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This is the scenario:

I moved into an apartment and want to get in broadband but the only way that this is possible is to get in a fixed line broadband service as the area is not covered by cable/UPC.

Its a fairly new apartment and seems wired for a phoneline as all the sockets are there and there is wires behind them connected up, but the main socket is disconnected (but the blue and blue-white wires are crimped) so I presume that that last occupants had a phone line. 

I called up Vodafone who seemed the most reasonable price and value wise, but after a lot of messing around they said that I need to ring Eircom to get a new connection in, and then get back to them.

Finally when I got through to Eircom, a sales representative said that I can get a basic phone package for €25 pm and upgrade to broadband for approx €57 or so. I said I would get the fixed line in and would shop around for the broadband package; to which the Eircom sales person said that I cannot do as I would be tied to Eircom for a fixed term contract (6-12 months) or something.

I called Vodafone back and explained the story but they said that I am under no legal obligation with Eircom as if I purchased the broadband bundle from them (at €45 a month) that they cover the line rental to Eircom and keep the rest so its all inclusive. The guy with Vodafone said to ring Comreg as he feels what Eircom are telling me has no legal grounds, and he has never heard of first time connections being bound to any particular company but he said to ring Comreg to put my mind at ease.

I said I would go on the gaaboard.com and ask ye bucks, and he said sound!

Nominees for 2011 GAA GPA All-Star Footballer of the Year -
1. Alan Brogan (Dublin)
2. Darran O'Sullivan (Kerry)
3. Stephen Cluxton (Dublin)

Nominees for 2011 GAA GPA All-Star Young Footballer of the Year -
1. Cillian O'Connor (Mayo)
2. James McCarthy (Dublin)
3. Mark McHugh (Donegal)

I see Karl Lacey has won the GaaBoard footballer of the year!

But I am wondering who do posters think will win the GAA-GPA footballer, and young footballer of the year? For me its between Brogan and Cluxton as I cant see a Kerry player in line for it if Dublin won the All-Ireland but I think Brogan will get it. Cillian O Connor is the only young player in his category to be nominated for an All-Star so is he a shoe in?

I was very sad to hear of her passing, such a talent coming to a tragic end.

I know its on the death notices thread, but I think it deserves its own.

Very shocking, he went very quickly.

RIP

[Man held in connection with Mayo shooting]

I think this happened at 6:30pm yesterday evening...

(www.breakingnews.ie)
Man held in connection with Mayo shooting

01/06/2011 - 07:35:33
Gardaí are continuing to question a man in his 40s over the shooting of a woman near Castlebar in Co. Mayo yesterday evening.

Dympna Walsh, who is in her 50s, was seriously injured in the incident, which happened in a shop on Main Street in Balla.

Gardaí later recovered a shotgun and arrested a man nearby. He is being held at Castlebar Garda Station for questioning.


(www.mayonews.ie)

Woman shot in Balla shop

A man in his 40s has been arrested this evening (Tuesday) following a shooting in a shop in Balla.
According to Gardaí, a lone gunman entered the shop on Main Steet street at roughly 6.30pm and shot a middle-aged woman, reported to be a member of staff. The woman was taken to Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar. Her injuries are said to be not life threatening.
The gunman, who fled the scene, was later arrested in the Claremorris area. He is currently detained at Castlebar Garda Station. A shotgun believed to have been used in the incident was subsequently recovered and has been sent for forensic examination.
The scene of the shooting has been sealed off for a full technical examination.
Gardaí are appealing for any witnesses to contact Castlebar Station on 094 9038200.

I am a vodafone billpay customer and I am wondering if I upgrade my phone, is there anything stopping me from giving my upgraded phone to someone else?

I currently have a HTC Desire which came unlocked/sim free.

I am thinking up "upgrading" to a HTC Desire S for €110 and just giving that phone to someone that needs one rather than them paying €400+ for it.

Is there anything stopping me or any catch?

[Skynet is about to attack. Maybe]

Skynet is about to attack. Maybe

The Terminator series predicts that tomorrow is Judgment Day. But just in case it isn't, the end of the world is a movable feast



Thursday, 21 April 2011 is the day when Skynet, villainous super-computer from the Terminator films, is due to launch its assault on mankind. Terminator director James Cameron alerted the world to the significance of the date with a tweet saying: "Instead of machines taking over, we have the very real threat of global warming."

But hold on there James, don't downplay your own prescience. We can worry about global warming and the possibility that robots are going to kill us all. An MoD report has just this week warned that we're heading for an "incremental and involuntary journey towards a Terminator-like reality." The report, the UK Approach to Unmanned Aircraft Systems, says that, given the current rate technological development, "Britain must quickly establish a policy on what will constitute 'acceptable machine behaviour'".

Now as any good science fiction fan knows, "acceptable machine behaviour" has already been established in Asimov's three rules of robotics, the first of which states unambiguously: "A robot may not injure a human being." The military has chosen to completely ignore Asimov's rules (understandably perhaps, given how useless pacifist robots would be in a war), but the Terminator films at least gives us some ideas on how to fight back when our drones go self-aware and turn against us (we're going to need a time machine and a robotic Arnold Schwarzenegger).

If it's neither robots nor global warning that finish us off, there are plenty of other things to worry about, many of which tend to have some other ominous date attached.

Between the ages of eight and 12 I was convinced that the world was going to end in 1997, after my older sister came home from school confidently stating this was the case. The prediction was something to do with Nostradamus, but I became unshakably certain that 1997 was the year mankind would blow itself up with nuclear weapons. Thus for a large part of my childhood I was sure that my later teens would be spent either dead or skulking round a barren radioactive wasteland battling giant mutated rats for the last remaining scraps of food.

As 1997 passed without major incident (in my local area at any rate), there was a new apocalypse on the horizon – 31 December 1999. The millennium bug was going to see computers failing worldwide, planes falling from the sky, nuclear power stations blowing up all over the place ... but again that turned out to be a lot of fuss over nothing.

Now the latest end of the world is due next year, as illustrated in the hilariously far-fetched disaster film 2012. On 21 December 2012 we reach the end point of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, which runs from 3114 BC to just before Christmas-after-next. High-profile celebrities have been drawing on the writings of interesting (if not to be taken too literally) thinkers such as Terence McKenna and Daniel Pinchbeck and coming to some alarming conclusions about what the end of the Mayan calender might represent.

"The precursors to a civilization that's going under are the same, time and time again," warns Mel Gibson. "What's human sacrifice if not sending guys off to Iraq for no reason? I just wanna draw the parallels. I don't wanna be a doomsayer, but the Mayan calendar ends in 2012."

Gibson's words are echoed by rapper Lil' Wayne – "The world is about to end as we know it. You can see it already" – and actor Ashton Kutcher, who recently told Men's Health magazine that his physical fitness regimen is "completely tailored around the end of days," and that he stays fit "for no other reason than to save the people I care about".

Who knows, maybe they're right. Maybe the world is about to be devastated by some calamity predicted by the Mayans 5,000 years ago. Or maybe global warming, or nuclear holocaust, or awesome killer cyborgs are set to wipe us all out.

However, given how frequently the end of the world has been incorrectly forecast, it might be wise for Lil' Wayne, Mel, Ashton, and anyone else buying into the 2012 hype not to stake everything on it, just in case they're still around come 2013.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/apr/20/skynet-terminator

An Phoblacht have just outbid Hello Magazine for exclusive photo rights to the Queens visit.

A spokesman said it cost a lot of money given that they only want one clear shot!

It would be nice for Mayo to finish off the league with a win in Monaghan but I think that there is still experimenting and tweaking to do so I would expect to see a few changes from the Cork game.

We are looking at getting some of those substitute shelters/dugouts for a club pitch.
If any of you know someone that does them or is interested in supplying them then let me know by PM or replying to this topic.

Thanks 

I was nearly 20 minutes late to work this morning as every few minutes traffic was at a standstill. I couldnt understand what was happening and I presumed that there was a serious accident or there was roadworks in place. However on my way into the city there was a small truck overturned in a field and idiot drivers were stopping having a good gawking at it, even though the driver door was opened and everyone was safely out. In fact there was not even a bystander there but yet drivers had to get a good look. 

Its the most frustrating thing when people hold up traffic like that out of pure nosiness. 

A big test ahead for a lot of Mayos new faces next weekend. As Southsider mentioned it will be interesting to see how Horan lines out against Kerry's danger men.

Will the Gooch be back after that minor surgery on his eye??

Some of these might be a bit of a stretch to call them "hot" but here it goes... 

Lorraine Higgins - Labour - Galway East


Lisa Chambers - Fianna Fail - Mayo

A very quick turnaround for the FBD final this Friday, under lights again in McHale park.

I think we could see an almost completely different team play in this one, as again it may be used to have a look at players involved in the FBD games who were not involved against Down.

Looking forward to it though, the games under lights create a good atmosphere.

I may be moving into a new apartment soon in the West and im wondering where the best deals regarding TV packages and broadband?

I know that NTL/UPC offer broadband and basic TV packages for about €45 a month (cable, not satellite).

Sky offer a basic package for about €25 a month that doesnt have broadband as far as im aware?

Do you still need to rent a phoneline to get broadband from eircom?

Experts, I have a bit of a problem.
I want to hook my XBOX 360 Elite (250GB) up to a flat screen monitor...

My monitor is a 21" Widescreen LCD that I use for my PC (no scart input).
The screen has a DVI-D Input that normally links straight to my HDMI out socket on my video card on my PC.

I researched a little but I think the instructions I was getting are confused...
Also if I do link up the two, am I correct in assuming that the audio system would be another problem?

Has anyone successfully done it?

Ok im having a very slow day at work 

Whats everyones favourite Christmas Song or Carol?

Mine is Little Drummer Boy.

Im not very spiritual but I just think its very uplifting.

Im coming into work for a few hours tomorrow and am off until 7th.
I dont really mind coming in a few hours on Christmas eve as we are let go home early.

In a previous job I had in college I worked Christmas day, 3 years in a row. Although I got well paid for it, it wasnt really worth it 

Anyone else working tomorrow or over the Christmas?

for the first time I might add. 

Really nice city, fairly good pubs and bars. Thought the people were sound.

We arrived up Friday night and went straight out for a quick bite and a pint (in the hotel bar attached to the Premier Inn in the city centre). Everyone was falling out of pubs after their Christmas partys but there was no trouble. That night we went to two more bars close by but I cant think of them.

On the Saturday we did a taxi tour of Shankill Road, the barricades and the Falls Road.
The tour itself was over two hours long and all of the murals were explained as well as stories about the areas. Our taxi driver / tour guide was exceptional, really good guy. He was probably raised around the Shankill area as his knowledge of the Falls and Irish history was not as strong as the English stuff. We had a great chat though.

After that we hit the Christmas markets and had a few pints in the German beer tents. It felt very seasonal altogether! Later we ended up in the James Hewett and some other really small club down an alleyway, good criac.

All in all, it was a great weekend, apart from the drive home on Sunday.
I would recommend Belfast to anyone.
It was one of the first times I had even ventured North apart from Enniskillen a couple of years ago. I suppose when you live in the South you wouldnt have had much of a chance in the past to go up North because of the troubles.

I would defo go back to Belfast, loved it.

I gather that most of you work on a computer so im wondering is there many posters developing or engineering software? Im a J2EE engineer working in R&D projects at the minute.

Right now im developing potential Andriod Apps for customers, what is everyone else up to?
I think Fear ón Srath Bán told me once he was a DB developer