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Ultimate Amazon Prime Day Guide in Ireland

Marty
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Ultimate Amazon Prime Day Guide in Ireland

It’s a pretty significant Prime Day in Ireland. This might very well be the last Prime Day where we’re all depending on Amazon.co.uk as the online sales giant is launching Amazon.ie in 2025. For one last year, let’s take a look at everything you need to know about Amazon Prime Day 2024 in Ireland.

Disclaimer: This article contains multiple links to Amazon. These are affiliate links. You will not pay by clicking these links, but Jeffery Bezos will pay us a small fee to say thanks for sending you over there. We appreciate you clicking through to Amazon from Goosed.ie!

What is Amazon Prime Day?

Amazon Prime Day is a two-day sales event run by Amazon. During these two days, the company reduces a wide variety of products for various time frames. Some offers will last for the two days, others just a few minutes. Either way, all special offers are exclusively available for Prime Customers. This is, of course, a way for Amazon to promote Prime Membership, make some extra money but also reward customers for shopping with the online retailer.

Amazon introduced Prime Day back in 2015 with the mission to “offer a volume of deals greater than Black Friday, exclusively for Prime members”. However, it’s also believed that this “shopping spree” was introduced to encourage sales during an extremely quiet trading period for the company.

When is Amazon Prime Day 2024?

Amazon Prime Day takes place on 16th and 17th July 2024. It’s worth keeping an eye on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.de already if you’re in the market for something. Reason being that prior to Prime Day a few discounts are usually to be found as “Early Deals“. For example, you can already pick up a 2 for 1 Ring Indoor Cameras offer.

In fact, if you’re in the market for any of Amazon’s own brand products, Prime Day is the time to study the sales pages. You’ll almost certainly pick up a bargain.

Make the Most from Amazon Prime Day 2024 in Ireland

The frustrating thing about shopping on Amazon.co.uk is the massive range of products that refuse to ship to Ireland. That’s both the Republic and Northern Ireland. This is due to a multitude of reasons including Brexit, customs, shipping costs and general restrictions. One annoying example is how hard it is to get anything with a battery from Amazon.co.uk, owing to batteries being banned on air freight.

Shop on Amazon With Revolut and Pound Sterling

With that said, Amazon does ship an incredible amount of stuff to Irish homes, even more since the distribution centre opened here a few years ago. One piece of advice that I always have for shoppers is to shop with Revolut. Revolut lets you pay in Pound Sterling and sidestep Amazon’s own exchange rates in the checkout. Amazon’s exchange rates can be a shade extortionate some times, so by paying Sterling you take the guessing out of it.

Amazon will charge you customs fees too, but refund these where applicable after a few days.

Make a Shopping List

I strongly recommend you make a list of items you want to buy during Prime Day 2024. Not because you’ll forget something, but to give you something to stick to. It’s easy to lose the run of yourself given that Amazon has mastered FOMO and making you feel like you need a lot of stuff that you don’t need at all.

Amazon has built in features to help you make wish lists and other category lists. Make one for Prime Day and make sure you just get the essentials that you really. Otherwise you risk this turning into the Lidl middle aisle on steroids.

Google Before You Buy

Because Amazon is an absolutely massive company, 90% of the time it will have the very best prices. It’s the economy of scale and the sheer buying power of Amazon means they can pass on great prices to you, the customer.

However, it’s not a fool proof tactic to simply shop on Amazon.co.uk to ensure you’re always getting the best price.

On occasion, I’ve seen products on the high street or in my local shops beat Amazon for value. It could be anything from electronics to beauty products. What ever you’re adding to your Prime Day shopping list, always double check that it’s not cheaper elsewhere.

And do the same for opinions. The reviews you can read on Amazon products can be helpful. I particularly like the little AI-summary of all reviews into a simple blurb. However, over the years more than a few reviews on Amazon have been found to be somewhat bogus. To spread your opinion seeking out across many sites, along with Reddit.

By following these tips you’ll be able to avoid overpaying for something that’s just not worth it.

Look for USB-C

If you want the cheapest deals of the lot, ignore this advice. But companies will generally try to offload their older devices with harder to find cables and fittings like micro-USB.

While the initial price might be lower, the inconvenience of hunting down specific cables and chargers in the long run can be frustrating and costly. I myself am already finding it harder to find a micro-USB charger at home for the two or three devices I have left.

USB-C, on the other hand, is becoming the standard for charging and data transfer, offering faster speeds and more versatility. Investing in a device with USB-C will likely save you hassle and money in the future as it becomes increasingly ubiquitous.

Best Prime Day Deals

Every year, I pick up a few bits in the Prime Day sales. Here are some of the best products I’ve ever bought during the sales. These are products I’ve bought which, to this day, I love and use regularly. They are a great example of how controlled purchases during these period can be just about bagging a bargain and not impulse purchases.

Power Tools – Bosch Power for All Cordless Power Drill

I love this Bosch drill so much. I use it for everything. It’s light enough for small jobs, like screwing together IKEA furniture, but also has hammer function for drilling walls. It’s an absolute work horse that I picked up in the 2019 Prime Day sale and still adore.

The Power for All system is a stroke of genius too. This system means I can guy any of Bosch’s tools in the range and use the same batteries for them all. So I don’t need to have 7 different batteries for 7 different tools. This is why I also bought the Bosch Multi Sander last year for a song.

Fitness – Massage Gun Deals

Massage guns are amazing for two reasons. First, when I do bother to work out (see my recent Limbo Review) a massage gun makes recovery that little bit easier. Second, when herself wants a massage it’s easier with a massage gun! I can avoid hand cramps and complaints about uneven pressure, and she gets a consistent, deep-tissue massage that leaves her feeling relaxed and rejuvenated. It’s a win-win situation for both of us!

The massage gun is one of those amazing things that everyone that calls over and see it, wants one. They’re not even that expensive these days, starting at about €30 on Amazon. It’s one of those purchases I find it unlikely you’ll ever regret.

Wi-Fi Extender

Chances are you know yourself there is one area of the house that doesn’t have Wi-Fi and you’re just living with it. Wi-Fi extenders have made running an internet connection throughout your home a doddle. Deco is a reliable brand that offers a strong balance of value and quality. I installed one of these and was happy with the app that came with it, the speeds, range and extra LAN ports that I got around the gaff.

Electronic Candle Lighter

Right up there on my list of cool thing that could be a gimmick, but isn’t are electronic candle lighters. You keep these charged and you no longer need lighters or matches to light a candle.

They are surprisingly easy to use and reliable. Just press a button, and a small electric arc appears, creating enough heat to light a candle wick instantly. No more burnt fingers or sooty hands reaching down into the bottom of a nearly finished candle.

This is a big one to keep an eye out for USB-C connections on as companies try to clear out their older stock in the sales.

What I am on the Lookout For

Because it’s a good time to buy things, I’ve kept a few random things in my basket for sometime. Things I want or need but am in no rush to actually get.

Socket Organiser

I need to tidy up some tools back home. My auld lad used to always give out about sockets rolling around in a poorly designed case and for that reason I’m eager to grab one of these socket organisers.

With a decent organiser, I can finally put an end to the socket chaos and hopefully earn a posthumous nod of approval from himself.

Solar Panels

Again, back home, I recently installed a solar panel for some Eufy security cameras I had put up. While the battery was reasonably good, they took an age to charge. Not ideal when I’m home visiting the mother, take the cameras down but need to get them back up again. These home security camera solar panels are great for keeping the battery constantly topped up.

Shower Speaker

I’m also have one or two shower speakers added to my basket in the hope they knock a few Euro off them during the sales. It’s something I’ve wanted for some time, but I’m happy to be patient with. Genuinely, this solves a problem for me. Our shower pump is incredibly loud and I like listening to music or a podcast while I shower in the morning but right now, I can’t hear a thing!

This has a suction cup so I can stick it to the wall and easily take it down to charge every few days. I’d rather get one without RGB but it seems nigh on impossible.

Octobuddy

I’m going to be honest. I’m not after one of these myself, but I know lots of people are. The Octobuddy is an incredibly popular phone accessory that lets you stick your phone anywhere. It’s ideal for watching movies on the go or filming Tiktoks with friends. I’m going to say this could be one of the must-have accessories of 2024.

This is one of those guides which could go on forever. Amazon is a massive retailer that will have nearly something for everyone. But as I said, tackle Prime Day with a plan and a budget and you could end up beating the Bezos.

Limbo Weight Loss Review: Can CGM Promote Weight Loss?

Marty
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Limbo Weight Loss Review: Can CGM Promote Weight Loss?

I am pretty disciplined when it comes to Instagram ads and buying random stuff. But Limbo finally got me. It’s a new fitness program promising the sun, moon and stars in very convincing ads. There’s a lot of hype, but I’m here to tell you it doesn’t live up to it all.

Disclaimer: Limbo gave me a 50% discount to test this out. I paid €147.50 to use the service for one month. Limbo did not gain any sign-off or editorial control over this review.

What is Limbo Revolution?

Limbo Revolution, or simply Limbo, is a new fitness wearable. Well, really it’s a source of in-body data. It’s called Continuous Glucose Monitoring or CGM and is the same technology that people living with diabetes may choose to use. Limbo claims to be the “world’s most effective weight loss program” that can give you control over your metabolism.

Limbo does this by combining the data from your CGM with generative AI feedback to monitor your blood sugar and give you feedback on your diet. The general idea is that you learn how to make better decisions with eating certain foods to get the perfect energy levels, or to stay in Limbo.

I loved the idea of gamifying fitness with in-body data. But I was really sold by the countless stories on Instagram ads and eventual emails from a range of sources telling me how amazing the results Limbo could deliver were.

It seemed like such a sure thing.

How Does Limbo Work?

Limbo utilises the same technology used by people living with diabetes. These are small implants that you can administer yourself. They are pretty easy to apply without any help, but word of warning. If you’re squeamish about injections, the marketing of Limbo does omit that there’s a little needle prick needed to get this set up.

It’s genuinely not bad at all though and I wouldn’t let that put you off. I mention this because my other half saw the device used to install the CGM unit and she said it would make her not use Limbo at all.

Once you have the sensor installed, it connects to the Limbo app. The sensor is supposed to last for up to 14 days and will constantly monitor your blood sugar, relaying regular measurements to the Limbo app on your phone.

The Limbo app works best when you engage regularly. You submit the meals you’ve eaten and can also connect heart rate data from other sources. The app will also let you log weight, but only if you have a smart scale. Luckily, I did so I can tell you Limbo didn’t work for me. Sorry for the spoiler. More on that later.

I thought one of the best features was going to be Limbo’s use of AI with the data the app collects on your diet and blood sugar. Limbo uses this, along with some human interactions too, to give you constant feedback as long as you’re logging food.

But Does Limbo Actually Work?

Limbo didn’t work for me.

Back to that scale. I started out at 111kg, went to 112kg and finished up my time with Limbo at 111kg. From all the amazing marketing stories, which I have no doubt are true and are the stories of very happy Limbo customers who’ve achieved great things, this didn’t work for me for many reasons. Naturally, Limbo sold me on success and I didn’t find a single person saying they didn’t get some sort of result. But if needs be, let me be the first.

Limbo isn’t a magic weight loss pill and the app doesn’t claim to be. It still takes a lot of work and discipline to get results from Limbo. I’ll be the first to admit that I was slow to get up to speed. The learning curve for what you are supposed to do with Limbo and how to get the most from the experience is steep.

It took me one entire sensor to realise what Limbo was. Limbo is a Keto diet. I’m not a dietician, by any stretch of the imagination, but after a while I realised I was Googling “keto diet” recipes nightly trying to manage my carb intake and my blood sugar.

Did I need to fork out so much cash to do keto and cut out carbs, taking on a completely different diet to what a personal trainer had told me to do two years ago?

I have to mention at this point that the science behind Limbo is far from irrefutable. ZOE, another CGM-based weight loss program in the UK, has come under criticism for claims about weight loss being an unproven science. I will admit I knew this before joining and was still interested enough to give Limbo a go.

Limbo Onboarding Experience

I felt the onboarding could have been a lot smoother. For the price, I would have liked a bit more hand-holding. Instead, I was sent a kit with some instructions in the box, a link to some videos and to download the app. From the start, I felt like I was scrambling. I have a busy life and Limbo was quickly becoming a new thing that just didn’t fit my day because I had to learn too much.

Because the app is a bit basic in terms of user experience, it was two or three days before I realised there was a course inside the Limbo app to help me learn about my Limbo line and what food I’m supposed to be eating. They will likely claim this is part of baselining, but for me, it just left me feeling like I was already in over my head and not understanding the science behind this.

The community app was ever odder. This seems to be an absolute cornerstone of Limbo, but it’s just a third-party app that Limbo gives you access to. You could join some other unrelated service that uses this as a community app too.

When my Limbo arrived, some of the patches that I was supposed to get to protect my sensor were missing. I asked sales about this, but never heard back. My first sensor actually stopped working after 11 days. To be fair, I was sent a replacement free of charge but this only arrived days after my last sensor expired so I was already finished with the experience.

On that point, the sensors, like the community app, is from a third party. The Limbo packaging has to go through pains to tell you not to download their app because it’ll break your Limbo experience.

Everything had left me feeling that for the price I had paid, even the discounted rate, everything was a bit amateurish. I can accept I’m being an early adopter here, but there’s a basic level of experience I would want for a premium price that Limbo didn’t reach. And that’s before we even get to my biggest critism and the moment I said this wasn’t for me.

The Pitfalls of AI Feedback

For the first few days, I found the feedback insightful, helpful, funny at times and generally just really direct. But on occasion it just became borderline, at best, aggressive and, at worst, mentally detrimental to any weight loss efforts.

I will admit I did Limbo at a not-so-perfect time in my life. But in a way, I feel that gave me an ever more real test, because life happens. But some days were good, some were bad and feedback was mixed. The worst bit of feedback I got came after one of the first times I nailed two meals in a row that I really enjoyed. This piece of feedback slammed my keto muffins saying “every food choice you’ve made has contributed to ongoing weight gain. Snacking isn’t beneficial”. I understand it was the timing of a keto muffin, but I was logging them because they were baked and I wanted to try one to see if it would be a good breakfast.

The feedback loop in Limbo giving unclear feedback.

Now I get that this is being factual, but a proper human piece of feedback here would have recognised there was some positive momentum to build on. Instead, I was left utterly demotivated by a piece of AI feedback. The next day, I wasn’t hurt by the words, but I was angry that this service could give this kind of feedback to people in a much more fragile position than me. And that left me a little worried.

Whatever way you look at this feedback, it’s just contradictory.

This is a fitness approach with few studies done to back it amongst people without diabetes, using data from your body with a fairly rogue AI feedback system. It’s a bit of a recipe for disaster. And ultimately left me in a position where I can not recommend this to anyone.

Is Limbo Worth It?: The Verdict

No. You can do keto without Limbo. And that’s what Limbo is. It’s a keto diet. Sure enough, I learned some things about what I was eating and the impact carbs have on my blood sugar, but that was it. At one point I said this reminded me of using a meat thermometer for the first time. It changed my understanding of how meat is cooked. I did get some learnings into how my body processes food, but nothing that I could consider “a life-changing nudge”.

You do not need to spend €295 for month one and then €195 per month after that to use Limbo. It’s a wild price, which I assume is linked to the fact that Limbo uses medical devices meant more typically for medical settings.

Whatever the reason for the price, it’s just impossible to justify. Add to that how poor the customer experience was for me throughout this and that I genuinely believe the AI feedback can say some pretty outlandish things at the wrong time to people trying to lose weight, and Limbo absolutely lost me.

The financial commitment to Limbo might well be a large part of why it works. Again, please don’t let me take from the stories of people who have succeeded with Limbo. And don’t take this as me saying Limbo won’t work for you. My recommendation would be to look into how Limbo works and try to achieve your goals without handing over such a massive sum of money first.

One final note on my keto comments. If you are in a relationship, sticking to a keto diet can be really tough. Any diet in a household of people can be tough. So factor that into your decision-making too.

All iPhone 16 Set to Share Same A18 Bionic Chip

Marty
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All iPhone 16 Set to Share Same A18 Bionic Chip

Many years ago, Apple launched new iPhones with the exactly same processor on board. However, with the iPhone 14 series this practice changed. Apple began reusing older processors in the entry level new devices. So the iPhone 14 launched with the processor from the iPhone 13 Pro.

This seems set to change again with leaks suggesting all new iPhone 16 devices will share the same A18 Bionic chips.

Some of Apple’s code revealed unused model numbers that follow Apple’s usual naming conventions for flagship devices.

The discovered model numbers are:

  • iPhone17,1
  • iPhone17,2
  • iPhone17,3
  • iPhone17,4
  • iPhone17,5

The fact that all five model numbers start with “17” strongly suggests that they will share the same chip. This differs from the iPhone 15 lineup, where different model numbers were associated with different chips (A16 and A17 Pro).

Will this make choosing the new iPhone 16 that suits you best a little bit harder? Possibly. However, it’s likely that Apple is moving back to normality after years of chip shortages led to reusing older chips in the first place.

Where to Buy Mr. Beast Bars in Ireland

Marty
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Where to Buy Mr. Beast Bars in Ireland

I jumped in the car and set off on my trip back to Dublin. I was peckish, so I pulled into the petrol station. Rather shockingly I saw Mr. Beast bars beside the till. About 4 different flavours. I was at the launch of Mr. Beast Burger so I was shocked to see these land without similar pomp and fanfare. Here’s where you can get them, and what I think about them.

Where to Buy Mr. Beast Bar – AKA Feastables

The first place has to be where I spotted it myself. It was an Applegreen Petrol station. I’m a bit taken aback by it all to be honest that this is where I first get to pick up one of the most internationally sought after chocolate bars. I was so surprised I picked up two without even really thinking about it. There seemed to be no shortage of the bars and for something that could be in massive demand, they cost just €3.50.

Don’t get me wrong. For a 60g chocolate bar, that’s a lot.

I’m still left wondering if Applegreen really put any marketing behind this because Mr. Beast Bars have similar social potential to the likes of Logan Paul’s Prime drink. They did post about it on Facebook, but that’s just not the right demographic is it.

Anyway, there you go. The bars in are Applegreens across the country. It might be worth noting though, that these are only the old packaging Feastables that are available.

Munchdiddleys

Online and retail sweet shop, Munchdiddleys offers up a wide range of Beast Feastables. The range far exceeds those of Applegreen. But so too do the prices.

Similar looking 60g Mr. Beast Bars will set you back up to €8. So I’m not going to be dwelling here much because that’s silly money.

Sweet Boutique

Another online shop selling the same bars you’ll find in Applegreen is Sweet Boutique. Two negatives here though. They are €1 more expensive and they’re out of stock.

Are Mr. Beast Bars Worth the Hype?

I bought two bars from Applegreen. Absolute impulse buy. Didn’t really think about what I was getting but here’s what I thought.

Mr. Beast Bar – Original Chocolate

This is gross. It’s like Hershey’s chocolate in that it tastes, literally, a little like sick. This isn’t too surprising either. American chocolate contains butyric acid. This isn’t so common in Irish chocolate but it does exist in vomit. So that might seem a little familiar, unfortunately.

Mr. Beast Bar – Crunch

Then oddly, this one is lovely. It’s still not an amazing chocolate bar, but it’s enjoyable. This does contain the same chocolate, but it seems to taste better. The flavour is offset with some puffed rice which seems to help big time. I don’t think for €3.50 I’d be rushing out to pick this up again, but I would eat it again if I was given it.

What do you think? Over hyped or worth the hype?

Feastable Mr. Beast Bar FAQs

Where can I buy Mr. Beast Bars in Ireland?

Mr. Beast Bars are available in Applegreen stations nationwide. It’s the most reliable place to get them.

Are Feastables the same as Mr. Beast Bars

Yes! Mr. Beast is so famous that he tends to be more memorable than anything else. But the brand is actually called Feastables, despite most people searching for Mr. Beast Bars.

Why are Mr. Beast Bars so expensive?

Feastables are expensive because they are still relatively rare here in Ireland. They cost more to import and come much further. They aren’t special beyond that. You could argue you’re paying for the Mr. Beast brand to a certain extent too, which funds his content creation empire!

Can You Replace Your MacBook with iPad?

Marty
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Can You Replace Your MacBook with iPad?

This year Apple launched the new iPad Pro with an M4 Processor. It was heralded as a laptop beater. So when I was in Japan, just as this launched, I bought one. I also bought a new MacBook Pro and ever since I’ve been wondering if I should have picked one instead of the other. Join me for a wander into my mind which will hopefully help some people choose between picking an iPad or a MacBook.

I’m going to write about MacBooks and iPads because that’s what I have, but this could largely apply to all laptops and tablets.

Can iPad Replace MacBook?

The only honest answer to whether or not you can do everything you do on a MacBook with an iPad is; “it depends”. This will sound stupid, but the biggest reason I bought both was Football Manager 2024. Sure enough, I’m deep into a Football Manager save, but it’s not the only reason I bought both – it was the general scenario that game presented.

Football Manager has two different versions for iPad and MacBook, with the iPad one being much “lighter”. This left me knowing that not everything on iPad will be as “full fat” as it is on MacBook. So that’s my one use case that left me buying both.

But you might have a totally different set of uses. For example, if you like editing photos and just simple writing, I could see a world where the iPad, perhaps specifically the iPad Pro, is more than enough for you.

If you get the iPad Pro’s Magic Keyboard, it’s just a small MacBook that runs iPad OS instead of Mac OS. This limits certian apps, but some mobile apps are superior to their desktop apps.

My iPad Pro and Magic Keyboard

Photoshop is a great example. Adobe has destroyed the experience of Photoshop in my eyes. But Procreate, once you get used to everything, is a great piece of editing software.

I could easily shoot some photos for an article, edit them and type up the piece on my iPad Pro.

So it depends. you might be able to completely replace your MacBook workflows with an iPad Pro. But you’ll need to make sure the difference between iPad OS and Mac OS doesn’t limit you too much.

For now, I’m still glad I have both but I am a bit like that current meme. I need the laptop for big purchases. Not everyone is going to be like that.

An iPad Could Replace MacBook

The one thing to watch out for is creators on platforms like YouTube saying they are now thinking about replacing their MacBook with iPads because they are so powerful. These comments come out every year yet the same creators are often back one year later just saying that they could do it – yet they haven’t.

As I’ve alluded to, the most important thing you can do it make a big list of things you want to use your machine for. Then see if it can be done easily on iPad OS.

What I will say is that if you should find everything you need to do is possible on iPad OS, the experience is very laptop like these days. The iPad Pro in particular is incredibly powerful. More powerful that you’ll ever really be able to get from the device because Apple insists it cannot overtake MacBook in terms of overall usability.

But that said, iPad is incredibly powerful these days. The Magic Keyboard is one of the most premium (but expensive) iPad accessories on the market, but it delivers an experience to boot.

Should You Buy Both?

And then we arrive at me. I bought both. Why?

I recently discovered a lot of people don’t realise you can use your iPad as a second screen for your MacBook. Duet even lets you use your iPad as a second screen for Windows too. When I’m traveling for events, these comob gives me a wild amount of flexibility. At an event like IFA, I can bring the iPad, pop into the press room, type up a quick article and get back out again. No need to carry around a big heavy laptop for the day.

But when I get back to the hotel, I can fire up the MacBook alongside the iPad as as second screen and have an office like workspace on the road.

Incredibly valuable set up for me. Even at home, I sometimes like siting downstairs at the dinner table working on my MacBook and iPad as second screen. It’s a wildly expensive setup and I don’t use near 100% of the power at my fingertips, but I do like it. If you don’t mind the price, like seamless integration and premium experiences – don’t rule out both.

What is what3words and how to use it

Marty
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What is what3words and how to use it

Fans of Clarkson’s Farm may have heard many people trying to explain how what3words is to Jeremy. The good news is that he now understands it. Now I’m here to introduce you to this new way of speaking about locations which will make life easier for you and could save your life some day.

How Does what3words Work?

Traditional maps aren’t all that accurate. I’ve had countless delivery drivers come to the street behind where I live or drive around in circles trying to find my front door. The issue is that addresses are a very old way of locating things. what3words is the solution to pinpointing any location around the world in an extremely userfriendly way.

The team at what3words have divided the entire world into a grid of 3m by 3m squares. They have then assigned each of these squares with a unique combination of 3 words that never changes. For example, Dublin Airport is defections.digest.overslept.

At least that’s the main what3words location for Dublin Airport, but it’s not the most useful use-case for what3words. Let’s look at a better example.

Why and When to Use what3words?

Let’s stick with the example of Dublin Airport. If you’ve ever parked in Dublin Airport’s car park, you’ll know it can be tough to find your car after a week away in the sun. Because what3words is accurate down to a 3m by 3m space, you can note the 3 word location you’ve parked in.

what3words locating a parking space in Dublin Airport’s Express Red Car Park

This is also extremely handy if you find yourself in a situation where you need someone else to pick up your car somewhere. Instead of just saying the Red Car Park, or even including Row Z, you can give them a what3words location and they’ll get straight to the car door.

Or, imagine you’re meeting a friend at a gig. No longer do you have to “meet by the hotdog stand” and hope you both mean the same one at the same side. You can just share a three word location code and meet on the spot. It has similar benefits for meeting someone off Adverts for a purchase. You can see there’s a range of times this is a great idea.

These are just some of the many use-cases for what3words, and possibly some of the most mundane by comparison.

what3words, Emergency Services and Farming

what3words is fast being adopted by emergency services that need to find people and locations quickly. While Ireland does have Advanced Mobile Location which will pinpoint your location to emergency services to within 10m, there’s no harm in knowing how what3words work in an emergency too.

The mention of Clarkson’s Farm also shows a valuable situation for a service like what3words. Farmer’s can quickly note down a location on their land where there’s an issue with crops or animals and get someone to come address it later.

what3words: The Verdict

what3words isn’t a perfect solution, and again Clarkson’s Farm shows why. The fact Jeremy doesn’t know the service and didn’t really get it at first, is the solutions biggest issue. Because what3words hasn’t been officially adopted by the Irish Government for emergency services, there very well could be a scenario where a patient wants to use it but responders are not aware of how the service works. There are also some potential language issues, but what3words does support a wide range of global languages.

I am absolutely convinced that the world needs what3words. It’s too clever a solution to some really frustrating location issues that come with modern life. It’s not perfect yet, but I believe the service will only get better over time. So it’s worth having the app on your phone and giving it a whirl the next time you travel or need to meet someone.

Kilkenny Jersey Appears in Welcome to Wrexham

Marty
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Kilkenny Jersey Appears in Welcome to Wrexham

I finally had some time to catch up on Welcome to Wrexham. It’s my guilty pleasure. I love it. But I wasn’t prepared for what I saw during a recent episode. While I’m getting used to seeing the familiar Irish faces of James McLean lining out for The Red Dragons, I wasn’t ready to see a Kilkenny jersey pop up in the Ivory Coast. He’s even in the preview shot for the show in the Disney app.

But that’s exactly what happens in Season 3 Episode 6, as we follow the dynamic Jacob Mendy’s trip to play international football with Gambia at the 2023 African Cup of Nations. Walking through the streets of the Ivory Coast, Mendy stops to chat with a man in a Kilkenny shirt.

It’s not just any Kilkenny shirt though. This is the 2006 fan replica jersey which would have been sold as Kilkenny defeated Cork in a thrilling final by just 3 points.

Kilkenny defeated Cork in the 2006 All Ireland SHC Final at Croke Park.
Kilkenny’s 2006 All Ireland winning jersey features in Welcome to Wrexham Season 3 – Source: GAA.ie

But just like the memories of Kilkenny’s All Ireland hurling dominance are a distant memory, so too is this shirt from a Kilkenny fan at the time.

How did a a Kilkenny shirt end up over in Ivory Coast? Shirts like this are often dropped off in clothes bins and end up getting shipped to Africa and either destroyed, reworked or resold.

Going by the lad in this shot, he’s just spotted one of the most beautiful GAA jersey styles and was taken by it. He’s wearing it really well to to be fair to him, with the sleeves rolled up a bit. But I suppose I can’t rule out that he’s on holidays from Thomastown either. Oddly it’s not Kilkenny’s first connection to Wrexham either, with Thomas O’Connor, a defensive player with the club, also born in Kilkenny.

Seeing shirts abroad like this isn’t an unusual thing to happen either. GAA jerseys are forever popping up in places unexpectedly. And I don’t just mean the incredible number of times they’re spotted in crowds at sporting events. In fact, there’s an entire reddit dedicated to this called GAA Warzone, though it’s not been updated in a while.

Tipperary representing in Syria
by inGAAWarzone
Meath on the barricades in Thailand
by inGAAWarzone

Is Wanderlog Worth It? Trip Planning App Review

Marty
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0
Is Wanderlog Worth It? Trip Planning App Review

The trip of a lifetime. I’m just back from a stunning 15 days in Japan. It was all planned at relatively short notice for a trip that includes a 14-hour long haul flight. Because it was all last minute, I busted out the spreadsheets to get the trip itinerary organised. It was one of those moments where I thought “surely there’s an app to help with this”. There is. It’s called Wanderlog and it made my trip to Japan so much easier.

What is Wanderlog?

Wanderlog is essentially a calendar for your holiday. As I mentioned, I’d started planning my holiday in spreadsheets. Tracking dates, transfers and even exchange rates. But as the plans got tweaked and moved around, the spreadsheet started to get messy.

After moving my plans into Wanderlog, it became so much easier to plan the trip. The app integrates with Google Maps which gives you an incredible map view of your trip on a daily basis. This was incredibly useful for me given I would be touring Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Arima. With so much moving around in different cities, even extended stays in sprawling cities did little for my familiarity with the area.

A sample daily itinerary

The ability to overlay a daily itinerary onto Google Maps gave me an extremely helpful visual method of planning the day. Starting from the hotel, I could plan a looped route around the city in different clusters. Grouping sights and attractions close to each other and making the most of my time in certain areas. I also liked being able to make general lists of things I wanted to check out. I had lists of sights, attractions, bars and restaurants that looked great. They weren’t part of any days plans, but I could see them on my map so I could dip into these spots when I was in the area or within a Metro stop of one.

Just one of the amazing sights Wanderlog let me squeeze into my Japan trip

A couple of years ago I went to Korea. It was the last big holiday I went on without using Wanderlog and in hindsight I feel like I wasted a lot of time mainly because I didn’t have that sense of what should be done at the same time based on travel times and proximity.

Green markers were on the daily itinerary. Yellow markers were bars I was interested in checking out.

Arguably one of the most attractive elements of Wanderlog is that the app offers a massive range of features completely free. One of the biggest premium features you must pay for is offline access to your itinerary. But with EU roaming and relatively cheap eSIM plans easy to organise before you travel, I don’t really see this as a deal breaker.

That said, I was so massively impressed with Wanderlog while getting the holiday planned, I did wonder if I did ask myself if Wanderlog premium might be worth it. I opted for the 7-day free trial to test things out.

Wanderlog’s Premium Features

Wanderlog costs about €60 per year and you can only pay for the app annually. That’s a substantial outlay for an holiday planning app before you leave the comfort of your own home. But what do you get?

Offline Access to your Itinerary

As I mentioned aleady, you do get offline maps. This wasn’t a massive selling point for me in Japan. I had already loaded my SIM Local plan onto my phone and had data from the moment I landed in Tokyo. Japan is an expansive country, but I still don’t recall ever being out of coverage and wishing I had offline access to my plans.

AI Assistant

What kind of service are you offering these days if you can’t plug AI into it. Once you go premium, you can unlock Wanderlog’s AI Assistant. As you plan your trip, you can ask the virtual chat box for local tips and then save these recommendations to your daily plans. To be honest, this wasn’t for me. I just rather go do my own research and add things that appeal to me whether I’ve found them from travel guides or YouTube videos.

Route Optimisation

By using Wanderlog at all, you’re already optimising your route. You can cluster attractions together based on how much you want to do in different areas divided by day. If you are a Wanderlog Premium user, you can go one step further. Just bundle everything into your daily itinerary and hit “Optimise”. Wanderlog will then cross reference what you want to fit into one day and give you the most efficient way of getting your day done, including travel times.

I did use this once or twice, but found that I could manually do this pretty easily too. A nice idea, but I’m looking for things to justify a hefty subscription cost. This isn’t the feature to do it.

Export to Google Maps

Being able to export my travel plans to Google Maps, at first, seemed like an absolute winning idea. But it was completely useless. I’m not sure it actually worked. It seemed to me that Wanderlog shares the locations to your Google Maps account in a certain way so that they can take it back when your subscription expires. I could be wrong, but that’s the impression I was left with.

What ever way they’ve worked this up, exporting was of no use to me.

What I will say is that Wanderlog itself as an app is so incredibly well designed and useful, that this was a feature I didn’t miss. I’d open the app when it was time to move to the next item on the itinerary, and just tap “Open Directions in Google Maps”. It worked so well that I was left wondering why I’d ever need to export to Google Maps. Which again left me wondering how I could justify a premium subscription.

Gmail Scanning

Now we’re talking. Slight privacy concerns aside, you can connect Wanderlog to your Gmail with a premium membership. I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed, but there are a lot of emails you have to handle with a big trip. For Japan, I was juggling flights, hotel bookings, train tickets, bus tickets, event tickets and countless other little bits and pieces. While I had the trial active, anything I was booking automatically got pulled into Wanderlog.

The app was pretty smart to recognise what was related to the trip. It uses confirmation emails and dates from the trip to make accurate assumptions that the booking you’re making is related to the trip your taking. Once items are imported, you can check they are correct and add extra details if you like. If the app misses something, you can also upload at attach files and documents. This is a premium only feature.

I liked this feature. But the common thread continues. Would I pay for this at all, let along pay a substantial fee.

The Verdict: Is Wanderlog Worth Paying For?

No.

It pains me to say this because I appreciate that Wanderlog is an absolutely fantastic app. It truly contributed to one of the best holidays I’ve ever been on and I’m not so sure that trip would have been so enjoyable without Wanderlog either. I understand that apps like this have to make money, which Wanderlog does from subscriptions and booking affiliations. It seems a simple business model, but I really struggle to see how I could justify the massive price tag.

Perhaps worst of all is that Wanderlog suffers from it’s own excellence a bit. The freemium features of the app are frankly more than enough to plan a great holiday and a world apart from the hardship of planning everything in a spreadsheet or a Word doc.

I can’t help but feel Wanderlog would be a much easier sell if the price model was monthly and cheaper. I would have considered €60 if it was a lifetime license, but recurring annually at that rate is just too much.

I’m not sure I’ve ever been so torn by a review. I absolutely recommend Wanderlog, but just cannot for a second recommend premium.

Best Sodastream Alternatives in Ireland

Marty
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0
Best Sodastream Alternatives in Ireland

From a very young age, I was a massive fan of Sodastream. I’ve written about it before. My granny used to have one in her house and I adored it. Naturally, 5 year old me didn’t know about Sodastream and the connection to Palestine. To be fair, much older me took some time too. I’m not here to judge you whether or not you take an interest in boycotts and the likes. I am here to talk to you about the Sodastream alternatives that are available in Ireland.

Aarke Carbonators – Best Sodastream Alternative in Ireland

Aarke is a Swedish company that’s focused highly on design. If you never liked Sodastream because of design, let alone all the other stuff, Aarke will interest you.

Sodastream tends to be very plastic and feels rather cheap when put up against the products you’d find in a premium kitchen. If you imagine Kitchen Aid versus Kenwood, that’s what I’m talking about.

Image of Aarke courtesy of Faerly.

Aarke offers a wide range of water carbonators, starting at €168, which does put them in the upper price bracket. However, the build quality is far superior, even with the entry level Aarke Carbonator 3. One additional nice point is that glass bottles are more the norm. Glass bottles are great because they look awesome, but they are also dishwasher safe. It’s very hard to get dishwasher safe Sodastream bottles.

You can buy Aarke from Faerly too. Faerly is an Irish sustainability brand stocking some excellent products. I understand for many buying the cheapest solution is the only choice, but when you can buy from a brand like Faerly I always recommend it.

C02 Gas Bottle Exchange

There was a long time when Argos was the only place I could get CO2 bottles swapped out. This is an important point when it comes to owning a carbonator. They’re only useful as long as you can get the gas for them.

There was another large Australian company in Ireland offering Sodastream exchange, but it was always a pain going to get the bottles swapped out.

Faerly offers a delivery exchange system. It’s absolutely excellent. You send back your empties and they give you a €10 voucher for each so you can buy more. Brilliant, isn’t it.

Anyway, some other choices for you.

My Soda: Another Scandinavian Option

Massive cavaet here. I’ve never tested out My Soda. They are a Finnish maker of water carbonators that I just have to include because of the price. For just €60 you can get yourself a water carbonator from My Soda. If you add in some syrups with your order, you’ll get free shipping too.

One issue here is that they can’t ship their products to Ireland with a CO2 canister. I say problem. You can still order your bottles of CO2 from Faerly. So if you don’t want to buy Sodastream but feel like Aarke is just a little overpriced, My Soda is a very viable alternative.

Drinkmate: The German Option

I’m including Drinkmate here because I’ve seen them in operation before and liked them. I’m also including Drinkmate because we recently brought the deposit return system into Ireland; a system which Germany has had for ages. So it’s worth mentioning that if you hate the run to the shop with a bag of bottles to get your money back, why not change your habits.

Any drinks carbonator will reduce the number of plastic bottles you buy. I used to buy dozens of bottles a week, but now thanks to a filter jug and a water carbonator, I don’t buy any.

Drinkmate will ship the Omnifizz to Ireland for €135, it comes with a few spare bottles and is again compatible with the CO2 canisters that Faerly deliver to your front door as part of the CO2 canister return scheme.

Personally, from these products, I would recommend Aarke above all. But I appreciate that it’s also the priciest on the list. Which ever one you buy, I think you’ll be happy enough. At the end of the day, they all kind of do the exact same thing!

What I have seen popping up in a few more places these days are syrups. Random little shops around Dublin sell drops and flavours to spruce up your fizzy water. I might take a closer look at that soon!

Google Searches Soar for Fastest Euros Goal

Marty
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0
Google Searches Soar for Fastest Euros Goal

The European Championships are into day two without too many shocks. That was until Albania scored just 23 seconds into their tie with Italy in the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund, Germany.

As a result, using Google Trends, I can see that Google searches spiked as football fans at home and in the pub sought out to see if they had just witnessed a record breaker. And indeed they had.

Google has kind of ruined moments like this. Instead of people discussing and trying to remember Greece’s record being set back in 2004 by Dmitri Kirichenko, we all just Google it.

In case you’re wondering, yes. Bajrami’s goal for Albania is the fastest goal in Euro’s history now! Now put your phone away and enjoy the football.

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