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Practical Uses Of AI: Keeping Up With New Craft Beer Names

Tech News

Marty

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9th August 2017

0

Practical Uses Of AI: Keeping Up With New Craft Beer Names

Two things cannot be denied today:

The potential impact of Artificial intelligence grows every day
The selection of craft beers in Ireland is astonishing

Now, watch as I spin these two completely separate topics into one.

The Incredible Growth Of Craft Beers In Ireland

It’s estimated that Ireland has 90 microbreweries creating sweet tasty craft beers. That’s a whopping four-times the number from 2012. That’s why your recent trip to the off-licence was like browsing an old style sweet shop.

With so many craft beers on the market, off-license fridges are jam-packed with a multitude of colourful cans and bottles. Even more creative than the packaging is many of the beers’ names. Everything from Galway Bay’s Of Foam and Fury to White Gypsy American Pale Ale, it’s only a matter of time until we run out of beer names. Unless… unless we become superhuman.

Using AI To Name Craft Beers

Janelle Shane is one of those amazing nerds who learns incredible skills but uses them for fun. We love her because she makes new technology like AI really relatable, using it to name Pokémon and create ancient proverbs. One of her latest experiments uses neural networks to generate names for craft beers. She was inspired to try this out after she read that US microbreweries are genuinely struggling to create new names for their craft beers.

Neural networks are really similar to artificial intelligence. They learn from huge collections of data to generate new material. For example, Janelle used hundreds of thousands of beer names in this experiment. Here are our favourites from the list of AI generated craft beer names:

IPA: Toe Deal

The beautiful fragrance of feet with the rush of gambling. Toe Deal would be a beautiful IPA should it exist. Personally, that’s one of my favourite labels too. Look at him there. Big toe dealer.

Strong Pale Ale: Third Maus

Surely the one and only Deadmau5 could license a few crates of this for his next tour?

Amber Ales: Ricia’s Donkey Brain

Some say Ricia’s developed the recipe for her Amber Ales by accident after blowing up a stil.

Stouts: Sir Coffee

All the class of a craft beer crossed with the subtlety of a Starbucks Coffee. Sir Coffee is the choice of craft beer drinkers who need a nap.

Stouts: Black Sink Stout

The pint of choice for plumbers around Ireland. Ironically, Black Sink Stout will do fierce damage to your plumbing.

Stouts: Pimperdiginistic The Blacksmith W/ Cherry Stout

Running local prostitution rings is a dying trade, which leaves many pimps branching out into other areas, like shoeing horses and shaping replica swords.

Stouts: Cherry Coconut Mint Chocolate Stout

Bless the machine learning powered neural networks for this effort. It’s like they wrapped a bottle in velcro and chucked it into a barrel of craft beer related words. The result: Cherry Coconut Mint Chocolate Stout. A mouthful to say but I’d imagine that’s the only mouthful you’ll experience with this drunk.

IPA: Yamquak

Ok, so we took liberties with this one. First of all, yes yams are practically sweet potatoes. No, they don’t quack, but the chance to place a beak on a yam was just too much for me to ignore.

What do you think of AI’s attempts to name craft beers? Personally, I think they did pretty good. You can r ead the full list over on Janelle’s site where she let’s neural networks be weird. Let us know in the comments what you think, or if you could do better yourself.

Amazon Prime Video in Ireland: Everything You Need To Know And What’s On

Entertainment News

Marty

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8th August 2017

1

Amazon Prime Video in Ireland: Everything You Need To Know And What’s On

With the rip-roaring success of the Top Gear inspired Grand Tour, Amazon Prime Video has officially landed in Ireland. While slow to launch an official Irish Amazon store which led to this our virtual UK address trick, Amazon’s increased activity means they’re is really pushing their video streaming service in Ireland. You’ll have spotted their ads on TV and on buses but with no shortage of services vying for your money, here’s what you need to know about Amazon Prime Video.

How much does it cost?

There are a couple of ways you can enjoy Amazon Prime Video. If you are only interested in Amazon Prime Video, it will cost you €5.99 per month. To celebrate the Irish launch you can enjoy your first six months for just €2.99 per month. If you are already an Amazon Prime customer, video streaming is included.

Unfortunately, to get the most out of Amazon Prime Video, you’ll need to contact customer care. They’ll update your location settings with the taking about five minutes. It’s time well spent as it unlocks loads more content for you to enjoy.

How can I watch Amazon Prime Video?

The most popular methods to view Amazon Prime Video is with your laptop, smartphone or tablet. You will be able to stream on devices like Xbox One but often will need to set your console to the UK to get the app. For now, if you have something like an Android box, you’re laughing.

To sweeten the deal a little further, you can also download Amazon Prime Videos and watch them later. This is a feature Netflix only recently introduced which is great for travelling.

Is Amazon Prime Video better than Netflix?

Both video streaming services are locked in a vicious battle at the moment. Original programs are being thrown out left, right and centre by the two. At the moment, Netflix is in the lead, especially with the recent addition of video downloads. With that said, Amazon does give you some great original programming, unavailable anywhere else.

What can I watch on Amazon Prime Video?

Like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video provides you with a selection of popular TV and movies. Here’s our selection of top shows you can enjoy today:

The Grand Tour

We showed you how to watch The Grand Tour a while back. This article proved popular with Top Gear fans were hungry for Clarkson, Hammond and May. Now, it’s much more straightforward as all you need is a Prime or Prime Video membership to watch the show. Once you nail that much, you can enjoy the famous three touring the world every week. Lots of laughs, expensive cars and slightly cringe-worthy celebrity deaths.

Man in the High Castle

This is a cracker of a show that came in somewhat under the radar. Man in the High Castle appealed to the nostalgic side of my youth, playing games like Wolfenstein. The show is set in a world where Hitler and his Nazis won the war. Following day-to-day “American life” in an Axis controlled world is fascinating.

Mr. Robot

Sometimes, television can actually be art. Mr. Robot will have you covering webcams and downloading encrypted chat apps in no time. The series follows Eliot, a cyber security specialist losing grasp of reality. As he does, hacktivists crash the banking world. Mr. Robot is arguably the best thing on Amazon Prime Video.

Startup

Startup wants to be Mr. Robot. It’s not quite as good but tries to make up for these shortcomings with lots and lots of sex scenes. A worthy watch to pass the time and to get more from your membership. Pretty sure you could play some sort of drinking game based on the amount of riding in the show too.

After a long wait, we can finally watch Amazon Prime Video in Ireland. It might not be the smoothest transition if you’re a Prime member already, but it’s worth the effort. If you’re new to it all, enjoy a free trial and discounted first six months. Yaay!

How To Stop Facebook Auto-playing Videos With Sound

Marty

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8th August 2017

0

How To Stop Facebook Auto-playing Videos With Sound

Facebook regularly releases updates which they’ve painstakingly tested to ensure they improve your experience when using their platform. Despite all this care, the social media giant has decided to start playing sound with videos automatically – which is ridiculous. Here’s everything you need to know and a quick guide to help you stop Facebook auto-playing videos with sound.

What’s The Problem With Auto-playing Sound?

Smartphones are one of the most life-changing pieces of technology in human history. The sheer volume of smartphones in the world is incredible. They help us navigate from A to B, play endless playlists of music but most importantly, pass the time in the bathroom. 75% of people have admitted using their phone on the bog and the rest were lying.

Now, the problem here is the office. What happens if you’re on the porcelain throne when a colleague enters the bathroom just as you hit a video by Korean Billy going through Irish phrases? Sure, it’s far from incriminating but at best it’s a little odd to hear that coming from a cubical.

How To Stop Facebook Auto-playing Videos With Sound

After receiving a push notification from Facebook, alerting me to the fact they were turning on auto-play sounds in videos, I got the fear and set about turning this off for good.

To avoid such awkwardness in the workplace all you need to do is take a few simple steps. Here’s how to stop Facebook auto-playing videos with sound:

Open the Facebook App on your smartphone
Tap the menu “burger button”

Next, look for App Settings

Hit the toggle beside “Videos in News Feed Start With Sound”

There ya go. Bob’s yer Uncle.

Bonus tip:

While you’re in Facebook’s App Settings, take a quick look at when your videos auto-play. If you’re away on holidays, even with new roaming laws, it’s probably a good idea to disable this or limit it auto-play to WiFi only. You find your options and be able to pick an option that suits you here:

7 Alternative Workout Apps to Actually Get You Moving

Marty

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3rd August 2017

0

7 Alternative Workout Apps to Actually Get You Moving

There seems to be a never-ending list of apps on the market designed to get you up and active. I know we’ve definitely looked at this a few times. At the end of the day, they’re usually all the same and let’s be honest about it, fitness apps are boring. There are a few apps on the market that set out to add a twist to your workout in an effort to actually get you off the couch. Here are our 7 favourite alternative workout apps that might actually help you get fit.

Top 12 Alternative Fitness Apps

1. Wakeout Is the Perfect Morning Workout App

If you’re like me, you’re guilty of lying in bed for ages every morning simply because you’re not ready to take on the day. That’s why Wakeout is a great workout app – you don’t even have to get out of bed.

Okay, so as you see you’re pillow-squats mean you have to get out of bed but come on – pillow squats!

Each Wakeout workout takes three minutes and is designed to burn calories but more importantly, wake you up and energise you.

Wakeout is available for free on iPhone.

2. Zombies, Run! Is a Free Audio Fitness App

Music can really drive you forward when you’re running. A decent Spotify playlist could be the difference between a 5km walk and nailing a 10km run. The only thing I better than listening to music is the sound of a zombie hoard out to get you and that’s what Zombies, Run! offers.

As one of only a few survivors in a world full of zombies, you must run to gather life-saving supplies. Every now and then, you’ll hear a zombie hoard closing in on you. To survive, you’ll have to outrun them.

Zombies, Run! is a really cool concept game. It’s one of the most unique on the market and is the best selling mobile fitness game of all time. You can even log into your Zombielink account and build up your compound when you’re finished running.

Zombies, Run! is available for iPhone and Android, in both paid and premium apps.

3. Why Not Try Out a Yoga App?

I was shocked the first time I tried out Yoga. First of all, I enjoyed it but even more surprising was the fact I’ve never sweat so much in my life. It’s a great work out and because you’re using your own body against itself, you’re constantly working out on your limit.

Daily Yoga is a great app that will introduce you to yoga at a suitable level for you and your goals. You might want to lose weight, but yoga is also great for overcoming stress. Ideally, you’ll do this with a yoga mat, but technically you don’t need anything except the app to get started.

You won’t get a huge amount from the app for free, but yoga classes cost money and the time it takes is often an excuse you’ll cart out. So bring yoga into your own gaff and skip the excuses.

Get started with Daily Yoga for free on both Android and iPhone, but remember you’ll likely have to pay to get the most from the app. If you want some more free yoga, there’s a load of YouTube channels you can yoga-along with, if that how you say it.

4. Aura Will Help Clear Your Mind

When I was writing about yoga there, it got me thinking. If you’re working out for your mental health and not just fitness, this is a great alternative workout app. Aura is a great free app that introduces mindfulness meditation at regular intervals during your schedule.

Using artificial intelligence, Aura learns your day and for three minutes every day will recommend a suitable meditation for you. Now I understand this all sounds a bit mad and you’ll likely not tell a soul you’re trying it out, but do try it out. You’ll be glad you did.

Aura is available for free on Android and iPhone.

5. Cakewalk: Shame Is a Powerful Motivator

Imagine that annoying friend of yours was a fitness app. Well, they’d be Cakewalk. Cakewalk is an iPhone app that connects to your Twitter account and your Twitter friends. Once started, if you walk less than 50% of your daily step goal, you run the risk of a public shaming on Twitter.

You do have one last chance to avoid your publish shaming, as Cakewalk commences a 24-challenge. When you fail that, Calkwalk starts a conversation with you publically on Twitter.

Cakewalk is available on iPhone and is free, costing you nothing more than your dignity.

6. Shame Not Encouraging You? Try Guilting Yourself With Tep

Remember in primary school when you would have gladly sacrificed your education to stay at home and care for your beloved Tamagotchi? Tep is a fitness app where your workout feeds a digital pet, similar to a Tamagotchi.

Or you could sit on the couch and watch them die. You know if that’s the kind of person you are.

Tep is available for free on Android and iPhone.

7. See Those Gains With Pushh

A part of me wants to hate his idea, but at the same time, if I could see the fruits of my workout I’d be pretty motivated. Pushh is an iPhone app that lets you take regular selfies, lining up your snap with the on-screen grid to see progress over time. You can also add in other progress measurements.

It’s a bit vain, but like I said, I can totally see how something like this would motivate you to keep working out.

Pushh is available for free on iPhone.

Samsung’s New Phone Is the Galaxy Note8: Confirmed Details

Jon

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2nd August 2017

0

Samsung’s New Phone Is the Galaxy Note8: Confirmed Details

Samsung’s newest smartphone is the Note8 which will be officially launched on 23 August. Given the disaster that was the Note7, the Note8 could be the biggest comeback since Wayne Rooney’s hairline. So what have Samsung got up their sleeve for the next S-Pen equipped smartphone?

While the Note 7 will probably go down in history as the very worst smartphone of all time, you know with all the blowing up and that, spec wise it was actually a bad ass bit of kit. Where does Samsung go from here? Well, think S8 with a stylus.

Samsung Galaxy Note8 Specs

That smartphone leaker, Evan Blass, has been at it again:

When it rains etc. pic.twitter.com/D0lFR5Wn1B

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) August 1, 2017

When he leaks, man does he leak. It appears that he’s actually confirmed most of the Note8 specs already. I called it months ago, but the Note 8 is going to be a slightly bigger Galaxy S8 with an S-Pen. The waterproofing grade IP-68 and you can expect the phone to cost in the region of €1000.

The Leaks

We still have to describe these as leaks as Samsung has yet to officially launch, but this would appear to be fairly likely stuff.

Screen

The Note8 will boast a 6.3-inch SuperAMOLED display. The corners will be slightly rounded, a feature made popular with the Moto G6 and Galaxy S8 and the screen will be curved. All in all, it’ll be ever so slightly bigger Galaxy S8+. This should make for the best Gear VR experience yet and we all know how much I love HD RV. Kobold I will not be, seeing you anytime soon.

That mad rumour about the Note8 having a foldable display – it’s still mad and not happening. Samsung is rumoured to be prepping to foldable phones for the next year though which is a fun thought.

Battery

Really trying to not make any battery related jokes here, but the battery here has to not only be big and powerful, but it will also have to be the safest battery we have ever seen. Even standard enough overheating issues (they happen) can’t happen here. As long as it doesn’t blow up, then that is all that we can ask for.

The Note 7 findings confirmed that the explosions were the result of two different battery failures. So we expect Samsung to play it cool with a smaller battery capacity than it could technically go with. Hopefully, we won’t see any more ads showing how great Samsung’s testing is.

Leaks suggest the Note8 will ship with a a fast-charging 3300mAh battery, rocking USB-C.

Design

In short, we reckon that the style will follow that of the Samsung S8, with a glass and metallic form, the infinity display and slight curvature to add style to the front face.

Again like the S8 range the new Note 8 won’t have a button on the front face, but will instead have a pressure-sensitive screen that brings up different menus and options depending on how hard you press the display. It sounds similar to the 3D Touch system made by Apple, however, we are hoping that the guys from Samsung will figure out how to put the finger print sensor on the display. While I have no problem at all with the scanner being on the back beside the camera, it can be a pain in the hole – smudging and whatnot.

Camera

Samsung’s camera is due for an upgrade, and the Galaxy Note 8 is Samsung’s playground to try new things. Let’s face it the 12MP camera has not changed since the Samsung Galaxy S7. They obviously have updated the software throughout the models but we still see the Note coming up with something different.

As we predicted a few months back, the Note8 has two main rear cameras, both featuring 12-megapixel sensors. This is a first for Samsung, but today is far from being an industry first. The selfie cam will be an 8MP.

The Other Stuff

Randomly, the stylus could have something interesting going on, with a huge rumour coming off the back of a recent patent. The stylus could have a built in speaker, why we have no idea but why the hell not. Maybe it will act as a Dictaphone and recite your notes back to you?

Usual add ons will be included like the Iris scanner that we have already seen in the S8 range, but after a group of hackers managed to bypass this, we will probably see updated tech in the scanner.

Bixby should also get a nippy little upgrade to make it more of a rival to Siri. Right now, it seems a little limited but with a couple software upgrades, we could see something interesting. The IP68 dust and water resistance rating will be sticking around, as will fast charging so much the same as the S8. Couple all of this with a huge 6GB of RAM and we could have something special on our hands.

The Verdict

The new Note 8 will be built for exactly those who have loved the Note series in the past, so basically if you haven’t already dipped into your piggy banks to get the S8 Plus and you really love a stylus well then the Note8 is for you.

However, if you have already got the S8 Plus then you won’t be missing out on much apart from the 6GB of RAM, a 4K display which will be great for gaming on the Gear VR and ok fair enough now I want one. Let’s hope it’s not as “grenade-like” as the last model.

Dunkirk Review: Should You See Dunkirk in 70mm or IMAX

Marty

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29th July 2017

0

Dunkirk Review: Should You See Dunkirk in 70mm or IMAX

When you decide to spend your Saturday evening in the cinema, picking a movie can be tough. Modern cinema means you have to pick a film and you might even have to choose between 2D and 3D. Going to see Dunkirk was an easy choice given the rave reviews it’s been getting. It’s only available in 2D, so that was easy, but it is available to watch in standard cinemas, IMAX and 70mm. Why do decisions have to be so hard?

Dunkirk: A Spoiler Free Review

I’m going to dive into Dunkirk without spoiling anything for you, even though it is based on a true story, so history buffs have already had it spoiled.

Dunkirk in a Nutshell

Don’t let the name fool you. Dunkirk refers to a coastal town in France by the name of Dunkerque. In 1940, Germany had secured much of mainland Europe. As they advanced in France, German troops trapped Allied forces on Dunkirk beach. Christopher Nolan’s movie picks up with the men on the beaches awaiting evacuation.

One thing you should be prepared for before taking your seat for Dunkirk is the film takes a multi-timeline approach to telling its story.

Why You Should See Dunkirk

Christopher Nolan has created some modern-day masterpieces and Dunkirk is another. Nolan’s depiction of war is not one which glorifies heroes. Instead, it shows how war is little more than a collection of people being extremely human. Despite this focus on humanity in a war situation, Nolan’s Dunkirk strips the majority of the movie’s cast of that humanity. I went through the cast of the film and found 87% of the characters in the movie are never named. In war, soldiers are reduced to little more than statistics.

Nolan’s Dunkirk wanted to bring home the realities of war, something often attempted but rarely achieved. Which brings me onto the biggest question cinema goers are asking.

You Should See Dunkirk in IMAX

Nolan returned to IMAX cameras for Dunkirk, equipment he previously used for Interstellar. The director’s goal was to create a cinematic sensation which he describes as

virtual reality without the goggles

Goal achieved. Dunkirk is visually stunning, but the for me the audio completed the experience.

The sheer volume of the gunfire made cinema goers jump in unison. People were visually uncomfortable with the volume of gunshots and diving fighters. I couldn’t help but appreciate Nolan’s effort to rip you out of your seat and place you in a hopeless war setting. The tension that builds up in nothing short of incredible.

Is Dunkirk Worth Seeing in a Normal Cinema?

All the fancy cameras in the world won’t make up for a crap film. In its own right, Dunkirk is a fantastic movie. Dunkirk was a miracle of deliverance, the perfect foundation for a story. I’m rather shocked it’s taken this long to make the big screen.

If you can, make the trek to Cineworld in Dublin and view Dunkirk in IMAX. Failing that, the Irish Film Institute is showing the movie in 70mm, which will offer 70% of the IMAX experience along with the charm of gritty, non-digital footage. Most importantly, if you’re outside Dublin, just get to the cinema and watch Dunkirk. It’s a harrowing true-story that’ll make you appreciate growing up during peaceful times.

Dunkirk Trailer

Reeling in the Years: Irish Websites Through the Years

Marty

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29th July 2017

0

Reeling in the Years: Irish Websites Through the Years

The world wide web is constantly evolving. Shopping online has become easier and browsing the web on the toilet now means websites are mobile friendly. These changes mean the web of today looks very different to what it looked like ten years ago. You can view some of the world’s biggest websites like Reddit and how they looked back ten on Ten Years Ago.

But what about the most popular Irish sites?

I did some digging to find Ireland’s most popular sites and then travelled back in time to 2007.

Most Popular Irish Sites of 2007

RTÉ

RTÉ is actually one of the leaders in Ireland when it comes to innovation. They’re the reason we’re only second to market in Ireland with an Amazon Flash News Brief Skill. Back in 2007, their site was pretty tidy, already offering catch-up TV services and pushing RSS feeds. Really interesting to see how their brand colours and logo hasn’s changed dramatically in recent years.

Boards.ie

How social media hasn’t killed boards.ie is beyond me. Don’t get me wrong, I love Boards and it has a most amazing community feel to it. The site only got a makeover recently, but before that, the site of 2007 was pretty much the site of today. Given the purpose of Boards, it really doesn’t need to look fancy.

DoneDeal

DoneDeal was pretty unashamed to look like a car-boot sale back in the day. Dare I say they even sank to the level of using puppies and kittens to lure people in. Have they no shame? Today, DoneDeal is much slicker, with an eBay feel to their site.

Telecoms Sites of 2007

Meteor

There’s an extra tinge of sadness seeing the old Meteor site. Meteor was the network that paved the way for parents being able to afford phones for their kids. You could even argue that in 2007, the site’s design was way ahead of its time. The extra sadness, of course, comes as Meteor is set to be merged into the eir brand and vanish from the Irish telecoms scene.

Vodafone

If I was to pick out a modern website that’s a bit crap, I’d probably pick out Vodafone’s current site. Even with some recent updates, Vodafone has yet to really modernise from what was another fairly advanced site in 2007. Regardless, how exciting is it to travel back in time and see the Motorola V3 flip phone. What a beauty.

Carphone Warehouse

Ah yes, the one you always forget. They’ve been around for years, but still you only think of them because you’re passing a Carphone Warehouse store. Their website back in 2007 was pretty tidy. Today it’s decent too, though their ability to sell online is extremely limited compared to their UK counterparts. That’s set to get worse now too with iD Mobile leaving the Irish market.

Travel Sites of 2007

Ryanair

Do you remember that episode of The Simpsons where Homer sets up a website? Yeah, Ryanair’s website felt like that back in 2007. All they’re missing is a flying toaster. Today, Ryanair is still focused on upselling, but they’re much smarter about that, keeping most of their offerings to when you’re checking in.

Aer Lingus

I recently took an Aer Lingus flight and honestly, it’s not very different to Ryanair. When you look at the Aer Lingus site of 2007 and compare it with Ryanair’s, they both went after a similar look too. What this really shows is the importance of brand for the two companies as people think they’re completely different when really they’re not.

Banking Sites of 2007

Bank of Ireland

Banking is boring. Bank of Ireland’s old 2007 site is incredibly boring. Good lord. Today, little has changed either as Bank of Ireland is one of the few banks yet to adopt Apple or Android Pay.

AIB

By comparison, AIB was all over delivering a great web experience ten years ago. Some forgivable use of stock images aside, their site was functional but also nice to look at.

Permanent TSB

Today, Permanent TSB has the most modern looking website in Ireland. Back in 2007, they were behind AIB in design but miles ahead of Bank of Ireland. It was pretty cool that you could personalise your card back then too, a feature that continues today.

How Is All This Possible

In the early years of the internet, the vast majority of the web was disposable. What I mean by this is, websites were being created and vanishing fairly regularly. This posed unique problems for people trying to get important info from sites that shut down years ago.

Seeing the risks and problems a disposable web, the Internet Archive was founded in 2001 to record the web in a series of snapshots. Today, you can travel back in time through their “Wayback Machine” and see what the web used to look like.

Big Changes Ahead as Meteor Becomes eir

Jon

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27th July 2017

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That’s it, over, kaput, finito an end of an era.

Come September, Meteor will be no more and in its place, eir will take over. Back in 2001, Meteor was established. It quickly became the brand of the youth with savage Pay As You Go offers, even offering texts to everyone – remember when that was important? Combining this with catchy jingles, Meteor was truly a revolutionary brand. While it’s sad to see it go as a name, nothing will really change for the customer.

Way back in 2005, eir, then Eircom, bought the Meteor brand. Now after a long a fruitful 12 years the orange team will hang up their boots for good.

Eir Ceo Richard Moat has said:

The trAnsition will be seamless, and Meteor customers will continue using their mobiles exactly as before – with the added benefit of a world of possibilities

He also believes:

By focusing on a single mobile brand and reducing the duplication of supporting two brands, we can offer better value and increased innovation

Interestingly, Moat believes that most customers were not actually aware that Meteor and eir were part of the same brand. This fact is key to the transition. To you or I or any of the common punters, nothing changes, just the name on the top of your phone. Unlike when Three and O2 merged or the recent EU Roaming contract change for Three customers, you will not be able to walk away from your contract early for the simple fact that all offers have been the same for over year. We reckon this has been in the pipeline for a while.

If you’re not of the 1.1m customers that received a text or an email in the last couple of days, fear not. eir have assured customers that soon the full terms and conditions of the switch will be relayed. For the most part, this looks like nothing more than a simple name change.

“This decision reflects the confidence we have in the eir brand,” said Richard Moat, the company’s chief executive.

Over the next couple of months, all Meteor stores will be rebranded as eir and that’s the general gist of it.

For more info check out the FAQ on eir’s site.

Meteor’s Top 5 Ads

To celebrate what has been an iconic brand in Ireland over the years, here are our favourite ads from Meteor. Their marketing team were known to make some whopper ads down the years. Wanna see our favourites from down the years? Bet your sweet ass you do!

Smarter Way To Chat Up

Meteor showing the pulling power of their plans and the beloved Nokia 3310. i just wonder if calls were even that cheap back in the day.

Black Friday Ad

Meteor really pulled out all the stops at Christmas, expanding that to Black Friday. This lad appeared in a few campaigns and, to be fair, was always gas.

The Meteor Tea Cosy Ad

This actually caused a massive stir when it launched amid fears it created a negative image of the elderly. Non-sense surely? What do you think?

The Christmas Party

If you mention Meteor ads in Goos3D Tower and Martin is floating around, he’ll always tell you this ruined Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire for him. Not just because of the shrill laugh in the ad, but because no video of it can be found. Some say it didn’t even happen. To this date, Martin isn’t even sure if it was Meteor.

Big Jugs

Here’s Meteor’s classic humour in the shape of big jugs. Can’t wait for this page to start appearing in Google for that phrase.

Nokia 3310: It’s Finally Happening

Jon

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27th July 2017

0

2 August 2017. Chalk it down and remember the date. Finally, the most hotly anticipated phone of 2017 is going to hit Irish shores.A year ago, if you said to anybody that a retro Nokia would be the big hit of Summer, you’d have been locked up. But that is exactly what has happened.

The all new Nokia 3310 is finally going on sale in the UK and Ireland, the long wait is over and Snake is back!

The old school Nokia took the world by storm when it was unveiled at this years MWC in Barcelona. It managed to eclipse the flagship smartphones at the event, generating a level of hype we haven’t seen in a long time.

an astonishing groundswell of interest in the Nokia 3310

Under the hood

The Nokia 3310 has been brought into the modern era with a new bigger colour screen, an updated design that’s claimed to be even more durable. Yes more durable! Is that even possible?

The 3310 even now comes with a rear camera, something that back in the day we could only dream off. Most importantly there is going to be an incredible month long battery, which will be a welcome change from daily charging.

Did we also mention Snake makes a return?

Pick Up The Nokia 3310

So how much is this all going to cost? So far the rumour is that the Nokia 3310 will go on sale for anything between €49 and €80. All the major networks apart from Three has confirmed that they will be stocking the 3310. It will also be landing in four colour – Red, Yellow, Blue and Grey. I’ll be taking mine in red.

We’ve already gone into detail on the Nokia 3310, but here are the key specs:

Nokia 3310 specs:

• Software platform: Nokia Series 30+
• Weight: 79.6 g (including battery)
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5 Taxi Safety Tips: How To Stay Safe When Grabbing A Cab

Marty

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25th July 2017

0

5 Taxi Safety Tips: How To Stay Safe When Grabbing A Cab

Over the past year, taxi safety has become increasingly important. Various Garda investigations have uncovered bogus unlicensed taxi drivers, transporting people from A to B. Today, there are plenty of steps you can take when taking a taxi alone. Here are our 5 top taxi safety tips on how to stay safe when grabbing a cab.

This is so cool:

You can share your live location with friends through Facebook Messenger. This feature is amazing if you’re trying to meet up with people for a pint. It’s also great if you’re trying to get a taxi home on your own.

Once you share your location with someone they’ll be able to view it for sixty minutes. If you veer off the expected route home or are taking too long, it’ll be spotted.

Ok, so it’s practically the same thing, but you can also share your live location with Google Maps. Still, Google Maps has some benefits. You can set a destination for your trip and get an estimated length of time for your journey home. There’s also the obvious benefit that this allows you to share with people who are not on Facebook. Within Google Maps you can also hail a taxi with MyTaxi.

Hail A Taxi With MyTaxi

This is important:

Nothing can replace having a taxi driver you know and trust

Having a regular driver in bigger cities can be quite difficult. If you find yourself in a city without a regular taxi driver, MyTaxi is a must have app.

Back in the day, MyTaxi was known as Hailo, a service that defined the smartphone taxi hailing experience in Ireland. A simple tap of the app will usually get you a taxi within five minutes. By using the app, you don’t need to carry cash, can estimate your fare before you set off and see how others rated your driver. Just like Facebook and Google Maps, you can also share your live location, offering both safety and convenience if you’re picking someone up.

The rebrand from Hailo to MyTaxi wasn’t smooth, but there are benefits. The app works in 9 countries, meaning you can get a taxi to the airport and use the app again when you land abroad.

Check out their site for the latest offers or download the app below:

Google Play – iTunes

Transport for Ireland’s Driver Check App

This has obvious benefits:

One of the most simple and effective methods of ensuring your taxi driver is genuine is to check his details in the Transport for Ireland Driver Check app.

You first enter the taxi’s number plate, driver’s licence number or vehicle licence number into the app. Rather intelligently, the app also offers an option to simply scan the driver’s QR code, visible on his dash board info. Once completed, you’ll be given a photo of the driver, the details of their taxi and other items of information such as the area they are permitted to work in. From here, if you are not satisfied, you can report the driver and email details to a nominated contact.

Google Play – iTunes

How To Grab A Cab Safely – More Practical Tips

We’re going to look at how tech can help keep you safe. First, here are some practical safety tips:

Have a regular driver. Save their number and build up loyalty with them
Try not to travel alone; particularly at night
When hailing a taxi on the street, note the registration on the roof. Make sure this matches his door number and number in the cab itself
Note the driver’s name
Make a quick call to a loved one at home, stating the registration number and name of the taxi driver, ensuring the driver hears you
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