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My lastest post to Vizitant, where I focus on video-calling, telepresence and virtual worlds.

When Dell announced Latitude-On in conjunction with the launch of it's new series of Latitude notebooks I was excited to know if the range of instant-on applications would include Skype (as does Splashtop on some Asus laptops). Dissapointingly it seems not, so that rules out super quick access to video-calling.

Still these must be worrying times for Microsoft when they see Dell developing dedicated sub-systems running a Linux OS variant to do a run-around Windows for a large percentage of computing tasks.

Congratulations to Team Contrast on the launch of a Dublin based web development "company thatâАЩs a direct product of the modern Irish web scene." It's been great to follow the genesis of this idea from it's roots in the coworking scene.

Unlike many on the Irish web scene (e.g. me) these guys aren't just talkers, they're doers. In many ways typified by the response team member Paul Campbell gave to Evert Bopp when he posted about his ideas for starting a coworking center in Tipperary. Just do it!

Indeed Paul refers to his nine months working out of Ireland's first coworking center as "some of the most productive, inspiring months of my life." And goes on, "If youâАЩre a freelancer, home worker or teleworker and working from home is leading to the kind of drag where youâАЩre just not getting out enough, or you feel that your creativity could do with some company, I urge you, I plea with you: set up or join a coworking space. Do it for yourself, do it for Dublin, do it for the community."

At the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco yesterday Tandberg unveiled the first public preview of their HD PC video conferencing technology. Movi claims "business-quality" video conferencing at 720p30 resolution using a Tandberg PrecisionHD camera operating on an Intel Mobile Core 2 Quad laptop (formerly codenamed 'Montevina') running Tandberg's Movi software.

In a not-so-subtle swipe at Skype High Quality Video Tandberg CEO Fredrik Halvorsen said, "While other vendors offer consumer-acceptable PC video conferencing, we have demonstrated the video quality that businesses require to adopt PC video communications". But the question is, how much better can it be really? In tests with the right hardware and software Jim Courtney found Skype HQ, "a winner... an excellent user video experience.... one more threat to the personal communications segment of business video conferencing, even at the enterprise level." Can Movi really take a big step beyond that?

Well I guess the best way to judge is to see it with my own eyes so I might just pop along to the IP Convergence conference in Paris from Oct. 21-23 where Tandberg will be running demonstrations. Movi won't be available until early 2009 but I think it sends out a clear signal - Telepresence is coming to the PC before the end of the decade.

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And I'll be following progress over on Vizitant

-- Digital Island Meetup (formerly TechLudd) - Cork International Airport Hotel on Thursday 28th (next Thursday) at 7.30pm. Beers and finger food will be provided by the sponsors. As always the event is free but they'd like you to register so they can have an idea of numbers.

-- Girl Geek Dinner coming up on the 26th August (guys can go if a girl brings them). UPDATE: Dublin dinner now closed for registration but places still available for Cork Dinner

-- There's another Digital Island meetup coming up in Belfast in the 24th of September (details soon).

Gotta love it - after exhausting other avenues David O'Callaghan filed with the Small Claims Court to finally get a refund of âВ¬154.28 from Dell - the price he paid for the Microsoft Windows and Works software he didn't want on his XPS M1330. That's very handy to know because I'm due an upgrade myself and, like David, have been thinking of going the Ubuntu route too. [via the IIU List]

My latest screencast has been published to Intruders.tv. This one features Sligo developed PollDaddy, the web's most popular polling service.

There's not much for me to say about Google's new Chrome browser that hasn't already been said but prompted by Walt Mossberg's commentary I decided to try the latest version of Microsoft's competing browser - Internet Explorer 8 beta 2.

And two small 'incidents' right after installation said a lot about why Microsoft should fear the Googlezilla breathing down it's neck. Firstly I needed to reboot my PC to complete installation, whereas with Chrome I did not. Secondly I was then alerted with the following message -

A reboot is a minor nuisance, I'll get over it Microsoft. But don't mess with my trust!

Likewise Dell's European manufacturing HQ is in Ireland. So it naturally follows that they must impose a Paddy Tax on their loyal customers here (like me). What other explanation is their for the fact that their brand new netbook - the Inspiron Mini 9 - has a base price of Â£299 (=âВ¬369) in the UK and âВ¬369 in Germany but âВ¬399 in Ireland.

To be honest I thought âВ¬399 was a reasonable price for a well specified, Atom powered XP netbook when I first read the press release. But now that I see the price is inclusive of Paddy Tax I feel cheated.

Top > Scripting News Directory > Feed Blogs > Eirepreneur - James Corbett Dell Latitude-On - Linux by stealth. My lastest post to Vizitant, where I focus on video-calling, telepresence and virtual worlds. When Dell announced Latitude-On in conjunction with the launch of it's new series of Latitude notebooks I was excited to know if the range of instant-on applications would include Skype (as does Splashtop on some Asus laptops). Dissapointingly it seems not, so that rules out super quick access to video-calling. Still these must be worrying times for Microsoft when they see Dell developing dedicated sub-systems running a Linux OS variant to do a run-around Windows for a large percentage of computing tasks. Contrast ulations! (on a coworking success story). Congratulations to Team Contrast on the launch of a Dublin based web development "company thatâАЩs a direct product of the modern Irish web scene." It's been great to follow the genesis of this idea from it's roots in the coworking scene. Unlike many on the Irish web scene (e.g. me) these guys aren't just talkers, they're doers. In many ways typified by the response team member Paul Campbell gave to Evert Bopp when he posted about his ideas for starting a coworking center in Tipperary. Just do it! Indeed Paul refers to his nine months working out of Ireland's first coworking center as "some of the most productive, inspiring months of my life." And goes on, "If youâАЩre a freelancer, home worker or teleworker and working from home is leading to the kind of drag where youâАЩre just not getting out enough, or you feel that your creativity could do with some company, I urge you, I plea with you: set up or join a coworking space. Do it for yourself, do it for Dublin, do it for the community." Tandberg bringing HD video conferencing to the laptop. At the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco yesterday Tandberg unveiled the first public preview of their HD PC video conferencing technology. Movi claims "business-quality" video conferencing at 720p30 resolution using a Tandberg PrecisionHD camera operating on an Intel Mobile Core 2 Quad laptop (formerly codenamed 'Montevina') running Tandberg's Movi software. In a not-so-subtle swipe at Skype High Quality Video Tandberg CEO Fredrik Halvorsen said, "While other vendors offer consumer-acceptable PC video conferencing, we have demonstrated the video quality that businesses require to adopt PC video communications". But the question is, how much better can it be really? In tests with the right hardware and software Jim Courtney found Skype HQ, "a winner... an excellent user video experience.... one more threat to the personal communications segment of business video conferencing, even at the enterprise level." Can Movi really take a big step beyond that? Well I guess the best way to judge is to see it with my own eyes so I might just pop along to the IP Convergence conference in Paris from Oct. 21-23 where Tandberg will be running demonstrations. Movi won't be available until early 2009 but I think it sends out a clear signal - Telepresence is coming to the PC before the end of the decade. ------------------- And I'll be following progress over on Vizitant Upcoming events - Digital Island, Girl Geeks, Podcamp. -- Digital Island Meetup (formerly TechLudd) - Cork International Airport Hotel on Thursday 28th (next Thursday) at 7.30pm. Beers and finger food will be provided by the sponsors. As always the event is free but they'd like you to register so they can have an idea of numbers. -- Girl Geek Dinner coming up on the 26th August (guys can go if a girl brings them). UPDATE: Dublin dinner now closed for registration but places still available for Cork Dinner -- There's another Digital Island meetup coming up in Belfast in the 24th of September (details soon). -- Podcamp Ireland is returning to Kilkenny City on the 27th of September. Filing with the Small Claims Court for a Windows refund from Dell. Image via Wikipedia Gotta love it - after exhausting other avenues David O'Callaghan filed with the Small Claims Court to finally get a refund of âВ¬154.28 from Dell - the price he paid for the Microsoft Windows and Works software he didn't want on his XPS M1330. That's very handy to know because I'm due an upgrade myself and, like David, have been thinking of going the Ubuntu route too. [via the IIU List] And staying on matters legal, what about this for another load of bollox from the Telecoms Poodle. PollDaddy testdrive - screencast. My latest screencast has been published to Intruders.tv. This one features Sligo developed PollDaddy, the web's most popular polling service. How Microsoft keeps eroding my trust. There's not much for me to say about Google's new Chrome browser that hasn't already been said but prompted by Walt Mossberg's commentary I decided to try the latest version of Microsoft's competing browser - Internet Explorer 8 beta 2. And two small 'incidents' right after installation said a lot about why Microsoft should fear the Googlezilla breathing down it's neck. Firstly I needed to reboot my PC to complete installation, whereas with Chrome I did not. Secondly I was then alerted with the following message - "A program on your computer has corrupted your default search provider setting for Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer has reset this setting to your original search provider, Live Search (search.live.com)" A reboot is a minor nuisance, I'll get over it Microsoft. But don't mess with my trust! Podcamp Ireland is on a roll. The countdown is on for Podcamp Kilkenny (September 27th) and the organizers continue to pull out all the stops to make this another great Barcamp. Their podcast series was recently featured on Blog Talk Radio and if the potent mix of educators, students, BBC producers, RTE DJs, podcasters and regular Joes doesn't ignite the Medici Effect, I don't know what will. See you there! Dell Ireland charges âВ¬30 Paddy Tax on new Inspiron Mini. When O2 Ireland launched their iPhone package earlier this year telecomms analyst Pat Phelan blasted is as an outrageous "Paddy Tax" - âАЬThere is no excuse for paying such high prices and getting so little in return. The minutes, the text bundles and the data package are completely inappropriate for Irish people and the massive difference in what Irish and UK and Northern people get for the same price suggests that theyâАЩll throw any old scraps at the stupid Paddys.... ItâАЩs time for us Irish to tell O2 weâАЩre not going to accept this. We have AppleâАЩs European HQ here in Ireland, the iPhone itself is fantastic but thereâАЩs no way we should buy this phone until O2 cops on and looks after their very loyal customers here.âАЭ Likewise Dell's European manufacturing HQ is in Ireland. So it naturally follows that they must impose a Paddy Tax on their loyal customers here (like me). What other explanation is their for the fact that their brand new netbook - the Inspiron Mini 9 - has a base price of Â£299 (=âВ¬369) in the UK and âВ¬369 in Germany but âВ¬399 in Ireland. To be honest I thought âВ¬399 was a reasonable price for a well specified, Atom powered XP netbook when I first read the press release. But now that I see the price is inclusive of Paddy Tax I feel cheated. New pipe. New pipe Originally uploaded by EirePreneur And to think I still had dialup only a few years ago.
9/8/2008; 7:06:31 AM Eastern. Refresh.