We are just making a quick post regarding the VbyVeryBloggies17 Awards . We took Silver (2nd Place) in (Personal blog for digital and tech) in the awards in our second year to enter under techbuzzireland.com formerly nokianews ireland. We are now primarily a tech blog not sticking to one topic as was the case in the former name. We are fully independent with no sponsorship, Over the last year we have made some changes to the site and will be doing so again and look forward to some exciting things coming soon. I want to thank our readers and our radio show listeners,subscribers,social media followers and bloggers past and present,(BrendanVicente,Ashish,Pat and Mitchell) whom have contributed to our site and also guest posters,which are always welcome..
It has been a great year for us with product reviews and we will continue to bring the most reviews to our viewers in the coming months due to new partnerships we have made over the last twelve months and also our continued relationship with our known partners and we also want to thank them for sticking with us. Finally a huge thanks to the team at the Blog Awards and all involved for hosting a great awards ceremony once again this year and they have put it in a great effort and it must have been hard work and also well done to all the winners and finalists in the event this year.
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Hundreds of tech professionals; award-winning game designers; leading tech companies; technology experts; and Ireland’s meet-up community will converge at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham tomorrow, Saturday, 7th October 2017 from 10am to 5pm for Ireland’s newest tech event, 404.
Galway company expands its seminar series to the North in effort to spread love of all things tech.
For businesses who haven’t yet began to take advantage of everything the internet can offer when it comes to digital marketing and audience engagement, Educated Machine has some essential events. On Tuesday 24th and Wednesday 25th of October the Galway based digital learning company will present consecutive events in Belfast. The first will take place in the North Business Centre and will be their “Getting Your Business Online” seminar. Secondly in conjunction with the Foundry in City East Enterprise Centre they will present their seminar; Social Media & Digital Marketing for Business.
Educated Machine Founder and CTO Micheal Reilly said “If you’ve been trying to find a way to start with online business, these events could be the perfect square one for any business.”
The 25th of October will be Educated Machine’s busiest day as they’re also hosting a breakfast seminar called “Data Analytics & Data Science : What is it? Where to start? How to learn it!” in the Innovation Factory, West Belfast. Ideal for professionals who want to harness data to make informed decisions. This before quickly following up with a free lunchtime talk on App Development in the Ormeau Baths facility later that day, offering insight into the process used by professional studios to create successful mobile applications.
These will be Educated Machine’s debut events in the Belfast area and they are hoping to bring fresh training and knowledge to a city that’s proven itself to be a growing and innovative tech hub. Educated Machin hope these first events will be followed by many more in the coming months and they are looking forward to being a part of Belfast’s vibrant business community.
Did you know every move you make is being tracked? Well probably many do and the tech community but there is much more going on than most believe. Our friends at Sophos will explain some more and you need to read this by Matt Boddy..
To coincide with National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM), Naked Security, the Sophos blog, has been exploring simple steps to online safety – step number one: see if you have Google’s Your Timeline turned on and, if you do, switch it off.
The technology behind Google Timeline impressive, but the privacy and security implications are, for some, quite terrifying. And in fact, more often than not, people will find that Google Timeline is actually switched on without even realising.
Below you can see the blog which was posted on the Sophos blog, Naked Security, which explores what exactly Google knows about you that you may not have realised. Please feel free to use the content, and don’t hesitate to reach out should you want to speak with a Sophos representative or have any questions.
Google’s Your Timeline
Using GPS, Wi-Fi and cell tower data, Google’s Your Timeline can paint a very accurate picture of your daily life. If you’ve got it switched on, it stores every step you take and everywhere you go.
And the thing is, lots of people seem to have it switched on without even realising, including me, and my favourite hats come in tinfoil.
I was surprised it had slipped past me so I started asking other people if they had it switched on too. More often than not, without making a conscious decision to let Google follow them around, they had.
In the end I decided to ask 20 people at random and write down the answers. The result of my short, non-scientific survey? 95% of the people I asked – a mixture of people in technical and non-technical roles – had location history, or its slightly less obnoxious iPhone equivalent Frequent Locations (Significant Locations in iOS 11), turned on, tracking their every step, without realising.
Check for yourself. On Android it’s under Settings > Location > Google Location History.
It’s your Timeline (and Google’s)
So what exactly is Google Timeline? Google says: “Your timeline in Google Maps helps you find the places you’ve been and the routes you’ve travelled. Your timeline is private, so only you can see it.”
Only you. And Google.
Google’s reasoning for the timeline feature is that, if you want to remember the name of that bar or café you visited yesterday, last week, last month, last year… you can simply visit Your Timeline. The technology behind this is impressive, but the privacy and security implications are, for some, quite terrifying.
Where you go says everything about you: where you live, where you work, where you hang out, the places you visit, how often and at what time. If you’re a frequent visitor to your local hospital’s cancer clinic, Google knows. If you’re having an affair, it’s in there. If you’re a courier moving large amounts of cash, that data is being shared over the internet and stored in a data centre somewhere. If you’re in the military or the police it knows where you’re stationed and, if you’re moving, your direction of travel.
Even if the data were stored anonymously (and it isn’t clear if it is or not) that would be cold comfort. Anonymous data has a way of being less anonymous than you think, and the more anonymous data you have, the easier it is to unmask the individuals involved.
So what does Google know?
To discover what Google Timeline knows about me, and you, I removed my tinfoil hat and opted to let it store my location history again.
Here’s a journey from Oxford to London by car (indicated by the dark blue line) that’s been accurately tracked to the point of tagging me at a service station I visited en-route.
Once in densely populated South London, using the telephone masts, local Wi-Fi and my phone’s GPS, Your Timeline accurately plotted my movements. The colour of the tracking goes from dark blue to light blue as I change speed from driving to walking.
After accurately tracking my taxi journey into Clapham, Google Timeline then has a go at tagging me in a restaurant, Café Sol. Google will use this data to add to publicly available information such as “Popular Times”, shown for Café Sol below:
Google provides the following statement in its support documentation on the anonymity of this data:
To determine popular times and visit duration, Google uses aggregated and anonymised data from users who have opted in to Google Location History.
My memories of the evening are mildly hazy, but Google Timeline can tell me exactly what I did and where I went.
I’m not too bothered about Google using my boozy night for helpful data research, but it isn’t about one night. It’s about every day and every night and the pattern of my daily life. It’s about all this data being stored and accessible by… I don’t know who, now and in the future.
Google will store this data for years, as you can see in my screenshot below.
So how did I, and almost all the people I asked at random, end up with Location History turned on?
The option appears when you set up Google Now. For me that happened after a factory reset. When you’re busy clicking ‘next’, ‘next’, ‘finish’ and don’t have two hours to spend reading everything on screen, it’s easy to miss:
My tinfoil hat is back on now.
On Android 7 it was as simple as going to Settings > Location (under personal) > Google Location History and selecting ‘off’. For comprehensive details on switching off and deleting your location history, go to Google’s Manage or delete your Location History page.
Apple iPhones have a similar feature hidden deep within their settings. Go to Privacy > Location Services >System Services > Frequent Locations.
With October seeing the return of National Home Security Month, Don Shulsinger from Blinkforhome, the video home security and monitoring system, gives tips and advice for keeping your family, home, and possessions safe. Stay tuned for more news about blink coming soon..
Leave exterior lights on all night and when you’re out
When there are bright lights around a home’s exterior, burglars are less likely to target it. Schedule lights to come on at set times if you are away or on holiday.
Lock doors when you’re home alone
It’s not unusual for a burglary to occur while there’s someone in the house. It’s just as important to keep your doors locked when you’re at home so no one can break in. The most common time to be burgled is between 10:00am and 3:00 pm when thieves think people will most likely be out at work.
Don’t open the door to a stranger
Even if they say they’re from the council, the water board or the police you should be cautious about opening the door. A good idea is a peephole in the front door so you can screen visitors before opening the door.
Be smart about social media
Resist the urge to tweet or post that you’re on holiday or out at a concert or party and that your home is empty. Don’t give people insight into your goings-on. It’s best to update afterwards.
Get a dog or gravel
A dog can help you feel more secure and scare off intruders. A “beware of the dog” sign may help too. If you have a front garden or a car parking space, it’s worth thinking of putting gravel down as the noise can deter an intruder, or alert your dog if you have one.
Securely hide spare keys
Doormats, flowerpots and fake rocks are not fooling anyone who’s determined enough to break in. Hide them securely or keep them with a friend, neighbour or family member.
Install smart home technology
A good idea is to install a home security camera. There are many devices available that are motion activated and will record people entering your home, such as Blink. Ideal for alerting you to a break-in, and recording an incident if all other measures fail! Blink lets you keep a watchful eye on your home via your smartphone. It’s stylish, easy to install, wireless, and uses innovative HD video technology to let you know what’s going on when you are not there. www.blinkforhome.co.uk
Powerbanks are in demand and thankfully we have a wide range available to us and of course we have cheap ones and expensive ones but that saying will remain true, You get what you pay for.. We can pick up such units for as little as 5 quid an upward but for that you get little or nothing and god knows what else with it so you are better off sticking with known brands and good retailers rather than cheap budget shops that we are all familiar with that sells dodgy chargers and cables.
The XB2 range has a variety of options for users and we have the XB202 which will be unboxed below and we will leave some info below on the specs and where to buy in the meantime.. Any questions just fire away.
Irish Tech Leader Action Point to Launch New Smart-Manufacturing Solution at IoT World Congress in Partnership with Microsoft, Dell and Intel
Irish firm Action Point has collaborated with global tech giants Microsoft, Dell and Intel to develop IoT-PREDICT, a new Industrial Internet of Things solution aimed at the manufacturing sector and which is to launch at the IoT World Solutions Congress in Barcelona this week which takes place from the 3rd – 5th of October. IoT-PREDICT securely gathers extensive real-time data from the production floor to help manufacturers reduce down time, improve overall equipment effectiveness and deliver cost savings.
Irish tech firm Action Point has partnered with Microsoft, Dell and Intel to develop an out-of-the-box solution for manufacturers eager to harness the business opportunities presented by the Industrial Internet of Things. Action Point served as the “glue” between the 3 partners during the design and development process.
IoT-PREDICT quickly gives manufacturing companies around the globe the real-time insights they need to improve overall equipment effectiveness and deliver cost savings to the business.
IoT-PREDICT uses smart sensors to gather vibration, temperature and power consumption data from the production line to troubleshoot production problems, enable predictive maintenance scheduling and reduce production downtime.
A unique collaboration, IoT-PREDICT’s smart-manufacturing software was developed by Action Point with Dell providing the Industrial Edge Gateway technology and Microsoft the Microsoft Azure cloud platform-based data visualisation, analytics and alerting tools.
With the engineering user kept firmly in mind, IoT-PREDICT’s product and packaging design was developed by multi award winning Irish firm Dolmen Design.
There are 4000 manufacturing firms in Ireland spending more than €12 Billion annually on suppliers, employing over 159,000 people and according to IBEC, 88% will be investing in new technology in the future.
From left to right is Ivan O’Connor (Head of IoT, Action Point), Aongus Hegarty (President, EMEA, Dell EMC) andAisling Keegan (Vice President & GM, Dell EMC Ireland & NI).
Action Point’s Head of IoT, Ivan O’Connor said; “Our aim was to have relevant and accurate industrial IoT data flowing from the factory floor to the engineering and management team’s desktops within 10 minutes of opening the box.”
Sam George, Director, Azure IoT, Microsoft Corp. said, “We are pleased to see Action Point has developed an IoT solution on Microsoft Azure, Azure IoT and Windows 10 IoT OS to enable remote monitoring at scale in industrial settings. IoT PREDICT, built on the trusted and global-scale platform,
Speaking ahead of the official launch in Barcelona Dell’s EMEA Director – IoT and Embedded, Marc Flanagan said “We were incredibly excited to work on IoT-PREDICT as part of our vision for Industrial Automation.”
Design and usability were a major focus for the Action Point team during product development. They enlisted the help of multi-award-winning Dolmen Design to design a compact, pre-assembled and pre-configured system for quick and easy installation and commissioning in any industrial environment.
Action Point have in recent years delivered a number of successful technology solutions for global manufacturing clients such as Analog Devices, Johnson & Johnson, ALPS Electric Ireland and others. The launch of IoT-PREDICT takes place at this week’s IoT Solutions World, which takes place in Barcelona from the 3rd – 5th of October. You will find the team exhibiting at the Microsoft booth #301, Hall 5 at the Fira Barcelona Gran Via Conference centre.More information can be found at www.action-point.com/iot-predict
Business membership organisation, Guaranteed Irish is calling on individuals and businesses to nominate their ‘Tech Hero’as part of the ‘Guaranteed Irish Hero Awards’.
Throughout 2017, Guaranteed Irish is championing exceptional individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to creating a better Ireland in their respective sectors. Members of the public are invited to nominate their Guaranteed Irish Tech Hero before the deadline of Friday, 13th October 2017.
Music promoter Keiron Campbell Black, pictured with CEO of Guaranteed Irish, Brid O’Connell, was today named as the Guaranteed Irish Music Hero. The Dublin-based promoter, musician and venue proprietor was selected for the accolade following a public nomination process. Mr. Black is a well-known and much-loved figure on the Irish music scene, having introduced acts ranging from The Hot Sprockets to Gavin James. As a songwriter and musician, he played in The Amazing Few and Sack; organised and promoted gigs with Whelan’s, the Electric Picnic and many more. Most recently he began running the East Side Tavern bar and music venue on Dublin’s Leeson Street. The next Guaranteed Irish Heroes will be announced in November and December for their contributions to technology and food, respectively. To nominate a Guaranteed Irish Hero, log on to: http://www.guaranteedirish.ie or nominate and follow the campaign across social media with the dedicated hashtag: #GIhero. PHOTO: Mark Stedman
Four of the six Guaranteed Irish Heroes have so far been awarded. Artist, Maser; former Women’s Rugby Captain, Niamh Briggs; Professor Louise Kenny; and music promoter, Keiron Campbell Black were previously named Guaranteed Irish Heroes for art, sport, science and music, respectively.
The remaining two Guaranteed Irish Heroes will be awarded for technology and food in November and December this year.
Launching the call for the Guaranteed Irish Tech Hero, CEO of Guaranteed Irish, Brid O’Connell said: “This award is a great opportunity to commend someone who you consider to be a Guaranteed Irish Tech Hero. Ireland has truly become a digital island, and we believe it is time to champion Irish contributions to technology. What better way to do that than to nominate a Guaranteed Irish Technology Hero?
“We’re calling on businesses and individualsto get involved and put forward names of anyone who has demonstrated a real commitment to creating a better Ireland with technology through: jobs, community and provenance. If you know someone who fits that bill, then we want to hear from you.” concluded Brid O’Connell.
To get involved and to nominate your Guaranteed Irish Tech Hero, simply email info@guaranteedirish.ie before Friday, October 13th 2017 or use the dedicated hashtag: #GIhero on social media with your nomination.
The Wireless Handy TV Speaker helps you enjoy your large screen TV with audio at the level right for you. This easy-to-use wireless speaker connects, and even controls your TV, allowing you to dial in a personalised volume level just for you, without disrupting other viewers in the room. And, since it is plug and play, it’ll get to work straight out of the box.
Features.
Wireless Handy TV Speaker (model name: SRS-LSR100) lets you bring your TV’s audio to where you are and boosts dialogue of any TV show for a more satisfying viewing experience
Compatible with virtually all modern TVs
Allows easy TV remote control thanks to a clear button layout
Works up to 16 hrs on a single charge
The Wireless Handy TV Speaker has proved to be very effective in enhancing the TV experience, especially when you’re hard of hearing – thanks to the dialogue boosting Voice Zoom function. It cleverly analyses spoken audio and makes it possible to turn up film dialogue or sports commentary without increasing the overall volume.
Simply place the speaker next to you, wherever you are watching your TV and even if your family decide to engage in a debate nearby, you won’t miss a moment of the TV dialogue and can remain in your happy TV bubble while still participating in the family conversation. This comes in handy too when grandparents, parents and children gather to watch TV together, as you can simply bring the sound closer to those who have hearing difficulty by placing the speaker near them.
The Wireless Handy TV Speaker requires no complicated setup – you just connect its dock to the TV and it is all good to go. Better yet, it works with almost any TV and can also act as a remote controller with all key TV functions operated with the neatly placed buttons. Charging the speaker is very easy as well – you simply put it on the provided dock, and a single charge will keep it going for up to 16 hrs. It all makes it an interesting product for people who are not great at dealing with complicated gadgets.
The Sony Wireless Handy TV Speaker comes in a stylish white colour and is available from October in the UK priced £169. For more product information please visit www.sony.co.uk.
