technology, internet oddities & other random stuff
Archive for November, 2006
Who needs sleep when you can take a pill?
Nov 23rd
The New Scientist is running an article on new methods of staying awake longer, and conceivably in the future skipping sleep entirely for short periods. Today we rely on caffeine, nicotine or pills and powder to keep us alert into the night or get us back up and functional after a short sleep. The downside is the eventual crash. We don’t eliminate sleep, we just postpone it. I’ve lost count of the all nighters and 80+ hour weeks that have resulted in me going to bed on Friday evening and not surfacing until Sunday afternoon.
Modafinil, a drug initially created to combat narcolepsy (where More >
New toy: Navman F20 Sat-Nav
Nov 21st
I’ve got a fairly good sense of direction, but getting around Dublin is a pain in the ass. The road network is all over the place, and the maps are useless when you’re driving. I don’t need extra features like MP3 playback (my CD player does that), or bluetooth phone support (my bluetooth phone thing does that), so a low end unit will do fine.
I bought a Navman F20 from Currys a week ago, primarily because cheap (???????260), but also because it was new on the market, so the maps would have some chance of being current. First impressions are pretty good. UK coverage is More >
Toothless regulation is no regulation at all
Nov 1st
Smart have finally bit the dust. Eircom, Ireland’s incumbent telco have sent Smart Telecom, a well funded, well marketed, innovative operator to the wall with debts of ???????40 million. I’d have no issue with this happening if they beat them on price, service, innovation or clever marketing, but Eircom are poor value, have rude staff, cannot supply ADSL 2+, and pitch their services as “the old reliables”.
You cannot blame Eircom. They’re no longer a state owned company with responsibility to the national good (another government fuckup). They’re a private company whose sole responsibility is to use every means at their disposal More >
