PARAGRAPH 14.1 ABOVE, YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT GOOGLE, ITS SUBSIDIARIES AND AFFILIATES, AND ITS LICENSORS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR:

(A) ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES WHICH MAY BE INCURRED BY YOU, HOWEVER CAUSED AND UNDER ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY.. THIS SHALL INCLUDE, BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO, ANY LOSS OF PROFIT (WHETHER INCURRED DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY), ANY LOSS OF GOODWILL OR BUSINESS REPUTATION, ANY LOSS OF DATA SUFFERED, COST OF PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSS;

(B) ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE WHICH MAY BE INCURRED BY YOU, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OR DAMAGE AS A RESULT OF:

(I) ANY RELIANCE PLACED BY YOU ON THE COMPLETENESS, ACCURACY OR EXISTENCE OF ANY ADVERTISING, OR AS A RESULT OF ANY RELATIONSHIP OR TRANSACTION BETWEEN YOU AND ANY ADVERTISER OR SPONSOR WHOSE ADVERTISING APPEARS ON THE SERVICES;

(II) ANY CHANGES WHICH GOOGLE MAY MAKE TO THE SERVICES, OR FOR ANY PERMANENT OR TEMPORARY CESSATION IN THE PROVISION OF THE SERVICES (OR ANY FEATURES WITHIN THE SERVICES);

(III) THE DELETION OF, CORRUPTION OF, OR FAILURE TO STORE, ANY CONTENT AND OTHER COMMUNICATIONS DATA MAINTAINED OR TRANSMITTED BY OR THROUGH YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES;

(III) YOUR FAILURE TO PROVIDE GOOGLE WITH ACCURATE ACCOUNT INFORMATION;

(IV) YOUR FAILURE TO KEEP YOUR PASSWORD OR ACCOUNT DETAILS SECURE AND CONFIDENTIAL;

15.2 THE LIMITATIONS ON GOOGLE’S LIABILITY TO YOU IN PARAGRAPH 15.1 ABOVE SHALL APPLY WHETHER OR NOT GOOGLE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF OR SHOULD HAVE BEEN AWARE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF ANY SUCH LOSSES ARISING.

16. Copyright and trade mark policies

16.1 It is Google’s policy to respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement that comply with applicable international intellectual property law (including, in the United States, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act) and to terminating the accounts of repeat infringers. Details of Google’s policy can be found at http://www.google.com/dmca.html.

16.2 Google operates a trade mark complaints procedure in respect of Google’s advertising business, details of which can be found at http://www.google.com/tm_complaint.html.

17. Advertisements

17.1 Some of the Services are supported by advertising revenue and may display advertisements and promotions. These advertisements may be targeted to the content of information stored on the Services, queries made through the Services or other information.

17.2 The manner, mode and extent of advertising by Google on the Services are subject to change without specific notice to you.

17.3 In consideration for Google granting you access to and use of the Services, you agree that Google may place such advertising on the Services.

18. Other content

18.1 The Services may include hyperlinks to other web sites or content or resources. Google may have no control over any web sites or resources which are provided by companies or persons other than Google.

18.2 You acknowledge and agree that Google is not responsible for the availability of any such external sites or resources, and does not endorse any advertising, products or other materials on or available from such web sites or resources.

18.3 You acknowledge and agree that Google is not liable for any loss or damage which may be incurred by you as a result of the availability of those external sites or resources, or as a result of any reliance placed by you on the completeness, accuracy or existence of any advertising, products or other materials on, or available from, such web sites or resources.

19. Changes to the Terms

19.1 Google may make changes to the Universal Terms or Additional Terms from time to time. When these changes are made, Google will make a new copy of the Universal Terms available at http://www.google.com/accounts/TOS?hl=en and any new Additional Terms will be made available to you from within, or through, the affected Services.

19.2 You understand and agree that if you use the Services after the date on which the Universal Terms or Additional Terms have changed, Google will treat your use as acceptance of the updated Universal Terms or Additional Terms.

20. General legal terms

20.1 Sometimes when you use the Services, you may (as a result of, or through your use of the Services) use a service or download a piece of software, or purchase goods, which are provided by another person or company. Your use of these other services, software or goods may be subject to separate terms between you and the company or person concerned. If so, the Terms do not affect your legal relationship with these other companies or individuals.

20.2 The Terms constitute the whole legal agreement between you and Google and govern your use of the Services (but excluding any services which Google may provide to you under a separate written agreement), and completely replace any prior agreements between you and Google in relation to the Services.

20.3 You agree that Google may provide you with notices, including those regarding changes to the Terms, by email, regular mail, or postings on the Services.

20.4 You agree that if Google does not exercise or enforce any legal right or remedy which is contained in the Terms (or which Google has the benefit of under any applicable law), this will not be taken to be a formal waiver of Google’s rights and that those rights or remedies will still be available to Google.

20.5 If any court of law, having the jurisdiction to decide on this matter, rules that any provision of these Terms is invalid, then that provision will be removed from the Terms without affecting the rest of the Terms. The remaining provisions of the Terms will continue to be valid and enforceable.

20.6 You acknowledge and agree that each member of the group of companies of which Google is the parent shall be third party beneficiaries to the Terms and that such other companies shall be entitled to directly enforce, and rely upon, any provision of the Terms which confers a benefit on (or rights in favor of) them. Other than this, no other person or company shall be third party beneficiaries to the Terms.

20.7 The Terms, and your relationship with Google under the Terms, shall be governed by the laws of the State of California without regard to its conflict of laws provisions. You and Google agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located within the county of Santa Clara, California to resolve any legal matter arising from the Terms. Notwithstanding this, you agree that Google shall still be allowed to apply for injunctive remedies (or an equivalent type of urgent legal relief) in any jurisdiction.

August 15, 2008

Google, chrome, browser, privacy, copyright

Silicon valley delegation to visit Dublin...

noreply@blogger.com (Evert) — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 12:49:00 +0000

Read on Silicon Republic:

Senior Silicon Valley CEOs, as well as venture capitalists and community leaders, will come to Dublin in force this November to advise and bolster the efforts of flourishing Irish tech start-ups.

It emerged today that the California-based Irish Technology Leadership Group (ITLG), led by senior Valley-based Irish executives from companies like Cisco, Intel, Palm and Sling Media, will lead a delegation to Dublin.

The delegation, which will include two of Silicon Valley’s most prominent civic and industry leaders, Tom McEnery, former Mayor of San José, and Carl Guardino, president of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, will meet with the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, at a special reception held in Áras an Uachtaráin.

While in Ireland, the Silicon Valley team will stage a series of workshops and networking events for a selection of promising Irish technology start-ups at Trinity College Dublin, from 18-19 November, 2008

The ITLG, an independent group of Irish-American technology executives in Silicon Valley, is committed to helping expand new opportunities for innovative Irish companies, as well as attracting new technology investments into Ireland.

The ITLG leadership team includes John Hartnett, senior vice-president of Palm; Conrad Burke, president and CEO of Innovalight; John Gilmore, chief operating officer of Sling Media; Rory McInerney, vice-president at Intel Corporation; and Barry O’Sullivan, senior vice-president at Cisco.

“The programme has been designed to bring very promising Irish technology start-ups into close contact with some of Silicon Valley’s most successful business leaders, entrepreneurs and financiers,” John Hartnett (pictured) said.

“We are particularly fortunate to have succeeded in attracting some of Silicon Valley’s leading investment banking and venture capital firms, as well as industry leaders from some of the world’s most successful technology companies,” he added.

I wonder if there is some opportunity to tie-in with the Paddysvalley trip from last year?
The original article can be found here.

Enterprise Week 2008 in the Midlands Region.

noreply@blogger.com (Evert) — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 12:27:00 +0000

I received an email this morning regarding a business event in the Irish Midlands that might be of interest to readers of this blog. Following is the content (verbatim):

From Monday 8th through to Friday 12th September, there will be a whole week dedicated to Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development in Laois, Longford, Offaly and Westmeath. Over 50 seminars,clinics, tours and events are taking place throughout the Region during Midlands Enterprise Week 2008 which is being organised by the local County Enterprise Boards. These events are targeted at existing businesses and people thinking of setting up their own business in the Midlands.
Attached for your convenience is a summary of all the events broken down by county. If you feel the week may be of benefit to colleagues, family or friends we would ask you to pass on these details to participate in Enterprise Week. Thank you. If anybody would like more information or to book participation at an event they can visit
www.laoisententerprise.ie
www.longfordceb.ie
www.offalyceb.ie/enterprise-week-2008-page.html
www.westmeath-enterprise.ie