Pareto Chart video - 1 year, 10,970 views

Last Saturday (September 26th) was a year to the day since I posted my "How To..Create a Pareto Chart in Excel" to YouTube. At the time of writing this post it has 10,970 views. While this is a very modest total when compared to other Excel videos, I am absolutely delighted that it has so many views and that many people have found the video very useful.

Apologies for appearing to boast about this, but here are some of the (unedited) comments I have received:

"You save my life man!!! Thank youuu!!"

"Excellent!"

"This was extremely helpful!! Thank you so much!!"

"wow i need to submit my coursework this evening and finally my work is done!!"

"thank you so much!"

"thankyou!!! BIGUP!! Keepon makin' such good tutorials. It was pretty helpful!"

"This was very helpful, thank you!"

"fuckin stat class making me do this shit, but prof never thought how to"

The views are running at a rate of 210 per week, and are watched mostly by people in the USA. By far the biggest age group is the 55-64s, with a breakdown of 61% female/39% male. I haven't quite managed another video with these viewing figures - the next highest viewing figure is 4,078 for my "How To...Create a Basic Gantt Chart in Excel".

There are also many other websites that my videos are used on - Global Oneness INNWA Videos, Technorati, and even Disney!

10 Years of Motorcycling

I not sure of the exact date in September 1999, but it is 10 years since I returned to motorcycling after a gap of 18 years (on 8th of December 1981 my Honda CD175 was stolen from Trinity College). In the last 10 years I have had three bikes including my current Harley-Davidson Heritage Softail Classic. Previous to this I had a Harley-Davidson Sportster 883 Hugger, and before that I started out again with a Honda - this time a 250 Nighthawk.

I get fantastic pleasure out of riding my bike. I have chronicled elsewhere in this blog about trips to Portugal, Spain, UK, and France. I love riding it to and from work - the 15 mile round trip takes about 40-45 minutes of my day. When I compare this to the many other folks who spend hours each day commuting (mostly by car), I realise how the bike has contributed to quality of life devoid of transport hassles.

I wouldn't swap my Harley for anything - here's to the next 10 years!

Sailing Lesson

I had a sailing lesson today with the Irish National Sailing Club. The lesson was a short version of the Level 2 Sports Yacht course - I had a two day course in one day. As I was one-to-one with my instructor (Donncha), I was able to complete all of the tasks associated with the full course. Unfortunately I don't get the Level 2 certification - this requires the full two days on the water.

The boat was a Squib - like the one in the picture here. It is 19 feet long and quite a nice sized boat to sail. One person can manage sailing in this boat. It has a fixed keel which makes it too awkward for me to actually own one - it would need a mooring and also would not fit into my new shed in Wexford. I found tacking and jibbing a lot easier today than before - basically I am getting used to it. I also had to learning how to pick up a mooring, to come alongside a both a moored boat and a pontoon. and recover a person fallen overboard (which was a buoy). Very enjoyable and I got the hang of things quite quickly.

All of the sailing was inside Dún Laoghaire harbour, and the wind was a nice breeze in the morning session. However, after lunch the wind died down to almost calm and there was not much we could do. We finished up at about 3 o'clock. All-in-all - a very enjoyable lesson and confirms my belief that I should get a small sailing yacht.

Taming Your Digital Distractions

The New York Times has an interesting article entitled Taming Your Digital Distractions. Here's a (large) extract from the article:

Is there any human invention more duplicitous than the personal computer? These machines were manufactured and initially marketed as devices to help us at work. We were told they would perform amazing feats of office derring-do — adding up rows of numbers effortlessly, turning our musings into beautiful magazine-quality documents, and letting us collaborate with one another across continents.

Boy, that turned out well, didn’t it? Sure, you could use your PC to analyze stats for the annual sales report due in two days. But hey, look at this — someone wants to be your friend on Facebook! And wait a second: A zany couple decided to start off their wedding by dancing down the aisle, and lucky for everyone, they posted the video on YouTube. And did you hear what that ignorant congressman just said about health care? Now you’ve got no choice but to spend the next five minutes crafting an impassioned tweet to express your outrage.

I get disturbed all the time when I am using my work (and home/iPhone) computer when I am supposed to be working. This is even after I previously closed my Facebook and Twitter accounts. I regularly check news items that inevitably lead to checking out other distracting news stories. One thing leads to another........

One of the most beneficial things I have done at work is to turn OFF my email alert. I come from a generation who did not get email and text messages on a daily or hourly basis. I still get a "Wow I just got a text message/email" buzz. I once even had the AOL "You've got mail" message alert - allowing myself to be interrupted no matter what I was doing. Try it - turn off your email alert and your productivity will increase.

I also find myself being interrupted by byte sized information. Shallow Thinking (first, if I'm not mistaken espoused by the wonderful George Siemens) has invaded my mind - if something is longer than a standard text message I will not even bother looking it up. If I was reading this post I would have stopped after "I get disturbed..." - 'nuff said.

13th September

The 13th of September is a special day for me as it is the anniversary of the day Roma and I got married back in 1986. To celebrate we went out for a walk in the pleasant sunshine to Blackrock where we had a beer in Sheehan's Pub. They have a beer garden there and it was very pleasant to be sitting out. After walking home we went out to Alexis in Dún Laoghaire for dinner with Claire, Kate, and Vicki. Alexis is one of our favourite restaurants and once again it did not disappoint as we all had an excellent meal. It was a most enjoyable evening - the three girls are great company.

For Roma and me it is 23 years since we were married. We reminded Claire (who was recently 21) that Roma was just 23 when we got engaged. Claire assures us that it will be at least 10 years before she thinks of marriage! I did suggest that she would get a cool reaction in two years time if she came home and announced that she wanted to get married to a post-graduate student (as I was in 1984 when we got engaged).

Cóir - Nuts!

I love this poster for a Yes vote in the Lisbon Treaty referendum...

I referred to Cóir previously as "gobshites" - my attitude has not changed. I listened to part of an interview with a Cóir representative on Today FM this morning where Labour's Pat Rabbitte (normally someone who I have no time for) put him in his place - good on you Pat, and you are right - you have a "track record" on workers rights that Cóir can only aspire to. The Cóir guy was ranting on about the minimum wage and worker's rights (not mentioned in the Treaty) - I'm certain anyone listening to this will realize that these people are "nuts", which is why I love this poster (I do dislike that the poster is not signed or claimed by any organizations - whoever it is should be proud of what they have to say and proclaim it out loud!).

What is it about referendums ("referenda" if you went to UCD) that polarizes people? Maybe it's because you can only vote "Yes" or "No" - I'm sure there are many people who would like to vote "Maybe", or "Can I have another choice please?", or "None of the above". Declan Ganley of Libertas, who in the past has said that the people have spoken and that "No" means "No" (referring to the previous referendum result), has decided that in his own case that "No" actually means "Yes". He stated previously that he would not participate in the referendum campaign having been rejected by a huge margin by the voters of Connaught in the last European Parliament Elections. Now he is campaigning! Current polls show a 2-1 majority in favour of "Yes".

My mind is made up - it's still "Yes".

Book Review - "Rebels" by Peter de Rosa

I read Peter de Rosa's excellent historical novel about the 1916 Rising while on holiday in Spain this summer, but took my time writing a review for Amazon. The review is reproduced below. I also note for the first time that I have dropped out of the Top 500 Reviewers at Amazon.co.uk - at the time of writing this I'm now ranked #502.

5.0 out of 5 stars

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent historical novel, 5 Sep 2009 By EFMOL "eugeneol" (Dublin) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) Peter de Rosa's historical novel is an excellent read and and will give the reader a detailed account of what it must have been like during the 1916 rebellion. All the intrigues of a rebellion are there for all to see. I'm told that there are historical inaccuracies in the book, but even though I am very familiar with this period of Irish history I didn't notice anything wrong. Events are highly dramatized - particularly towards the end of the book when the executions take place. Written evidence records that the 1916 leaders had accepted their fate, but this book paints them all as angelic heroes sacrificing their lives in the cause of Irish freedom - Pearse would "go through death without hurt". Even he must have felt some terror facing a firing squad, but there is no hint of it for any of the leaders facing death. No one can know what was going through their minds at the time, and de Rosa does an excellent job on what it must have been like. The 1916 Rebellion had a lot of characters and de Rosa keeps the plot and story going with ease. Countess Markievicz makes for an excellent hero, General Maxwell is the villain, Roger Casement is treated favorably - though his part in the rising is almost a distraction in this book, and all the leaders are heroes too. Almost 500 people were killed in the Rebellion and some of the savagery that took place - especially in North King Street, is graphically described. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to potential readers. Whether you are Irish or not you will enjoy reading about this dramatic period in Irish history. Any Irish person reading this will find that your heart will almost be bursting with pride reading about the rebels and their failed dream of an Irish Republic.

How To... Retain Text Format When Copying and Pasting in Word

I have posted a new video on YouTube about copying and pasting text in Microsoft Word.

This video arose out of frustration when I copy text from one document to another. Here's what happens: I set up my document into a format that I want - font, size, justification, spacing, etc. When I copy text from another document, which has a different format, it messes up my original text. This drives me nuts when I use Word, so this video shows how to overcome this using Windows Notepad.

This is also one of the quickest videos I have made - I recorded it in one take with very little preparation (this might show in the video!).

How Many Of Me?

Ego surfing is a factor I think most people who use the Internet and World Wide Web are "guilty" of at least at some stage. I'm sure most of us have Googled our names (I have!). Here's an interesting web site called HowManyOfMe.com that determines how many people have the same name as you. It's USA based only, but fun nonetheless. Here are the results for my name:

HowManyOfMe.com

There are people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Try it out for yourself.

Interesting stuff from the howmanyofme.com website:

There are 307,351,318 people in the United States of America. If everyone in the U.S. lined up single file, the line would stretch around the Earth almost 7 times. That's a lot of people.

The U.S. Census Bureau statistics tell us that there are at least 151,671 different last names and 5,163 different first names in common use in the United States. Some names are more common than others.

There are 44,441 people named John Smith in the United States. There are 967 people named James Bond, 102 people named Harry Potter , 433 people named George Bush, and 31 people named Emily Dickinson. However, Johnny Cash (32 people) songs aside there are, statistically speaking, very few boys named Sue.

The Mayonnaise Jar and Two Beers

I heard the following story several years ago and came across it today - I intend to use it in my classes. It is a story that makes you think about the important things in life. Today in class I asked my students (30 in total) to tell me their names, and three things about themselves - one of which was untrue. Nearly all the items were about family, favorite sports team, hobbies, and where they were from - important things. I'll tell them the Mayonaise Jar and Two Beers story next week.

The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 Beers

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 Beers .

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

'Now,' said the professor as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things---your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.

The sand is everything else---the small stuff. 'If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

'Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.. Spend time with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.'

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented. The professor smiled and said, 'I'm glad you asked.' The Beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of Beers with a friend.'

Taken from The Gray Matters Blog.

The Lisbon Treaty and the Natterjack Toad

In the first referendum on the Lisbon Treaty I voted "Yes". I always vote "Yes" in referendums on European matters. 47% of the vote the last time was for a "Yes" - a sizeable minority, but a fact that "No" campaigners ignored while claiming a massive victory. The Dún Laoghaire constituency returned the highest "Yes" vote in the country - over 60%. Some folks here wanted to know if we could stay in Europe while the rest of the country could opt out. I support the European project - not because of what Ireland has got out of the EU, but because I feel it is a good thing to be a European and that we should all be integrated more closely. In many ways I feel that I am in the same boat as the French, Greeks, Latvians, and people of all the other 26 EU member states - part of a wider Union family of Europeans. In order for it to work better, it needs the Lisbon Treaty - a no brainer for me.

Seeing the array of people who are lined up against the Treaty makes it even easier to vote "Yes". Joe Higgins (one of our MEPs ffs), Sinn Féin, People before Profit, the dreadful Cóir, are all a motley crew of people searching for reasons to vote "No". Many of the issues identified last time for the 53% "No" vote have been addressed, so they are searching the bottom of the barrel for more reasons to vote "No" (that they astonishingly forgot to tell us about the last time). €1.84 minimum wage is the latest - the Treaty does not mention anything about minimum wages. We'll have abortion imposed against our will (what would a vote on that be like now I wonder?) - the Treaty does not mention anything about abortion. I also hated the way that Cóir used the 1916 Proclamation during the last referendum, and the way they are using pictures of Pearse, Clarke, and Connolly this time claiming they won our freedom and beseeching us not to "Throw it all away". They did not win any freedom - in fact they lost and were shot for it. Leave the 1916 leaders and the Proclamation alone - they are dead patriots who do not deserve their memories being usurped like this.

The Treaty also does not mention a lot of other things - among them the endangered Natterjack Toad in Kerry. Does this mean that this protected toad is under threat from voting "Yes"? According to the twisted logic above it will. Now I'm descending into ridicule - but I'm sick of negative people who always oppose anything no matter what. I bet that if we have a referendum on protecting the Natterjack Toad that gobshites like Cóir would campaign against it.

I have no problem with people voting "No" - I'm sure many who did so the last time are sick of the fact that they have to do it again (just like I am having to go out and vote "Yes" again). But please leave our dead heroes alone and stick to the facts of the treaty. Otherwise people like me will want to know where you stand on the Natterjack Toad issue.

Metro Further Education

I am featured in today's free Metro Newspaper in the centre section which today is about Further Education. I was asked on Friday to write an article on advice for IT courses at NCI. The full article is on page 17 - you can see it in the e-Metro edition (you will be required to give your email).

There are swine flu and computerphobia themes (not my idea). The antidote?- why a course in NCI obviously! When asked if they could use a photo of me on my bike to accompany the article I agreed - they did not tell me it would occupy almost half a page. It is a little embarrassing and I got lots of slagging at work today about it. It's really a photo of a bike with a bloke sitting on it, rather than a photo of of a Lecturer who's hobby is motorcycling!

Birthday Weekend

Last weekend was a significant birthday week in our family. August 27th is shared as a birthday between my Mum Phil and my daughter Claire. Mum is 75 and Claire is 21. To mark the occasion we partied ith the O'Loughlin family in our house in Wexford last Saturday 29th to celebrate. We also marked the occasion for Roma's birthday which was the next day (August 30th).

For once the weather held up and we had a nice day. Though the evening was cool I lit the brazier which was a great success - especially for toasting marshmallows later in the evening. Mum's friend from Virginia, Mary Ball, also came along - for many years she has really been part of our family. Roma had been working all day preparing the evening meal, and though I did help out, she prepared a great meal for all. Brian came over from England for the party and was his usual self - joking and having a great time catching up with all the family. I hadn't seen him since the Reading vs Preston North End match last February. Kathleen and her family also came from Kilkenny - grandson Daniel provided us with great entertainment as only a small boy can in a large group of adults. Joe and his family came from Bunclody, and the family was completed of course with Mum and Dad who were in great form throughout.

The picture above is one of several I took with my camera - many are out of focus and of poor quality. I don't know what t is, but my camera seems to be working poorly - I do need a better flash (maybe Santa might bring one for Christmas?).

All in all we had a great evening. Claire is 21, and looked great - in the picture above are two of her close friends - Louisa and Molly. Later, when most people had left and we settled down to a glass of wine, Claire entertained us greatly with stories of her social life and her opinions on everything from Barack Obama ("he's done nothing") to 1970's music ("you guys were so lucky - 1970's music is way better than today's"). Mum - at 75, what can I say. She truly looked fantastic and loved the evening with all the family.

So Happy Birthday to Mum, Claire, and Roma - I love you all!

How To... Use Absolute Cell Reference in Excel

I have posted a new "How To..." video on YouTube - my first last April.

This one is about using Absolute Cell referencing in Excel. This is a neat Excel tool that makes copying data and formulas a little easier. It is easy to implement once you know how to use it. I learned about it the hard way as I tried to figure out why formulas got messed up whne I copied them. You can save a lot of work if you know how to use this tool - especially if you have a lot of formulas dependent on a static value.

This video was created in my office using Camstudio which is a free and easy to use screen recording tool (camstudio.org).

Cork 1-13, Tyrone 0-10

Yesterday Kate and I went along to the All-Ireland Senior Football Semi-final between Cork and champions Tyrone. We had seats high up in the Cusack Stand, but they were very central and we had an excellent view of the football. On account of my ancestors (on my Dad's side) we were up for Cork.

Cork certainly started very well racing into an early lead that Tyrone could never pull back. Amid shouts from the crowd of "Rebels, Rebels", Cork put on a display that will make them favourites for the All-Ireland final - even if they are facing Kerry. The Cork defence was super, they snuffed out almost everything that Tyrone had to offer - they even had a player (Alan O'Connor) unfairly sent off, but they overcame that too. Everyone in the crowd was expecting Tyrone to up their game at any time as they have been doing for the past couple of years - but it did not happen.

Best team won!

Climbing a mountain - reflections on Croagh Patrick and going to College

While climbing Croagh Patrick last Saturday I had plenty of time to think - and I did, about lots of things. I am heading back into my eight academic year in NCI and will once again have first year students for a Technology Fundamentals module. I was thinking about what an adventure going to College must be for new students. Also, my daughter Kate is going to Trinity next month to read Natural Science - of course, this reminded me of 31 years ago when I was about to embark on the same adventure in October 1978. So I started to think about the similarities between climbing a mountain for the first time and going to College.

I set out with lots of enthusiasm to climb Croagh Patrick - from the bottom it looks like the picture above - easy? College too is easy - right? I bought a walking stick because I figured I might need to lean on it along the way. Lots of people did not bother with walking sticks - I guess they figured they would not need any help. Students don't get sticks when they enter College, but they do need help along the way.

Within 100m I was almost out of breadth and was already wondering how I was going to make it to the top (or the end of the year). I had to rethink my strategy and slow down - rushing into anything (climbing mountains/going to College) is not a good idea. There were lots of other people (fellow students) on the mountain who were equipped differently. There were the "professional" mountain climbers (star students who find College easy) with the right boots, gear, Alpine walking sticks, and energy bars. There were people like me - wearing the only boots I had, carrying a backpack with a camera, a jumper that I did not use, a wind cheater, and water. I had had lots of advice (as students get from teachers and parents) on what to bring. There were people totally unprepared for a mountain - light T-shirts, sandals, no water, even some people wearing Wellingtons, all sorts - just like College. Some people do it the hard way - even in bare feet, but all have a common goal - to get to the top.

After a while I got into a rhythm and routine as I got used to the mountain. Some parts were steeper than others - in College, some subjects are easier than others. Now I started to open up to other mountain climbers who were going up with me, stopping for rests, and of course coming down. Lots of banter about the climb - "only 10k more to the top", "what time is the next bus?", and "is there an elevator here?" Making friends on the mountain was getting easier - we were all in the same boat, and feeling the same sore muscles, and the same determination to get to the top (like making it through to the end of the year and passing your exams). Some people passed me out - I guessed they had done the mountain before (2nd years). Some were actually running up and down the mountains as if they knew where the best footholds were for every step - they must be third or fourth year students, or graduates. They made it look easy.

Some people were struggling - stopping for rests, looking longingly back at the bottom, or deciding that the mountain was too tough after all. Students drop out of College for all sorts of reasons, people set out to climb a mountain and not make it to the top - College and mountains are not for everybody. What I did see was others urging their companions to keep going. Some were pulling and pushing, offering hands - lots of parents were carrying jumpers and coats for their kids. There was lots of advice - "lean forward", "slow down", "drink some water", and "keep going". It could have related to studies instead of mountain climbing - "get your head into the books", "eat properly", and "keep going". The tougher the climb became, the more I listened to the advice. Advice for first years anyone?

There are lots of small pitfalls - stepping on sharp stones, slipping backwards, somebody getting in your way. Students miss lectures, forget assignments, fail continuous assessments - but the important thing is to keep going. Nobody said mountains or College were going to be easy every step of the way. Expect setbacks - you will not be disappointed. But there are also lots of places to take a rest and take on some refreshments (student bars - in my case The Lincoln Inn). We all need this or we will certainly exhaust ourselves on our respective paths. As Stephen Covey wrote - "sharpen the saw".

Near the top, you call upon all your resilience and recently gathered experience to take on the final part (exams). You have made it this far and there can be no turning back. On Croagh Patrick the hardest part was the last bit - just like exams. Then you're there - at the summit. Exhausted. Thirsty. Exhilarated. You look around and everyone else looks the same - just like your fellow students after the last exam is over. Everywhere there are cameras and smiles. Some people who look like they have just been out for a morning stroll are posing for official looking photos - they must be graduating. You are glad to have made it to the summit at the first time of asking. You look around, but already some of the people who climbed to the top with you are already on their way back down. Absorb the moment - summer is waiting and next year is just around the corner. You have been to the mountain top - enjoy!

You look back down the mountain and take in the view. You can see a whole lot more at the top than you could at the bottom - like knowing a lot more at the end of the year than at the start. The path from the bottom to the top looks a lot easier from here - the stones you tripped on, the gravel you slipped on, the steep parts, are forgotten memories. You have been to the mountain top and you know that you can do it again.

Heading back down of course is a lot easier than coming up the mountain. Some people are racing down the mountain. Are they trying to reach the bottom before you? Will all the jobs be gone when I get to the bottom? You don't know what's at the bottom, but you know you have to reach it. You know you will have to come back up again, so you notice more on the way down than you did on the way up. There was a easier way past a certain obstacle, there's a view you didn't see on the way up - you stop and absorb the sights, you even offer advice to those still on the way up. You have been to the mountain top, and you are ready for more.

It then seems like seconds have passed and you are suddenly at the bottom. You look back up at the top and despite aching muscles you will have an inner pride in your achievement. The mountain looks a lot smaller than when you set out. You know that you can do it again, second year suddenly looks a lot easier. You have been to the mountain top, first year is over.

New Google satellite photos on Maps

I was recently sent an email with a link to an address in South Co. Dublin and I noted that the clarity of the photos used had much improved on previous versions. Google have obviously recently updated the photos - so I decided to look at my own house:

My house is the one in the middle with the conservatory at the back. In the back garden you can see a dinghy that we kept there for the winter - it belongs to my brother-in-law and is now thankfully gone since June. Out front you can just about see Roma's Honda CRV in the driveway, Claire's silver Citroen C3 is clearly visible in front of Jack's house next door, while my (and Kate's!) red VW Golf is also visible parked outside the house.

I don't have any privacy hang-ups about putting a picture of my house on the web . My address is easy to find in the Dublin telephone book and in the on-line version. I'd guess that anyone with even basic IT skills could find it in minutes - so what's the point in trying to hide it, or deny that it exists? This photo was taken probably during April/May this year - so would be burglers are already too late.

This type of content publication on-line is not for everybody - lot's of people have legitimate privacy concerns. Even if a burgler cannot use it for a real-time "casing" of a house, he can check things like walls, fences, getaway paths, and so on. They can probably even use Google Maps to tag maps to tick off houses that they have already "done", and create a list for an accomplice for what's left.

Google is getting more fascinating for me almost every day. Earlier today I added a graphic of my Harley-Davidson as a background to my Google Calendar, from my free Google Sites Page. Long live innovation at Google!

From a learning point of view, Google Maps must be ideal for students of geography - especially Ordinance Survey. Even when you want to find your way around, Google Maps (which I also have on my iPhone) is just as good as GPS. Expect a lot more location-based services like advertising and marketing to happen in the next year or so.

There is no hiding place any more!

Amazon Book Review - Assegai by Wilbur Smith

Wilbur Smith back on form, 12 Aug 2009

By	EFMOL "eugeneol" (Dublin) - See all my reviews

Assegai is a typical Wilbur Smith book that will please his loyal fans. After The Quest (which was very poor by his standards), this has Smith back on form. There's lots of action that keeps the reader wondering what's happening next. The central character, Leon Courtney, is a likeable fellow. As other reviewers have pointed out, there is a lot of killing of animals. Some may find this a bit squeamish.

While I enjoyed the book I have one major quibble with it. The book is billed as a Courtney falling in love with Eva, the German industrialist's daughter - but she does not make an appearance until the second half of the book. Advertising is a bit misleading on this.

Finally - the real winner in this book, as in most of Smith's books is Africa. Lots of descriptions of beautiful animals and landscapes - Smith's love of Africa shines through once again.

Croagh Patrick

Yesterday I climbed 764m to the top of Croagh Patrick, Co Mayo - it's at the centre of the Google Maps satellite image below.

View Larger Map

Since I first went to the West around 1981 I have been fascinated with Croagh Patrick. Several years ago I got about half way with the girls - but often promised myself that I would go all the way at the first opportunity. This weekend Roma, Kate, Vicki, and I went to Castlebar for the anniversary mass for my parents-in-law Billy and Mary Rose Bourke. I seized the opportunity to go to Croagh Patrick and fulfill a long term ambition to climb to the top. I set out at 1320 and made it to the top in 1 hour and 40 minutes. I was surprised at how busy it was, but glad that there were lots of other people there too. Unfortunately a 47 year old man died a couple of hours before I made the climb - he had become ill after reaching the top. As I arrived in the car park below the mountain I saw a rescue helicopter flying away from the top - little did I know that it was an emergency.

I'm astonished that anyone would attempt this climb in bare feet as happens on Reek Sunday at the end of July - the rocks, stones, and gravel made me really glad that I had a pair of sturdy boots. Though my thighs in particular today are sore, it was well worth the effort to go to the top. The picture to the right just about summarizes how I felt after reaching the top - I was tired with the effort, but exhilarated. There was cloud at the very top, but about 50m down the sky was clear to reveal spectacular views over Clew Bay.

Near the bottom I started to think about a well deserved pint of cider to cool down, and by the time I got to Campbells Bar at the foot of the mountain I would have paid whatever they asked - such was my thirst. Sadly they did not have any cider (weirdos!) but a pint of Heino was just as welcome. A pleasant end to a satisfying day.

PS

There is a lot of time to think when you climb a mountain - I have some thoughts which I plan to post as a Reflection at a later date.

My YouTube Channel

I am fascinated that my YouTube Channel has reached 20,640 views. On the 8th April last I posted about reaching 10,000 views. In four months this has doubled, running at over 80 views per day. My "How To...Create a Pareto Chart in Excel" is the most popular with 8,837 views.

Elliott Masie has written about the phenomenon in his post How-To Videos Abound! He notes that "People want to get short bursts of high-value instruction on a wide range of topics" and that there "is significant growth happening in the use of short instructional video". Two things that came to mind when I read his post: First, I am a Lecturer in the National College of Ireland, (since 2002) and have reached far more students via YouTube than in my classroom (probably about 200 per year). Secondly, my academic publications over 20 years only have about 25 citations in total by other authors (very poor I agree). A lot of work went into my academic papers, while each of my short videos took only a few minutes to create. Perhaps we are reaching an era when academic output will be measured not only by the number of peer-reviewed publications, but also by the amount of on-line material and its subsequent viewing figures.

With YouTube, I have a vast world-wide audience. Most of my videos are viewed in the USA, India, and Australia. I can teach far more students using this medium than in the classroom. Of course there's no danger of me moving permanently to YouTube as I don't get paid. But I have had very good comments posted about my videos from viewers - including a proposal of marriage!

Wet July is over - hurray for August!

I can't really complain - July started for me in Nerja with all day sunshine and 30+ degrees. It was a nice start to the month and I had looked forward to a long break when we got home on 5th July. Since then Ireland has endured a miserably wet summer, most of which I have spent in Wexford. Met Éireann’s weather station at Johnstown in Co Wexford recorded 211.9mm of rain, more than 50mm (2in) higher than the previous record (see Met Éireann says July the wettest on record in The Irish Times).

I came back to Dublin last evening on my Harley-Davidson with my wet gear on. Not too much rain, but a lot of spray on the road. It's nice and sunny this morning and I'm heading back down to Wexford for the holiday weekend. Next week is my last week of holidays - unfortunately it looks like more bad weather for the remainder of my holidays.

While in Wexford I have no Internet access for my laptop (just a poor Edge signal for my iPhone). I have gone into Gorey on a couple of accasions to use free WiFi in the Amber Springs Hotel. A pot of tea and warm scone with cream and jam - only €4.50. Add in free WiFi for over an hour's use and this is a bargain. I have had little opportunity to blog - hence the low number of posts in July.

José Padial - Fotógrafo de la Cueva de Nerja

I mentioned in a previous post that Roma and I visited the Nerja Caves while on holiday earlier this month in Spain - I should have also mentioned that at the same time there was a photographic exhibition on in the centre of Nerja marking the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the caves and some photographs taken by at the time by a local Nerja photographer - José Padial. All of the literature and labels at the exhibition were in Spanish which was a pity because there was a lot of English speaking people at the exhibition. I bought the (Spanish only) booklet at the exhibition - it is excellent as it has copies of all the photos (black and white) shown in the exhibition. While the photos themselves tell a story, I wish I could read Spanish to get full value. Definitely an enjoyable follow-up to visiting the caves themselves.

The caves were discovered in January 1959. As this was an event that occured in the same year I was born I will be on the look out for other interesting things that occured that year (and maybe blog about them).

New Computer

Our five year old Dell Precision Workstation finally gave up last week and I decided to get a new computer. The workstation worked really well and lasted a long time - so I went for the same idea again. We got a new Dell Studio XPS - 12MB memory and 2TB hard-disk. Expensive, but I hope will last at least another five years.

It is awkward to be without your main computer - I have been able to use my laptop from work, and our broadband connection is still available through our WLAN. I was very fond of our old computer. Before it died I managed to backup almost everything onto a portable hard-drive. Needless to say we have a lot of media files and documents which take up a lot of space. The old computer can be booted in safe mode, so I will keep for a while in case I forgot something.

I am having good fun setting up the new computer. It connected to the web straight away, so I was able to download and set up things like iTunes and McAfee no problem. A pity I can't simply copy applications - e.g. I don't have the CD for Paint Shop Pro and can't re-install it. It is very fast - copying files is very quick. It is far more powerful than we need at home, but will not need to be upgraded for several years.

Quick Reviews

At the weekend we called into a few restaurants and cafes - here's some quick reviews of each:

Cafe Rua, Spencer Street, Castlebar

Cafe Rua is a deli/cafe just a few doors down from Roma's old house in Spencer Street in Castlebar. It was also close to the apartment where we stayed while in Castlebar. My first visit was for two coffees as the apartment had no supplies of food. On our last day we went there again for a late breakfast/early lunch. We had delicious sausage, cheese, and chutney toasted sandwich for €5 - very tasty and good value. Cafe Rua - recommended.

Portofino, Tucker Street, Castlebar

On Friday evening Roma and I went out to dinner with Angus and Fiona Bourke to Portofino in Castlebar. The restaurant was very quiet, but we had a splendid meal. I had oysters for starters - the thing with this is that I got a big plate with lots of ice and shells. With six oyters there is really very little to eat - I could have eaten two dozen! I had delicious red snapper for main course - really well cooked and presented. Certainly worth visiting again when next in Castlebar - recommended.

Coady's Linenhall Street, Castlebar

While out for a walk Roma and I popped into Coady's of Linenhall Street for a quick pint. This was an extremely quiet place with only a few other people present having a jar. We were alone in the lounge and despite nice surroundings the place was devoid of atmosphere and we left after one pint. Like a lot of pubs, business is very slow and I suspect that it will not be around for long if this recession keeps up. Coady's is also a Funeral Director - 'nuff said.

Achill Sound Hotel

While at the wedding of Elaine and Olan, Roma and I stayed at the Achill Sound Hotel. This brought us back many years as we used to call into this hotel for lunch while on holiday in Achill when the girls were young - mostly on rainy days (which happened a lot). The hotel is basic, but comfortable. When we came back late after the wedding the front door was open and our key (along with several otehrs) was left on the front desk for us - nobody about! There's not many places where you'll find trust like this. If you want cheap accomodation in Achill, but still like a hotel, give this a try. Don't expect much, but it is clean and comfortable.

Wedding - Elaine Maher and Olan McCarthy

On Saturday 11th July, Roma and I attended the wedding of my colleague at NCI Elaine Maher to Olan McCarthy. Elaine is a native of Achill Island so we looked forward to a weekend in Mayo which we split between Roma's natiive Castlebar and Achill. We were slightly late for the wedding mass in Bunnacurry Church due to being stuck behind about 10 vintage cars between Newport and Achill - 30-40 KPH all the way!

We had a great ceremony with Elaine looking great (Olan too!). The priest was very amusing and interesting, and the wedding mass with excellent choice of music was very enjoyable.

After the mass, the wedding photos took place inside the church as a storm had already started outside - it was the worst weather many had seen for some time. The wedding cavalcade took a long detour in pouring rain past Elaine's house in Dooniver. The Reception was in Alice's in Achill Sound. We had a great evening, nice food, and I even danced a little bit. The room as extremely warm and I sweated quite a lot. Every now and again I went outside to cool down - the wind and horizontal rain were still pelting down. Roma and I were staying in the nearby Achill Sound Hotel, but it was a difficult walk back to the hotel in the gale force wind - we ruined two umbrellas.

Best wishes to Elaine and Olan - I hope they enjoy long life and happiness together. Thank you to you both for inviting us to your special day - we really enjoyed ourselves.

Nerja, Spain – Part II

For the last part of our holiday in Nerja we continued the relaxed style of holiday-making. I have read a second book, Peter de Rosa’s “Rebels” (review on Amazon later) which I much enjoyed even though it dramatises the events of 1916.

I am writing this post two days after arriving home, so I am working from memory. Roma and I visited the Cuevos Nerja (Nerja Caves) – it was only when we got there that we realised we had been there before. Nevertheless, these caves are well worth visiting as they feature spectacular columns of stalagmites and stalactites, including one reputed to be the largest in the world. We also enjoyed the wonderful viaducts, both old (for water) and modern (for motorway).

On Friday we visited Frigiliana. We had also been there before, but were keen to revisit again. There are lots of arty type shops and we had a great look around. We didn’t buy much, though Roma bought some clothes and I bought a fridge magnet and a dangling ornament to go with the many others in our conservatory at home. Frigiliana is set in beautiful hilly surroundings and is well worth a visit.

For our final day we decided to go to Burriana beach. The sea was nice and cool, but the sand was scorching hot due to the very hot day – we burned the soles of our feet walking the short distance from our sun-loungers to the water. It was quite crowded and a crying baby close by made our stay there a testing one for my tolerance of crying babies (which is getting lower as I grow older). Burriana beach is also well served by bars and restaurants – we adjourned to the H2O bar for a welcome cider afterwards. An arriving motorbike group (most on Yamahas and Suzukis) made we wish I had my Harley with me. We spent a lot of time in the evening packing for returning home before heading out for our last dinner out.

Our return home on Sunday started early and we were on the road by 9.15. I missed the turn for the airport at Malaga (I was looking for the car hire building) – otherwise the drive was fine. Malaga airport was very busy, with more flights it seemed for the UK and Ireland than anywhere else. We bought some obligatory duty-free. On the flight I watched “The Wrestler” for which Mickey Rourke got an Oscar nomination. While he was very good, the film wasn’t great – but it passed the time (I got to see it all this time). Kate picked us up at the airport and I was glad to finally get home. Cloud and rain greeted us – we estimated that the temperature was 20C lower in Dublin than in Nerja. No need for sun protection here.

Overall it was a very pleasant, if lazy holiday. Vicki and Aoife were great company for one another, while Roma and I very much enjoyed our time together. This was the first time we had gone to the same place on a holiday abroad – Nerja is a nice place, though I will remember mostly barking dogs and crying babies. Food is good, though not excellent, but good value also. I felt that I had not been ripped off once while I was there – for me a good experience. I think I would like to go back some day, but there are loads of other places to see and experience.

Nerja, Spain – Part I

I am spending the first week of my holidays in Nerja with Roma, Vicki, and her friend Aoife. We arrived here on Sunday 28th June after a pleasant Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Malaga. Aer Lingus provide free movies on this route – there was a selection of 13 to choose from on small screens on the back of the seat in front. There is a credit card slot, but it was not necessary – what would Ryanair have done? I mention the movies because even though they were free to view they were all switched off with about 20 minutes of the flight remaining. I was watching Clint Eastwood in “Gran Torino” and it was cut short with I’d guess about 10-15 minutes to go – I’m still wondering did old Clint kill all the bad guys.

View Larger Map

Nerja is a peaceful place, though there are a lot of noisy scooters around. We were here before in 2004 – the villa (right in the middle of the Google Map above) we stayed in that time backs onto the garden of Villa Los Leones where I am now. We have our own (small) pool and the villa is nice and comfortable. So far I have been taking it very easy. I have been working on my tan despite using mostly factor 30 sun protection. I have also read Wilbur Smith’s “Assegai” (I’ll review this separately later) and have started Peter de Rosa’s “Rebels”.

We have had our evening meals out – a mix of Spanish, Caribbean, and Italian food so far. Despite the Recession there are a lot of Irish people here, and Nerja seems relatively immune from recession. Most things are relatively cheap here with meals out being good value compared to Ireland. (As I write this I just got a text message from Joe telling me about flooding in Dublin last night and that it is still raining.)

Roma and I took the laptop to a WiFi spot yesterday to check out on the latest Pharmacy news from Ireland. She took the decision to terminate her contract with the HSE over the recent changes in drugs payment schemes – already over 850 pharmacies have done the same. There is trouble ahead. Health Minister Mary Harney has been very stupid in bringing in these changes now – she should have waited for “An Bord Snip” to report and bury these cuts along with all the other ones that are certain to come down the line for everyone else. Instead she has called the Pharmacists’ bluff and they are responding by resigning en masse. What’s Plan B Minister?

I have this laptop with me to spend some time on working on my book – so far I have not done this. I will today as I am way behind where I expected to be – every little will help, so I’m determined to get at least a little done. This morning I got up at 8.00, but dodged getting down to work to write this post which I’ll publish later in a WiFi enabled café of which there are loads around here.

Guy's Postal Record of Newmarket in 1914

Guy's Postal Record of Newmarket in 1914 shows some details for both my grandparent's families - click here for webpage.

Thomas Hurley (my great-grandfather) is listed as follows:

Creameries.

Newmarket Dairy Co Ptd,Churchline, Thos Hurley, mngr

There is no direct mention of O'Loughlins, but there is a "Jehr O'Loughlan" of Barnacurra listed as a landowner:

Landhelders

PARISH CLONFERT.

Electoral div. Barleyhill.

O'Loughlan Jerh, Barnacurra

My third cousin Catherine believes this to be Joseph O'Loughlin of Barnacurra.

I will update my family tree with these details and the census links from previous posts.

Census 1911 - my Hurley Great Grandparents

Previously I mentioned that I had found my grandfather PJ O'Loughlin and his family in the National Archives 1911 census. I knew my grandmother (Kathleen Hurley) also lived in Newmarket, Co. Cork, but I could not find her or any Hurleys in the census data. Thanks to my third cousin Catherine Culloty, who lives in Newmarket, for finding the census return for them under the name "Hurby".

Details of the Hurley household in April 1911 can be found here. My grandmother was seven years old at the time and is listed as "Katty Teresa". Her mother's name was Bridget and her father's name was Thomas. Also listed is my grand aunt Hannah Mary who became a Loreto nun (Sr Bridget), Patrick Peter (my grand uncle Pat), and Ellen Agnes (my grand aunt Eileen, or "Mrs D" as she was affectionally known). Missing are two grand uncles who were boarders in my old school CCR - Charlie (1908-1912) and Tim (1909-1914). They are listed in the census return for CCR here - they are numbers 56 (Charlie) and 62 (Tim). I showed the census return for the Hurley household to Dad who was fascinated to see his mother listed as "Katty" - it was also proof to him that his mother was older than his father as he always suspected but never find out (she was very secretive about her age). She is listed as 7 years old in April 1911 - her birthday was in August. PJ was 6 years old at the census (seven in December 1911), so she was 1 year and four months older than him.

I have logged a correction of the family surname on-line - hopefully the census folks will make the correction in the next 2-3 months.

Dinner with Mary Hanafin in the Oireachtas Restaurant

Last evening Roma, my brother-in-law's wife Dorothy, my colleague Pramod, and I were entertained to dinner at the Oireachtas Restaurant in Dáil Éireann by the Minister for Social Welfare Mary Hanafin. Mary is also our local TD and I have voted for her at every election (number 1). I had bought the dinner at a Lion's Club auction and was looking forward to the evening. We had a bit of a wait when we arrived, but we were brought into the restaurant by Mary's P.A. - Martine. Mary joined us after a few moments - we were in the centre of the Member's Restaurant. I was already spotting some well known politicians such as Senator David Norris, Rory O'Hanlon, and Micheál Martin. We had a very pleasant chat about the Dáil and politics - she is very good company and very much at ease with strangers, though Roma, Dorothy, and I have met her briefly before. After the main course a vote was called in the Dáil chamber and she had to go to vote on the Crumlin Children's Hospital Private Members vote - she invited us to the public gallery to watch proceedings. I was impressed with the ceremony and grandeur of the occasion, though a lot of TDs looked bored. I was pointing out who everybody was to Pramod and having fun naming all the TDs and Ministers.

The TDs voted electronically, but this wasn't good enough for the opposition who called for a traditional going through the Lobby vote. It was during this time that Mary pointed us out to Taoiseach Brian Cowen and he recognised me from school - he waved and I waved back! When we were returning to the restaurant Mary told us that the Taoiseach wanted to meet us - he came out of the Dáil chamber to greet us. We were all delighted to shake his hand. The banter was about which of the two of us had aged the least - good stuff!

We returned to the restaurant and finished our meal - I was surprised that Mary had so much time for us as she stayed with us to the end. Beverly Flynn TD also came over to say "Hello" to Dorothy anad Roma (from her home town Castlebar). On leaving the restaurant I passed by the Taoiseach again and he stopped to shake hands - we chatted for a few minutes about Roscrea, and the Monastary. He also asked "what do you do with yourself?" and I told him I worked for NCI and even asked him for money for the College! We said our goodbyes and Mary brought us on a brief tour of Leinster House, including a visit to the Senate. A great end to a most interesting evening in Leinster House. Roma, Dorothy, and I stopped off at the Shelbourne Hotel for a jar before heading home.

RYA - Level 1 - Start Sailing Complete

Last evening I completed my fist sailing lesson in a yacht and received my first certificate of completion. the class was a follow on from Saturday's indtroductory class. There were only two students (Carmel and myself) with Donncha as Instructor. Conditions were quite calm - too calm. We had to be towed out into the middle of Dún Laoghaire harbour to get what little wind there was. We did get moving and once we left the harbour it was a bit easier to sail. We practiced what we had learned last Saturday in Scotman's Bay - nothing was too difficult as the light winds made tacking easy. It was a lttle boring at times - especially when the wind dropped completely for about 15 minutes.

Overall - I think I'd still like to do more sailing. Being out on the sea is great - especially when the sun is shining and the wind not too strong. I have to work out a way of getting a small boat!