Going Home . . . :>(

We're at the end of the college year and indeed, college life, and I have made the drastic decision that I am going to move back home to live with the dreaded family once again. Not quite sure that it was the correct one or not, but only time will tell! Although something is telling me that it is probably the wrong thing to do! However, it may not all be bad as I have not yet decided what sort of job I want when I finish college which means that I may end up moving away again anyway . . . hopefully! Even if that does not happen, I can take comfort in the fact that I have decided that I am going to go to America early next year. Don't ask me where, havn't got that far yet!
Anyway, just decided that I'd let you all know the pain that awaits me . . . hoping that someone might feel sorry for me!
Oh, as this is my last blog entry, Colin, have I ever told you how much I enjoy your class, I think you're such a good marker too ;)!

Web Standards

Web Standards, otherwise known as W3C, was set up in order to advise web page producers of the most effective ways to design their web page in order for it to be accessible to all. Accessibility for all, means that the web should be accessible accessible for EVERYONE, regardless of culture or abilities etc, to EVERYTHING, i.e mobile devices and also EVERYWHERE from high to low bandwith environments.

Web Standards benefits everyone in the sense that it is less bandwith intense, it makes pages easier to navigate around, it is easy to maintain, it is compatible with newer browsers and it supportds multiple devices and it makes web sites accessible to all.

Accessibility barriers include include VISUAL i.e. blindness, AUDIO i.e. deafness and LEARNING or COGNITIVE i.e. can't use certain aspects of a computer.

There are a range of guidelines for ensuring web accessibility. All of which, along with any other information you may need to know, can be accessed through the W3C website by clicking on the following link.

www.w3c.com

My Time in DKIT

Upon weighing up all of the pros and cons, I think that overall I enjoyed my experience. It went really fast, 4 years gone already, its mad. I don't know what to do with myself now. I suppose i'll have to go and get myself a "real" job!

Anyway, I studied here at DKIT for 4 years. I completed a course known as Hospitality Management. It is a three year course, after which you have the possibility of continuing and completing a fourth year to obtain an honours degree. For those of you that are interested, click here for an outline of the course.


Year 1 was fun. I didn't take anything too seriously but still did quite well. I think this immediately pushed me in the wrong direction! I somehow thought that I could get through the rest of college life like this, how wrong was I!

Year 2 was quite fun too. We only had one semester at college and then spent 9 months on work placement which I really enjoyed.
After so long out of college, it was really difficult getting back into the swing of things at the beginning of year 3. This was when I realised that I had to start doing some real work, and it was hard, but, worth it in the end, and I even came back to complete a fourth year, which I am glad that I did, however, has put me off doing any more. I would have liked to do some more, but I think this last year has taken everything out of me! Very stressful!

Oh well, overall I had an enjoyable experience and I think I probably will miss the place but when you think about all the stress that the place put me through I'll probably be happy that I'm finished

Mobile Computing

Mobile Computing is becomming increasingly popular all over the world but I'm not quite sure whether or not this is a good thing for the hospitality industry.
Hotels are all about providing an excellent service to your guests, and that includes a personalised service where you feel that you really are welcome.

Although I agree that Mobile Computing may be more efficient than alternative means, I somehow think that introducing Mobile Computing into hotels could cause trouble. I know from personal experience where I was out for a meal and the waiter was using one of these mobile devices. I'm not quite sure that he even looked at us once while taking our order, he was more concentrated on inputting the order correctly than he was in his customers.

This is what I mean by causing trouble for the hospitality industry. Hospitality is about the customer, not an electeonic device. What is wrong with scribbling down the order on a piece of paper in front of the customer, this way you're not worried about mistakes and you can focus your attention on the what it should be on. Then go to the computer and input the order and be as particular as you like with it - just not in front of the customer - it just looks bad to have your attention focused on an electronic device rather than the person you are serving.

Not to put a huge downer on the whole idea, I do think that Mobile Computing is an excellent advancement in technology, however there is a place for it to be used and I just don't think that a hotel is one of those places.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) - What is it anyway?

It all sounds a bit confusing and what not but Search Engine Optimisation is actually quite interesting to know about and a pretty much compulsory component of a world so dependant on the internet.
In a nutshell , the whole concept of Search Engine Optimisation is about making your website appear organically at the top of a search engine's list after it has been searched for. "Organic" means that the website appears naturally rather than having to pay to appear at the top which is known as a "Sponsored" link.

A quick example of this is if I enter a search for "Dundalk hotels" into a search engine, those hotel websites which the search engine deems to have the most relevant information will appear at the top of the list. Take a look . . . Dundalk hotels

As we can see, The Fairways appears top of the "organic list" as it mentions the words that I searched for more times than any other website.
You will also have noticed that Crowne Plaza appeared at the top of the "Sponsored links", making it apparent that they paid for their position there.

There are a whole range of requirements to meet in order to reach the much sought after position in search engines. To get all of the information that you will need to know about Search Engine Optimisation, click here.

Bebo buyout by AOL!

I recently read on a CNN report that one of Irelands favourite social networks, Bebo, is to be sold to AOL in an $850m deal! Full article
It kind of confuses me as to why a company would want to sell up when it's in its prime and doing so well? The only reason that I can think of is that its owners are not very optimistic about its future, although, I really can't see the level of interest in the site taking a substantial fall any time soon, considering the huge amounts of people who use and even still join it on a daily basis.
Anyway, is bebo already on its way out? After all, they do say that the best time to sell up is when something is at its peak.
Obviously AOL have different ideas - interesting to see what will happen.
Watch this space . . .

Amount:

Sheila Sheikh

I can't wait for this to come back on the air! For those of you who don't know it, shame on you . . . no only joking, for those of you who don't know it, make sure you watch the video below, it's absolutly brilliant. If you like Little Britain or Catherine Tate then you're going to love this. It's basically about a Dublin woman who dresses up as different characters for the duration of each programme and goes around the streets of Dublin just performing random acts of stupidness - it's so funny.

Anyway I was watching her in an interview a few weeks ago and she said that the first few sketches were just as a pilot to see how well it went down with the audience - needless to say it was a blast and they are now going to give her a regular slot on RTE which I can not wait for. The only thing is, I don't know how long it's going to be until it's back on TV. Suppose we'll just have to wait and see! Anyway, until then, we're going to just have to make do with these clips from her first few sketches!

So take a look and decide for yourself . . . . . .

Virtual Communities

I have to say, I didn't really realise how "in to" virtual communities I actually was until we started discussing them in class! A year ago I would never have dreamt of being part of one, but, suddenly, unknown to me, I became a member (in the form of bebo) and now I'm completly addicted - I just can't get away from it. I swore that I would never give in to the temptations of it, and did really well for a long time. Then, one evening, me and my friend (the two most unlikely candidates) decided to join, just as a laugh to see what all the hype was about, and all of a sudden, I'd say we've got two of the most up to date pages on the damn thing! It just sucked me in so easily! Anyway, while we're on the subject, here's a link to my page! Bebo



I don't really know a lot about the other "virtual communities" to be honest, havn't got in on them yet, emphasis on the "yet". . . I'm sure I won't! Actually, there is one that I am interested in at the moment, it's that second life one. I had never heard of it until the other day in class and although I don't think it would be my sort of thing, I would like to check it out just so I can be sure that I don't want to join! Check it out! Second Life



Another community that I am only too familiar with is e-bay, although it's not really a virtual community I don't think, more of a brand community? If that makes sense. Anyway that one hurts the credit card! I used to buy a lot of things on it . . . I remember I gought a "memory stick" on it once. It came from China and it was really weird, couldn't get it to work! No wonder, all teh instructions were in Chinese, anyway, turns out it wasn't even a memory stick after all! Not quite sure what it was.



As if that wasn't enough to teach me a lesson, a few weeks later, I then bought an mp4 player- something that was virtually unheard of in Ireland at the time, but hey, I had to be cool- anyway, turns out that the instructions for it were also in Chinese so needless to say, I have never used it, havn't quite got a grasp on the language yet! So eventually I gave up on it for a while until now! I'm in the process of buying something, lets hope it actually works! Anyway I'm feeling really ganerous today, advertising yet another website, happy spending! e-bay

So that just about brings me to the end of this one, stay tuned for some more soon!

America here I come!

Im going to go to America this Summer after I finish college. I'm going to go for one year anyway, maybe more, who knows! Not sure what the plan of action is yet, although I do know that absolutly nothing can stop this from happening! Wahey the excitment.

I will be finished college in June so as far as I'm concerned we can go anytime ("we" because I'm going with others too). However, my mother is disappointed because i.ll miss my graduation, I'm not too bothered because I have already graduated once but she sees it as "the big one" (think she's more excited about it than I am)!

Anyway, I need to decide where exactly I'm going to go and for how long, decisions decisions!

Alan Carr: Live at the Apollo

My god have you seen it? It is so funny. I watched it a couple of nights ago with some of my friends. He has to be one of the best comedians going! Although, if you're easily offended, it's advised that you don't watch it, he absolutly slates some people . . . . and places! Fat people, skinny people, homeless people, people stricken by famine, you name it, they all got it!

He actually had a bit of a gag about the mobile network 3 aswell, something that i am very hung up on at the moment! Thank god I'm not the only one that wants to let off a bit of steam about them, anyway, thats not what this is about!

Anyway, yeah, just wanted to say how funny I thought the show was, it comes highly recommended by me! As the title says, it's called Alan Carr: Live at the Apollo.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Mobile Network 3 - Arrrrgh >:(

I'v got a bit of a situation at the moment. A few months ago I decided I needed a new phone, something I do quite regularly, I think its because I always want the latest of everything, but thats not the point!

Anyway, I wanted this new phone. I was already with vodafone and with 3 being a new network and all the buzz about it, I decided to investigate further. I went into my local 3 store and got all of the information that I thought would be relevant. I discovered that if I switched networks, I would get the usual €100 or so free call credit, would be able to keep my old number and would benefit hugely in terms of the cost of calls and texts. According to Network 3, they have 87% video service coverage all around Ireland and 99.5% calls and text service coverage. This was all great and needless to say, I then switched to 3. Check out the "coverage" section of their website three.ie

Once I get set up, I discover that you will have full coverage 95% of the time, but there's one catch, you must live in the middle of town, something which they obviously failed to tell me. This is where I get annoyed, it's fine when i'm at college but when I do make the journey home, I lose contact with everybody. Sure enough, my calls and texts are much cheaper, this is of course if I have coverage to send them!

I'm seriously thinking about switching back to Vodafone but just can't let go of the cheap calls and texts. Since I moved to 3, I have been saving at least €20 a month on mobile top-up (maybe because I don't have the coverage to make calls!). Anyway I don't know what to do, suppose we'll see what time brings!

Boredom!

When somebody is bored, does this mean that their brain is also bored, or, is their brain actually busy making the person think that they are bored?

Anyway, thats todays words of wisdom, and for all you geeks out there, perhaps like me, heres something I found on Wikipedia about Boredom, enjoy!