Apple’s market capitalisation reached $505.1 billion yesterday –  joining only five other US companies have ever had market caps larger than $500 billion: Microsoft, Cisco, GE, Intel and Exxon Mobil. According to the Wall Street Journal:

Three of the five companies who surpassed the $500 billion level topped out during the Internet boom in 2000. Excluding Exxon, the others are shells of what they used to be. Microsoft’s value is less than half of what it was and Cisco is 1/5 of what it had been at its peak.

There are only 19 countries in the world with a GDP over $500 billion.

Microsoft, Facebook and Google – combined – are worth $567 billion.

Apple’s market cap crosses $500 billion: a look back at Apple’s value over the years (Nathan Ingraham, The Verge)

pic

The Plughole Ashtray (€15) designed by Oled Friedland of Monkey Business. Launched in 1992, out of production for many years, now (cough!) back as a limited edition of (hackhackHACK!) – a few hundred for diehard smokers everywhere.

Presumably on account of a (HORF! HORF! Jaysus!) rapidly declining customer base.

bookofjoe

Well, it had a video of noises from the sky (before the user removed it from You Tube).

Anyway:

Despairing residents in a remote Kerry parish have told how their lives have been made a living hell by a mystery humming noise that is disrupting their sleep and causing chaos every day.They are pleading with the Government to investigate the source of the constant, pulsating, low-frequency noise that cannot be traced despite repeated efforts.

Although sez a parishioner:

“Not everybody in the parish has heard the noise but just because they can’t hear it doesn’t mean it isn’t there.”

So.

Actual scary thing or a 2012 version of the ‘moving’ statues?

YOU decide.

‘Bemused Viewer’ writes:

You know the way this public service [early retirement scheme] thing kicks off today? Last night on [RTE 1]  news at nine they said it won’t effect anything really..health, etc..but Ingrid Miley [employment correspondent] reported there’s a shortage of judges and sittings are already being cancelled. Pretty serious right?  Well I haven’t seen anything on this anywhere else and on RTE ‘s playback of the news  they recorded the bit up to and after when Ingrid spoke. Weird.

 

Anyone?

Midnight Is The Public Service Deadline (RTE)

By master illustrator Steve Simpson.

This week’s issue is dedicated to journalist Cian Hallinan (above), a Le Cool Dublin and Dubliner contributor, who died last week.

From the Le Cool staff:

A generation of friends stood still in the sunlight yesterday. They stood to mourn the untimely loss of a friend and to celebrate the life of an amazing person – Cian Hallinan. Eloquent, heartfelt and humourous stories were recounted about this gifted person who wore many cloaks of talent – comedian, critic and teacher to name but a few. Like so many others we knew Cian too. From clubs, pubs and parties to walking by Grogan’s [Dublin] on a summer evening, he dipped in and out of so many of our lives. He occasionally wrote for us and we covered some of his magnificent Voicebox shows in the Twisted Pepper. His voracious appetite for knowledge, his sparkling presence and general aura of soundness were just a few of the foundations that cemented so many great relationships in his life.

 

Le Cool Dublin


Watch Sculptures by UK designer Dominic Wilcox. Vintage mechanical watches customised with tiny plastic dioramas of imagined situations and real news events – animated by the second and minute hands they’re attached to.

More pix (the UC Davis pepper spraying incident is particularly good)

boingboing

 

Ian Bailey Wins Appeal Against Extradition (RTE)

Broadsheet.ie