thomas fitzgerald.net

From BreakingNews.ie: World:

“US astronomers want to search for alien life by scouring space for extraterrestrial TV broadcasts.
The project would use a new radio telescope to look for signs of life from around 1,000 stars. Previous programmes have tended to look for possible high-frequency beacon-like signals deliberately beamed across the universe. They have avoided searching for lower frequencies in the electromagnetic spectrum because of the potential for interference from Earth-based sources.”

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If ever there was an example of just how much Apple and the iPod have changed the world it’s the fact that this year, in addition to delivering it on TV, Radio and Online, the Queen will also podcast her christmas message.

“The podcast and online versions of the speech will become available at the same time that the speech is broadcast on TV: 3:00 p.m. GMT on Monday.

Interested listeners can sign up for the Royal Podcast now and will receive the latest episode, the Christmas speech, at the time of the broadcast.”

The Queen’s Christmas Message has been one of the mainstays of british culture for decades and for it to move to a new format like this is a pretty significant endorsement from a traditional and conservative custom.

The first proper trailer for Michael Bay’s transformers has been posted. All I can say is…oh….my….god
Watch it now!

From the BBC

“The delicate workings at the heart of a 2,000-year-old analogue computer have been revealed by scientists.

The Antikythera Mechanism, discovered more than 100 years ago in a Roman shipwreck, was used by ancient Greeks to display astronomical cycles.”

Read the story.

Technorati Tags: history, technology

I was walking up Grafton Street on sunday about to go into marks and spensers to do my shopping when I realised the doors were all closed and an alarm was going off. Next thing I know there were sirens wailing from behind me and the fire brigade came rushing up! I managed to catch the excitement on my camera phone, and here’s the footage. (click on the pic for movie)

They left pretty quickly, so I guess it wasn’t that serious.

Bill O’Reilly believes that iPods are endangering America (and also computer geeks apparently) The irony being that his own show is available as a paid for subscription podcast.

“American society is changing for the worse because of the machines… In the past to flee the real world people usually chose drugs or alcohol… now you don’t have to do that, Now all you have to do is have enough money to buy a machine…”

Oh dear god.

I seriously hope the Daily Show picks up on this one.

Anyone who’s read Angels and Daemons will get a kick out of this article in The Guardian

Looks like the Bank of Ireland Strike went off as planned. I guess no one will be banking today! Well, they certainly picked a good day weather wise!

Needs no introduction

Simpsons Teaser Trailer (Not the homer on the couch one - it’s new!)

Xmas Decorations, originally uploaded by fxgeek.

I guess it was only a matter fo time. The Christmas Decorations in Dublin are starting to go up. They’re nice if a little old fashioned. Still, I guess that’s what tourists expect. I find Brown Thomas’s non Christmas, Christmas Window a little odd though! (Will try and snap a shot of it at night during the week) (for those who don’t know - Brown Thomas is the Irish equivelent of Bloomingdales)

Courtesy of boing boing.net