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<channel>
	<title>Ken McGuire</title>
	
	<link>http://kenmc.com</link>
	<description>Ken McGuire, Irish technology blogger reflecting on technology, life and the interesting things between.</description>
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		<title>So yeah, I’m cycling to Sligo</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CreativeImagination/~3/plpUtxiYPTM/</link>
		<comments>http://kenmc.com/2010/08/23/so-yeah-im-cycling-to-sligo/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:20:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ken McGuire</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cube agree sl]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cycling]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[road trip]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sligo]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kenmc.com/?p=1644</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
That&#8217;ll be me on the left in the Sky jersey, heading off on first cycle yesterday
SLIGO. I&#8217;ve driven there countless times. I&#8217;ve taken the bus there. I&#8217;ve taken the train there. But I&#8217;ve never cycled there. Actually, the farthest I ever cycled in one swoop was about 10 miles on an exercise bike, a run [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4134/4919455004_8df5f63eee.jpg" alt="Me (left) heading off on first cycle" /><br />
<br /><small>That&#8217;ll be me on the left in the Sky jersey, heading off on first cycle yesterday</small></p>
<p>SLIGO. I&#8217;ve driven there countless times. I&#8217;ve taken the bus there. I&#8217;ve taken the train there. But I&#8217;ve never cycled there. Actually, the farthest I ever cycled in one swoop was about 10 miles on an exercise bike, a run around town is enough for me and at that, only if the weather is good. To correct that, <strong>I&#8217;m cycling to Sligo</strong>. Last week I didn&#8217;t have a bike, now I do. Last week I had never cycled beyond ten miles, now I have.</p>
<p>The route we&#8217;re taking (when I say we, I&#8217;ll be joined on this trip by my father, brother and cousin, the latter pair also pretty much in the same position as myself) runs about 150 miles and the plan is to do this over two days in October. 2010. I bought the bike on Friday gone, had the first cycle yesterday (and managed 22.17 miles at first time of asking, ticking along around 16.5 mph average) and I&#8217;ve got six weeks to get myself into some kind of shape to make the cycle to Sligo. This coming from someone who sits at a desk most of the day, hasn&#8217;t maintained any serious level of fitness or exercise in years and who has developed a serious taste for dining out and ordering in over the last few months, much to the detrement of both my wallet and health.</p>
<p>There are plenty of reasons for doing this. Festival season has been good to us folk in Kilkenny and I&#8217;ve just come off ten days and nights of the Kilkenny Arts Festival, which were rather good to me in terms of food and the late night pint. Throw in a comedy festival, Roots festival, and more besides and it turns out I haven&#8217;t been completely looking after myself food and fitness-wise, so I figure it&#8217;s a good way to get in shape. Then there&#8217;s the challenge part of it. There&#8217;s nothing like overcoming a massive obstacle when you put your mind to it. In my case, the obstacle is a 238 km trip from my home in Kilkenny to the family home in Sligo. It&#8217;ll save on diesel anyway. </p>
<p><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4094/4913236320_e47397a3dc.jpg" alt="Cube Agree SL 10" /></p>
<p>I&#8217;ve tried the C25K running programme, made it half-way once, almost finished it another time but found that I was able to carry the pace of 5km a lot sooner than 9 weeks so got bored. I don&#8217;t get to see my kayak all that often (it resides in Sligo at the moment) so figure cycling is a good a way as any to get fit and give yourself a challenge. I get a call one day last week from my cousin (also pictured above) that went something along the lines of &#8220;come on, we&#8217;ll go look at bikes in Dublin&#8221;. After all, if one is to cycle anywhere, one must have a bike and unfortunately I don&#8217;t think the mountain bike picked up last summer would cut such a trek.</p>
<p>So, Friday meant a trip to <a href="http://www.cyclesuperstore.ie">Cycle Superstore</a> in Dublin to collect the bike above, a Cube Agree SL 10. I should thank Justin for his assistance in the shop there, he looked after us well for the afternoon both with the bikes, the service and the pricing (we walked in looking for three bikes, pedals, new gear for me and more besides).</p>
<p>Next thing you know I&#8217;m up on the bike, first cycle out of the way (yesterday) and on my way to getting in some kind of &#8220;show shape&#8221; as I like to call it, for October. We&#8217;ve earmarked <strong>the weekend of October 8/9/10</strong>, take a chunk of one day to cycle Kilkeny to Athlone, then do Athlone to Sligo the following morning. If things go really well and there&#8217;s nice weather the previous weekend, sure we might try that one. Either way, I&#8217;ve got six weeks before hitting the road and I&#8217;m very much looking forward to it.</p>
<p>Note that this isn&#8217;t a charity cycle or fundraising cycle, this is four of us (two at complete beginner status, one with a few years experience, and one who gets notions to travel the world by bike every now and again) taking off for the fun element, and hopefully with a pint at the finish line. It&#8217;s all healthy eating until then! If you&#8217;re interested, I&#8217;ll be <a href="http://cycletrack.tv">writing about the experience over here</a> for a few weeks. May as well be blogging about the whole thing. Whether or not I stay cycling afterwards remains to be seen but it&#8217;s a nice goal to have in sight for a start!</p>

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			<wfw:commentRss>http://kenmc.com/2010/08/23/so-yeah-im-cycling-to-sligo/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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		<item>
		<title>2manydjs Tickets Up For Grabs</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CreativeImagination/~3/Y9E8I1osRKo/</link>
		<comments>http://kenmc.com/2010/07/26/2manydjs-tickets-up-for-grabs/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 26 Jul 2010 22:08:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ken McGuire</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[2manydjs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[competition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[giveaway]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kilkenny music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tickets]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kenmc.com/2010/07/26/2manydjs-tickets-up-for-grabs/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you&#8217;re not a reader of KilkennyMusic.com you might have missed a ticket giveaway there.
Heineken Green Spheres comes to Kilkenny this weekend bringing with it Delorentos, Alex Metric (both Friday), Jape (Saturday) and 2manydjs on Sunday night.
While the first three gigs have tickets available first come first served, we&#8217;ve got two pairs of tickets for [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>If you&#8217;re not a reader of <a href="http://kilkennymusic.com">KilkennyMusic.com</a> you might have missed <a href="http://kilkennymusic.com">a ticket giveaway there</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.heinekengreenspheres.ie">Heineken Green Spheres</a> comes to Kilkenny this weekend bringing with it Delorentos, Alex Metric (both Friday), Jape (Saturday) and 2manydjs on Sunday night.</p>
<p>While the first three gigs have tickets available first come first served, we&#8217;ve got two pairs of tickets for <a href="http://myspace.com/2manydjs">2manydjs</a> to give away for the Sunday night.</p>
<p>All you have to do is <a href="http://kilkennymusic.com/heineken-green-spheres-2manydjs-giveaway-20100726/">answer a simple question on the blog</a> and we&#8217;ll draw the winners on Wednesday at midday.</p>
<p><a href="http://kilkennymusic.com/heineken-green-spheres-2manydjs-giveaway-20100726/">Get in while you can&#8230;</a></p>
<p><em>Note: posted via WordPress for Android.</em></p>

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		<item>
		<title>Kilkenny Arts Festival Needs You</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CreativeImagination/~3/bj5ecV-XnWg/</link>
		<comments>http://kenmc.com/2010/07/21/kilkenny-arts-festival-needs-you/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:35:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ken McGuire</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[arts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[festival]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kaf]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kilkenny arts festival]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[volunteer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[volunteers]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kenmc.com/?p=1637</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
I&#8217;m back on the festival trail again this year with the Kilkenny Arts Festival and they&#8217;re looking for volunteers (see Facebook) on the ground and on the road from August 5th to 20th (the festival itself runs from August 6th to 15th this year). There is no previous experience necessary for festival volunteers, with the [...]]]></description>
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<p>I&#8217;m back on the festival trail again this year with the <a href="http://kilkennyarts.ie">Kilkenny Arts Festival</a> and they&#8217;re looking for volunteers (<a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=118376501542616" target="new">see Facebook</a>) on the ground and on the road from August 5th to 20th (the festival itself runs from August 6th to 15th this year). There is no previous experience necessary for festival volunteers, with the minimum requirement being that you are at least 14 years old. If successful, you&#8217;ll be briefed on your role a full week before the festival, though the closing date to get your application in is <strong>this Friday July 23rd</strong>.</p>
<p>Days volunteering may be short, long, a real mixed bag of things but it can be a great way to see a festival and meet some new folk at the same time. </p>
<p>The festival team are also looking for drivers throughout the festival. If you&#8217;re aged 25 or over and have a full, clean driving license and are interested in working as a driver on the festival, get in touch with Valerie on 056 7763663. Drivers with Class D (minibus) licenses are also required. The forms are also <a href="http://www.kilkennyarts.ie/festival/about/volunteer/">available to download here</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Note:</strong> The above clip is part of a conversation I had with Theatre and Dance curator Tom Creed ahead of this year&#8217;s festival. Thanks to the Project Arts Centre in Dublin for letting us use the space in the afternoon. I&#8217;ll be blogging my way through the Festival over at <a href="http://kilkennyarts.ie/blog/">KilkennyArts.ie</a>.</p>

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		<item>
		<title>Keep It Easy (Short)</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CreativeImagination/~3/1rgpt4j9krM/</link>
		<comments>http://kenmc.com/2010/07/19/keep-it-easy-short/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 19 Jul 2010 11:51:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ken McGuire</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Online Video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dave minogue]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dave thompson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[der tobin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Film]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[freda murphy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[keep it easy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[short film]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[thankless films]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[video]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kenmc.com/?p=1632</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
THANKLESS FILMS have been making a name for themselves locally over the past few weeks and months with the production of a number of comedic shorts including Collusion, La Grande Chasse De L&#8217;ane Amende and ComaStoned. Last Thursday night they premiered their latest offering, Keep It Easy, at the Bridgebrook Arms in Thomastown. Check it [...]]]></description>
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<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/Thanklessfilms">THANKLESS FILMS</a> have been making a name for themselves locally over the past few weeks and months with the production of a number of comedic shorts including Collusion, La Grande Chasse De L&#8217;ane Amende and ComaStoned. Last Thursday night they premiered their latest offering, Keep It Easy, at the Bridgebrook Arms in Thomastown. Check it out above, featuring the on-screen talents of David Thompson (guy), Freda Murphy (girl) and Dermot Tobin (guy in woods).</p>
<p>Check out <a href="http://whatsdaveminogue.blogspot.com/2010/07/keep-it-easy.html">Dave&#8217;s blog</a> for more.</p>

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		<item>
		<title>Devious Theatre &amp; Dario Fo</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CreativeImagination/~3/zdc_DDb2QLQ/</link>
		<comments>http://kenmc.com/2010/07/06/devious-theatre-dario-fo/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 06 Jul 2010 08:44:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ken McGuire</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Theatre]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[accidental death of an anarchist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[adoaa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[can't pay won't pay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dario fo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Devious Theatre]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[video]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kenmc.com/?p=1630</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
FROM LAST September to March gone, I spent seven months producing (and acting in) two major productions with The Devious Theatre Company. We embarked on the mission of a Dario Fo season. Not content with doing just one show, we sprang for two and almost went for a third two months ago. Of all of [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><object width="500" height="301"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8objP5YyF9M&amp;hl=en_GB&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8objP5YyF9M&amp;hl=en_GB&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="500" height="301"></embed></object></p>
<p>FROM LAST September to March gone, I spent seven months producing (and acting in) two major productions with <a href="http://devioustheatre.com">The Devious Theatre Company</a>. We embarked on the mission of a Dario Fo season. Not content with doing just one show, we sprang for two and almost went for a third two months ago. Of all of our productions to date, <em>Accidental Death of an Anarchist</em> and <em>Can&#8217;t Pay? Won&#8217;t Pay!</em> will stand out for a long time to come.</p>
<p>Whereby with previous shows we&#8217;ve released clips of various scenes, the <a href="http://mycrofilms.com">Mycrofilms</a> crew have put together a mashup of both productions in around six minutes or so to give you a flavour of what took place in the <a href="http://www.set.ie">Set Theatre</a> in Kilkenny in December 2009 and March 2010. </p>
<p>The good news for theatre folk is that we may be back sooner than you thought. After all, it wouldn&#8217;t be a summer in Kilkenny without some kind of Devious activity&#8230;</p>

<p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/OiQfIXqCzSxtRZ4GdM1DbpRVEKM/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/OiQfIXqCzSxtRZ4GdM1DbpRVEKM/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/>
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CreativeImagination/~4/zdc_DDb2QLQ" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
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		<item>
		<title>Kilkenny Arts Festival Launches</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CreativeImagination/~3/sMt6hsjqhx8/</link>
		<comments>http://kenmc.com/2010/07/01/kilkenny-arts-festival-launches/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Jul 2010 09:45:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ken McGuire</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Online Video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[arts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[arts festival]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chorus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dublin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fergus sheil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[john morton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kaf]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kilkenny]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kilkenny arts festival]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[programme]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kenmc.com/?p=1628</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
ONE OF the highlights of my calendar year (and that of Kilkenny) is the Kilkenny Arts Festival. Now in its 36th year, this year&#8217;s festival runs from August 6th to 15th and is packed to the hilt with the best in music, theatre and dance, visual arts, literature, children&#8217;s events and more. A long time [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><object width="500" height="301"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fOE-la9Wu-A&amp;hl=en_GB&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fOE-la9Wu-A&amp;hl=en_GB&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="500" height="301"></embed></object></p>
<p>ONE OF the highlights of my calendar year (and that of Kilkenny) is the <a href="http://kilkennyarts.ie">Kilkenny Arts Festival</a>. Now in its 36th year, this year&#8217;s festival runs from August 6th to 15th and is packed to the hilt with the best in music, theatre and dance, visual arts, literature, children&#8217;s events and more. A long time spectator, last year was the first year I&#8217;ve volunteered on the festival and I&#8217;m back (along with <a href="http://johnmorton.ie">John Morton</a>) in the same role last year in producing the online content for the festival duration (and blogging the festival via the KAF blog).</p>
<p>That started yesterday with the launch in Dublin where Fergus Shiel put a group of professional singers through their paces to announce the KAF programme for 2010 through a choral performance. The same will be repeated in Kilkenny on August 14th where Fergus will lead a group of around 200 singers through a performance in St. Canice&#8217;s Catherdral where works will include Rossini&#8217;s <em>Sabat Mater</em> and Beethoven&#8217;s <em>Choral Fantasy</em>.</p>
<p>Check out the video above, or watch<a href="http://qik.com/video/8403564"> the Qik clip of the launch yesterday</a> as it happened.</p>

<p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/sIZsh5i-NPOOT007MCmkVnRPu7U/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/sIZsh5i-NPOOT007MCmkVnRPu7U/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/>
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CreativeImagination/~4/sMt6hsjqhx8" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
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		<item>
		<title>Make Money On YouTube – YouTube Partnerships</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CreativeImagination/~3/bX9nnVVxqP8/</link>
		<comments>http://kenmc.com/2010/06/29/make-money-on-youtube-youtube-partnerships/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 29 Jun 2010 08:39:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ken McGuire</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Online Video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Internet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[make money on youtube]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Money]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[partners]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[revenue]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[youtube]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kenmc.com/?p=1625</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
There have been some good chats going on locally of late in relation to video content creation and monetising video content online. A mail in the inbox over the weekend prompted me towards the YouTube Partner Programme. On the outside it&#8217;s certainly looks more like an option for those who are uploading regularly and clocking [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><object width="500" height="301"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7VN131tLEBc&#038;hl=en_GB&#038;fs=1&#038;"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7VN131tLEBc&#038;hl=en_GB&#038;fs=1&#038;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="500" height="301"></embed></object></p>
<p>There have been some good chats going on locally of late in relation to video content creation and monetising video content online. A mail in the inbox over the weekend prompted me towards the YouTube Partner Programme. On the outside it&#8217;s certainly looks more like an option for those who are uploading regularly and clocking up some serious video videos (thousands to millions) but the minimum criteria covers ownership, copyright and age.<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/t/partnerships_faq"><br />
Check the full details here</a> or view the video above for more of an insight as to how the <a href="http://youtube.com/partners">Partner</a> programme works.</p>
<p>Next thing I&#8217;d like to know is what (if any, or many) Irish groups are able to generate reasonable revenue from their YouTube content?</p>

<p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_L3DSpgVWASbUEG1L2WAwnMkxNw/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_L3DSpgVWASbUEG1L2WAwnMkxNw/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/>
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CreativeImagination/~4/bX9nnVVxqP8" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
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		<item>
		<title>Kilkenny Open Coffee For June</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CreativeImagination/~3/OwvLrotIg1g/</link>
		<comments>http://kenmc.com/2010/06/02/kilkenny-open-coffee-for-june/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jun 2010 08:18:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ken McGuire</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Open Coffee]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kilkenny]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kocc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[market cross]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kenmc.com/?p=1622</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ photo credit: Yuki Mizuguchi
IT&#8217;S THAT time of the month again, tomorrow today is Open Coffee morning in Kilkenny (follow on Twitter). 
For almost 18 months now we&#8217;ve been operating on the first Wednesday of every month and regardless of whether there&#8217;s a dozen people there or two people there, it&#8217;s a morning I very [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35639600@N06/4662196859/" title="2010-01-280087" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4048/4662196859_29849b9b9d.jpg" alt="2010-01-280087" border="0" /></a><br /><small><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/" title="Attribution-ShareAlike License" target="_blank"><img src="http://kenmc.com/wp-content/plugins/photo-dropper/images/cc.png" alt="Creative Commons License" border="0" width="16" height="16" align="absmiddle" /></a> <a href="http://www.photodropper.com/photos/" target="_blank">photo</a> credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35639600@N06/4662196859/" title="Yuki Mizuguchi" target="_blank">Yuki Mizuguchi</a></small></p>
<p>IT&#8217;S THAT time of the month again, <del>tomorrow</del> today is Open Coffee morning in Kilkenny (<a href="http://twitter.com/kilkennyocc">follow on Twitter</a>). </p>
<p>For almost 18 months now we&#8217;ve been operating on the first Wednesday of every month and regardless of whether there&#8217;s a dozen people there or two people there, it&#8217;s a morning I very much look forward to in the month as a chance to catch up with folk, shoot the breeze over some tea, talk a little shop, sport, tech, gadgets, demos, whatever is going.</p>
<p>Wednesday&#8217;s meet takes place, as usual, at the rear of the Kilkenny Café in Market Cross Shopping Centre (<a href="http://short.ie/koccmap">map here</a>) and kicks off at 11am. Free wifi and chats are available so if you&#8217;re reading this at your desk or on your phone this morning and you&#8217;ve got a half hour / hour to spare in your day or just want to pop your head in to say hello, do come along.</p>

<p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/DbfVxY7O6F-j2oJQ343CLrNZLoM/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/DbfVxY7O6F-j2oJQ343CLrNZLoM/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/>
<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/DbfVxY7O6F-j2oJQ343CLrNZLoM/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/DbfVxY7O6F-j2oJQ343CLrNZLoM/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CreativeImagination?a=OwvLrotIg1g:lFBwXm-Z-mU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CreativeImagination?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CreativeImagination?a=OwvLrotIg1g:lFBwXm-Z-mU:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CreativeImagination?i=OwvLrotIg1g:lFBwXm-Z-mU:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CreativeImagination?a=OwvLrotIg1g:lFBwXm-Z-mU:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CreativeImagination?i=OwvLrotIg1g:lFBwXm-Z-mU:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CreativeImagination?a=OwvLrotIg1g:lFBwXm-Z-mU:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CreativeImagination?i=OwvLrotIg1g:lFBwXm-Z-mU:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CreativeImagination/~4/OwvLrotIg1g" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
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		<item>
		<title>May Everyone Everywhere Find Their Way</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CreativeImagination/~3/wOTRE6E2tYY/</link>
		<comments>http://kenmc.com/2010/05/20/may-everyone-everywhere-find-their-way/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 20 May 2010 17:16:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ken McGuire</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nokia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ovi maps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sat nav]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kenmc.com/?p=1620</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
It&#8217;s rare enough that I&#8217;ll pop my head up to share an advertising video, but the theatrical side of me really likes this extended viral for Nokia&#8217;s SatNav campaign. Between work and new ventures in the past two months I&#8217;ve found myself on the road a lot, have taken many wrong turns in Dublin, some [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><object width="500" height="303"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8wtirDXy53o&#038;hl=en_US&#038;fs=1&#038;"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8wtirDXy53o&#038;hl=en_US&#038;fs=1&#038;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="500" height="303"></embed></object></p>
<p>It&#8217;s rare enough that I&#8217;ll pop my head up to share an advertising video, but the theatrical side of me really likes this extended viral for Nokia&#8217;s SatNav campaign. Between work and new ventures in the past two months I&#8217;ve found myself on the road a lot, have taken many wrong turns in Dublin, some wrong turns in Cork, but having a sat nav in the van and on the phone eventually brought me back to Kilkenny.</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve strayed from the N95 as my primary handset in recent weeks but for road and street warriors packing any of Nokia&#8217;s recently released handsets, there&#8217;s some free maps to be had with <a href="http://www.nokia.ie/apps-and-services/ovi-maps">Ovi Maps</a>.</p>
<p>Now to break out the notebook and get me some blog posts&#8230;</p>

<p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Avr9x7Y-rMFCO3aiO7sbabqZjTA/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Avr9x7Y-rMFCO3aiO7sbabqZjTA/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/>
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		<item>
		<title>Kilkenny Open Coffee for May</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CreativeImagination/~3/zTsKb3iTde8/</link>
		<comments>http://kenmc.com/2010/05/04/kilkenny-open-coffee-for-may/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 04 May 2010 07:26:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ken McGuire</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Open Coffee]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kilkenny open coffee]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kocc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[networking]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kenmc.com/?p=1616</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ photo credit: insidious_plots
THE NEXT gathering of Kilkenny Open Coffee is tomorrow morning (Wednesday 5th) at Kilkenny Cafe, Market Cross Shopping Centre on High St., Kilkenny. All are welcome, whether you&#8217;re involved in business, technology, a web worker, home worker, artist or otherwise. Come along, tell us what you&#8217;re up to, bring a friend, plug [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/70928775@N00/4561741727/" title="first attempt, pouring hot chocolate like latte art" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4057/4561741727_067ba817bb.jpg" alt="first attempt, pouring hot chocolate like latte art" border="0" /></a><br /><small><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/" title="Attribution License" target="_blank"><img src="http://kenmc.com/wp-content/plugins/photo-dropper/images/cc.png" alt="Creative Commons License" border="0" width="16" height="16" align="absmiddle" /></a> <a href="http://www.photodropper.com/photos/" target="_blank">photo</a> credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/70928775@N00/4561741727/" title="insidious_plots" target="_blank">insidious_plots</a></small></p>
<p>THE NEXT gathering of Kilkenny Open Coffee is tomorrow morning (Wednesday 5th) at Kilkenny Cafe, Market Cross Shopping Centre on High St., Kilkenny. All are welcome, whether you&#8217;re involved in business, technology, a web worker, home worker, artist or otherwise. Come along, tell us what you&#8217;re up to, bring a friend, plug your business, website and meet new people working (quite possibly) in the same sector as yourself. This will be the fifth meetup of the year and I&#8217;ll be looking to get back to KOCC tomorrow morning myself having missed last month&#8217;s outing.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;re coming along, we usually meet up at 11am at the back of Kilkenny Cafe (around the couches and bigger tables). There&#8217;s usually some type of offer available on coffee / tea / scones etc., free wifi available and powerpoints on the floor too for anyone bringing a laptop along, though admittedly laptops are rare at the Kilkenny mornings.</p>
<p>You can <a href="http://twitter.com/kilkennyocc">follow Kilkenny Open Coffee on Twitter</a> or <a href="http://short.ie/koccmap">check the map here</a>. For those cycling / driving, there is plenty of parking available in Market Cross car park with bike bays available on street level as well.</p>

<p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lmdKTkUqnY9iO4PPBjuFPhEC_KM/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lmdKTkUqnY9iO4PPBjuFPhEC_KM/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/>
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		<item>
		<title>Heading To Media 2020</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CreativeImagination/~3/zK351b8TBOg/</link>
		<comments>http://kenmc.com/2010/04/26/heading-to-media-2020/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 26 Apr 2010 08:40:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ken McGuire</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[conference]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[croke park]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[med2020]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[media 2020]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mediacontact.ie]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kenmc.com/?p=1613</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
Courtesy of Mediacontact.ie, I&#8217;ll be heading along to Media 2020 tomorrow in Croke Park in Dublin for a day long conference that includes presentations from BBC, RTE, the Guardian, the Irish Times, CNN, Google, Channel 4, and Realex Payments amongst others.
According to Mediacontact.ie, the aim of the conference is to

Understand the key domestic and international [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://kenmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/media2020.png" alt="Media 2020" title="Media 2020" width="500" height="155" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1614" /></p>
<p>Courtesy of Mediacontact.ie, I&#8217;ll be heading along to <a href="http://mediacontact.ie/details-conference-81.html">Media 2020</a> tomorrow in Croke Park in Dublin for a day long conference that includes presentations from BBC, RTE, the Guardian, the Irish Times, CNN, Google, Channel 4, and Realex Payments amongst others.</p>
<p>According to Mediacontact.ie, the aim of the conference is to</p>
<ul>
<li>Understand the key domestic and international trends that will shape the media in the future.</li>
<li>Explain the techniques, and strategies for reaching new online audiences.</li>
<li>Give you detailed information about the technologies, websites and applications that will capture the zeitgeist for the next five years.</li>
<li>Network with key influencers in the media industry.</li>
</ul>
<p>Just over a year ago, my own business took a step in a new direction, went through a little re-branding, and came out the other side with an additional focus on all things media. While web design and development is still the busiest element of the business, the shift from Event Ireland to <a href="http://eventmedia.ie">Event Media</a> has allowed me to open new doors in the world of design, <a href="http://rewindpr.com">music</a>, <a href="http://devioustheatre.com">theatre</a> and radio and reach out to new audiences for each. </p>
<p>Online and offline, dealing with the media has become a near daily part of work life on some level, certainly moreso when it comes to the <a href="http://kilkennymusic.com">music</a> and theatre side of life so I&#8217;ll be very interested in hearing what the big players have to say about the changing face of media and thoughts on what&#8217;s coming over the next few years. Plus it&#8217;ll be good to get out of the office and meet some new faces.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;re heading along and we&#8217;ve not met before, feel free to say hello. I&#8217;m <a href="http://twitter.com/kenmcguire">here on Twitter</a>, here on <a href="http://linkedin.com/in/kenmcguire">LinkedIn</a>, and I&#8217;m aiming to be in Croke Park for breakfast. Hashtag for those following the conference on Twitter tomorrow is #med2020.</p>
<p>Check out <a href="http://mediacontact.ie/details-conference-81.html">the Media 2020 lineup and details here</a> or grab yourself a <a href="http://mediacontact.ie/files/conferences/brochure-81.pdf">pdf brochure download</a>.</p>

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		<item>
		<title>Apprentice Applications Close May 3rd</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CreativeImagination/~3/d5iGUkVCj4A/</link>
		<comments>http://kenmc.com/2010/04/25/apprentice-applications-close-may-3rd/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 25 Apr 2010 16:47:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ken McGuire</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bill cullen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[television]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the apprentice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tv3]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kenmc.com/?p=1610</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
APPLICATIONS to be on the third series of TV3&#8217;s The Apprentice close on Monday May 3rd. I&#8217;ve followed the show for the past two series, loved it and sure enough, while good chunks of the show are shot for a TV audience, you&#8217;d have to admit that the series makes for great viewing as the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://kenmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/apprentice2009.jpg" alt="The Apprentice" title="The Apprentice" width="500" height="267" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1611" /></p>
<p>APPLICATIONS to be on the third series of TV3&#8217;s The Apprentice close on Monday May 3rd. I&#8217;ve followed the show for the past two series, loved it and sure enough, while good chunks of the show are shot for a TV audience, you&#8217;d have to admit that the series makes for great viewing as the candidates are put through their paces to become Bill Cullen&#8217;s &#8220;apprentice&#8221;.</p>
<p>Last time around saw salesman Steve Rayner beat Steven Higgens to the punch in the show&#8217;s finale with Rayner getting a €100,000 contract for is efforts.</p>
<p>From TV&#8217;s application &#8211; </p>
<blockquote><p>A selection of applicants will be called to take part in an interview process on Saturday 8th May with the possibility of progressing to a further round of interviews on Tuesday 11th and either Wednesday 12th of May or Thursday 13th of May.</p>
<p>Please be aware that your interview may only take a few minutes due to the large number of applicants. It is essential to come to the interview well presented and with good reasons as to why you should be Bill Cullen’s next Apprentice.</p>
<p>Please note that if you are one of the successful applicants who make it through to the televisions series you will need to make yourself completely available for an extended period of filming between June 14th 2010 and August 21st 2010.
</p></blockquote>
<p>If you&#8217;ve been sitting at home watching the last two series, reckon you can do better, why not make the application?</p>
<p><a href="http://tv3.ie/submit_apprentice_t_c.php">Start your application here at TV3.ie</a>.</p>

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		<title>BarCamp Belfast May 22nd</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CreativeImagination/~3/-vlzj48Ffbc/</link>
		<comments>http://kenmc.com/2010/04/19/barcamp-belfast-may-22nd/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 19 Apr 2010 07:13:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ken McGuire</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bar Camp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[barcamp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[belfast]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[meetup]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[networking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unconference]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[university of ulster]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kenmc.com/?p=1607</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
REGISTRATION is open and underway for BarCamp Belfast, taking place at the University of Ulster on Saturday May 22nd. Already in the pipeline for talks are Freedom of Information &#8230; for coders and bloggers, Hyperlocal Belfast (would hyperlocal blogging work in Belfast), Location, Location, Location (looking at smarter phones and the mobile web in 2010), [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.barcampbelfast.com"><img src="http://kenmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/barcampbelfast.jpg" alt="BarCamp Belfast" title="BarCamp Belfast" width="500" height="71" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1608" /></a></p>
<p>REGISTRATION is open and underway for BarCamp Belfast, taking place at the University of Ulster on Saturday May 22nd. Already in the pipeline for talks are Freedom of Information &#8230; for coders and bloggers, Hyperlocal Belfast (would hyperlocal blogging work in Belfast), Location, Location, Location (looking at smarter phones and the mobile web in 2010), Making money out of fresh air (bootstrapping your startup), Project Management With a Client Focus (keeping your clients involved in the web development process).</p>
<p>There&#8217;s a list of attendees there as long as your arm already and it won&#8217;t cost you anything to attend.</p>
<p>After many promises to go north over the last few years, I <a href="http://kenmc.com/2009/04/25/off-to-barcamp-belfast/">made the trip to BarCamp Belfast</a> last April (would be this weekend coming). If you can, it&#8217;s worth trying to make a weekend of it. As it was I&#8217;d made all the morning sessions before disappearing for lunch and finding myself caught up wandering around the streets of Belfast. Plenty to see and do, a ridiculous amount of places to eat and drink (or shop if you&#8217;re so inclined, including an Apple store). </p>
<p>Last year&#8217;s ship was run very well, great talks, great people, great buzz about those in attendance and I still managed to run into a few familiar places. I&#8217;d booked myself into the Premier Inn last year, which is grand in terms of accommodation and food but the parking is a no-no and wifi costs (I think) £10 for a 24-hour pass, the most of which you&#8217;d be sleeping or out and about. <a href="http://flavors.me/goodonpaper">Andy</a> might have suggestions on somewhere close by that has parking and free wifi access (can&#8217;t for the life of me remember the name of the hotel you&#8217;d suggested!).</p>
<p><a href="http://barcampbelfast.com">Signups are here</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/barcampbelfast">follow the herd on Twitter</a>.</p>

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		<item>
		<title>The Blog Awards, The Video, The Aftermath</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CreativeImagination/~3/1twQ5olnCcI/</link>
		<comments>http://kenmc.com/2010/03/29/the-blog-awards-the-video-the-aftermath/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 29 Mar 2010 09:05:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ken McGuire</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[galway]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iba10]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[irish blog awards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[irish web awards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[net news nightly]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[radisson blu]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ross costigan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[video]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kenmc.com/?p=1602</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
SATURDAY took myself and a few hundred bloggers on a journey across the country to Galway or the fifth annual Irish Blog Awards. We had the motorway up, the scenic route home and in between had a fantastic evening / night / morning in the Radisson Blu in the centre of Galway, the shindig organised [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><object width="500" height="281"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=10496046&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=0&amp;show_byline=0&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=c9ff23&amp;fullscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=10496046&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=0&amp;show_byline=0&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=c9ff23&amp;fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="500" height="281"></embed></object></p>
<p>SATURDAY took myself and a few hundred bloggers on a journey across the country to Galway or the fifth annual Irish Blog Awards. We had the motorway up, the scenic route home and in between had a fantastic evening / night / morning in the Radisson Blu in the centre of Galway, the shindig <a href="http://mulley.net">organised by some mighty fine people</a>, assisted by other allstars, and attended by bloggers from all walks of life (more on that below).</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve made it to the awards the last four years, enjoyed two great years of it in Dublin, last year in Cork and this year in Galway. Shows like this take a hell of a lot of ingredients, time, money, the patience of saints, sponsors, promotors, advertisers, volunteers and more. Behind the scenes there&#8217;s an army of people making contributions from writing up the awards, judging, submitting videos, laying out chairs, providing props, music, food, goodie bags &#8211; the whole nine yards &#8211; but it has to be said, when it comes to showtime, everything is so smooth, so energy filled and runs so well that by the time you hit the bed after the awards you&#8217;ll be planning and booking for next year.</p>
<p>Or at least that&#8217;s my take on it anyway and nominated or not, I&#8217;m already looking forward to 2011.</p>
<p>Each year brings new faces, new conversations and given the majority of bloggers (I would hazard a guess) are Twitter users in some capacity, the ability to recognise people across the room has gotten a lot easier too. I could namecheck people for the night given how you couldn&#8217;t move 20 feet at times without running into someone for a chat but needless to say, it was a great night out in Galway and one that anyone with a remote interest in blogging would really benefit from attending.</p>
<p>The video above is one myself and <a href="http://www.oss237.com">Ross</a> put together as one of the category introductions for the night. Sneaking in the door at 8pm I gave up my (what I would deem) traditional front-row-ish seats for one right at the back of the room, making it quite easy to duck out the door if the video went horribly wrong. Alas, the laughs were there, the comments and feedback for the 60-second piece were great and I didn&#8217;t have to prop up the bar as much as I had anticipated. If there&#8217;s an opening for more videos next year you can chalk us down in advance.</p>
<p>In the aftermath of everything, there were agreements to meet up for pints, talk of organising trips up to Belfast or getting people to Kilkenny for a session. Some of those on my &#8220;pint list&#8221; I didn&#8217;t get to link up with but we&#8217;ll do something soon. </p>
<p>I found, as I&#8217;ve done the past three years, that a trip to the Blog Awards is a great motivator for your own work. Come January of this year I started making more time for the blogs I&#8217;ve authored over the past few years. This one alone has seen more posts in the first three months of the year than the last six of 2009, DeviousTheatre.com is going strong and expanding its arts coverage, KilkennyMusic.com has had a recent facelift and online strategy put in place and it&#8217;s all coming up blogging here in Kilkenny. With the Irish Web Awards just over six months away we should get a nice, timely kick in the arse to look after our bigger sites as well.</p>
<p>In summary, my thanks to the Blog Awards Army. That includes <a href="http://mulley.net">Damien</a>, Rick, Darragh, Steph, Anto, Brian Greene (whose 90s set could be heard no problem on the garden rooftop after midnight), all those who put together videos, <a href="http://awards.ie/blogawards/2010/03/28/2010-irish-blog-awards-winners/">all those who accepted awards</a>, all those who attended, all those I got to chat to, the Radisson Blu hotel (who do an absolutely fantastic breakfast, welcome you off the elevator AND put a Sunday paper in your hand), the new faces and usernames I picked up, the old faces who continue to be great people, Edwina <a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5672598&#038;id=652515920">for this most excellent photo</a> and all those who continue to read, write, comment and rate Irish blogs. Yes. All of you, and that lot, are in that army.</p>
<p>Now, it&#8217;s back to work.</p>

<p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/OeGaOnIXsCUoLLHBrCj6wWdTmns/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/OeGaOnIXsCUoLLHBrCj6wWdTmns/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/>
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		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Let The Tech Investments Roll</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CreativeImagination/~3/v9KXOJGnY00/</link>
		<comments>http://kenmc.com/2010/03/24/technology-jobs-creation-ireland/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:00:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ken McGuire</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[computers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eBay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[facebook]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ibm]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jobs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[linkedin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[paypal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Twitter]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kenmc.com/?p=1597</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ photo credit: SocialGrow
PayPal. eBay. Facebook. LinkedIn and, now, IBM. Between them in recent months they&#8217;ve announced hundreds of new jobs.
PayPal had announced recently that they were adding 200 to their Dublin base, Brian Cowen had a smile on his face when he let the news out that eBay would be creating up to 150 [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/43235804@N04/4425128655/" title="Just Some of the Social Networks SocialGrow Loves" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2795/4425128655_98de1408bd.jpg" alt="Just Some of the Social Networks SocialGrow Loves" border="0" /></a><br /><small><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/" title="Attribution-NoDerivs License" target="_blank"><img src="http://kenmc.com/wp-content/plugins/photo-dropper/images/cc.png" alt="Creative Commons License" border="0" width="16" height="16" align="absmiddle" /></a> <a href="http://www.photodropper.com/photos/" target="_blank">photo</a> credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/43235804@N04/4425128655/" title="SocialGrow" target="_blank">SocialGrow</a></small></p>
<p>PayPal. eBay. Facebook. LinkedIn and, now, IBM. Between them in recent months they&#8217;ve announced hundreds of new jobs.</p>
<p>PayPal had announced recently that they were adding 200 to their Dublin base, Brian Cowen had a smile on his face when he let the news out that <a href="http://www.independent.ie/national-news/taoiseach-nets-a-winner-with-ebay-jobs-2107661.html">eBay would be creating up to 150 jobs</a>, Facebook had announced they would <a href="http://careeradvice.loadzajobs.ie/industry-insight/jobs-in-ireland-facebook-to-double-workforce-in-dublin-ireland-4382">double their Irish-based workforce</a> from 70 to 140 after only one year here while <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2010/0323/1224266873964.html">LinkedIn announced yesterday</a> that they were setting up their European HQ in Dublin to link up with new offices in London and the Netherlands. This morning saw The Irish Times carry a story on <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0324/breaking25.html">IBM creating up to 200 new jobs</a> in Dublin.</p>
<p>When I started in college in 2001 we were told we&#8217;d be lucky to get any kind of a job in the technology sector. Particularly anything to do with the internet. </p>
<p>If I was sitting back in the canteen in WIT reading the business section of this morning&#8217;s national papers I reckon I&#8217;d be doing so with a smile on my face. If the big hitters keep investing and reinvesting, something has to be going right somewhere, yes? That said, those hoping to apply for new positions created by the companies would do well to register for their services and brush up on how everything works.</p>
<p>I would be interested to see the figures on LinkedIn&#8217;s plans for job creation or its expansion into Ireland but if the big companies keep on coming, how many more from the picture above will we see open doors here? Anyone taking odds on a Dublin-based European HQ for Twitter?</p>

<p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/NfYbORMBJb1oCo6QkM7LCTPKOHw/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/NfYbORMBJb1oCo6QkM7LCTPKOHw/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/>
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		<item>
		<title>WiFi Digital Camera Addon – Eye Fi</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CreativeImagination/~3/hwlpufeWjO8/</link>
		<comments>http://kenmc.com/2010/03/24/wifi-digital-camera-addon-eye-fi/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 24 Mar 2010 07:49:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ken McGuire</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[digital camera]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eye-fi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[memory card]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sd]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sdhc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WiFi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wireless]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kenmc.com/?p=1598</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[WIRELESS TRANSFER of photos in an otherwise non-wifi enabled digital camera. How? Eye-Fi. Yes, I would like one of these.
Try as I might, I usually end up walking away from the house or the office without the cable to connect my camera to the laptop. When it comes to transferring photos on the move, that [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://kenmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/51WhLUfkYfL._SL500_AA280_-150x150.jpg" alt="8GB Eye-Fi card" title="8GB Eye-Fi card" width="150" height="150" class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-1599" />WIRELESS TRANSFER of photos in an otherwise non-wifi enabled digital camera. How? <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Eye-Fi-Class-Wireless-Memory-EYE-FI-8PC/dp/B002UT42UI/">Eye-Fi</a>. Yes, I would like one of these.</p>
<p>Try as I might, I usually end up walking away from the house or the office without the cable to connect my camera to the laptop. When it comes to transferring photos on the move, that can be a right pain in the neck. Sure enough, you can pick up digital cameras of all shapes and sizes (that might cost you a bit more on the credit card) packing WiFi transfers, GPS, location tagging and the likes. But for those of us looking for a WiFi option, the Eye-Fi might be just the ticket.</p>
<p>According to TUAW, you can set the card &#8220;to automatically upload to iPhoto, or just to a specific folder on your computer. You also have the option to have your pictures uploaded to MobileMe, Flickr, Evernote, Picasa, Facebook, and many other places (see chart in new window). Videos can be uploaded to Flickr (only 90 seconds maximum, though), Picasa, YouTube, Facebook, Phanfare, and Photobucket. You can even set it up to send notifications via email, Facebook, Twitter, or SMS when transfers start, finish, or are interrupted.&#8221;</p>
<p>It&#8217;s a Class 6 wireless SD card meaning it should shift around 6mb a second and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Eye-Fi-Class-Wireless-Memory-EYE-FI-8PC/dp/B002UT42UI/">Amazon have the new 8GB model on pre-order</a> for the princely sum of $149.99.</p>
<p>It might seem a bit on the steep side for an SD card. Argos are happy to flog them for anything up to €60 for an 8gb SDHC card, and if the Euro conversion rate at €112 or so held up, an extra €50 isn&#8217;t a bad price to pay to get full WiFi capabilities for your digital camera.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;re thinking on buying, <a href="http://support.eye.fi/product-info/camera-compatability/compatibility/is-the-eye-fi-card-compatible-with-my-camera/">check the Eye-Fi support site for compatible cameras</a>.</p>
<p>Note: Did I actually say &#8220;just the ticket&#8221;?</p>

<p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Tsf74U5s30PLhZLmJiqLbQK74B4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Tsf74U5s30PLhZLmJiqLbQK74B4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/>
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		<item>
		<title>Don’t Call Amazon, They’ll Call You</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CreativeImagination/~3/_bbEmcyB7wI/</link>
		<comments>http://kenmc.com/2010/03/19/dont-call-amazon-theyll-call-you/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:45:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ken McGuire</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[amazon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[call me]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[callback]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[customer support]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Internet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[password]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kenmc.com/?p=1592</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
FORGOTTEN PASSWORDS can be a pain in the ass. Especially when the security guard to get a new password issued via email includes a zip code field, which you didn&#8217;t have to enter to begin with and subsequently the form validation won&#8217;t allow the zip code to be empty. Long and short of it, my [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://kenmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/amazonhelp1.jpg" alt="Amazon Customer Service" title="Amazon Customer Service" width="500" height="193" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1594" /></p>
<p>FORGOTTEN PASSWORDS can be a pain in the ass. Especially when the security guard to get a new password issued via email includes a zip code field, which you didn&#8217;t have to enter to begin with and subsequently the form validation won&#8217;t allow the zip code to be empty. Long and short of it, my brother&#8217;s password was forgotten for Amazon but they wouldn&#8217;t send him a new one using their password reminder feature.</p>
<p>In this situation I&#8217;d usually email customer support, wait the few hours and hope that something positive would come out of the correspondence. However, when the delivery is late and you&#8217;re a bit anxious about the staus of the shipment from mainland Europe, I&#8217;d pick up the phone to try find out what&#8217;s going on.</p>
<p>Little did I know that when you go to phone Amazon, they&#8217;ll <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/contact-us/general-questions.html?ie=UTF8&#038;nodeId=&#038;type=phone&#038;skip=true#csTop">save you the bother and will ring you directly</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/contact-us/general-questions.html?ie=UTF8&#038;nodeId=&#038;type=phone&#038;skip=true#csTop">Presented with the screen above</a>, you click on &#8220;phone&#8221;, enter a landline number, choose whether you would like the call now or in five minutes and away you go. It works for UK and Ireland and within seconds of pressing &#8220;call me&#8221;, the phone on reception here was ringing &#8211; a few minutes later and the password issue was resolved, package tracked and all well in the world.</p>

<p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/IzCy8KotphpDIwfsEy5D9pWvnCI/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/IzCy8KotphpDIwfsEy5D9pWvnCI/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/>
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		<title>To iPad or Not to iPad</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CreativeImagination/~3/l2Nz3rOJkoA/</link>
		<comments>http://kenmc.com/2010/03/14/to-ipad-or-not-to-ipad/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 14 Mar 2010 16:08:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ken McGuire</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Apple]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gadgets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[imac]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ipad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iphone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[macbook pro]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kenmc.com/?p=1588</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[THE IPAD. Everyone&#8217;s talking about it, the preorders are already rolling in and as far as gadgets go, it&#8217;s one of the most anticipated releases of 2010. I feel I should be drawn to it straight away, but somehow that&#8217;s not the case.
I&#8217;m a gadget fan, no doubting that. From carrying multiple smartphones to iPods, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://kenmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/219533-apple-ipad-225x300.jpg" alt="Apple iPad" title="Apple iPad" width="225" height="300" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1590" />THE IPAD. Everyone&#8217;s talking about it, <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/191436/">the preorders are already rolling in</a> and as far as gadgets go, it&#8217;s one of the most anticipated releases of 2010. I feel I should be drawn to it straight away, but somehow that&#8217;s not the case.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m a gadget fan, no doubting that. From carrying multiple smartphones to iPods, iPhones, recording equipment, 3G this, WiFi that, GPS watches and more, I find myself yearning for the latest gadgets and toys. But for some reason, I can&#8217;t seem to find a want in me for the iPad.</p>
<p>As it stands, I carry an iPod touch with me on the road, a 3G iPhone in my pocket, a MacBook Pro in my bag and there&#8217;s a 24&#8243; iMac sitting on my desk. All taken into consideration, I&#8217;ve a feeling that the iPad may well not be targeted at me and if I was pushing it in a shop, I&#8217;d be hitting the new home broadband users, the &#8220;silver surfers&#8221; or even the school kid generation.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s not going to do anything for me that I can&#8217;t already do. Sure enough, it will carry the apps I use daily, it will allow me to check mail and surf away to my hearts content, but that&#8217;s all achievable with the iPhone. I like the flexibility to use 3G access as opposed to WiFi when I&#8217;m out and about, something which I would have to fork out a lot more for on release of the European models of the iPad. It won&#8217;t make phone calls and won&#8217;t pack a video camera for the first generation, so video conferencing is out &#8211; though <a href="http://www.iphonefaq.org/archives/97852">discoveries in the latest iPhone SDK</a> may suggest different.</p>
<p>Yes, it bridges the gap size-wize. In the hands of an very young or elderly user, it&#8217;s not so small that you can&#8217;t read the names of apps on the screen or have difficulties in viewing the on-screen text when flicking through the New York Times or your latest eBook addition. The interface, as with that of the iPod / iPhone is quite simple to navigate and apps have made web access all the more easier for folk. Want weather? Tap here. Want news? Tap here. View photos? Tap here. Read email? Tap here.</p>
<p>With family connections coming and going from the US over the next few weeks, the question has come up again and again&#8230; &#8220;can I bring you anything home?&#8221;, quickly followed by &#8220;what about those ipad yokes?&#8221;.</p>
<p>While it would be very easy to say yes, it&#8217;s something I genuinely cannot (at least with what we know about the first generation model) justify in buying. It&#8217;s not so much the price (I was happy to go and shell out for a pre-paid iPhone 10 months ago rather than take one on contract), just the use, and potential lack of. I can&#8217;t carry it in my pocket and at the very most I reckon it could be used for some bedside browsing but then again, the iPhone and laptop take care of that.</p>
<p>I can&#8217;t even find a good reason to buy one for the office outside of demoing developments on-site but even that would be scraping the bottom of the reasoning barrel.</p>
<p>To iPad or not to iPad? I think not.</p>

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		<item>
		<title>Gearing Up For The Irish Blog Awards</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CreativeImagination/~3/9c4goh2SHhA/</link>
		<comments>http://kenmc.com/2010/03/12/gearing-up-for-the-irish-blog-awards/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:53:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ken McGuire</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Blog Awards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[galway]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iba10]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[irish blog awards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[networking]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kenmc.com/?p=1586</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
A GUARANTEED good night out, solid entertainment, old faces and new and more have been found at the Irish Blog Awards for the last couple of years. Last year saw the first night to be held out of Dublin when hundreds of bloggers descended on Cork&#8217;s International Airport Hotel (cracking venue) and at the end [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3272/2305781820_f7a0b2f32d.jpg" alt="Irish Blog Awards" /></p>
<p>A GUARANTEED good night out, solid entertainment, old faces and new and more have been found at the <a href="http://awards.ie/blogawards">Irish Blog Awards</a> for the last couple of years. Last year saw the first night to be held out of Dublin when hundreds of bloggers descended on Cork&#8217;s International Airport Hotel (cracking venue) and at the end of the month, the annual pilgrimage will be made to the Radisson Blu in Galway for the 2010 Irish Blog Awards.</p>
<p>The long lists came out, then the slightly-longer-that-last-year-short-lists came out and we&#8217;ll soon be reading the finalists lists before the awards proper on Saturday March 27th where we&#8217;ll find out who the blogging public have deemed the creme of 2009/10 in Irish blogging circles.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.sabrinadent.com/2010/02/20/the-ladies-tea-party-2010/">Sabrina has details on the L&#8217;Onglex Ladies Tea Party</a>, there&#8217;s <a href="http://photowalk.ie/?p=140">a Galway photowalk</a> being organised, another <a href="http://bicyclistic.com/index.php/exhibition-of-paintings-at-irish-blog-awards-2010/">exhibition from Eolai</a> and no doubt a hell of a lot more.</p>
<p>My last visit to Galway was September 2008 with myself and <a href="http://oss237.com">Ross</a> hitting the road for a Strike Anywhere gig in Cuba. Thankfully this time I won&#8217;t have to turn around and drive back to Kilkenny at midnight. If the awards have taught me anything over the last few years it&#8217;s if you can stay in the awards venue &#8211; stay in the awards venue. The drinking, chatting, storytelling, meeting and greeting never seems to end and as a bonus you get to do it all over again at breakfast the following morning.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;re planning on heading along on the night, you&#8217;ll need to <a href="http://awards.ie/blogawards/event-registration/">register in advance</a>. Tickets have also gone on sale for €15. A pre-show text message on Wednesday told me I&#8217;d be shortlisted under Best Technology blog, something I&#8217;m delighted to see. The second round of judging, where the shortlists become the finalists, gets underway from today but nominated in the end or not, you&#8217;ll find me in Galway on the 27th. </p>
<p>Wouldn&#8217;t miss a night like it&#8230;</p>

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		<title>Can’t Pay? Won’t Pay! (With Added WiFi)</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CreativeImagination/~3/5qcj-0foXEU/</link>
		<comments>http://kenmc.com/2010/03/11/cant-pay-wont-pay-with-added-wifi/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:57:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ken McGuire</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[can't pay won't pay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[facebook]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Networking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Theatre]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Twitter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WiFi]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kenmc.com/?p=1582</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
CAN&#8217;T PAY? WON&#8217;T PAY! opened last night at Set Theatre in Kilkenny, the latest offering from The Devious Theatre Company. While I can be seen on stage for the 95 minutes or so of performance, I&#8217;ve been working as a producer on the show as well for the past few months so there&#8217;s a bit [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://kenmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/cpwp-web.jpg" alt="Can&#039;t Pay? Won&#039;t Pay!" title="Can&#039;t Pay? Won&#039;t Pay!" width="500" height="332" class="alignright size-full wp-image-1584" /></p>
<p>CAN&#8217;T PAY? WON&#8217;T PAY! opened last night at Set Theatre in Kilkenny, the latest offering from <a href="http://www.devioustheatre.com">The Devious Theatre Company</a>. While I can be seen on stage for the 95 minutes or so of performance, I&#8217;ve been working as a producer on the show as well for the past few months so there&#8217;s a bit of a bonus feeling of excitement there when you see the fruits of your labour (and those around you of course) take to a stage in full technicolour detail.</p>
<p>(<a href="http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055850845">By the way, you can win tickets to Can&#8217;t Pay? Won&#8217;t Pay! here</a>)</p>
<p>As a group this year (and over the last four years) we&#8217;ve really tried to grow our online presence, exploring all avenues social. Delighted we are in that people who come to the shows then return their feedback <a href="http://www.twitter.com/devioustheatre">via Twitter</a>, or <a href="http://www.facebook.com/devioustheatre">Facebook</a>. Hell, some people will even email in their thoughts post-show. However the feedback arrives, it&#8217;s made all the more possible, accessible, and real time thanks to the embracing of said social tools, tools that have not so much changed how we operate as a theatre company but have certainly shaped how we operate.</p>
<p>On the back of <a href="http://www.wordcampireland.com">WordCamp</a>, the wifi setup that was created for last weekend&#8217;s conference (part of which was held in Set Theatre) is still in place, thus you can access WiFi during the show. No, we wouldn&#8217;t want you checking your email or getting lost browsing the web, but with Twitter, Facebook and more at your fingertips (or in your pocket), we&#8217;d love to hear the feedback on the night, good or bad, public or private. If you&#8217;re sitting in the audience tweeting about the show, why not use the hashtag #cpwp? Feel free to take photos of the performers in action on the stage (just switch the flash off if you don&#8217;t mind) and tag them accordingly. Adopting a more open approach last year, we wound up with some fantastic audience photos that were shared via email, Picasa, Facebook and more.</p>
<p><a href="http://hellojohnmorton.blogspot.com">John Morton</a> has been talking about the ingredients of Can&#8217;t Pay? Won&#8217;t Pay! over on the <a href="http://www.devioustheatre.com">DeviousTheatre.com blog</a>, and now it has added WiFi, so if you&#8217;re coming along, don&#8217;t be shy, let us know what you think.</p>
<p><a href="http://tickets.devioustheatre.com">Order tickets online for Can&#8217;t Pay? Won&#8217;t Pay!</a></p>

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