winterspeak.com looks at mobil …

winterspeak.com looks at mobile phones and cameras. Here in Europse, sending pictures is nice but it’s expensive. Ok, it’s useful too, I’ve posted pictures from my nokia 7650 here at least 3 times in the last month.
I got my phone bill yesterday and wasn’t prepared for the shock of the price of this new technology. Vodafone promised free access to Vodafone Live! for the month of January and part of February. I, and I presume most people, would guess that means free access to the Internet via their wap browser on the phone. Not so.
I was charged for downloading just over 6MB of data at 20c/kb. You do the math. All accesses to the Vodafone Live! website was free but as soon as I went to Google or downloaded .jar or .sis files from elsewhere the charges mounted up. Time for me to monitor my phone bill online and I must get an infra red port soon.

Stop Smoking NowIn New Zealand …

Stop Smoking Now

In New Zealand the price of cigarettes are forced up by a law that says they must increase with the consumer price index. There have been reports in the newspapers lately claiming that children in poorer families are going without food, as the price of cigarettes becomes more of a burden for families on low incomes.

Here in Ireland cigarettes have come under attack too. The price has been increased and now sits somewhere around 5 Euro for 20 (I think). Smoking will be banned in restaurants and pubs on January 1st next year and it’s looking good for the 75% of the Irish population that are non-smokers. I for one can’t wait to go into a night club and not come away reaking of smoke..

Pyrotechnic Antics in Cork Las …

Pyrotechnic Antics in Cork
Last night I saw two women swinging lit torches around in the air outside the Society Bar as part of some promotion or stunt by the bar.

A small crowd had gathered to watch but since that crowd included children I doubt the pub made much money out of the exercise. And of course they very nearly hit me with a torch as I walked past and they got off the road to let a car go past!

Via IRC.North Korea is wonderi …

Via IRC.
North Korea is wondering what it has to do to attract American military attention.

“What does it take to get a few F-16s or naval warships deployed to the Yellow Sea?” North Korean president Kim Jong Il asked Monday. “In the past month and a half, we’ve expelled U.N. nuclear inspectors, withdrawn from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty..”

RTÉ News: N Korea warns it is capable of US strikes

Defence analysts have suggested that North Korea has long-range Taepodong-2 missiles which could be capable of reaching parts of the US.

I’ll be seeing you at the anti-war march on Saturday

You – yes, you – who’ve never even said the word “placard”, let alone held one, can see yourself walking in line with some rather frightening women carrying hundreds of the things saying “Mums Not Bombs For the Sake of Palestine”.

An Obsession with Food When I …

An Obsession with Food

When I first started this blog, it was because I had just been laid off, and wanted my savings to last as long as possible. So I undertook this project, trying to stretch leftovers in creative new ways. Just reheating was a cop-out. But now I’m re-employed, so it’ll have to be a bit different. The cheap meals will more likely be lunches from now on, but I still intend to keep up my old habits. More money for the expensive dinner parties we like to throw!