donal's blog

There was a question on RTÉ's Questions and Answers programme this week regarding facebook and privacy on the Internet. The responses from the panel were not well informed - they confused the issue between privacy afforded to users of a service by the service provider and the issue of keeping your data private from the general public. The two issues are totally different and need to be addressed separately... How service providers can use the information you upload to their service is very important. We're all familiar with the tick boxes on marketing boxes letting you opt in or out of the ability for them to use your data to pass on to partners and 3rd parties (the majority of companies require you to opt out - default is opt in). Many online service providers use data from their users to improve the service and I personally do not have an issue with them doing this as long as they are transparent about how they are using it. With regards closing an account, it is reasonable ...

c/o www.timesonline.co.uk I happened to notice this article in the sunday times when i was getting off the train today. I had expected it to be easy to find online but it took about 10mins of searching... The reaction on the times website seems to be "so what!". so what? do folk realise just how much society relies on the internet these days? The article is scarce of real facts but I would be surprised if the location they mention would have been the only target. Anyone with any knowledge of networks would realise that there are easier targets than one of the world's main internet hubs. More and more telecommunication companies are pushing data and voice over the same physical medium so both voice and data could be affected by such an attack. This worries me a little... A simultaneous attack on key network infrastructure in a handful of countries could result in killing communications for a larger percentage of the world. This has a knock-on effect for national security...

Incandescent light bulbs are to be phased out over the next 2 years as part of an EU initiative to reduce CO 2 emissions. This is abosultely brilliant and should result in cheaper prices and availability for CFL light bulbs. We replaced all the bulbs in our house last year at a cost of about €90 - that's not cheap and will drop considerably with competition. Kevin Barry has an interesting article in today's Irish Examiner. He recently visited the northwest and comments about how the current economic situation in ireland is having an effect on areas outside the Pale. he writes "the shimmering prosperity of the capital verges fades very quickly" and "once you get to longford and beyond, it can seem like you're back in 1987". This is a worrying sign if you take into account that house prices are falling in certain areas of dublin, a number of multi-nationals have reduced their footstep in ireland and that interest rates and inflation are set to increase...