It’s been dubbed an entertainment tax. Basically, even if you don’t have a television, you’ll have to cough up a fee to RTE. They’re targeting people who watch television programmes and movies online.

My view is this: people are trying to save money by not having a television and getting by utilising modern technology. It’s a rubbish tax/fee, whatever they want to call it. People are already paying VAT on their line rental and broadband line, and are maximising this to watch videos. Wrong…according to the Government. If you do this, RTE are entitled to a slice, even though the RTE Player must be attracting a very generous proportion of people using this system.

Responding to the intention of the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Pat Rabbitte TD to replace the TV licence with a household broadcasting charge, the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland has said:

“We welcome the introduction of a new broadcasting charge to replace the current TV licence and we urge the Minister to take advantage of the opportunity this change presents to review how the revenue collected is used. The new Household Broadcasting Charge was committed to in the Programme for Government. The Programme for Government also contains a commitment to “review the funding of public and independent broadcasters to ensure a healthy broadcasting environment”.

If the Minister is bound to examine the television licence fee then he should also be bound to the Programme’s commitment to undertake a full review of the funding of broadcasting in Ireland. Indeed the two are inextricably linked and it is it is inconceivable that any change to the current TV licence system would not involve a review of how the funding is used.

In various media interviews Minister Rabbitte has referred to RTE as the state’s “public service” broadcaster. We would like to remind Minister Rabbitte that with over 2.4 million listeners each week day, all independent radio stations provide a high level of public service and that this is a condition of their licence.

We also note with great interest that €25 million of the television licence fee is lost each year through evasion and the Minister’s contention that the new licence fee arrangement would greatly reduce this amount. It is conceivable that the revenue to be collected from the new broadcasting charge be apportioned to fund the operations of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, a move that would benefit every broadcaster in the country regardless of whether they are community, commercial or state-funded. It is vital that the Minister reflects on how the changes he makes now will impact on the Irish broadcasting landscape over the coming years”.

The telco is marking the milestone by offering a free Android smartphone to every new and existing customer. The free smartphone, the Vodafone Smart 858, will come with three months of free mobile internet access on pay as you go.

In 2009, BT and Vodafone signed a landmark multimillion deal to transfer BT’s consumer, small-business broadband and voice customer base to Vodafone.

This deal, which involved the transfer of some €4.8m worth of assets, gave Vodafone access to BT’s 22 unbundled local exchanges around Ireland, as well as access to BT’s consumer phone and broadband base of 84,000 consumers and 3,000 small businesses.

The plan also saw BT and Vodafone commit significant investment towards developing an enhanced broadband infrastructure with speeds of up to 24Mbs for about two-thirds of available broadband lines by unbundling up to 58 additional exchanges.

Prior to the BT/Vodafone deal, Vodafone acquired broadband service provider Perlico for €80m in 2008.

Apple’s working with McGraw-Hill and other publishers such as Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Cengage Learning may also be part of a major reveal on Thursday.

As we reported last week, the traditional education publishing business is desperately in need of a shake up and a move away from rote learning to more dynamic, interactive learning can only be facilitated if the tired, cynical cycle of repeatedly publishing editions just to make money is broken.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that one of the US’ largest education publishers McGraw-Hill is working with Apple on a model that will facilitate the delivery of dynamic e-books to iOS and Mac devices. Other publishers like Cengage Learning are also understood to be involved.

It is expected Apple will launch a slew of partnerships on Thursday when, at the Guggenheim museum in New York, it is expected to unveil a textbook delivery solution optimised for iOS and Mac devices and possibly delivered via its iBooks app platform.

Less clear, but highly likely, will be the involvement of other education publishers like Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (formerly Riverdeep) which has its R&D headquarters in Dublin. The company recently unveiled a year-long pilot of the first-ever full curriculum algebra app for the iPad. The app, which was created here in Dublin by HMH’s R&D team, is being piloted in school districts across California and could be an ideal case study for the kind of education collaboration Apple has in mind.

The 5,897kg Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) was originally sent into orbit aboard a space shuttle mission (STS-48) on 15 September 1991. Its aim was to study ozone and other chemicals in the Earth’s atmosphere.

“It was the first multi-instrumented satellite to observe numerous chemical components of the atmosphere for better understanding of photochemistry. UARS data marked the beginning of many long-term records for key chemicals in the atmosphere. The satellite also provided key data on the amount of light that comes from the sun at ultraviolet and visible wavelengths,” said NASA.

In 2005, UARS completed its mission. Since then, it had been gradually losing altitude.

“NASA’s decommissioned Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) fell back to Earth between 11:23 p.m. EDT Friday, Sept. 23 and 1:09 a.m. Sept. 24, 20 years and nine days after its launch on a 14-year mission that produced some of the first long-term records of chemicals in the atmosphere,” said NASA in a statement on Saturday.

NASA said the precise re-entry time and location of debris impacts have not been determined.

“During the re-entry period, the satellite passed from the east coast of Africa over the Indian Ocean, then the Pacific Ocean, then across northern Canada, then across the northern Atlantic Ocean, to a point over West Africa. The vast majority of the orbital transit was over water, with some flight over northern Canada and West Africa.”

NASA claimed that, six years after the end of its scientific life, UARS broke into pieces during re-entry, with most of it burning up in the atmosphere.

“Data indicates the satellite likely broke apart and landed in the Pacific Ocean far off the U.S. coast. Twenty-six satellite components, weighing a total of about 1,200 pounds, could have survived the fiery re-entry and reach the surface of Earth. However, NASA is not aware of any reports of injury or property damage.”

Via teleconference on Saturday, NASA’s chief scientist for orbital debris, Nick Johnson, informed journalists that the satellite’s trajectory finished after it crossed over parts of the Indian Ocean and Africa.

He said that the 13,000-pound UARS most likely either disintegrated or spread debris over an 804-kilometre Pacific Ocean expanse.

There had been earlier rumours circulating via social media that debris from the satellite had reached part of Calgary in Canada. However, NASA said these reports were unfounded, with data indicating that the 35-foot satellite most likely fell into the Pacific Ocean, away from human civilisation.

“We can now confirm that #UARS is down!” said the official NASA Twitter account on early Saturday morning.

The space shuttle Discovery launched the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, or UARS, in September 1991. UARS’ job, as the first multi-instrumented satellite, was to observe chemical constituents of the atmosphere to better understand atmospheric photochemistry and transport.

Now, in its latest update, NASA says the unpowered spacecraft’s orientation has changed, slowing its descent. It is expected to break into 26 pieces during re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere, though not all the pieces will burn up.

“There is a low probability any debris that survives re-entry will land in the United States, but the possibility cannot be discounted because of this changing rate of descent,” NASA said. “It is still too early to predict the time and location of re-entry with any certainty, but predictions will become more refined in the next 12 to 18 hours.”

Since the beginning of the Space Age in the late 1950s, there have been no confirmed reports of an injury resulting from re-entering space objects, NASA says. Nor is there a record of significant property damage resulting from a satellite re-entry.

NASA is also warning the public to keep their hands off any pieces of UARS they may think they have come across after the debris hits the Earth. Instead, they should call law enforcement officials for help.

Courtesy Tina Costanza of siliconrepublic.com

“We have injected over €75,000 in to eight restaurants in four weeks, filled their empty days and handed over the revenue to each restaurant a week later. As MenuPages has food lovers signed up, we offer quality customers who will turn into repeat customers,” said newly appointed COO Keith Mahon.

More than 500,000 people visit MenuPages every month and so far in total 1,783 deals have been sold on the site.

Derry Clarke said working with the site has been a huge success for L’Ecrivain. “In 24 hours, we sold out at 207 deals, and got over a €10,000 injection into our business. However, the best aspect from the deals were the type of customer MenuPages attracts, they are really food lovers, not just deal hunters which you get off other sites. We have seen most of the deal customers purchase wine and coffee on top of the deal itself.”

Over the past year, there has been a dramatic increase in various deal sites, from Groupon to LivingSocial.

“However, as some clients have found out, not all deal sites work the same. For example, Groupon will sell on your behalf to a massive mailing list of just about anyone, regardless of their interests, age or expendable income,” said Mahon.

“At first it seems great, they sell 100 vouchers for your business and generate €5,000 in revenue — however, when will you get to see this money? The answer is very slowly; money is transferred as the vouchers are redeemed and if the voucher is never used then you may not see that part of the revenue ever.”

Article courtesy of Bizstartup.ie

So bring on the soccer.

Japan are fit, eager, skillful, but lack a bit of tactical nous. Paraguay have the skill and the tactical brains, but as with most South American teams, their mental attitude could be flaky and shaky.

I think Japan will do better than the bookmakers believe. While the 3/1 about them winning inside 90 minutes is tempting, I still reckon Paraguay may be a little too strong for the Asians.

Bearing that in mind, I figured that Japan would lose by one goal but the odds on that are a bit skinny for me. So i am plumping for there to be three goals or more in this game at odds of around 2.66 (13/8) on Betfair.

RECOMMENDED

Paraguay v Japan

2pts – Over 2.5 goals   (2.66)

However, not all sport is the work of the devil. True sporting heroes and heroines still exist. They can be found living next door to you, on the next street, the other side of the village, in the next town or even in your own house. Hats off to every man, woman and child who gives up three evenings a week after a hard day’s work to train, and a further afternoon at the weekend to play their respective sport. They don’t get paid, they don’t receive free gear and equipment, and they don’t receive endorsements. They volunteer their bodies and efforts for a cause they believe in. They sweat for the good of their parish. They do it for the combat, the challenge, the intensity, the competition, the camaraderie.

Participating with their local club or society draws people out of their houses, away from their computers, off their sofas, and out into the fresh air, mixing with other people, and plotting their rival’s downfall at the weekend. Training, perfecting, honing. Sport gives people an escape, an outlet to vent frustrations, let off some steam.

The excesses in modern professional sport are to be deplored. Cheating is rife amongst elite sportspeople. More and more tales of corruption are leaking all the time. There is little doubt that many sports are rife with drug abuse. Cheats win. Check out David Walsh’s investigations about Lance Armstrong and his cycling teammates. The end result: Game over.

Amateur sport is the new dawn. There is a real sense of community when it is my street against your street – my parish against your parish – my village against your village – my county against your county. Whatever the sport, the competition is of the same intensity. An overwhelming sense of belonging exists at amateur level. You and I losing a match against those people over there hurts much more than Manchester United losing to Chelsea. It’s tribalism at its purest. Sport played with passion, heart, commitment and courage wins out every time. A sense of place – a place in your community.

So why buy a sporting hero? Nothing beats growing your own.

Glasgow Celtic 1 (Paul Caddis 71)

A youthful and talented Celtic reserve side gave Shamrock Rovers a good pre-season workout at a soggy and wintry Tallaght Stadium on Tuesday night.

Rovers started the match brightly in front of a full-house when Dessie Baker rounded the keeper close to the touchline but his chip into the centre of the box caught Graham Barrett offside. Moments later Celtic centre half Declan Gallagher clumsily took down Barrett inside the Celtic area. The pointed to the spot amid protestations from the Celtic players but a calm Stephen Bradley dispatched the penalty with confidence.

Celtic’s right winger, Paul Caddis, who has featured in the Glasgow side’s first team, was very lively down the Rovers left, keeping Pat Flynn on his toes for much of the first half.

Approaching the half-hour mark, some great play down Rovers right-hand side resulted in a deep cross which Barratt came close to connecting with, but goalkeeper Cervi got his hands to the greasy ball and held on well. The play sharply switched to the other end as Caddis sent a low ball across the face of the Rovers’ goal only for Dan Murray to put it behind for a corner under pressure from James Keating.

Celtic were finding their feet at this stage, and after a spell of prolonged pressure and possession around the Rovers box, a clever cross to the back post by Wilson was nodded behind for a corner by a towering Murray. Celtic kept up the pressure on the Rovers rearguard and with a ball not cleared properly Kris Vallers drove a low ball goalward which Mannus saved comfortably down to his right. First-teamer Caddis was threatening to cause all sorts of problems for Rovers and one of his mazy dribbles was thwarted by an illegal challenge from Murray. The resulting free kick was thumped goalward but Mannus did well to punch the ball to safety.

Celtic came out the stronger team after the half-time break. Caddis again was involved in everything Celtic were creating. He drilled a good low shot early into the second half which Mannus parried away to the right. Just after the hour mark Paul McGowan looked to have breached Rovers’ defence but last man Murray hauled down the youngster. In what would have been a red card under League Of Ireland conditions, only a free kick was awarded and Murray got a ticking off from the referee.

With just 19 minutes remaining,Paul Caddis struck to level the game for the visitors. Great sweeping play from the Glasgow side sprayed the ball from left to right. Scotland B international Mark Wilson found himself in an advanced position on the left-hand side of the Rovers’ penalty area and pulled the ball back to Caddis who dispatched the ball from 12 yards past the diving Mannus.

Celtic could have won the game late on when substitute Philip Tnardzik hit a left-foot curler from 20 yards which thumped against the bar.

Afterwards, Michael O’Neill was pleased with the game: “I think it was a useful workout. We’re playing against good young professionals who are in mid-season and I think in the second half that told a bit to be honest. But the purpose on the friendly was the level of game that we would expect and we certainly got that. It was a competitive game. I’m pleased with a lot of aspects of our game in the first half, we played some really decent stuff. In the second half, I’m not so pleased, though in the last 15 or 20 minutes we had better play.

“It is pre-season, and some players are ahead of others and you’ll always find that. Some of the lads look as if they’re ready to play tomorrow and others look as if they still need a bit of work.”

Celtic reserves manager Neil Lennon was also happy with the performance of his youngsters: “I’m pleased with that. They showed real maturity against a very good Shamrock Rovers side. To go a goal down we could have wilted but we didn’t. It was a real test of our character to play here in Dublin in front of a big crowd. The experience it has given us will do us the world of good.”