It’s installed on the Xbox waiting for the launch clock to reach zero, but Bethesda are keeping the teasing going with another Fallout 4 trailer.
The fifth in the game’s series, or third since Bethesda took on the franchise, is the most anticipated game of 2015. With launch due next week. Here’s the latest trailer in case your appetite needed further whetting.
As one of the world’s biggest tech conferences gets set to wrap up tomorrow, Web Summit leaves behind a legacy of treachery, crap WiFi and €20 hot-dogs. Does Ireland even like tech or are Web Summit crying over spilled milk?
Good news doesn’t travel fast at all. Bad news on the other hand, goes like the clappers. Imagine yourself in conversation with someone who doesn’t have more than a passing interest in technology where the topic switches to Web Summit and the move to Lisbon. There are two inevitable ways this conversation goes.
In the red corner we have the Web Summit, big technology phenomenon with a perception of outgrowing boots and forgetting roots. In the blue corner we have the government. Another group who the general public are only delighted to give out about. The perfect storm, where no-one knows what to complain about, but gives out anyway.
The government is a whipping boy for every nation, but just why do so many people feel that Web Summit deserves the slating it gets? Well it’s more complicated than that.
Okay, so Food Gate didn’t help them, there’s no defending the state of that €20 hot dog lads, but ultimately people enjoy slating Web Summit in a “good enough for them” manner of fashion. The irony of poor WiFi at a tech conference is just to sweet to pass up, with us admitting we’ve been caught up in the furore a few times.
We don’t believe people are aggrieved about the Web Summit leaving Ireland, they are more upset that a tech conference born and raised here is flying the coup. People have a testy relationship with technology at the best of times. It may be their phone doesn’t work the way they want it to or their broadband speeds are shite, but either way technology is rarely what makes life easier; quite the contrary.
There is also a very understandable and human reason. The technology industry is seen as a young people’s workplace where money is made big and quick. It’s an industry that grew quick, leaving many behind who could now only see these new big money makers in workplaces with bean bags, flexible hours and free Macbooks.
News of new tech jobs break on a weekly basis, but it’s more common to find conversation surrounding tax breaks for big tech companies in Ireland than celebrating some of the world’s biggest companies choosing a little island in the west of Europe as home…
The Lisbon debacle is the perfect microcosm for Ireland’s attitude towards technology. The ill advised leaking of emails between Paddy Cosgrave and government officials shows the government could have done more to keep the event in Ireland, but thought it unlikely the Web Summit would go anywhere and so kept efforts to a minimum.
The huge concern for us, is the lack of Irish startups as we walked through the Downtown area of Web Summit. You’ll hear Dutch pitches, German pitches – the whole lot, but one of the only Irish accents we heard pitch today was for a UK company. Chances are that non-Irish investors will be giving their cash to non-Irish startups, with us celebrating the 3 day event that brought them together.
The tech scene in Ireland is a false economy, not because of taxes but instead because the successes we celebrate are not homegrown. For us to truly be able to say Ireland loves tech, we must first be a nation where startups receive unrivaled support, encouragement and adoption; much like Portugal. Portugal is a country that loves tech.
Now that we’ve nailed down Automation, Big Data and the protection of that collected data as a key topic at this year’s Web Summit, we’ve shifted our focus towards the best startups at Web Summit 2015.
Given the tendency of the Irish market to enjoy the odd pint, Frink should prove massively popuilar for Night Summit attendees. Frink, a Greek company based in Athens, exists to drive punters to bars and clubs by offering them their first drink free. There is no cost to you as the user, with the pub being happy in the knowledge there is no such thing as going for one pint.
It’s really that simple, but you’ll need an Android phone, with the iOS app still in the works. So if you’re around the Dublin area tonight you can avail of a Frink in selected bars, including Café en Seine and Bruxelles.
If you’re heading out for a pint, you can’t be looking like you were dragged through a bush backwards. WellDressed uses a simple selfie to find an outfit that will have you ready to go on the pull. While women are generally concerned about their shape and how clothes sit on the body, WellDressed instead focuses on men’s faces and skin tone to find outfits that accentuate the face. Apparently, that’s what men do!
The wardrobe that the app references is two fold. WellDressed recommends clothes to you which you can purchase, or it will choose from the wardrobe you already own after you’ve uploaded the contents. The choice of clothes put out by the app even changes depending on season an weather to make sure you don’t freeze your nuts off!
WellDressed, your personal stylist, is currently available for download on iOS.
After getting all dressed up to hit the town for pints, are you the one who pulls the plug on five-a-side at the last minute. We all have that one mate who bails leaving the game hanging by a thread. Teamer is a smart solution where you can manage team lists for sports teams. Typically, your five-a-side team is likely to have a base of 18 players who swap in and out as time permits every week. Teamer allows you to manage that list, have a starting ten and guys on standby too!
Teamer can even manage the payments too, so that guy who sneaks away every week to get money from his car will finally be paying up!
The use of the app is free, with a small charge in place should you manage payments through the app too.
The back and forth battle between Web Summit and the Government would appear to have dragged RTÉ into the equation, as seasoned reporter Sharon Ní Bheoláin absolutely grilled Daire Hickey on RTÉ News this evening.
Sharon began the interview by trying to land an early punch, stating “I should say we had expected to speak to Paddy Cosgrave, who had pulled out before we came”. Now we’re not going to sink to the joke making level that we really want to here, but as much as Paddy is the figurehead of Web Summit, Sharon showed little recognition to Daire, who in fairness did co-found the event all those years ago.
If you’re hoping things get better they don’t, as this was car crash TV at its finest. Before watching the clip, natural instincts kicked in, as a voice inside my head started shouting – “get the popcorn, that Daire lad is going to clean the head off her”, but how wrong the voice in my head was!
Daire remained calm throughout, but Sharon was like a dog with a bone, constantly interrupting and cutting across the tech conference co-founder. Whether or not she had an editor in her ear or not remains unclear, but either way, we’d love to know a little more about what set the mood at hypertense.
Totes awky momo.
Well the wait is finally over and the first day is already done and dusted. It’s just like Dublin Bus. You wait for it for ages then it just flies past when it comes around. With that in mind, here’s what we took away from Web Summit: Day One.
Last year was the Internet of Things and how the world is becoming more and more connected. With all this connectivity, we are producing an insane amount of data on a wide range of areas we’ve never had before. Standing in the way of progress and further data collection is how we protect these data sets.
@Goos3D_IE main sources concern: data privacy/protect, data & infrastructure security, algorithmic/anticipatory governance #smartcities
— Rob Kitchin (@RobKitchin) November 3, 2015
Within the coming years, this topic is likely to take centre stage in the tech world.
There we have it…he’s called it. @RobKitchin says protecting digital data will be the big subject over the next 5-10 years #websummit — Goos3D (@Goos3D_IE) November 3, 2015
Once the apprehension that surrounds sharing our lives with technology can be moved to one side, the benefits are manifold.
Speaking at the Machine Summit, Gary Bloom, CEO of MarkLogic, used Dublin as an example of a non-smart city, rife with inefficiencies.
Gary Bloom #WebSummit2015 roasting Irish govt. Dublin “not a smart city” as govt bodies not sharing info/thinking laterally. Preach Gary.
— Aoife Noelle Ngo (@aoifennph) November 3, 2015
The Dublin Dashboard provides us with a great example of data sources not utilised by local governments and councils for a host of reasons, the obvious being commute times. Ben Wellington gave a great TED talk on the worst place to park in New York, found out using Big Data, which is largely available to the public. Such data is now slowly trickling into the public domain in Ireland too.
This is really the symbolic metaphor for our trust in technology. In cinema, we’ve been wowed by the thought of self driving cars. Tesla are leading the way on this becoming a reality as autopilot is gaining a stronger place in the public eye, but will people ever trust a car to do the driving? Audi’s Sven Schuwirth makes a different point that might just make people think differently about the adoption of technology that puts greater weight in the benefits to the risks.
Autopiloted driving will reduce accidents and impact car insurance – Sven Schuwirth #websummit pic.twitter.com/PAXrprTBPR — Goos3D (@Goos3D_IE) November 3, 2015
Sure given Ireland’s agricultural backround, we can’t just focus on the connected big schmoke! Drones are everywhere these days and they are almost certainly going to be the big gift this Christmas, but commercial drones are also exciting, offering new methods of reducing losses in and increasing yields for farmers.
Faults can be spotted in planting machines #drones #websummit #missedpotatoes pic.twitter.com/C8bYSiW9EZ
— Goos3D (@Goos3D_IE) November 3, 2015
Jono Millan of DroneDeploy described how drones carry something more important than physical items. Instead they carry with them huge amounts of data. He continued to describe certain drones in the field which are LTE enabled, meaning they can constantly beam data to the DroneDeploy database, giving farmers amazing data on how their crops are performing.
All of these sound great right? Of course, but we have to overcome some major trust issues that we have with Skynet Big Data and how its used, share and regulated.
Fear not, this is just the Web Summit round up at the end of Day One!
We’ll be back on the LIVE blog in the morning, bringing you even more tech news and updates as the day goes on.
It was the night before Web Summit and all was quiet, except Dublin which is currently hopping for Night Summit! With Ireland’s biggest tech event set to bow out on a high with 30,000 attendees over the next 3 days, here’s the who you’ll need to follow on Twitter to keep up to date and have a bit of a laugh.
We’re calling it. At the time of writing, this account has no more than twenty followers, but they have massive potential to be a great laugh over the coming three days. Watch this space as the WiFi quality fluctuates and the humour rises.
Enjoying the wifi? Lovely isn’t it? #websummit pic.twitter.com/EECZPJyWnn
— Wifi Status (@websummitwifi) November 2, 2015
One of the Web Summit’s founding members, Paddy will be tweeting the goings on of the Web Summit over the three days. Well, whether it’s him or not, who knows, but his account is a centre-piece of knowledge and updates you’ll simply have to follow for the big event.
It’s official: Over 42,000 people will attend #WebSummit from 134 countries over the coming 3 days & 4 nights https://t.co/CnpmUr6nSu — Paddy Cosgrave (@paddycosgrave) November 2, 2015
Okay, call me Captain Obvious, but you’d be amazed how many people forget to follow the obvious accounts! Like Paddy, WebSummitHQ will be updating you throughout the Web Summit with the biggest and latest going’s on. Lots of stuff just pops up throughout the event, so have your notifications from accounts like this turned on.
42000 #WebSummit attendees. 134 countries. Our most international event. Read the top 20 most represented countries: https://t.co/SSMxRw1kKd
— Web Summit (@WebSummitHQ) November 2, 2015
Oh come on, surely you saw that coming. For the second year running we’ll be covering Web Summit LIVE for you! Follow our Twitter where we’ll be posting all sorts of media and news updates as the three days unfold. Want us to ask a startup you’ve spotted a question? Let us know and we’ll try sort it for you.
We’re Asking The Big Questions At #WebSummit #wifi https://t.co/lWSdRFfnAR — Goos3D (@Goos3D_IE) November 2, 2015
We don’t believe in discouraging competition, in fact we love the sheer number of quality bloggers, journalists, tweeters etc that will be covering Web Summit along with us this year. You’re likely to see us re-tweeting the likes of Ciamhie Mc Digital over the coming days.
Twas the night before #websummit and all through the house… Christmas is to kids what @websummit is to us!!! pic.twitter.com/sesrHXLjJy
— Ciamhie Mc Digital (@CiamhieMc) November 2, 2015
As per previous point, we’re not anti big fish in the pond as can so often be the case. Granted, Adrian may only tweet every now and then about Web Summit, when he does, chances are people are listening. Some of his tweets can be refreshingly down to earth too…
Web Summit app is pretty decent. — Adrian Weckler (@adrianweckler) November 2, 2015
Protip! Did you know there are over 100 volunteers whose sole job it is involves covering Web Summit on every social media platform imaginable? Yup, let me introduce you to the Liveteam. After #WebSummit, #liveteam is the best hashtag to follow for the event. These guys and gals are made up of enthusiastic bloggers and social gurus who’ll be tweeting and instagramming everything they can get their smartphones locked on.
All set for #websummit. I’ll be on the #LiveTeam so be sure to say hello if you see me ? pic.twitter.com/zDfXvz9Kkn
— Lydia O’Byrne (@littlelydia) November 2, 2015
Hugh Gallagher is the guy over social and the Web Summit Liveteam. Keep and eye on his social stream for his picks of the best the Liveteam has to offer.
I realised my 18 year dream by chatting with The King Gianluca Vialli ahead of Sport Summit @WebSummitHQ next month: http://t.co/xQ1Pw7XlDF
— Hugh Gallagher (@hughgallagherrr) October 16, 2015
Sure enough, you’ll be reluctant in thinking about downloading the Web Summit app, but you can connect with loads of fellow attendees and their social media. You can download the iOS version and Android version now.
The countdown clock to Web Summit is closing in on zero and excitement is building ahead of the final event before they move to Lisbon. There’s a lot of stuff going on, but we’ll be focused on how the talks of Web Summit affects everyday tech users. Here’s three talks in particular we’re looking forward to hearing.
Cars are fast becoming more and more aligned to the futuristic visions of Hollywood. Tesla’s recent autopilot features are frightfully similar to the self driving cars seen in Demolition Man.
To discuss the road we’re on towards automobile automation, Audi’s Sven Schuwirth will be on hand. Sven is Head of Brand and Sales Development with Audi, as the company clearly see demand for automation growing in the future.
Getting the shift has been a corner stone of Irish society for many years now, with tech becoming a far less frowned upon medium. This is nowhere more visible than in the public adoption of Tinder. Tinder is like a virtual nightclub where a simple swipe is the same as giving the old wink across the bar. Founder, Sean Rad, will be having a twenty minute chat with Forbes’ Steven Bertoni to discuss what has been a roller coaster year.
Here at Goos3D, our ultimate aim is to make tech a little more fun and approachable for the public. With that in mind, we are understandably excited to see any talk that’s interested in overcoming obstacles to technology adoption. There are more and more people trying out things like Nest or Philips Hue as uses for home automation are becoming more real to the public. This twenty-five minute talk will include specialists from Philips, Logitech and Zonoff, hosted by Andy O’Donoghue from TV3’s The Gadget Buzz.
Is it simply a cool gadget, or will virtual reality touch most elements of our future lives. In what may be a talk from a slightly biased viewpoint, the inventor of Oculus Rift, the world leader in VR, will be sharing his vision for the future of virtual reality.
We recently looked at how past fictions of James Bond had become realities and now focus turns to our more broad connected world. With more and more devices being connected on a daily basis, representatives from Movidius and DAQRI will be discussing how “seeing” machines will impact our day to day lives.
This is but the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the next couple of days, but this should be enough to whet your appetite. Keep and eye on our site and social media for the latest news and updates from Web Summit 2015.
Online social experiment, Twin Strangers, rose to prominence this year by trying to find strangers who could almost be considered separated at birth. A chance encounter aboard a recent Ryanair flight circumnavigated such a process.
Guy on right is the husband of my friend @elrottencrotch. Guy on left is a STRANGER he met on a flight last night! pic.twitter.com/kwBFOOEoMc
— Lee Beattie (@leebeattie) October 30, 2015
The two men, both travelling to Ireland on holiday’s are complete strangers who just happened to be sitting beside each other on the same flight. The resemblance is indeed uncanny, but the weirdness doesn’t stop there.
@leebeattie @elrottencrotch The love affair continued post flight #BeardTwins pic.twitter.com/PDeqp73S6Q — Ross Hunt (@RossJamesHunt) October 30, 2015
The two men proceeded to check into the exact same hotel, have a brief laugh about everything, go their separate ways and randomly meet again in a pub later that night. You literally couldn’t make this stuff up, with this chance encounter being retweeted almost twenty thousand times already.
Original poster of the tweet, Lee Beattie is now receiving about twenty messages per hour of ginger bearded men, something she is taking in her stride.
Getting about 20 of these an hour. Am I now the queen of ginger bearded men? https://t.co/OauJN8sFDG
— Lee Beattie (@leebeattie) October 30, 2015
I am now an agent for ginger bearded men. Not a complaint btw. https://t.co/cTRsX2K46q
— Lee Beattie (@leebeattie) October 30, 2015
We personally love the “pointing backround guy” in the original picture who has clearly just spotted the screen of the phone taking the selfie.