Thurles Information » Technology

Tipperary Second In San Francisco Best App Ever Awards

George — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:02:07 +0000

The Irish Horse Welfare Trust (IHWT)

The Tipperary “Grey Horse Apps,” which can be downloaded for both iPhone and Android, has won second prize for the ‘Best Doing Good’ App in the 2011 ‘Best App Ever,’ awards held in San Francisco, California.

The ‘Save a horse’ App was developed to support the work of the Irish Horse Welfare Trust, latter established in 1999, to assist the current plight of horses here in Ireland.

A total of more than 7,240 Apps were nominated for the 2011 Best App Ever Awards and more than 1.5m votes were cast globally.

Elaine Heney, GreyHorseApps.com producer, (whose website appears to have been compromised this morning, so Warning do not go there just presently) is absolutely thrilled with the win and states she is greatly honoured that she has been able to support and further raise awareness of horse welfare here in Ireland.

The ‘Save a horse,’ app for iPhone and Android can be downloaded by horse lovers, completely free.

Anonymous Hacker Group Target Irish Websites

George — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:37:33 +0000

Anonymous Group Target Ireland

In the wake of last week’s revolt against the Stop Online Piracy (SOPA) Act and Protect IP (PIPA) Act, there’s a fascinating battle starting to unfold here in Ireland, as activists promise to attack the Irish Department of Justice website and other government websites today in protest.

This appears to be happening as I write. Internet activist group “Anonymous” has carried out many online attacks against high-profile websites for some time now and are promising to hack the Irish Department of Justice website, tonight in a recent ‘tweet.’

The threat comes following Sean Sherlock, Minister for Enterprise, Jobs and Innovation, announcing he intends to enact a radical new law curtailing access to websites in Ireland, without a vote in the Oireachtas.

Within the last few minutes Oireachtais.ie is also gone down, and a list has been posted on the internet of all TD’s Telephone numbers inviting you to contact them to voice your opposition to this Irish SOPA bill.

BT Young Scientist Exhibition 2012

George — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:59:32 +0000

Students from across Tipperary are well represented in Dublin’s RDS, for this years 48th BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition.

In recent years the number of entries to this competition has increased dramatically, reaching an all time high last year when 1735 projects were submitted. Following submissions all entries are screened to select just over 520 projects which then go through to compete. The event each year attracts some 40,000 people, thus making it one of the largest events of its kind in Europe, and the world.

In all 21 projects from Co Tipperary are participating in this years event, which displays in total some 520 projects from all the 32 counties of Ireland.

One projects representing Tipperary comes from the Presentation Secondary School here in Thurles, whose participating students have studied ” Food Packaging Versus Taste.”

The event, which began yesterday, will run until 5.30pm on Saturday next, so do drop in and take a peep.

The winner of this years event will be announced at a ceremony, sponsored by BT, on Friday 13th next.

International Space Station Passes Over Tipperary

brianc — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:31:53 +0000

International Space Station

The International Space Station (ISS) is making several passes over Tipperary over the Christmas period. The previous flyovers of The ISS have been spectacular and well worth going out in the evening and observing them.

If you want to catch the ISS flying overhead Tipperary this Christmas you can check this list below;

Friday 23rd Dec 2011
The ISS will rise at 6:19:56 PM from the WSW. Max elevation will be 58° and will have a magnitude of -3.6 (very bright)

Saturday 24th Dec 2011
The ISS will rise at 5:23:47 PM from the WSW. Max elevation will be 43° and will have a magnitude of -3.0 (very bright)
The ISS will also rise at 6:59:43 PM from the West. Max elevation will be 46° and will have a magnitude of -3.2 (very bright)

Sunday 25th Dec 2011 – Christmas Day
The ISS will rise at 6:03:23 PM from the West. Max elevation will be 70° and will have a magnitude of -3.8 (very bright)

Monday 26th Dec 2011 – St Stephens Day
The ISS will rise at 5:07:04 PM from the WSW. Max elevation will be 57° and will have a magnitude of -3.6 (very bright)
The ISS will rise again at 6:43:08 PM from the West. Max elevation will be 72° and will have a magnitude of -3.9 (very bright)

Tuesday 27th Dec 2011
The ISS will rise at 5:46:43 PM from the West. Max elevation will be 75° and will have a magnitude of -3.9 (very bright)
The ISS will rise again at 7:22:55 PM from the West. Max elevation will be 26° and will have a magnitude of -1.9 (very bright)

Wednesday 28th Dec 2011
The ISS will rise at 4:50:16 PM from the West. Max elevation will be 69° and will have a magnitude of -3.8 (very bright)
The ISS will rise again at 6:26:25 PM from the West. Max elevation will be 63° and will have a magnitude of -3.7 (very bright)

We’ve been lucky with the weather this Christmas so far so hopefully we will have some clear skies over the next few days.

100 New Jobs With Analog Devices Inc

George — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 15:13:22 +0000

Analog Devices Inc.

Deputy Noel Coonan has welcomed the news that Analog Devices Inc, a global leader in high-performance semi-conductors for signal processing applications and the world leader in data conversion technology, has today announced that it will embark on a 50 million euro R&D investment programme at its campus in Raheen, Co. Limerick. The local Fine Gael TD said this investment is “good news for the Mid West and will hopefully benefit the people of North Tipperary with 100 jobs being created over five years.”

The local Fine Gael TD said the investment programme focuses on the expansion of ADI’s robust R&D capabilities in Limerick and is supported by the Irish Government through IDA Ireland. Over the next five years, the programme is expected to result in the creation of approximately 100 high-skilled jobs, such as positions in integrated circuit design and applications engineering. “These are jobs that are badly needed and it is very positive to see the multinational invest further in the Mid West. It showcase the potential that resides there and it will also boost revenue to the area,” said Deputy Coonan.

A 140,000-square-foot R&D centre, including specialized laboratory space, will be constructed as part of this investment. Today’s announcement builds on the €23million investment in Ireland made by ADI in June 2010 as part of a manufacturing expansion programme.

ADI has been operating in Ireland for 35 years and currently employs over 1,000 people in Limerick, which is home to ADI’s European-based semiconductor wafer manufacturing facility and R&D for analog technologies, including industry-leading data converters, as well as mixed-signal and RF (radio frequency) integrated circuits.

ADI’s operation in Ireland has a well-established record for engineering innovation and discovery, as evidenced by the 287 U.S. patents granted to ADI inventors based in Ireland, which is nearly 20% of the total U.S. patents held by the company.

International Space Station Over Thurles Tonight

George — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 19:47:59 +0000

ISS Front View

The International Space Station (ISS) is making yet another pass over Thurles tonight. The last passes over Ireland mentioned on thurles.info have been quite spectacular and tonight should be no different, showing a magnitude of -3.0 (Very Bright).

With our sky presently showing broken cloud, it looks like the ISS will be easily spotted for about 3 minutes, as it moves at high speed across our air space.

The station will come into view from a westerly direction at a maximum elevation of 42° South over Thurles at 10.20pm precisely and will be gone from view by 10.23pm travelling eastward.

If the sky remains clear, you will have no problem picking out this space station which appears as a very bright star moving very fast from west to east, as you look directly south.

To keep track of the ISS and other satellite flyovers click Here.

Rural Broadband – Apply Now Says Noel Coonan

George — Mon, 30 May 2011 10:25:56 +0000

Deputy Noel Coonan TD

North Tipperary TD Noel Coonan is urging North Tipperary constituents to apply under the new Rural Broadband Scheme.

The Deputy is urging all North Tipperary constituents, who are without a broadband service to apply under the new Rural Broadband Scheme which aims to identify the remaining individual premises in rural Ireland that are unable to obtain a broadband service and to provide a service to those premises, where requested.

The local Fine Gael TD stated:

“This is a most welcome initiative that will help numerous constituents who are still without broadband and left in the digital dark, despite the passing of the Celtic Tiger era. The previous Government failed to attract investment to the constituency with one of the most significant barrier to job creation being the lack of a high-speed broadband system. Hopefully this new incentive will overcome that barrier. Under our new Government, people who are unable to procure a broadband service are been given the opportunity to lodge an application through a public consultation process taking place over the next three months. If an existing service provider cannot be identified, the Department will seek to procure such a service. The combination of private and public sector programmes in the broadband market will ensure that Ireland reaches the EU target of ubiquitous basic broadband access, ahead of the 2013 deadline.”

Deputy Coonan said the Department has a dedicated line for Rural Broadband Scheme applications on lo-call 1850 678100 or 01 6782020.

The scheme, which was announced recently by the Minister for Communications Pat Rabbitte, will operate in a number of phases, with applications being accepted over an initial three month period. This will be followed by a process of verification with Internet Service Providers to assess whether any of the applicants can be served by the market without Government intervention. Some applicants may obtain a service during this phase of the Scheme and it is expected that the process will take about six months.

The Scheme will be carried out in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food under the Rural Development Programme, co-funded by the European Agriculture Fund for Rural Development.

This announcement will be particularly welcome to rural businesses in Tipperary.

Indian PC Scam Strikes Thurles Again

brianc — Thu, 05 May 2011 14:46:57 +0000

Tipperary Unplugged

We’ve received a number of calls from people today about the Indian PC scam which seems to be targeting the Thurles area again. Several people have reported to us that they have received a phone call from a person claiming to represent a ‘computer support company’. We recently did a post about this PC scam and take this opportunity to warn people again to NEVER even engage with these scammers.

The scam usually involves them claiming to fix an imaginary problem with your computer. They usually try to scam you for €90 first, and then later request that you sign up to their ‘long-term’ deal costing about €200 per year!

If you receive such a call, DO NOT switch on your computer, DO NOT engage with these people, instead ask them for their contact details and hang up, promising to return their call later. They usually hang up when asked for contact details.

Have you received any of these type of calls lately?

Beware Cold Calling by Telephone

ISS Passes Over Ireland Again

brianc — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 22:14:17 +0000

The International Space Station (ISS) is making another few passes over Ireland over the next week. The last ISS flyovers over Ireland mentioned on thurles.info were pretty spectacular and well worth going out to see.

It looks like the weather is going to be great for the next week, so we should have clear skies too.

Here is a list of the ISS flyovers that can be see from Tipperary this week;

Wednesday April 20th 2011
The ISS will rise at 10:34:01pm from the WSW. Max elevation will be 49° and will have a magnitude of -3.3 (very bright)

Thursday April 21st 2011
The ISS will rise at 10:58:51pm from the West. Max elevation will be 63° and will have a magnitude of -3.7 (very bright)

Friday April 22nd 2011
The ISS will rise at 11:23:43pm from the West. Max elevation will be 37° and will have a magnitude of -2.7 (very bright)

Saturday April 23rd 2011
The ISS will rise at 10:13:22pm from the West. Max elevation will be 70° and will have a magnitude of -3.8 (very bright)

Sunday April 24th 2011
The ISS will rise at 10:38:08pm from the West. Max elevation will be 71° and will have a magnitude of -3.9 (very bright)

To keep track of the ISS flyovers click Here

So hopefully we’ll have clear skies for the week.

Phone Tapping Suspected By Moriarty Tribunal

George — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 11:49:37 +0000

Gardaí are investigating whether or not telephones at the Moriarty Tribunal were tapped in the days/weeks running up to the publication of last week’s report.

Present investigations are centred on the telephone of tribunal chairman Mr Justice Michael Moriarty in particular, following concerns expressed within the inquiry, that private information may have been accessed by an unauthorised third party.

Phone Tap

Garda crime and security branch technical experts visited the Tribunal’s offices the week prior to Mr Justice Moriarty’s final report being published. It is understood that they found no evidence that current telephone apparatus in the office had been interfered with.

It is also understood that these investigation are ongoing and that gardaí are now looking at the possibilities of whether the exchange, through which the calls were routed, could have been accessed, which, although not impossible, is believed would be difficult to access.

The alleged breach of security was first reported yesterday evening by RTÉ, which said the tribunal had refused to further comment on the matter.

The tribunal report findings claimed that Mr Denis O’Brien made payments to the then Minister for Communications, now Tipperary North Independent TD, Michael Lowry, whom it states “secured the winning ” of the licence for Esat.

Note: Both men have rejected the report’s findings.

Similar claims of phone tapping in the past were made by the people of Erris involved in the Shell To Sea campaign who for a long time assumed that their phone calls were being monitored. This suspicion rapidly increased during the incarceration of the Rossport Five. Claims that some mobile phones were experiencing beeps and clicks, preceded by a ringing signal which resulted in calls having to be dialled more than once to get through, were reported, together with a tendancy for phones to ring briefly without showing a missed or received call.

In March 2007, Justice Minister Michael McDowell refused to reveal the number of phones taps he had authorised during his term of office. Although bugged phone conversations cannot be used as evidence in court, they can be used by gardaí to gather intelligence on suspects. In response to a Dail question, Mr McDowell said it would be contrary to the public interest to reveal how many phone taps had been approved by his department, or what categories of people were being targeted.

The Irish government agreed with its EU partners to introduce a system whereby it will be possible to monitor all aspects of global telecommunications. At present in Ireland there is a legal framework for allowing phone tapping under certain circumstances. This legal framework includes the tapping of all types of telecommunications including mobile phones, fax, telex, e-mail and all satellite based communications.