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Cambridge Analytica: Why Voting to Repeal the Eighth is More Important Than Ever

Marty
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0
Cambridge Analytica: Why Voting to Repeal the Eighth is More Important Than Ever

During the 2016 Presidential election in the United States, few thought Donald Trump would become President. With their EU membership on the line, few believed the UK taking to the polls would see a majority vote for leave as Brexit became a reality. Democracy has given us these two massive shocks and others in recent years because democracy isn’t always clear-cut; a fact that people in high places are keen to exploit. With Ireland heading towards a May referendum, I wanted to show you why voting to Repeal the Eight is more important than ever.

How Trump and Brexit Votes Were Influenced

Like I said, democracy isn’t always clear-cut as voters are often on the fence waiting for something to influence them; these are known as swing voters. Steve Bannon, a senior Trump strategist during his election campaign, appreciated the power of social media in reaching these swing voters. Alongside the cash investment and leadership of billionaire heiress Rebekah Mercer, Bannon harnessed huge volumes of Facebook data to help influence the behaviour of voters, assisting Trump to the White House.

At the core of Bannon’s strategy to harness the power of Facebook is Cambridge Analytica, where Mercer sits on the board. The depths of Cambridge Analytica’s involvement in the Trump campaign were astronomical after the company gained access to the data of 50 million Facebook users. Armed with this data and the guidance of Cambridge Analytica, the Trump campaign was able to tailor targeted messages directed towards voters and influence them to vote Trump.

Harnessing Facebook’s Data

Facebook denied they experienced a breach and that this data was gathered through Facebook apps before being sold on to third parties, breaching the platform’s terms of service. Regardless, many, myself included, believe Facebook neglected to provide sufficient care for the personal data of their users, taking three years to repair the loophole which allowed Cambridge Analytics to harvest personal data from 50 million users.

While this all sounds very scary, it’s with some relief I can say that was the US election. With a little more unease, I have to highlight similar activity took place during the UK’s Brexit vote. While Cambridge Analytica might not have been involved, Kanto was, a company founded by Thomas Borwick; a former Cambridge Analytica employee. Unfortunately, it gets even worse. It’s suspected that a lot of money is being put behind anti-abortion ads ahead of Ireland’s referendum on the Eighth Amendment in an effort to swing votes to save the Eighth.

Why Voting to Repeal the Eighth is More Important Than Ever

Politicians, while generally questionable at the best of times, are doing the right thing and calling for increased transparency into online political campaigns. This follows fears that anti-abortion messages, ripe with disinformation, are being spread across social media. While both sides of the debate have raised questions about the use of social media as a campaign tool, The Times revealed in January how anti-abortion supporters hired Kanto to run digital campaigns to influence voters with a view to retaining the Eighth Amendment.

The most recent Irish referendum saw gay marriage become legal with 62.1% voting yes and 37.9 voting no. Right now, about half of voters would appear to be in favour of repealing the Eighth Amendment, leaving plenty of wiggle room for outside influence over social media and disinformation to swing this vote, just as was the case with Trump and Brexit.

This was confirmed in a statement provided to Goosed.ie from the Irish Data Protection Commissioner which stated “micro-targeting of social media users with political advertisements and sponsored stories remains an ongoing issue today. In the absence of laws specifically regulating such political targeting online, the Irish DPC intends to issue guidance to users in terms of how they can trace why they are receiving certain advertisements and stories on social media, how they can mute or turn off receiving advertisements from those sources and how they can amend their ad preferences to control the types of ads they are served.”

Not only is it critical everyone retains a healthy level of scepticism when it comes to online, but it’s critical you get out and vote. Whether it’s in May or June, when this referendum goes ahead it’s likely to run quite close so be sure to get out and vote #RepealThe8th

Cambridge Analytica: Everything You Need to Know And How It Affects You

Marty
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0
Cambridge Analytica: Everything You Need to Know And How It Affects You

You log in, like some photos from the weekend, share a cat post scroll, scroll and scroll some more then fall asleep. Tomorrow, you rinse and repeat. Facebook is an odd place but it also seems to be a fairly harmless place too, right? Thanks to classic investigative journalism by The Guardian, Observer and Channel 4 in the UK, Facebook finds itself at the centre of a massive news story thanks to a research company called Cambridge Analytics. What is this all about and more importantly what does it mean for you?

Cambridge Analytica

There’s a chance you’ve heard of Cambridge Analytica, a company whose name was picked solely to impress former Trump advisor Steve Bannon. Cambridge Analytica rose to fame for their secretive role in getting Donald Trump into the White House through their use of massive quantities of Facebook user data. With this data, the company were able to help the Trump campaign shape targetted, personalised messages, designed to influence the general public on an emotional level.

Now, this is no massive story in itself, but how Cambridge Analytica gathered data and the lengths they apparently offer to go through to get the job done are a different story.

How Cambridge Analytica Works

As a massive data company, Cambridge Analytica depends on huge quantities of information to form their lifeblood. Naturally, the likes of Facebook actually are rather protective when it comes to data so Cambridge Analytica used some alternative means of data gathering. One such method was revealed by a former employee of the company; a founding member by the name of Christoper Wylie.

Who is Christopher Wylie?

Christopher Wylie is a data scientist and as with many numbers based people, it would appear he was deeply involved in problem-solving and information trafficking before he truly realised the impact of what he was at. Wylie revealed that Cambridge Analytica harvested data from over 50 million Facebook users through Facebook apps. Yup. You know those stupid apps that work out what age you’ll be when you die? Well, they could be feeding a lot more than your own morbid curiosity.

Wylie revealed how Cambridge Analytica paid groups of users to complete personality tests through a Facebook app. To access the app, users had to provide permission for the app to process their personal data. Meet the tip of the iceberg. With this permission, Cambridge Analytica was able to weave their way through even more users, namely friends and family of the user that initially provided permission.

Using this method, Cambridge Analytica harvested data from over 50 million users and there’s, unfortunately, an Irish connection too.

Cambridge Analytica: The Irish Connection

Back in 2011, Austrian privacy campaigner Max Schrems highlighted a loophole in how Facebook app permissions provided by one user could allow the harvesting of data from friends and family of that user without the users providing consent or even being aware of what was going on. This would appear to be the exact process described publically by Cambridge Analytica founder Christopher Wylie. After uncovering the loophole, Schrems raised the issue with an Irish regulator in 2011, as the social media giant provides Ireland as it’s EU-wide base.

I got in touch with the Data Protection Commissioner of Ireland who confirmed the “issue of ‘friends’ data being harvested when a Facebook user engaged with an app on Facebook was resolved by Facebook in May 2014 when access to friends data was restricted by a platform upgrade”. This came as a result of a 2012 recommendation by the DPC. The Irish DPC is also following up with Facebook Ireland to establish what level of oversight the platform has over app developers and how they use the platform.

The statement from the DPC also highlighted that “micro-targeting of social media users with political advertisements and sponsored stories remains an ongoing issue today. In the absence of laws specifically regulating such political targeting online, the Irish DPC intends to issue guidance to users in terms of how they can trace why they are receiving certain advertisements and stories on social media, how they can mute or turn off receiving advertisements from those sources and how they can amend their ad preferences to control the types of ads they are served.”

This is a worrying thought to consider as Ireland heads towards a referendum on the 8th Amendment. In January it emerged that an Irish anti-abortion group hired Kanto, a company founded by a former employee of Cambridge Analytica which offers similar analytical social services. Now many are wondering what involvement social will have over Ireland’s democratic process following similar movements influencing the US election and Brexit.

In the past few days, leaks and reports have begun streaming through the internet with British investigators seeking warrants to search Cambridge Analytica’s servers. But what’s the big deal? What harm can data do?

Cambridge Analytica: Hijacking Democracy With Faceless Propaganda

Through the continued reports emerging from various journalists digging deep into the story, the incredible influence of Cambridge Analytica has become clear. Their efforts go far beyond analysing your likes and shares, revealed through undercover recordings of meetings between journalists and Cambridge Analytica chiefs; Mark Turnbull and Alexander Nix.

Mark Turnbull: Restrained and Calculated

At first, Mark Turnbull would appear to be somewhat restrained in what he believes to be acceptable services offered by Cambridge Analytica. Trawling through user data, in a secretly taped meeting, Turnbull outlined how Cambridge Analytica could pinpoint the moment to target people and with what kind of message to influence their voting behaviour ahead of the Trump election, Kenyan elections and Brexit vote.

There’s no point running campaigns on facts. Successful campaigns are run on emotions.

While Turnbull outlined some fairly terrible facts surrounding how Cambridge Analytica operates, it would be nothing compared to the company’s CEO, Alexander Nix.

Alexander Nix: CEO of Cambridge Analytica

As Channel 4’s video footage continued to document what the data company offered to potential clients, it became clear there are no lines. While Turnbull did try to establish limits with the “prospective clients”, company CEO, Alexander Nix, knocked down that facade. Nix publically discussed quite a bit of Cambridge Analytica’s work on the likes of the Trump campaign but videos detailing the lengths his company would go through to get the job done are jaw-dropping to watch.

While Turnbull outlined how the company would influence the public through carefully planned videos based on user data and predictive data analytics, he was also careful to highlight the company was not in the business of distributing fake news. In steps Nix who shows a lot more interest in doing whatever needs to be done to achieve their goals, whether it be entrapment through sex workers or filming dodgy deals. Aye, Cambridge Analytica has found itself in a whole world of shit; but they’re not alone.

What Does All of this Mean for Facebook?

Facebook was slow to react when Schrems highlighted the initial data loophole to Irish regulators but as this new chapter in the Cambridge Analytica story broke they scrambled a little faster. First of all, Facebook was quick to say this wasn’t a data breach as all data was accessed by users providing permission. They did point out that Cambridge Analytica, through a third party, access data breaching their policies and banned those involved; including Christopher Wylie.

Regardless, Facebook does indeed have a lot to answer for and we’ll be watching this story closely as it develops in the coming weeks and months.

What Does this Mean for Facebook Users?

While the actions of Cambridge Analytica are largely despicable and far beyond the fault of users, users can take action to reduce the likelihood of their data being handled and used by third parties. Take some time to run Facebook’s built-in privacy audit – at the very least. You should also spend a substantial amount of time looking through the apps that have access to your data. Don’t feel like this doesn’t concern you because it really does. We’re entering a new age online where data is a massive commodity, turning the gears of the world.

I strongly recommend reading this fantastic article by Hazel O’Keeffe, detailing how to take the first steps, right through to ‘Fort Knoxing’ your Facebook profile.

Update: Article updated at 14:00 20/03/2018 to include statement from the Irish Data Protection Commissioner. 

The Complete Guide To Irish Mobile Network Plans

Jon
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The Complete Guide To Irish Mobile Network Plans

As I am sure you all know by now, iD Ireland has officially gone into liquidation leaving 40,000 Irish customers looking for a new mobile network provider. Whether fortunately or unfortunately, today’s mobile network market is awash with slightly over-complicated service offerings all wrapped in up a neat cloak of jargon. While this is not intentional it can be confusing for customers and with the rake of options available it can be difficult to find the plan to suit your personal needs. So to help, we have put on our old phone shop staff uniforms and put together this one complete guide to help guide you to your next mobile provider:

Prepay Offers

Ok so let’s get stuck into this. The customers really feeling the effect of the iD Mobile liquidation is prepay customers. Any remaining credit a customer currently has will need to be used up by 6 April or it’s gone and we’ve had people contacting us with over €100 credit on their accounts with no offer of refunds. Although it might sound cutthroat it’s actually impossible to transfer credit from one network to another and refunding isn’t an option, outlined in iD Mobile’s terms of service. Still, there are plenty of good prepay deals out there to help take the sting out of things.

Vodafone

Vodafone is nationally renowned for their top-level coverage. So if coverage is more important than price Vodafone will always come out as one of the top two alongside eir. With that in mind, their prepay offers are actually quite competitively priced…

Vodafone X Student Offer

€20 per month will get you 20GB of data, 100mins of calls and unlimited texts. You also get the choice between free Spotify, Sky Sports Mobile or unlimited weekend service as a little extra to sweeten the deal.

Standard customers will get a choice between a €20 & €30 euro top-up options.

For €20 you can get unlimited calls and texts to all Irish networks with 1GB of Data or Vodafone calls and texts, 100minutes and texts with 6GB of data while the €30 option gets you unlimited Irish calls and texts, 100 international minutes and 8gb of data. If that’s not all customers can also avail of Data Rollover, so if you only use 4Gb of the 6 you have been given the extra 2GB will move into next month. Really handy for people whose data usage can change month to month.

eir

With eir, the prepay system, just like Meteor of old, is rather simple. For €10 you get unlimited calls. For €20 choose between 15GB data with unlimited social media access, unlimited calls or unlimited texts while for €30 you get all three. The only catch is here is the credit gets taken so you will show a balance of 0, still not a bad price to pay for a good deal with good coverage. Oh and right now if you port and take a €20 package they will give you an extra €10 for the first 6 months. 

Tesco

As an MVNO their signal will be similar to that of iD mobile but unfortunately, Tesco Mobile don’t believe in 4G. However, their prepay offer is rather good. Unlimited calls, Tesco texts, 10GB of data all for €15. You also keep your balance which can be used for texts or add-ons. If this appeals to you please check out their coverage checker to make sure you will get service.

Three

Ah, Three; the data people. If any of the above plans aren’t floating your boat you can get a nice little package with Three for only €20. With this, you get Three to Three calls, texts to all networks and unlimited data. The cherry on top is access to music with Deezer for three months and access to their 3Plus rewards system which includes early access to gigs in the 3Arena.

Sim-Only Deals

We covered these recently but if you are thinking sim-only might be for you, pop over and give that a read you can always come back to check out your options with a phone. If you are an iD Mobile customer looking for a new network, eir seems to offer the best sim-only offer. €15 per month for 12-months, unlimited calls and texts, 15GB of data where most social platforms don’t count towards your data usage and access to eir Sports, including BT Sports. Not too shabby.

Bill Pay Options

As with everything we have covered so far, there is a small pile of ‘phone included bill pay options’. To be honest with you most will be a 24-month contract while there are one or two which will be 18-months, but we will get to that.

Vodafone

Vodafone offers three different packages, with different levels of service for the money you will pay and the cost of the handset upfront.

Their introductory package is €40 per month where you will receive unlimited Vodafone calls and 100 mins to other networks, unlimited texts and 5GB of data. You will generally pay more for a phone upfront on this plan in comparison to their higher plans but generally, they have good offers on midrange handsets like the Samsung A5 or Huawei P9. Alternatively, if you need more minutes or data then the €60 per month plan might be more your speed. For this you get unlimited Irish calls and texts with 15GB of data and access to Sky Sports or Spotify Premium. Their big plan is only for those who need a lot of minutes (if data cannot be used), this package offers 30GB of data and 500 international minutes for a whopping €80 per month.

Three

Three, to their credit, keep thing nice and simple with three simple plans. €30, €45 and €60 per month and the only thing that is different is the flexi unit with unlimited data available on all packages. What the f*** is a flexi unit I hear you ask? Ok, so a flexi unit is either 2 text messages or a minute of a call. So with the basic package you get 100 of these units, so 200 texts or 100 minutes of calls or mix and match however you choose. Just keep track of it. The €45 package gives 350 units while the largest give unlimited. Each plan also comes with access to music app Deezer as well as 3Plus rewards.

Tesco

In my humble opinion, their network connection simply isn’t up to scratch. However their packages are quite well priced. So if price is the most important thing for you they might be worth a look. Unlimited mins, unlimited texts, 15GB data all come for €50 a month. 500mins, 500 texts, 15GB data for  €30 a month plan. To be honest they have a €20 and €10 package but the usage is very low on both.

Virgin Mobile

Before you think about going with Virgin as yourself one question. Is your broadband with them? If not move along as you will get a better service with a bigger network for the same money. If you are with Virgin broadband hang on a minute this gets interesting. Like iD of old, your phone and service contract are separated to give you more clarity on what you are actually paying for. Their base package is €25 per month and then it comes down to what phone you choose. Say a Samsung Galaxy S8 for example you will pay something upfront for the phone and then €60 a month for the duration of contract. However if you choose a lower tiered model your monthly payments could be as low as €40pm. Why being a Virgin customer is vital is simple, for the first 6 months of your contract you receive a €12 discount to sweeten the deal.

eir

Once again are you with eir for your home broadband services? If so you can get great combined deals. Being honest, the offers are pretty good even if you’re home broadband isn’t with eir. They offer so many different packages that I won’t go into the detail and as they say a picture paints a thousand words. Just keep an eye on the second column that shows your post-introductory offer price.

So if you are with eir for your broadband:

and if not:

The Goosed Recommendation

This actually caused a bit of debate among the team as two of us are currently in that pool of 40,000 customers looking for a new deal. Really it comes down to what you as a user feel you need from your service. While prepay works for some people, billpay will suit others. While price might be more important to you, coverage is more important to someone else.

Our best recommendation is this: if you are currently on a bill or sim-only contract, download your last three bills and give them a read through. This will show you exactly what you are using and should give you a better idea of what you actually need. Don’t pay more just for the sake of more minutes when you won’t use them.

Go online to each of the networks and check their coverage in your area, because cheap so you can actually use your phone. Finally, weigh up whether or not you need a new phone right now or if you can wait a few months for the new stuff to launch. Going sim-only over bill pay for a couple months while you choose a new phone can save you a good few quid. So to summarize follow these three steps:

  • Check your current usage
  • Check coverage
  • Decide if you need a new phone

We really do hope this helps. If you have any questions about this or anything else (preferably tech related, we wouldn’t be great at the old life advice) please give us a shout through any of our social channels either privately or publicly and we will do our best to get you the answers.

See Ireland in 360: The Goosed Micro Tour of Ireland

Marty
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0
See Ireland in 360: The Goosed Micro Tour of Ireland

We recently got to play with the Tesla Model S and boy, oh boy, was it fun. To make the most of it, I got in touch with the guys behind the Insta360 Pro; a Google Streetview-quality 360-degree camera. I got some shots in the Model S and the Model X, but being honest I didn’t feel it did the camera justice. So I set off around Ireland (Dublin and Kilkenny – I’m not superman) and created some mini-tours for you to enjoy from the comfort of your own home.

Goosed 360 Tour of Dublin

Of course, you’d expect me to head straight over to Templebar but that’s boring and you can just look at the Templebar live stream whenever you want. No, I wanted to show off something a little different, so here are some of the spots my tour will take you.

Dublin Castle in 360

Dublin Castle is an incredibly British looking place if you ever tour the inside, but then again that makes sense given it was the British base in Ireland prior to Independence. Personally, I love this place. The courtyard is stunning, the surrounding grounds are beautiful and the nearby Chester Beatty Library is a lovely spot.

The courtyard is also the spot where one of my favourite movie moments was filmed:

Trinity College in 360

One of the world’s best-known universities, Trinity has mightily impressive grounds. Now, had I brought a 360 camera into the stunning library or anywhere near the Book of Kells, I’m pretty sure I’d have been tossed out by security. I did manage to get a decent shot of the Front Gate Entrance. Funny story about that entrance; a couple of years ago a man drove his car through the front gate causing €33,000 worth of damage.

St. Stephen’s Green Park in 360

Nothing beats a quiet oasis in the middle of a bustling city. St. Stephen’s Green Park is Dublin’s answer to Central Park. It’s not just an open green either with plenty of cool things to see and even some parts easy to miss.

The history of the park is fascinating too with Arthur Guinness at the centre of it all. Believe it or not, it’s not the Arthur Guinness that everyone knows after creating the ‘black stuff’. Instead, this Artur Guinness who would go on to be known as Lord Ardilaun bought the park, paid off any related debts, landscaped it and then returned it to the public.

Once you reach St. Stephen’s Green on the Goosed 360 Tour of Dublin, you’ll also be brought into a section of the part that many miss completely.

Tour Dublin in 360

Goosed 360 Tour of Kilkenny

The Medieval Capital of Ireland, the Marble City and the home of the Cats. Kilkenny is known as many things but whatever you call it, it’s a beautiful city, striking a balance between modernity and cultural history. I didn’t want to take too much away from an actual visit to the city, but there are two beautiful spots I just had to whip out the 360 camera for.

St. Canice’s Tower in 360

I’m from Kilkenny yet I never paid the €4 it takes to climb up 100ft into the air and get the most breathtaking view of the city. I’m shocked I never did it, but with the InstaPro 360 in my backpack and a tripod in my right hand, I very carefully climbed up the tower. My advice is just climb up and leave everything downstairs because I actually thought the tripod would kill me.

Kilkenny Castle in 360

Kilkenny’s answer to Dublin’s answer to Central Park! Kilkenny Castle boasts a stunning green parkland and one of Ireland’s best-known castles. There used to be four walls but with one destroyed you get the most unique view of the structure. There’s also an incredible rose garden but typically I was got my shots when there wasn’t a rose to be seen.

You can enjoy the best of the park in 360 and the stunning views of Kilkenny from 100ft in the air below:

Tour Kilkenny in 360

If you like the look of the 8K 360-degree camera I used to capture these shots, chat to Conn’s Cameras in Dublin.

The New Era of Motorsport is here: Formula E

Jon
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The New Era of Motorsport is here: Formula E

In case you may not have already guessed but we here at Goosed (that will take some getting used too) are big fans of everything tech and motorsports such as Formula 1 have always been a gateway into what tech we should expect to see in our cars in the future. Until now that is! Formula E is now here showcasing everything the electric engine could be and more.

While Formula E has been around for around four years already, in recent times the sport has gained a new following thanks to their mission of advancing electric vehicle technology and shape the cars of the future. It’s gained such a following in recent years there has even been discussions about Dublin getting its very own race, not bad considering TV3 already own the rights to broadcast the series.

So for all you car nuts out their that love a little bit of tech and gadgetry here is everything you need to know about Formula E:

What’s the difference between Formula E and Formula 1?

You would assume Formula 1 and Formula E are fairly similar…right? Well not exactly, although they come from the same family the two sports are very different. Not unlike an 11 a side vrs a 5 a side football game, while the basics are still the same certain rules can differ greatly.

Nowadays a Formula 1 car will use a hybrid engine, like a massively souped up Prius. Formula E however as the name suggests relies on fully electric vehicles like a Nissan Leaf or a Tesla. Oh and all of the races are held on the city streets instead of a racing track, because why the hell not.

Image result for formula e simulator

 

So what the craic with the cars?

To put into perspective how seriously companies are taking this sport in order to push their full electric engine technologies all we need to do is see the list of teams competing in the series:

  • Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler, Germany
  • DS Virgin Racing, UK
  • Panasonic Jaguar Racing, UK
  • Venturi Formula E Team, Monaco
  • DRAGON, USA
  • Renault e.dams, France
  • NIO Formula E Team, China
  • TECHEETAH, China
  • Mahindra Racing, India
  • Andretti Formula E, USA

Image result for Formula e

Yup so that’s Jag, Virgin, Audi and Renault all onboard with the roster set to grow even further in the coming years.Nissan, Porsche, BMW and Mercedes will all be joining in the next couple of years. Fingers crossed we see a Tesla Formula E car in the near future, just to see Elon Musk and Richard Branson forced to sit in the same room.

Sorry I got sidetracked on that through but to be fair to these E cars it’s under the bonnet where they really come into their own. The standard Formula E car can hit around 140mph and can go from 0-60 in 3 seconds, which is really good for an electric engine. The cars have also doubled in speed in the last two years so it will be interesting to see just how far this tech can be pushed. To fuel these next generation sports cars each vehicle is charged by electricity, created using generators that run on a virtually emission free fuel – glycerine. Glycerine is a sweet, syrupy liquid obtained from animal fats and oils or by the fermentation of glucose. The fuel used for Formula E cars is so clean that a human can drink it. Probably wouldn’t recommend it but each to their own I guess.

How long would you charge an iPhone for? 3/4 hours maybe more? well due to this fuel and smart engine technology a Formula E car will only use around 180kW of energy the equivelant of 4 years of iPhone charging. That’s some serious juice these cars are running off.

So how does the race work?

Image result for Formula e podium

Ok so first things first a Formula E race is much much shorter than their F1 cousins. The standard race time in this series is about an hour, so it won’t take most of your Sunday mornings away. Rather uniquely practice, qualifying and the E-Prix ( yup, that’s what they call it) all takes place on the same day. Which is nice because Formula 1 supporters can be glued to the action from Friday till Sunday afternoon.

Points are awarded to the top 10 racers as follows:

  • 1st – 25pts
  • 2nd – 18pts
  • 3rd – 15pts
  • 4th – 12pts
  • 5th – 10pts
  • 6th – 8pts
  • 7th – 6pts
  • 8th – 4pts
  • 9th – 2pts
  • 10th – 1pt

Additionally the driver with the fastest lap in the top 10 also earns an additional point.

Where can I watch?

You can watch Formula E races on TV 3 or on the Formula E Youtube Channel. If you like the look of this new age motorsport here is quick rundown of the rest of the seasons calendar. Here’s hoping Ireland can get a race soon, just so we can have a go on the simulator!

  • Sao Paulo, Brazil on March 17
  • Rome, Italy on April 14
  • Paris, France on April 28
  • Berlin, Germany on May 19
  • Zurich, Switzerland on June 10
  • New York, USA on July 14 & 15
  • Montreal, Canada on July 28 & 29

 

iD Mobile Liquidation: What It Means for Irish Customers

Marty
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0
iD Mobile Liquidation: What It Means for Irish Customers

The Carphone Warehouse-owned network iD Mobile Ireland has just filed for liquidation. Following an announcement last year that Dixons Carphone (the parent organisation for both businesses) would withdraw iD Mobile from the Irish market, efforts to find a buyer for the network failed, adding to the question marks surrounding the company’s future in Ireland amid reports the retail store network would be significantly scaled back.

What Does This Mean for iD Mobile Customers?

Mark Delaney, Managing Director for Dixons Carphone in Ireland, confirmed customers would have coverage until 6 April 2018 but that they will need to move off the network before that date. While Delaney also included that you can change your network at any of the 82 Carphone Warehouse stores around Ireland, you’ll also be able to interact directly with other networks. This is important as Carphone Warehouse don’t carry Tesco Mobile who offers some of the best SIM only deals. According to Google Trends, both Tesco Mobile and 48, yes they still exist, are the most searched for networks as people find out about the iD Mobile liquidation.

Can iD Customers Keep Their Phones?

Regulation 14 of the 2011 European Communities Regulations protect customers from networks making sudden changes to mobile contracts. Last year, you might remember the furore surrounding Three’s contract change which let the vast majority of customers leave their contract while keeping their handset. The same is not necessarily true for iD Mobile customers.

iD Mobile sell the phone and plan at the same time but under separate agreements. The benefit of this is flexible billing that customers can adjust over the lifetime of their contract. The phone is effectively bought on a separate hire purchase agreement.

This wasn’t outlined int he initial statement from Dixons Carphone, but I followed up and was told that while customers will no longer pay for mobile services like talk, text and data, “customers that have an outstanding balance on an equipment contract for a phone or mobile broadband device should note that the contract is not affected and therefore they will need to continue to make payments to iD Mobile until this outstanding balance is cleared”.

This is also confirmed in an FAQ page on iD Mobile’s website.

Initial reaction to this has been negative from customers according to both boards.ie and Google Trends, with some of the former outlining their plans to cease handset repayments. There has also been a sharp increase in people searching for ComReg suggesting many are looking at their options.

Can Customers Lose Their Numbers?

This is probably the biggest risk to customers right now. If you don’t move your number to another network before 6 April 2018, you will most likely lose your number as iD ceases to exist. Moving your number is pretty easy these days too and we’ve highlighted some top deals below.

Who Has The Best SIM Only Deals?

If you are one of the network’s forty thousand customers now looking for a new network, you’re spoilt for choice.

 

Three SIM Only Deals

Three are fast becoming Ireland’s most popular network, challenging the stranglehold on the market Vodafone has had for many years. Their SIM only plans are also great with their most popular bill pay plan coming in at €30 per month. This plan includes unlimited data, calls and texts and 3 months access to Deezer, a music streaming platform.

Three Offer For iD Mobile Customers

If you’re an iD Mobile customer, you’re absolutely laughing with Three. They’ve just released a special offer which gives you everything on that €30 per month plan but you’ll only pay €5 per month for the first 12 months. Being honest, this is an unprecedented offer and I think the networks are losing the run of themselves in the iD Mobile customer land grab. But who cares? Customers are certainly winning with this deal!

If you’re a prepay customer, they’ll also port you in and give you a bonus €120 credit, drip fed to your account over 12 months. Regardless of whether your bill pay or prepay, you’ll also benefit from access to 3Plus which gives priority tickets to events in the 3Arena. You can pick up this offer in any Carphone Warehouse store (not online), in Three stores around Ireland and the Three.ie website. It’s important to note that for bill pay customers, your discount will be applied from the second month on the network and will then continue for 12 months.

Tesco Mobile SIM Only Deals

For €25 per month, Tesco Mobile offers one of the best SIM only deals with 20GB of data and “unlimited” calls and texts which do come under a fair usage policy. Tesco also piggy back on the Three network as an MVNO, just like iD Mobile did so your coverage shouldn’t change too much; if anything it should improve slightly as it’s been rumoured Tesco pay for a slightly improved infrastructure.

48 SIM Only Deals

I was a little surprised to see 48 as one of the most popular searches to follow people searching for “iD Mobile liquidation” in Google. Now, I wasn’t surprised because of value or anything like that, but 48 does zero advertising anymore so I’m just surprised it’s alive and that people know it’s alive.

While 48 does come with plenty of restrictions, like international calls being a pain, the value is undeniable. “The Don” prepay plan gets you 1,000 minutes to any Irish mobile network, 60 landline minutes, unlimited texts and WhatsApp usage, with 8GB of data for you to gobble up too.

eir SIM Only Deals

eir is making hay while the sun shines, offering iD customers looking for a new plan a great SIM only plan, an offer now only playing second fiddle to Three’s offer. €15 per month will get you unlimited calls and texts with 15GB of data. That monthly price lasts for 12 months and goes up to €30 per month after that.

You’ll also get access to eir Sport which means you’ll be able to watch Premier League games every weekend on your phone. Just pop into any eir store to avail of the offer.

Goodbye iD Mobile

So there you have it. Ireland has lost a network. It will be interesting to see what happens in the market now given there was no interest to buy iD Mobile even though there were parties initially looking at the prospect. I’d wager we haven’t heard the end of this and the likes of Sky or Magnet could emerge from the embers after buying up what’s left of iD Mobile for a slashed price.

It’s important another network enters the market to keep the competition going. iD Mobile’s plans and offers were actually great, but the company just never got the momentum it needed to reach their target of 250,000 customers only ever reaching 40,000. Time will tell as we patiently wait for the company to be wound up and then see if someone emerges with a new MVNO for Ireland.

Full Statement from Dixons Carphone on iD Mobile Liquidation

 

iD Mobile, the Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO), has today been placed into provisional liquidation. The network was created in 2015 by Carphone
Warehouse Ireland Mobile Ltd. (a division of Dixons Carphone in Ireland) fulfilling part of the competition remedies imposed on Three Ireland by the European Commission in relation to its acquisition of O2 Ireland.

Dixons Carphone invested substantial resources to establish iD Mobile in Ireland and has continued to support the business financially. Despite a compelling
consumer mobile proposition in an increasingly competitive mobile market, iD Mobile was unable to achieve scale against established operators and its losses became unsustainable.

Interest from several potential buyers of the business was explored over a period of more than 12 months. However, a suitable buyer with the resources
required to make the MVNO a success could not be found and reluctantly a decision was taken to close iD Mobile in Ireland.

The key focus is now on ensuring iD Mobile’s 40,000 customers can transition over to a new network with minimum disruption and inconvenience.

To allow this to happen, Dixons Carphone has successfully applied for the appointment of a provisional liquidator, who will be provided with significant
financial and other support by the Group to allow full service to be maintained for all iD Mobile customers while they transition to an alternative network of their choice. iD Mobile’s suppliers will also continue to be paid for services they provide during
this time.

Customers will be contacted by text, letter and email in the coming days and all existing iD Mobile customers will be offered full service on the iD Mobile
network for the next 30 days. Bill-pay customers will not receive any further bills for their iD Mobile service and pay-as-you-go customers will be able to use any remaining call credit over this period.

iD Mobile customers are free to move to an alternative network as soon as they are ready. The expert team at Carphone Warehouse’s 82 stores nationwide is available to assist customers in choosing a network that’s right for them, and to move customers to their chosen operator. As a gesture of goodwill, any iD Mobile customer signing up to a new network in Carphone Warehouse over the next 30 days will receive €20 to spend in-store at the time of switching.

 

Digital Banking in Ireland: Who Offers the Best Experience?

Marty
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1
Digital Banking in Ireland: Who Offers the Best Experience?

It’s hard to avoid the thought that banks are boring. You put your money there, maybe take out some imaginary money you don’t have or pretend to own a house when really it belongs to the bank. Actually, when you look at banks like that, man they are weird places. I’m in a strange position where I’ve had an account with nearly every bank account in Ireland and even worked for one. With all that accidental and incidental research I think I’m in a fairly good position to see who offers the most when it comes to tech.

Bank of Ireland

I’m starting with Bank of Ireland because they are my primary account, or at least they were. Bank of Ireland is Ireland’s oldest bank, a trait that’s unfortunately visible in their technology. The Bank of Ireland mobile banking app is terribly dated in terms of how it looks and how it works and doesn’t work. Even today, in a totally mobile world, their mobile banking app can be difficult to use on a smartphone.

Bank of Ireland doesn’t offer fingerprint recognition in their app either, but that’s the just start of it when it comes to the lack of innovation. Bank of Ireland has yet to introduce modern payment features like Google Pay or Apple Pay. I’ve just started playing with them myself and they are cool enough for me to feel like I’ve been missing out.

From here on out, every bank has something cool to celebrate, but Bank of Ireland are a fair bit behind the needs of Ireland’s tech-savvy customers with a dated app and a dated website. The only exception to all of this is the fact they are accepting mortgage appointments through Facetime.

AIB

Quick balance. Quick balance is one of those things that lets you appreciate how impatient people have become in recent years. By opening the AIB app, you can immediately check your bank account balance. No nonsense with passwords or codes. It’s actually really funny how quickly people will give up a bit of security for convenience and quick balance is a fantastic example of it in the real world.

AIB also offer my new favourite thing in tech; Google Pay and Apple Pay. If you’re popping into a shop to buy something you can tap your phone just like you would your card. I’ve already have some reasons to love this, which I’ll go into later.

The AIB app will unlock your data to you by way of fingerprint recognition too if you are using an iPhone. Unfortunately, this is not yet available for Android and even though a timeline has yet to be established, I don’t think AIB will wait around much longer.

Permanent TSB

Permanent TSB could so easily have fallen into the same category as Bank of Ireland, but instead, they are on track to be closer to AIB. Right now, they are really similar to Bank of Ireland in terms of their technological offering. Android Pay and Apple Pay are unavailable for customers to play with and their app doesn’t have fingerprint recognition.

Still, they launched a new site and app in 2016, arguably the best-looking site and app in Irish banking (though I might be biased; this was the bank I worked for). It’s just a pity they have yet to match the likes of AIB in terms of functionality.

They do offer some quirky things you won’t find in any other banks like card personalisation online.

N26

N26, formerly Number26, is such a weird entry to this list. N26 is a European bank which is allowed operate in Ireland which we’ve gone on about that in the past. Their app is fantastic. You can access with fingerprint, block and unblock a lost, stolen or found bank card and categorise all your spending; whether that’s good or bad. When you buy something, you get a notification to your linked smartphone straight away. Whether that’s useful or not, I don’t actually know.

Then there’s the sign-up. Wow. To join N26, you go through a kind of banking Skype call. You answer some questions, hold your passport up to the camera and boom, you’re done. They’ll send out your Mastercard after a few days and you’re good to go.

With all these amazing features, it’s nothing short of stunning that N26 has yet to offer Android or Apple Pay. A real stumbling block for super techie bank, but they’re not alone…

Revolut

I really loved N26 when it launched, mainly because of the digital onboarding and the really cool app that tells you how your spending. After a while, I just fell out of love with N26 and went back to using my Irish bank account. Fast forward a few years and I started using Revolut. Revolut describes themselves as “your digital banking alternative” and they generally do deliver on that.

First and foremost, they don’t offer Google Pay or Apple Pay which probably puts me off making them my full-time bank. Well, that and the fact they’re virtual. Another thing that put me off transferring wages into N26. But, get passed that much and Revolut is an incredible banking option.

To date, Revolut claims to have saved customers almost €170 million in fees as transferring cash across borders is super simple using their service. I use Revolut as my preferred method of buying up cryptocurrencies and also get travel insurance covered because I’m a premium member. You can buy your offer gadget insurance with them too, but for some reason, only in every EU country except Ireland; go figure.

As you would expect, Revolut sends you a card that you can use in shops and online. My top tip is that any shopping online you ever do should be paid for with a Revolut card; not your traditional bank card. That extra layer of privacy is great is a site gets hacked, just like what happened with OnePlus.

I’ll be taking a deeper look at Revolut in another post but for now, if you’re looking for something that’s not the usual banking experience available on the high street, Revolut is a great option.

Ulster Bank

The bank of trying. If Bank of Ireland and AIB had a lovechild, it would be Ulster Bank. They offer loads of innovations including Google Pay, Apple Pay and fingerprint access to the app. Still, something about the look and feel of the bank seems dated, just like Bank of Ireland.

It’s a really strange one. When you think about to Permanent TSB which looks great but doesn’t offer loads of functionality while Ulster Bank has the functionality, but doesn’t look great. That’s the power of aesthetics these days.

There’s one more thing about Ulster Bank; their opening hours. I know this has nothing to do with tech, but they’re barely ever open at a time that suits people; you know, like opening at 10am and closing at 4pm. This is compounded by the fact their online experience is just ugly. But if you’re after an accessible and digital bank in Ireland, there’s really only one you should consider…

KBC

I’ve kept KBC till last for good reason. You may have read my ‘not so impressed’ review of their “banking in minutes” account setup process. While that didn’t run too smoothly, all in all, KBC offer the best digital banking experience in Ireland. Like I mentioned when reviewing their account opening app, they do deserve some credit for trying out innovative ways of setting up accounts. It didn’t work for me but I’m sure others are getting through it smoothly, but let’s move past that and give them the attempt marks.

KBC’s app is great, allowing you to manage every aspect of your account by a simple fingerprint tap. It’s also super secure which is critical these days. To log in, you need your password and use your phone as a secondary device to verify your identity. This is a security feature which I recently pointed out is going unused by 90% of Gmail users. It’s so important and should be something you apply to as many of your online accounts as possible.

You can also play with Google Pay and Apple Pay once you create a KBC account and they even support payments with FitBit. As they don’t really want people visiting their hubs (they don’t have proper banks as such) they also offer web chat. Over the past few years, I’ve realised that web chat is a massive factor for me making tech service decisions. Maybe I’m more antisocial than I thought, but for me, typing a few messages and getting a problem resolved at 9pm by web chat is the way of the future. Some might argue that banks are too impersonal but a quick strawpoll on Twitter suggests it’s possible people need to adopt the digital mentality:

Of course, I know that’s a terribly small sample size, but interesting nonetheless.

Which Bank Is Best For You?

Should you pick a bank based on the amount of tech they offer you? Absolutely not. There are far more boring things I’m not going to go into which you need to consider before picking a bank. However, if you’re like me and you just want to pay for stuff with your phone, KBC is Ireland’s techiest bank, offering the best balance of services across their web and app platforms.

The truth of it all is that you should check your options. Switching bank is something you should weigh up every now and then. Check out this website from the Irish Central Bank but also look to new options on the market. My current combination is KBC and Revolut with the latter providing an extra layer of protection for online shoppers.

Which bank are you using yourself? What do you love or hate about them? Let us know in the comments below.

Why Apple Pay Is Better Than Paying With Your Card

Neal
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0
Why Apple Pay Is Better Than Paying With Your Card

If you’re an Apple iPhone, Watch or Mac user and you bank with AIB, KBC or Ulster Bank, did you know you can use Apple Pay to pretty much pay for everything in your daily life which requires parting with your hard earned cash? It’s ok if you feel like you need your regular morning Latte Macchiato Lite fix.

One of the main advantages of a digital wallet service is that you just need your phone to pay for items. So if you do pop out at lunchtime to collect your favourite sambo and realise at the last moment that you have forgotten your wallet, you can still pay for your lunch and stave off hunger. Assuming, of course, you haven’t also forgotten your phone, but who does this? Also, if your hands are full and your card is buried in your wallet, your phone is probably easier to grab. 

Let’s dive into what Apple Pay really is.

How Does Apple Pay Work?

Woah there you say, Apple pay, what’s this all about? Apple Pay is a mobile payment/digital wallet service introduced by Apple in 2014, initially in the US and a handful of local banks. It allows Apple users to add debit and credit cards to their virtual wallet app. You can then use this virtual wallet to pay for items the same way you would with your debit or credit cards. Of course, you can’t stick your phone in a card machine so Apple Pay works on the same principle that your card’s contactless payments work on. It has since been rolled out across the globe, with many more banks jumping on-board too, including certain Irish banks in 2017. Currently, AIB, Ulster Bank and KBC offer Apple Pay.

How to Use Apple Pay

Setting up Apple Pay is super simple too. Just add your debit or credit card into your wallet app, answer a few security questions and your setup and ready to go. Paying is also nice and easy. When it comes time to pay, point your iPhone or Watch at the terminal and, if you use touch id, verify you’re you with your fingerprint. Alternatively, with the iPhone X, your Face ID is used to authenticate. Apple Watch just requires a double tap of the side button to authenticate the payment. Your previous 10 transactions are held within the Wallet app so you can audit your transactions and feel really bad about all those lunches out you’ve bought.

Where Does Apple Pay Work in Ireland?

Apple Pay is available in most stores that accept contactless payments with more and more being added every week. Some confirmed locations you can use Apple Pay in include:

  • SuperValu
  • Dunnes Stores
  • Aldi
  • Lidl
  • Boots
  • KFC
  • M&S
  • Insomnia

You can also use Apple Pay when checking out online with sites like Ryanair, easyJet, deliveroo, Booking.com.

How Secure is Apple Pay?

Short answer – super secure. In fact, just like Google Pay, it’s more secure than using your debit or credit card because unlike with these forms of payment, your card details are not stored or transmitted on the terminal held by the vendor. With Apple Pay, Apple uses a unique device code and unique transaction code, so your card details are never stored on your iPhone or Watch. They don’t even go near Apple Servers.  When a payment is initiated, these one-time unique numbers are used instead of sharing your card details with the shop or online service.

How Much Does Apple Pay Cost?

Apple also doesn’t charge any extra transaction fees for using Apple Pay, but remember your bank might.

What is Apple Pay Cash?

Irish Apple Pay users will soon have an additional service called Apple Pay Cash. This is a peer-to-peer payment service, or in plain English, a service letting you can send money to other Apple Pay users. This has become increasingly popular in recent years with services like Plynk entering the market.

Apple Pay Cash will make fixing up with your friend for dinner as easy as sending an iMessage. No more embarrassing dramas about splitting restaurant bills or paying for cinema tickets. All you need to do is pop into your text the amount you want to send to your fellow Apple Pay friend and hey presto, it’s transferred to their bank account.

So there you have it. If you’re an iPhone user give it Apple Pay a go. There’s a very real chance that you’ll stop reaching for your debit card to pay for your morning coffee. Just remember, you are still spending real money.

Goos3D.ie becomes goosed.ie

Marty
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0
Goos3D.ie becomes goosed.ie

You know those daytime home makeover shows? You know the ones, where they take a home-owner away for a cup of coffee and they come back to find a few new rugs, some Ikea furniture and a lick of paint on the walls. Well, that kinda happens with a lot of websites every couple of months. You’ll get a new logo, maybe a colour scheme or something similar. I was going to do that with Goos3D recently but then I realised there was something was wrong from day one and it was time to fix it.

Why Goos3D in the First Place?

If you haven’t had a chat with me in person you probably haven’t heard about how the Goos3D name came about. Basically, I was working in a phone shop where one of my colleagues refused to tell customers their phones were broken. He’d always say ‘yer phone is goosed’. It has a strange ability to disarm customers and typically, get a reaction closer to ‘ah shur what can ya do?’ than ‘I’m going to pull you over the counter and bate ya’.

That term stuck with me because by using the right words, people felt better about the tech in their lives. The power of words. But why didn’t set up goosed.ie from the start then? Good question and also why you probably haven’t heard this story when we were in the media.

The day I came home and decided to start this site, I simply sat down and tried to buy ‘goosed.com’. No dice as it was already taken.It’s also important to note that a couple of years ago, buying ‘.ie’ websites weren’t as straightforward as it is today, so I was stuck with the ‘.com’ domains.

While most people would do some digging into who owns the site URL they want, I pushed forward and bought the cool techie looking version of it and swapped out the ‘e’ with a ‘3’. In hindsight, that was a terrible idea.

Never Ever Visit Goosed.com

We have a thing called Google Analytics. We use to see what articles get the most views and which articles people are really enjoying so we can keep creating content you guys love. One day, I started spotting some really strange data appearing in Google Analytics; x-rated looking stuff. So I finally did some digging into that other website. Yup, it’s a porn site. Lesson learned.

So goosed.ie Was Born

With ‘Goosed.com’ not an option, no one able to pronounce ‘Goos3D’ as ‘goosed’, we made the decision to go for the name we always wanted with a dot ‘ie’ domain; goosed.ie. We have no interest in bringing tech news to people outside of Ireland so the Irish domain identity suits our mission. That’s to bring the people of Ireland technology news they can actually relate to; affordable gadgets, free apps and premium tech worth shedding a few Euro on. We also aim to be totally accessible too. Not only will we chat about tech on our site, through Tech Yurt, our podcast, and across our social channels, but we’re always here to answer your questions too.

For now, that’s it! We’re waiting for Facebook to update our name and for Google to adjust to our ‘new’ name, but we’re more or less now goosed.ie. I really hope you like the new look and feel to the place and as always, if you ever have a question about tech and feel like you need a steer, holla at us.

Talk soon,

Martin.

The Beast From The East: The Complete Tech Survival Guide

Jon
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0
The Beast From The East: The Complete Tech Survival Guide

So the weather since November has been awful to be fair…but it’s about to get worse. Yes that’s right Storm Emma or “The Beast From The East” is on the way with temperatures set to plunge to minus 10 with parts of the country forecast to be hit with 30-40cm of snow. It’s going to get rough out there but that was before “The Lads From the Whest” put their heads together and came up with our one-stop shop to share our top tips on how best to enjoy the upcoming snow days!

Get Charged

With schools and work set be closed down for a day or two, we are sure to get a couple blackouts if not a full-blown power outage. To keep yourself and the little ones sane we recommend charging everything to max capacity as soon as possible. We have all had that moment during a blackout where we all watch our phone battery and thus our connection to the outside world fade and die right before our eyes. Don’t let that be you, so here’s a list of everything we can think of to help you stay connected during the downtime:

  • Tablets/iPads
  • Laptops
  • Smartphone’s
  • Powerbanks (serious lifesaver if you haven’t already got one hop down to any local phone or electronics shop and pick a decent one up for €30)
  • Mobile Broadband Modems just in case the connection holds up)

Download all the Things

What’s the best thing about Storm/Snowdays? hiding under your blanket in front of the fire watching movies with the family or housemates of course. If you want to keep the little ones (or fully grown children like myself) entertained we highly recommend downloading Disney Life on their free 14-day trial and download a few series or epic Disney classics to keep them nicely occupied. Otherwise, if you have an Android phone and a Chromecast get onto your Netflix account and download a few of the many bangers that are available to download to watch later. Here are a few shows/movies and documentaries we think will be sure to make your day pass without a second thought:

 

Image result for Juventus first team

For the sports fans,

  1. Juventus First Team – a close up intimate look at the Juventus first team as they embark on the new football season as they hope to make Italian football history. We get detailed and personal insights from players such as Gigi Buffon, Gonzalo Higuain and Pablo Dybala.
  2. Messi – Another documentary movie about Mr Lionel Messi, tracking his rise from the streets of Rosario all the way to the Nou Camp. Find out more about this quite but brilliant footballer
  3. Coach Snoop –  An American television series that follows legendary Hip-Hop artist Snoop Dogg as he coaches a youth football league to keep at-risk kids off the streets and focused on their goals.

Image result for dave chappelle equanimity & the bird revelation stream

For the Comedy Lovers,

  1. Chris Rock Tamborine – the latest Netflix special from comedian Chris Rock as he pokes fun at serious issues like his own divorce and other controversial topics
  2. Dave Chappelle Equanimity & The Bird Revolution – In his final Netflix comedy specials  (yes there’s two) Chappelle jokes about what it was like to grow up poor and how he took heat from the Trump on the campaign trail

Image result for blackfish

Documentaries Galore

  1. Dirty Money – A Netflix Original Series documenting various stories about exposing the greed, corruption, and crime spreading through the global economy.
  2. Bowling for Columbine – topical right now due to recent news stateside filmmaker Michael Moore explores the roots of America’s predilection for gun violence.
  3. Blackfish – Shows the sometimes devastating consequences of keeping such intelligent and sentient creatures in captivity, get ready for all the feels as your hear Tilikums sad story.

Image result for Chandler Bing meme

TV Shows and Series

  1. Friends
  2. Altered Carbon
  3. Rick & Morty
  4. Black Mirror
  5. The Young Offenders

Get The Munchies Sorted

Image result for get the munchies

Let’s face it if we have a power outage you will have invested in a press full of goodies to gorge on throughout the day or if you’re anything like us has forgotten and will be praying to find a takeaway that will deliver in the worst of conditions. If there is one lesson we learnt from good ole Harrold and Kumar it’s this, don’t venture outside to get food it gets weird. JustEat, Marvin and The Delivery Guys are all simple to use apps that are available on the App or Play Store and will ensure you find a way to get fed without braving the snow storms.

If you’re really stuck, our very own Gary Cronin is peddling a survival bargain…

Candles and All that Jazz

With power probably at a minimum we highly recommend investing in a few candles or torches at the very least. If you do decide to go down the candle route say nothing to the other half and look like the romantic fool you always were meant to be. In 9 months time Jon, Martin, Gary, Dean and Neal are all names you can happily borrow…just saying.

Everything Else

Image result for unnecessary journeys

Stay Safe

Sure thing Theresa! Although we might enjoy a bit of craic here at Goos3D, we do want all of our readers to stay safe if the weather does get as bad as expected. Look after yourselves out their and remember to take care on the roads if you’re out and about. Oh and get the bag of cans at the ready because let’s face it a midweek day off work calls for a scoop or two.

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