I know that what I’m about to confess may shock a lot of you. I know because I’ve seen the look of horror on people’s faces for quite some time now, so here goes – I don’t use a mobile phone. The retorts of disbelief when I utter those magic words range from, you’re joking and I don’t believe you, to the more often accusatory, what’s wrong with you? as if I’m some sort of aberration. That’s okay – each …
A recent paper from Yale University has raised hopes that monitoring of sewage could provide a key early warning indicator of a community outbreak of the coronavirus. Researchers compared the amount of virus RNA found per mL in primary sludge collected from a wastewater treatment facility in New Haven, Connecticut in the United States, with the number of positive new cases in the community from mid-March until the end of April. The chart below shows the amount of virus RNA …
Is it having a lie in, eating a packet of biscuits with your cuppa or finally watching that box set you’ve been promising yourself? Maybe you’re doing a spot of online shopping. Who hasn’t ordered something online only for it to turn up not quite as expected, or indeed how it was described. I recently ordered a Slanket for my daughter. (A Slanket-a blanket with sleeves!) I got it on eBay so I shouldn’t have been surprised to open it …
As you may know, TV Dinners is what Americans call ready meals. But how about a video dinner? I was chatting to a friend the other day to see how he was getting on during the big pause. He lives with his family in Belfast but his mother lives alone in Armagh. To make his mum feel less isolated he came up with a novel solution. Every night at dinner time he video calls his mum on his tablet, then …
The Orange Order has been given a £300k grant from the Ulster-Scots Agency for their ambitious plan to create a virtual Twelfth. Due to the Covid-19, all Orange parades have been cancelled. But the Order is hoping to use the latest Virtual Reality technology to give at-home members the experience of parading. The project is the brainchild of Banford Abernathy, founder of PurePet, a company that creates VR systems for training vets. Banford said: Three generations of my family have …
The Imagine! Belfast Festival, forced to abandon over 90 public events because of the Covid-19 pandemic, is going virtual layer this week with much of its programme going online to ensure that audiences don’t miss out. In an imaginative response to the crisis, the popular event has been re-organised as a digital offering with over 25 events streamed during 25-27 March. The virtual festival, the first of its kind in Northern Ireland, will be free to view on the Imagine! …
My day job is web projects, I have been working in the internet industry for 25 years. For most of that time I have worked from home, so working online from home is the norm for me. I know a lot of people and organisations are trying remote work for the first time and I imagine it is a big learning curve for you all. I am offering free advice and assistance to help you out where I can. You …
