This week I went to Ireland for the first time, and it was quite a great experience. For one, I found a country more expensive than the UK. I mean, £4.20 a pint?! However, interesting place in so far as it’s not really all that different to here give or take the use of kilometres and the wonderful accents.

I was over there giving a talk for a conference (t44u) which I was rather flattered to be asked to speak at and that was a great event and really learnt some cool things and it was a very good experience, met lots of fellow users of the CMS and got to talk to lots of wonderful people.

On the Thursday night the drinking soon started (well, it was Ireland!) and I didn’t get back to the hotel room until 4am! I’m not sure how much I had drunk but it was certainly somewhere in the region of 6 pints and 4 double Baileys. Not exactly something to tell the grandchildren.

As part of my ongoing effort to become the world’s most boring person (I’m jesting) I have been watching Simon Schama’s The American Future: A History which has been on BBC2 on Friday’s at 9pm. Happily enough if you prefer to watch Little Britain and Have I Got News For You you can catch up on the first episode now on BBC’s iPlayer (it’ll only be there for another week or so.)

It’s been fascinating so far, to understand a bit more of the history of this relatively young nation and some of the forces within it that have been there from the outset of the founding of the republic through to this very day.

I understand that Schama is a donor to the Democrat party and the Obama campaign, but watching the programme anybody with a bit of thought process in their head would spot the leanings in the programme that seemingly favour the Democrat point of view, opposed to the Republican.

Anyway highly recommended all the same.

I’m off to walk to Chanctonbury Ring now

Ok before you berate me:

• Points to iMac in bedroom
• Points to eMac in the living room
• Points out she likes OS X

Apple have released a new design to their popular MacBook and MacBook Pro series. I don’t think it’s the most exceptional design ever but then your asking someone who likes ThinkPads.

So I’m not anti-Apple, but what I am anti is some of the apologist remarks.