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All females, President and accounted for November 19, 2005

Posted by jbwan in General, Politics.
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Now it’s not often I find fault with the words of our political figures (cough). However, this statement by our ex-president relating to the desire of many women in American society wanting to leave the work force when they marry and have children is certainly not the type of statement that should come from a previous head representative of our country. If anybody, not just women, want to leave the workforce providing it is financially viable to do so then it is entirely their decision. I’m sure that many women and possibly an ever-increasing number of men who have given up work to become the child minder would never look back on a loss of pure capitalist nature over the gain of family and enjoying the early years of their children. It is incredibly worrying that our ex-president should send out the sentiment that Ireland is a would-be work-driven country with no concern for family life. What if every person desired nothing more than corporate climbing and capital gain, where would the Irish family be? Gone and forgotten! How many children already spend more time in creches and child minders rather than with their parents? Personally I am sickened by such comments. I am certainly not saying that any woman should ever give up a job to be with family after birth but it is certainly not a worrying trend if that is their decision to do so. The same goes for any men in such a position. Preservation of the family is far more important. “People of Ireland come climb the corporate ladder with me” – I think not! source: Irish Times

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Lethargy November 14, 2005

Posted by jbwan in General.
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Just returned from my first week off work in over a year and wish I had taken more time – 5 days a year just ain’t enough. My lethargy of late with respect to maintaining my weblog is only testemony to the otherwise incredibly busy period of other work. I miss my ramblings (I’m sure moreso than anyone else out there) and the enjoyment factor associated with an aimless rant of manic disillusionment, ah yes, those were the days.

Anyhow Siân and I just took a short break away to the “Whessst” of the country and to the truly remarkable Shannon heritage region. During our stay we took in the wonderful Bunratty castle banquet – I would highly recommend this to all, not nearly as tacky as it could have been and most enjoyable with good food! During the course of our stay we also took in the other sights of the area such as the cliffs of Moher, the Burren and Doolin. Sad to say however that I would personally rebrand these “attractions” as “The Cliffs of don’t go there”, “The Barren” and “Foolin'”.

Having to pay Eur 4 to exit the somewhat dishevelled cliffs of Moher car park is an absolute joke considering they will not let you park anywhere within 20 minutes of a natural, unmaintained attraction. To be honest I didn’t even think that the cliffs were that spectacular – not much moreso than any around the coast of Waterford. Furthermore the abundance of signage around the area would leave even the most travelled of tourists scratching their heads in a vain attempt to decipher the next stop. Why is it that only the West of our emerald isle indulges in such displays of attraction chaos? Why is there not more made of the wonderful and far superior attractions around Waterford and the South East of the country? Some things I will never understand… even if I know the reasons behind them.

When DRM goes too far November 2, 2005

Posted by jbwan in Technology.
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It would appear that the latest drop of Sony DRM software for protecting their CDs from being copied on PCs is being likened to a “root kit” by some out there. The curiously entitled “essential system tools” have been deemed to have caused great difficulty to anyone wishing to play CDs in their PC or those who wish to remove the software from the machine at a later date. Is it right that copy protection should be allowed to extend this far into people’s computers? How far is too far for DRM? source: The Register