"So, do you think cloud computing will ever live up to the hype?"

Michele’s in Florida at the Parallels Summit, but I tracked him down for the podcast.  It wasn’t difficult!

It sounds busy, but fun.  Lots of meetings, and a keynote speech from Guy Kawasaki.  Oh – and an ice bar!

Here at home, EMC announced an initiative with the government to help developers develop cloud apps for government.  I think it’s just a marketing exercise by a hardware vendor and, what’s worse, cargo cult politics.  So I asked Michele what he really thinks of cloud hype.

Speaking of government, a tweet from Rick O’Shea alerted me to the fact that Irish public representatives are considering whether to filter their email to remove messages from, you know, the public!  You couldn’t make this up!

Technology.ie is brought to you by Blacknight, Ireland’s largest provider of domains and hosting.

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Normally Conn does the write ups and puts the podcasts live, but this week I’m the one doing it, so here we go…

This week Conn and I recorded the show in the evening, since both of us have been very busy. We picked up on the conversation we had been having a couple of weeks ago and discussed the meeting I had with Minister Sherlock and #stopSOPAIreland.

We called this week’s show “keyboard warriors”, which is a reference to comments about the Stop SOPA Ireland campaign made in the Dail. Conn and I went on to discuss copyright in Ireland and how IRMA and other organisations view themselves.

Blacknight is giving away an Xbox 360, so we talk a little about that, but spend quite a bit more time talking about Bert the new Blacknight mascot.

Tech IPOs are always fascinating to watch, so we talked briefly about the Facebook IPO and how that might change the company and Mark Zuckerberg. (I say “sell”, but Conn doesn’t agree)

Talking about technology and the internet we had to chat a bit about Google’s new privacy policy and how they’re making it easier for people to move between services. Conn loves the new coherence, while we both remember how much Google dominates online. Want to get laid with Google? Damien blogged about that nearly 6 years ago!

Next week the Measurement.ie social media conference is on so while neither of us will be at it, we still gave them a shout out!

Other stuff mentioned during the show:

• We’ve got a Facebook page and we’re on Google+
• Shout out to Neil Leyden

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Stewart Curry, Niall Kitson & Martha Rotter of Idea Magazine

Idea Magazine is the freshest thing in Irish publishing, serving the tech and startup community in Ireland and lovingly designed for your tablet, phone or PC by the team at woop.ie (Write Only Once; Publish It Everywhere!)

Martha Rotter and Stewart Curry join Michele and Conn for this week’s Tech Heroes chat, to discuss Developer Evangelism, Digital Media and the state of Irish startups.

We talk about the Silicon Valley route to tech success and the fact that there’s a lot more cool stuff happening in Ireland which doesn’t make those kind of headlines.  Issue 1 of Idea shines a spotlight on some of that everyday enterprise says Martha.

Stewart explains how Idea takes advantage of the particular features of whatever digital device you choose to read it on, and they talk about the digital publishing expertise they’ve developed along the way.

Issue 2 of Idea (“the money issue”) is out on February 15th.

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Brought to you by Blacknight, it’s The Technology.ie Podcast, Episode 15, with Conn Ó Muíneacháin and Michele Neylon.

This podcast was recorded as the SOPA was hitting the fan in Ireland.  A campaign by internet users and business gathered tens of thousands of names in just over  a day.  Michele debated with the Minister on RTÉ’s Drivetime (MP3 is here) and also on Twitter.

Last night Michele had a late night meeting with the Minister at Government Buildings, which I’m  sure he’ll blog about later today.  This podcast was recorded before that meeting and we don’t make any mention of it.  However, the conversation gives a good insight into  Michele’s views on the matter, views which are shared by tens of thousands of people who work with and use the Internet in Ireland.

It’s not about bashing the copyright industry.  They make their case and represent their interests.  Ultimately, the technology industry needs to learn from them how to lobby and communicate its message in a way which others can understand and empathise with.

Technology.ie is brought to you by Blacknight, Ireland’s largest provider of domains and hosting.

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• SOPA goes to Ireland (domainnamewire.com)

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Year of the Dragon

Have you ever wondered how businesses and organisations manage their social media?  In this episode Michele Neylon talks about what they do at Blacknight.  One of the key questions is how a team of people can administer a single social media account.  Blacknight have been using a tool called Cotweet, but Michele is concerned that that company’s new product line may not include a cost-effective option for SMEs.  He’d love to hear from listeners about other services they may have used.

Conn is excited about OnePageCRM.  Developed by a Galway company to help small businesses manage their sales, it won Best New Web App at the 2010 Irish Web Awards.  Now it’s winning business in the US and in just a few days it’s won Conn’s heart as well!

Let’s talk about Google.  They’ve added new social features into their search results. Now your search results include shared items from your Google+ posts, and even what your Gmail contacts have written on blogspot!  But it’s a Google social world: don’t expect to see anything from Twitter or Facebook in your Google search results.  (Although I did see content from a WordPress.com blog that one contact had linked on his Google Profile.)

Michele says that’s business!  Conn thinks social search is the poorer for not having Twitter.

Did you hear about the Kenyan startup that discovered they were being misrepresented by people acting on Google’s behalf?  There’s a nice tech detective story in the sting operation which Mocality conducted which uncovered the action.  Google have admitted the story is true and apologised while they are conducting an investigation.

Finally, we recorded this on Wednesday as many websites including en.Wikipedia.org went dark to protest SOPA and ProtectIP.  Michele reckons this kind of action is the only way to convince lobbyists that this legislation is bad for their business.  He also believes that the internet industry needs to clean up its act and react more promptly when the likes of malware and phishing are reported.

Technology.ie is brought to you by Blacknight domains and hosting.  They’ve just launched The Year of the Cloud with 20% off any of their new cloud hosting plans.  The January Sale continues: find out more at blacknight.com or on Facebook.

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But what I really wanted to talk to him about was ‘home entertainment hacking’!  Then Netflix launched in Ireland and I sent him a ping.

Luckily he was free to join us this week.  Unfortunately, Michele was delayed doing media interviews about ICANN’s launch of the application process for new gTLDs, so it’s just Conn and Conor on this episode.

We started off talking about Netflix, but that was just the launch-point!  Then we get down the the specifics of Conor’s home entertainment adventures, taking in Boxee, Roku, Saorview and the surprising delights of Windows Media Centre along the way.

Thanks for the chat Conor!

Technology.ie is brought to you by Blacknight.  Visit Blacknight.com for domains and hosting, and check out their new Cloud Hosting   is getting a lot of interest.  Check  it out at Blacknight.com from €12.99/month ex VAT.

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The title of this week’s podcast is a translation of a phrase Michele tweeted earlier this week:  ”Níl aon chúlú sa tsamhlaíocht” – there’s no recession in imagination!  Michele found it in his email in a newsletter from Kila – the band who’s music you hear at the start of each episode of the podcast.  Kila have plans to record a new album shortly: we’ll be waiting with interest!

Michele’s finally given in and got himself a Kindle.  He admits he was reluctant to tear himself away from wood pulp, but his recent experience of travelling with Steve Jobs biography in his bag convinced him it was time to change.

Applications open today for new generic Top Level Domains.  So can I set up .conn?  Michele explains it’s not that simple!

We also discuss Netflix’s launch in Ireland and you can hear more about that on Monday in a special guest interview with Conor O’Neill.  That’s part of a new expansion of the podcast service on technology.ie: we’re spinning out the guest interviews into a podcast of their own.

Another new feature is Websites for Fun and Profit!  I’ve gone and got myself a new cloud server from Blacknight and plan to make it work for me in 2012.

Technology.ie is brought to you by Blacknight domains and hosting.  Blacknight’s January Sale is underway, with savings on domain registrations and transfers and up to 40% off selected hosting packages.  Use the coupon code 2012sale.

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It’s a new year and the lads are full of good intentions!  Michele resolves to be healthy in 2012.  Conn just wants to be a better webmaster.  He’s got a collection of forgotten domains and neglected websites hosted all over the place, and he’s going to clean them up and make them work!

Michele demonstrates the musical Christmas card he got from fellow domain registrar GoDaddy, and we talk about the controversy surrounding that company’s support for, and subsequent repudiation of, SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act).  We cast an eye on the Irish Data Protection Commissioner’s report on Facebook privacy and hear about Michele’s recent visit to Washington DC.

Technology.ie is brought to you by Blacknight domains and hosting.  Blacknight’s January Sale is underway, with savings on domain registrations and transfers and up to 40% off selected hosting packages.  Use the coupon code 2012sale.

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Grab Yours Now

Brought to you by Blacknight, it’s The Technology.ie Podcast, Episode 8, with Conn Ó Muíneacháin and Michele Neylon.  Our guest this week is science and technology journalist Marie Boran.

We talk about Carrier IQ.  Is it a rootkit, or a legitimate network management tool?  There’s a new social network for the Irish language, currently in development and launching in January.  We discuss location-based check-in services.  Facebook have bought Gowalla: now they’re shutting it down!  And Cubic Telecom launch a new MAXROAM Global Data SIM.

Marie has just finished a Masters in Science Communication in DCU.  We talk about Science and Technology journalism in Ireland, and hear about her work with Scibernia, the Irish Science Podcast.  She’s also a regular contributor on technology to The Irish Times.

Technology.ie is brought to you by Blacknight domains and hosting.  Blacknight are the only Irish domain registrar for .XXX, which is now in General Availability.  And they’re also running a post-budget Christmas discount special!

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Brought to you by Blacknight, it’s The Technology.ie Podcast, Episode 8, with Conn Ó Muíneacháin and Michele Neylon.  Our guest this week is Andraz Tori, CTO of Zemanta.

Facebook settles with the FTC regarding privacy, and it’s expected to stage an IPO next year.  Zynga launches its IPO campaign next week, but can they take any encouragement from the recent experiences of Groupon and LinkedIn.

US authorities mark Cyber Monday, by seizing the domains of 150 sites trading in counterfeit goods.

Connemara Councillor Clueless on Cloud Computing?  No, it’s a fake story, but entertaining all the same.

Our guest Andraz Tori tells us about his company Zemanta.  They provide a tool which analyses what someone is typing and suggests links and images which the writer may choose to use in their article or blog post.  (We use it on technology.ie, and we’ve talked about them before.)

Technology.ie is brought to you by Blacknight.  Visit Blacknight.com for domains and hosting, and check out their new Cloud Hosting   is getting a lot of interest.  Check  it out at Blacknight.com from €12.99/month ex VAT.

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