Archive for November, 2008

29 Nov 2008

Late Rally up the Geansai Gorm charts

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This week has been an awful week for me online. In what should have been the final push to top this geansai gorm competition, i was in bed at 10pm most nights and not at all motivated plus i’ve been snowed under with college work.

I noticed the site slip down to 5th or 6th in the pecking order and thought that was that – the others were now putting the boot down and breaking away.

Today however, Geansai Gorm News is back up in 3rd spot. With just 2 days remaining, it’s looking good for me. A podium finish perhaps ;-) I’ll be more than happy to finish in 3rd spot now under the circumstances.

3rd place geansai gorm

Once this contest is finished, I’ll also be revealing the tactics i’ve used to get the site to where it is plus the tactics others have used to go one step further and beat me.

Wherever i finish, it won’t end here either – i’ll continue to work on the site until it ranks no.1.

27 Nov 2008

Hectic 7 days ahead

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This Monday, we’ll be officially presenting our video presentation as part of a group project. That leaves me with just 3 days to finish it and polish it up. Not much time at all but then again i know i’ll get it done when i’m under that sort of pressure – it forces me in to working on it.

Once it’s presented, i’ll upload it to youtube and also in HD to vimeo or viddler. A huge amount of work has gone in to this not just from me, but from the others in the group aswell in terms of acting / filming etc… Anyway, that’s task no.1

I then have a javascript project to be completed by Wednesday. This is a nightmare – no other way to describe it. It’s a 3 page site involving validation, cookies & date functions. I understand the basics of javascript and this assignment is helping me to learn more but it’s highly unlikely that i’ll get this finished on time and working. I’m not too worried though as i’ve already picked up 28% out of 35% so far in another exam, meaning i just need 12% out of 65% to pass. Not a problem, just frustrating as i know i *could* get this done were it not for the fact i’ll be spending most of my time on my video presentation ;-)

I then have a networking exam on Wednesday which involves setting up and configuring a cisco router, plus i’ve got a few smaller assignments which have to be submitted by the end of the week.

On Monday, the former head of software engineering in NASA (Prof Mike Hinchey) will be giving a talk on complex computer systems in the college so i’ll have to try and catch that too and take in as much as possible.

So a busy week next week and a very busy weekend for me this coming weekend. Video editing is a real pain but then again i’ve learned a great deal from it over the past couple of months so i can’t really complain too much – it’ll stand to me in the future.

26 Nov 2008

Bypass the Ryanair Credit Card Charge

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UPDATE: As of 1st Jan 2010, this method no longer works, please see this new post to bypass the credit card charge!

Ryanair Boeing 737-800
Creative Commons License photo credit: Deanster1983

Firstly, this man deserves all the credit for this tip, i’m simply spreading the word further.

You know the way, when booking a flight with Ryanair, they charge something ridiculous like €20 per person (slight exageration, actual figure is €5) each way per person if you use Visa or Mastercard?

Lets take a classic example…

“FREE FLIGHTS – *just pay taxes & credit card charge” – that is of course false advertising in most peoples eyes and it’s criminal that they get away with it. Taxes & Charges for 2 people on a return trip can easily end up costing €100+, even if the flights cost zilch. That’s not free and it’s not a bargain. The vast majority of the credit card charge is going directly in to Ryanair’s pockets. Handling / processing fees i think they call them.

There is now a way to stick the knife in to Ryanair and outsmart them. It’s virtually impossible to get a Visa Electron card, yet Ryanair don’t charge a credit card charge if you book using one. So by having one of these cards it saves you €5 per person each way. €20 for two people on a round trip. €20 up until now, nobody has ever saved as nobody can get there hands on a bloody Visa Electron Card.

However, EntroPay have them as virtual visa cards (just like a 3v prepaid card) but here’s the deal – they’re recognised as Visa Electron Cards by Ryanair :twisted:

So you simply sign up for a card, fund it with your existing credit card (minimum €10). They charge a 4.95% commission so assuming the total cost of your transaction is less than €400, you’ll be saving cash.

Lets say your flight costs €100 for two people, return with Ryanair and you use a standard visa card. Add in a credit card charge it’s €120.

If you use this Visa Electron Card / EntroPay method it’ll only cost €104.95, saving you over €15.

No doubt Ryanair will cop on to this fact soon enough if enough people use it, but for now, get one over on Ryanair as they’re certainly not afraid to screw you.

25 Nov 2008

How to Increase Sharpness

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The human brain

Image via Wikipedia

These past few days i haven’t been feeling well. I’m still at college, still busy with assignments etc… but the weather is a drain on my body…

I’m tired and less sharp than i normally am when it comes to logical thinking in programming for example. I was in bed at 11pm last night and it’ll be the same again tonight. Normally it’s at least 1am before i go to bed.

One thing that does improve my sharpness though is playing cod4. Increases my awareness ten fold. I couldn’t get my head around some code during college today, but this evening, after an hour or so playing cod4, all of a sudden things became crystal clear. I was also much more focused on the task at hand.

I think it’s the fact i’m constantly moving, looking around and trying to avoid death which ‘wakes me up’. Of course i’m not literally moving, but my brain thinks i am which in turn increases my mental sharpness as the fear of death is probably the most motivating thing you could have ;-)

Interesting stuff and i’m not sure whether there are studies or facts to prove this theory, but i don’t care because it’s working for me :mrgreen:

24 Nov 2008

Attack the best form of defence?

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The British Parliament and Big Ben

Image by ** Maurice ** via Flickr

As far as i’m concerned, our recession started when our government announced 3% cutbacks across all government departments. That decision was made before the country was officially in recession and it only helped to speed up the snowball’s roll downhill.

Whilst many will say it was a sensible and responsible move, i say it’s poor leadership and a really defensive attitude. Today the british announced a REDUCATION of 2.5% VAT, a sharp contrast to our .5% RISE in VAT.

Both very different approaches in tough times. The British are much more attack minded though and are actually trying to do something about the state of their economy – trying to kick start it or at least stop it from rolling back further – that’s admirable.

Our government have a damage limitation approach and by making drastic cutbacks themselves, they are in fact leading by poor example – everyone else has also made cut backs.

A recession is simply less cash changing hands and people wanting peace of mind. It’s all mental… all mind games and the only way you’re gonna get out of it is by stepping up to the plate and making bold decisions when others won’t. Attack is always the best form of defence.

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