Swine flu medication can be purchased online

There are a number of e-mails circulating at present which offer Internet users the chance to purchase Swine Flu medication online at reduced prices. They offer the chance to purchase anti-flu drugs without prescription or diagnosis by a trained doctor.

BuyMedication.info sent out a press release on the 6th of May stating that although stocks of Tamiflu(the recommended medication for Swine Flu)are running low in pharmacies and hospitals, it can be easily obtained without prescription from their website. Next day delivery is guaranteed.

Online Anorexia

It is frightening how easy it is to come upon pro-anorexia websites online. Simply type ‘pro-ana’ into Google and about 8,500,000 results are generated. The first page of results shows a number of different pro anorexia outlets; blogs, weight loss websites, images and videos.

'Pro-ana' image

There is no way of screening who has access to these sites. A disclaimer appears on the home page of some sites warning users of the dangers associated with ‘pro-ana’ but the fact is that it shouldn’t be so easy to access these homepages to begin with. Blogs play a huge role in the pro-anorexia movement and they give peolpe suffering from anorexia a simple and effective way to communicate. It is understandable that people suffering from the disease find ’pro-ana’ blogs supportive but it can’t be denied that the fact that these blogs are so easily accessible is very dangerous. They often offer tips and tricks for losing weight in the most unhealthy manner and they promote anorexic behaviour.

RTE.ie survey – a waste of time

While visiting RTE.ietoday, users were asked if they would be happy to take part in a survey, the results of which would help improve the website and the way in which the site catered for it’s users. A pop-up displayed this information about the survey and gave users the option to close the pop-up and go back to browsing the site or to continue and take part in the survey.

The survey took approximately 2minutes to complete. The information requested was as follows:

• Age
• Gender
• Type of employment undertaken by the chief income earner in household e.g. Full or part-time
• Class of profession held by the chief income earner in household e.g. Skilled manual or professional

There were no questions relating to user satisfaction with the website or an option for users to comment or give suggestions. How is answering the questions above going to benefit users of RTE.ie?

The survey was conducted by Survey Interactive.

The Internet has replaced the teacher as the prime source of information and knowledge for pupils

Technology is playing an increasingly bigger role in education in Ireland. Students are  turning to the Internet in place of their teachers for information. Dr Chris Horn, founder of Irish computer company Iona Technologies, says that teachers need to make their job relevant in today’s Internet world. Students have learned never to rely on just one source, whether Internet based or not, and therefore they no longer take their teachers word as gospel.

Another Ryanair Rip Off

Low-fare airline Ryanair has equipped 20 of its fleet with an in-flight mobile service. The airline is using OnAir’ssystem to allow passengers to make and receive calls, send and receive text messages and use the Internet facilities on their mobile phones while in flight. At present, the service is only available on the O2 network. Passengers using the service will pay the roaming charges as set by their operator, meaning €0.50 for text messages and between €2.00 and €3.00 per minute to make and receive calls. It’s free to switch on your mobile and receive text messages and thats about as much as passengers will be doing. The cost definitely outweighs the novelty of making calls while in the air.

Michael O’ Leary doesn’t agree. “We expect customer demand for this service to grow rapidly and hope that customers of all UK mobile operators will soon be able to call or text home from 30,000 feet to tell loved ones of yet another on time Ryanair flight.”

Find Madeleine McCann – Online Campaign

The 3rd of May marked the second anniversary of the disappearance of toddler Madeleine McCann from the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz. Her parents Gerry and Kate are still hopeful that their daughter can be found alive and they are committed to their ‘Find Madeleine’ campaign. The Internet plays a huge role in the search for Madeleine and has made it possible for the campaign to reach people worldwide. It has allowed the McCanns to give their case the maximum exposure possible.

Madeleine McCann

FindMadeleine.com allows Kate and Gerry to communicate with Internet users across the globe and provide them with the most up to date information regarding their search.

Focal.ie and Logainm.ie

Fiontar is an interdisciplinary school within DCU. Teaching and research activities are done through the medium of the Irish language. Fiontar is involved in national and international research and between 2004 and 2007 Fiontar, along with Foras na Gaeilge, developed Focal.ie. Focal.ie is a database containing over 315,000 terms in the Irish language which can be searched for using either the English or Irish version of the term.

WolframAlpha – innovative new online search engine

WolframAlpha, innovative Internet software, will be launched later this month. WolframAlpha is a search engine that will understand questions in the same way that humans can and will give specific tailored answers to the questions. The search engine made its debut at a presentation made by its creator Dr Stephen Wolfram at Harvard University last week.

The video below shows footage of the presentation and gives an insight into how the search engine works. For example, when asked for the GDP of France, the search engine comprehends the question in the same way that a human would and gives a direct answer to the question.

Online Journalism ‘as Gaeilge’

Irish language print journalism is of a very high standard nowadays and thanks to the Irish language television station TG4, the country has a dedicated Irish language news service. However, online journalism through the medium of the Irish language is practically non existent.

Although the Foinse.ie website exists and it posts the latest stories for users to read, they are made available online in the exact same format as they would be in the printed version of the newspaper. Website users are not given the option to comment on stories and there is no hypertext used within the articles. This gives the website an unprofessional and substandard appearence in comparison to its English language counterparts.

 

Blogging ‘as Gaeilge’ does exist but not to the same extent as English language blogging. Blogs ‘as Gaeilge’ are more likely to focus on Irish language issues alone than on a broad range of topics and they are used more often than not by frustrated Gaeilgeoirs looking for an outlet rather than by online journalists hoping to make information available online ‘as Gaeilge’.

Internet Chatter helps track the spread of Swine Flu

The Internet has played a major role in tracking the recent outbreak of Swine Flu and in keeping the public informed of the severity of the situation.

The Mexican public are taking precautions to prevent the spread of swine flu

The Veratect Corporation, a Seattle-based biosurveillance startup, is claiming that they alerted the Centers for Disease Control to the situation in Mexico before the health authorities had declared a problem.

“Veratect provides the earliest detection of emerging threats to human, animal and plant life while empowering corporations, government organizations, NGOs and global citizens with trusted, timely and actionable information.”