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Economy

The price of a Green PC server.

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I keep calling this DYI project a server, which it is currently doing, Samba server, MySQL server, Apache server FTP server. But beyond this it’s also a desktop server with all the features of your average desktop PC. 2GB of Ram, 128MB Video, 250GB disk DVD-RW DVD+RW, Gig Ethernet and low power consumption of less than 50 watts. All this for 271 Euros delivered!


DYI_server_price

As you can see I purchased the parts from Elara but you should be able to pick up the parts anywhere you can find them. You may be able to buy a pre-made server/PC elsewhere but then you wouldn’t learn anything new 😉

Voting with your feet

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It may be a bit premature to talk about the recovery from the recession but it’s not too early to take steps to initiate a decision about the culture and nature of the recovery from the recession. In my time in Ireland I marveled at the concept of the local shop in an estate, and the small shops in general and the culture of such an environment. Now the the incursion of the giant Dunn’s, and the discount Aldi’s and Lidl’s a decision can be made about the nature of the recovery.

Do you save yourself a bit of change and buy cheap, or spend it at the local shop? Do you want to keep that cultural icon of local shops and merchants alive, or support the mass market monster. The application of your food budget to supporting your local may tax us all, but could well to the means of survival for the little shop keeper. The same could be applied to your favorite small cafe or restaurant, voting with your feet may be your only option if you want to continue to visit them.

I’m not saying that it’s the ‘Patriotic’ duty to shop in the Republic, there has been entirely too much disparity allowed to creep in there. But if you have the change, maybe it’s best spent in the local shop, rather than the big chain store,

The Tao of IT problem solving

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At the Cork Open Coffee today there was discussion about how the University of Cork could be utilized to solve real world business problems, with a counterpoint that the University also was a resource for IP that was underutilized or not exploited at all. Answers without questions that had been explored and solved, but not yet marketed and deployed. And I thought of how that could happen.

I have always been boring, in most conversations I almost never initiate a subject, but I can always contribute (read; shoot my mouth off). This is true in my IT skills. I know many things, but I don’t create many new things, but I can solve most puzzles and resolve problems. And in reviewing them, I find it’s more to do with not having an agenda, or operating under a set of predefined solutions. I examine the issue, then produce an alternative resolution. I become creative in my solutions, I invent extraordinary resolutions. I remain empty, of any preconceived notion of a solution (not empty of ego mind you) but I exploit the Tao of the problem. Hence I don’t project a topic of conversation, or add a new project, or imagine anything extraordinary until I have a problem to solve.

This was my dilemma about the university folks, creating answers, where there were no questions (yet?). Applications, without anywhere to apply them. For me, IT problems ARE the mother of invention.

The Tao is like a well:
used but never used up.
It is like the eternal void:
filled with infinite possibilities.

Give a man a fish…

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Everyone has heard the old saw:

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.
Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
Lao Tzu


But no one seems to think that it applies in the Economic Crisis facing Ireland, with the loss of low end construction and manufacturing jobs, and the multi nationals leaving, the fish are gone. Ireland needs to concentrate on educating fishermen. Or maybe better yet, high tech Developers, Designers and Programmers, Engineers, and scientist which are sorely lacking here. A major investment in education is the only lifeline for Ireland. And even if it doesn’t rescue the Irish Government, it would rescue the Irish people.

The Recession and Comfort food

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I’m making a bold prediction that this Recession with bring on a resurgence of Comfort food in the Irish diet, and really the world. Many exotic restaurants will begin to feel the pinch long before the local carvery closes it’s doors. The question you could ask, can you still find proper Comfort food these days. I was reminded of this after the wife prepared a fine feast of Shepherd’s Pie and bread pudding.

WoW! A positive step to restore trust.

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The Gardaí raid offices of Anglo Irish Bank in Dublin in the first positive step in restoring confidence in the Irish Government. It’s a shame that that it took almost violent public outcry from the people to stir action from the lame corrupt ministers. It’s also a shame that any incriminating evidence has probably been destroyed and disposed of.

The Belief in Economic Recovery.

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Economics is as much of a Belief system as it is matter of math and relative perceived value exchange. And as such is subject to Self-fulfilling prophecy . If the belief is strong enough the value or a rock could be zero, of worth vast sums of currency. So also when a people believe in their leadership, and believe that they will fix the underling issues in the economy, almost by magic, the economy will turn around. The reciprocal is also true, when a majority loose faith in the economic plans of a government, nothing that government will do will generate a reversal of economic decline.

This is why the U.S. will recover from the world recession quicker than the Irish. A faith in the Obama plan far exceeds the faith that the Irish have in Brian Cowen and Fianna Fáil. At this stage nothing that Brian will do, can have any impact on the downturn in the Irish economy. The Banks will not get their reputations back, credit will not be extended, recovery will not happen. The faith of the Irish people must be regained. This can only happen if Brian makes drastic actions against the criminal intent of the banks, developers and regulators. Or else the government must be replace with one that does regain the faith of the Irish people. Fianna Fáil is intimately linked with the white collar crimes, lack of enforcement, and general corruption that currently exist. It’s unlikely that the membership will change the the color of their balaclavas.

A revolution is in the wind, and the Irish are not unfamiliar with revolution.

What is Waterford Crystal without Waterford?

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I have watched the management of Waterford Crystal over the past few years, and have been amazed at how clueless they are about their product. Like most bean counters, they have sought to reduce expenses by pushing production into Eastern Europe and any other place where they could drop the cost of production. They must be insane! It’s the only conclusion that makes sense. They have been behaving as if their product is a commodity item like an automobile, or a toaster.

Waterford Cystal and Wedgewood ARE the labors and works of Waterford Ireland and Wedgewood England! Anything else is a fake, even with a waterford/wedgewood label on it, they are FAKES! Waterford Crystal is a luxury item that speaks to Quality not quantity. It means workmanship that a slow and skilled workforce imparts on each and every cut of the crystal. If you want bulk fakes, go to China!

The marketing of Waterford should be on the Apple model, special, and elegant, Not like Microsoft where ‘good enough’ and high volume turnover is the measure.

Now that the bean counters have closed Waterford, THERE IS NO WATERFORD accept no substitutes!

Dell Blackout on Factory Closings

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It looks like Dell is attempting to suppress all information as they slap blackout on news about Raheen factory closings. That could be good news, or not. It could be a sign that they are negotiating a deal with the Irish Government. It could also be very bad news, and they are holding off until they can extract all the executive ‘hostages’, just in case 😉

UPDATE: Dell ceases all production at limerick

UPDATE_2: Looks like a dirty deal in Poland motivated the move Probe into €50m sweetener behind Dell move

Government arrogance

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Brian Lenihan, should be fired! Plain and simple, because he does NOT understand the terms or meaning of GOVERNMENT. Today in an interview he mentioned that the banks were not being bailed out by recapitalization using taxpayer money, that they were using other government funds from retirement accounts. Where does he get the idea that the government HAS ANY money that is not the property of the taxpayers? GOVERNMENT IS NOT A BUSINESS! I’ve said it many times before, the Irish Government only manages the finances of the people of Ireland, THE TAXPAYING PEOPLE OF IRELAND! The Irish Government does not, and never will have independent funds separate from Irish citizen taxpayer money.

Companies in the Throes of Death

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When companies die, they take many forms from mergers to bankruptcies. But there are none more ugly than those who have arrived at this juncture due to a lack of vision and direction. Management grasps and draws on every resource, from redundancies, part time labor and outsourcing to zero footprint office virtualization. But the ugly bit is the rapid undirected reactionary behavior from which a lack of vision and leadership originally brought the company to the situation in the first place.

An inability to addressing the underlying problem continues to demoralize the remaining employees and creates an atmosphere of despair. The company dooms itself from the rot, which is almost never corrected, as the problem is not cured from the bottom up, but from the top down.

If this sounds like AerLingus, it does, I have predicted that it would be gone within 5 years of it’s privatization and it will happen. But this is also a personal issue, as I am getting a first hand view, again, into the collapse of another.

Settling back into Cork

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Sunday, and I’m not back on the road to Dublin, I am now configured to work half time for my employer in Dublin rather than a full redundancy. The concession is, I get to work from home, and while this is not the ideal, it should keep us in beer money through this recession. Besides I could use the rest. The job never did require my presence in the office, it’s was only a vast empire of personnel from the perspective of management. I never touched any of the hardware, nothing I did in the office couldn’t be accomplished from anywhere on the planet. I was just another gopher popping out of the cubicle to reinforce the illusion of power. Long live VPN and the internet 😉

Wounded Tigers and Irish Grannies

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Listening to RTE radio this noon, I realized there is something more dangerous than a wounded (Irish) Tiger, and that’s an Irish Granny! If you could harness the energy of the Irish grannies, you would wouldn’t need dynamite under a politician’s seat. You could power the country with them 😉 And I wish that they had been mobilized during the last elections. Hey, maybe we need another election, it could happen!