Youngest Mac developer!

12 year-old from Cork becomes youngest  Mac OSX App developer in the world

 

Harry Moran is 12 year old Cork boy in question. He is a lot different to most 12 year olds though, he has designed and built a best-selling Mac app. How many 12 year olds can even turn on their computers?

His app goes by the name of ‘Pizzabot’. Pizzabot is an App which for the lovers of Pizza may truly love. His app combines the thrills of pizza with those of the iPhone. His app has surpassed big names in the app industry such as Call of Duty and Angry Birds to become the top paid App in the Mac Application store.

For most the development of an app would be enough, but not for Harry, he’s writing a technical blog; His blog is HM Computing, which offers assistance with both software and hardware. He is also a member of ‘CoderDojo’ a non-profit computer coding club launched by James Whelton , the man who was first to hack the Ipod nano.

In terms of innovation and status in the digital world, Harry has made an amazing achievement personally and nationally. He also owns the top paid app on the Mac App store, what an achievement.

Is he the new Steve Jobs?

(special thanks to irishpressrelease.ie and siliconrepublic.ie)

Co-creator of term cloud computing Irish

 

The Irish based entrepreneur Sean O'Sullivan has been credited  as co-creator of the term ‘cloud computing’ and as being an early proponent of the development of cloud computing.

O'Sullivan had a company by the name of NetCentric and developed software for within the internet. His company correctly predicted the evolution of LAN services and  in-computer services to the cloud, and although he didn't manage to capture much of the business for himself, cloud computing has had huge impact on technology with approximately half the planet affected.
O'Sullivan has gone on to create and manage other major computing and non-computing initiatives, such as Avego Ltd, a worldwide provider of  revolutionary mobility software. He also runs SOSventures, a highly successful venture investment fund with investments in Europe, China and the United States.
O’Sullivan’s previous investments include Harmonix, a company which created Guitar Hero.
Mr O'Sullivan Said:“My first company, MapInfo, became a US$200m company that pioneered street mapping on computers. NetCentric helped invent the cloud-computing industry,” said O'Sullivan. He hopes that Avergo the company he currently owns will provide another technological revolution for billions of people.


Information courtesy of Siliconrepublic.com
Picture courtesy of eship.rpi.edu

Irish Tech Firm scores an economic victory

A Dublin-based software development company Ideal Binary has raised €750k in revenue to develop their business and products. This success has come through the success of their PopIris engine.


 Had a look at their products myself, they really do look quite amazing.


 Read more below
http://www.siliconrepublic.com/start-ups/item/24470-fairy-tale-comes-true-as/

In other news

A competitor to facebook, diaspora has lost one of its co-founders at the age of 21.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-57323852-92/diaspora-co-founder-dies-at-21-report-says/?part=rss&subj=latest-news&tag=title

11.11.11 Another conspiracy that didnt deliver

Like Y2K, nothing actually happened besides the fact that some people panicked over a possible technological metldown.
So what exactly was meant to happen on 11.11.11?

View the site for a full list of possible events and ideas relating to this day

http://paradigmsearch.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Interpret-111111-Friday-November-11-2011-And-a-Metaphysics-Experiment-111111

There was even a facebook page/group created for the day
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-111111-Gathering/149951135057191


Pyramids closed due to 11.11.11 threat
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/8883173/Pyramids-closed-by-11.11.11-threat.html

Yet another Security Breach

As facebook is the holder, of one of the largest databases of  people and peoples information in the world you would believe that their privacy settings should provide you with a sense security. Despite the security/privacy settings facebook has in place, it has been proven once more that their security is not impenetrable.

As per SiliconRepublic.com:
" Over the course of an eight-week investigation, the researchers deployed 102 socialbots onto the social network and each bot was able to assume a name and profile picture of a fictitious person and friend requests were sent to more than 5,000 random accounts.

The researchers claimed a 19pc success rate in the first two weeks and a 59pc success rate in the following six weeks."

 This indicates the huge vulnerabilities within the facebook system as their excuse for this breach is that it came from an academic institution. Really? are there no hackers that try to get into databases and systems from academic institutions? What cloud are you living on Mark Zuckerburg?

 While I am a user of facebook, I personally will be modifying the information available on my facebook and may even consider shutting it down.

With the likes of duqu surfacing on a daily basis do you feel secure?

Read more on Duqu here: 

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/strategy/item/24114-security-alert-meet-duqu/

 Essentially, like the war on drugs, I believe the world is losing its fight with cyber attacks and hackers. Is there any viable widely available solution? Not yet

"Senior security executives from some of the world’s largest corporations have warned that becoming victim to cyber attacks and corporate espionage is a matter of when, not if".-The Security for Business Innovation Council (SBIC)

IPHONE 4S

So the question you may all be asking yourselves is this new phone really worth all the money that it costs?

Essentially it is the IPhone 4 with ramped up with a faster processor, better storage, a smarter virtual assistant and twice the storage of the IPhone 4. While these may be the only improvements to the regular user there is also improvements to the wireless connectivity

so what are the negatives of this supposedly best Iphone yet?
-The ram of this phone is weak at 512mb ram the same as the IPhone 4. Nothing with such a weak ram base phone or not will ever get me excited.
-The 3.5" screen of this phone is beyond embarassing, not worth paying for.
-Its also a heavier phone with more on the inside of it, this is not the slimline phone of the future.
-The glass back and front makes it very susceptible to damage
-You must send your phone to apple to get it repaired which will cost a fortune

With a price range of €599-€799 this is not worth the money.

Photo courtesy of: Engadget.com

Cloud computing

As defined on wikipedia Cloud computing is the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product,whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices as a utility (like the electricity grid) over a network (typically the Internet).



Is it Safe?

There is a current ongoing debate within the business world as to whether this is the way forward or
if the security issues posed by the cloud are too great. As personal point of view, I use the cloud for my email and for the storing of certain non sensitive information. The reason I use the cloud is that it allows me to keep information and documents within easy reach no matter where I am (yes a usb does this too but is a pain to carry around). It is my opinion that anything sensitive can and will be accessed on the cloud once placed there, no matter how much security is put in place.

In recent times, there has been numerous attempts to compromise the sony online entertainment databases and accounts. Some of these attempts have been successful and account details and credit card information have been extracted. There were additional security measures put in place to protect the data by sony post the first attack. Security is not a preventative measure, it simply slows the hacker down and makes them work slightly harder to get to the same information. This would not be possible if all the information wasnt on a cloud.

What are your opinions? is it safe? are you using the cloud?

Steve Jobs Passing

 Its sad news for all those interested in technology in recent weeks with the passing of steve jobs after a relatively
short battle with cancer.My personal opinion of the man is that he was a creative genius and he will be sorely missed.
Enjoy your rest Steve.

In my previous posts I have talked of my previous experience and how I got to where I am today; from now on I shall be giving more opinion on tech issues then I have before. I welcome all your input guys and opinions in the comment section on the same subjects.

Trials part deux

   Having completed my training courses, I decided it was about time to put my theoretical skills to practice. So it was off to the work place again for me.  Through some contacts I was given a lead to a potential internship with a small IT support company . The company kindly agreed to take me on and give me some practical experience.

  As part of my internship with the company, I started out with simple tasks such as taking unused old desktops apart and placing the different parts together in an ordered fashion. As was needed, I would also provide assistance in restoring or rebuilding computers for use by the customers at no cost to them. 

  While with this company, I got a good understanding of customer relations and the attention a customer requires on an ongoing basis. I was sent out to upgrade customers computers and was also involved in an office move which entailed reinstalling for the customer and their staff   computers , servers and software in the new location. I was very grateful for the opportunity afforded to me to learn and gain some practical experience which  has  given  me a good basis for my IT career into the future.

 Next time on Trial and Tribulations of a Web technologist..... how I discovered the path  which I  am now taking.......

Web Technologies

Today is the start of a a new life experience for me, the start of blogging. Currently I am in the national college of Ireland studying web technologies. To date, I have found this course quite informative to date. I will give you a little bit of background about me and my studies.

I started off on this path by being made redundant from Bank of Scotland. (IRL).  While this was fun while it lasted, it was not what I wanted to do. As part of my redundancy I was given a career guidance counselor and between us we decided that I should pursue a career in IT. As part of the start of the search for a career in IT I searched the net for ways to get into I.T. The Conclusion I came to, was that the way to get into IT was to get certifications,training and experience under my belt. My search led me to I.A.C.T.  This is a private college in South Dublin city, the lecturers are experienced in the industry and very knowledgable in their subjects. As part of my discovery of I.A.C.T. certifications were obtained in PC repair and Maintenance and COMPTIA A+.

Next Blog I will discuss a bit more about my experience to date and where I hope to go in the future
Stay tuned!
One last thing I want to share with you hope I dont end up like this guy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSl4mFw4GDo