Austrias PR Image

The Austrian government is worried about it's image in the aftermath of the case of Elisabeth Fritzl who was imprisoned in a cellar under her family home for 24 years by her own father and forced to bear him seven children 3 of which were held in the cellar with her. Alfred Gusenbauer, the Austrian Chancellor says his government is planning a PR campaign to demonstrate that Josef Fritzl's actions were not representative of his country.

"We won’t allow the whole country to be held hostage by one man."

I think it's fair to say Fritzl is not the worst Austrian in history (... *cough* Hitler...) so why make such meal of it. A year ago all those journalists were in Portugal searching for Maddie McCann.

No offence to Austria but I don't think anyone, except maybe the Austrians themselves, are blaming them for this one. Punish the crime and stop hiring PR agencies.

Bulmers name

Bulmers cider from Ireland has to be branded as Magners Cider for the international market since another company owns the international rights to the Bulmers name and sells a cider called HP Bulmers.

On Saturday I saw a shop on O'Connell St selling cans of HP Bulmers. Is this legal? Hardly seems fair to Irish Bulmers if they can't use the name abroad but HP Bulmers can use it in Ireland

Cancelled Flights

I've been listening to people bitching and moaning on the radio about Aer Lingus cancelling business class flights to America they bought
for 5 euros online yesterday. It was obviously a mistake, 5 euros across the Atlantic would clearly be a mistake but in business class? Come on.

No one can be so naive as to think that offer was genuine. They must have booked knowing it was an error and hoping to get something out of it be it cheap flights or some compensation. The best one so far was a guy was on the radio complaining that he now had to cancel his hotel booking.

No one seemed to notice the hypocrisy of assuming he had the right to cancel something but Aer Lingus doesn't.

(Edit: I hate using blogger on an iPhone, too difficult to type and read. Roll on the SDK and hopefully a decent editor)

Peoples Photography 2008?

Does anyone know if the Peoples Photography exhibition around St Stephens Green will be on this year? I've emailed them a few times over the last few months but got no reply and the web site has not been updated since 3rd May 2007 so almost a year ago.

At this stage I'd guess it must be dead and thats a real shame as it was a great way for amature photographers to show off their work.

[Update: 13th May 2008] I just got an email back from the organisers. The exhibition will be on again this year on the weekend 30/31st August

Quake 3 on an iPhone

The guys over at HermitWorks took the source for Quake 3 and "with a few modifications had it running pretty quick" on an iPhone and an iTouch. They posted a video on youTube showing an iPhone and an iTouch playing multiplayer Quake.



The iPhone is one hell of a great phone :-)

Missing buses

As I stand at a bus stop waiting for an 11 bus to come by a question is bugging me. Why does the bus service in this city seem to get worse when there is a big sports event like Manchester United in the Champions League on TV?

There always seem to be large gaps in the schedule on those days and nights. I hope if any drivers rang in sick today they aren't too ill to lift their heads and watch the match.

Bertie announces resignation date

Bertie Ahern has announced his resignation. He will leave office on Tuesday May 6th. Its some how ironic that after leading a cabinet for 10 years where resignation was removed from the dictionary Bertie himself resigns. Perhaps now we will see some change around the stale cabinet table.