Garter says that microblogging is in the period of technology trigger which is defined as “The first phase of a hype cycle is the “technology trigger” or breakthrough, product launch or other event that generates significant press and interest.”  I agree with this to a certain extent but over the past few months with the Death of Michael Jackson and Iranian Twitter drama, it seems to have skipped straight to the slope of enlightenment (Although the press may have stopped covering the technology, some businesses continue through the “slope of enlightenment” and experiment to understand the benefits and practical application of the technology.)  CNN, Sky News and lots of user media sources now use Twitter to broadcast news, receive news and questions/thoughts from guests and even my aunt is on Twitter.  A little twitter bird once told me that one major newspaper, projects a giant tweetdeck onto a wall and decides on tomorrow’s news by the most trending topics.

In the hypergrowth that defines social media, it doesn’t take long for something to become obselete and new forms to come in.  I fell out of blogging due to the time it takes to aggregate thoughts and my lack of niche i.e. lack of ability to add value.  In my blogging days, I used to enjoy receiving numerous comments and getting tons of hits but wordpress did alot of the SEO for me.  I was also a power user on Digg so received a plethora of hits that way.  I decided to get back into blogging because it’s good for the research work I’ll be doing into social media and from a disgusting PR perspective i.e. it’s pointless being a social media guy without a social media presence.

I’ve been fairly slow to blog since I set up this site but today Eirepreneur picked up on a hastily written blog post I wrote.  He kindly commented and RT’ed and I received loads of hits and three comments within an hour so I was well happy and am a bit buzzed about it all. Imagine if I posted more and put in more effort :).

The point of this post is Blogging still has value but only if you have something interesting to say and something to add. The majority of Bloggers say “O look at me, I’m mad, I have an iPhone, I know what Twitter is, I’m web savvy,” i.e. I’m an individual just like everyone else *Yawn*  I’ve subscribed via RSS to a lot of blogs in my time but these are the only ones which have remained that I read.  We’re talking of a list of 300 down to about 10.  These blogs all have a niche and add some sort of value to readers.  Hence, they are win.  These include:

Nialler9 – Amazing music blog.  Description here

Twenty Major - Lulz Factory – Satirical Look at Irish society?

Web 2.0 Ireland – Does exactly what it says on the tin and does it very well.

This post is inspired by a homeless guy who sat next to me on the public bus the whole journey from Cork to Dublin today.  Ugh.  The list are in order of my preference of how I would travel from Dub to Cork and vice versa.

1. Train – most expensive option, yield management pricing, duration is three hours.  It’s clean, there’s usually a trolley dolly serving crisps and tea and there are bathrooms which speak.  The only time I’ve ever had hassle on the train was when there was a crowd returning from a match and it all got a bit rowdy.  It’s generally no hassle and no drama.

2. Ryanair – can be cheaper than the train, cost of getting to and from each airport will probably make it the same as train though, yield management pricing and the duration is thirty minutes.  Lots of business classy type people going on day tips, usual trolley dolly type service.  (For those that don’t know Ryanair is the equivalent of SouthWest airlines over here in terms of business model and are similar in every way apart from customer service.  Ryanair have little to no customer service.)  In general, the more ahead of time you book the flight the cheaper it will be.

3. Drive – New motorway means no boithrins (small roads) and it takes about three to four hours depending on the traffic.

4. Aircoach – Spacious buses, 22euro for an adult, stops a few times on the way down but I’d consider it direct (in comparison to the next guy,) and apparently some buses have WiFi.  If you can’t afford train, ryanair or drive, this is the option. Also, if you’re taller than 5′8″, this is the one for you.

5. Bus Eireann Route 8 - I have experienced so much drama on this bus.  It comes in about 2 or 3 euro cheaper than the Aircoach, (so 20ish) but the extra money is worth paying on the aircoach.  As it’s the public service, you get all types of people coming on.  One day, a Chinese dude kept shouting at his laptop and the driver nearly removed him, we’ve left a few people behind at break time and today they let on a stinking homeless guy and the driver watched as he harassed the whole bus.  The Irish could handle him but the poor Spanish and Italian student’s didn’t know what to make of it.  There’s no room on the bus and it stops loads of times on the way up and down and if you’re making good time, ahead of schedule you’ll have to wait at each town to cater for all passengers.

Just writing this to inform anyone who want to travels this journey. If you want more information contact me via e-mail or on Twitter.

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This café situated on Ormond Quay (you have to go down a circular stairs to enter it) is really nice.  The ambience serves as a total get away from hectic Dublin Life and it’s right bang in the centre.  It’s decorated lovely inside and you have the option to sit on chairs or on the floor.  It’s the perfect escape except for two small things.

I must say the staff were really nice to me and it was a very hospitable place but their Shisha which I paid €13 for, wasn’t proper Shisha.  I would have settled for less obviously as I’m not in the Middle East but this Shisha was rotten.  I’ve been to Shisha cafés where they give you tongs to move about the coals and let you maintain the shisha yourself but after a few puffs, it left that tickly, coughy sensation in my mouth which means the bong needed maintenance.  As the café is indoors also, you can’t take the foil off the top of the bong and blow out the ash from the tobacco.  It’s by removing the coal ashes from the tobacco, you maintain the taste.

I also had some mint tea with my Shisha which was nice but it cost €7 for a small pot.  In fairness though, it was really nice tea.

Possibly in a few years time, when I am rich or working I might be able to afford to frequent here more often or treat myself to it every month or so.  The reason it’s so pricey as well is probably because it is a new venture and rent costs for that part of town must be astronomical.

I wish the café lots of success and I’ll return there when I’m working and my student year is over.