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Had a look around but couldn't find a specific topic on this. The pace of change is absolutely absurd. Chat-GPT 4o announced this week and then Google come out with this. Terrifying/fascinating.

https://x.com/GoogleDeepMind/status/1790433540548558853

Anyone know anything about Guinness Surger availability? Have seen videos of lads creating perfect pints at home using ultrasonic jewelry cleaners as the activator. The official surgers were apparently 15 quid back in the day but are now going for 200 odd on eBay.

To be honest, I'd never even heard of the things but a bit of googling suggested they gave it up in 2009 and everything was discontinued. However Beershark has an ad for a 24 pack of "new stock". Can't find anything official about it being reintroduced but seems like plenty of people are getting their hands on it.

Gobshite. He and JOE.ie have always been more perfect for each other. Amateur, sneaky bastards who would do anything for a bit of profile and publicity.

Eddie Brennan absolutely stitched up by them today.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1JiW4lFpDJbZn4AfNzySbkiQ660veJpQK

Will get a few people through some quarantine.

As above.

Not sure whether I should have put this in the GAA or Hurling section.

Anyone any thoughts on the Defence Forces/UN service tributes that were on display at Headquarters today?

Personally found it disgraceful myself. As bad as anything at the Superbowl etc.

Another sad case in the news at the minute, very similar to that of Charlie Gard last year. Terminally ill baby boy on life support, parents want to take him to Italy for treatment but courts have ruled that any further treatment would not be in the child's interest and police have blocked any attempt to remove the child from the hospital, according to the father. He has a degenerative neurological condition that doctors have been unable to diagnose. Ended up last night with a protest, instigated via a Facebook video from the father, in the vicinity of the hospital that disrupted traffic. The parents claim they have a legal right to remove the child from the hospital and are taking advice from some crowd called the "Christian Legal Centre".

Thoughts?

My own view would be as I felt in the Charlie Gard case - the parents are, understandingly, incapable of agreeing with the medics that there is no hope for respite and that sustaining his life would not be in his best interests. The father has claimed that Alfie is a "healthy, healthy young boy, who id not diagnosed and certainly not dying". This is clearly not the case. Also as in the CG case, anyone disrupting the operating of a hospital, and a children's one at that, should take a long, hard look at themselves.

Suggest that anyone who is going to get involved in the thread reads the basic facts of the case first rather than posting nonsense such as "why has the judge ordered the hospital to kill the baby" like came up in the Charlie Gard case.

Living in Barcelona, this is naturally a topic I'm following closely and living through on a daily basis. I'm curious if anyone else on the board is follow the situation closely, has any opinions on it etc.

Anyone on the board made any cryptocurrency investments or done any research on it? What's your verdict? Is it the future? Is it all a massive bubble that's about to burst?

Anybody got any of these? Bought a few Echo devices on Prime Day last week and have been very impressed so far.

Howdy. My good lady friend will be moving back from Barcelona to Belfast imminently for a family emergency. We've long since ditched any UK numbers or SIM cards we had. What are the best options around at the minute for a SIM only plan? She's not a massive data consumer, so absolute max of 4gb a month would be required. Just needs good coverage and a decent call allowance.

When I saw the headline I was shocked but the lad has had so many injuries over the last few years that's it's easy to see how he came to the decision. 8 All-Ireland medals not a bad haul!

Absolutely lovely hurler. Has one of the best touches I've ever seen.

Anyone come across this yet? Idea is that you pre-load your account and they'll allow you to transfer currency anywhere, with no fees, which they guarantee for the first 12 months. You can get a digital card within the app and, even better, you can order a physical debit card (MasterCard) that you can use for online purchases from abroad, payments abroad or use to withdraw from ATMs. Benefit is that you can withdraw local currency with no charges and the debited amount to your balance is a true reflection of the exchange rate with no fees.

https://revolut.com

I've signed up today after reading about it on boards.is. O have to say, it looks very, very good and the accompanying app is great.

Revolut currently supports spending, and ATM withdrawals in 90 currencies.

The current list of supported currencies include: AED, ALL, ARS, AUD, AWG, AZN, BBD, BGN, BND, BOB, BRL, BWP, BYR, BZD, CAD, CHF, CLP, CNY, COP, CRC, CZK, DKK, DOP, EGP, EUR, GBP, HKD, HNL, HRK, HUF, IDR, ILS, INR, ISK, JMD, JPY, KGS, KHR, KRW, KZT, LAK, LKR, MAD, MGA, MKD, MNT, MUR, MXN, MYR, MZN, NAD, NGN, NIO, NOK, NPR, NZD, OMR, PAB, PEN, PHP, PKR, PLN, PYG, QAR, RON, RSD, RUB, SAR, SBD, SCR, SEK, SGD, SOS, SRD, SVC, SYP, THB, TRY, TTD, TVD, TWD, UAH, USD, UYU, UZS, VEF, VND, XCD, YER, ZAR.

Has anyone else come across this lad or either of Lovin Dublin/Lovin Trends - think Jamie Heaslip is an angel investor.

The thread about the Irish Times introducing subscriptions made me think of this. Harbison is a hardened critic of established media yet his work (and his twitter) are often dreadfully edited (if at all), frequently plagiarised and report opinion as fact.

Anyone in the south with UPC?

I contacted UPC today looking to downgrade my TV package to offset the recent price increases. I currently have the Horizon Max package with limitless broadband, Sky Sports HD and the Setanta package. As I don't really watch too much TV beyond the news and live sport, I figured I'd be able to mitigate the cost increases to some extent through the downgrade. As a result of the price increases, I'm entitled to cancel or downgrade the contract without penalty. However, when speaking to them, I was advised that this would create a new 12 month commitment. I asked to speak to a manager who insisted nothing could be done and then asked to be passed on to cancellations, who didn't answer the phone.

a) is this legal?
b) are there any options around this? I would prefer not to leave UPC but am likely to be leaving Ireland in the summer and am unwilling to commit to a further 12 month contract. Nor, for that matter, do i believe I should be asked to.

Given there's a beer thread, thought I'd try and get the ball rolling on this one after the flurry of whiskey posts a few days ago. Any whiskey drinkers here?

Flying through Duty Free today so picked up the following:

Green Spot - a favourite, that is great value in Duty Free.

Writer's Tears - another favourite.

The Irishman - came highly recommended. Got it for €19!

Town Branch - I bought this as a present on Saturday in the CWS for €60. Coming through duty free today, it comes in a presentation case with two glasses for €45  . Phoned the CWS and they said they'll happily let me exchange. Hopefully they'll have some Yamazaki in by the time I get back!

Curiously, and I was a bit upset at this, Powers John's Lane was one price for all destinations. Any idea why this might be?!

One of the very, very best. A lot of miles on the clock for the age of him but if the AI replay is anything to go by, Pádraig is more than capable of continuing the family legacy.

Anyone else listen to this? Hosted by a comedian called Jarlath Regan. Basically interviews well known Irishmen and women living in London about their life and careers. It's fantastic stuff.

Am heading to Oz and New Zealand over Christmas and the New Year. Spending Christmas with family in Auckland and then looking to fly down to the South Island on the 27th. Trying to fit in as much as I can in 7/8 days from:

Mt. Cook
Lake Tekapo
Fox Glacier
Franz Josef Glacier
Milford Sound
Queenstown.

Had planned to base myself in Queenstown the entire time (and need to be there for NYE) but it's looking difficult to get (cheap) accommodation sorted for 3/4 nights over new year.

Anyone any suggestions? Friend recommended flying to Christchurch and then doing the drive to Queenstown, fitting in Mt. Cook and Lake Tekapo on the way.