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As I write this, my final entry for the year of 2006 in the Gregorian Calendar, I sit at home in Kerry at 04:30 on the last day of this 12 month period in time. A year of many events, however skewed in my brain’s timeline it may appear.

The year started off with my continuing academic duties at University in Galway. At the end of a long and hard-fought battle with laziness, I managed to pull off my greatest feat to date, passing my college exams with a respectable honors degree in the science of business information systems. While it was an achievement in every regard, I did keep myself in check until the 11th hour, when a stunning exam re-sit was hard won on the battlefields of that damp August evening. While I look back fondly at my time spent learning amongst the learned, I do look forward to not having to do it again.

THE USA
2006 was a year of many global and political fables. The Iraq war continued in its non-sensical fashion spearheaded by the lame-duck presidency of the United States in true republican spirit - no surrender. Culminating in the execution of Saddam Hussein only yesterday, and his burial today, the Iraq story continues to fold out much like ready-made icing from the propaganda machine that is controlled by the Murdoch boys. Of course, America got its own régime change this year too, with the Democratic party taking control of the Senate and House of Representatives in the Mid-Term elections - proving that the electorate are annoyed at the Republican party, and that however much they huff and puff, Governor Bush will remain in power for another 12 months. Gerald Ford also passed away, while the nation slowly came to terms with the slaughtering it received from Sacha Baron-Coen as Borat.

IRELAND
We grew again. In what must now be a global record, Ireland’s economy continued to flourish this year, thanks to a sensible and passive government which stimulates the economic mindset and doesn’t cling on to the butter-vouchers of decade’s past. Our dear leader, Mr. Ahern, also found out this year that no matter what he does, there’ll always be someone out to ruin him - and failing in that stead, as he became the true ‘Man of the People’. Another veteran of Irish politics and economics, Mr. Charles J. Haughey, was finally laid to rest in 2006, after losing a battle with his health. Having met him and his family many years ago, I find it hard to find completely against the man who in essence lit the touch-paper that sparked our Celtic Tiger to life.

In its continuing battle to restore faith in its values, Fine Gael and Labour devised a coalition to offer ‘a real alternative’ to the Irish electorate, only to find that at the end of the year, a coalition between Fianna Fáil and Labour seemed more populous than the former twinning with the doomed following of Enda Kenny.

Ireland fell among thieves also this year, and so-called ‘gang-land’ killings hit the media circuit like Paul Reynolds’ Christmas wishes for years gone by were being granted, as he saw more and more airtime on the national broadcaster than ever before. Speaking of them, RTÉ got a much-needed makeover also in the second half of 2006, dragging the out-of-touch station kicking and screaming into the 1990s.

Also hot on the list of goodies this 2006 was the revolution that saw Smart Telecom die off at the hands of the newly-run Eircom conglomerate which maintained a vigourous stranglehold on the Irish broadband and fixed-line market, shunning the vibrant and feasible rural areas in favour of saturated city markets already bored with the virtues of an always-on connection to the technological coal-face that is the Internet.

Keeping with the theme of vibrant strangleholds and the media, the carnage on our roads became the political hot potato of 2006, as a staggering number of young and old, male and female, suffered at the feet of the poor roads, bad weather and failures in regulation of the car-market here. The silent calls from the part of society working to prevent suicide here fell on deaf ears, as the figures of those who took their own lives was almost 4 times that of those killed on the roads - perhaps due to our ludicrous affliliation with political correctness, and a glitzy story on our television sets.

Staying with current affairs, the plight of the town of Daingean Uí Chúis also took centre stage this year, as it recieved massive coverage on national media, while the streets of the town fall further into disrepair, the tourist saturation dries up and the alcohol and social problems of the peninsula went un-noticed as business-men rallied around the topic of least importance - a prize I firmly place upon those involved in 2006.

TECHNOLOGY
This past 365 days were littered with further advances in technology. As the world-leader in hype and hysteria launched into a deal with Intel, Apple Computer released its machines upon the masses, powered by the new generation of micro-processors. While this seemed like a bad idea at the time, the growth in market share for Apple is staggering, and more on this will follow in a few days as its venerable Chief Executive takes centre stage at MacWorld 2007 to put the world out of its misery and deliver a proper iTunes Mobile phone (prediction ‘iCell’).

Microsoft, that most loathed of companies in technology by this writer, also (finally) unveiled its latest notch in the bedpost of Windows NT, the system developed as ‘New Technology’ in 1994. Windows Vista became the 5th incarnation of Windows XP, and while it seemed like a lovely glossy upgrade, the sad fact of its pointlessness leads me to conclude that it will not be the must-have upgrade of 2007, much less beyond 2008. Microsoft also entered the portable media market with its self-professed ‘iPod Killer’ called Zune. The Zune is a re-packaged creation from Toshiba (the GigaBeat) which saw little success when released over 2 years ago. The Zune is already burning its fingers as it attempts to strangle iPod sales in the US, while Zune’s are almost completely unheard of in this part of the world.

Outside of the two major players in the software business, Google purchased the YouTube video sharing site, which was only started in April of this year. Google has since done nothing visible to the site, which remains the most visited website in the world at the moment. Bebo, the interactive community ‘for kids’ maintained a strong following throughout the year, however the on-slaught of 12-year-old kids joining the service seems to have nailed the Bebo coffin shut on its devoted late-teen, early 20s clientele.

In my personal life, I made the transition to a 100% operation on the Apple Macintosh platform, finally ending my 10-year usage of the Windows operating system. I’m glad to report that my PowerBook G4 is still operational and well matched to my daily routine. I now find that life without the Apple Mac OS X platform is not really complete, and have indulged in the true ecosystem of the Mac. I also added a PowerMac G4 to my computer collection, while my beloved Inspiron 4150 remains in my possession, as a relic from my past glory, and a reminder of how much more possibility I have been introduced to since being given the gift of Mac.

OVERALL
The year has been a quick one in earnest. I finished college, got a growed-up job and joined the rat race wherein I will make my eventual mark and retreat a rich man in a few years time. I travelled to Wales and Germany in 2006, as well as many trips to Connemara and Dublin. The World Cup apparently happened during the summer, not that I watched it much, but apparently Italy won - undeservedly. 2006 is also the year I purchased my very first car, and have since copper-fastened my belief in the beauty, style, comfort and joy of owning a Renault motor car. My 2002 1.8 Laguna Sport is my favourite toy, seconded only to the PowerBook.

As I look forward to seeing off the year and returning to my adopted city, I do not fear the future, nor regret the past - but welcome what is to come and wave at what has gone.

diarmy

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all my devoted readers, the passers by, and the diligent skeptics, for all their support and continued reading throughout 2006.

It’s hard to believe that Diarmy.net is now over a year-and-a-half old this Christmas. It’s been an interesting project!

This is my first Christmas in almost 20 years which was not preceded by some academic examinations. And I intend enjoying it every little bit.

Anyway, I hope you and yours have a great Holiday Season and a prosperous new year in 2007. May all your family be safe this Christmas, and I hope to see you back here very soon.

diarmy

P.S. I’ll be back at the end of 2006 to give you my take on the year gone by… don’t miss it!!

I’ve noticed something lately about RTÉ - the National Broadcaster of Ireland. Since the station began DTT (Digital Terrestrial Television) trials in the Greater Dublin Area and beyond, the standard of programming, schedule and overall crispness of the broadcasts have improved dramatically. Everything from the Afternoon Show with the gorgeous Bláthnaid Ní Chófaigh to Seoige and O’Shea’s ageing Gráinne Seoige, to the Late Late Show with the plank of wood that is Pat Kenny, all seem to have been overhauled and repaired.

It’s odd to think that only some months ago I was criticizing the station for its lackluster approach to television in Ireland. Much of that still holds true, but in recent weeks, RTÉ’s productions have tightened up and seemed much more professional. This may all be a rouse to make good on the promises of 2006 to make RTÉ a private limited company, and entice potential investors. But I think that the saturation of Sky Digital in Ireland, and the leaking of Welsh and Northern Irish airwaves from Britain, bringing with it clean crisp imagery from the BBC is finally having an effect on RTÉ’s image here.

The Late Late Show broadcasted from the University Concert Hall at the Limerick University was one of the most-watched programmes on RTÉ’ this side of the Bertie interview with Dobbo, and was also one of the best produced Late Lates ever (forgiving the cheesy lip-syncing by Westlife).

Last night’s broadcast of Ryan Tubridy’s ‘Tonight’ show topped the bill in terms of RTÉ productions this year. Not only was the setting of the Everyman Theatre in Cork perfect for the mature twenty-something audience the show targets, but the direction (by Niamh White) was tight and true and well rehearsed. There was excellent audience interaction (something Pat Kenny can’t do) and overall it was a fantastic pull-off for the swelling broadcaster.

RTÉ have improved overall, but their failings in the newsroom still provide comic relief for millions in Ireland every day. The blunders and mistakes made in the small, cramped and boring news studio are laughable incidents of torture for the viewer, and result in a very unprofessional delivery, usually caused by the hectic rotational schedule of news-readers and the sharp unforgiving pain-inducing voice of Sharon Ní Bheoláin.

So, to close off this part of 2006, I’d like to congratulate whoever in RTÉ is responsible for making the last few weeks a pleasure. I found myself last night actively seeking out the Tubridy show (even though I hate the sight of the presenter) and likewise the Late Late on Friday night (despite having a host who is the most hated in Ireland). Thanks RTÉ - and keep it up. Next, take a broom from the ‘broomcupboard’ and sweep out the news crew!

diarmy

I’ve had the brutal task of running Vista in a business environment for the past 24 hours. I know, I know, I should’ve had more sense, but for some reason, I decided to put my spare time to some use last weekend and try to make good on a download of the fledgling operating system. Released last week under a flurry of Microsoft-inspired poor advertising, Vista has yet to rear its bulky head to the masses. According to the Dell website, computers purchased now can avail of a free upgrade to Vista in March 2007. While this might seem like a fantastic opportunity to make the most of the new OS before it comes out, I fail to see the real need to upgrade to this new OS.

Microsoft have been flouting this notion that Vista can only run on brand new computers, with really high specifications. While this is true in some small cases, there is no reason why a machine of a year or so in age cannot support this behemoth of an operating system. Microsoft have also gone completely out of their way to make Vista look more and more like Apple’s “Aqua” GUI. I’ve reported on this before, when I gave the Beta 2 version of the OS a whirr, but now I’ve used the real thing - Windows Vista Ultimate.

In many respects, it’s a nice upgrade to the XP interface we’ve all become used to over the past FIVE years. However I fail to see the need for this huge improvement over the XP GUI when it comes at a massive cost to your system’s resources. Running on a 1.87GHz Intel Centrino processor with 1.00GB RAM and a 60GB hard drive, committing a further 2.00GB of a Page File to the system, I still scored a 2.6 on Vista’s scale of performance of 1-5. So therefore I cannot envisage the full Vista experience being made the most of by the moderate buyer. In truth, I cannot see how a system capable of scoring 5 out of 5 on Vista’s scale costing less than €2,500.

Vista was released to the Enterprise and Business community last week, and it’s for this reason that I decided to see how Vista performed in a business environment. While the initial search for a compatible Anti-Virus solution was lengthy at best, I wasn’t surprised to find that Symantec Corporate Anti-Virus was one of the only big software pieces that ran on the new incarnation of Windows NT. The fun didn’t end there however. Several software programs are necessary to a business day. AVAYA for example have one of the world’s most expansive penetrations of the VoIP business services in the world. However, while Vista has been available for over a week (and in the public domain for over 2 years) AVAYA still don’t support the new OS.

More proprietary software systems also have problems adapting to the system. Running .EXEs in Compatibility Mode doesn’t solve the issues I encountered either. While I gave up at the second hurdle, Microsoft’s dominance in business computing market will be seriously tested if its global parade of third-party applications isn’t falling into line fast enough. Vista is already being touted as the most expensive of Microsoft’s operating systems ever. And with nearly 7 streams of the OS to choose from, it’ll make for an even more bewildering experience for the customers who’ll face yet more techno-babble from their falsely-trusted computer retailers.

I really feel sorry for the companies who’ve invested heavily in preparing for Vista. Although I’d find it hard to believe any company would actually consider upgrading so quickly, especially if they’ve any technical knowledge whatsoever, I’d find it impossible to believe that US companies are ignoring Vista.

My advice, as an experienced end-user and installer, is that Vista is still a very long way off. Configuring a VPN connection for example is a daunting task, let alone the unnecessary need to continuously authorise changes in the system, particularly when most people using the OS at this juncture are IT professionals with decades of experience. In my opinion, any MIS manager testing Vista for rollout will likely deny the benefits of upgrading yet for some years to come. I say years, because the cost of investing in technology capable of running Vista successfully and without failure and strain, will be quite high for quite a long time.

diarmy

The Republic of Ireland’s false economy is almost completely based on the construction, development and sale of property. With house prices currently 3 times higher than they were 10 years ago, there’s no justification in the over-inflated economy in which we find ourselves. What’s happening as a result is that the Irish economy is growing at a faster rate than our social system can cope, and we are heading into a bleak future of social responsibility.

Criticism cannot be levelled at the current Government. It’s unfair to complain about the level of investment in our economy, after all, it’s that investment and freedom of private markets that has allowed our country to host the production and support structures that help the world’s largest companies grow and expand on a global scale.

There is only a handful of companies that are listed in the Fortune 500 list that do not have some presence in the Republic. The world’s three largest medical devices companies - Boston Scientific, Medtronic and Abbot Vascular - all have corporate headquarters for Europe and beyond in Ireland. Three technology companies account for a massive 20% of our Gross Domestic Product (those being Microsoft, Intel and Dell).

We are hugely dependent on the US investment in Ireland to provide structured and skilled work for our highly-educated population. But this highly-paid workforce has an unnatural obsession with possession. This possession manifests itself in the form of material goods and services and of course, houses. We buy and sell more houses and property than most developed countries. This huge demand is being met by and equally massive supply level, and has resulted in short and long terms increases in the cost of acquisition of houses.

All of this ‘need’ to own a house comes from a time when Ireland was ruled by a vicious government from the 1960s to 1990s. While the political parties moved in and out, Ireland was once on the verge of bankruptcy, and was at one point, catastrophically close to being insolvent and declared a 3rd world country by the IMF. While successive governments from the early 1980s made the attempt to resurrect the economy, it wasn’t until 1999 when the Euro became a traded currency that Ireland garnered the ability to borrow from abroad at a virtual 0% interest rate. When the introduction of the Euro became a physical reality in 2002, Ireland exploded under the insatiable appetite to become the next big thing, after the Dot Com Boom had gone bust. We had more money than ever before, and we were determined to do what our parents could never do - own our own houses in multiplicity.

Coupled with this, comes the insatiable banking appetite for customers to commit to ridiculous 100% mortgages expanding to even 40 years! This is where I find the the biggest gripe in the investment culture. While mortgages are as old as the hills of Ireland, the international climate’s cyclical nature is becoming a shorter span every year, and it’s impossible to predict that capability to repay will exist even 5 years from now, let alone in a constant 40 years of fiscal commitment. I find it difficult to acknowledge that our economy can sustain this level of borrowing, especially with the European Central Bank increasing interest rates with no sign of a decrease. This forces the cost of borrowing up further and causes further inflation. It just doesn’t make sense.

So I guess what’s bothering me the most is this constant barragement of financial services, reporting on the rising prices, and this notion of ‘first-time-buyers’ having it tough. The reality I see is that for the average cost of a house in Ireland (that is to say OUTSIDE of the city of Dublin, where only 1/3 of our population work) a mansion can be purchased abroad. And by abroad, I don’t mean the ludacrious investements in places like Bulgaria and Turkey, I mean buying in France and Germany - where the quality of life is far superior.

Don’t get me wrong, Ireland is a great country! We have one of the least corrupt political climates, the most open politics, the most advanced technology employed in every facet of daily life and one of the fairest economies in which to work, we are being tortured by this stupid fascination with owning property.

While all this is going on, the rental market is under populated, and rents are fantastically lower than in the past. So rent now, save and buy abroad. Then when everyone’s houses are too much for them to afford, come back for a tasty bit of action. And when the new estates in Meath and Kildare become the victim of massive social unrest and anti-social behaviour (look at Blanchardstown for example - only about 15 years old!) look back and thank yourself for making the right decision.

diarmy