People often think that working with ill children must be upsetting, but it is anything but, says Barretstown’s Dee Ahearn, who writes about how Barretstown helps children and families enjoy life again and why we all need to help ensure that work continues.
No social networking for some people working at Leinster House in addition to the installation of picture scanning software which looks for ‘inappropriate content’ usually indicated by ‘certain flesh tones’.
The London 2012 Olympics have been haired as one of the most successful Games in modern history – but are you going to watch the Paralympics when it kicks off?
The torch will visit Dublin on day 19 of its 70-day relay journey, on Wednesday 6 June this year. 8,000 volunteers will help it travel 8,000 miles across the UK and Ireland.
The country’s president is head of the national chess association – and now primary schools are getting funding to find new generation of grandmasters.
ONE OF THE original unique selling points of the iPhone when it first came out was that it had an iPod built into it. While it wasn’t the first phone to do that, it at least made it easier to move your existing iTunes collection more mobile.
But what if your capacity is too small, or you’re getting bored with the music you have? Well, enter Wunder Radio, offering you over 30,000 internet-based radio stations directly to your pocket.
At €5.49 it’s not cheap, but with it allowing you to browse by any theme, genre or even location (it uses GPS to figure out what stations are local) it’s pretty handy.
You can even add your own stations to it – so if a particular favourite isn’t in the catalogue, you can add it and listen on the go anyway. Very nifty. Plus, it’s slick looking too.
CardBank(79c): In this era of austerity this and recessionomics that, we’re constantly being advised to keep account of our loyalty cards for supermarkets, gyms, cinemas and whatnot.But what happens when we take this to the limit and end up physically bursting our wallets and purses trying to keep all these different cards in?
Voila – CardBank has your answer. As long as the place you’re visiting scans cards with a handheld scanner, you can add the barcodes from your individual cards to this handy app and scan them off the screen instead.
Pumps.ie (free): On a similarly money saving theme, this nifty app is great if you’re travelling somewhere in Ireland you don’t know.Not only does this app (a spinoff from a website on a similar theme) catalogue where you can get the cheapest petrol nearby, but you can also use the phone’s GPS to find the nearest pumps and get directions to it.
It’s regularly updated and free. There’s little more you could want!
eBoy FixPix (€1.59): Inspired by the artist perhaps best known on these shores for his amazing Coca-Cola ad, this cute game asks you to tilt your phone to find the right angle to solve puzzles.
It’s a damn addictive game, and with 100 levels there’s enough to keep you amused for a very long time. And, as you might expect, the artwork is pretty stunning too.
The Old Course (€1.59): for those struggling to get over the end of the British Open, this official game licenced by the St Andrew’s Links course allows you play the famous eighteen holes by yourself.It’s got unique but intuitive touch-and-swipe controls – and even allows you to play against friends over Bluetooth. What’s more, it’s Facebook connected so if you have enough friends you can play an Open of your own!
Appy Monday is TheJournal.ie’s weekly round-up of the latest and greatest in iPhone apps.
All links in this post open the appropriate app’s page on the iTunes Preview website.
MINISTER JAMES REILLY has started a campaign to control the costs of health insurance this week with the appointment of an independent expert to chair a forum of providers.
The Fine Gael TD has voiced his disappointment at rising premium prices in recent weeks but insurers insist they have been forced into the increases because of higher charges for public hospital beds and a government levy.
Regardless of where the expenses originate, the customer has experienced annual hikes in their payments, to the point where many have reduced their cover or cancelled it entirely. Last month, figures from the Health Insurance Authority showed the percentage of the population with cover fell to 45.3 per cent.
Today, we ask about your own experiences. Have you given up your health insurance in recent years?
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