Ten nuggets of knowledge to take away this weekend, including Google makes Gmail available as Gaeilge, Mark Zuckerberg dislikes the idea of a Facebook ‘dislike’ button, and 3,500 Ryanair pilots are to get iPads.
1. Google finally makes Gmail available as Gaeilge
Google’s email service Gmail is now available in the Irish language, the search giant revealed this week.
Although Google launched Gmail more than 10 years ago and is now available in 71 languages, it is only now that a version is available as Gaeilge (in Irish).
Globally, more than 425m people use Gmail, making it one of the most popular email systems on the planet. From this week, anyone who wishes to switch to Gaeilge to email friends in Irish can do so right now in Gmail Settings.
2. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg dislikes the idea of a ‘dislike’ button
While most of us at times would love to hit a ‘dislike’ button on some of the things we see in our Facebook news feeds, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says such a button would promote too much negativity.
3. Ryanair to issue 3,500 Apple iPad electronic flight bags to pilots
Budget airline Ryanair has contracted Irish IT firm Typetec to put together iPad-based electronic flight bags for some 3,500 pilots serving 72 destinations across Europe.
4. Princeton researchers 3D print light-emitting contact lens
A team of researchers at Princeton University have 3D printed a contact lens fitted with electronics which enable it to beam projections of coloured light, just to show they can.
5. Video-on-demand strongest amongst Irish 16-to-24-year-olds
Video-on-demand (VoD) usage is strongest amongst Irish 16-to-24-year-olds, with 50pc of them consuming streamed or downloaded video content online every day, research from Nielsen Ireland suggests.
6. The Sony empire strikes back – unleashes DDoS attacks against pirates
Reeling from an unprecedented hacker attack that saw five blockbuster movies released to the wild, Sony has counter-attacked with a spate of DDoS attacks against pirates and sites hosting stolen information.
7. Sky to light up new 100Mbps fibre broadband service in January
TV and broadband player Sky will go live with a new Sky Fibre service in Ireland in January, offering speeds of up to 100Mbps with unlimited downloads and triple play TV and phone services.
8. Web Index highlights economic impact on internet access, Ireland ranks 20th
The World Wide Web Foundation has released its 2014 Web Index report, examining global digital divides and ranking countries by access to the economic, social and political benefits of the web.
9. Cork bags 91 new jobs in marine activities as three companies expand
Resolute Marine, an ocean energy company, Exceedence, a spin-out from UCC’s Beaufort Research Centre, and Royal Marine, a global salvage company, are each creating jobs in Cork.
10. Mainstream powers US$860m deal to build wind farms in Chile
Mainstream Renewable Power has emerged as part of the winning Aela Energía consortium that has been awarded a contract worth US$860m to build five wind farms that will power 440,000 homes in Chile.
Take-out image via Shutterstock
