Technology - Thurles Information

TUS Engineering Open Day Opens Variety Of Careers For Leaving Cert Students.

TUS Engineering Open Day opens up a variety of careers and courses in engineering to Leaving Cert Students.

The Engineering Special Topic for this year’s Leaving Cert exams will take centre stage at the 2022 TUS Engineering Open Day on Saturday March 12th, 2022.

The established open day on the Moylish Campus of the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) introduces leaving cert student to a variety of engineering courses, lecturers and students, and leading engineering employers from across the Mid West.

As the open day returns to an in-person event, so too does the renowned seminar on the Leaving Cert Engineering Special Topic. Students can attend the 30-minute seminar on “Principles of Operation and Applications of Artificial Intelligence in smart Manufacturing Techniques” during the Engineering Open Day.

TUS Engineering Open Day Co-ordinator Mr Peadar Heneghan said,
“The TUS Engineering Open Day is unique as it allows leaving certificate students with an interest in engineering, and their parents, see first-hand the variety of careers available in engineering by meeting students, lecturers and employers across all disciplines. The visiting student can go on a journey from choosing a course to choosing a career in just a few short steps, as they learn from those who have travelled the road before them.

We encourage leaving cert students to question our lecturers and students about specific courses, and then meet potential employers and indeed employees who undertook the course to discuss career options.

The opportunities for a career in engineering are varied, with something to suit almost everyone interested. TUS on March 12, 2022, from 10am to 1pm is the place to be to discover the college and career path that best suits each individual,” he added.

TUS Engineering Open Day is free and those interested in attending are asked to register: HERE

Irish National Broadband Rollout Justly Criticized

The rollout of the National Broadband Plan (NBP) has come in for serious criticism, as it has emerged that just 27,000 homes, to date, are only in a position to be connected to the network.

Representatives from the Department of the Environment, Climate, and Communications, which in 2019, awarded the contract to sole bidder Granahan McCourt Capital (GMC), (latter a private investment firm focused on connecting people to innovation in technologically underserved areas), will appear before an Oireachtas Public Accounts committee (PAC) this morning.

The chair of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Mr Brian Stanley has criticized their progress to date, deeming it to be totally unsatisfactory.

The initial target for delivery by the National Broadband Plan (NBP), (latter the company formed by the selected contractor to deliver on the plan), by the end of 2021 had been 115,000 homes. The 27,000 connections delivered to date sadly equates to only 23% of that same envisaged target, despite telecommunications activity being deemed ‘essential work’ throughout the Coronavirus pandemic lock-down.

NBP had been expected to deliver high-speed broadband, with speeds of up to 150mb, to some 544,000 homes and businesses by the year ending 2027. Back last January, the Government cut that envisaged target rollout period for the NBP, down from 7 years to less than 5 in order to accelerate a move to remote working.

Broadband Service Providers In General

However, there remains major problems with all broadband service providers here in the Irish Republic, with Vodafone and Eircom Limited, in particular, charging between €50.00 and €71.00 per month for services offering downloads of a mere 12.00 Mbps and uploads of 2.80 Mbps, here in central areas of Thurles.

Same service providers are almost impossible to contact and cannot be trusted when it comes to Bank Direct Debit charges. Users are being forced into the inconvenience of having to switch service providers on an annual basis, in order to get value for money. Some households are being forced to setup phone hotspots for the sending and receiving of email.

Time now for government to take a closer look at the activities of all broadband service providers, here within the Irish State.

‘Flubot’ – New Text Scam In Circulation.

Vodafone are warning Irish customers of a dangerous new sophisticated scam text, which has begun circulating called ‘Flubot’.

Currently this scam only affects Android users, however it is believed that same could also soon affect Apple users.

This Flubot SMS (short message service), is now circulating in Ireland and customers are being asked to take the following actions should they receive same SMS from a company they do not recognise, regarding the tracking of a package.

(1) IGNORE: Do not click on any link included in the message.

(2) DELETE: Remove the full SMS from your phone immediately.

While the scam will primarily affect Android users, Vodafone encourage users of all handsets to be cautious when receiving such any SMS, particularly when you are not expecting a delivery or a contact from a courier.

The National Cyber Security Centre have expanded on these new tactics being employed by fraudsters.
Quote, “Such messages typically contain a link for the victim to click on to get details of a missed package delivery. This link will direct the victim to a fake website replicating the legitimate delivery company’s site. The victim will then be asked to download two .apk files which are banking trojans. Users will then be prompted to manually override and allow an untrusted app download.”

[Trojan: A trojan, is a type of malicious code or software that looks legitimate is designed to damage, disrupt, steal, or in general inflict harmful action on your data or network.]

[APK file: An APK file is an app created for Android, Google’s mobile operating system. Some apps come pre-installed on Android devices, while other apps can be downloaded from Google Play.]

We are aware here in Thurles of individuals receiving similar type SMS messages as shown hereunder.

**Type of SMS received within Thurles area**.

This warning comes as Gardaí continuously warn the public to be alert for any suspicious texts, scam calls or information forms received online.

Top 5 Family Favourite Easter Movies.

Movie night has become a family favourite in Co. Tipperary homes throughout lockdown and thanks to online streaming services we can now access thousands of movies in seconds.

It wasn’t always like that. Those of us that remember the 1980s will recall having to rent a VHS player from the old “Movie Club” video rental shop on Kickham Street , here in Thurles, to watch a movie on a big black VHS cassette. Not only that, but many’s the time you had to wait weeks for your turn to rent your favourite movie because the shop only had a limited number of copies.

How times have changed? As of August 2020, it was estimated that 550,000 Irish people were subscribed to Netflix alone, with thousands also subscribed to Disney+ and Amazon Prime.

There’s no doubt, but watching your favourite movie has never been so easy. Given the time of year it is; here are 5 family movie favourites perfect for the Easter holidays. Some are around so long a few of our readers might even have rented them from that old “Movie Club” video shop back in the day!

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, (1971, rated U) available to stream on Netflix.
Peter Rabbit, (2012, rated U) available to stream on Netflix.
Alice in Wonderland, (1951, rated 0+) available to stream on Disney+.
Ice Age: The Great Egg-Scapade, (2016, rated 0+) available to stream on Disney+.
Hop, (2011, rated All) available to stream on Amazon Prime

Helpful Resources For Return to Remote Learning.

RTÉ’s Home School Hub: A Resource that requires no Broadband.

One of the biggest challenges to remote schooling, faced by teachers and pupils alike, is poor access to broadband or lack of affordability.

Schools have received funding for IT equipment and digital platforms, but without adequate broadband, pupils and teachers can do nothing online and very little with their digital devices.

Minister for Education (Irish: An tAire Oideachais) Ms Norma Foley has repeatedly praised her department’s guidance and funding for IT and remote learning, but many teachers would argue that she is ignoring the blatantly obvious, namely, that remote teaching amounts to little, if you cannot access fast and reliable broadband.

Remote teaching has indeed highlighted how much remains to be done to improve broadband infrastructure in this country. It is, to say the least, regrettable that since lockdown and school closure became the new norm, that little has been done to improve the provision of broadband and internet access for our children, young people and their teachers.

If you are a family or teacher with limited access to the internet, then RTÉ’s Home School Hub is the resource you need. Home School Hub aims to help keep everyone busy and engaged with learning over this current lockdown.

It will air every weekday, for two hours from 10:00am on RTÉ2, starting tomorrow morning, Monday January 11th.

For those with adequate broadband; to help teachers, parents and pupils plan ahead, visit HERE to view resources and outline topics being covered this week.

Please note also that the Irish Sign Language Version airs at 1:00pm with a daily show on RTÉjr. Also, in the afternoon there will be more from After School Hub on RTÉ2 from 3.20pm.

Keep an eye on RTÉ.ie/learn, for more over the coming weeks.