France in the final against Sweden France 2522 Croatia
Abalofrancehonrubiahorvatnarcisse ← Previous Story Dream of “Benga Boys” still alive – Sweden in Olympic FINAL! Next Story → Grzegorz Tkaczyk injured – Six weeks OUT? (PHOTO) FRANCE – CROATIA 25:22 (12:10)France reached the final after a semifinal victory over Croatia. The “final before final” as it was labelled, went in French favour, and characterized by Omeyer’s 20 saves, somewhat little less than 50% saves, main reason for French success. The first half went with slight French domination, 12-10 at the half, while in the second despite making 5 goals advantage, the Croatians still managed to fight back and lower as much as 1 goal, but the French still had Omeyer on the goal, and Accambray brought some freshness in the French attack, which was at points clueless. In the end it was France 25-22 Croatia. Narcisse, Honrubia and Abalo each scored 4 goals for France, while Zlatko Horvat scored 6 and Lackovic 4 times for Croatia.
BATMAN WAS arrested on Saturday night by police in the US, who (honestly) said he wouldn’t leave them alone.Mark Wayne Williams, 33, was lifted by state troopers in Michigan because they say he refused to stop interfering after he showed up at the scene of a road accident wearing a Batman outfit.“He wouldn’t clear the scene, and we had a canine out there and he kept screwing up the scent,” State Police Sgt. Jeff Gorno told the Petoskey News-Review. “He said he wanted to help us look for the driver.”“We didn’t want the dog to track Batman instead of the accident scene, and he was getting in the way of officers who had a job to do,” the sergeant said. Holy sweatpatches, Batman! (AP Photo/Petoskey Department of Public Safety via Petoskey News-Review)Williams wasn’t carrying any dangerous weapons, but his costume and gear were confiscated, Gorno said. He was charged with resisting and obstructing police in an investigation, and he posted bond and was released from the county jail.A call to a number listed as Williams’ Petoskey home rang unanswered yesterday.It’s not Williams’ first brush with the law as the caped crusader.He was arrested last year after police received a report of a man dressed as Batman on the roof of a Petoskey business. When officers arrived, they found Williams, dressed as Batman and carrying a baton-type striking weapon, a can of chemical irritant spray and a pair of sand-filled gloves.He pleaded guilty to one count of attempted resisting and obstructing a police officer and was sentenced to six months of probation during which he was forbidden to wear costumes, including his Batman get-up.Williams said at the time that he never intended to harm anyone.More: Batman villain Bane’s voice ‘based on Irish Traveller’>
Are we counting on young people to keep Irish alive? Traic Ó Braonáin is the chairperson of Raidió Rí-Rá, an Irish language music station for teens. He tells TheJournal.ie why Irish has to be made cool for kids if we expect them to speak it. THE IRISH LANGUAGE has an awful lot of baggage attached to it. The way it has been taught in the past links the language to bad memories in many people’s childhood. It is something that we are very proud of, but it can conjure up uncomfortable feelings for many such as the reciting of verbs over and over, and memorising conversations.There have been changes in the way the language is taught over the years, so younger people don’t necessarily have that baggage attached to the language, but it is still hanging around. We wanted to make the language cool again for young people by removing that baggage and attempt to try and normalise the language.The radio project started when we realised that we were interested in music, but there was nothing geared towards the music we love and the Irish language. There were radio stations that played pop music, but we wanted to have an Irish radio station aimed at kids, playing the music they love all of the time, not just for segments.NormaliseWe had two aims – to play chart music that kids can relate to and also to get popular bands on board who might be interested in promoting the language by translating their own songs and singing them in Irish. A great way to normalise the language is to surround people in it, and what better way to do that than through radio. The idea that a pop song could be played alongside the Irish language, and there wouldn’t be a great fuss – that is what we wanted to achieve.Getting the bands involved a few years back was a great coup for us. The language has a history to it, and because it is taught in school it can be seen as a chore, but a great way to get kids looking at the language differently is to show them some cool and talented musicians singing in Irish. We thought it would be a great way to make the language accessible for young people. Bands such as Bell X1, The Waterboys and The Coronas to name but a few got involved and it was really great to get kids looking at these bands and thinking – ‘hey, they are a cool band and they are speaking Irish’ – that can have a huge effect on young people’s attitudes. Seeing Danny O’Reilly sing in Irish can really create a mental shift in kids minds and how they view their native language.Love/hate relationshipTaking the language out of the classrooms is the only way we are going to cure the love/hate relationship that we have with Irish. But the changes do have to come from the classroom. The idea that the oral section of the exam was such a small percentage when I did the Leaving Certificate was shocking to me. You cannot learn through memorising passages – that is not fun for kids and it will not encourage them to learn and love the language. Why is there not more of a focus on the speaking – that is the million dollar question – it has to be geared towards people speaking the language and listening to the language.Conversation is the only way we can get kids speaking Irish. Years ago people would have looked twice at you if you started speaking Irish on the Dart or bus, but I think that teenagers now want to embrace the language and you can often hear them giving it a go on the way home from school, which is great to see.The baggage that we have carried, the drumming-in off the language has to be erased. We want to get teenagers listening to the music they love on our station while also taking in some of the language too. We simply want to get teenagers listening.Traic Ó Braonáin is Chairperson of Raidió Rí-Rá. Raidió Rí-Rá is broadcast across the capital on 94.3FM until October 7. Presented solely through Irish, Raidió Rí-Rá plays all the latest hit music from the charts all year round, online at www.rrr.ie, on all Nokia phones, and on the iPhone with its app, on Android phones via the TuneIn app, and on the DAB platform.
THE ABOLITION OF the air-travel tax hasn’t pleased everybody. An Taisce has predicted that it will soon have to be re-instated to combat climate change.When it was first introduced in 2009 the tax on flights out of the country was €10, it was then reduced to €3 before the current Government announced in the Budget earlier this month that it will be abolished from April 2014.But the independent environmental charity An Taisce has said that removal of the tax “doesn’t make long-term sense” because the global climate change situation is becoming “even more alarming”.The group cites a recent report from a UN intergovernmental panel which said that it was 95 per cent convinced that humans have caused over half the global warming observed over the past 60 years.An Taisce say that air travel is by far the most carbon intensive form of transport per passenger kilometre travelled: The recent IPCC report stated that there is now only a 50-50 chance of avoiding runaway temperature rise. Airline chiefs can try and dress this issue up whatever way they like, but there are choices to be made between foreign holidays today and a sustainable future for the next generation.An Taisce say that these choices must include becoming less dependent on air travel by increasing overland links with Britain with greater sail-and-rail options for Irish travellers.Read: With the Air Travel Tax gone, Ryanair commits to a million more passengers >Pic: What happens when Americans fly home for Thanksgiving >
USERS OF EMAIL service @unison.ie are complaining of being left high and dry after the service was discontinued earlier this week.Users who contacted TheJournal.ie have said that when attempting to access their accounts they received an error message simply saying “server is not responding”.The @unison.ie email was a free service provided with the Unison set top box from a Chorus/Internet Ireland joint venture in 2000.Digiweb, who now own Internet Ireland, have confirmed that the servers hosting the service have run to end of life and they will not be repaired.Digiweb say that this plan was flagged as far back as 2007 when Unison.ie was operated by Indepdendent News & Media. They say that at the time INM advised users that support for the service was being withdrawn and would run until the servers failed but not after.Digiweb acquired Internet Ireland, and with in the @unison.ie legacy servers, in 2010 and say that the original plan was kept in place until this month when the severs failed.This has not satisfied some users of the @unison.ie email however, they have complained that no notice was given that the accounts were to about to go.According to one user, when they contacted Digiweb to find out why the service had been cut without notice they were informed that: “Digiweb emailed everyone six years ago to tell them that Unison.ie would not longer be supported”.The user says they have asked for an emailed copy of this notification but have not yet received such confirmation. A request was also made to Digiweb to continue the service for another 30 days to allow users to migrate to another account, this was refused according to the user:As you can imagine, it is a major problem for people like me to have to contact everyone and tell them that their email address no longer works, not to mention the various websites providing membership services where it is the primary contact,Facebook, Meetup.com, Amazon etc.Other @unison.ie email holders have taken to the discussion forum Boards.ie to search for a remedy, with some suggesting that Digiweb attempt to put a system in place to forward emails onto new accounts.This would seem highly unlikely however with the server already having failed.Read: @ireland.com email users slam ‘disgraceful’ decision to end service >Read: Tourism Ireland buys ‘Ireland.com’ URL from The Irish Times >
IN 2006, the Government’s mental health policy A Vision for Change set out its recommendations for reform of the mental health services, and described a principle of “recovery” that should facilitate service users to “learn to understand and cope with their mental health difficulties, build on their inherent strengths and resourcefulness, establish supportive networks, and pursue dreams and goals that are important to them and to which they are entitled as citizens.”The recovery principle as set out in A Vision for Change represents a conceptual challenge to reform of the mental health services. Pointing beyond issues of quality, scope and structure, the recovery principle evokes a new ethos to underpin service delivery.Focusing on the process as instead of the end resultThis is not a type of recovery that depends on eliminating a person’s symptoms. Rather, it is complementary to clinical improvement. It is recovery as a process as opposed to an end result. The recovery ethos is key to the long overdue transformation occurring in mental health services in Ireland.In the 1950s, Ireland had more than 20,000 people in psychiatric hospitals – reportedly the highest per capita rate of psychiatric hospitalisation in the world at that time. In 2010, this figure was around 2,800.The move that is underway aims to enable people to be treated for mental distress in their own community, with the continued support of their family and friends, and with access to psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists and other mental health professionals. However, for this change to succeed, we also need to see a change in mind-set and in approach, which is where the recovery ethos could make a real difference, if embedded in services.Recovery is a very personal process of discovering one’s own strengths, values and aspirations. Many people describe it as a journey, which can take place inside or outside the mental health system, through personal development, through relationships with professionals that are built on partnership, through peer support and through community support.Five pillars to a good quality mental health serviceFor Mental Health Reform, there are five pillars to a good quality mental health service: hope, listening, partnership, choice and social inclusion.Hope: At public consultations held by Mental Health Reform in recent years, people with experience of the mental health services have said that the hopeful attitude of a mental health worker or family member helped them to believe in their own capacity to recover. Listening: People living with a mental health condition come to understand their condition over time, and know what works best for them. They are experts by experience. It is crucial that they are listened to.Partnership: The recovery approach demands equality between mental health staff and people using the services. People have begun to demand the right to actively participate in their own care and recovery.Choice: People want and need choice in terms of treatment, and there must be a range of options available that are more than simply medication, including counselling and psychotherapy, occupational therapy and home-based treatment, among others. Social inclusion: In the words of one person who shared their story with Mental Health Reform, “people need to be more inclusive; people must take responsibility for each other. We all need to be a part of this.” The whole community can play a part in a person’s recovery.Fulfilment of the vision of recovery set out in A Vision for Change will not be possible without adequate funding. The Government must prioritise resources for community mental health services with multi-disciplinary staff, as promised in the Programme for Government. The HSE and professional bodies must prioritise implementation of the recovery principle in A Vision for Change. Finally, society as a whole has a role to play in supporting the recovery approach.Being a participant in your own careIt would be tempting to consider this vision of a recovery-oriented service as ambitious. One could argue that current resource constraints imposed on the public mental health services make such a reform unrealistic. Yet, services that listen to their “customers” are likely to produce better outcomes, as will a partnership model that involves people using mental health services as active participants in their own care.The recovery ethos provides a new role for mental health professionals as facilitators of self-care, rather than sole providers of care. This may be the only way forward –and services that are ready to take on the challenge of the recovery ethos may well be best placed to survive and thrive in the future.Dr Shari McDaid is Director of Mental Health Reform, a coalition of organisations, promoting improved mental health services in Ireland. Dr McDaid is one of twelve national and international speakers scheduled for the 2013 National Mental Health Conference on Wednesday, 13th November at Newbridge Primary Care Centre. See www.mentalhealthcare.ie for more detail about the conference.For more information on the work of Mental Health Reform, visit this page or contact info@mentalhealthreform.ie.
So your friends, family and others may see your Profile name and photo, and content like the reviews that you share or the ads that you +1’d. This only happens when you take an action (things like +1’ing, commenting or following) – and the only people who see it are the people that you’ve chosen to share that content with.One example it gives is that “your friends might see that you rated an album 4 stars on the band’s Google Play page. And the +1 you gave your favourite local bakery could be included in an ad that the bakery runs through Google.”These are called shared endorsements, and when it comes to shared endorsements in ads, you can turn this setting off.Users under 18 won’t see their actions appearing in ads or other endorsements.What do you think of these shared endorsements?Read: YouTube co-founder leaves first comment in 8 years… complaining about comments> IF YOU RECOGNISE someone familiar in a Google ad or recommendation from today, you might know them well.In fact, it might even be your own face staring back at you from the computer or mobile phone screen.That’s because the company has updated its terms of service, which now state that your profile name and photo might appear in Google products.However, you can control whether your image and name appear in ads via the shared endorsements setting.Google says in its explanation of the terms that it will take the names and photos from users of Google Plus, as well as information when you +1, comment, or follow.
Updated at 9.10amTHE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS Committee is writing to the former board members of the CRC this week, with a view to calling them back before the panel to answer further questions on the issue of the €742,000 pension and pay-off package handed to former CEO Paul Kiely.It emerged in a committee hearing last week that €700,000 of the amount paid to Kiely was taken from the CRC’s charitable fund, the ‘Friends and Supporters’ group. The package included a €200,000 tax-free lump-sum and a €273,336 taxable payment, amounting to €473,336.Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, PAC member Simon Harris said the appearance was necessary as the panel had previously been “misled and possibly lied to” as it examined the payments controversy at the Clontarf clinic.“We’ve heard from members of the former board of the CRC who seem to have left their memories at the door,” the Fine Gael TD said.Harris was also asked about reports that documents relating to Kiely’s deal had gone missing, and admitted that the HSE had told the committee “they were having difficulty locating some minutes”.“We’ve seen the minutes of the famous meeting on the 25 March [at which the payments package was agreed]. We need to see the minutes of the renumeration committee, we need to hear the details of the pension presentation Mr Kiely made to the board.”Harris said that he hoped the former chair of the CRC Hamilton Goulding would provide all documentation and board minutes he had to the Public Accounts Committee, after Goulding said yesterday in a radio interview that he would to so.“I would really urge Mr Goulding to do so today,” Harris said.Outstanding questionsIn the wake of Goulding’s interview on RTÉ’s This Week yesterday, Harris said last night that the former CRC chair still had “a number of outstanding questions to answer”.Among the questions set out by Harris were:Why was Kiely never asked to take a pay-cut by the Board of the CRC?How did Goulding not know for a significant period of time [what] Mr Kiely’s salary [was]?How did Goulding “manage to preside over an organisation which managed to have €12 million in reserve and yet refused to provide some of the service necessary to its clients”?Why do “we have no information on what Goulding, and his colleagues on the board did, in relation to HSE letters they received warning them that they were not in in compliance”?In relation to the transfer of money from a charity account, the Friends and Supporters of the CRC, to Kiely, does Goulding view this as an acceptable transfer and did he seek advice in relation to the legality of the issue?Meanwhile, there have been conflicting reports as to whether Kiely intends to pay back part of his six-figure pay and pension package.Quoting friends of the former CRC chief executive, The Irish Daily Mail reports this morning that he would be willing to hand back some of the money. The Sunday Independent, also referencing sources close to Kiely, reported yesterday that he had no intention of doing so.Additional reporting, Aoife Barry.First posted at 8.50am.Read: Cowen: Kiely had no ‘hand, act or part’ in running of FFRead: Noonan: ‘On face of it’, CRC money should be paid backRead: CRC: What we found out at the Public Accounts Committee hearings
A MEETING BETWEEN Government officials and GP representatives today doesn’t appear to have eased any doubts among unions that free GP care for children aged under six is achievable in its current form.“What we have heard today has given us no confidence that promises made to patients by Government can be realised,” the IMO’s Ray Walley said following the meeting.“What is happening here is nothing more than an imposition by Government of terms and conditions on doctors and this does not happen in Government dealings with any other sector.”The Irish College of General Practitioners and the National Association of General Practitioners were also involved in today’s discussions.A draft contract will be published by the HSE this evening and the public will have three weeks to make submissions on their views as part of a consultation process.Minister of State for Primary Care Alex White has said that he is hopeful that the public consultation on the issue will achieve “broad engagement”.The Government has committed to introducing, on a phased basis, a universal GP service by 2016 and have set aside €37 million of funding for this year as part of its phased introduction.Once the fee structure is determined, it is envisaged that the he setting of the rates will be a matter for the Minister for Health subject to the provisions of legislation currently being drafted.But the IMO say that the process to date has been “flawed”.“In respect of this issue, the Government has prioritised spin over substance. They may succeed in impressing the electorate in the short term by pushing through this policy change but if the introduction of this change is mishandled, it will prove a pyrrhic victory indeed,” said Walley.Read: IMO remains “sceptical” about free child GP care and will tell the Government today >Read: IMO accuses Reilly of ‘racing ahead’ with extension of free GP care >
What’s next? Well, we’ll probably go out and kick the heads off France. TO HAVE THE possession you’d normally need to win two games and still come away with a loss is hard to take.Ireland had so much of the play against Scotland and so much of it was good – they made clear line breaks and fashioned so many attacking opportunities in the Scottish half.It was frustrating to see that all go to waste in the last couple of yards.Paddy Jackson distributed the ball well and got the backline moving. He needed to keep the scoreboard ticking over and that was his major failing.To play without a recognised kicker is madness. Paddy didn’t have the trust placed in him, that much was obvious. There was obviously a move in place to kick for the corner when penalties were awarded. They had decided that before the game and he was not allowed to take a couple of kicks on, potentially, his stronger side.Without any debate, they went for the corner.Scotland just hung in there and kept the scoreboard ticking. In fairness to them, they had some tackle count [154 made, 17 missed]. The statistics are insane.Lineout woesThe lineout hasn’t been functioning for the last couple of games and it has really cost us.Scotland used Jim Hamilton and Rob Harley to great effect. On a couple of occasions, if they couldn’t read the throw they just jacked their jumpers up as high as possible.The rule with lineouts, first and foremost, is ‘miss the opposition’. Unfortunately, it isn’t happening and it is our Achilles’ heel at present.Scotland’s Jim Hamilton dominates another lineout. (©INPHO/Dan Sheridan)So much of the scrum is about attitude and Ireland were upset in that regard by the loss of Cian Healy.The cohesion in the Irish front row wasn’t there. Tom Court, when he went under pressure, didn’t want any part of the fight.Overall, only Luke Marshall, in the first half, truly stood out and there was a communal slide in performance that cost us.What Irish team will show up next?Declan Kidney’s time is done. There shouldn’t be a witch hunt but when his contract is up [in the summer], let it be up.Kidney has the responsibility for picking the team but the players have to take their share of the blame.They made great plays for getting into the opposition 22 but completely coughed up scoring chances. At minimum, three tries were butchered.
Normally you have to decide which France team is going to show up but at the moment you have no idea what Irish team is going to take to the pitch.Sexton’s hamstringThe only hope ahead of the France game is that we get Jonny Sexton back.Fergus McFadden should have been brought in. This is nothing against Ronan O’Gara; he hasn’t been playing well and Jackson deserved his start.If Sexton misses the France game, a starting place must be found for Madigan (l) or McFadden. (©INPHO/Cathal Noonan)You were going into that game without a recognised kicker. That challenge could have been simply met by playing McFadden, who is comfortable on either wing or in the centre and who’s kicking stats are up near 90%.Would it be fair to drop Paddy Jackson after that, when we knew his kicking has not been up to scratch? I don’t think so.The most sensible option, though, was to pick Ian Madigan but he doesn’t appear to be on Kidney’s radar, unfortunately.*Shane Byrne’s publication, Club Rugby Magazine is available monthly in the Irish Independent. Follow the magazine, and all the latest rugby news, on Twitter @ClubRugby1.6 Nations: ‘Miserable’ Kearney calls for fighting spirit against France
THE HIGH COURT will rule this morning in a landmark case which could pave the way for couples who need to use the services of a surrogate mother to still both be recognised on their child’s birth certificate.Justice Henry Abbott will rule this morning in the case of M R versus the Registrar General, in which a couple who used a surrogate to carry their twins to birth argue that their rights to be identified as their children’s parents are being denied.The State has insisted that only the woman who gives birth to a child can be recognised on its birth certificate as its mother.The outcome has major implications for the family, as the mother recognised on a birth certificate is legally viewed as a child’s mother – and is therefore given legal standing in matters including inheritance, while the genetic mother would be given no legal recognition.In this case the woman who gave birth to the children is the sister of their genetic mother – and both consent to having the genetic mother recognised on the children’s birth certificate.However, the ruling may need to take into account the possibility of other circumstances arising in the future, where the genetic and birth mothers could both seek inclusion in the birth certificate.The couple has argued that the State-endorsed practice where DNA tests are used to establish parenthood is in conflict with its stance on registrations, as a DNA test would establish that the genetic mother was not the woman who gave birth to the child.
ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI PUT on a masterclass to leave Borussia Dortmund on the cusp of a place in the Champions League final.Lewandowski scored all of Dortmund’s goals as the Germans thumped Real Madrid 4-1 in their semi-final first leg at the Westfalenstadion this evening.After Bayern Munich set the tone with a ruthless display against Barcelona last night, their Bundesliga rivals responded in kind to bring an all-German final a step closer to reality.It took just eight minutes for Lewandowski to open the scoring and set the tone for the evening. Mario Götze — who yesterday announced that he will leave Dortmund for Bayern in the summer — crossed the ball and the big Polish striker was on hand to slide it home.YouTube Credit: fivesatBut Madrid stuck to their task and levelled two minutes before half-time. Seconds after Marco Reus was denied a penalty for Dortmund, Mats Hummels underhit his backpass, allowing Gonzalo Higuain to square and Cristiano Ronaldo to roll the ball into an empty net. YouTube Credit: fivesatIt was a valuable away goal for Madrid but it was Dortmund who struck first after the restart, Lewandowski playing the offside trap to perfection and finishing smartly in the the 50th minute.YouTube Credit: Ragnos1997And the striker completed his hat-trick five minutes later with the pick of the bunch, showing a brilliant touch to drag the ball away from Pepe before rifling his finish into the roof of the net.YouTube Credit: Ragnos1997Madrid’s misery was complete in the 66th minute when Xabi Alonso was penalised for a push on Reus. Lewandowski held his nerve to thump the ball past keeper Diego Lopez, giving the Germans a three-goal cushion ahead of next Tuesday’s return leg in the Bernabeu.YouTube Credit: Ragnos1997How Twitter reacted to the Luis Suarez ban
Updated 22:58TODAY’S ANNOUNCEMENT BY the government to stop the discretionary medical card review process has been widely welcomed.CEO of the Jack & Jill Foundation Jonathan Irwin said, “We welcome the U turn from government on discretionary medical cards policy and the suspension of these torturous reviews that our families have been going through. These are families with children with life limiting conditions and it’s about time this government admitted that the medical card system is not fit for purpose.He also added that he still wants to meet Minister Reilly and Minister White to discuss children under Jack and Jill’s wing who have lost their medical card altogether.“But we need a big fix, not just a quick fix and we will be watching developments carefully and need clarity on new babies coming under the wing of Jack & Jill and how their parents apply for medical cards on their behalf.We won’t stop this campaign until children with life limiting and life threatening conditions receive their medical card in their own right and automatically, rather than this barbaric system of dragging their parents through means testing.The Irish Medical Organisation echoed the sentiment from Irwin stating that while they welcome the move to suspend the review “it remains unclear what will happen to people who have lost their card in recent months”.Chairman of the GP Committee of the IMO, Dr. Ray Walley said “cards which have been withdrawn under this cull should be returned”.Meanwhile Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Health Billy Kelleher said,It is extremely regrettable that thousands of families across the country were put through the stress and hardship of having their medical cards withdrawn before the Government finally saw sense today.He added that “It took the loss of hundreds of council seats to make the government act on the loss of thousands of medical cards”.Kelleher also questioned if the suspension of medical card reviews is confined to discretionary cards only.“It is not clear from the Department’s statement today if the suspension of medical card reviews is confined to discretionary cards only.“Discretionary cards account for just 50,000 of the 1.8 million cards so we need clarification if the other reviews are suspended too”.Read: Medical card review process to stop immediately>
The focus of this investment is on innovation as much as production with our new facility enhancing our ability to create innovative food solutions that meet the evolving needs of our US customer base and their brands.Commenting on the opening, Coveney said the new plant will “further strengthen the positioning of Ireland and Irish agri-business expertise in the United States, as well as supporting the economic well-being of Irish farmers.”The minister said the dairy sector is “entering an exciting time” with the abolition of milk quotes in April 2015 and “today’s opening represents the kind of investment which will help the sector realise its true potential”.The IDB, a co-op of Irish dairies, is Ireland’s largest dairy exporter and exports to over 100 countries. Its portfolio includes Kerrygold, Pilgrims Choice, Dubliner cheese and the milk powder BEO.Read: AIB announced €200m fund to support Irish SME exports > The Irish Dairy Board had opened a $12 million (€8.8m) cheese manufacturing facility in the US, completing an $80m (€58.8) expansion on its US food ingredients programme.The IDB first entered the US food ingredients market in 2008, and acquired Thiel Cheese & Ingredients in 2011.The new facility, at Thiel Cheese & Ingredients in Wisconsin, was officially opened by Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney.IDB CEO Kevin Lane said the innovations and research developed at Thiel “will be shared across all of our operations”.
Tumblr returned yesterday, after a full day out of service. According to the blog hosting site, the outage was not due to a rumored 4Chan attack. Rather it the result of some planned maintenance gone bad.“Yesterday afternoon, during planned maintenance that was not intended to interrupt service, an issue arose that took down a critical database cluster,” wrote the company ina blog post. “This brought down our entire network while our engineers worked feverishly to restore these databases and bring your blogs back online.”Tumblr called the error “unacceptable.” The site, which has been attempting to deal with its own rapid growth came back online yesterday at around 4PM PT. “We’ve nearly quadrupled our engineering team this month alone, and continue to distribute and enhance our architecture to be more resilient to failures like today’s,” wrote Tumblr. “Sorry we let you down today.”
Square Enix unveiled Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, a mash-up of the music rhythm and RPG genres, for the 3DS in this week’s issue of Japanese magazine Shonen Jump. The game is, as translated by Japanese industry watcher Siliconera, a “theater rhythm action game” where players explore towns and dungeons and fight battles, but the battles are tests of musical rhythm instead of the usual combinations of attacks, items and armor.Being a 3DS release, the game naturally uses the stylus to allow players to tap or hold notes on the touch screen. The look and feel is also different, as evidenced by the screenshot on the right side of the magazine scan above. Final Fantasy heroes and monsters alike have a decidedly cartoony appearance and calls to mind the softer look of Nintendo’s Paper Mario series.AdChoices广告No release date was indicated in Shonen Jump, but there is hope for a North American release after an American trademark for the title appeared a few weeks ago.Read more at SiliconeraBlake’s OpinionWhy release this for the 3DS?The game will surely retail for around $40 in a Japanese market that never outright fell in love with the rhythm genre the way the American market did during the heyday of Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Maybe this one is for the fans of the more obscure rhythm games to come out of the Japanese market such as PaRappa the Rapper.For me, however, the question is much more about “Why not for the iPhone?” than “Why 3DS?” Between the approachable, cute characters (check out the cute version of Cloud in the screenshot above), the touchscreen interface, and the simpler rhythm gameplay, Theatrhythm feels like a natural pick for iOS devices, where selling at a much lower price point could yield much more revenue.Still, Square Enix could have a variety of reasons for choosing to release on the 3DS. Maybe the bean counters decided the 3DS platform needed the Final Fantasy brand name. Or perhaps this game, smaller in scope, could be a 3DS development exercise in preparation for something more epic, like the next Dragon Quest.I, for one, will wait with bated breath for the iOS port.
At the moment, Apple has cornered the market for ultra-thin and portable laptops everyone desires. There are Windows laptops that offer similar levels of portability, but since the Dell Adamo line disappeared there’s not been much in the way of competition for the sleek lines of a MacBook, aside from the thicker ThinkPad X1.Intel aimed to change this by introducing a new category of portable computing known as Ultrabooks earlier this year. To be classed as an Ultrabook manufacturers had to produce a thin, light and elegant design that’s no more than 20mm thick, has a second-gen Sandy Bridge processor, and cost less than $1000.Acer looks to be one of the first to produce a laptop worthy of the Ultrabook name. It’s called the Aspire 3951 and pictures of the new laptop have appeared via the Vietnamese blog Sohoa.The design does look very “Apple”, which is no bad thing as it will likely cater to that category of Windows user who wants a laptop that looks as good as a MacBook, but ships with a Microsoft OS.The finer details of the 3951 have yet to be officially revealed. What we do know is it is only 13mm thick, sports a 13.3-inch display, and has the prerequisite second-generation Sandy Bridge processor at its heart. There’s also thought to be several hard drive choices including a 160GB SSD option.This super-slim Ultrabook is housed in an aluminium case and weighs a mere 1.4Kg. Prices start at $770 going up to $960 making it significantly cheaper than both the 13-inch and 11-inch MacBook Airs.Although there’s no guarantee this laptop will ever see a release, we hope it does as this is what manufacturers need to do to really start competing with Apple in the premium laptop category: produce good looking, highly portable laptops at a reasonable price point.Read more at Sohoa, via Engadget