Eugene's Blog Nominated for Irish Blog Awards!

Today I received news that Eugene's Blog has been nominated for the 2010 Irish Blog Awards. I am nominated in two categories - Best Specialist Blog and Best Personal Blog. Nominees will be judged in one category only and will be contacted to ask for their preference - mine will be the Best Personal Blog category in which there are a whopping 119 nominees! Thanks to the folks in the NCI Marketing Department for the nomination. 

Several of my NCI colleagues have also been nominated, Abi Reynolds, Jimmy Hill, Leo Casey, and Deryck Tormey - congratulations to one and all! Please drop by and check out their blogtastic (thanks for the new word Emma) blogs.

Blogging is a great experience and I love the freedom to say what I like on any subject that comes to mind. On Saturday last I visited my Aunt Mary who is just starting to learn how to use a computer. I was able to show her a photo of where her mother grew up in Newmarket, Co Cork, census records from 1911 of both her her mother and father, and my story about my grandfather buying me ice cream in Croke Park in 1964. She was fascinated by this - who knows, I may be able to turn her into a blogger too!

5 Years with Gmail

Five years ago to the day I set up my Gmail account. The first email in my Inbox was of course from Google welcoming me to Gmail. Google claimed Gmail is different, but I believe that it is now a standard for personal email. In that first email, Google tells me about ads and cheekily state that I "might even find ads to be interesting and useful"!

I use Gmail almost every day - mostly for personal stuff. It is a handy way to store files (I just email them to myself). I can also access it from home and my iPhone - in fact I almost never don't have access to my Gmail. I choose not to access my work email outside the College.

Gmail is also excellent at stopping Spam - as I write this there are 678 spams blocked on my account. I rarely get spam in my Gmail Inbox (this is not rare at my work email). However they do it, others should learn from them. Also at the moment I am "currently using 910MB (12%) of your 7425MB" - so there is lots of space online that I can use.

This is a fantastic service and it is all FREE!!! I also use iGoogle, Google Calendar, YouTube (owned by Google), and Blogger (also owned by Google). All for FREE!!! Long Live Google!

First email from 19th February, 2005 reproduced below:

Willie O'Dea shoots himself in the foot

I have been sort of following the Willie O'Dea mess over the past 24 hours. I heard the reports and the damaging tape on the News at One on RTÉ. His interview with Seán O'Rourke was riveting stuff as he basically owned up to everything, admitted all, apologized, denied perjury, and was (I thought) sounding very low and about to give up. The sound of the stable door slamming shut could be heard all over the country. For me, the key moment was when he stated in the interview that he was a "victim" as well. Perhaps he is, but he cannot dilute his own guilt by placing himself in this position. The Greens have been despicable in all this - yesterday they voted confidence in him - today they demanded his head. They were never going to get my vote anyway, so they couldn't do themselves any more damage as far as I'm concerned. Today I tweeted that WO'D should resign - my tweet....

eoloughlin Fine Gael going mad over Willie, Twitter going mad over Willie, even I'm mad at Willie - Time to go - RESIGN! #willygate

Twitter was alive with tweets about Willie today - I was following #willygate. 

I'm a Fianna Fáil voter, and most likely will still be at the next Election (Mary Hanafin, if you are reading this you'll always have my vote!). But WO'D compromised himself with his careless and untrue words - he shot himself in the foot and has nobody else to blame.

WO'D got 19,082 first preference votes in the 2007 Election - second only to Brian Cowen who had 20 votes more. What are the odds on him increasing his vote in the next Election? The people of Limerick-East love him, already there were people (including folks from Limerick) on the News singing his praises, what a good job he did in the past, and that he will be a big loss (especially to Limerick). His Cabinet political career is over, though no doubt he will hang on as a TD for a long time yet. He will be more outspoken, as he has been in the past, and God help any Opposition politicians who want to have a go at him in the future - he will not hold back, he has you in his sights!

Radio Interview with Dr Paul Heslin

I recorded an interview with Dr Paul Heslin for his show on South Dublin Radio (93.9FM) this evening. The studio is at the top of the Dundrum Shopping Center. Paul hopes that the interview will be broadcast on Saturday 27th February next at 3.00pm. This radio station is a voluntary community service that is only available within a 6-8 mile radius of Dundrum.

I very much enjoyed the experience - Paul is a good interviewer and kept the conversation going. It was really more of a chat than a formal interview. We started out talking about my Harley-Davidson experiences before moving on to education. I plugged several courses in the College and hopefully was encouraging to anyone thinking of going back to education. We then moved on to problem-solving where I talked about various creative and more scientific problem-solving techniques. Examples I gave ranged from a car not starting in the morning, to late pizza deliveries on a Saturday night, to customer complaints in a hotel. Paul was particularly interested in the creative techniques such as Camelot, Googlestorming, the Senses, WWJD, and Bouncing ideas off others. Mindful that his audience may not appreciate the techniques covered in my Business Systems Analysis book (though I did talk about Pareto Analysis) - I was keen to keep the examples simple and in tune with everyday life as possible. I also told him my Dad's "Water in the Toolbox" story (I must post about this separately). 

Finally I got the opportunity to mention this blog - the 55 minutes flew by very quickly. Thanks for a very enjoyable evening Paul!

Frustration recording lectures

I decided when I got my new iPhone that I would use it to record lectures as it has four times the memory space of my older iPhone. For some reason that I can't unravel - the Voice Recorder App only allows me to record for 15 seconds. This is despite the fact that Apple touts it as an App that can be used to record lectures and meetings. I have tried a few more Apps - the best and easiest to use was Audio Recorder from Newpea Software. It was €7.99 - not cheap for an App. It works great - I just switch it on (I have a mike to clip to my shirt), and it records my lecture as an MP3 file. Sound quality is good - though some of my earlier recordings suffer from noise due to me wearing the clip too high up my shirt.

The only problem is - how the hell do I get the MP3 files off my iPhone and onto my computer? No email option. Syncing won't do either - iTunes does not pick up the recordings (it does for Voice Recorder, but as mine are only 15 seconds long, this isn't much use). Newpea very "helpfully" tell us that the files are located in the following folder:

        /private/var/mobile/Documents/Media/iPhoneRecorder

but since the iPhone cannot be browsed like an external hard drive - I am at a loss as to how to navigate to this folder so that I can copy the files. 

I have tried some Apps that claim to be able to browse the iPhone. While some are useful (eg to copy songs to a second computer that you do not sync with) - none so far has the capability to show me the contents of the above folder. The Apps I have tried are iFile and Discoverer - I have also tried Windows clients such as iPhone Explorer, iPhone Browser.

Meanwhile, the recordings of my lectures are still on my iPhone. Everyone I have talked to who has an iPhone reports that they do not have a 15 second limit for Voice Recorder - how can this be changed, I can't find a settings option anywhere? Does anyone know about a browser that will explore all files on the iPhone - not just existing songs, movies, and photos?

I have mentioned this in class and several students have offered tips and hints - but so far nothing is working for me. I'll keep trying!

The 30 km/h speed limit in Dublin City Centre

Yesterday I rode my bike through Dublin City Centre and completely forgot about the new 30 km/h speed limit. On the bike this is easy to forget as I use the bus lanes a lot and it is also easy to pass through the traffic. Going over 30 km/h is really easy to do. While passing Christ Church Cathedral I suddenly remembered the limit, glanced down at my speedometer, and was happy to see the needle pointing exactly at 30. 

Phew (I thought)!

Of course, the bike is a 2003 model which uses miles per hour instead of km/h - I was speeding again! Hopefully there were no sneeky speed cameras to catch me breaking the law again - my two penalty points on my license is really making me more speed conscious.

The 30 km/h limit has attracted a lot of attention and controversy. During heavy traffic - it doesn't matter what the speed limit is, most people will only be doing 5-10 km/h at best. I think it is a good idea - if it saves even one life over 20 years it will be worth it. However, I do notice that I am spending a lot of time looking at the speedometer (not just in the city centre) - probably more than I should be doing. This is dangerous too. In a car the speedometer is just outside your road viewing eye line and easy to glance at, but on the bike I have to look down at the petrol tank, which is well outside my eye line. I then have to translate in my head mph to kph (divide by 5 and multiply by 8) - the smaller kph numbers are too small for me to see. Just need to be more careful!

Bossed out of it for the last time!

Why is it that some people think that people ahead of them in a queue won't mind if they skip the queue just because the have only one thing to purchase? I have previously written about a Queue jumper in a petrol station when I was second in a queue and was queue jumper was third.

Yesterday I went to our local Centra to get some mince meat and burger buns (two items) for dinner. When I joined the queue to pay I was second behind Brian the butcher - he was buying the evening paper and some chocolates (two items). The attendant was having a small bit of difficulty with the till, but I didn't really mind. Suddenly, the woman behind (I'd guess in her mid 60's) who was buying pepper corns (one item) demanded that we stand by and let her pay because she had only one item to pay for. I objected and said I had only two, and that the guy ahead had only two items as well. This clever tactic (hoping to embarrass her) on my part didn't work - she told me that she thought I had more (I had an empty folded carry bag under my arm). She still demanded to be let through - everything in the shop had stopped at this stage. When I politely told her that "This is a queue" - she once again was not diverted from her quest to get ahead of us - she even started to tell us that she was in a hurry and had the dinner nearly cooked, all she needed were some peppers! 

Brian and I just stood back laughing and let her through - she wasn't in the least bit embarrassed by what she was doing, paid for her peppers, and left the shop without thanking us! Like the last time when I was buying petrol, in the end I stood by and avoided confrontation. I must have "eejit" written across my forehead - pushy "ladies" (I deleted several other names for women before settling on "ladies", least I offend my readers) have had their last one over on me - there won't be a third time! Next time this happens I will hold my ground and refuse to stand by - I won't care if the next pushy "lady" needs only to buy a plaster for a gushing wound. 

A queue is a queue, is a queue, is a queue! When I have to line up and wait my turn, well I don't see why I should have to stand by for someone else who thinks that the rules of queues don't apply to them.

Howth-Sutton Lions Club 40th Anniversary Charter Dinner

The tuxedo was on again last evening as I accompanied Roma to the Howth/Sutton Lions Club 40th Anniversary Charter Dinner which was held in the Marine Hotel in Sutton. We were early - the first to arrive at 7.30. As usual at Lions events, Roma and I feel very young - there were very few people there under 60 years of age. Nevertheless, we had a very enjoyable evening - though with quite a big crowd making a lot of noise, I found it very difficult to hear conversation at the table. I danced a little to music provided by two guys called Chris and Cross - the dullest duo I have ever come across. 

Despite the boring speeches that were too many and far too long, you have to be impressed by the fund raising skills of the Howth/Sutton Lions Club - €80,000 in the past year and €2.6 million since they were founded in 1970. Good work!

News & Events at NCI

More news on by book - there is a News Item about last week's book launch at the National College of Ireland's website. I was asked for a quote to add to the news item:

Dr. O'Loughlin  said: 

"The launch of An Introduction to Business Systems Analysis provides Business Analysts, and those engaged in business analysis activities, with an introductory text that provides guidance on key activities such as gathering and analysing requirements. The many techniques and strategies described in detail in the book will equip practitioners with the key skills necessary for their problem solving efforts.". 

Every little item helps to promote the book - I hope this helps shift a few copies as well

Singing in Class

Today, I had good fun singing in class!

I was discussing the role of Organizations in relation to Technology in Business - the module is "Managerial Foundations of Information Systems". On the subject of Organizations and their environment, I decided to introduce SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) Analysis. The classic case-study for this is about Robin Hood and his Merry Men - this is based on a real case-study analysis by Joseph Lampel of Stanford University.

We had excellent fun looking at the SWOT factors in this case - I like this case-study as it teaches a concept based on a story/legend about Robin Hood, which most people know. To get the students in the mood I played a YouTube video which has the original TV series theme song to the class. I felt I had to join in and sang along to the video. At the risk of looking stupid, I sang anyway in the hope that students will understand the key concepts of what an organization is (with Robin Hood as a reminder), and the factors to consider when making decisions. Watch the video below, and I dare you to resist singing along!

Formal Launch of "An Introduction to Business Systems Analysis"

Last evening, I had the formal launch of my book An Introduction to Business Systems Analysis. The Launch was held in the National College of Ireland President's (Dr Paul Mooney) office and I had an excellent turnout of about 50 people. I was thrilled that so many friends and colleagues attended - thank you all for our support and good wishes. I was particularly pleased that my Mum (Phil) and my Dad (Joe) were able to attend - I know that they had an enjoyable evening.

The book was launched by Mark Ryan, who is the top man in Accenture Ireland. Mark is also a fellow Cistercian College Roscrea classmate (1972-1977) and when I met him at the CCR Union Dublin Branch dinner last October he kindly agreed to perform the launch. Mark said some very kind words in his speech in support of the book - much appreciated. I also made a speech in which I mostly thanked people for their inspiration and their help - especially Dr Paul Mooney, Phil Chambers, Dominic Martin, and my family. I had a fantastic evening during which I managed to get to chat to most people that attended. We also sold a few books which raised a nice few euro for the NCI Foundation - I had great fun signing these for friends and colleagues. I discussed four possible speaking engagements with people who attended - great for increasing publicity for the book. This evening I was invited to be interviewed by Dr Paul Heslin (another CCR connection - who says that the "Old Boys" network doesn't work?) on Dublin South FM Radio - very exciting news!

The photo here (click for larger version) features (from left) NCI President Dr Paul Mooney, me, and Mark Ryan.

Afterwards a few of us adjourned to the Clarion Hotel for dinner which was most enjoyable. I finally feel a great sense of achievement and pride in the book, which did take a long time (18 months) and a lot of effort, to write. However, this 15 minutes is now over, and it is time to move onto my next project (a web site - more about this when I get it working). I do hope to promote the book as much as I can - through contacts, speaking engagements, the odd radio interview, and through YouTube.

New iPhone 3Gs

Today I purchased my second iPhone - this time a 32GB 3Gs. This replaces my older 8GB 3G version which I got free from O2 in October 2008. 

O2 had contacted me in December with an offer of a voucher to purchase a 16GB version for €99 - in the O2 shop in Henry Street today I used this voucher for the 32GB version instead. It cost a little extra, but it will be worth it over the life time of the iPhone. I'm looking forward to faster 3Gs speeds, as well as some of the extras like being able to shoot video and a better camera. 

The big plus is the extra storage space. I have 12GB of music on my computer and I have had to manage Playlists carefully up to now to fit what I wanted onto the old 8 GB version - not any more. I will also have lots of space left over - I intent to start recording some lectures as podcasts and make them available unedited to students in Moodle. I had hoped to start this from the beginning of the semester, but it will now only be available from week 3. I'll be sure to report back here at the end of the semester on how this goes. 

The changeover experience did not go without a hitch. The new iPhone need a SIM card to activate, but only one without a PIN code. Believe it or not, there was no option on my old iPhone to remove the PIN - I got Kate to insert my SIM card into her Nokia to turn off the PIN. After this, everything worked fine - all my old Apps, contacts, music, etc, were copied from iTunes onto my new iPhone. Overall - apart from the PIN, an effortless exercise.

We Blog Cartoons

Came across an interesting and useful web site that provides free cartoons for people to use in their blogs. We Blog Cartoons provides cartoons under several categories such as:

Blogging Christmas Current Events Environment Football Graphs How To My Failings Signs Technology Work

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

Check it out - it's good fun and really useful too. So far they can only be used in blogs - use in any other publication is prohibited.

The iPad

I watched with interest parts of the launch of Apple's new iPad (Steve Jobs still look frail, and his voice is very hoarse). It has met with mixed reaction - but it has no doubt hit a huge "WOW!" factor. Me - I can't wait until I try one out. 

It most closely resembles the iPhone - so I probably have a reasonable idea on how it works. Apple have placed huge emphasis on its usability, ie "with just a touch of a finger". It certainly looks good, final judgement on this will have to be when I get my hands on it. I think its real power is that it will be so easy for people to carry around - at 0.68 kg it is a truly powerful portable device. I'm thinking in particular that students will make spectacular use of this device - both for College and non-College purposes. It does have an iWork productivity tool suite (not bundled) - while you can import Microsoft Office documents and work on them, no sign yet of Office being available on the iPad. This might be a crucial issue for the success of this as a tool in business. No doubt Microsoft will develop an Office suite for the iPad - at the very least to oppose the inevitable rise of free and cheap imitations on the App Store. Luckily for them Apple have decided that iWork is an extra and will have to be paid for separately.

A few comments from others that I think capture how valuable this device could be:

Elliott Masie focuses on how the iPad might support learning:

Whatever the Apple Tablet might do technologically, The MASIE Center’s Learning LAB is focusing on how content such as manuals, learning programs and even Performer Support might be impacted. As a trustee of a college, I would be fascinated to imagine students buying articles or textbooks in a totally new model. And, what if a new model for learning content modules might emerge in which a Learning App could be purchased for $1 or $3? Think of developers around the world focusing on ever better ways of supporting learning about millions of topics. 

George Siemens looks at its place in the digital world:

The real story of Apple’s iPad is not the device itself. Rather, the long-term impact is that many of the information structures of the physical world – books and newspapers – now have a place in the digital world, as well as a revenue model online. Apple possesses the mystical ability to charge for content. For example, many people who would balk at paying for $10 software for their desktop/laptop had no problem paying hundreds of dollars for iPhone apps (I’m looking at myself here – which does cause a bit of eye strain). Similarly, books, newspapers, and information online will now fall under the control of Apple. Think of this for a second. Apple, if the uptake of the iPad is as significant as many expect, becomes the central node through which content (books, newspapers, movies, music) flows for many people who a) don’t know or care what a torrent is and b) who like their devices nicely integrated and easy to use.

But perhaps the most telling comment comes from Damien Mulley in his post Our Mums are about to join the web:

The iPad...

"...is going to make using the web easy for people who up to know found using a mouse, keyboard and a browser a tad intimidating."

...and he interestingly speculates on the possible impact of the iPad on the iTouch.

Temporarily out of stock!

Wow - is this a good or a bad thing?

My book is "Temporarily out of stock" at Amazon.co.uk.  However its Sales Rank is "1,119,746 in Books" - I don't think this is something to get too excited about.

I don't know how this works - did they get just 10 books and sell them all? I'll check with David G of The Liffey Press at the book's formal launch next week (I am getting just a little excited about the launch now!!!).

Book Review - Conspiracy: Irish Political Trials

I have just finished reading Myles Dungan's new book Conspiracy: Irish Political Trials, published by the Royal Irish Academy. It covers seven famous trials from Robert Emmet (1803) to Roger Casement (1916). I found it an interesting read for the most part, but also tedious in others.

While the first chapter on Robert Emmet is very good, if you have already read Patrick Geoghegan's excellent biography of Emmet: Robert Emmet: A Life (as I have) there is little or nothing new - in fact the chapter reads like a summary of Geoghegan's book. Similarly, Jarlath Waldron's Maamtrasna: The Murders and the Mystery is a far better account of the Maamtrasna trials. However, the other chapters were a much better read.

The trial of John Magee in 1813 gives an excellent account of the defense of Magee by Daniel O'Connell who clearly manipulated the trial for his own publicity purposes. Dungan does an excellent job here of mingling court transcripts with opinion and analysis. The State Trials chapter, covering the trial of Daniel O'Connell in 1844 is more of a history lesson than an analysis, but still makes for a very good read. In fact each chapter gives a little history lesson - not necessary for your average Irish person who will recall the basics of 19th century history from school.

The Phoenix Park murders in 1882 and trial are covered very well, though there are so many participants that it is hard to keep track. I expect this is because The Invincibles and the murders of Burke and Cavendish are themselves more well known than the five men hanged for the murders (Brady, Curley, Kelly, Fagan, and Caffrey).

The Parnell Commission trial is heavier going - the other sections involving murder and death sentences are easier to understand.

The final section on Roger Casement's trial in 1916 was potentially the most interesting, but perhaps the most disappointing. The chapter is 41 pages long, but most of it is not about Casement - whose trial covers the last 14 pages. Instead we get a history lesson about 1916, and (very good) accounts of the courts martial of Pearse and the other 1916 leaders.

Overall, a worthwhile read. I felt that the extracts from the trial transcripts were very long in places, and there is a very annoying overuse of "[sic]" - a simple comment at the beginning explaining that quotations are original and exact would have covered this. Also - what's with the plastic noose on the cover? Did they have plastic ropes in the 19th century for hangings?

YouTube - 50,000 views!

More (modest) success with my YouTube Channel as it passed the 50,000 total video views mark this afternoon. The channel itself also passed the 1,000 view mark earlier this week. These are all educational videos and it continues to astonish me that I can reach so many learners with this medium. I have about 130 students in my classes this semester - never could I hope to reach thousands of students in the classroom.

I have recently started a Problem-Solving Techniques series of videos that draw upon material in my book. I don't know if this blatant self-publicity will generate any extra sales, but it is worth a try. The viewer figures are still very low for these, but hopefully they will attract a modest audience who might find them useful.

The comments from viewers continue to be very favourable - here's one of my recent favourites (exact quote!):

        Your my fu*king hero boy,im off to shoot a goat in your honour.

Munster vs Northampton in High Definition

Santa was very kind to us last Christmas and brought us a brand new 40" Samsung High Definition LCD television. I quickly decided (in about two seconds) that I would add Sky HD to our satellite subscription. This involves getting a new Sky HD box which was installed yesterday. We also moved our old Sky boxes around so that our old SKY+ box replaces an ordinary Sky box in the playroom, which in turn was moved to the kitchen as a free-to-air box. Shane from Sierra Communications did an excellent job of all the installation work.

The first big event to watch was the Munster vs Northampton Heineken Cup match - brilliant clarity and definitely worth getting for sport. HD excels particularly for slow-motion replays. All detail is crystal clear - I'm looking forward to seeing more football and golf in HD. Munster won a slightly disappointing game 12-9 - see match report Munster show guile and guts.

At the Dentist

Just after Christmas I broke a tooth (biting into a piece of chocolate!). Ouch - a visit to the dentist.

My dentist is Frank Dillon who is based in Henry St. I first met Frank when he was practicing in Monkstown with (my then) dentist - Des Fortune. I like Frank - he's cool and also near enough the same age as me. Today, while on his chair, we agreed that 1970's music was the best.

Frank's surgery is what a dental practice should look like - everything is clean and white. Even his computers are white, there are Apple iMacs everywhere - in fact you might wonder whether you are visiting a dentist or a computer laboratory. Frank is very proud of his set-up, and tries his best to convert me from the PC to the Mac.

Oh - and he's an excellent dentist too! See his (very white) website - there's even a iMac on his Home Page!

Brendan O'Connor wrote about a visit to Frank's surgery in his Diary (scroll down to Tuesday) in the Sunday Independent on 15th June, 2008. Like me, O'Connor is fascinated by all the gear. I have to agree with O'Connor's brilliant last line "I love it. Frank's dental practice is like fight club without the fighting".

Alasdar's Blog

I have started to follow Alasdar's Blog - Alasdar Browne runs Precision Coaching, a company that specializes in providing Coaching, Leadership, and Mentoring services. As part of his services, Alasdar blogs about these topics and gives his insightful opinion on how we can all develop better as people and as a business.

Alasdar's latest post is about Great Service Comes From The Heart, which is based on a short video. Alasdar's message from this is that "The milk of human kindness is really a CHOICE........." - check it out, it makes you think.

Other posts range from a really thought provoking Learning to say 'No'.........., to Abraham Lincoln's Leadership Principles, and to my favourite (so far) Eat That Frog....... Alasdar posts about once a week and if you are interested in improving your outlook and attitude to what you do, both in your personal and business life, it is a blog definitely worth following.

I should also mention that Alasdar "Ali" Browne was a school mate of mine in Cistercian College Roscrea from 1972 to 1977. In my New Taoiseach post (7th May, 2008), Ali is fourth from the left in the third row from the back. If you check out his photo on his blog you'll note that he hasn't changed a bit in 32 years!

Great blog Ali - keep it up!

Book Launch Postponed

It is with some embarrassment now that I decided to postpone the launch of my first book An Introduction to Business Systems Analysis. We made the decision last Friday when the weather forecast was for severe weather conditions on Sunday and Monday. Schools were being closed until Thursday, UCD closed yesterday, Trinity postponed exams - it seemed as if the whole country was going to close down! I was particularly concerned that my Mum (Phil) and Dad (Joe) would not be able to travel from Carnew. So rather than sit here by myself, I decided the best thing to do was to postpone. 

Today nearly all the snow and ice is gone and there is no difficulty in this part of Ireland with travel. The launch is now re-scheduled for February 2nd at 6 o'clock in the President's Office in NCI.

Fame at last - my Blog is a "Fluffy Link" today!

One of Ireland's leading bloggers and all round expert at everything WWW, Damien Mulley, added my blog as a Fluffy Link in his daily post today. Damien is a regular on radio and TV where he expertly articulates his opinions on what is good, bad, the latest, and greatest about the Internet. I wrote previously that I attended his presentation to the Institute of Business Analysts and Consultancy.

I have Damien's Fluffy Links in my Google Reader and I check them out almost every day. It's a great way to keep up with what Damien is doing, and to also check out his convenient posts about the wonderful and the weird of the WWW. I'm delighted that he added me as a "Fluffy Link", though I will forgive him getting my name wrong, he left out the O' (Oh apostrophe) - something us O'Loughlins and other "Oh apostrophes" can get a little fluffy :-)) about.

I'm curious about how he came across my Blog. Google Alerts may be responsible as I referred to him in my Leningrad Cowboys post last week.

So Damien, if you are reading this - thanks for the plug, and keep on rockin' the Web.

The snow in Richmond

It snowed this morning in South Dublin, not much, about 2cm. It was a pleasant wintry feel - I'm guessing the temperature was around zero. Roma and I walked to the Pharmacy where I swept away some of the snow from the front pathway. One guy came up to me and told me that there had been a solicitor on the RTÉ News last evening stating that if you clear away the path outside your home or business you risk being sued if someone falls and hurts themselves. Apparently if you do NOT clear the pathways you cannot be sued. The guy told me it that the law was the other way around in America. WTF kind of country is it where you can be sued like this?

Hospital A&Es are reporting a big increase in people presenting with injuries sustained in falls. I had a nasty fall yesterday on at the entrance to Salthill DART station where there is a slight slope - I was walking along (carefully I thought) and in an instant I was on my arse. A kind young fella helped me up. My elbow is a bit sore, but that's it. No thoughts of suing CIÉ.

More snow on the way tomorrow!

The University of the People

The University of the People, set up in 2009, offers a new tuition-free gateway to a higher education. It offers courses in Business Administration and Computer Science through e-Learning over two to four years. It currently does not offer degrees and is not an accredited institution, though it intends to apply for accreditation and for authorization from recognized agencies and authorities in accordance with the rules, regulations and relevant timelines of said agencies and authorities.

This is an interesting idea - there are no fees or charges, how can they make any money? The most interesting thing for me is that a short course "Skills for Online Learning" is compulsory for all students. The course provides the students with a basic introduction to the computer applications which they will use to pursue academic studies in an online environment, and must be passed before students are allowed to continue. It's clear from browsing its website that it intends to rely a lot on open source material.

Open Content is one of the Emerging Technologies in Education that I have written about in a previous post - I agree with the 2009 Horizon Report that we will see much more of this. Several companies, such as the Galway-based Alison offer free on-line courses, Alison does state that it is a for-profit social enterprise. Alison appears to me to make money from advertising and donations.

Long live the day when you can learn anything for free online. Need to know something? Look it up in an on-line encyclopedia. Need to figure out how to do something? Look it up on a "How To..." channel in YouTube, such as my own ;-)). Need to understand a difficult concept? Go to iTunes U and watch a podcast from a top University Professor. Want a free on-line course? Go to the University of the People or to Alison. Quality, assessment, and proof of accredited certification will be a huge challenge. Nevertheless, there are more opportunities for people to upskill themselves for free than ever before. This will become a more accepted way for people to learn in the very near future. Traditional educational institutions - watch out!

Fantastic Stuff from the Leningrad Cowboys & Russian Red Army Choir

Came across the Leningrad Cowboys (via Damien Mulley) and have watched a few of their videos on YouTube. Very different from anything else I have seen, good fun, excellent music, and fantastic to listen to and watch. I think the best stuff is done with the Russian Red Army choir.

Check out their brilliant version of the traditional Russian song "Kalinka", and an outstanding version of ZZ Top's "Gimmie All Your Lovin'" from YouTube:

Learning from Cold Weather

We have been having very cold weather, that we are not used to in Ireland, for three weeks now. Yesterday we had a small snow shower that caused chaos in Dublin city centre and elsewhere on the east coast. I had a dental appointment at 3.30 in Henry Street and saw at first hand people slipping and falling in the slush. It was not yet icy, but we were all finding it difficult to keep our footing - I slipped a few times, thankfully without falling. One women walking beside me in the IFSC slipped and fell onto the Luas tracks - luckily there was no tram coming. The picture to the right (link from the Independent newpaper) was taken near Lucan, Co Dublin.

Why do we never learn?

My next door neighbour (Jack) is just back from Chicago where he says it's like this all the time in winter. Our main roads are gritted, but others roads (including our road) are not. There is a shortage of salt - we rely on a small mine in Co Antrim and imports from Spain. It has not been like this since 1982. There are calls on the radio this morning to "Send in the Army". Even I have decided to work from home today (I know - writing this post is not work!).

As an educator, I like to look at events such as this to see how can we learn from them, and if we have learned from the past. Some thoughts, in no particular order, below.

• Nobody is to blame for the snow. However, people are attacking the government and local authorities, and even blaming the Minister (See Dempsey told to 'come out of hiding' as chaos reigns)
• If something goes wrong, is it somebody's fault? Do we feel better if we can blame someone else for our woes?
• Why are we always more concerned about "old people" and "rural areas" - they can certainly handle a bit of snow and ice better than city folks
• Should we have sand and grit on every street corner for a once in every 20-30 year cold snap? Absolutely not! It would be vandalized in minutes.
• We don't know how to drive in bad weather. Wednesday morning at about 12.30am I was driving home from Donnybrook along the Stillorgan dual-carriageway in the snow and at 55kph - this is a 60kph zone (I was picking Vicki and pals up from Wesley). I was overtaken at speed by several cars! Was I the only person to see the snow or know that there was ice on the road? How do we learn to drive in conditions like this when they rarely happen? Unfortunately we need more weather like this to learn how to drive and behave better on the roads
• I'm no saint - but I have cleared the ice and snow on the path outside my own house. Nobody else on my road has done this. I've seen very few paths being cleared in housing estates or outside shops - are we all waiting for someone else to clear them? Is this type of work with a shovel and sweeping brush beneath us? We have to learn that we our responsible for our own "bit", and not wait on others, or go on The Joe Duffy Show for a good moan
• On the DART home last evening (which took 20 minutes longer than usual, not due to weather - but to a fire on the train in front). The train was packed and the curse of mobile phones struck "I'm on the DART and it is going nowhere" was to be heard every five minutes - I was praying nobody would ring me and I'd have to say the same
• One innovative woman in the seat opposite me on the DART gave instructions on her phone to her family about how to put the dinner on
• We Irish love talking about the weather - we have to learn to talk about something else!
• The good news is - the snow and ice will eventually melt!

I watched a Grumpy Old Men programme a few days ago - may be I should be on it! We all need to learn how to deal with bad weather and "suck it in". I promise to be cheerful from now on and look on the bright side (the sun is shining as I write this - Tada!).

I remember The Big Freeze in 1982 very well. I spent it while in Rooms in Trinity. We had gas, but no water for 10 days - it was great fun (apart from the smelly shared toilet downstairs). The newspapers and radio were just as full of moans then as now. My favourite memory of this Big Freeze was finding £10 under the snow as it was finally melting - it must have been there for 10 days. It was spent on Guinness that night in the Lincoln Inn. The Army was called in 1982 (see 'Storm Troopers' fought 1982 freeze), but is was all over very quickly when the rain returned. 28 years later, we still haven't learned.

My Book in the College Library

I got a little bit of a thrill this morning when I was in the NCI Norma Smurfit Library to see my book on the library bookshelf! It's Call Number is 658.403. I took a quick picture with my iPhone while nobody was looking - it is very quite in the College this week. These books are located beside MIS books (Call No. 658.4038 - this is how I came across my own as I borrowed a popular MIS book written by Ken Laudon for class).

Books with a Call Number of 658.403 are associated with Business Management - especially in the area of Decision Making. My book is squeezed between The Politics of Organizational Decision-Making (Pettigrew, 1973) and The Do-It-Yourself Lobotomy (Monahan, 2002). I'm glad to see that the DIY Lobotomy book is about Creative Thinking and is not a Medical text.

I hope the book makes it onto the shelves of other libraries. I'll make sure it stays on the NCI library shelf as long as possible as it will be on some of my module Reading Lists for some time. This poses an ethical dilemma - should Lecturers be allowed to recommend their own textbooks to their students? Especially when they have already paid fees? In my case the book was written specifically for a Business Systems Analysis module and contains all the notes and exercises I use in class. While all students in the class bought the book, I donated the proceeds (and will continue to do so for future sales) to the NCI Foundation. I am under no illusion that either the NCI Foundation will make much money out of this, or that I am giving up thousands of euro in royalties. Nevertheless, it eases my conscience a little bit to know that I am not trousering students' cash and exploiting their vulnerability.

GoogleGoogleGoogleGoogle

This morning when I logged on to my computer and opened Google Chrome, my Home Page was different from my normal iGoogle page - it looked like below:

Upon investigation it turns out that this is a site called http://googlegooglegooglegoogle.com/ set up by "two guys named Alex and Erty decided to purchase the name and create some sorta site using it" - see article about this here. At first I thought this was a hack into Google, but a quick look at Chrome History shows this was accessed by someone (Vicki and pals) using the computer last evening - my iGoogle settings restore the pages that were open last.

Isn't it strange that I was automatically suspicious? I was careful not to click on anything for fear of doing damage. I even searched for "googlegooglegooglegoogle" on a separate tab to see if it was related to any hacking or security breach at Google. All it is is "Alex and Erty" using frames to position four Google search windows on one page so that you can search for four items at the same time. If you load googlegooglegooglegoogle into each of the four frames you can search for 16 items at a time. Full marks for innovation and creativity, though I'm not so sure how useful this tool will be. It just shows that there are creative developers out there looking for new ideas all the time - keep it up "Alex and Erty".

2000/2009 - a Decade of Change

Ten years ago we were on the brink of a new Millennium. Now as I'm about to enter my seventh decade (I was born in the 1950s - this makes me feel old) I thought I'd look back over the 2000/2009 decade and try to remember things that happened without looking them up on the Web.

New Year's Day 2000 started out with a Bourke family "do" in Islandeady near Castlebar, Co. Mayo. We had a lot of champagne is what I remember most about the night, and also checking the News on TV/radio for any Y2K bugs - which as I recall did not cause any major problems. Entering a new millennium was not really an exciting event (as I'm certain not to live through it!) - but a new decade was. At that time, I had a great job and was making good money in SmartForce - Oh, and I bought my first Harley-Davidson! My world seemed to on an upward spiral - in the year 2000 alone I traveled to the USA 10 times (mostly business class). The Dot.com boom was in full swing and I thought that this prosperity would never end. 2001 changed all of that - the attack on the Twin Towers in New York shook the world and I recall watching the footage on the Internet at work with disbelief.

One good thing Roma and I did in 2001 was to buy #5 Skuna Bay in the late summer. The 24th July 2001 was a notable date for me as it was the last day ever that I sold SmartForce stock options - this covered a good portion of the cost of the house. The stock was at about $40 in mid July and fell to $16 by late August (it still has not recovered) - a fortuitous sale if ever there was one. This was really the beginning of the end for SmartForce - by 2002 it had gone through a failed merger with Centra, two rounds of redundancies, and a takeover by SkillSoft. For me I took the most difficult decision I ever had to make by applying (successfully) for voluntary redundancy - I got the final word while sitting on a rock outside a hotel near Heathrow Airport while suffering from a "mother and father" of a hangover. In November 2002 I was officially unemployed, though I had a very good redundancy package to keep me happy. Also in November 2002 my former colleague at both SmartForce and NCI, and good friend Dr David Keane, contacted me to see if I was interested in some part-time lecturing at NCI. My first class was on Change Management as a guest lecturer, and I got some teaching hours on NCI's new Diploma in e-Learning.

In January 2003 I got more teaching hours in NCI, and by June I had secured a full time position as an Assistant Lecturer. I was thrilled to get this (even though the money was very poor, especially compared to what I had earned in SmartForce). It was 15 years since I had graduated from Trinity with a PhD in the hope that I would go on to secure a position as a Lecturer/Researcher in a College/University - I had finally done it, albeit by a most circuitous route. In 2003 I also purchased my second (and current) Harley-Davidson, a Heritage Softail Classic, which as you'll see from previous posts I love to bits.

2004, 2005, and 2006 are a bit of a blur really. In 2004 I moved from Assistant Lecturer to Lecture in NCI and was by then really settled into the job. It is a great place to work  - the people are smashing and the job itself is very satisfying (except when some of my classes are poorly attended). The IFSC is a nice location and I commute the 7 miles mostly by motorcycle, and less frequently by bicycle. In 2005 I started to teach a new module on Business Systems Analysis, which has become my favourite subject to teach. I have done a lot of night classes, which I have recently got fed up of doing. I have also got into teaching Project Management which is a subject I am also very fond of - having been a Project Manager for much of my time in SmartForce. 2005 also saw my longest ever trip (to Algarve and back) on my motorcycle - this was quite an adventure. 2006 (Sept 8th) also saw the death of my Mother-in-Law, Mary Rose Bourke, may she rest in peace. In 2006 I started this blog with my first post on November 13th. 2006 and 2007 I posted only a few items, only really getting into it during 2008. This post is the 268th post since I started.

2007 was also the height of the property boom and we decided to get in on the act by buying an apartment in Spain from Polaris World - we paid the deposit in March 2007. Almost three years later the apartment is still not built, and Polaris are in trouble having recently filed for protection from creditors. This could end up being our worst financial decision ever. However, a really good financial decision was to not by an apartment in Ireland! Sadly, my uncle Charlie O'Loughlin also died in 2007 (Sept 10th) - may he also rest in peace.

2008 and 2009 was all about recession in Ireland. We have seen the value of our property fall dramatically (our house by over 50% in two years), and income reduced. Thankfully, I am still employed by NCI - however, management/union negotiations on cost-cutting are still on-going and I pray that whatever happens that I still have a job at the end. 2009 also saw me reach 50 years of age and publish my first book.

I have thought about what I might be writing about in ten years time. Hopefully I will continue to blog, though I have promised myself to write less about myself and write more comment on the issues of the day - especially in relation to education and technology. I'll be 60 in 2019 - certainly thinking about retirement, and I may even be a Grandfather (hopefully towards the end of the decade).

Goodbye to the Noughties!

Alan Irvine sacked by Preston North End

Huge surprise to hear on the sports news a few minutes ago that PNE boss Alan Irvine has been sacked. Already there are many posts (see BBC 606 Comment page) expressing surprise, outrage, and disbelief. The official announcement on PNE.com is here.

I have been to see several PNE games (with my brother Brian) - the last being a 0-0 draw vs Reading. At this game the PNE fans were chanting his name all the time "Alan Irvine's Yellow Army!". PNE made the play-offs and  everyone was delighted at such an achievement for a small club on a tight budget. Irvine was a target for West Brom in the summer, but stayed out of loyalty to PNE. After a run of only one win in 10 games, he gets sacked - not much loyalty from the club to him. While 1/10 is a poor run (in fact it's relegation form), it does seem to all to have been a very hasty reaction by PNE chairman Derek Shaw.

Irish international Sean St Ledger has returned from loan at Middlesborough (PNE's bad form started after he left). He was supposed to stay. Something is not quite right, and I, along with many posters on the Web feel that there is something behind the scenes that we don't know about.

All the best Alan Irvine - no doubt you win't have long to wait before getting another job.

Ballingate on St Stephen's Day

Due to bad weather our planned trip to Ballingate on Christmas Eve to visit Mum and Dad not happen. Having made this visit every Christmas Eve for several years, I was at a loss as to what to do with myself (I cleaned up around the house in preparation for Christmas Day!).

Instead we (Roma, Kate, Vicki and me) went to Ballingate on St Stephen's Day. The roads were a wee  bit icy going down - especially around Aughrim (we returned by the coast road via Gorey). My sister Kathleen and brother Joe were also present - we had a great chat and good banter. The photo to the right was taken in the sitting room - Mum and Dad looking great. We had an excellent lunch and swapped belated Christmas presents. I also got a wonderful belated 50th birthday present from Kathleen - Mount Juliet here I come!

A Christmas Carol at the Gate

Last Saturday, Roma, Kate, Vicki, Emma, and I went to see A Christmas Carol at the Gate theatre. Last Christmas I had received a voucher for the Gate and was only now using it. I had never been to see A Christmas Carol on stage, and it has been several years since I had been to the Gate. I had coincidentally taken part in a screen reading experiment the day before which involved reading some text on screen from Dickens' book - so many of the lines were familiar.

This was a super performance and very enjoyable to watch. Barry McGovern was an excellent Scrooge - he squeezed every ounce of acting he has into this role. The standing ovation at the end for him, and all the cast, was well deserved. Though he only had minor roles, John Kavanagh's voice is a national treasure which should have a Preservation Order made to ensure that he never looses it! The Victorian seasonal "feel" that you expect from Dickens was convincing - top hats and black suits were the order of the day (except for Mr Fezziwig of course). The cast was large, and the stage production handled the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future to perfection. The singing of Christmas carols - especially "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" at the end, made me want to join in. Curiously - none of the audience that I could hear joined in.

Overall - a great evening's entertainment enjoyed by us all. Last word to Tiny Tim - "God Bless Us, Every One!".

Christmas Eve 2009

I've been a bit quiet on the blogging front this month. Work has been very busy and I am conscious that one or two people at work read this blog (so I don't want to appear as a dosser by posting during work hours!).

I've even been doing some Christmas shopping. I am a rubbish shopper - on several occasions over the past couple of weeks I have gone up to Grafton St or O'Connell St and bought nothing! I needed Kate's help to get Roma a present (thanks Kate!). I've done some shopping on-line, but it appears that the biggest present I got on-line (bought in September) will not be delivered on time for Christmas. In fact I cut it fine for two sets of presents - more on this post-Christmas.

I am off with the girls to Carnew later on this morning. I just spoke to Dad who tells me that the roads are icy, but that they are getting better. Carnew, Shillelagh, Bunclody, and even the Slapper's Cross (about 2km from Mum and Dad's house) were mentioned on AA Roadwatch this morning. Christmas Eve would not be the same without a visit to South Wicklow. We will go the coast road via Gorey and avoid the higher ground and twisty roads around Rathdrum.

I still have some presents to wrap - so I'd better get to it. Happy Christmas to all!

My first penalty points

Yesterday when I arrived home from work there was a letter from the Gardaí informing me that I had been detected speeding at 68 kph in a 50 kph zone at Victoria Quay on Saturday 28th November at 9.07am. The notice even had a photograph of my VW Golf's number plate. I had being driving to Heuston Station to drop Kate off to the train which was due to leave at 9.30am - we were running late. I wasn't stopped at a check point, so it must have been a speed camera or a hand held device - I didn't see it. The letter points out that the fixed fine is €80 if paid within 28 days. But the biggest shock for me was two penalty points are coming my way!

I have been caught speeding only a few times - always avoiding a ticket. Twice on the motorbike, and only once before in a car - I think on each occasion I managed to talk my way out of a ticket. Not this time as I was caught by a camera. Ironically, I am known within my family as a slow driver - I'm always being slagged about it. The person driving at 80-90 kph on the inside lane of a dual-carriageway - that's me. I always knew that if I was to be caught it would be for exceeding the limit in low speed areas. In this case I exceeded the limit by 36%, so I suppose I can't complain.

The lesson from this is to leave on time - we got up at 8.35 and the train was leaving 55 minutes later. Also a lesson is to watch my speed in low limit areas. 50 mph is very slow, and it is easy to exceed this without noticing. I'll be more careful in future even if it means getting a reputation as an even more boring slow driver!

Emerging Technologies in Education

The 2009 Horizon Report from the New Media Consortium and EDUCAUSE makes for interesting reading about the impact emerging technologies will make on education over the next five years. The report can be accessed here.

The Horizon report is published every year and I have been following it since 2005 when they predicted that Social Networking, which was then an emerging technology, would find a place in education.This years report breaks down into three parts:

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: One Year or Less

• Mobile Internet Devices
• Private Clouds

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years

• Open Content
• Virtual, Augmented, and Alternate Realities

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Four to Five Years

• Location-Based Learning
• Smart Objects and Devices

I am particularly interested in the "Open Content" discussion as I am in favour of learning content being made available for free on the Web - my own learning videos on YouTube are an example of this.

The report is definitely worth a look at if you are interested in seeing how technology will become more ingrained in our education over the next few years.

Announcing........My First Book!

For the past year and a half I have been writing a textbook based on a module that I teach at The National College of Ireland. The book is called An Introduction to Business Systems Analysis: Problem-Solving Techniques and Strategies. It is based on the Business Systems Analysis module which is now part of the HETAC Certificate in Business Analysis and Consultancy. This course is delivered by NCI on behalf of the Business Analysts Association of Ireland. I have not mentioned it much in this blog - I preferred to keep relatively quiet about it. The book is part of NCI's "Changing World of Work" series and is published by The Liffey Press.

While I am very proud of the book already - I am fully aware that it is a modest textbook that will have limited appeal. Nevertheless - I am hopeful that it will provide some value for my students on the Business Analysis course. I won't get rich financially with this book, but it has already made me rich in other ways.

The first copies of the book arrived today!

I am 50 years young and this is my first book - I hope it will not be 50 years until the next.

It is a cool feeling having a copy of your own book available on Amazon. As I write, its Sales Rank at Amazon.co.uk is "378,370 in Books". It ranked at about 250,000 yesterday which is better than the 1,000,000 plus earlier in the week - I jumped three quarters of a million places in rank this week! Ranking is calculated hourly, so there must have been an order or two going through.

I spent a lot of time - mostly outside of work, writing this book. The hardest part was coming up with examples and exercises to explain each concept. In class I can use examples from the literature, but obviously I cannot use other people's work in my own book. So I had to come up with new ideas, which can be difficult. I can now use this new material in class - I am testing it out on the current class this semester.

I have no immediate plans for another book - I'd certainly like to do something in the Learning Technologies area. I'll keep an eye out for ideas - something on Learning Needs Analysis or Project Management might be most useful.