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 . . . . . .