Paul Dunne's blog

I'm very excited to be typing this post: Apple have just unveiled their new tablet, the iPad! For those of you wondering why I didn't write this post sooner, waiting for this was the reason. In fact, I have to say I'm more excited about this one thing than I am over any of the other things I've discussed (or will discuss) in this series! Will the iPad really revolutionise the tablet industry or is it just a giant iPod touch?

And how could this save the news industry? 

Ever heard of cloud-computing? It's all about data and programs being stored in a central network 'cloud' so that computers become 'lighter' and can run more efficiently. Originally the concept appealed most to businesses who saw the idea as a way to cut down on their hardware in a major way, offloading almost everything to a powerful central server core. But now, mostly thanks to Google, the whole concept of cloud computing is coming to the public. Think of the internet as the cloud, with all of your programs and data living on it rather than on your computer.

By now you've probably heard that 2010 is going to be the year of the rise of the smartphones. "No wait, I thought 2010 was meant to be the year of 3D TV?" you exclaim (at least if you've read Part 1). Ah but you see...2010 is going to be an incredible year, the year 3D TV hits the market and the year that the smartphones rise up! Or so the techno-prophets say.

In 1958 Disney presented their vision of the future in an episode of a TV show entitled Magic Highway USA. Watching it, it becomes evident that this vision was heavily influenced by fordism and the significance of the car to American culture, but it was also clearly an overly optimistic vision. Little of this view has actually come to pass – or even looks ever likely to happen. Compare it now with Microsoft’s equally optimistic, March 2009 vision of the future in 2019. Is Microsoft’s vision realistic? Or will it suffer the same fate as Disney’s predictions?

Perilous and difficult as predictions of the future are, this 5-part series of articles seeks to answer these questions over the week or so by delivering a thoughtful and realistic view on what the new decade may hold in store for us in terms of technological advancement and innovation.

The massacre of 30 journalists in the Philppines (Somalia) last November has made 2009 the bloodiest year in history for journalists, according to a report published on the 17th of December by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Upon publication, the report stated that at last 68 journalists had been killed in 2009. The New Year has only served to confirm this, with a record-breaking total of 70 journalists confirmed killed, 40% more than in 2008 and the highest since CPJ started keeping records in 1992. Not the happiest thing to think about when looking back at 2009 then.

 Hi to my fellow first years!

We need to decide our Course Representatives as fast as possible, so I thought I'd post this message to help move things along... I'm more than happy to be one of the Reps, if that's okay with you all, but is there anybody else interested in this position?