Walking around with my head (and stuff) in the clouds
Posted: September 4, 2010 Filed under: Apple, Business, Do something Now is good, Interesting, Internet, iPhone, Mobile, OpenCoffee, Social Networking, Tech, Telecoms | Tags: cloud computing, evernote, flickr, google, RT, spotify, youtube Leave a comment
When I was younger my Mother always said that I walked around with my head in the clouds. I guess she must have been onto something because the big IT pro’s went and made a whole industry and buzz word around ‘clouds’ or cloud computing as it has became known.
Last year whilst travelling on a regular trip to London, I took my laptop from my bag to place it on the scanner in the Airport. I set it on the wrong side of the roller’s and 30 seconds later it was on the tiled floor with a failed hard drive and smashed screen. I back up regularly so I was able to re-cover most of my stuff, however I lost around 4 weeks of important work.
What a nightmare, it was time to embrace cloud computing……… on a budget ! Read the rest of this entry »
BBQ at McQuillan Manor in 32 seconds …… and a great chance to chat about Gawker
Posted: July 12, 2010 Filed under: Apple, Belfast, Do something Now is good, events, Explorer Scouts, Interesting, Internet, Northern Ireland, Personal posts, Uncategorized, Venture Scouts, Web 2.0 | Tags: Apple, gawker, mac os, Mcquillan manor, software Leave a commentGawker is an amazing piece of software for Mac OS that I have just discovered. With very little effort it allows you to put together a short movie of still imagines to track a day of work or an event.
Time lapsed BBQ at McQuillan Manor – 11th July using Gawker from Russell McQuillan on Vimeo.
Cheaper by the dozen ? Not any more !
Posted: June 27, 2010 Filed under: Apple, Belfast, Business, Do something Now is good, Government, Interesting, Internet | Tags: 6 eggs, eggs, EU bullshit, Government, tesco, weight 3 Comments
A new barmy law has been passed down from our good old buddies in the European Union. All food sold in EU stores must be advertised, priced and sold by weight and not quantity.
Until now, Britain has been exempt from EU regulations that forbid the selling of goods by number. But last week MEPs voted to end Britain’s deal despite objections from UK members.
This means Eggs, bread rolls and oranges too, so gone will be the day of buying a box of 6 egg’s for 99p.
Now you will have to buy 382grams of egg’s or 396grams of eggs depending which box you pick up, no box of 6 egg’s will ending up the same price as the next as it is nearly impossible to get 6 egg’s to weigh the same, unless we can somehow program the chickens to fire out 50gram eggs on comand but that would probably be in human.
What a load of balls, not two balls of course, a load of balls. Who thinks of these stupid laws? How is this helpful to the general public ? I want 6 egg’s, I’m quite happy to open the box and judge if the egg’s I am buying are big enough after all, I am not a complete moran ! Read the rest of this entry »
The iPad will not change the world
Posted: April 4, 2010 Filed under: Apple, Business, Do something Now is good, Interesting, Internet, iPhone, Web 2.0, Wi-Fi | Tags: Apple, ipad, ipad will not change the world, my ipad, steve jobs 4 Comments
Before reading this you should know, I am not an Apple hater, nor am I afraid of technology. I do in fact love Apple products, I have two iPhone’s and three MacBooks.
OK, so lets get started. I am sick of reading posts, tweets and status updates about how the iPad will change the world, one I ever read from a fellow Wi-Fi network CEO who said ‘the iPad will treble my business’ ! come on, on what basis? The iPhone is the single busiest device on my Network and even that does not even represent 10%.
How is the iPad going to change the world ? It adds nothing of worth to society as a whole, it is nothing more than a big iPhone or restricted computer. Of course, I like many other people will find a use for it and try and justify the money it cost with all the new things I can do but the truth of the matter is it will doing nothing for me that I can’t already so on my Macbook, iPhone or GPS unit.
It will not make us more connected, or bring Internet to the masses. It is not a $100 laptop or long range OTA Internet tranmitter aimed at connecting the thousands in Africa. The wind up radio has done more for the world than the iPad ever will. It is just a big cool toy.
That said, I can’t wait to get mine but lets not try and justify our purchase with nonsense, please !
Russell
Nokia report a tough Q2 2009
Posted: July 16, 2009 Filed under: Apple, Business, Interesting, Internet, iPhone, Microsoft, Mobile, Web 2.0, Wi-Fi | Tags: app store, Apple, blackberry, Business, credit crunch, iPhone, mobile phones, nokia, smartphone Leave a commentNokia today has published its Quarter 2 financial results and are reportedly down a staggering 25% on last years Q2 results, they are also down a further 7% on Q1 of this year. This equates to a staggering €9.9billion loss in sales in one single quarter.
The King of mobiles has lost 2% market share, bringing their share of the market down to a (still healthy) 38% overall. They have been hit hard by new up and coming competitors like the apple iPhone and RIM Blackberry and all other areas of the business have also been effected.
The Mobile phone industry is has changed from that of a healthy 2005 and continues to change rapidly, Nokia once spent a fortune on R+D and were always ahead of the pack, always that was until the launch of the phone that turned the industry on its head, the Apple iPhone, others like RIM and HTC have been quick to catch up with the launch of similar products that offer fast Internet and applications on the move but Nokia have failed to capture the imagination of this new tech hip customer and have had to rely on their sturdy business phone reputation. New handsets like the N97 and E71 which on the face of it offer the same features as the iPhone and RIM are bulky and not as easy to receive emails on the go.
I predict that Nokia will continue to loose important ground to smart-phones in the coming years until such times as they get their act together and come up with (if possible) an iPhone killer.
The company’s largest division, Devices and Services, reported sales of €6.6bn, down 28pc year-on-year. The division nonetheless increased margins from 33.8pc in Q1 to 34pc in Q2.
The company shipped device volumes of 103.2 million units, down 15pc year-on-year and down 11pc on Q1.
The company’s share of the global mobile device market also appears to be slipping, down to 38pc from 40pc a year ago.
Software revenues from applications for devices fell from €65m in Q1 to €62m in Q2, despite the launch of its flagship Ovi store.
Its infrastructure division, Nokia Siemens Networks reported sales of €3.2bn, down 21pc year-on-year and down 7pc on Q1.
OpenCoffee Lisburn – Next Meeting
Posted: February 4, 2009 Filed under: Apple, Belfast, Business, Do something Now is good, events, Interesting, Internet, iPhone, OpenCoffee | Tags: Cafe Latte, Cafe Latte Lisburn, Linen Hall, Open Coffee, Open Coffee Lisburn, OpenCoffee 1 CommentThe next meeting of OpenCoffeeLisburn will be on
Date : Thursday 5th February
Location : Cafe Latte Lisburn
Time : 7PM
Here’s a Map
See you there !
24th January 1984 – A day that changed the world forever
Posted: January 23, 2009 Filed under: Apple, Business, Do something Now is good 2 CommentsOn January 24th
Apple Computer’s will introduce
Macintosh
And you’ll see why 1984
won’t be like “1984″
When you think back to days that changed the world forever, you might think about the formation of the USA, Presidents being murdered, governments being formed and fallen, wars lost and won, but very little people would describe 24th January 1984 as a day that changed the world – but it was ! In more ways than you may know.
It was the day the Macintosh hit the shelves, the very first main stream personal computer a computer that could potentially be in EVERY home and computer that would be affordable and allow you to work and play from home.
Fantastic. On the 24th January 2009 – 25 years later I sit in my house with a phone constantly connected to the internet, A laptop computer I can take anywhere and a TV connected to the internet which I can use to watch any TV show every aired. I can work from home and communicate with people from all around the globe in real time. I can access pretty much any piece of information I want with seconds and all this would not have been possible if not for the Apple Macintosh !
People think that Bill Gate’s changed the world – but if not for Apple he would not have even had the idea !
Mulley Communications – Iphone survey results
Posted: December 5, 2008 Filed under: Apple, iPhone | Tags: 02, Apple, Business, iPhone Leave a commentBeing part of a company that work closely with Iphones and Iphone users, I was interested to see how the results of Mulley Communications recent survey into the Iphone turned out. The full results can be found here, but I have cherry picked a few interesting ones….
Type of iPhone:
72.5% 3G iPhone
27.5% Gen 1 iPhone (No 3G or GPS)
I thought there would be more old school models than this knocking around !
Previous phones owned by these people:
15% moved from a blackberry or another smart phone. Others came from midrange phones like the Sony Ericsson K800i or a phone from the Nokia 6 series range.
How many will be moving to phone that is not iPhone in future?
58% Not moving
42% Yes
58% would not move, I cant think of another product with this sort of brand loyalty
How many Jailbroken phone: (Jailbreaking an iPhone is against Apple policy but allows unofficial applications to be run on the phone)
34% say yes
66% no.
Come on now be honest !
Average amount of money spent buying applications:
€17 (The application store is only open 6 months)
This shows just how right Apple where to go down this route, Google are missing a big slice of profits of the G1 free apps store and lets not forget you can still get free apps for the Iphone.
Battery life issue?
56% yes
44% No
The battery life only becomes an issue if you are used to a standard phone, this is not a standard phone, its a small mac really!
pending above contract price (going over limits):
56% yes
44% no
The main reason as to why I don’t use my iPhone on an 02 plan is the plans are simply pathetic for someone in business.
The survey all in all is good and im sure 02 Ireland are thankful for Damian taking the time……. No mention of the Wi-Fi inclusion deal tho… Disappointing
Russell McQuillan 