I used to podcatch on a XDAii, then the screen cracked Never owning an iPod (never even used one) I got a 1GB usb stick with MP3 player, DVR 2 .wav and FM radio (76-108Mhz). (Great buy BTW)

Now my problem was, I’m so mobile, laptop wifi car home work linux XP etc. I needed a podcatcher that moved with me, Its OK having the podshows move after sync, but as I was used to podcatching direct to XDA with FeederReader.com I didn’t want to go backward (like all those iPods that need a PC and 20MB of iTunes to enable a podcatch). Well Hey Presto I got it. ‘podcatcher on a stick’

‘podcatcher on a stick’ has all the basic functions to receive podcasts like the other podcatcher-software (e.g. iPodder, Nimq, …). But instead of installing the software to a personal computer, ‘podcatcher on a stick’ is installed directly on your audio-device (e.g. a MP3-USB-stick).

So far so good! stick2stick

Why has this place name changed? You wont save language by force. Like they couldn’t force me to learn Irish. Cromwell forced many changes and many we have tried to roll back. But whether its forcing a motorway through heritage or a mobile mast beside a school or redeveloping Dun Laoghaire Baths or re naming a town An Daingean it wont wash. There is no local democracy anymore. Switch off the TV and get involved. Real change will come from below.

Are you fed up getting calls to switch your telco provider? if so call your telephone provider (ie. 1901 for eircom) and ask them to block third party providers calls, its a free service. If third parties still call, ring the data protection commision on (01) 874 85 44 and report the third party.

I made this move on 3 of my phone lines after 3 calls in 24 hours to one line from one provider that does not take no for an answer.

does the Apple IPod nano sound too much like Creative Zen Nano? Na, no.

Nano derived from the Greek word for small means ten to the minus ninth power, or one billionth. Perhaps its the billion bit Jobs is thinking of, not a billion IPods but tracks sold… Its going to be a White Christmas, white ear phones white MP3 players, get you nanny a nano, they are getting so small, you’ll get little mp3 players in xmas crackers, which aint a bad place for them, coz with the bad jokes, they can also include the ChinGlish manual for yer little pod player.

Link
Just a week after Creative said it was “looking at all its alternatives” in defending what it calls the “Zen Patent,” which covers the company’s MP3 player interface and is said to be similar to the iPod’s interface, Apple seems to have infringed on Creative’s territory when it announced the iPod nano on Wednesday. Creative launched its Zen Nano Plus earlier this year, beating Apple to the market with the word “nano” on an MP3 player by several months.

An article at The Register’s Web site said that a Creative spokesperson confirmed his company’s legal department “is aware of the matter,” but he would not state what legal action will be taken, if any. Both the iPod nano and the Zen Nano Plus are flash-based players, although Creative’s product is comparable to the iPod shuffle in terms of capacity. Both are also available in black or white, but Creative also offers eight other colors.

[tiltle derived from Bad Manners Ne-Ne Na-Na Na-Na Nu-Nu ]

back when I was younger (to quote SLF) I used to get my shoes in a very large shoe store in Talbot Street Dublin 1. The realy cool thing for a 5 year old was the shoe-fitting x-ray machine. Climb up 3 rubber coated steps, insert your right foot and left in two holes on the thread of the third step, and peer in through one of the three looking ports and grey on green I could see the bones in my toes wiggling inside my new shoes. The shop assistant and my mother used the other two ports to view and they would discuss how long the shoes would give me, or to put it another way how much growing time was in them. The shoes were usually brown buckle straps with a grey rubber sole, bud ugly and to make things worse, I needed to ware them on the wrong feet, right shoe on left etc. something about inner raised but it was 1975 and I cant remember.

In the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, the shoe-fitting x-ray unit was a common shoe store sales promotion device and nearly all stores had one. It was estimated that there were 10,000 of these devices in use. This particular shoe-fitting x-ray unit was produced by the dominant company in the field, the Adrian X-Ray Company of Milwaukee WI, now defunct. Brooks Stevens, a noted industrial designer whose works included the the Milwaukee Road Olympian and an Oscar Meyer Wienermobile, designed this machine. ..

The radiation hazards associated with shoe fitting x-ray units were recognized as early as 1950. The machines were often out of adjustment and were constructed so radiation leaked into the surrounding area.

By 1970, shoe fitting x-ray units had been banned in 33 states including Minnesota and strict regulation in the remaining 17 states made their operation impractical.

One of the more serious injuries linked to the operation of these machines involved a shoe model who received such a serious radiation burn that her leg had to be amputated.

Back when I was younger - everyone had mobile phones….

Shaun Woodward is Minister for Water Charges in Northern Ireland

Why is he in the news? yesterday he delayed the introduction of the hated double tax - the water charges.

In an interview with Shaun Woodward, BBC reporter Mark Davenport commented “… he [Woodward] seems determined to push ahead with the introduction of water charges, linking the unsatisfactory state of public services in Northern Ireland with what he sees as the low local tax burden.”

Shaun Woodward has some cheek. He:

- Lives in an 18th century 10 bedroom mansion.

- Has property in St Helens, several properties in London, France, has a £7 million property in Long Island, USA, and owns an estate in the Caribbean

- Is married to Camilla Sainsbury, who has a personal fortune of £100 million.

- Owns shares in Sainsbury PLC.

- Has a butler.

- Received £348,057 in MP expenses alone between 2001 - 2004.

- Receives £90,000 a year as a Minister in Northern Ireland.

And this is the man who thinks that low-income families and pensioners in Northern Ireland should have second rate health care and should pay hefty water charges because they do not pay their fair share!!!

Mr Lenihan also earlier defended himself for falling asleep during a telephone link to TV3’s Ireland AM morning programme.

He was due to go live from his hotel bedroom at the Fianna Fáil think-in in Co Cavan when technicians heard him snoring loudly down the line and pulled the item.

“I just slept through the call. That’s what happens to a lot of us,” he said today.

“If I was at home the good lady wife would normally give me an elbow in the ribs and I’d be up like a flash.”

“I wasn’t on the tear, no, no, no. I wasn’t on the tear. You can stay up late talking to colleagues and that kind of stuff. There’s not that much wild drinking done at these events.”

“I obviously answered it in my sleep and said: ‘Yeah, yeah, I’ll take the call’.”

He said the annual Ard Fheis events were usually ‘wet’ events.

“The delegates get stuck in, don’t they and enjoy themselves.”

He denied a media report that he was ‘accident-prone’ and insisted he was doing a good job in the Overseas Development Aid department.

Last May he had to apologise after he was overheard in the Dáil referring to the Turkish GAMA workers as ‘kebabs’.