This blog has moved

This blog has moved .........

2008-11-20T02:40:00.000-08:00

To pick up the new feed use either

russellmcquillan.com (should be active now)
wiseguyrussell.wordpress.com

Later dudes !

The Twitter Song

2008-11-18T04:09:00.001-08:00

You are no one if you are not on Twitter !

Moving House

2008-11-17T15:26:00.000-08:00

So after nearly a year, this blog is moving house.

I feel Blogger has served me well, however I have been playing with wordpress.com for a while now and I feel it offers me more in terms of in-house options, cleaner cut designs, trackbacks to other bloggers and more scope to expand.

Why blog at all ? I started to blog in February when my partnership designbyconet.com split up and I felt I needed a space online to air my views on business, scouting and general chit chat.

My main objective was to learn how to write and gain readership. I'm not quite there yet, however I think I am getting alot better and my site is getting great traffic and I get emailed nearly every day with a comment or to, so its worth while for now anyway.

I think the move date to wordpress will be in and around 2nd December, as I want to get it just right before unleashing on the common man !

Photoshop Designer Required, Apply within ...........

2008-11-17T06:44:00.000-08:00

I am currently looking some one to do make some small change's to my eXtreme logo ?

The idea is to keep the eXtreme theme running through a few projects I am working on and simply change the tag from scouting to eg, eXtremeCamp09 .

Beer Money is available, to show an interest, leave a comment or email me info [at] russellmcquillan [dot] com

November, Its a pretty boring month really !

2008-11-17T03:45:00.000-08:00

I am not surprised in the slightest that TV companies and shops try to bring Christmas further and further into November. I mean really what else is there to do in this dark month ?

The clocks have gone back to we have very little in the way of actual daylight, and everyone is in that sort of lets, save a prepare for Christmas mode. Myself Included, I can't wait for December to get here, my daughters first Christmas, what could be better !

Anyway, for those of you that have not completely written this month off, here a few things you can be doing to get out of the house and into the darkness.

Explorer Scouting, This month we have already done backwoods cooking and over the next few weeks we will go on a night hike and learn to tie some really cool knots ! Check out Lagan Valley Explorers for more.

Geeking, For those 'out of the closet geeks' like myself out there, there is load's of meet ups and workshops going on, check out the Digital Circle blog for more.

And for those of you who really just want an early start to Christmas, check out the Christmas Markets in Belfast at the city hall(opening again soon) it really is a cool place to be ! If you get the chance, get to the German beer tent and ask for a pint of Fruli, its a strawberry beer only available in Northern Ireland at the market. It sounds rank, but really is nice !

Co. Antrim Network Scouts - Next Meeting

2008-11-17T01:40:00.001-08:00

There will be a meeting of County Antrim Network Scouts tonight in Burger Express in Lisburn at 7.30pm.

Network scouts in a casual group of guys and girls aged 18-25 that meet for coffee about once a month and try to do some out of the ordinary adventures a few times a year. This year we took on a banger rally, tried our hands at surfing and staffed a few camps !

If you are around, why not drop in and say hello !

Obama Win Causes Obsessed Backers To See How Empty Lives Are

2008-11-14T08:10:00.001-08:00

Extremely Amusing !

When is a blog not a blog, When it is a blog post ! Get it ?

2008-11-13T02:28:00.000-08:00

Sabrina writes about the annoyances of bloggers using incorrect language when referring to their Blog Posts !

She continues

The container is a blog.
The entries held within it are blog posts.
That’s it. It’s pretty simple.

Please stop inviting people to read your “latest blog.” It makes you sound like a moron and makes the pedants among us want to start pulling teeth. With pliers.

She has a point, people in all circles tend to do this, people who really should know better. I recently got a 'grilling' pardon the pun for calling a AltreFire an UltraFire ( we use these to cook on in scouts)... Big scouting NO NO

So if you want to be accepted in the circle you are trying to get accepted in, do some reason first ! And in the off chance that my mother actually read this, there is no such term, Are you on the Bebo ?

Busy times ahead at www.eXtremescouting.co.uk

2008-11-11T02:36:00.001-08:00

The team at eXtremescouting have had a busy summer, pushing the limits of scouting to new eXtreme's in only the way we know how !

Firstly we had the pleasure to attend some big camps and spread the Scout and Proud hoodie craze to new people, The first one was Look Wide Marra in Newcastle Upon Tyne with around 2500 scouts and scouters and the second was the Scouting Irelands 100 year international Jamboree with over 12,000 scouts and scouters. At both camps we totally sold out of hoodie's proving further that you guys just can't next enough !

Next we decided to take on the Scally Rally, a 1000 mile tresure hunt around the west coast of Ireland in a car costing just £100 - CRAZY! Yes, but scouts do what scouts do best !

On top of all that we tried our hand at Surfing and Skate-boarding!

We have have been busy in the store to, with some great new gear for you to get your hands on this Christmas like the, 1st Facebook Scout Group line of clothing and the new 'just for winter' range of Scout and Proud SNOW hoodies ! Available now to pre-order.

What makes you an eXtreme Scout ? We need to know !! drop us an email now with some photos to hello@eXtremescouting.co.uk.

Enjoy the Winter season and Keep Scouting
The Team at eXtreme

T-Mobile, you have screwed me for the last time

2008-11-10T03:28:00.000-08:00

Arrrrgggggghhhhhhhh. I have been a T-Mobile customer now for around 3 years.

I have the following issues with them.

1. I don't get reception in my living room
2. My bills are never correct
3. My phone always cuts out during calls (all the phones I have tried including my trusty 6210!)
4. I cant use my phone in Ireland, where I work and you will not lift my international roaming bars
5. When my blackberry broke 13 months into an 18 month contract, you refused to fix or replace it

Dispite all this, And to my better judgement I thought I would give them one more try and upgrade to a Google G1! But no ! you want how much £250, how do you even come to this figure, I am out of contract and also have a bill of over £1000 per year.

That is it, I have really had the last straw!! Stick your Google phone where you cannot hit search, I won't be having any more to do with T-Mobile.............. I just need to decide now what phone and network to go for.

It is the Voda Blackberry storm or Bold or the 02 Iphone 3g or Blackberry bold? I just do not know what to do at this stage.

T-Mobile have annonced today that their profits are down 7% - I wonder why that is !

Genistar , your typical MLM Scam company, or is it ?

2008-11-09T07:24:00.000-08:00

I received a phone call during this week from an old colleague asking me if I would be interested in a 'genuine opportunity to make some serious cash from very little work'. Ok, yes I would be, but opportunities like list rarely exist if at all so I listed and took in what he was saying with a air of caution.

Genistar are a money management business where by you speak to people and see if you can save them money by signing them up to various products from this you will make a commission.

They are your typical Multi-Level marketing business or pyramid system where by you recruit people to work under you and they do the same, over and over again and you get a cut from everyone under you! Except its not really that simply cause your recruiting all these people and they are recuiting all these people, by the time you recruit enough people to make the millions they clam, everyone in the country has been recruited, there is no one left to sell to and the whole thing falls down.

There are hundreds of these companies around, two of which I have came across as a nieve sales man trying to make a buck in my younger days, the first one was Kirby - £1200 commission for selling a vacumn cleaner - excellent, execpt they expect you to sell you first one to your Dad and the next to your next door neighbour and so forth a so on.

The second company I came across was, Victoria Jackson cosmetics, £3 commission for selling a £6 set, but you will be a millionnaire within a year - not likely !

Genistar are just the next in a long line of america style companies trying to get some money out of you and dupe inocent people that dont know alot about how business really works.

Their website, shows no details of the products they sell, or where they have come from, going to etc. I am not saying you can't make money at something like this, you can, but its not as easy as they make out and if you don't hit the high targets you don't get a bean.

In short, if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is. Money is what it is, work hard at anything and you can do well for yourself, but don't expect it to be easy.

The Avalanches - Frontier Psychiatrist (Good Quality)

2008-11-07T07:01:00.001-08:00

This is also going in the top 5 !

I'm not sure what Scouting HQ would make of this ........

2008-11-07T00:38:00.001-08:00

I'm not sure that this is the exact message we are plugging as a movement, but hey we don't discriminate come one, come all !

If I was to write a song, it would probably go like this

2008-11-06T00:29:00.001-08:00

I do write parodies from time to time, these are relatively simple, find a topic, usually a person, find a suitable song and start changing the words to suit.

I would like to write an actual song tho, lyrics anyway i'm not the best at the musical bit, good job my wife is a song writer eh!

Anyway in the absence of actually being able to write an actual song, I really like the words of this one. I'm putting in my top 5 songs of all time.

Hope you like it!

Obama is the new US President !!

2008-11-05T02:53:00.000-08:00

America and the worlds governments have put their faith in Obama, let us hope and pray that the next 4 years be alot better than the past 8, something tells me things are going to be a lot better !!!

Might Mouse runs no more !

2008-11-04T09:08:00.000-08:00

I did not take any pleasure in the part I played in the assassination of Sir Mighty Mouse the 2nd but he was eating my dogs biscuits and that is just not on !

My thoughts on the US Election

2008-11-04T05:22:00.000-08:00

I have read the blogs, watched the debates and the candidates video's and I am fairly certain that the only choice for the next President of the USA is Obama. However something just tells me he might not get it. Yes all the polls are suggesting he will trump it but I think that when middle white America actually get into that booth they will not vote to put a black man in the white house.

A wrong approach I know, and a fairly narrow minded thing for me to say, but these are the people that not only gave Bush the controls to kill us all in 2000 but they are the same people that gave him the controls for another four years in 2004, after he had led the country into a huge amount of debt and two wars the people apparently didn't want!

For what it is worth, my opinion is that both the UK and USA need to seriously have a look at their foreign policy and concentrate in getting their own houses in order before offering to cut their neighbours lawn. I much prefer Australia's foreign policy perhaps I should just move there and join them in 'minding my own business'

Tomorrow is as they say ' Judgement Day' I hope they (the yanks) do the right thing !

American Stories, American Solutions: 30 Minute Special

2008-11-03T07:29:00.001-08:00

It does not matter who you are, or where you are from, I think you should watch this video.

This in my opinion is why Obama should be the next President of the USA and the next world leader.

Fancy Dress halloween party at McQuillan HQ

2008-11-03T00:24:00.000-08:00

A great night was had on Friday evening at McQuillan HQ, hosted by McQuillan Events (Or me !)

The guest's ranged from the Executive team at Antrim Network Scouts, Lagan Valley Explorers, Friends and Family.

I've been holding Halloween parties for the past few year's with great success. This year it was super to see my 7 month old daughter dressing up for her first Halloween, not that she has much choice !

Even the dog joined in !

What happened to designbyconet ?

2008-11-03T00:21:00.000-08:00

I noticed this morning that designbyconet's website is down, I wonder is this a technical glitch or did they change their name because of Anto's blog ? or something else, only time will tell

Who says Scouts are boring ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

2008-10-23T10:09:00.000-07:00

Climb a mountain, fly a plane, build a hovercraft, canoe, Race a 4x4, Drive 1500 miles around Ireland in a car worth no more than £100, learn to surf, meet new people, learn to stakeboard, Go to a Gala Ball, Fix a car, Camp with fellow scouts from all over the world, Travel, Go to Australia, America and Canada, Fish, Hike, Swim, Sit around the fire and enjoy the craic, Get outside, DO SOMETHING NEW !

Just some of the things we have done / are doing this year at Scouts all over County Antrim.

Who says Scouts are boring ???? Things have changed over the last few years and the stigma of 'Scouts are boring' is starting to leave the movement !

Think its time you got involved ? we have some great sections for older guys and dare I say it, girls !

Antrim Network Scouts caters for people aged 18 - 25 , more info can be found by clicking here.
Lagan Valley Explorers caters for people aged 14-18, more info can be found by clicking here.

I am a better person for what Scouting has done for me, Its time you found out why !

NIHFs Hospitality Exchange 2008

2008-10-22T02:46:00.000-07:00

Hospitality exchange is the pinnacle event of the Hospitality trade in Northern Ireland, ran by Hotels Federation of Northern Ireland. Many hotel CEOs, Owners, Managers and Directors turned up to find new suppliers, reaffirm contact with existing suppliers, find out what their competitors are up to and attend the many talks from 'Running a successful hospitality business' to 'Cutting costs not quality in the kitchen'

For us to attend this event, it was productive in a number of ways.

We got to meet with existing clients, re-touching base with them, seeing them outside of their hotel surroundings meant they were more likely to stop and chat, The stand itself further proving that we excited about the future of the Northern Ireland hotel business and pushing our brand, not resting on our success

I met with existing 'not yet customers' People I have been dealing with for some time but have yet to secure their business, seeing these people at this event further proves to them we are serious about expansion, about our Northern Ireland business and supporting the Federation.

Lastly I met with new faces, people I had never spoken to and people who had not heard of us before. From this point of view we had great success picking up a number of solid leads to follow up on in the coming weeks.

Trade shows like this are important for growing businesses to expand and 'get out there' but only if they are done correctly. Simply turning up with a roll up banner or even a fancy stand is just not enough, you have to get speaking to the right people and have something that they are actually interested in hearing more about.

Jeep XJ getting stuck in Lisburn - As driven my me

2008-10-20T01:13:00.001-07:00

www.russellmcquillan.com

The Great Northern Feast @ Hospitiality Exchange

2008-10-16T12:23:00.001-07:00

Last night I had the privilege to join some of the best people in the hospitality trade for the Great Northern Feast, a show case of what Northern Ireland has to offer in terms of food, entertainment and world class chefs !

Hosted by the NI Hotels Federation, each of Northern Ireland's top chefs, Danny Miller, Noel McMeel, Liz Moore and Nick Price put together a course each with the whole operation being brought together by Graham Burns, Executive Chef at the Ramada Hotel.

From start to finish the evening was the last word in excellence, a joy to see such great talent coming out of our wee country! Great to meet up with existing customers in a non business environment and let our hair down, although after the 7 course meal has finished and wine has ran out there is only one thing left to do. Get back to work !

Off Roading - Part One , Getting Stuck

2008-10-13T05:58:00.000-07:00

I have decided rather than selling ' Old Faithful ' my old and reliable trusty Jeep that I am going to do a few modifications and do with it as Jeep intended, Off Road the baby !

The annoying thing about off roading in a 4x4 is that, although they are in theory built to take the abuse they do need some work for that 'Go Anywhere' experience, as I found out the hard way !!

At Present, Old Faithful is completely standard and I have tackled a few not to tricky off road courses, all has went pretty ok (apart from I can really see the benefit of off road tyres as my bus slips and slides its away about the hills getting not much grip at all) until Saturday when I got myself a wee bit stuck .......

The lift on the car was not enough as the wheels dug down in the mud, the center of the car touched earch and perched me right there, I remember reading on one of the forums if this happened, simply grab your Hi-Lift jack, Jack her up, dig out the earth and drive on. Great, except I dont own a high lift Jack, but a phone call to a good friends and hey ho, I got one fairly quickly.

With in about an hour, we had Old Faithful dug out and back on the road, in need of a serious bath !

All in all a great days craic, and a list of modification I know I will need if I am to take this seriously and protect my Jeep !

* Off Road Tyres
* 2/3 inch lift
* Flood lights, Front and Back (for night driving)
* Rock Sliders, all round the car for protection.
And thats just for starters, watch this space !

Cars - Can you mix your Business Car with your Pleasure Car?

2008-10-07T06:13:00.000-07:00

If your like me - then a Car is more than just a means of getting from A to B, my car serves me three main purposes and they are also why I need a 4 wheel drive vehicle.

Scouting - Plenty of room for 5 people, camping gear with the added option of a trailer and roof rack for longer expeditions
Off Roading - Something I have recently taken up but loving every minute of it
Work - Probably the most important need for a vehicle is that I live and work in the sticks and need to get to meetings all over Ireland.

The problem I am faced with, is that whilst my car is great for the first two, however for work I just need something reliably and there are tax advantages for changing to a Diesel Model.

So i am have with the question, Do I

A. Get a Diesel off road vehicle to tick all the boxes (but maybe not look that professional) or
B. Get a reliably business type car like a BMW 320D and keep my 4x4 for fun ! (which means running two cars, two insurance bills, two tax bills etc)

My mind is truly pickled !!! Advice is welcome !

Irish government play a bold yet smart move to boost investment into Ireland

2008-10-02T01:59:00.001-07:00

The world is in a financial meltdown and Governments are doing all they can to cool the markets.

In a bold move this week the Irish Government have said they will back up all cash deposits for one year within the Irish banking system, this has really pissed off other Governments !

The truth is, this is simply an imaginary promise, there are only six main banks in Ireland, the rest are UK or foreign owed. I am pretty sure that they have had a good look at the balance sheets of both companies before committing on such a promise, I am therefor assuming that there is virtually no risk involved with this backing.

So why do, Well its a move that will get millions of € pouring into the country, if for example you are a wealthy person living in the UK, The British Government can only back your money up to £50,000. A big drop if you are worth £millions I'd say.

Gordon Brown has said he has no need to match the Irish promise as they are doing all they can to cool the markets, the fact remains that the UKs banks are in such a mess that they could not possably match this promise. Of course the boys in the square mile are not happy! but then again who cares !

Only time will tell where this mess will leave us, but for now if you have got serious cash, get it into Ireland asap. For me, I don't have this problem but it would be a nice one to have !

Tenacious D Parody - Last week Simon quit the Scouts

2008-09-26T07:49:00.000-07:00

At long last Ive found a fitting parody for my good friend Simon Trimble.

To the tune of - Last week Kyle quit the band, by Tenacious D

Last week, Simon quit the scouts,
Now he's joined up again, uh.
Misunderstanding, didn't understand.
It doesn't matter, now hes joined right by up again
A-la la la la la.
Couldn't split up Ivor and Frank. (that's true)
Couldn't split up Michael and Kirsten.
That's also true!
This is our song of exultant joy because
We only came to cook on gas.
Pitch some fuckin' tents and cook on gas.
What we gonna do with all these Scouts?
Tie Knots!, and then we Pitch .
We'll throw a big old Camp y'all.
And everyone is invited to the Camp.
And everyone you're all invited to the Camp!
C'mon Simon, one time c'mon!

Flobots Handlebars

2008-09-25T05:16:00.001-07:00

Great song !

Digital Media Island Belfast

2008-09-24T13:19:00.000-07:00

I attended Digital Media Island - Belfast this evening, A great event ran using funding from the kind people at The Digital Media Forum and Northern Irelands very own Digital Circle.

The event has been touring Ireland this year, South, East, West and this the last event in Belfast.

The purpose was for people interested in talking about things like social technology, open source, raising venture capital, web 2.0, Wi-Fi and, of course, digital content to just meet up, sound each other out for opinion and criticism and demo their idea or product.

Like OpenCoffee I met with some familiar face's, put some faces to twitter names and met some great new people.

One guy in Particular Liam who runs SquarePit and Belfast Urban Sports , between the two of us we where able to plan a great evenings events for a group of my local Scouts - Super.

A great evening! Cheers to everyone who was there !

DECATHLON / BEIJING 2008 - REMI GAILLARD

2008-09-19T08:41:00.001-07:00

He gets funnier

FREE MEAL AT MC DONALD'S - REMI GAILLARD

2008-09-19T08:39:00.001-07:00

Excellent, this is the same kangaroo dude !

KANGOUROU (REMI GAILLARD)

2008-09-18T04:22:00.003-07:00

KANGOUROU (REMI GAILLARD)
Video sent by nqtv

I noticed this over on Alexia's Blog and just had to steal it, very funny, watch it all !!

Jamboree 2008 - Ireland - What went wrong ?

2008-09-17T13:11:00.001-07:00

Scouting Ireland have commissioned a survey to find out what went wrong with the Jamboree and what went right !

I urge everyone who was there to take the survey so as things can be fixed for next year.

Take the survey here !

Heart Attack on a plate

2008-09-16T03:45:00.000-07:00

This is truely the best burger I have ever seen, its called the quadruple heart bypass burger and it comes from none other than the Heart Attack Grill in the states.

The staff (pretty girls) all dress as Nurses. Check out there website, it really is amazing stuff!

Who says the Americans dont get scarcasim ???? They even sell 'no filter ciggerettes', Deep fired in pure lard fires and their advertising campaign........ FOOD WORTH DYING FOR !

Brillient!

Scouting Ireland appoints new Chief Scout

2008-09-13T08:17:00.000-07:00

Press release reads

The National Management Committee has announced the election of Michael John Shinnick as the new Chief Scout to hold the position until the end of National Council 2009...

Michael John Shinnick has vast experience within the Association and is currently Chief Commissioner, Adult Resources. He will take up the appointment with effect from 12.00 midnight on Sunday 28 September 2008 taking over the position from Mr Martin Burbridge.

We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Michael John Shinnick and to wish him every success in his up and coming role.

We would also like to thank Martin Burbridge for his work and commitment as Chief Scout for the past 5 years and e xtend every good wish to him and his wife Eileen in the future.

Its great to see that people have the time to take on such a role, it is a critical role in scouting and is pretty much more than a full time job!

Mean while in the UK, the hunt for a new Chief Scout continues to find someone to replace the fantastic Peter Duncan of Blue Peter fame, Peter has done a great job from digging the movement out of its old image and brought us right into the future, I wonder who will replace him, My money is on Richard Hammond of Top Gear fame, He has applied and written greatly about his feelings about scouting, he himself an ex scouter in my opinion is a great man for the job!

The problem with local Scouting is the leaders.......... not the Scouts

2008-09-13T05:33:00.001-07:00

I do alot of work with the Scouts, its the one thing in my life (apart from my family) that truely gives me alot of satisfaction that I am giving something back to the community, be back skills, time or both.

But time and time again I am frustrated by the behaviour of other scout groups Scouts when on camps and at events, No respect for other groups belonging, Rubbish, behavour toward scouts of a different religion, disregard for rules, everything!

It was only when I stepped away from my own group to do staff at a few events in England i began to realise that the problem with scouts was nothing todo with the kids, they where merly following the example of there leaders disregard for others and Im talking so simple stuff here, like take rubbish to the bin, dispose of waste water at the appropriate points and dont drive on the grass people have to camp there!

Sort yourself out leaders, these Kids are the future of our movement and your attitude is distroying theres!

People say Business and Friendship dont mix.............

2008-09-13T05:06:00.000-07:00

In Late 2006 my good friend approached me asking me if id join his Web and Graphic design business as a 49% shareholding partner.

At the time I had a great job working with the countries leading telecoms retailer and held a good position as a General Manager with a great salary and benefits, but something inside me wanted to get out of retail and maybe work for myself so I though long and hard about his offer.

People say that business and friendship dont mix, however I thought that if we where able to keep business business and friendship friendship we would be ok. So i joined the company in November 2006 and we employed two staff, one graphic designer and one coder.

For the first three months things went smoothly, I was the sales person and my business partner managed the staff to get the jobs completed on time. There where a few issues with this set up, My business partner had never had much experience in the workplace and never managed staff. The sales where coming in ok and we were getting deposits but the back log was piling up, the company was running into debt and we stopped taking a salary, we where basically working to pay the employees wages, neither of us were designers or coders so the staff were critical to the overall operation of the business.

In June off 2008 I took a month out of the business to get hitched and on our honeymoon my wife fell pregant, I had to start thinking long and hard about the future of the business, my place in it and most importantly protecting my new family. When I returned from my honeymoon I decided to go back into employment and keep my shares in the business. Althought I didnt overly want to go back to the hard nosed reality of retail my old job was offered back to me on more money than before so I took it until I found a new post.

The plan was for me to remain in the business one day per week to oversee operations and continue selling, this again worked out ok, however the backlog was starting to pile up. My business partner wanted to take back my shares, buy me out and continue the project himself. Seeing no big future for myself in the business I decided this would be the best course of action for both parties. Rather than purchase my shares I allowed him to continue trading in the company name and take on the now massive debts the company had racked up.

By February 2008 the final contract was signed and the partnership was all over. We ended things on a fairly good note and vowed to continue being friends, at my wedding my father had spoken about friendship saying that business was easy and friendship was a difficult thing to hold onto and that we should work hard to remain friends regardless of the outcome.

Since February things have been strange between us and especially between myself and his wife for some reason. My fear is that the business is continuing to fail and that they hold me to blame for this.

People say you should not mix business with friendship, and some people are right. My thoughts are it can work out very well for some people look at Jobs and Wosziack. I think that we where nieve to think it could work between us in the first place, we are so different and have completly different views on working. Our biggest failer in business was not to have an exit stategy, a must for any business.

Would I enter into business with a friend again, well yes I guess I would but only if our skillsets complemented each others and the business plan was solid

Jeremy Paxman gives Blair an unusual grilling

2008-09-12T03:58:00.001-07:00

One day until the Scally Rally - The Car is ready

2008-09-04T09:20:00.000-07:00

I spoke before about the Scally Rally, well the car is prepared and ready to go

We are completing the 1500 mile lap of Ireland in a 1992 Passat, lets hope the German Build quality is up to it!!! The purpose of our mission is to show people what Network Scouting is all about and the fun that can be had in the older section aged 18-25

A BIG thank you to our Sponsers Bitbuzz, Lester Engineering and of Course Antrim Network Scouts !!!

Ill keep you posted as best of possible through out the trip, there are more pictures of the car available by clicking here !

Test uploading blog via email

2008-09-04T09:06:00.000-07:00

Gasworks Dublin , the view from the penthouse!!!

Anyone up for a bit of boning?

2008-09-03T02:04:00.000-07:00

I noticed this over on Allys Blog and thought it noteworthy !

A prime example of 'Double Meaning'

Excellent !!!!!!

Feeling stressed or anxious at an inability to access the Internet?

2008-09-02T09:16:00.000-07:00

The following is a copy/paste from an email I have just received....

______________________________________

Don't worry, you're not alone and now
there's a word for it: "discomgoogolation".

Nearly half of Britons -- 44 percent -- are discomgoogolation sufferers,
according to a survey, with over a quarter -- 27 percent -- admitting to rising
stress levels when they are unable to go online.

"The proliferation of broadband has meant for the first time in history we've
entered a culture of 'instant answers,'" said psychologist Dr David Lewis, who
identified discomgoogolation by measuring heart rates and brainwave activity.

The term comes from "discombobulate," which means to confuse or frustrate.
"A galaxy of information is just a mouse click away and we have become addicted
to the web," added Lewis. "When unable to get online, discomgoogolation takes
over.

"It was surprising to see the stress this led to brain activity and blood
pressure in participants both increase in response to being cut off from the
Internet."

The survey also found 76 percent of Britons could not live without the Internet,
with over half of the population using the web between one and four hours a day
and 19 percent of people spending more time online than with their family in a
week.

Forty-seven percent of those polled believed the Internet was more important in
people's lives than religion, with one in five people paying the Internet more
attention than their partner.

_________________________________
I have so add that I suffer from this myself !!! How sad have we became??

Best practical joke ever

2008-08-29T00:08:00.000-07:00

The Mail have been covering why this is the best practical joke ever...

It appears than even back in 1958 students where playing practical jokes on the public ...

The spectacle made headlines around the world and left police, firefighters and civil defence units battling for nearly a week to hoist the vehicle back down before giving in and taking it to pieces with blowtorches.

Genius !

Friendship is ...... never losing touch

2008-08-28T15:37:00.000-07:00

I came across this poem around 10 years ago and straight away thought of my good friend Avril is Clonakilty, so I photocopied it and sent it.

10 years later and im in Dublin on Business crashing at her pad, She found it the other day and was commenting how good it was to still be great friends regardless of the distance!

I was not sure who wrote it then, and im still not now!

Here is it.......

Around the corner I have a friend,
In this great city that has no end,
Yet the days go by and weeks rush on.
And I before I know it a year is gone.

And I never see my old friends face,
For life is a swift and terrible race,
He knows I like him just as well,
As in the days when I rang his bell.

And he rang mine if, we were younger then,
And now we are busy tired old men.
Tired of playing a foolish game,
Tired of trying to make a name.

Tomorrow I say "I will call on Jim"
Just to say Im thinking of him
But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes,
And distance between us grows and grows,

Around the corner yet miles away,
Here's a telegram sir "Jim died today"
And thats what we get and deserve in the end
Around the corner a vanished friend

Hilden Brewery - Beer Festival

2008-08-26T09:26:00.001-07:00

I took my yearly trip to the beer festival at the weekend past there for a pint of my favorite beer 'Molly Malone' a ruby red porter, like Guinness only a little sweeter and a little lighter!

The set up at Hilden brewery is fantastic so good I thought I would tell you a bit more about it.

In 1981 there where no Independent Ale brewers left in Ireland, some had been stun into giant global companies like Guinness, most went bankrupt in the 60s. So Seamus and Ann Scullion decided to do something about it and start one! Much to the dismay of the industry who felt there was no room in Ireland for an independent Brewery.

27 years on, Seamus is still going strong with his son now recently joining the company they supply their handcrafted, each batch just slightly different to the last, delivered in person Ales all over Ireland and the mainland UK.

They are the oldest independent brewery in Ireland, and handy for me live just 6 miles down the road!!

The first year the brewery was opened they decided to have a beer and music festival so people could sample their hard work, I personally haven't missed one in 6 years! bands from all over Ireland see it as a privileged to play at it and the food is great!

Its not only fat men who drink Ale! This year I brought my wife and 5 month old daughter (no Ale for her just yet tho!)

Its great in a time with so much bad press coming from this small island to have something good to talk about and a social event to look forward to, Keep up the good work Seamus!

More decent people in the world please!

2008-08-26T09:05:00.000-07:00

I was standing queuing in the car park to but my overpriced 'pay and display' ticket when a decent fellow car driver stopped and asked if I would like his ticket as it had 1/2 an hour left on it and he was leaving.

This suited me as I was only running over the road to collect a script from the Doctors!

Nice fellow, The world needs more like us!

Scout What we are

2008-08-21T08:36:00.001-07:00

Interesting Video on Scouting, I think the guy is funny that says Scouts destroy the environment!

Ventures, Rovers and Network Scouts - What is in a name?

2008-08-19T10:38:00.000-07:00

Back in the day when scouting was scouting and we didnt have all these age range laws, things where different, and the older section in Scouting, (16-20 years) was called 'The Ventures'

Venture means - an undertaking involving uncertainty as to the outcome, esp. a risky or dangerous one! - excellent name then for older scouts, The Irish scouts or Scouting Ireland as they like to known as now adays still use these age ranges and still call the older scouts Ventures and their motto is 'Vision is not enough, It must be combined with Venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps, we must step up the stairs'

Over in Australia and in America, they call the older section 'The Rovers' meaning 'a person who roves; wanderer' seems suitable for older ozzy scouters, wandering about in the outback. Rover Scouts was actually the name Robert Banden Powell gave the older group of scouts in the UK in 1918, before this they where just known as the senior section.

So back to the home of Scouting then, we started the whole serious section thing off in 1918 as Rover Scouts, Changed that in 1967 to Venture Scouts and then very recently (2003) someone in HQ decided they would rename and reage the section again, this time calling it 'Network Scouting' what the..............

Well according to the dictionary the word Network means .. any net like combination of filaments, lines, veins, passages, or the like: a network of arteries; a network of sewers under the city. Although in modern business terms, networking or to 'Network" means to meet like minded people at an event or the like.

For me the name Network falls short of what we are trying to achieve with the senior section, which is probably why there are only 26 registered Network Scouts in Northern Ireland. I remember well being a Venture scout and there was certainly more than 26 of us in Northern Ireland, the formal pulled in over 400 of us!

Apparently though Change needs to happen for the growth of the Movement, however being involved in Antrim Network Scouts has proved to me that these new age ranges do not work, there are only 5 of us in our County group, however previously we had 7 in our local group. Go figure!

More to follow.........

More on the Belfast Floods

2008-08-18T07:20:00.000-07:00

Alan in Belfast has been covering the floods in Belfast and has uncovered some interesting facts from Wesley Johnston's website.

16 August 2008
Broadway roundabout is unique among the five underpasses on the Westlink in that two live rivers run beside it - the Clowney Water a few metres to the west, and the Blackstaff adjacent to the east.
The problem is that these rivers are underground and therefore have a fixed capacity. Despite the construction of a large overflow chamber under Broadway roundabout, the fact that the design has now failed so disastrously just six weeks after opening suggests fundamental design flaws in terms of its ability to handle this type of heavy and persistent rain, that has become more frequent in recent years.

The author of the 17 August report comments:
I spoke to some contractors on the site. They insisted that there was no design fault with the underpass and that it had simply been overwhelmed by an extreme weather event. Certainly it would be hard to conceive of a pumping system or overflow chamber that could hold back 20 million gallons of water.
Still, with climate change now a reality, weather events like this are no longer uncommon I do feel it is valid to ask whether the design is at least "too optimistic" in terms of the amount of water likely to come down the Clowney and Blackstaff Rivers.
When the Broadway roundabout last flooded (December 2007) it was caused by the same river overflowing at the same spot. Only the fact that the underpass had not been excavated prevented a flood of this scale.
It could be that this is not the first time we see the Broadway underpass submerged in water and the ensuing chaos.

Antrim Network Scouts take on the Scally Rally

2008-08-18T06:50:00.001-07:00

I has always been an ambition of mine to drive the entire coast of Ireland in a loop. So when my long time scouting friend and best man Kai Young told me about the Scally Rally, I could not resist!

What is it?

The Scally Rallys website describes it best by saying

'Scally Rally is a European banger Rally and driving challenge... but there's a catch ! To enter Scally Rally your car must have cost you £100 (or less). We did say it was a challenge!! There will be a maximum of 100 teams taking part."

The car we have chosen is an excellent piece of Germany engineering a, 93 VW Passat

I am pleased to say that on Saturday, its passed its mot and is now fully road legal and ready to race, after we add our sponsors Bitbuzz and Lester Engineering that is.

The Race which is being ran as a fund raiser for Charity starts in Belfast's Titanic Quarter is taking place in the following stages, all following coastal routes

* Belfast to Letterkenny

* Letterkenny to Westport

* Westport to Tralee

* Tralee to Cork where it finishes

We will then continue on up the coast, stopping in Dublin before heading home to close the loop in Belfast!

Im looking forward to it, with 131,000 miles on the car so far, another 1500 shouldnt bother it to much!

The rain came, But what went wrong?

2008-08-17T09:01:00.001-07:00

So yesterday I took a trip out to get some food for my dog, thankfully I took my wifes 4x4 and not my two seater tincan Rover Metro. The rain came and the water rose, so much so that every road out of my tiny village was impassable in a standard car.

Meanwhile in Belfast, a greater disaster was underway, our Newly opened Westlink Underpass was in trouble. After just a few hours of rain (heavy rain) it started to fill up like a swimming pool.

A 30ft swimming pool at that! The roads service reckons it now contains some 20million gallons of water as the Clowney river overflowed into it. It is thought that it will not be reopen for Monday morning rush hour traffic. What a typical Northern Irish disaster!

First we decide to build a new road, and instead of giving the contact to the dutch who by the way would have build it for half the cost and in less time, we go local and as usual fuck it up!

Yes I agree that we had more rain that normal but we could have been in better shape to prepare for this, The road in only new and built where an underground river once ran, the first thing that should have been addressed when designing this, was flooding!

In my opinion, the roads service and the contractors need to get back to the drawing board and sort this mess out, The contractors should be made pay to fix this not the public and as for the huge bonuses paid for completing the job early... what a laugh!

Why as a country are we not prepared for rough weather, most of our sewage systems have not been upgraded since the 1930s and know one seems to fully in charge of 'flooding' its seems to be a joint effort between the roads agency, the DOE, fire service, Water service and the rivers agency to clear up and assign the blame to every one else, Why is there not one central agency to deal with this?

Last week when I was at the 100 year Celebration of Scouting in Ireland, we had to put evacuation procedures into place when the site where 12,000 Scouts where camping flooded badly due to an unforcasted amount of rainfall. During this evacuation I got to spend some time working closely with the Irish Civil Defence a voulenteer organisation of 6000 people trained to act quickly and cope with national disaster such as flooding, air raid and nuclear attacks.

After further researching the Civil Defence, they are a fantastic organisation and in fact operation not only in Ireland but make up a world wide organisation of people committed in protect thier local enviroment in times of disaster.

People like this exist in Northern Ireland, but they are infact not past of organisation but just merly looking out for thier neighbours, Like the four farmers than took to there tractors yesterday evening and closed the airport road for fears of people getting stranded in the floods. However altho they where simply looking out for the good of mankind, by closing the road, floods or not they where breaking the law. I think we in Northern Ireland need to get real and look at how things are run in Ireland, now that we dont have the hugh resorces of the British Military at hand some restructuring in much needed. I like the civil defence, what they stand for and how they operate. We need something like this! Now!

Jamboree Staff Singing Final Version

2008-08-15T21:06:00.001-07:00

This is the theme tune for this years Jamboree, this song will haunt my dreams for quite some time!

Afternoon Show - Scouting Ireland 100

2008-08-15T21:04:00.005-07:00

Jamboree Staff Singing

2008-08-15T21:04:00.001-07:00

The stig is taken out by a couple of Scouts

2008-08-15T19:11:00.001-07:00

Yes indeed, The Stig this year received an award for services to instruction, but it appears he has a fear of scouts and entered into a battle to the death that not even he could win!

Interesting!! Even more interesting is that Richard Hammond has applied for the volunteer role of Chief Scout to replace Peter Duncan when his tenement in the role ends this year.

Every good turn deserves another

2008-08-13T08:52:00.000-07:00

In scouting, we teach the boys to do one random act of kindness per day. Always trying to practice what I preach I often try and help people out on my travels, be that opening a door or standing in the rain holding the umbrella of someone whos car has broken down whilst they call for help.

We teach and believe that every good turn deserves another and because you have helped them, they will inturn help another and such restore faith in mankind.

Today I was stuck, on the way to a meeting in a car I have just bought. The car had onboard

1. A Flat spare tyre
2. A jack from a different car
3. No windy up thing

Alas I hit a pot hole and slashed my tyre, with the on board equipment I has no way of changing this, but a nice farmer man stopped, took the spare not to his farm, blew it up and came back with a jack. I was away in mere minutes!

See - Good natured people do exist! Thank you Farmer Man!

Australian Scouts celebrate 100 years of Scouting with free power !!!

2008-08-12T03:13:00.000-07:00

The best thing about camping is being away from technology, power and the modern world. The worst thing about camping is being away from technology, power and the modern world.

The fact is, without a phone, as leaders we are asking for a world of pain, we need to be in contact with home contacts, parents, head office and at worst the hospital. The difficulty here is that all these fancy phones, like my Iphone for example require a hugh amount of power to keep them alive and us in contact, when you have 12,000 camping outdoors power can be a real problem.

Both Irish and Australian scouts celebrated 100 years of scouting this year, and both Jamboree camps aimed to leave very little carbon foot print behind by offsetting the energy used in the buildings by using very little on the campsite thus making what 12.000 people use considerably less than normal.

What Telstra in Australia did, took it to the next level by donating 500 solar panels to the different subcamps, allowing the scouters vital access to power with no damage to the environment ! Top job Telstra! The full article can be read here

This aint no technological breakdown cont ......

2008-08-12T03:08:00.000-07:00

10 days with out my laptop, proved harder than I thought.

I headed off in the Jeep down to the Jambo first thing, rammed as much charge into my Iphone as possible on the road down and charger my solar charger by cable tieing it to the roof!

The iPhone is a fantastic phone, and is basically a laptop in your pocket! However it let me down in two ways, Battery, only lasts about 7 hours and I received by email an invitation to a meeting which the iphone could not open!

The solar charger was cabable of running a 4gig ipod nano, charging a nokia and sony phone however was not powerful enough to run iPhone, so I had to run round finding power points to charge the damn thing. What I didnt know was that the scouters club had Wi-Fi so I could have brought my macbook! Still it was nice to be without it for a while!

This aint no Technological Breakdown, Oh no this is the road to hell!

2008-07-31T21:24:00.000-07:00

Well at least I hope now.

Im off to camp now - for 10 days armed only with a Moleskin, Pen, iPhone and a Solar charger !!

and so will start the experiment, Whilst at camp I still have a couple of proposal's to write and a few reports to do so we will see just how good the iPhone is and if one can really survive this modern world for just 10 days with .................... NO LAPTOP!

Wish me luck!

Jamboree 2008 - part 1

2008-07-31T21:07:00.000-07:00

Its 5am on a wet and cold Friday morning not even the milk men are out of bed yet two scouts stand stripping tents down to the roof of a Jeep.

It can only mean one thing - Its the start of Jamboree 2008 !

Alot of hard work, time and money has onto the preparation for Jambo. All of our equipment from gas stoves to kitchens to tents needed replaced this year, which came at a great expense! Many many man hours went into packing people's bags in Tesco for the hope of that all shinny £1 coin!

Jamboree 2008, Ireland! marks the 100th year anniversary of Scouting in Ireland, Ireland was the first country(after England) to adopt the 'scouting for boys handbook' laid out by Lord Baiden Powell in 1907 in England. Last year we in Scouting UK celebrated 100 years and now its time to give our younger neighbours a hand!

For scouts and scouters - Jamborees are what it is all about, the chance to camp with and meet people from all over the globe, sharing stories and cultures, drinks and laughs and coming away with life long friends and future trips back and forth to see one another's countries.

For many of the boys aged 10-14, this is their first big camp truth be told as many camps as I have been to, Im yet to see what 20,000 people in one field looks like! The older boys aged 16-17 have now been camping together for a few years and have developed a tight bond and as for the leaders, well we have the scar's from the last 10 years to prove our worth, some of the leaders 25 years for that matter!

Heres to a good camp - Jamboree 2008! Ireland!

Testing Iphone Slide

2008-07-30T04:17:00.001-07:00

photo posted from my iPhone

100 Blogs Chris Brogan wants me to write !

2008-07-28T08:30:00.000-07:00

Chris writes about : 100 Blogs I want you to write, So I am going to give it ago,

For me what interests me most about this Challenge is that some of the things I am interested in/know about but most of them, I will have to do some research!

Wish me luck !

The topics Chris wants me (and you!) to write about are :

--------

1 How I Use Facebook
2 Ways I Embrace My Audience
3 Should My Town Use Social Media?
4 A Community I Love
5 Technology That Empowers Me
6 How Flickr Did it Right
7 How Best to Comment on a Corporate Blog
8 Ways to Save a Bad Time at a Conference
9 How I Find Blogging Ideas
10 Somebody Has to Say It
11 My Children Will Do it Differently
12 How Schools Could Use Social Media
13 The Best Parts of Marketing
14 Presentation Skills for a New Conversation
15 How I Find Time to Make Media
16 Empower Your Best Customers
17 After the Event- Carrying the Conversation Forward
18 Just Jump Into Podcasting- Heres How
19 My Community and How You Can Engage It
20 Twitter Jaiku Pownce Facebook- And Then What
21 Making a Miniseries
22 If I Were an Advertiser Today
23 My Mother is On Facebook
24 Does a Big Brand Need You
25 Books I Want to Write
26 Serving the Deep Niches- How I Do It
27 How Women Use Social Media
28 A Hard Look at My Media Habits
29 If I Were a Television Producer
30 Social Media Marketing vs Traditional Marketing
31 Elements of a Marketing Campaign
32 Social Media Campaigns are NOT Traditional Campaigns
33 Idea Making and How I Make Something
34 What I Spend Money On
35 Do Rock Stars Need Social Media Strategies
36 How I Use My Website
37 Book Shopping- Buy These Books
38 MTV Changed the World in the 80s- Here is What Comes Next
39 How I Process Blogs and What I Do With All That Info
40 Ten Guilty Pleasures
41 The Internet Application I Havent Seen
42 If I Worked for a Venture Capital Firm
43 My Day Job Versus My Passion
44 The Difference Between Fark and Truemors
45 Fixing Conferences
46 Making Marketplaces for Media Makers
47 When I Feel Frustrated
48 Branding Strategies I Use
49 Your Ideas And My Ideas- How We Play Together
50 Friends I Cant Wait to Meet
51 The Art of Chaos
52 Telling My Boss About Social Media
53 Could I Quit My Day Job
54 When to Cut Back on Web Habits
55 Breaking Down My Favorite Blog
56 Explaining Social Media to Your Chamber of Commerce
57 Non-Internet Equivalents to Internet Tools I Use
58 Considering Media for the Rest of the Globe
59 Twitter is Too Simple- Twitter is Just Right
60 The Future of Podcasting
61 Video Made Simple
62 Facebook Applications I Love
63 You Are Here
64 Blogging Tactics- How to Keep it Fresh
65 I Want to Brag A Minute
66 Who Says What About Your Brand
67 Tools for Blogging
68 Wordpress Plugins I Use And Why
69 Media Topics That Need More Coverage
70 Comments versus Blog Posts
71 How I Drive Traffic to My Site
72 News- Is it Useful and How I Might Fix It
73 Which TV Network Gets Videoblogging and PodCasting
74 Franchising My Media
75 Handling Critics
76 My Audio Tricks
77 Ning Sites I Like and Why
78 Controlling My Brand
79 Sharing and Contributing
80 How Twitter Improved My Blog
81 Email After Twitter
82 Facebook Video Improved My Social Network
83 Letting Go
84 Downtime- What I Do Offline to Recharge
85 How I Went From Very Shy to Less Shy
86 The RIGHT Number to Track for Podcasting
87 PodCamp Has to Change
88 Shaking Things Up
89 Joining A Network- Things to Consider
90 Newspapers and How I Would Change Them
91 Interview With a Veteran
92 The Countries of My Social Media World
93 Giving it Away
94 Consulting Strategies for Social Media Experts
95 Turning Media into a Business Card
96 Podcasting on a Budget
97 For Every Excuse a New Strategy
98 Just When I Think I Am Done
99 Buying Gear- My Shopping Tips for Podcasters
100 When is Free Better- When Not

The most pointless invention - the Anti IPhone

2008-07-24T13:29:00.000-07:00

Bic, yes Bic that invented the biro pen, have announced a new invention today

'The Anti Iphone' - Branded as "No waiting in ques, no activation, just open the box and use the phone" The article which can be read on http://springwise.com/weekly/2008-07-24.htm#bicphone goes onto say that the phone even comes with 10 free minutes included.

Now I have worked in telecoms for 7 years and I think i've seen this before! Yes its called the pay as you go phone! No registration, No ques and you can just open them up and use them!

Market research people ............ and on another note, perhaps Iphone users enjoyed the Que's??? A chance to chat to other buyers in the same mindset, just a thought

I don't usually do politics but ..........

2008-07-24T04:58:00.000-07:00

Ok, Im not a politician or even have half the knowledge to comment on political debate, but I do want to pose one Question.........

There has been alot of whoha and debate on the radio of late about women in Northern Ireland having the right to abort in the early stage of pregnacy (which is currently legal on mainland UK, but illegal in Northern Ireland) Now Im not going to get into the debate of what is right or wrong, ill leave that in the hands of the qualified and Stephen Nolan of course (?????)

My bone of contention comes from the fact that the Parliment on England are trying to force this ammendment onto us, when all 4 churches and pretty much the whole Northern Ireland executive have said leave as is.

My question is that, If we have (and its taken a long time to get) our own Northern Ireland executive with representives seated in the main UK Parliment, then why are the English trying to get invloved in our business? and force an ammendment our govenernment do not want?

Scouting in Maghaberry - One scouts mission to get kids of the streets!

2008-07-15T09:41:00.000-07:00

Maghaberry - A small village of about 3000 people, just outside Moira is famous for its prison and not a lot else really. The site where we all live now was a key air base during the world war!

But now it is the place I like to call home, the village has came on leaps and bounds in the last few years. But as usual when population of an area increases, the population of under 18s increase to! and there is quite simply nothing for kids around here to do!

So using my 'Do my best' scouting background, I decided that a good thing for the area would be to start a scout group! Indeed! and that is exactly what I am working on now.

Now you would think that an voluntary organisation, self funded, designed to get kids outdoors and active would have the support of the local council, well it did however that support comes at a premium, one myself, the movement or any voluntary organisation can afford!!

Allow me to explain what I am talking about....... A few years back the coucil decided to build a 'Community Centre' in the village, assigning the dead of the centre to the residents of the village for the benefit of the village. They covered the cost of the build and the land and even said that when it opens in september they would fund it for one year! FANTASTIC! or is it. NO as usual with government bodies instead of letting do gooders like myself use the hall for free or for a low cost, they would like to charge the movement £10 per hour for the use, £10 per hour, now that does not sound like a lot but let me tell you for a charity requiring 5 hours per week minimum this adds up to an unfordable amount!

So I had a meeting with the committee running the hall to voice my concerns. Not interested int he benefit scouting will bring to the village, the fact that scouts could maintain the hall and gardens or the grants and fund raising available to cross committee youth organisations, NO NO its £10 per hour or find another venue is the response i got.

I will find another venue! and I will bring scouting to the area, because it needs it, and when the community hall is struggling and needs help, will I sit back and laugh, No i wont, we will pitch in and help out because thats what scouts do, Im just sorry the government cant see it!

Belfast Westlink Project

2008-07-05T03:54:00.000-07:00

So the underpass at the westlink in Belfast opened on Friday 13 whole months ahead of target, Amazing!! or is it?

Firstly who timed this project and costed it, obviously costing it 13 months over the time it actually took means the company saved a few million in wages and got a big bonus for completing early, so it makes sense to me for the contractors to cost it out and then add an extra year for good measure!!! eh?

Secondly how convenient to open it when the schools are off, and then flood the press with stories of how you can make it down to Belfast in just 5 minutes, you always good in the summer. It will be interesting to see how traffic will compare when the schools go back to before the building work, as most of us now are used to being stuck in Jams due to the work. This will be interesting to see.

On the plus point tho, I think the investment into the roads service and all the building work in Belfast is a fantastic thing... We now after 10 years of peace have the makings of a fantastic European city

What is Opencoffee?

2008-07-03T23:38:00.000-07:00

Firstly let me chat about BNI, Business Networking International. A Franchise which has been here in Ireland for quite some time, the idea here is that one person from each industry meet once a week for breakfast and pass leads on to one another. Sounds good in theroe..... Now for the stitch up, you have to pay £500 membership per year and if you dont bring leads you get kicked out!

Rubbish!!!!

NOW! I read quite some time ago about this OpenCoffee Club that seems to be taking america by storm, a simple tag line on their website reads 'for people who love start ups to meet and hang out' - Sounds simple, no subscribing, no fees, no president, no getting kicked out.... Just buy your coffee and chat!

I then heard that there was a meeting in Belfast, I was so disappointed that I had missed Barcamp I had to make this meeting. Nerviously i went into a coffee shop mainly full of geeks (myself included) introduced myself and that was it. It was good, met some cool people and will def go again.

So now you know! - If you get a chance to go, then do!

Explorer Alert - A couple of things

2008-06-27T01:42:00.001-07:00

All right guys, The scouting year maybe over but there is still a few things going on to get involved with.

AGM
This years Leaders District AGM will be held in the rugby club on 21st August (rem you guys gave the presentation last year?)

Well I would like you guys to come down and run the BBQ

Formal
I will be at st-marks church on Saturday Morning between 8am and 2pm if you wish to give me your deposit money, we are closing the books soon so dont miss out!

Car Boot Sales and Car Wash
Co.Antrim Network scouts are running a series of car boot sales and car washes on saturday mornings at st-marks, ballymacash

we could do with a hand with teas/coffee's and washing cars / bbq etc!

let me know

Yours in Scouting
Russell

Man Caught stealing Wi-Fi

2008-06-25T08:59:00.001-07:00

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/aug/23/ukcrime.news

A 39-year-old man was arrested yesterday after he was spotted tapping
away at his laptop while perched on a wall outside a home in Chiswick,
west London, by two police community support officers.

The officers believed he was using the owner's unsecured wireless
broadband connection without permission and he was arrested on
suspicion of stealing the connection. He was taken to Chiswick police
station and bailed until October pending further inquiries.

Although wireless thieves say it is a victimless crime, the number of
arrests for dishonestly obtaining free access under the Communications
Act 2003 are rising.

In April, a man was cautioned by police after neighbours spotted him
in a car outside a house in Redditch, Worcestershire. In 2005, a west
London man was fined £500 and sentenced to 12 months conditional
discharge for hijacking a wireless broadband connection, in what was
thought to be the first case of its kind.

Detective Constable Mark Roberts, of the Metropolitan Police computer
crime unit, said those illegally using unsecured broadband should fear
arrest. "This arrest should act as a warning to anyone who thinks it
is acceptable to illegally use other people's broadband," he said.

Stephen George, a technology PR consultant, said that punishing every
illegal user was unrealistic. "If police try and do that we will have
more people in prison than out of it," he said. "If people want to
stop others using their connection they can secure it in a few
minutes. If they don't ... that's really their own fault."

Bitbuzz set to double its Wi-Fi Network

2008-06-18T01:00:00.001-07:00

Bitbuzz set to double Wi-Fi network


	Broadband subscriptions approach one million Digisoft.tv launches movie downloads down under Dublin mobile player buys UK firm iPhone: from luxury item to cheap as Apple iPhone chips

18.06.2008 - Wireless network provider BitBuzz, which recently landed a deal with O2 for the new 3G iPhone, looks set to double the size of its Wi-Fi network within the next six months pending on separate deals with two large chains here in Ireland. Managing Director of Bitbuzz, Shane Deasy, told siliconrepublic.com that the deal with O2 for providing wireless access to iPhone users is good publicity, showcasing the reliability of its network and helping to strengthen new deals in the pipeline.

Bitbuzz also has its eyes firmly set on the desires of the wireless user on the go: “Now bus stations, train platforms and Luas stops all become attractive options for Wi-Fi hotspots and they will be the sort of locations Bitbuzz will be going after within the next 12 months.”

“We need to get people like CIE to wake up and realise there is a demand for this sort of thing.

“Bitbuzz has been approaching lots of different companies in the past few years, selling the concept, and up until now they have been quite slow in adopting it but hopefully with the publicity of the iPhone, more locations will sign up.”

By Marie Boran - siliconrepublic.com

Launch of new Scouting Website

2008-06-14T03:55:00.000-07:00

Fellow Scouters

Extreme Scouting has launched today!

www.extremescouting.co.uk

Our aim is to bring down the cost of frontline scouting and invest money back into the movement

Site up now for our monthly newsletter

www.extremescouting.co.uk

See you there!

O2 Ireland iPhone customers to get free access to Bitbuzz Wi-Fi hotspots nationwide

2008-06-12T08:16:00.000-07:00

O2 and Bitbuzz, Ireland’s leading Wi-Fi service provider, have today announced a new deal to provide O2’s iPhone customers with free access to Bitbuzz Wi-Fi hotspots throughout the country.

The deal, which is for an initial duration of 2 years, will cover the provision of Wi-Fi internet access at all Bitbuzz locations in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland – 155 in total.

Under the new deal, access to the Bitbuzz service will be unlimited for O2 iPhone customers, subject to a fair usage policy. Access will be available from July 11 2008.

Commenting on the deal, Jude Lynch, Sales Director – O2 Ireland, said: “O2 is delighted to be partnering with Bitbuzz. The iPhone has already proved hugely popular with our customers and providing free Wi-Fi access in key centres throughout the country will only enhance the iPhone customer experience even further”.

Also commenting, Shane Deasy, Managing Director of Bitbuzz said: "This is a new chapter in the Irish Wi-Fi story. O2's commitment to Wi-Fi as a mobile data technology for iPhone users will drive the adoption of Wi-Fi tremendously. We expect the demand for Wi-Fi hotspots to increase significantly as Wi-Fi-enabled mobile devices become the norm."

Bitbuzz partnership with Park Plaza goes live

2008-06-12T06:41:00.000-07:00

Bitbuzz latest partner location Park Plaza, Belfast has gone live today

This brings Bitbuzz hotspots in Northern Ireland to 7 and over 160 in Ireland.

Park Plaza is the closest hotel to Belfast International Airport and is located "50 Miters from anywhere in the world"

Customers of Park Plaza will now be able to enjoy Irelands Leading Wi-Fi provider from any location within the Hotel

Park Plaza Belfast is owned and operated by Hotel Partners, for more information on Bitbuzz see http://www.bitbuzz.com

Explorer Alert - Issue 12 - In this issue, Where next for Ballymacash..... Formal..... And more

2008-06-11T11:51:00.003-07:00


	The scouting year in fast coming to an end........ and its been a great one, We have travelled much and eaten well but what does the future lie for Explorer's at Ballymacash. Well that is up to you guys, I understand you are getting to the age where you want to party every week and not bother to much with scouting, but if you want to travel to International camps and Australia then its time to pull the finger out, get involved, get fund raising and make it happen! You are all big enough and ugly enough now to decide what you want to achieve from scouting so its time to tell me know.... The debate starts this Friday evening, If you want to go to endless parties, do so but if you want to go to USA and OZ then lets pick a date and do so........ The world is quite literally at your feet! Friday Night - Scouts as Normal - FULL UNIFORM, as its the last night we will get a chinease Formal - Deadline for deposits is this Friday night, £15 per head deposit is required Lisburn Fun Run - I have been asked to get a team together to throw water at the runners at the fun run, i think its next Wednesday but i'll let you know, full support is expected Hannah McQuillan - You are all invited to the Christening, 11am on 29th June at Church and then back to mine for a few beers, as you will be attending as representative for the movement, Full uniform is expected, this will be Hannah's first scouting activity full support is asked for. Congratulations - lock up your children Dave and Chris have somehow managed to con the driving examiner into letting them drive! Well done! Irish Jambo - Planning in hotting up, Simon was at a meeting on Sunday so will have for more information about this for you guys on Friday Rock on Rusky!

Choose Norn Iron

2008-06-11T11:51:00.001-07:00


	choose pastie baps and brown sauce, choose going down the pub at opening and getting chucked out at closing, choose wakening up the next day and not knowing where the fuck you are,choose to dander not walk,choose soda bread and tattie bread, choose stew on a winters day, choose denny bacon, choose supporting your country even tho they rarely win, choose not supporting the next country coz they always win, choose dale farm, choose an ulster fry, choose taxis, choose at least 6 chinese take aways in evey town,choose prnouncing things wrong, choose slang, choose to riot rather than talk things over, choose May Mc Feteridge, choose teenage pregnancy, choose having more paramilitaries than the middle east, choose to drink every penny you ever made, choose George Best, choose to personally know at least 4 alcoholics, choose going on the rip, choose adding 'LIKE' to the start, middle and end of every fucking sentence, choose harp, magners and buckfast, choose beating England 1-0, choose scoring hat trick against Spain............................. . choose Norn Iron

Explorer Alert - Issue 11 - Change of venue this Friday

2008-06-11T11:50:00.001-07:00

Guys and Girls

This Friday's meeting will be at Wallace Park (belsize road entrance, to meet) at 6.30pm

As this is one of our last meetings of the scouting year, I expect you all to attend in TOP HALF UNIFORM and SCARF

I have a few surprises for you, can someone inform Dave?

Keep Rocking
Rusky!

Explorer Alert Issue 10

2008-06-11T11:49:00.002-07:00


	This years weekly explorer meetings are drawing to a close,, I would like you to think about what you wish to do on the last night This Friday Explorers will be at Warrens house for BBQ - Bring own food n beer Formal Deposits now due guys so if you can bring on Friday that would be great Scout and Proud www.extremescouting.co.uk launches this Sunday, so you will be able to get all you Scout and Proud hoodies then, £20 each or £10 per t - shirt Keep on Rockin!

Explorer Alert - Issue 7 - Its water fight time!

2008-06-11T11:49:00.001-07:00


	Afternoon chums - The weather is fantastic so we had better make the most of it Explorer Scouts Friday 9th May * Water fight - choose you weapon wisely! * Finalize camp details and menu * Formal moneys are due NOW Later dudes, keep rocking!

Explorer Alert - Issue 6 - In this Issue Tonight//Jambo update//Exp camp update

2008-06-11T11:48:00.000-07:00


	Tonight, There will be no explorer scouts tonight (sorry) I wont be back from Dublin on time so I suggest you find someones pad to go to, and finish the Program for the rest of this year. You will also need to plan a menu for the camp in May Jambo 2008 - Ireland, Final payment now due! Crawfordsburn camp, I need final numbers this week please! Time is a ticking to sort out the wall and caving system etc Keep on Rockin and never let the song play out! Rusky

EXPLORER ALERT - ISSUE 4 - IN THIS ISSUE UGANDA TRIP // ST GEORGES DAY // BOYCOT TESCO

2008-06-11T11:46:00.000-07:00

St Georges Day

I need two Explorers to escorts the Queens colours to the Church on Sunday, I also need you to come to a rehearsal on Thursday evening - IM me and ill give you the details.

Fields of Life - Uganda!
Antrim Network Scouts are working closely with Fields of Life to send a mission out to Uganda at Easter of next year to refurbish a school - If you are interested in finding out more and will be 18 or older at the time of the trip - let me know, we have about 7 places left

Boycott Tesco
I was in Tesco the other day with my younger brother (17), I was buying some alcohol, but because he (17) did not have ID, even tho I (24) did have ID, I didnt get served! OUTRAGEOUS!! It is time to boycott this capitalist scum! BUY LOCAL! Its Cheaper and better for you!

Extreme Scouting Pre - Launch preview

2008-05-30T03:25:00.001-07:00

All,

Extreme Scouting, for all your outdoor gear, tents, sleeping bags, survival gear!

Will launch next week, but for a sneak preview you can click on

http://extremescouting.netdirector.co.uk/

Fraggle Rock Intro

2008-05-13T02:02:00.001-07:00

This really rocks!!!

UK sells out of the IPhone

2008-05-08T07:55:00.000-07:00

Shocking, both 02 and Carphone Warehouse the only two UK stockists of the Iphone have sold out, a statement on 02 UKs website states they have not been given a restock date by Apple.

The news has further fuels the rumours of a new 3G model, currently under development for the Australian market may be made available hear soon

Meanwhile, 02 Ireland whom still have good stocks of both the 8Gb and 16Gb model have still yet to appoint a sole Wi-Fi partner leaving its users being forced to use an expensive GPRS pricing plan

Further to this, 02 Ireland have still not said when they are going to make the Iphone's visual voicemail compatible with the network

Hovercraft Trial Run

2008-05-06T00:24:00.001-07:00

Scout hovercraft engine warm up!

2008-05-06T00:21:00.001-07:00

Testing the new Rotax Engine on out Hovercraft Project

The Big Word Project

2008-04-26T01:23:00.000-07:00

As far as pointless hair brained money making, fame educing projects on the web go, this one is fantastic!

Two guys from my home country have come up with an idea to clear their student loans by re defining the entire English language, and I have to say, it might just work!

The idea is very simple, pick a word, I picked SCOUTS, pay $1 per letter, then link that word on their site to where you feel the word SCOUTS best links to! So far over 3200 words have been redefined, and i would say that with recent press coverage this will take off big!

Although, i've been struggling about any posatives for the guys, after the fad so to speak. I mean its no wikipedia and I cant really see people going to www.thebigwordproject.com time and time again to see what words have been redefined, or better still to do some research

In the short term however things look good for the guys, hopefully it will project them into something big for project 2!

for more info see www.thebigwordproject.com

What is the more important job: A doctor or a councellor?

2008-04-18T07:49:00.000-07:00

I overheard a conversation in the coffee shop today whereby a woman was telling her friend about the time her Husband met the Prince Phillip, The Duke of Edinburgh.

Her husband is a local council man and also a Doctor, The question the Duke posed to him was which of his roles did he think was better for society?

The Duke seemed to think that his role as a Doctor was the more beneficial role, whereas the Doctor seemed to think his role as councilman was more important.

So i got to thinking............ and I think a Doctor is far more important than a jumped up cival servant, yea sure we need some government officials but surely not the level we have, whereas we are critically sort on Doctors, last week Tyrone casualty had to close for a full weekend as there was no doctor on call, crazy!

Im going to let the debate rage on with my Explorer scouts this evening to see what a bunch of teenagers think of it....

Iphone price crash in UK and Germany

2008-04-15T06:38:00.000-07:00

Carphone warehouse have crashed the price of the 8gb iphone model during slowing sales by £100 to sit @ £169 on contract..... £30 cheaper than the ipod touch!

Meanwhile in Germany the price of the 8gb model has crashed from E399 to just E99 on contract

The price crash has further fueled the rumour that the 3g model earmarked for the Australian market, may go global.

02 Ireland Iphone , days away from deal

2008-04-12T07:53:00.000-07:00

After being slammed in the press for launching the wi-fi dependand Apple Iphone without a wi-fi roaming partner

02 are days away from striking the deal with a strategy partner

I will post more when I know more!

The Mayor of Darwin is a man called George

2008-04-12T07:41:00.000-07:00

Whilst traveling with my scout group is Northern Territory I received an interesting invitation

'Dear Russell McQuillan & Guest, The lord mayor of Darwin NT would like to invite you to a reception in the civic centre'

Nice one, We had just been to see the Mayor of Cairns last week when we where in town there!

So uniform on, shoes polished we waited in the room we where to do a few photos and the like, In strolls this old 'dude' with a Malawian shirt and a pair of shorts

G'Day, what can I do you for, @oh we are just waiting for the Mayor'
That would be me then, GEORGE
(im thinking this guy is nuts, the Mayor of Cairns had a full title, protection, a suit and a load of staff)

Nice to meet you George, what is your full title for our speech later, GEORGE, JUST GEORGE The only people allowed to call me anything different are my competitors, and I can repeat what those b*stards say!!?

On our travels we found Darwin to be ever so slightly more laid back than the rest of Australia (if thats possable) probably because the Mayor is as laid back as they come!! Nice place to live!

An interesting fact is that Darwin has had to be completely rebuilt twice! Once is WW2 and then again after a cyclone in 1974!

twitter.com - updated

2008-04-10T15:48:00.000-07:00

So i tried out twitter a while back and was very quick to dismiss it as simply, boring and said

"Will it work, hmmm seems to be popular in oz and usa, Facebook have it wraped up tho I think"

Ok well, I was wrong, mark my words, this thing is addictive, fantastic and will takeover in a short period of time, bebo, then facebook before be bought for silly money by some yahoo microsoft sort

On the outset, when you first sign up you have no followers (people who look at what you say) and knowone to follow, so its pretty boring....... Right get into the public timeline and just watch it for a few minutes, you will soon find some like minded people talking your sort of jib!

Next, hit the settings page and change the option under notices @replys to 'all @ replys'

After this, get onto facebook and an the twittersync application ( i cant find one on bebo) after this what ever you update on twitter, auto goes on your facebook update, saving you the bother of doing it twice

If you want to have a conversation with someone, friend or foe, pop the following in front of what you want to say @username this way they will know what you are talking about!

When you starting to have fun and starting to get addicted, you could switch on the phone settings, but be brave, you will be bombarded with texts!

I recommend following wsieguyrussell, retrogrrl and calilewis

Online Social Networking, Useful tool or dangerous??

2008-04-04T15:30:00.001-07:00

Is social networking taking over your life? Are you using it correctly? or are you asking for trouble?

I have been using Online Social Networking for nearly 14 years now, when I first set up my ICQ personal communication centre back in 1994 to chat to my Family in Australia, and im all for it, when used correctly!

What people do not realise is, that online social networking may be ruining their lifes. Bebo is a prime example, firstly i set up my bebo page about 4 years ago, then deleted it one night after being totally disgusted with it! The thing is, people can and do put anything on their page, and do not realise who can see this. This week i have heard a case about a young girl of 14 being stalked by a 40something man who knew everything about her, what she wore, who she hang about with, her birthday, everything, why? because he looked at her bebo page daily where she documented, photographed and filmed her life! A man in England lost his job this week, because he decided to put on his bebo page what he thought of his boss, his boss was on his friends list..........

Its not just bebo, its myspace and facebook as well, In America, a young girl famously told her mates about her killer party, word spread and the house was trashed. But its the long term damage it causes that worries me, any company worth its salt knows if they are interviewing you that why you leave just pop you name into Google and find you smeared across the pavement of a friday evening in your photos. When you type in the name of a friend of mine into Google, as esteemed business person, up pops a comment left on someones bebo page 2 years ago stating how he is 'hacked off with work, wants to tell his boss to stick it and is going to go out and get wasted this weekend' nice image for anyone wanting to know abit more about the charity he works for eh?

Another thing is that school kids seem to live more on these sites than is real life, I actually here conversations like 'you where not online last night, what where you at?' WHAT??? I only go online when I have nothing todo or for work!

But its not all bad, and I have to say I do! use these services quite a lot, but not to find out what my mate is doing who just lives around the corner, but to keep in touch with people I cant and dont see, like family in OZ, Scouting friends in USA, Canada, OZ and Ireland, and to meet new scouters, share ideas and plan joint camps. Online Social Networking is a fantastic tool if in the correct hands, but please use it wisely!!!

Earth Hour

2008-03-30T13:28:00.000-07:00

On 29th March 2007, between 8 and 9 pm, the world switched off,

Well that was the plan anyway, the reason for this was to show the world how we can all do a bit to save energy, I thought this was an amazing idea, not only to save some energy but to clear the sky of light pollution so we can actually see the stars, when I look down on the city from my house, all I see is a plume of yellow light far above the town.

The reality was of course, No one in the UK or the World really bothered, I mean all the usual suspects where there, Sydney (well Australia are the bigger polluters per capita, but im sure China will soon steal that title) and many US cities and well as Canada, I think the only UK town to take part was Norwich, Disgraceful Governments in the UK and Ireland did not even bother to tell people about it, they should have just shut down the power stations!! But I guess they would have lost to much precious tax on the one hour of down time!

Actually the only people I saw taking an Interest in the UK and Ireland where Google.co.uk and google.ie, and I feel what they did was not so much to show they care about the world we live in, but to stick the knife into a smaller rivel Blackle http://www.blackle.com/

Blackle is a Black version of Google, similar to black-google.blogspot.com, The plan here is that a black screen costs less to run that a white screen, thus switching from Google as your homepage to Blackle, you will be saving the world, one search at a time, The reality is that modern screens use the same energy to run know matter what the content is, and Google where happy to tell people that on their homepage, when they turned it black for 24 hours!

Anyway back to the point, Earth Hour, although highly unsuccessful is a fantastic idea, I think Governments should get on board fast!

Cheap Motoring : The Land Rover Defender Project

2008-03-28T04:40:00.000-07:00

I was talking to a friend of mine about the cost of Fuel, What is is doing is fantastic, He has an old Land Rover Defender, which he is converting to run on used chip pan oil, he can buy 1000 litres for a mere £300-00, 1000 litres of Diesel on todays prices would cost £1200, saving him £900 per 1000 litres

That should more than cover the cost of the conversion, the storage tank and the higher rate of road tax for 4x4s

Rock on!

Scout Camp Parody - To the tune of A Duffy - Mercy, By Michael McClelland

2008-03-27T14:42:00.000-07:00

Mercy- A Duffy Parody

Please, please, please
Please, please, please
Please, please, please
Please, please, please

I lead you
But you gotta do what I say
This camp’s got me on my knees
I’m begging please
Stop throwing things

I don’t know what this is
But it’s not a tent
Just for that you have to gather wood
I don’t know what you’ve done
But you can’t sleep in there
And burning I can smell

You got me begging you for mercy
Why won’t you hear me
You got me begging you for mercy
Why won’t you hear me
I said you better hear me

Now you think that I
Will pitch tents for you
But you got to understand
That you won’t get a badge
If I take you by the hand, no you won’t

I don’t know what this is
But you’ve done it wrong
Just like I knew you would
I don’t know what you did
But don’t eat this
The eggs are full of shell

You got me begging you for mercy
Why won’t you hear me
You got me begging you for mercy
Why won’t you hear me
I said you better hear

Cheap Motoring : There has to be a way

2008-03-25T10:08:00.000-07:00

Upon breaking down the cost of running my car last year, I was amazed by just how much of my hard earned cash (which i pay income tax on) goes back to the government in Road and Fuel Tax

After this years budget, our good friend Alaster Darling, has put fuel and road tax up again, So I got to thinking , there has to be a cheaper way of running a car, Im going to look at a few different ways of keeping my money in my pocket, not the pocket of the labour government,

Ill let you know, but in the mean time you might be supprised to know that for every litre of Fuel you purchase at the pump, The true cost is only around 40p, and the other 68p goes to London.

Crazy!

I want to live at Scout Camp, a parody of Nickleback : Rockstar

2008-03-21T06:43:00.000-07:00

Im through with paying for
Mortgages that never end
This house hasnt turned out
Quite the way I wanted it to be
(Tell me what you want)

I want a big old fire
For to cook my ribs
and a bathroom I can take a shower in
and a football pitch that big enough
for ten tents plus mine
(Yeah, so what you need)

I'll need a ... a camping permit thats got no limit
And a big green islantic with a bedroom in it
Gonna join the Queen scout crew
at Crawfordsburn Scout centreee
(Been there, done that)

I want a new scout bus full of old scarfs
My own tent pitch on the green
Somewhere between the girl scouts and
the CBSI is fine for me
(So how you gonna do it?)

I'm gonna trade this house for a tent and fire
I'd even grow my hair like Gee and change my name

[CHORUS]
'Cause we all just wanna live at scout camp
And live in hilltop tents, lighting big old fire
The girl guides come easy and the rent comes cheap
We'll wont be skinny 'cause all we will do is eat
And we'll hang out in the pathfinder
In the county commissioners at the ADCs
Every good scout leader
Gonna wind up there
Every great girl guide
With her bleach blonde hair
And well...

Hey, hey, I wanna live at scoutcamp
Hey, hey, I wanna live at scoutcamp

I wanna be great like Frank without the accent
Hire eight Explorer scouts to cook all my food
Keep the fire going strong
So I can eat my meals for free
(I'll have the quesadilla, *laughs*)

I'm gonna dress my ass
With the scouting fashion
Get a front door key to the outside washroom
Gonna date a girl guide that
love to wash my clothes for me!

(So how you gonna do it?)

I'm gonna trade this house for a tent and fire
I'd even grow my hair like Gee and change my name

'Cause we all just wanna live at scout camp
And live in hilltop tents, lighting big old fire
The girl guides come easy and the rent comes cheap
We'll wont be skinny 'cause all we will do is eat
And we'll hang out in the pathfinder
In the county commissioners at the ADCs
Every good scout leader
Gonna wind up there
Every great girl guide
With her bleach blonde hair
And we'll hide out in the leaders rooms
With the latest scouting for boys and
Today's scouting ulster
They'll get you anything
with a dib dib dib
Everybody's got a
home contact on speed dial, well
Hey, hey, I wanna live at scoutcamp

I'm gonna sing those songs
from the Irish songbook
Gonna keep my food
3 feet above ground

Get washed-up girl guides to clean my clothes
Lip synch 'the scout promise every night so I don't get 'itwrong

Cause we all just wanna live at scout camp
And live in hilltop tents, lighting big old fire
The girl guides come easy and the rent comes cheap
We'll wont be skinny 'cause all we will do is eat
And we'll hang out in the pathfinder
In the county commissioners at the ADCs
Every good scout leader
Gonna wind up there
Every great girl guide
With her bleach blonde hair
And we'll hide out in the leaders rooms
With the latest scouting for boys and
Today's scouting ulster
They'll get you anything
with a dib dib dib
Everybody's got a
home contact on speed dial, well
Hey, hey, I wanna live at scoutcamp

Hey, hey, I wanna live at scoutcamp
Hey, hey, I wanna live at scoutcamp

AOL goes Bebo

2008-03-13T14:46:00.000-07:00

Media giant AOL time warner are the next big corp to add a social networking site to their portfolio.

And what a bargain to, $850 million!, well it is a bargain compared to the $15 Billion recent valuation of myspace, bought last year by Rubert Murdock for $580million! and the $240 million microsoft paid last year for just a 1.5% stake in Facebook.

But the truth is that whilst bebo may be the most popular networking site in Ireland and New Zealand, it lags behind MySpace and Facebook in the US and further behind in the UK.

bebo is the perfect complement to AOL’s personal communications network and puts it in a leading position in social media

bebo’s current president Joanna Shields will continue to run Bebo after the deal is completed but will be reporting to Ron Grant, AOL’s president.

The worlds most popular networking sites are as follows

MySpace

Facebook

Flickr

Hi5

Friendster

Perfspot

Orkut

Dada

Bebo

Skyrock Network

twitter.com

2008-03-09T08:50:00.000-07:00

Ive been playing about with twitter.com recently so I thought i'd share my findings

Someone has taken the "Russell is ... typing a blog" bit from facebook, and made a site completely devoted to it, genius (or is it?)

The slight difference is that, it save all your old "Russell is........" entries, so you can look back and say, what was I thinking!!!, You can also see what your friends have typed and what your friends, friends have typed.

Will it work, hmmm seems to be popular in oz and usa, Facebook have it wraped up tho I think