Moving on

After a good few years on blogspot, I finally migrated my digital ramblings my own domain, mikaelfernstrom.com. Hope to see you there from now on.

Charlie

Charlie

December 1997 - 16th of May 2011

He ran like a greyhound

He swam like a dolphin

He fulfilled our dreams,

walking across green hills

and Atlantic beaches

He had a heart of gold

We miss him.

R.I.P.

Irish Election 2011

It is that time again when Gombeen men (and women) will call to your front door trying to convince you to vote for them or somebody that they support in the General Election 2011. This time, it is more important than ever to get some real answers and real commitment from the politicians-to-be, as the previous governments have managed to crash the economy beyond repair ad betray us all.

There are several excellent initiatives by ordinary citizens to try to bring clarity to what, if anything, the politicians-to-be say they stand for. In any case, we have to make sure that the politicians-to-be are made fully aware of that they will be hired to for work us, not the other way around.
So, here are some links to what YOU can do to help uncover the truth about the politicians-to-be:

1. The National Interview
Get your camera, phone or whatever recording equipment you might have and ask the questions, below.
Upload your video to YouTube (or whatever site) and post your video link on Twitter with the tag #natint.

Links to good questions can be found here and here.

In addition to this, some good questions are:

• Do you think our government should give away Irish gas and oil for nothing?
• Do you think the debts of a private bank should be paid by the Irish people?
• Do you think pensioners should pay extra taxes to pay for the cost of the banking collapse?
• How did you vote on March 20th 2003? Did you support the invasion of Iraq through your support for the US military at Shannon airport - against the will of he majority of the Irish people? 
• Can you explain why we have still not sorted out the health system so that sick people have access to appropriate medical treatment?
• Why have you given away millions of euros of Irish people’s money to bail out the religious orders that have raped and abused Irish children?
• Did you support wasting millions of euros of Irish people’s money on electronic voting machines that are completely useless and expert advice would have told you this if you looked for it prior to commissioning them?
• How could you sell off Eircom and Aer Lingus - they belonged to the Irish people, not you?
• How can you justify building private hospitals on public grounds instead of spending the time, energy, and resources improving the public hospitals and health system for all people not just the rich?
• Why don’t we have proper public transport? 
• Why have you wasted millions of Irish people’s money contesting the rights of children to have access to appropriate education and have sentenced countless autistic children to a life of isolation and misery?

2. The Tell Us Why campaign
Just as any other job applicant, get your politician-to-be fill out this form so that you can determine if they have any qualifications and who is the best suited for the job and make sure that we don't get the wasters back.

3. And finally, remember to vote! It's your life, your money, your family and your future that is at stake.

Xtranormal and Bailing out the Irish Banks

I found www.xtranormal.com the other day and it's a really fun tool for creating your own animated movies, based only on your typed script. In addition to your script, you can easily add camera movements, gestures, sound effects, etc., in a simple drag-and-drop interface.



I made this little movie, inspired by the current crazy state of the Irish economy and the Irish government's mismanagement. No politicians were harmed in the making of this movie.

‘Marbh Chrios’(Dead Zone) World Premiere

The Lovely Weather Donegal Artists Residencies, a ground breaking art & science project examines the issues of climate change in County Donegal, Ireland.

In 2008, Virginia Institute of Marine Science Professor Robert Diaz showed that the number of “dead zones”—areas of seafloor with too little oxygen for most marine life—had increased by a third between 1995 and 2007. Diaz and collaborator Rutger Rosenberg of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden found that dead zones are now “the key stressor on marine ecosystems” and “rank with over-fishing, habitat loss, and harmful algal blooms as global environmental problems.” The study, which appeared in the August 15, 2008 issue of the journal Science, tallied 405 dead zones in coastal waters worldwide, affecting an area of 95,000 square miles, about the size of New Zealand.

It is currently estimated that there are 20 such ‘dead zones’ in Ireland and two ‘contested dead zones’ were identified in the study at both Killybeg’s Harbour (1999) and Donegal Bay (2000). With a number of unique and purpose designed statistical algorithms and heuristics, Softday (visual artist Sean Taylor and Mikael Fernström)  have translated the scientific/environmental data of the Dead Zones into abstract ‘live’ sound sonifications and vocalisations.
On Saturday the 16th of October 2010, at 19:00, Softday will stage the world premiere of ‘Marbh Chrios (Dead Zone)', a live performance of a unique multimedia sound art work, in Mooney’s Boatyard, Killybegs, County Donegal. The computer generated music composition that the Donegal Youth Orchestra and the Softday Céilí Band will perform, is constructed utilising eight years of related marine data. Admission to the event is free, please contact Terre Duffy at the Regional Culture Centre, Letterkenny for further information: terre.duffy@donegalcoco.ie, mobile: 087 2508373

This project was made possible with the support of the Regional Cultural Centre / Donegal County Council Public Art Office in partnership with Leonardo/Olats, Met Éireann, Marine Institute of Ireland, Aquafact International Services Ltd, County Donegal VEC, Donegal Music Education Partnership, Killybegs and District Chamber of Commerce Ltd, the Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation Ltd, Mooney’s Boatyard, and the Marine & Heritage Centre Killybegs. Further project information from: Softday.

Irish rail and total lack of coherent thought

Irish Rail have problems and is actively ripping off their customers.

I traveled from Limerick to Maynooth the other day. My colleague had pre-booked and bought his ticket online and had no problem getting his ticket based on his reservation code. His ticket covered Limerick Colbert - Dublin Heuston [Luas tram] Connolly Station - Maynooth.

I really don't trust Irish rail's pre-booking system as it has failed me in the past, a couple of years ago. Anyhow, the way things used to be was that the Good Olde Manual Ticket Office would always open 10 minutes before departure, even at the ungodly hour of 05:30 in the morning. Not anymore.... This left me trying to book and buy my ticket from one of the ticket vending machines in Colbert station. The big surprise was that the machine refused to show Maynooth as a destination, probably because the journey would require a change in Dublin, from Heuston to Connolly station, via a tram journey on the Luas. 

I asked two sleepy staff at the station, who were present only to check that passengers actually had tickets, but these two rail-workers could not, manually, sell me a ticket, hence my only option was to buy a ticket for just going to Dublin, and buy the next ticket when I got there.

In Dublin, at Heuston station, the ticket machines could not provide a ticket to Maynooth either. 

Eventually at Connolly station, the machines listed Maynooth, but were offline and could not handle payment with a debit or credit card, but finally I managed to get a ticket from the manual ticket sales.

Later, during my return journey, I verified that the reverse was also true, i.e. that you can’t buy a ticket for Limerick in the Maynooth or Dublin Connolly stations.

I asked the staff in Maynooth, and was told that Irish Rail have at least three different, separate, not interconnected, ticketing systems. The manual ticket offices have the oldest ticket machines that cannot print an integrated ticket. The web-based ticketing system can sell you any possible kind of ticket, as an integrated ticket that can include train and tram, changes, etc. Such a transaction results in a booking number that you then enter on the ticket vending machine in the station, and your ticket is printed. But... on the booking screen of the vending machines in each station, only stations connected directly to the station your originating from are listed. 

Finally, analyzing the cost, my colleague who bought his ticket online paid €67, including Luas. 

If you buy all three tickets offline as you go, like I was forced to do, the cost is  €47 + €2.90 + €6 = €55.90

So why would Irish Rail charge their customers almost 20% more if a customer buys their ticket on-line? Not even Ryanair would be so daft.

I think this is yet another simple and clear example that Irish semi-state companies are not joining the dots, live in cloud-cuckoo-ballygobackwards land and just focus on ripping us off. 

Pro-NAMA People

Some people's hot

Some people's cold
Some people's not very
Swift to behold
Some people do it
Some see right through it
Some are pro-NAMA
If only they knew it

The pro-NAMA people are boring me to pieces
They make me feel like I am wasting my time
They all got flannel up 'n down 'em
A little trap-door back aroun' 'em
An' some cozy little FTSE's on their mind

pro-NAMA people!
pro-NAMA people, people!
Lawd, they make you sleepy
With the things they might say
pro-NAMA people!
pro-NAMA people, people!
*Mother, Mary 'n Jozuf*, wish they'd all go away!

pro-NAMA people!
It's a pro-NAMA people special...
Take one home with you & save a euro today
pro-NAMA people!
pro-NAMA people, people!
Wrap 'em up
Roll 'em out
Get 'em out of my way

-------

This was inspired by Frank Zappa's song Po-jama People.

Stop Israel's violence

The State of Israel has, again, violated International Law and murdered civilians. There have been numerous accounts for this morning's violence.

Please feel free to download the image below and if you have a printer that can print stickers, print it and place on all things you find in your local shop that has been sourced from Israel.