RVJ Callanan

I have no idea if Covid hero, Dr Pat Morrissey, has taken the outmoded and much derided Hippocratic Oath, but he strikes me as a man whose ethical fortitude obviates the need for swearing-in ceremonies. For it was he who put his career on the line to serve the best interests of his patients when the wider healthcare industry, all the way up to the WHO, was doing exactly the opposite. It was he who cut through the weaponisation of Covid by our globalist elites whose planet-saving gambit for Big Brother governance and radical behaviour modification was salvaged by a nasty but eminently manageable seasonal virus of dubious origin. It was he who defied the fanatical suppression of low-cost, low-risk preventatives and treatments which was the most distressing portent of an organised crime against humanity notwithstanding the deafening silence of our media. It was he who carried out his own research, flouted the WHO-inspired HSE stipulations and ploughed his own furrow to the consternation o

The following speech was given by the indefatigable Dr Andrew Rynne at the Protest Against Oppressive Government Mandates and Restrictions organised by Health Freedom Ireland . In spite of the fact that Dublin was still officially under lockdown, my youngest son and I joined 1200 unencumbered and unmolested citizens at the Custom House in a carnival atmosphere where we were all infected by gutsy live music and courageous speeches. Like many others in attendance, I recorded Dr Rynne's speech for posterity, albeit with a low-quality phone and a shaky hand. Alas, we are all aware of the social-media censorship regime regarding viewpoints that contravene official WHO policy on Covid-19. So, rather than uploading a sanitised version of this jittery video, and thereby losing its essence, I opted to post the full transcribed version on Blogger where the thought police are not so rampant. It remains to be seen if it will survive here indefinitely. Having transcribed Dr Rynne's words in

Like it or not, Allan McDonald's insider account of the Challenger Disaster is a book for the ages. The early chapters are necessarily tedious which may put off the more superficial or time-pressed reader. Here, I am especially thinking of tech managers who have become so beholden to corporate speak that they are losing touch with their technical grassroots. If you find yourself sliding into this miasma, you will have most to gain from the lessons of this book — as will your employer because any organisation ignores engineering realities at its peril. So take a hit for the team and plough through the minutiae of sold rocket booster design and see what happens when the movers and shakers play God with tried-and-tested engineering principles. But do keep a reference on hand or you may get lost in a whirlwind of acronyms and empirical data. Knowledge that is hard won is best retained and your perseverance in the early chapters will deliver its own rewards. With many unexpected twists

They say you should never meet your heroes. Having grown up in 1970's Ireland, when portraits of Pope Paul VI and JFK took pride of place in almost every Irish home, I finally took the plunge by way of Seymour Hersh's well-researched tome to shatter any lingering illusions. When this book was first published in 1997, it was manna from heaven for those who rejoiced at our loss of innocence. But, long before the forces of cynicism and resentment took hold of our national psyche, we knew that the powers-that-be lived by different rules. Just like our favourite Hollywood stars, it was what they represented that really mattered — not their breathtaking hypocrisy. And let's be clear that the "untold stories of the rich and famous" were well-dissected by the dogs on the street long before they became a staple of the mainstream media. Great leaders have always courted controversy, especially in challenging times, because to do otherwise is a dereliction of duty. Great

As an early adopter and long-time user of G Suite (formerly Google Apps), I am in a classic love/hate relationship with these potentially game-changing technologies. I say "potentially" because only two of the core apps have lived up to their billing in the enterprise. While Gmail and Calendar have cemented their "killer app" status with business users, their unruly siblings have continued to frustrate those of us who are trying to make a clean break from legacy productivity tools to complete our move to the Cloud. Google Sites (currently being overhauled) is probably the worst offender; but this is, for all intents and purposes, a non-core app which we can quarantine without cramping our style or creating a domino effect. Not so, Google Docs and Google Drive, which are fundamental to our productivity needs and the essential glue that holds G Suite together. Having come tantalisingly close to achieving critical mass a few years back, these ground

Amid all the talk of housing shortages and sustainable development, a little bit of history is being made in the historic town of Enniscorthy. For the benefit of more distant observers, this is one of Ireland's geological sweet-spots where a rejuvenated River Slaney weaves its way around the iconic Vinegar Hill in the heart of County Wexford. Affectionately known as the model county because of its pioneering role in agriculture and engineering, this far corner of the sunny south-east is now leading the way in tackling one of the most vexing social challenges of our times. Hailing from a different part of the country — and a different branch of engineering — I can offer an outside perspective on this long-smouldering spark of ingenuity which is only slightly coloured by my long association with the main protagonist. He is the embodiment of that unpretentious "can do" attitude which has served his native county well through bad times and good. Never was this more apparen

Wouldn't you know it? Just when I was putting the finishing touches to my updated Photofeed Gadget for Google Sites, the rug was pulled from under my feet. In the best traditions of Murphy's Law, my valiant efforts to tame this unruly child in an unruly world coincided with the launch of New Sites as a long-term replacement for what is now known as Classic Sites . Since the new hosting service is incompatible with the old, no upgrade path is offered and both versions will operate side-by-side for the foreseeable future. In practice this means that users are now caught in a No-Man's Land where Classic Sites support is waning while New Sites is a long way from the finished article. But the important news amidst all the hype is that public gadgets are on the way out having created many more problems than they ever solved. For what it's worth, my open-sourced Photofeed Gadget for Classic Sites is a novel take on the Web Widget paradigm which extends far beyond Goog