Nov
28
2008
Nov
26
2008
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Council reviewing speed limits
Having spent millions building and then upgrading the M50, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown council are considering proposals to limit the speed of the M50 that crosses their fiefdom to 100km/h (as opposed to the usual motorway limit of 120km/h).
This is reported in today’s Irish Times Motoring supplement. The ubiquitous Conor Faughnan is quoted as saying that
there was a danger of setting speed limits which were too low. He said in rush hour traffic the N11 limit was academic, but with an almost empty three lane carriageway at 2am and limiting people to only 60km/h undermined limits generally and was unlikely to be obeyed.
I sometimes have to wonder whether the people who make these by-laws ever actually use the roads (and indeed whether they obey their own rules).
Must read all the documents on the council site, and make my feelings known in due course to:
Senior Engineer, Transportation Traffic, County Hall, Marine Road, Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin. speedlimit@dlrcoco.ie.
Related Posts:
Nov
26
2008
Dublin 2012 City of Science
This has been very well reported elsewhere, but I’ll post about it for the sake of completeness. On Monday, Dublin was chosen as the European City of Science for 2012. The main rival to Dublin’s bid in the end was Vienna.
From the SFI press release:
Monday 24th November 2008 Dublin has been chosen as the City of Science for 2012. Announcing the decision today Minister Jimmy Devins TD Minister FOR Science Technology and Innovation hailed the decision as recognition of the great strides that Ireland has made in the area of science technology and innovation.
Dublin will host Euroscience Open Forum (ESOF) in 2012. Dublin will aim to attract 8,000 Irish and International delegates while engaging
50,000 citizens in a truly Olympic of European Research style event in July 2012. The third edition of this bi-annual festival was held this year in Barcelona. Dublin’s Bid Committee held a range of highly successful visibility raising activities.
Further reporting is available on RTE, SiliconRepublic an elsewhere.
Related Posts:
Nov
23
2008
Angel funding in Ireland on the rise
Came across this interesting snippet in ENN (reporting on articles in the Indo):
The paper [The Irish Independent] also reports that Irish venture capital funds have raised EUR500 million in a recent round of fundraising for SMEs. A UCD study found that R&D expenditure in small and medium-size enterprises grew 25 percent in 2007, compared to an increase of 7 percent by other indigenous companies. “It is particularly noteworthy that funding by private investors grew from 4 percent of funds raised in 2007 to 22 percent in 2008,” said Tanaiste Mary Coughlan, at the launch of the study. “This means that the economy is now starting to benefit from ‘angel’ investors and successful entrepreneurs who can contribute experience as well as capital in helping to create Ireland’s next wave of successful high-tech firms.”
Related Posts:
Nov
12
2008
Fantastic cartograms of the US election
Via Brad Feld’s blog, here are a bunch of wonderful cartograms of the voting patterns of the US election.
I was first exposed to this interesting visualisation tool through Stewart Fotheringham’s group in the National Centre for Geocomputation (NCG), where they have used it extensively on Irish census results.
Related Posts:
Nov
11
2008
The Investigators
I’m a bit late on this one, but it’s well worth a post anyway. RTE is currently broadcasting its second series of “The Investigators“. SFI is one of the sponsors of the programme, and a number of our investigators (aka researchers) are featured on it.
The first show was broadcast last Thursday (Nov 6), and the next one is scheduled for this Thursday coming. Who knew that scientists could make science look cool. Or at least interesting…
To quote:
Ireland’s researchers are punching above their weight in the world and are quietly making a significant contribution to the improvement of all of our daily lives. Shot and directed by Ciaran O’Connor and voiced by Doireann ni Bhriain this is an entertaining and fascinating look into the work of some of the top minds in the country. This series will look at some of the most interesting projects which are currently underway and assess what the impact may be on our lives in the future.
Well worth a look. Here’s the official SFI press release.
Related Posts:
Nov
10
2008
changingworlds acquired by Amdocs
One of Ireland’s leading SME’s in the mobile space, changingworlds, was acquired by Amdocs last week.
changingworlds was founded a few years ago by Professor Barry Smyth of University College Dublin (and changingworlds Chief Scientist), and was based on mobile personalisation technology that Barry and his former PhD student Paul Cotter developed as part of a research project in UCD.
changingworlds is a great example of the possibilities of a spin out company developing from University-based research. It’s acquisition is a great result for all concerned. Let’s hope that there are plenty more examples like changingworlds in the months and years ahead.
Well done to Barry and all others concerned.
Related Posts:
Nov
8
2008
Niall Smart looking for a co-founder
A friend and former colleague of mine, Niall Smart, is looking for a co-founder for his new startup, CloudSync.fm.
Niall has been short-listed for the next Y Combinator winter round. He’s flying to California this week to present, and if selected, will move there for three months in early 2009. Pretty cool!
Those of you who know anything about Y Combinator, their model, and some of their successes (including Irish startup auctomatic), will know that this is a big deal. It’s a great chance for somebody with the entrepreneurial and technical chops to get in on the ground floor.
To quote from Niall’s site, here’s what he’s looking for:
- Are you technically adept? Our technology stack includes Ruby and AWS, but your track record is much more important than an exact skills portfolio.
- Do you understand the importance of the User Experience? This is a niche product for discerning consumers, and UX is a critical success factor. You’re ready to play the game of inches.
- Have you an entrepreneurial streak? The right person will be enthusiastic, motivated, innovative and strategic, and comfortable with a degree of risk and uncertainty. Essential traits – along with a sense of adventure and fun.
If you’re interested, you can contact Niall directly at niall@cloudsync.fm. Tell him that Steve sent you.