Thomil's Random Ramblings

When most people hear the term “convergence device”, they’ll likely think it’s some sort of science fiction device, some Star Trek McGuffin or other. However, if you look at the definition of the term, namely that it’s a device that combines the functionalities of several previously separate devices, things become a whole lot clearer pretty quickly. You see, most of us carry just such a convergence device on a daily basis, our smartphone, although in fairness, modern phones seem like something out of science fiction at times. They are however true convergence devices, combining a phone, media player, mobile office, games console and generally a pretty good camera all into one single device. Some of the latest models can even communicate with satellites, truly bringing these devices into Star Trek territory.  However, for all their futuristic capabilities, it’s surprising just how long smartphones, and convergence devices in general, have been around. The term itself was coined all ...

If you have a look at Irish news sites, or indeed newspapers, you’ll be hard pressed to find any positive news stories regarding Ireland’s National Transport Authority, the country’s official public transport body, or its customer-facing brand, Transport for Ireland (TFI). Likely, all you’ll find is stories about overcrowded vehicles, unreliable services, and projects that are behind schedule and over budget. So far, so normal for Irish government bodies. However, when you look more closely, you’ll find the occasional bright spot in all of this drudgery. One of these bright spots is TFI Bikes, the agency’s public bike share system in Cork, Galway, Limerick and, most recently, Waterford. Now, this system hasn’t been without controversy, from serious f unding shortfalls and lawsuits in its Coke Zero Bikes days to the fact that local councils in Galway and Limerick seem to be doing their level best to sabotage the very existence of the system within their cities. However, as far as Cork ...

Recently, I needed to go to Dublin again, for the first time in two years. The reason? Well, my German ID card had expired all the way back in 2019 and after a succession of bereavement, job changes, hospitalisation and, you know, a pandemic, I finally got around to fixing it. I’ll spare you the details as the admin work in question is just a rehash of what I went through when I applied for my new German passport, something I already wrote a blog post on . Instead, what I want to focus on this time is the experience of shlepping all the way up from Cork to Dublin and back without a car. I’ve never had a driver’s license and, given how little money I have left over at the end of the month as it is, I have no desire to change that anytime soon. This leaves me at the mercy of public transport in Ireland, in particular Bus Éireann, something that is a frequent source of frustration. Having said that, my recent business in Dublin gave me the perfect opportunity to test how public transport ...