jbwan: WordPress’ed for time…

AUTO-Routes December 22, 2004

Just read this disturbing piece of text about a forecast for 2050 when cars will drive themselves along motorways until the desired exit is reached. Meanwhile the so-called ‘driver’ can sleep or do whatever as the car speeds along paying tolls, etc as required. Worrying to say the least. Sometimes I just don’t think that I’m cut out for a career in technology; sometimes I think the world is just loosing too much grip on the simple things that make life worthwhile. “There’s a storm coming”, time to make a Stand. source: Irish Times

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Downloads Never Pay? December 17, 2004

Those in the music industry who campaigned against downloadable music and the horrible plague that it supposedly set upon artists (cough record producers cough) probably never expected that when the show went legit that Apple alone would have sold over 200 million songs since they put their iTunes service live (working out at about 4.7 million songs per week). The fate of MP3 has been sealed but not in the way that many in the music industry wanted. Now where’s a good place to get me an iPod? source: The Register

Live Longer – Have a Polymeal! December 17, 2004

Briefly heard about this on the radio on the way to work this morning. It seems as though the secret to a longer life has been found in a simple 3 course meal. Ah yes, the ingredients and the menu have been provided for you to extend your life by ~5 years. Happy Christmas and enjoy your garlic icecream! 🙂 source: Irish Times

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GMC December 8, 2004

No not the car company but rather GM Cocaine as in genetically modified cocaine. Yes the cocaine producers of this world need to increase their harvests and produce steady crops. This latest development has resulted in coca plants that are supposedly twice the normal size. I’m sure somebody will be happy… source: The Register

IFRSA Report on Overcharging December 8, 2004

The IFSRA report on overcharging in AIB was released yesterday and I’m sure was welcomed by the public. It provided no let-off for AIB in any way and totally placed all blame upon the group for not acting before it did. The report details that many senior management personnel knew about the overcharging for years but neglected to do anything about it. Doesn’t sound like a bank that cares about its customers. Many other people will testify anecdotal evidence of other flaws but it’s only when these things go public that people really hear about them. The Chief Executive (Michael Buckley) was on the Last Word (Today FM) last evening doing an interview with Matt Cooper. He denied all knowledge, guaranteed that nothing like this would ever happen again and vowed to put the unclaimed money from overcharging towards a “public interest” to be decided. I sincerely hope that this public interest has nothing to do with some monument or sign that gives the bank a place in history as a contributor to society, that just wouldn’t be an accurate reflection on the case at hand. In my opinion the unclaimed monies should be offset against bank charges for AIB customers for the next 12 months. Not much benefit to each customer in general but it’s the point that customers should be the one’s who benefit when they were the one’s who suffered. Not every foreign exchange customer is an AIB account holder but it’s a start towards reconciling this situation. I await the next news of mysterious goings on… More details in the Irish Times