A sign in the window of a Dingle pub. ‘Ceol’ is the Irish for song or music. There is, however, a lively etymological debate about ‘craic’. It is conventionally taken to mean fun and/or bonhomie (often fuelled by alcohol). But some authorities hold that it derives from ‘ag buaileadh craiceann’ or ‘beating skin’ — a reference to “a highly private inter-personal (and usually inter-gender) activity which tends to promote mutual enjoyment, and sometimes progeny”. Er, I couldn’t possibly comment.
Explains why I don’t like goldfish. They remind me of venture capitalists.
Hilarious story in The Register…
A Cardiff vicar has addressed the problem of falling congregations by offering his flock a quiet wireless hotspot in which they can seek the meaning of the word salvation on Google while chewing the fat via email with Pope Benny 16.
Keith Kimber, of St John’s in Cardiff city centre, has sold his soul to Cardiff Council and BT Openzone to acquire the wirless technology. Before inking the mephistophelean technopact, Rev Kimber was unable to access the city’s wireless services due to his church’s four-foot-thick walls. Now, however, he boasts a wireless node within the body of the House of God itself.
Said the good Reverend: “The church has to move with the times and I wanted to make St John’s a sanctuary for everyone, including business people with laptops and mobiles.”
Shares in Google rose $13.24 to $290.51 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq. Any bets on when it hits $400? And to think of those Wall Street types who thought it was over-valued at $85!
Nicely balanced column by Gerard Baker in the Times about George Galloway’s bravura performance before the US Senate. On the one hand…
When mortals appear before Senate panels, they are expected to show proper deference to these lawgivers of the American republic. But while senators may consider themselves Solons, Pericles they most assuredly are not. Going through life in an impregnable carapace of sycophancy is agreeable, no doubt, but as Marie Antoinette discovered, it does not tend to sharpen one’s skills in public argument. So when a feisty member such as Mr Galloway shows up in the midst of these august figures, the effect is a little like a character from a Damon Runyon novel let loose among the Gatsbys.
The average MP, schooled in the knockabout tactics of the House of Commons, is far better equipped to score points and persuade undecided minds. And Mr Galloway’s performance duly earned him some rave reviews, not least from startled American journalists who wouldn’t dare treat their betters this way.
On the other hand…
But forgive me if I don’t participate in the adulation. As I watched, it wasn’t a grudging respect for the perfectly tailored and coiffed tribune of the masses that filled me, but a wave of nausea. His testimony left me with a renewed understanding of just how uniquely repellent Mr Galloway is.
Neil Kinnock, the former Labour leader and ex-EU Commissioner was interesting on Radio 4’s Today programme.
Talking about the French referendum result, he outlined a cogent case for regarding it as a wholly French-made shambles. He blamed Jacques Chirac for mismanaging the disastrous Nice summit which launched the thing on the world, and pointed out that instead of a simple document setting out the rules needed to make workable an EU of 25 countries, it had ballooned (under the tutelage of Valery Giscard d’Estaing, a former French President) into a bloated half-assed attempt to do for Europe what the Founding Fathers once did for the United States.
As for the interpretation that the Non vote was an expression of dissatisfaction with Chirac, Kinnock pointed out that it was the French Left who had put Chirac where he is today. Their failure to agree on, and support, a viable left-wing candidate in the last Presidential election led them in a panic to vote for Chirac in order to keep the fascist Jean Marie le Pen from winning. But on Sunday, those same leftists allied with fascists, racists, Europhobes and sundry discontents to ‘rebuke’ the guy they had installed in power. It was a truly great rant. If only Kinnock had been that sharp when he was Leader of the labour Party.
My kids, with remorseless logic, have pointed out the critical flaw. After all, they reason, Toys ‘R Us sell toys, so this store obviously sells babies.
It’s a display case for software manuals.
As such, it’s a testimony partly to the awfulness of computer software and partly to the stinginess of manufacturers who no longer bother to provide proper documentation for their products.
Here’s an interesting story. A small coffee shop in Seattle has become so concerned about the change in atmosphere brought about by its free WiFi connections that the owners have decided to switch off the service at weekends. The cafe’s co-owner told Glenn Fleishman that they had added free Wi-Fi when it seemed their customers wanted it a couple of years ago.
It initially brought in more people, she said, but over the past year “we noticed a significant change in the environment of the cafe.” Before Wi-Fi, “People talked to each other, strangers met each other,” she said. Solitary activities might involve reading and writing, but it was part of the milieu. “Those people co-existed with people having conversations,” said Strongin.
But “over the past year it seems that nobody talks to each other any more,” she said. On the weekends, 80 to 90 percent of tables and chairs are taken up by people using computers. Many laptop users occupy two or more seats by themselves, as well. Victrola isn’t on the way to anywhere; it’s in the middle of a vibrant stretch of shops and restaurants on Capitol Hill’s 15th Ave. It’s exactly the kind of place that you want to sit down in, not just breeze through.
Worse than just the sheer number of laptop users, Strongin noted, is that many of these patrons will camp six to eight hours—and not buy anything. This seemed astounding to me, but she said that it was typical, not unusual. The staff doesn’t want to have to enforce the cafe’s unspoken policy of making a purchase to use the space (and the Wi-Fi), and on the occasions that they approach a non-buyer about a purchase asking, “Can I get you a beverage?” the squatter often becomes defensive, explains they’ve bought a lot in the past or just the day before.
“It’s just really really difficult. We’ve had so many heated debates about it. We want people to linger at the cafe. We’re not a fast-food coffeeshop. We want people to feel comfortable staying here as long as they please,” Strongin said.
Hmmm… I know of at least one person who has built a substantial little software business by working in such a cafe and riding on its free broadband link. Wonder if he’s offered to give them some of his subsequent profits.