Way back in two thousand and eight,
A Bulgarian went out quite late,
And never came back.
It’s “okay” to attack,
And murder the people you hate.
John Moynes
Image via
The Story Of Why by Annie West.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LApO_BDRE8M
Part of a new video campaign from Sony Australia intended to edge ‘clueless’ digital SLR camera users toward their compact NEX range.
(Hat tip: Barry McKenna)
A thing of beauty.
Via Dave Moore at 98Fm who sez:
My friend, Ciara, sent me this…Her friend owns the Mini on the right and parked it in UCD this morning, as normal. When she returned to her car, the Peugeot had elected to squeeze its way in between the her car and what, I think, is a Toyota Rav4.
Photographic pioneer Dorothea Lange, who captured that image, visited Ireland in 1954 to record the natives for Life, then the biggest-selling magazine in the world.
Below are some unpublished outtakes discovered in a box of negatives following her death in 1965 and presently housed at California Digital Images (calisphere).
Thanks Sibling of Daedalus
If you enjoy unsettling porcine, Don’t Look Now-inspired music videos.
An who doesn’t, to be fair?
Alias Empire – Lay Down
AE writes:
Alias Empire are a 3 piece from Dublin/ Belfast. The video was shot in Clontarf along the Bull Wall and in St Anne’s [park], Dublin.
A Tumblr wherein gay people say thanks to the straight people who helped them win marriage equality in Maine, Maryland, and Washington state, USA.
Aw.
By Dan Boyle
The decision of the government to get rid of the Office of the Chief Scientific Adviser, and have that advice in the future come from Science Foundation Ireland, seems a decision that has little to do with logic.
It’s a decision born of the shiny bauble approach to science. In philosophical terms Science Foundation Ireland, in its structure and in its methods of working, is often more concerned with activities that acheieve a bigger buck than a bigger bang.
Of course economic impact of research is important but with Science Foundation Ireland it seems to be the near total focus of its being.
A well funded creature of the Celtic Tiger from the time it was believed that if you threw enough money at something it was bound to work, Science Foundation Ireland hasn’t exactly inspired confidence since, nor has it gained the right to have such confidence placed in it in the future.
Being committed to Mammon has created numerous conflicts of interests for the agency. It isn’t possible to fund and promote on largely economic grounds while simultaneously be responsible for putting place ethical standards while advising the policy making process.
This is also a decision that’s at odds with the need to have more cost effective State bodies. The existing structure of the Advisory Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (ACSTI) with Office of the Chief Scientific Adviser, instead of Science Foundation Ireland, would be a far better approach.
But then that might be too logical.
Dan Boyle is a former Green Party TD and Senator
Previously: Government Abolishes Scientific Advisor Post (RTE)
Merging Of Science Roles Could Mean Conflict Of Interest (Dick Ahlstrom, Irish Times, October 31)
The Downside Of Austerity Hits Irish Scientists (John Farrell, Forbes)
The Business Of Science In Ireland (Broadsheet, July 10)
(Sasko Lazarov/Photocall Ireland)
