CGarvey.ie - The personal website of Cathal Garvey

I’ve made a few small interim changes to URL.ie. I say interim, because I’ve a whole new code base in beta testing (with a few new handy features).. but I don’t have the time to fully test it yet (especially under load). So here’s a quick look at the new features (and the reasoning behind them).

Read the rest of this entry

Now that the hurling championship is in full swing with RTE and TV3 providing coverage, and with Rugby season over (bar tests which are not on Setanta anyway), I’ve no need for Setanta for the next while. So I went about cancelling it today.

First and foremost, they don’t provide a geographical number, just an 0818 “Universal Access” number (whose original intent was to be a standard “national” rate, but now most providers charge a premium for calls, most don’t bundle, and mobile operators smack on quite a profit). So I use Skype (to beat my Digiweb Metro rates and my o2 rates).

Read the rest of this entry

I don’t tend jump on every campaign going, but as a regular reader of Engadget, I thought I was witnessing an early April Fools Day post when I read that Deutche Telekom (T-Mobile to me and you) had instigated legal proceedings over Engadget’s use of a Magenta. The linked post explains it a lot better than I can, but is another fine example of law firms gone mad™. To lend my support, the leading banner of this site will be in Engadget Magenta for the next few days. Hopefully DT/T-Mobile will see sense on this issue.

So most Renault owners and potential owners have heard the pretty widespread belief that their biggest failing is their electrical systems. Newer models don’t seem to do much to resolve that either. So I’d put my CD unti replacement and the two times I’ve had the ignition coils replaced down to those electrical faults, and as they were covered by warranty (outside of the general manufacturer warranty, but within the extended period for known problems such as the coils).

Then I’d to drive 3 hours in sub-zero temperatures on motorways with my driver window fully down. The cause? A faulty window regulator (the motor & mechanism used to drive the electric windows). It failed while the car was parked outside the house. Even better, when it did fail it decided to open fully, even though the car was locked/immobilised. Genius! So no, because it is less than a month outside the extended 4-year manufacturer warranty on the widely publicised window regulator problem Meganes have, Renault want 400 quid to fix it. 320 Euro for a new part.

Read the rest of this entry

So, we’ve new laws on email spam, and a general consensus to try and reduce, or eradicate, the problem. What are we to do with junk snail mail spam? Well, Damien Mulley talks up a recent Indo piece which highlights an under-performing service by the IDMA to allow users logged out. He raises very valid points about how ineffective it is, but stops short of the bigger problem, in my opinion.

Read the rest of this entry