Archive for June, 2006
YouGetItBack - What a great idea
Posted on June 30, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Business, Uncategorized.
I know they have been around for a bit but I just found out recently about yougetitback.com. It’s one of those ideas that just makes you go “perfect!”. And it is so simple. Sign up with them and pay €9.99 for two stickers which you can attach to valuables like mobile phones. The sticker has a telephone number, code and message about a reward to the finder if it is lost. The chances of it being returned in the case of loss are now far far higher. Bloody brilliant. The €9.99 will give you cover for the items for three years. Bargain.
[tags]YouGetItBack[/tags]
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All our research gives us a gut intuition
Posted on June 27, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Entertainment, Humour, Uncategorized.
Another memorable quote from “The Apprentice, Martha Stewart”.
On a completely unrelated topic, Digg has gone to Version 3. Digg is a news site whose top stories are voted into position by the users. Up until now it was mainly tech but they have branched out in V3.
I’ve never used it much as it causes total information overload. But the Diggnation Podcast with Alex and Kevin is hysterically funny.
I had a quick look today just to see what had changed. There was an interesting story on Digg User stats - 94% male. Feign shock.
One commenter wondered what sites female internet users read instead. I am gobsmacked that the suggested one is not a live web-sites. I think they’d make a fortune:
http://pinkstuffandponiesandflowers.com
And now back to Martha.
[tags]The Apprentice, Martha Stewart, Digg, Diggnation[/tags]
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Another icon of my youth passes away
Posted on June 24, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Entertainment.
Most of them may have been crap but I cannot deny loving nearly everything Aaron Spelling made.
Here are just a few:
- Beverly Hills 90210
- Melrose Place
- Dynasty
- Fantasy Island
- Starsky
and Hutch - Hart to Hart
- Charlie’s Angels
- TJ Hooker
- Burke’s Law
He’ll be missed. Along with Glen A Larson, I think he defined what I watched on TV as a kid.
technorati tags:Aaron+Spelling, Melrose+Place, 90210, Dynasty, TJ+Hooker
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Let’s all brainstorm silently
Posted on June 20, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Entertainment.
Damn, double damn and blast. Catherine pointed out that there is now a series on satellite called “The Apprentice, Martha Stewart”.
Now that’s just not fair, two phrases in one title to draw the moth into the flame. Not only do they have a series which is guaranteed to have at least 80% nut-jobs, morons and chancers on it, but then they build it around the wicked witch of the west, the anti-Darina, beelzeebubina, Martha Magdalene Stewart.
And what utter perfection in TV it is. Martha, the woman who tells middle America how to dress, cook, eat and live is looking for a sidekick. Her current ones are a mouthy slaphead who permanently has a ridiculous unlit cigar in his mouth and a woman whose only function appears to be sitting silently looking petrified of the camera.
As it is a US programme, the contestents scrub up a little better than the scrubbers on the UK one. One of the project leaders this week clearly modelled herself on Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde. She is an event organiser who, when ideas were not forthcoming from her team, told them all to brainstorm silently.
Their attemps to create a buzz around the handy pocket sized stain remover “Tide to Go” were hilarious and it means that the swines have me hooked. I can’t wait for the week when hopefully the steroid enhanced bloke goes head to head against the Madge-inspired muscle-rippling woman.
And Martha, oh Martha. A stare on her like a medusa. No matter how hard she tries to sound nice, you know she’d knife you if you got in her way.
Catch it at random times on Discovery Home & Health.
Happy summer days.
[tags]The Apprentice Martha Stewart[/tags]
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A fine day out at the Bandon Show
Posted on June 18, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Bandon.
We had a blast of an afternoon at the Bandon Show yesterday. Everything from horses to bulls to dogs were on show and there were plenty of activities for the young uns too. We ran into a ton of people we knew.
I explained to Oisín that this was the starting point in the supply chain for all dairy products. He was suitably impressed.
Some very confused looking Llamas. I thought of my Grandad when I saw these and wondered what he would think if he was alive. Something along the lines of “has the world gone copmpletely mad?”.
Lots of old tractors and military vehicles were one of the highlights for me
I thought of this weeks episode of the Soprano’s when I saw this. The fact that Bandon is doing the procession of the eucharist thing today really drove home the Bandon - New Jersey similarities! The only thing we are missing is Paulie.
This is a man who clearly takes the dog show very seriously indeed.
Fabulous horses. Oscar a bit freaked by the size of them as he will be getting on one soon on his summer holidays.
Sibéal was enthralled by the bulls and calves. She didn’t want to leave the “baby cows”. Some superb specimens.
Can someone please tell me what breed these are? I think they look completely distorted. Have they been bred for huge meat mass? They seemed bizarre and other-worldly.
Are you lookin at me?
The showjumping part of the show is delayed until July. I think I may head up for that too. Looking forward to next year.
[tags]Bandon Show, Bandon Agricultural Show, Castlebernard[/tags]
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Most excellent wife
Posted on June 18, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Entertainment, Humour.
Lovely breakfast in bed and the gift of a Hairy Baby T-Shirt. Check those guys out, they have really great stuff.
Mine has a picture of the boys from “Withnail and I” with the byline “are you the farmer?”. It’s a pity I didn’t have it yesterday for the Bandon Show. For those of you who have forgotten the movie, here is an MP3 of the line (delicate dispositions should not click it). That site has a raft of all the great soundclips from all the characters.
technorati tags:Withnail+I, Hairy+Baby, Are+You+The+Farmer
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Marmatiece Restaurant Bandon
Posted on June 18, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Bandon, Restaurants, Reviews.
Marmatiece Restaurant and Wine Bar
Food style/ethnicity: Modern Irish
Price: 25 - 40 (Euro)
Location:
Mill Race
MacSwiney Quay
Bandon Co Cork
Ireland
Marmatiece was opened a few weeks ago by the folks who used to run Roco’s until they closed late last year. We headed out last night for a sort of Father’s day treat for me and to see what it was like. I went in with a slight bias as I never thought Roco’s was much good. They have the dubious honour of serving me the worst risotto I’ve ever had. But the buzz about Marmatiece was good and I always like to support local business.
It is on the quay looking out on the Bandon river and it is great to see the river finally being embraced (the original design of the town has all of the buildings with their back to the river). Outside, the restaurant looks a bit dark but inside is fabulous. They clearly got a great interior designer to do the room. I loved it - bright, airy, mix of wood and tiled floors, interesting art and sculpture on the walls, lovely looking chairs. And I just loved the special corner table:
The menu was short which I like and it looked like pretty standard mid-range fare with plenty of things which suited me. The wine list was weird tho. They call themselves a restaurant and wine-bar but they only have 8 or 9 whites and the same number of reds. That makes zero sense. And all of the wine was low end stuff priced below the level they were pitching the food at. We got a Pinot Grigio at about €21 which was grand and one of the most expensive ones on the list. I am a huge fan of good value in wine but the list needs to be extended.
Salad starters were both good. I wasn’t fond of the veg in the timbale but overall it was decent and the dressing and salami were both excellent. Catherine really enjoyed hers and we both thought the onions with capers was really spot on.
Catherine didn’t really enjoy her rolled plaice stuffed with crab but I thought my chicken on a chorizo mash was very good. Side veg were decent but the spuds had a crust on them from the heat lamp.
Her tiramisu was very good but my “Panna Cotta” was brutal. It was a heavy dense mousse, not a pannacotta which should be holding on to solidity by willpower alone. I couldn’t finish it.
This is a place that deserves success - the food is good tasty fare executed well and could easily rise to being excellent as time goes on. The room is fabulous and the service isn’t bad - lacking a bit in personality and it was tough to get the bill. I really think they will do well, despite the mental name 
They were nearly full as we were leaving. Just add some more wines and learn how to spell risotto.
Open from 12-3pm Mon-Fri, Dinner 6-10pm Sun-Sat. Closed Monday evening. Call them on 023-42715.
On the way home we noticed that The Bandon River Grill (based where Roco’s used to be) was closed. I really do hope they have not failed after such a short period of time (they only opened at Easter). Does anyone know? I’ll be very disappointed if it is true - I wanted to check out their lunch burger menu which sounded excellent.
[tags]Maramatiece, Rocos, Bandon River[/tags]
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Deasy’s of Ring, Seafood Restaurant
Posted on June 18, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Cork, Restaurants, Reviews.
Deasy’s Harbour Bar and Seafood Restaurant
Food style/ethnicity: Seafood
Hours: Pub Hours -
Location:
Ring Village
Clonakilty Co Cork
Ireland
I deserve a slap for not doing this review until now. We ate in Deasy’s in Ring for Catherine’s birthday back in May with my parents. I had heard nothing but great things about it and they did not disappoint. Unfortunately I have the memory of a gnat so the details of the meal have all become a bit hazy (the wine didn’t help either). I finally remembered to do the review when I saw fab recipes from the chef, Kaitlin Ruth, in The Examiner yesterday.
Deasy’s is situated on a coastal road along Clonakilty Bay as you head towards Kinsale. It is right on a bend and the water is just on the other side of the road. Parking more than 4 cars is a challenge but it is not a busy road. The view is worth millions and this awful picture in no way does it justice:
Ring is heading towards being in the middle of nowhere and yet Deasy’s is always booked out for the weekend. As ever, it proves that no restaurant can use location as an excuse for lack of custom. Deliver great product anywhere and people will flock to you.
The pub and restaurant are all the one and the old wood and old feel to the place is lovely. We were first to arrive for the evening and got the best seats in the house looking out over the bay to the Atlantic.
Most of the menu is seafood but there are veggie and steak options too. One of the recommendations I got for the place mentioned the great steak! All of it sound simple and sounded yum.
This review won’t do Deasy’s justice as I can’t give you the details of all the food we had. I was enjoying it so much I forgot to take pictures! Suffice to say that it was brilliant. Everyone loved what they ordered. All of the fish was cooked to perfection and the sauces really helped the food rather than overwhelming it like most average seafood places tend to do. You can tell that the chef just trusts her great ingredients and lets them speak for themselves.
The only even barely negative thing I can say about the place is that at times the service was patchy but it was always friendly.
We will be going back here - a lot! They do a Sunday lunch (it is the only day that they do) and I have heard that is great too. As far as I know you can’t book it. We’ll be giving that a go very soon and I’ll do a much better review then.
If you are anywhere in the area and want stunningly good seafood in one of the best locations in the country, take a taxi out to Ring and have a wonderful night. You can call them on 023-35741.
[tags]Deasy’s, Ring, Clonakilty, Seafood[/tags]
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Bandon Farmer’s Market just gets better and better
Posted on June 18, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under BandonFarmersMarket.
I’m not just saying that because it’s my local one. They keep adding really great stalls. I think the most important one is Ahern’s organic meats. It’s a bit easy to miss them because all the meat is in a freezer trailer and they just have a small table with the product list and prices. I got two t-bones and a bunch of burgers off them. Looking forward to BBQing them today in the rain.
Cork Coffee Roasters were doing a stunning Iced Latte. They told me that they were not selling well. I was shocked. Iced Lattes are up there with penicillin and the transistor as the 20th Century’s greatest inventions. A life saver on a hot day. Bandonites and Bandonians should do themselves a favour and run down for a large one in two weeks time. In fact, I told Catherine about them when I got home and she zoomed down in the car to get one. She had two small comments on them - she’d prefer crushed ice and she’d prefer them to be even bigger!
I got the usual bunch of stuff and a few unusual bits like Quinoa salad. The Baking Emporium now have a new Spelt Muesli Crispbread which I got. Looks lovely.
A few piccies of my booty (in the non-Jennifer Lopez sense):
T-Bone and Crispbread
Choccie Heart, Tartlet, Sonia’s Pickles, Milleen’s Cheese, Quinoa Salad
Eggs, Sunblush, Hummus
Rye and Buttermilk bread
technorati tags:BakingEmporium, CorkCoffeeRoasters
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The power of branding
Posted on June 18, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Business, Food.
Yoplait have recently completely changed the labels on their yoghurts. Our kids are now refusing to eat them “cos they are not the same”.
I’m willing to be that a huge percentage of yoghurt sales are for kids. Did any brand manager actually ask any kids what they thought? Any blip noticed in sales? Blip down, right?
Sometimes, just sometimes, leaving things as they are is the smart thing to do.
[tags]yoplait, yoghurt, branding, packaging[/tags]
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Bandon Show on this Saturday
Posted on June 15, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Bandon, Cork, Uncategorized.
Bandon Show
Begins: Sat, 17 Jun 2006 at 1:00 PM
Ends: Sat, 17 Jun 2006 at 6:00 PM
Entry fee: A few Euro
Location:
Castlebernard Estate Bandon, Co Cork Ireland
The annual Bandon Agricultural show is on this Saturday having been delayed due to atrocious weather in May. This is a great day out for the family and covers far more than championship cattle! We had a giggle there last year and this year looks even better.
The flyer advertises the following:
Music by The Pot Belly Folk
Vintage Display of Machinery, Cars and Tractors
Bouncy Castle
Mobile Pet Farm
Puppet Show at 2.30
Best Dressed Family and Teenager Competition
Baby Show at 3.30
Driving Competitions (aka parking in the field ;-))
Exhibition of Llamas
Heineken Cup courtesy of Niall O’Driscoll
Fun Dog Show at 3.30
Grand Parade of Champions
A free bus will go from Harte’s Pharmacy from 12.20 onwards.
As always, well done to the organising committee for putting together a great line-up and to Lady Jennifer for providing the venue.
This is also on Eventful.com.
Easiest way to get there is to head towards Clonakilty from Bandon, about 2 km out turn right at Blacksticks towards Dunmanway, take first small turn right again (heading back towards Bandon), and follow the signs.
[tags]Bandon Show, Castlebernard[/tags]
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Bandon Farmer’s Market this Saturday
Posted on June 14, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under BandonFarmersMarket.
Bandon Farmer’s Market
Begins: Sat, 17 Jun 2006 at 10:00 AM
Ends: Sat, 17 Jun 2006 at 2:00 PM
Location:
Old Market Garden New Spar Car Park Bandon, Co Cork Ireland
The next bi-weekly Bandon Farmer’s Market is on this Saturday in the usual place. I missed the last one so I’ll definitely be heading down to stock up on breads, coffee, eggs, veg, sweeties for myself for Father’s day, pickles, smoked goods, herbs and anything else I can carry!
See you there.
I’ve added the market to both Upcoming.org and Eventful.com to make this one of the first Web 2.0 Farmer’s Markets
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Now I’m not saying Vodafone read my blog but
Posted on June 14, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Ireland, Technology.
ElectricNews reports that Vodafone launches flat-rate 3G access.
€49 incl VAT sounds excellent but I’ll bet that is on top of a basic plan so there is no way we will end up paying less than €78 EUR per month. Fine if you are in business, silly if you are not. Another wasted opportunity? I’d be ringing them now to sign up if they halved the price.
I think I quoted a tenner as being reasonable. Most of us might stretch to €20 but €49 is yet another gouge attempt by people whole main source of income is a text transmission system designed for system messages.
[tags]Vodafone, 3G, Flat-Rate[/tags]
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An Irish day at the beach
Posted on June 12, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Cork, Family.
Where were the multi-coloured windbreakers when I needed them? Flasks of milky tea and gritty sandwiches would have helped too. But the kids didn’t notice and had a whale of a time. Long Strand is still one of the most impressive beaches in Cork. I’m only disappointed that the para-glider-surfer-thingy dude disappeared before I could get a photo.
Ah shur the sun will come out any minute now:
One 7 year old and one who wishes he was:
Run awayyyyyyyyy:
Yummm, sand:
I hope that’s an overflow pipe and not a sewer:
[tags]Long Strand, Rathbarry, Castlefreake[/tags]
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Nokia N70 Niggles
Posted on June 11, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Gadgets, Technology.
I’ve had the N70 since April and I’m still in two minds about it. My biggest beef is less with Nokia and more with Vodafone.
When I got the phone, I checked the firmware and it was at v2.x whilst a check on the web said that the latest was v5.x. I went into Choice Communications in Cork city and asked for an upgrade. It came back with exactly the same version. I badgered the Choice guy but his argument was that the “system” decides the correct upgrade and that’s what it picked. This is despite the fact that the worksheet had v5.x listed as the newest one. In fact what I figured out later was that v2.x appears to be the latest Vodafone specific firmware.
This is ridiculous. The current firmware is riddled with bugs and the whole phone is very sluggish. Try pausing an MP3, switching over to the phonebook and receive an SMS - instead of beeping, the bloody thing restarts the MP3 on speakerphone. Great fun in an office!
Does anyone in Ireland have an N70 with v5.x firmware and if so, how did you get it? Is there anyone who will flash one with generic firmware for a few bob? Is there any indication that Voda will ever release a branded v5.x firmware?
Apart from that, I like the size and shape of the phone, the speakerphone is excellent, bluetooth headsets work well (but don’t auto-connect for some reason) and I kinda like the Lifeblog idea as a visual history of my phone usage. I don’t publish that stuff to a real blog (it only supports Typepad anyway) but it is nice to have on the PC. Third party apps that I like include Shozu for auto-upload to Flickr (rarely used due to the idiotic Voda data charges), Airset (calendar sync), Opera (web browser), OggPlay (music player), Frozen bubble (game), M-SuDoKu (go on, guess), Python (what geek could resist?), FExplorer (file utility). Third party apps I don’t like include PicoBlogger (doesn’t bloody work at all).
Other gripes with the phone itself are the music player (utter rubbish), number of key presses to send an SMS and the low quality of the camera (for which I had high hopes).
Speaking of music players, can someone please create one targetted at podcast listening? What I need is something that allows me to fast forward quickly and allows me to bookmark within a track. I am sick to death of stopping a podcast 40 minutes in, returning to it later and then spending 5 minutes with my finger on fast forward trying to get back to that point. Maybe even the ability to manually enter a position in a track would be an improvement. I thought Oggplay would solve a lot of my issues but it gets completely confused with my tracklists at the moment so I rarely use it.
Luckily, so far I haven’t had the hot-leg effect that Bernie gets with his.
And finally, to repeat an oft-stated annoyance - would O2 and Voda please get a clue and provide flat-rate data plans like they do in many other countries? Can their number crunchers not do simple sums? 10000 users X crazy price per KB is a much smaller revenue number than 500000 users X €10 fixed extra charge per month.
[tags]Nokia, N70, Oggplay, Vodafone, flat-rate[/tags]
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We’re up to 1986, Speccy Fans
Posted on June 6, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Entertainment, Personal, Technology.
Nick Humphries has done it again.The 1986 edition of “The Your Sinclair Rock n Roll Years TV Show” was released for download recently. All nostalgic ZX Spectrum fans should grab it and watch 8 minutes of great memories. Non-Speccy fans can listen to the music and Apprentice fans can laugh at how young Alan Sugar looks in it.
1986 was simultaneously the peak of my Spectrum involvement and also my last year. It’s all been downhill technically since then. Will I ever need to re-flex my Forth muscles and will I ever finish my Irish-themed Jet Set Willy clone which if memory serves, had “humorous” references to Big Ed Loves Mona? I got to over 20K of Z80 assembler, all on paper and never a line tested. Agile schmagile.
[tags]YSRnRY, ZX Spectrum, Sinclair, 1986[/tags]
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In-n-Out Burger Santa Clara
Posted on June 2, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Restaurants, Reviews.
In-n-Out Burger
Food style/ethnicity: Fast Food
Chain: In-n-Out Burger
Price: 2 - 5 ($)
Location:
3101 Mission College Blvd
Santa Clara, CA 95054
USA
After my SF disaster of driving up, failing to get parking and driving back to Santa Clara, I grumpily decided to check out In-n-Out Burger for once and for all. This is California’s most famous burger chain and many burger fanatics rave about it.
The decor is 50’s kitsch and works well. Service was friendly as with nearly everywhere in the US, even if I sometimes feel that Texans really mean it when Californians just say it. But he did miss half my order which was a bit annoying. The In-n-Out bit was a misnomer as I then had to wait ten minutes to actually get the food. The value was great - a “Double Double” burger, fries and a shake for just over $5.
Is it the greatest burger ever? Nah, but as fast food goes it is pretty bloody good. Juicy, tasty meat, a good bun and a great sauce. Excellent crispy fries and a lovely shake. Head and shoulders above a Micky D’s or Burger King.
Not worth flying to California for but I left with a nice full belly and a warm glow.
Whilst I am at it, the three other places we ate:
Applebees, McCarthy Ranch- pretty crap but edibleish
Tomatina, Mission College Blvd - excellent pizza and Sam Adams
La Pastaia, downtown San Jose - good Italian food but empty
[tags]In-n-Out Burger, Fast Food[/tags]
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The new Noddy and Big Ears Wheels
Posted on June 2, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Motor Cars.
Budget Car Rentals gave us Noddy’s own vehicle from the live action movie.
The Chevy HHR, the answer to a question no-one was asking.
All we need is a few tommy guns and fedoras and we’ll be sorted the next time we want to smuggle hooch.
[tags]Chevy HHR[/tags]
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Return to the Holy Land
Posted on June 2, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Gadgets, Technology.
The Grotto of Geeky Goodness remains the same after 7 long years.
[tags]Frys, San Jose[/tags]
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