2006 YOUNG SCIENTISTS BT

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12th, 13th & 14th January 2006, RDS Dublin

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A welcome message from Mike Maloney

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to the BT Young Scientist &Technology Exhibition 2006.

Cuireann se rimead orm failtiu roimh ghach einne chuig an Taispeantas Eolai Og na Bliana BT 2006.

A showcase of innovation, talent and creativity, the competition is a national institution and has been a breeding ground for many of Ireland's leading science and technology scholars in their formative years. BT is proud to sponsor and host this very special event for the ninth consecutive year.

'Siad saintreithe an taispeantais seo na nualaiocht, tallann agus cruthaitheacht, agus is as an taispeantas seo a d'fhas cuid maith de scolairi eolaiochta agus teicneolaiochta na tire seo le blianta anuas. Ta br6d ar BT urraiocht a dheanamh ar an taispeantas aris don 96 bhliain as cheile.

2006 sees the highest number of entries in the competition's 42 year history. Over 1,100 projects were submitted by students throughout Ireland and the standard was impressively high once again. The students showcasing their great work at the RDS are already winners. I commend their commitment and dedication to their research and wish them luck.

Bhi nios m6 iomaith6iri sa chomortas i mbliana na mar a bhi le 42 bhliain 6 chuireadh tus leis an taispeantas i dtosach.

Cuireadh breis agus 1,100 tograi faoi bhraid na molt6iri agus bhi caighdean an-ard ag baint leo. Is buaiteoiri iad na mic leinn ar fad ata anseo san RDS, agus a saothar a thaispeaint acu. Molaim a ndiograis agus feabhas a gcuid taighde, agus guim adh m6r orthu go heir.

At BT we recognise that the excellence of the Irish education system has created a pool of talent that businesses have crossed oceans to tap into. The BT Young Scientist & Technology competition promotes research and discovery in the sciences amongst a whole generation of Irish young people and BT is delighted to be part of this.

With information and communications technologies fast becoming a fundamental part of all of our lives, we will continue to work with government to ensure that our young people are poised to take their place in Ireland's information society.

Aithnimidne i BT sar-chaighdean an ch6rais oideachais anseo in Eirinn, agus ni haon ionadh e go mealltar comhlachtai o thiortha eile ar fud an domhain chun leas a bhaint as na mic leinn a thagann trid. Spreagann an taispeantas Eolai Og na Bliana BT taighde agus fionnachtain i measc gluin iomlan de dhaoine 6ga, agus is cuis athais duinne bheith bainteach leis.

Ta tabhacht thar chuimse ag baint leis an teicneolaiocht faisneise agus teileachumarsaide sa saol ata inniu ann, agus leanfaimidne ar aghaidh ag obair as laimh an rialtais le cinntiu go mbeidh ar ndaoine 6ga cailithe agus liofa i gcomhluadar na faisneise.

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the teachers and parents for the support they have given to the students, and to the students themselves for their commitment and enthusiasm.

Ba mhaith liom buiochas 6 chroi a ghabhail leis na muinteoiri agus leis na tuismitheoiri don tacaiocht a thugann siad, agus ar nd6igh do na mic leinn iad fein as a ndriograis agus a nduthracht.

I would also like to thank Minister Mary Hanafin and her colleagues at the Department of Education and Science for

Ba mhaith liom freisin mo bhuiochas a ghabhail leis an Aire, Mary Hanafin, agus leis an bhfoireann go heir sa Roinn Oideachais agus Eolaiochta don tacaiocht a thugann siadsan chomh maith.

their support.

To the participating students, my congratulations to every one of you for making it to the finals here in the RDS. Enjoy

the event and I wish you every success this week and for the future.

Ar dheireadh, comhghairdeachas leis na mic leinn go heir anseo sa chraobh chomortas san RDS. Bain taithneamh as agus guim gach rath oraibh don tseachtain seo agus amach anseo sna todhchai.

Mike Maloney Chief Operations Officer BT Ireland Priomhfheidhmeannach BT Ireland

Key to Exhibition Halls

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BTYOUN( & Technology Exhibition

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Information Desk Organisers Office

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O Ring Bistro Restaurant 0 Meeting Points 1 & 2. School coach parties exit via this doorway Entrance to the 'BT Broadband Experience' ® The Eco Zone

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'Eating Creepy Crawlies' 'Aliens... Is There Life Out There?'

Lab in a Lorry (Institute of Physics).

Lunch / Rest Area (for use by teachers and students with packed lunches). ® Exhibition Restaurant.

Students Club (exclusively for students participating in the competition).

Entrance Main Hall

What to see at Ireland ' s most exciting exhibition The BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition 2006 looks set to be the most exciting yet. An unbelievable 1152 projects were entered last September and 500 of the best were selected to compete here in the RDS, Dublin, for the coveted title and the â‚Ź5000 prize.

Each project will be judged at least three times during the competition by different judges. The first round of judging is on the Wednesday afternoon and the second and third on the Thursday morning and afternoon respectively. The final deliberations conclude on Friday with the winners being announced that evening at the BT Young Scientist `Oscar-style' Awards Ceremony.

Wander through the students project stands and make sure you talk to the students as you go. You'll be surprised by their depth of knowledge and enthusiasm for their projects as well as their sense of humour!

`Must see ' attractions at this year's BT Youna Scientist & Technology Exhibition , featuring Dr Don't miss the shows in the BT Arena. The Simon Singh and Professor Richard Wiseman, performs for the first time in Ireland . This acclaimed duo will demonstrate the world's greatest optical illusions, reveal the science of Led Zeppelin, and generate six foot long bolts of electricity between two specially constructed transformer coils. This must- see educational entertainment is supported by Discover Science and Engineering. is another show not to be missed. Watch as this incredible eight foot tall robot with attitude `comes alive' before your very eyes!

The attractions in the new Ecozone include ' '. The Aliens exhibit, which has been created by and ' Armagh Planetarium, explains the size of the cosmos, the sheer number of potential sites where life could have arisen, and examines where in our Solar System we might look for alien life forms. ' on the other hand gives a fascinating insight into entomophagy (the eating of insects). In at least 13 countries on four continents , eating insects is the most natural thing in the world. The exhibit looks at the variety of insects eaten all over the world: some are eaten as delicacies, others form part of a staple diet. You might also want to look in on when you're in the Ecozone.

A visit to the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition would not be in the Big Top. Here former complete without a visit to the and aspiring 'stars' of `Robot Wars' battle it out for the BT Young Scientist Crallenge Shield, while the Mechanoids get up to mischief.

ou to our sponsors GOLD PARTNERS

ASH Ireland

in Ireland Irish Universities

Calmast Central Fisheries Board

Intel

Royal College of Surgeons

Irish Blood Transfusion Board

Comhar Down Syndrome Ireland

Promoting Science

Safe Food

Lennox

Science Foundation Ireland

Marie Keating Foundation

Self Help

Marine Institute

Sharing Science Across Ireland

Met Eireann

Sustainable Energy Ireland

National Children's Office

Tipperary Institute

National Safety Council

WIT

Patents Office

Wyeth

Eli Lilly

ANALOG DEVICES

ENFO EPA Foras na Gaeilge Garda Road Safety Unit

D*1 sCO\eV Science + Engineering

Pfizer Ireland Pharmaceuticals

Hea.net Health Research Board Institute of Physics

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Young Scientist Judges 2006 Catrina Sheridan , BT - Chairperson

Chemical, Physical &

Social & Behavioural Sciences

Ms Ruby Morrow

Mathematical Sciences

Prof. Paul Andrews Dr Joe Barry Mr Sidney Blain

Mr Paddy O'Dwyer

Dr Joe Brady

Dr David Silke

Prof . Tom Brazil

Dr Anne Breslin Dr Michael Byrne Dr Stephen Connon Prof. Sean Corish

Dr Padraig Dunne Professor Pat Guiry Dr Paul Gunning

Prof. Frank Imbusch Prof. Tom Laffey Dr Michael McGrath Dr Eoin O'Neill Dr Rachel Quinlan Dr Tony Scott

Mr Leonard Hobbs Mr Bill Hunt Mr Barry Kennedy Mr Owen Mackessy Mr Tom O'Dwyer Ms Ann O'Sullivan

Dr Larry Taylor Mr Martin Wickham

Dr Barry Brunt Ms Annette Cahalane

Ms Mary Cawley Dr Eibhlin Connolly Ms Edel Conway

Prof Michael Cronin Dr Carmel Dinan Dr Ray Fuller Prof. Des Gillmor Dr Kevin Hourihan Mr Des Hourihane

Mr Jim Hourihane Mr Frank Kavanagh Dr Maeve Martin

Mr Ciaran McCullagh Mr Paid McGee Dr Paul McKeown

Mr Seamus McLoone Mr Des McQuid Ms Lynda McSweeney Prof . Aidan Moran

Mr John O'Leary

Dr Thomas Quigley

Biological & Ecological Sciences Dr Lucy Byrnes Dr Joe Caffrey Dr Brid Crombie Quilty Prof . Gerry Doyle Dr Billy Fitzgerald Dr Patricia Fitzpatrick

Mr Hubert Fuller Prof. Mary Garrett Dr Tom Harrington

Prof. Michael Hennerty Dr Mary Kelly-Quinn Dr Ursula MacEvilly

Prof. Stephen Mayhew Dr Declan Murray Dr Kathy O'Boyle Prof. John O'Halloran Dr Padraig O'Kiely Dr Lesley Powell Dr Dagmar Stengel

The awards for 2006 Main awards

Category Awards

BT Young Scientist (s) of the Year 2006 If the title BT Young Scientist of the Year is awarded to an Individual, a Best Group Award will also be made. If the title BT Young Scientist of the Year is awarded to a Group, a Best Individual Award will be made.

There are 36 prizes for Individuals and 36 prizes for Group projects. The prizes take the form of 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes in Junior, Intermediate and Senior sections of each of the four categories:

Individual or Group • BT Young Scientist of the Year Trophy (perpetual)

• Chemical, Physical and Mathematical Sciences

• Cheque for €5,000

• Biological and Ecological Science

• Social and Behavioural Sciences

Intel Student Award Institute of Physics Eli Lily Met Eireann Analog Devices Technology Award Patents Office Environmental Protection Agency Intel Environmental Award Safefood Royal College of Surgeons Ireland National Safety Council

• Technology

Irish Blood Transfusion Service

• The chance to represent Ireland at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists in Stockholm, Sweden 2006.

The prizes are as follows: • 1st prize of €300 for both Individual and Group projects

ASH Ireland

Best Individual or Best Group • BT Trophy (perpetual)

• 2nd prize of €225 for both Individual and Group projects

• Cheque for €2,000

• 3rd prize of €150 for both Individual and Group projects

National Children's Office The Marine Institute Comhar

Runner- up Individual and Runners - up Group • BT Trophy (perpetual) • Cheque for €1,000

A number of Highly Commended and Display awards will be awarded in each category by the panel of judges.

Special Awards

BT Intel and Analog Devices Educator of Excellence Awards Science foundation Ireland Self Help Development International The Marie Keeting Foundation The Health Research Board

Students

Chemical , Physical & Mathematical Scien ces Junior Individual Projects Stand No. 1 Student(s): Mark Liddy Title: Basketball Pressure: Effect on Play School: St Caimins Community School Teacher: Sean O'Leary Stand No. 2 Student(s): Eamonn Flannery Title: Games and the mathematics they can teach us School: Scoil Mhuire Gan Smal Teacher: Sean Foley Stand No. 3

Student(s): Christopher McSweeney Title: A Study of Microwave Power Settings School: Mayfield Community School Teacher: Liam Begley Stand No. 4 Student(s): Laura Clarke Title: An Investigation into the Interesting Properties of the number nine(9) School: Loreto Secondary School Teacher: Janet Clynes Stand No. 5 Student(s): Clara Ottewill Title: Staying rational in an irrational world School: Alexandra College Teacher: Niamh McShane Stand No. 6 Student(s): Callan Coughlan Title: Hydrogen a replacement for oil?

School: Castletroy College Teacher: Lisa Kiely

Stand No. 7 Student(s): Ardit Kroni Title: Generalisations of Theon's Algorithm School: Synge Street CBS Teacher: Jim Cooke Stand No. 8 Student(s): Richard Fanning Title: Clean s p ring water?

School: Colaiste Bhride Teacher: Matthew Burke Stand No. 9 Student(s): Graham Murtagh Title: To find the minimum number of numbers required to complete a standard 9 by 9 Sudoku grid School: Ardscoil Ris Teacher: Niamh Sullivan

Junior Group Projects Stand No. 12 Student(s): Clara Mulvihill, Aine Murphy Title: What odds: Trends in Exchange Betting Markets Durin g Soccer Matches School: Colaiste Choilm Teacher: Karina Lyne

Stand No. 13 Student(s): Samantha Steed , Sarah Polly Title: Usin g the Faulkes Telescope To Track A Near Earth Asteroid School: Glenlola Collegiate Teacher: Jacquie Milligan

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Stand No. 14 Student(s): Stephen Finnucane, Liam Kenny Title: Effect of rate of flow and angle on the flow pattern of liquids School: St John Bosco Community College Teacher: Leo O'Donoghue

Stand No. 25 Student(s): Etain Nic An Aoire,

Stand No. 15 Student(s): Mary Ellen Hynes, Richard Vaughan Title: Does the first score have a winning result?

School: Newbridge College Teacher: Dermot Walsh

Stand No. 26 Student(s): Caolan Duffy, Joey Farrell, Ian Murphy Title: A study of how modern agriculture causes pollution in lakes School: Patrician High School Teacher: John O'Rourke

Stand No. 16 Student(s): Anthony Coates, Anthony Murphy Title: Does scrum success determine the outcome of the game of rugby - a mathematical investigation

School: Balbriggin Community College Teacher: Theresa Gannon

Richael Ni Thighearnaigh Title: The Sunny Southeast - An Fior E? School: Colaiste losagain Teacher: Valerie Ni Chochlain

Stand No. 27 Student(s): Emma Ni Fhearraigh, Alanna Ni Dhugain, Mary Ni Ghallchdir Title: Natures Engineers -Investigating Spider Web Strength School: Pobalscoil Ghaoth Dobhair Teacher: Siobhan Ui Shearcaigh

Stand No. 17 Student(s): Kevin McMahon, Michael McCluskey, David Moore Title: Strike!!! of The Ash School: Catholic University School Teacher: Damian Delaney Stand No. 18 Student(s): Sharon Quigley, Rebecca Russell, Rebecca Thompson Title: The Perfect Crime School: Holy Child Secondary School Teacher: Aldan Ward Stand No. 19 Student(s): Donal O Coisdealbha, Sean 0 Grainne, Stiofan 0 Fionnghusa Title: Ag Fiosru gainreamh Reatha School: Grange Community College Teacher: Jacinta Ni Dhubhain

Stand No. 20 Student(s): Neil O'Mdrain, Ciaran 0 Huaithne, Caoimhin 0 Morain Title: lontais on Piidar School: Grange Community College Teacher: Eibhlin Ni Mhuircheartaigh Stand No. 21 Student(s): Jack Gleeson, Clan Travers, Hugh 0' Donnell Title: What is the Mineral Content in Your Water?

School: Gonzaga College Teacher: Joe 0' Brien Stand No. 22 Student(s): Roisin Corcoran, Estelle Purcell, Sara Sorensen Title: Do coffee beans contain traces of lead?

School: Loreto College Teacher: Sheila Porter Stand No. 23 Student(s): Jennifer Coote, Ashling Crowe, Marie Culligan Title: Filtered water - is it worth it?

School: Kilrush Community School Teacher: Jacinta McKenna Stand No . 24 Student(s): Jennifer O ' Donnell, Aoife S myt h Title: Soap Bubbles School: Colaiste lognaid S.J Teacher: Brian Stewart

Stand No. 28 Student(s): Shamim de Brun, Grainne Egan, Sinead Dolan Title: How to Use a Plot of Land to Generate Energy School: Mount Sackville Secondary School Teacher: Sandra Keating Stand No. 29 Student(s): Chloe Redden, Catriona Callinan Title: What is in Your Drinking Water?

School: Mary Immaculate Secondary School Teacher: Sabrina Curran Stand No. 30 Student(s): Michael Theasby, Michael Griffey, Ross Connole Title: Radiation - A Trouble in Today's World School: Mary Immaculate Secondary School Teacher: Sabrina Curran Stand No. 31 Student(s): Jennifer Hegarty, Jennifer Leahy Title: Cleaners - Commercial vs.

Non-Commercial School: Mount Sackville Secondary School Teacher: Sandra Keating Stand No. 32 Student(s): Evan Walker, Owen Ralph, Aisling Doherty Title: To investigate How the Magnetic Field Varies with Heat

School: Lucan Community College Teacher: Audrey Byrne Stand No. 33 Student(s): Clara Byrne, Clara 0' Brien Title: Intelligence vs. Hair Mineral Content School: St Wolstans Community School Teacher: Lousie Ward Stand No. 34 St u dent(s): Brian 0' Ruairc , Darryl White Title: Pop pop the popcorn

School: Sandford Park School Teacher: Angela Kelly Stand No. 35 St u dent(s): Brinsle y Doran , Matthew Nicholson, Min Dong Kim Title: Boiling and Freezing Po i nts

S c hool: Sandford Park School Teacher: Alison J. Graham

Stand No. 80

Stand No. 92

Student(s): Rebecca Ffrench-O'Carroll, Charlotte Ffrench-O' Carroll , Aideen Murphy Title: Does the rate at which hydrogen peroxide

Student(s): Christina Dix, Sinead Kearney

Title: Docks vs. Nettles

breaks down depend on the source of catalase?

School: Loreto College Teacher: Sheila Porter

Teacher: Siobhan McCauley

Stand No . 81 Student(s): David Malone, Robert Creevy, Conor Brophy Title: Synthetic acid rain and its effects on the environment School: Salesian College

Teacher: Sinead Greene Stand No. 82 Student(s): Nicole Lynch , Terri Mc Laughlin, Aoife White Title: Out of the Light Comes the Dark School: St Marys College

School: Maynooth Post Primary School

Stand No. 93 Student(s): Una McMenamin, Leah Finan, Chloe McLaughlin

Student(s): Katie Bell , Lynn McGregor, Jayne Mannion Title: Observation of Sunspots

School: Confey College Teacher: Rachel Linney Stand No. 84 Student(s): Jack Long , David Harrold, John Ryan Title: An investigation into the use of chicken

Teacher: Mary O'Brien

Title: An Investigation into prime numbers, with regard to the possibility of a pattern in

Stand No. 94 Student(s): Nicola Kelly, Alsling Kirwan Title: Fractal Dimension of Crushed Rock School: Our Ladys College

their sequence School: Castlecomer Community School Teacher: Paul Behan

Teacher: Frances 0' Regan

Senior Individual Projects Stand No. 98 Student(s): Sarah Blacoe-Dyas Title: The Relationship between Physics and Dance School: Sacred Heart Secondary School Teacher: Deirdre Lynch

Stand No. 99 Student(s): Gavin Armstrong Title: The Perfect Cuboid School: Patrician Secondary School Teacher: Michael 0' Callaghan

Stand No. 85 Student(s): John Barrett, Thomas Mooney Title: Testing Recoil Of A Rifle School: Castlecomer Community School

Title: Physics of Juggling

Teacher: Nora Henderson

Stand No . 101 Student(s): Kevin 0' Flaherty Title: Genetic algorithms applied to the game of Go

Stand No. 87 Student(s): Alan Reburn, Bernard Crombie, Robert Cronin Title: Water Filters (an investigation)

School: Dundalk Grammar School Teacher: Stephanie Ledwith Stand No. 88 Student(s): Lucy Doyle, Shana Grogan Title: Putting Muscles on Ribs - Effect of Common ions on Hair Strength School: St Ailbes School Teacher: Kieran O'Dwyer Stand No. 89 Student(s): Blathnaid Watters, Ciara Farrell, Catherine Kelly

Stand No . 100 Student(s): Jan Hirsch School: Mean Scoil na mBraithre Criostai Teacher: Michael McGrath

School: Castletroy College Teacher: Lisa Kiely

Stand No . 102 Student(s): Sean Roberti Title: Algebra calculating with Java School: Beara Community School Teacher: Conor Moore Stand No . 103 Student(s): Maria Ward Title: Dynamics of crystal grown in the chemical garden School: Loreto College Teacher: Brian McKenna

Stand No . 104 Student(s): Seamus Fitzgerald Title: Collisions with Earth School: Blackwater Community School Teacher: David King

Teacher: Kieran O'Dwyer

Stand No. 105 Student(s): Shahrukh Abbasi Title: The Arithmetic of Continued Fractions School: Synge Street CBS Teacher: Jim Cooke

Stand No. 90 Student(s): Roisin Connaughton, Joanne Beattie,

Stand No. 106 Student(s): Gohar Abbasi

Martha Donlon Title: The effect of temperature on fundamental frequencies

Title: Efficient parameterisation of the binomial option pricing model School: Synge Street CBS

School: St Josephs College Teacher: Majella MacNeice

Teacher: Jim Cooke

Stand No. 91 Student( s): Eleanor McKenna, Aisling Everitt

Senior Group Projects

Title: The Electrooxidation of Alcohols in the Hoffmann Voltammeter

School: St Ailbes School

Title: Fibonacci and the Golden Mean School: St Olivers Community College Teacher: Bernadette O'Connor

Stand No. 111

Student(s): Rebecca Kelly, Regina Kelly, Mariead Hennessey

manure as a renewable energy source School: Hazelwood College Teacher: Maria Neville

Stand No. 86 Student(s): John Germaine, Niamh Dunne, Louise Whelan Title: The Physics of Tennis School: Colaiste Lorcain Teacher: Sylvester McEvoy

Teacher: Olivia O ' Brien

Title: Crystal Clear???

School: Loreto Convent

Teacher: Ann Blanking

Stand No. 83

Stand No. 110 Student(s): Eimear Quinlan, Elizabeth Kennedy, Caroline Dunne Title: To investigate the concentration of vitamin C in oranges School: Presentation Secondary School

Stand No. 109 Student(s): Enda Hannan , Maximiliaan Van de Poll, Robert Palminteri Title: A Tsunami protection system

School: Sutton Park School Teacher: Catherine Tattersall

Stand No. 112 Student(s): Keith Florea, Adrian Chisa, Sandeeo Sihag Title: Estimation of simulation error in the Kelper problem using hodographs School: Synge Street CBS Teacher: Jim Cooke

Stand No. 113 Student(s): Mark Cobbe, Ronan Hunt, Katia Tikhiniouk

Title: Speed limit peace of mind School: Colaiste losagain Teacher: Tim Hewitt

Stand No. 114 Student(s): Niamh Fox, Grainne Sheill, Anna Moynihan

Title: The make-up of make-up School: Mount Sackville Secondary School Teacher: Anne Meade Stand No. 115 Student(s): Karen Corrigan, Caoimhe Walsh, Aoife Quinn

Title: The hidden caffeine in our daily diet School: Maynooth Post Primary School Teacher: Siobhan McCauley Stand No. 116 Student(s): Edel Hoey, Sinead Marley, Ciara Daly Title: Are so many chemicals really necessary

in shampoo?

School: St Louis Secondary School Teacher: Una Doyle Stand No. 117 Student(s): Keith Reidy, Daragh O ' Connor, Eoin Byrne Title: Primordial Soup: The origins of life

School: Colaiste An Spioraid Naoimh Teacher: Gerry Hyde Stand No. 118 Student(s): Yasmin Hamed, Ciaran 0 ' Connor, Zoe Gough Title: How do we know we are not the centre of the solar system School: Confey College Teacher: Rachel Linney Stand No. 119 Student(s): Robert Kelly, Seamus McDaid Title: Some things old, some things new in

mathematics School: Fanciscan College Teacher: Eamonn Newell

Stand No. 120 Student(s): Leanna-Maria Gannon, Hilary-Mae Gannon Title: In search of an algorithmic pattern as

applied to the Matroyska doll - part 2 School: Skerries Community College Teacher: Brendan Guildea

Junior Individual Proi Student(s): Declan O ' Loughlin Title: Improving Efficiency In a Domestic Oil Central Heating System

School: CBS Ennistymon Teacher: Kieran Meehan

Student(s): Finan Murray Title: The Unbreakable Hurley School: Blackwater Community School Teacher: David King

Student(s): Oliver Hearty , Patrick Gallogly, Eoin Colgan Title: CIE Airport Trolley(Communication, Information, Entertainment) School: Christian Brothers (Abbey) Grammar School Teacher: Tony Mooney

Student(s): Fiachna Mac Murch6 , Jamie Breathnach Title: To investigate the feasibility of a system to enable the conversion of waste cooking oil to a viable heat source

Student(s): Conor Force Title: Robotic Dragonfly School: St Marys CBS Teacher: Ciaran Cronin

Student(s): Micheal Nolan , Paul Byrne, Tomas Cowman Title: Less deaths, more breaths School: St Marys Knockbeg College Teacher: Ann-Marie Buckley

School: Meanscoil San Nioclas

Teacher: Seamus 0 Cadhain Student(s): Annie Kavanagh Title: Why flush your money away?

School: Dominican College Teacher: Siobhan Crowe

Student(s): Christina Curtin Title: White -0- Meter School: Abbeyfeale Vocational School Teacher: Ryan Kennelly

Student(s): Peter Benilov Title: Teaching Aid Application: Multiplication School: Castletroy College Teacher: Lisa Kiely

Student(s): Keith Mooney

Student(s): Sean Boyd , Luciano Van Rheenen Title: Kettle Kraft Inc - No Burn, More Boil School: Oatlands College Teacher: Patrick Kelly

Student(s): Lesley Humphreys , Katie Boyle, Kellie Nwaokorie Title: Raynaud's Syndrome- A chemical solution to A Biological Problem School: St Josephs College Teacher: Michelle Dunne

Student(s): Simon Mac Giolla Easbuic, Ciaran Brennan Title: Cumhacht Tonnta-A comparative Study

Student(s): Christine Rohan , Audrey Murphy,

Of Wave And Wind Energy

Aileen Dillon

School: Pobalscoil Ghaoth Dobhair Teacher: Siobhan Ui Shearcaigh

Title: Shocking Plastics!

School: St Josephs College Teacher: Brian Clarke

Student(s): Emer McClory , Ciara Mooney Title: Electronic Safety Helmet School: Sacred Heart Grammar School Teacher: Paul Flanagan

Title: Prime Time

Student(s): Michael Coleman , Brian 0' Dwyer, David Coleman Title: Hydrothermal heat recovery system School: St Augustines College Teacher: Micheal McGrath

School: Christian Brothers (Abbey) Grammar School Teacher: Tony Mooney

Student(s): Sean O'Mahony Title: An AM Radio Which is Powered by Radio Waves School: Colaiste Choilm Teacher: Joan Faherty

Student(s): David McCarthy Title: Wireless Control And Logging Network School: Christian Brothers Secondary School Teacher: Seamus Murphy

Student(s): Ruairi Cowan Title: Plug Safe, Live Safe, Be Safe School: Christian Brothers (Abbey) Grammar School Teacher: Mark Rodgers

Student(s): Aisling Ni Mhathuna , Alison Longaigh Title: The Melody Of Water School: Colaiste Choilm Teacher: Catherine Frost

Student(s): Cliona Irish , Tracee Hanley Title: Morse Code To Speech Synthesizer School: Colaiste Choilm Teacher: Joan Faherty

Student(s): Richard O'Shea , Darren Dineen, Conor Costello Title: Diamagnetism School: Scoil Mhuire Gan Smal Teacher: Sean Foley

Student(s): Declan Carville Title: Toddler Tucked In School: Christian Brothers (Abbey) Grammar School Teacher: Mark Rodgers

Student(s): Darren 0' Connell , Killian Moynagh, Eamon McCluskey Title: Singing Flowers and Dinner Plates School: St Aidans Comprehensive School Teacher: Ava Halton

Student(s): Tara Rhatigan , Michelle Egan, Louise Crowe Title: Swim safe with an automatic Inflate-a-belt School: Ursaline Convent Teacher: Michael English

Student(s): Tara McGrath , Vanessa McGrath, Nicola Woodgate Title: Inventing machine "Fun Triz For Kids"

School: Presentation Secondary School Teacher: Joan Cashin Student(s): Paul O'Driscoll Title: Lie detector by means of sweat School: Douglas Community School Teacher: Clan O'Mahony

Student(s): Raisin Jones Title: Radiowave Proximity Sensor School: Scoil Mhuire Gan Smal Teacher: Sean Foley

Student(s): James Clifford , Daniel Ferrick, David Hogan Title: Muscle Wire - Its Practical Uses School: St Michaels College Teacher: Jason Kelly

Student(s): Cathal 0 Fearraigh , Eamonn Collum Title: Fianaise ar Shuiomh na Liathraide

Student(s): Sean Hynes , Eamonn Walsh, Conor Phillips Title: Timed Drug Dispenser School: St Josephs Secondary School Teacher: Declan Cafferkey

Student(s): Jarlath McAteer , Darren Marshall

Title: Disc '0 Safe School: Christian Brothers (Abbey) Grammar School Teacher: Gerald Savage

School: Pobalscoil Ghaoth Dobhair Student(s): Yusuf Bhujwalla Title: A Design for a One Stroke Engine School: Sutton Park School Teacher: Catherine Tattersall

Student(s): Artom Tsapkov Title: Sore Buster School: Wesley College Teacher: Seosamh 0 Braonain

Teacher: Nigel 0 Fearraigh

Student(s): Rachel Ni Fhearraigh ,

Sharon Nic Phaidin, Lisa Nic Phaidin Title: Eolaiocht Fuaraithe - Nucleate agus Forfhuaru a Fhiosru ( cool scienceinvestigating ice nucleation and supercooling)

School: Pobalscoil Ghaoth Dobhair Teacher: Susan Ni Loinsigh

Student(s): Arran Mc Cabe , Alan Murray, Aubrey Walsh Title: Progressions in Bio Fuels

School: Salesian College Teacher: Sinead Greene

Student(s): Nicholas Roland , Shane 0' Leary, Rudi 0' Reilly Title: An investigation of magnetically suspended gyroscopes

School: Rockbrook Park School Teacher: Sean McDermot

Student(s): Philip Wardlaw , Alexander Teesdale Title: Micro-Processors: Energy Loss School: Newtown School Teacher: Bryan Ronan

Student(s): Shane Donaghy , James Mc Mahon Title: Wind Powered Heat School: Dundalk Grammar School

Student(s): Stephen Church Title: ScanMan

Student(s): Ciaron Leonard , Declan Morgan, Michael Stanyer

School: Confey College

Title: Securicard

Teacher: Philip Devereux

School: Christian Brothers (Abbey) Grammar S c h oo l Teacher: Tony Mooney

Student(s): Kevin Moroney Title: Automated Flood Prevention For

Student(s): Michael McNeil , Simon Cable,

Major Cities

Christopher Harte Title: Anti-Attack Box

School: Blackwater Community School Teacher: David King

Student(s): Graeme 0' Brien Title: Salmon- Software For The Visual Exploration OfSymmetry And Chaos School: Synge Street CBS Teacher: Jim Cooke

Student(s): Andrew Anderson Title: SLDL - The Simple Language Definition Language

School: Colaiste Cholmcille

Teacher: Stephanie Ledwith

Teacher: John Kennedy

Student(s): Edward Costello , Patrick McNally

Student(s): Anthony O'Brien Title: Engine Modifications Needed and Effects

Title: Bio-Diesel fuelled internal & external combustion engines-a comparison

School: Colaiste Choilm

of Bio Ethanol School: Scoil Mhuire Gan Smal

Teacher: Fiona 0 Sullivan

Teacher: Sean Foley

Student(s): Emily O'Reagan , Ciara Collins, Martina Hayes Title: A Statistical Evaluation of Novel Materials for Heat Retention and Moisture

Student(s): Karl 0' Dwyer Title: Biofuel For Thought School: St Patricks Post Primary School Teacher: Emma Daniel

Resistance in a Sleeping Bag

School: Kinsale Community School Teacher: Joan Crowley Student(s): Ruairi Williamson , Jonathan McConville Title: Tronic Warden School: Christian Brothers (Abbey) Grammar School Teacher: Gerald Savage

Student(s): Paul Traynor , Connor Bell Title: Code REaD School: Christian Brothers (Abbey) Grammar School Teacher: Gerald Savage

Student(s): David Boyle Title: Use Your Nozzle School: Christian Brothers (Abbey) Grammar School Teacher: Mark Rodgers

Student(s): Timothy Collins , John Foley, Title: Electro-magnetic Propulsion

Glen Mac A Bhaird, Ruaidhri Proctor Ryan

School: Colaiste Treasa

Title: Baineoir Braim( Gaotheoireacht) School: Gaelcholaiste Reachrann Teacher: Jacinta Ni Dhubhain

Teacher: Noel Hartnett

Student(s): Keith Geoghan, Eoin Gernon, Friedrich Dunne Title: Energy saving in schools, a feasibility study for a wind turbine School: De la Salle College Teacher: Cara McAdam

Student(s): Maeve Ni Bhuachalla Denise McSweeney Title: Use of Wireless Technology for Monitoring Livestock School: Colaiste Choilm Teacher: Michael Meaves

Student(s): Colin 0' Keeffe Title: DIET - A web-based E-learning Environment

School: Christian Brothers High School Teacher: Bernadette 0' Mahony

Student(s): Stephen Dolan Title: Netphile - A Redundant Distributed

Network Filesystem School: Colaiste Cholmcille Teacher: John Kennedy

Student(s): Kate Magner , Kathy Herbert, Sarah Reidy Title: ABCD - A Baby Care Device School: Desmond College Teacher: Donal Enright

Student(s): Nigel Hanlon , Aidan Fox Title: Wearing your PC? Gadget, Gizmo or Just Common Sense School: Scoil Mhuire Community School Teacher: Sean Brilly

Student(s): Conor Ward , Cillian Gavin, Stephen Devaney Title: Bluetooth: Wonder or Blunder?

School: St Geralds College Teacher: Brendan McHugh

Student(s): Eamonn Begley , Denis Drislane Title: The Best Golf Ball School: Blackwater Community School Teacher: David King

Student(s): Mark O'Loughlin Title: Electronic Stethoscope - Design and Use School: Colaiste Chriost Ri Teacher: Susan O'Connell

Jerry Murphy

Student(s): Daragh 0 Ceilleachair ,

School: Christian Brothers (Abbey) Grammar School Teacher: Tony Mooney

Student(s): Tadhg Maher , Lorcan MacConghaola, Peader Mac Giolla Chlaoin Title: Soitheach St6r6la le hAghaidh Gasanna ate Imoibriodh le hAer School: Grange Community College Teacher: Jacinta Ni Dhubhain

Student(s): Caoimhin 0 Ceallaigh Ciaran Gilcreest, Niall 0 Duinn Title: Crochadh Leictrea-Mhaighneadach School: Colaiste Ailigh Teacher: Michael 0 Giobiin

The show that loves science, technology and engineering is back on our screens bringing you the science behind some of the coolest events, films and music of the year. Tune in every Monday at 7pm on RTE TWO to see SCOPE put celebrities to the science test - and find out who has what it takes to pass the SCOPE Challenge!

So for science , celebrities and sports stars , check out SCOPE

Want to know more about SCOPE? Then check out

www .science.

eV DPsC^V r.n'neeriiig science +

Tune into RTE TWO on Mondays at 7pm from 9th January when SCOPE will cover the science behind music, movies , sport and much , much more.

Presented by Danann Breathnach and Kathriona Devereux.

Students

Social & B ehavioural Sciences Junior Individual Projects Stand Number: 370 Student(s): Cherone Duggan Title: Can Knowledge Fight the Flu? School: Alexandra College Teacher: Niamh McShane Stand Number: 371 Student(s): Ceire McCarthy Title: Raise Your Voice to Suicide School: St Aloysius School Teacher: Jacinta Dunlea Stand Number: 372

Student (s): Eoin 0' Leary Title: The Effects of Colour: A Statistical Study of People's Reaction to Colour School: Kinsale Community School Teacher: Catriona Barrett Stand Number: 373 Student(s): Rebecca McMahon Title: An Investigation into Knowledge of the

Rules of the Road among Irish Motorists School: Davis College

Stand Number: 381 Student(s): Andrew Barry Title: Obesity and School Lunches / Fat Content School: Colaiste Choilm Teacher: Aine Higgins

Stand Number: 394 Student(s): Daniel Dempsey, Cathal Bell, John Kinsella Title: Teenage cash flow School: Arklow Community College Teacher: Noreen O'Reilly

Stand Number: 382 Student(s): Jamie Boyle Title: Live or Let Die: An Analysis of the Attitudes of Youths towards Cars and Road Safety School: Rosses Community School Teacher: Raghnall Quinn

Stand Number: 395 Student(s): Hayley Hawthorn, Laura Redmond, Aisling Reid Title: Saying ' no' to ageism School: Arklow Community College Teacher: Helen Corbett

Stand Number: 383 Student(s): Clara 0' Connor Title: Quality of Life and Stress in Irish Teenagers: What's Important?

School: Rathdown School Teacher: Lorraine Callaghan Stand Number: 384 Student(s): Tomas MacConaglaih Title: An Fearr Riomhairi Soghluaiste na Malai Scoile Troma?

School: Colaiste Ailigh

Stand Number: 375 Student(s): Helen Moran Title: Students' Attitudes to Homework and Study School: Community School Teacher: Marie O ' Conghaile

Stand Number: 376 Student(s): Elizabeth Swanwick Title: The Influence of Handedness on Hobby Preference and School Subjects School: Alexandra College Teacher: Niamh McShane

Stand Number: 377 Student(s): Louie Anthony Dela Pena Title: Tasty Morsels School: Ardscoil Ris Teacher: Niamh Sullivan Stand Number: 378 Student(s): Jessie White Title: Sound and Learning in Our Classroom - A Scientific Investigation

School: Balbriggin Community College Teacher: Theresa Gannon

Stand Number: 379 Student(s): Patrick Costello Title: Why do Teenagers Drink too Much?

School: Catholic University School Teacher: Ruth Hickey Stand Number : 380 Student(s): Joanne Cronin Title: Adolescent Shyness and Perceived Parental Style School: Colaiste Choilm Teacher: Pat Meaney

Stand Number: 397 Student(s): Graham Byrne, Daniel Molloy, Stuart 0' Neill Title: Weather watch School: Arklow Community College Teacher: Noreen 0' Reilly

Teacher: Una Ni Chumhaill

Teacher: Jim O'Sullivan Stand Number: 374 Student(s): Maeve 0' Neill Title: Variation in Students' Perception of Volume School: Davis College Teacher: Siobhan Murray

Stand Number: 396 Student(s): Clan Fennell , Darrell Doyle, Leigh Reilly Title: Sport facilities School: Arkiow Community College Teacher: Noreen O'Reilly

Junior Group Projects Stand Number: 388 Student(s): Emma Shine , Cliodhra 0 ' Brien Title: Hurricane Katrina, the Tsunami and Beslam :Modern disasters of our world School: Community School Teacher: Marie 0' Conghaile Stand Number: 389 Student(s): Conor Geary, David Cahillane Title: Bust 'em Up - statistical analysis of the

types of tackles and their effectiveness in a game of soccer School: Blackwater Community School Teacher: David King Stand Number: 390 Student(s): Molly O'Kennedy, Emily Smyth, Sarah Toolan Title: Alcohol consumption among adolescents School: Alexandra College Teacher: Niamh McShane Stand Number: 391

Student(s): Richard Ryan , Evan Bourke, Andrew Curran

Title: The memory remains, but does it?

Does music aid memory?

School: Ardscoil Ris Teacher: Niamh Sullivan Stand Number: 392 Student(s): Peter McDunphy, Andrew Lombard

Title: Are we being ripped-off on bottled water?

School: Ardscoil Ris Teacher: Niamh Sullivan Stand Number: 393 Student(s): Joshua Wade, Robert Kinse ll a, Shane Kileen Title: She brains, he brains School: Arklow Community College Teacher: Helen Corbett

Stand Number: 398 Student(s): Rory McGlynn, Sam McGlynn Title: Is the Route the Cause of the Problem?

School: Catholic University School Teacher: Ruth Hickey Stand Number: 399 Student(s): Susan Mullane , Aishling 0' Hea, Vikki 0' Connell Title: The effects of sleep deprivation, as a result of the scheduling of night shifts, on personnel working in our emergency services

School: Christ King Secondary School Teacher: Aine Bernard

Stand Number: 400 Student(s): Cian Waters , Conor Walsh, Conor 0' Brien Title: Would You Gamble II School: Catholic University School Teacher: Ruth Hickey Stand Number: 401 Student(s): Jack Toner, Stephen Noone, Mark Darby Title: How optical illusions work School: Catholic University School

Teacher: Ruth Hickey Stand Number: 402 Student(s): Sinead Brosnan, Niamh Crowley, Title: Appearances: Are they everything?

School: Christ King Secondary School Teacher: Deirdre Brosnan Stand Number: 403 Student(s): Alana Frattaroli, Jaqueline Hayes Title: You are what you eat School: Colaiste Chiarain Teacher: Paula Laffan

Stand Number: 404 Student(s): Aoife Duggan, Maria Wallace, Brian Driscoll Title: Pure plan or pure luck? Did Junior Cert Students do good by making a plan and sticking to it or staying cool on the day?

School: Colaiste Choilm Teacher: Karina Lyne Stand Number: 405 Student(s): Scott Shellard, Patrick Xie Title: The study of traffic in Ballincollig before

and after new Ballincolling is built School: Colaiste Choilm Teacher: Karina Lyne Stand Number: 406 Student(s): Ronan Kent, Ciaran Greene, Conor McCrave Title: Junior cycle smokers in Dundalk

School: De la Salle College Teacher: Cara McAdam Stand Number: 407 Student(s): Josephine Delahoyde, Ruth 0' Brien Title: Cigarettes - in or out?

School: Dominican College

Stand Number: 415

Student(s): Bronagh Coleman, Rebecca Foott Title: Occupation and race: Is there a preconception?

School: Kinsale Community School Teacher: Catriona Barrett

Stand Number: 416 Student(s): Orla Fox, Rachel Manning, Katie 0' Neill

Title: Seductive Su-Doku Do the numbers matters School: Mount Sackville Secondary School Teacher: Jennifer Simmons Stand Number: 417 Student(s): Caroline Conway, Rachel Menton Title: The experiences of teenagers of drugs, alcohol, tobacco and the media School: Marino College Teacher: Carol Bruce

Stand Number: 418 Student(s): Evelyn Linnane, Tess McGovern Title: How much money are you throwing away?

School: Mary Immaculate Secondary School Teacher: Sabrina Curran

Teacher: Helen May

Stand Number: 419 Student(s): Aoife Hayes, Leah Meaney,

Stand Number: 408 Student(s): Ronan Doyle, Garrett Kidnay, Andrew Murtagh Title: To determine whether gender, age or background music affect sense of direction

Title: Walk this way School: Loreto College Teacher: Anne Smyth

School: Douglas Community School

Teacher: Clan 0' Mahony Stand Number: 409 Student(s): Ferdia Dwane , Aaron Noonan, Chistopher Moriarty Title: To determine whether age, gender or background music affect a persons ability to estimate time durations School: Douglas Community School Teacher: Cian O'Mahony Stand Number: 410 Student(s): Emma 0' Leary, Avril 0' Gorman Title: Memory techniques that work best when learning

School: Colaiste Choilm Teacher: Mr Ian Mulcahy

Ciara Keogh

Stand Number: 420 Student(s): Kyra Wildy, Branagh 0' Connor, Edwina Teape Title: Bag for life!

School: Our Ladys Bower Teacher: Pat Horan Stand Number: 421 Student(s): Samantha Dilworth, Ashleigh Compagno, Victoria Lee Title: Hair Matters?

School: Presentation Secondary School Teacher: Gretta O'Sullivan Stand Number: 422

Student(s): Alan Coyne, James Gavin Title: Learning in your sleep Is it possible?

School: Salesian College

Teacher: Sinead Greene

Stand Number: 427 Student(s): Rbisin Scanlan, Louisa May Hantahan, Shauna Molloy Title: The environmental impact of flight paths serving Dublin Airport School: St Dominics High School Teacher: Bernie O ' Dwyer

Stand Number: 428 Student(s): Beth Travers, Katie Murray, Sarah Fitzgerald Title: Attitudes towards science among 15 year olds boys and girls in Dublin

School: St Dominics High School Teacher: Bernie O ' Dwyer Stand Number: 429 Student(s): Aoife Ni Cheanainn, Amy Ni Mhuireasain

Title: MRSA a laghdu!

School: Colaiste Ailigh Teacher: Una Ni Chumhaill Stand Number: 430 Student( s): Dara Dunne -Lambe, Ryan Lee Title: Do the elderly and the youth communicate?

School: St Clares Comprehensive Teacher: Edel McPhelim

Stand Number: 431 Student(s): Kate O'Brian, Aifric McCarthy, Clara Lawler Title: Are children interested in current affairs?

School: The Teresian School Teacher: Rebecca James

Stand Number: 432 Student(s): Lydia Casey, Alanna Eden, Louise Carroll Title: Americanised Europe School: The Teresian School Teacher: Claire Shine Stand Number: 433 Student(s): Anna Mc Grath, Pierina Borza, Sophie Byrne Title: War teenagers, Swinging 60's and Celtic Tigers - Which teenagers had the better teenager experience?

School: The Teresian School

Teacher: Claire Shine Stand Number: 434 Student(s): Aaron Seery, Niall Crimin,

Stand Number: 411 Student (s): Sinead Ni Bhuachalla, Fiona Ni Mhuirithe , Rachel Ni Laoire Title: Dara Teanga Laidir: Triu teanga nios

Stand Number: 423 Student(s): Shane Cullen, Luke Connolly

fuss le foghlaim?

School: Colaiste Choilm Teacher: Padraig 0 Maonaigh

Title: To investigate the public's consumption and perception of fizzy drinks

Eddie Malone Title: Underage drinking, drugs, smoking School: Terenure College Teacher: Corinna O'Donoghue

School: St Peters College Secondary School Teacher: J. Thomas

Intermediate Individual Projects

Stand Number: 412 Student(s): Ciaran Healy, Aran Whitty Title: Sack pain; the effects of schoolbag weight and type on secondary school children School: Colaiste Choilm Teacher: Joan Flaherty

Stand Number: 413 Student (s): Jennifer Moloney, Mary Moyles, Clarissa Galligan Title: Is teenage driving ability affected

Stand Number: 424 Student(s): Nicholas Sheridan, Dimitri Panagopoulos Title: To investigate the effects of different study patterns on students' academic performance

School: St Peters College Secondary School Teacher: Jim Doyle Stand Number: 425 Student(s): Andrew Barcoe, Megan McGoldrick, Sinead Murphy

by their musical choice?

School: Loreto College Teacher : Sheila Porter

Title: How do you feel after work?

Stand Number: 414 Student (s): Ciara Deloughery, Louise Morrissey

Stand Number: 426 Student(s): Jessica 0' Connor, Ellen Murray, Aisling Noone Title: Eye-witness accounts - are they a reliable source of evidence?

Title: Cry babies School : Kilrush Community School

Teacher : Jacinta McKenna

School: St Peters College Teacher: Dierdre Maye

School: Scoil Mhuire Gan Smal Teacher: Sean Foley

Stand Number: 438 Student(s): Lorcan Kelleher Title: Parent pressure - effects of drinking and smoking School: St Conleths College Teacher: Garrett Campbell Stand Number: 439 Student(s): Therese Morley Title: Left on the bench School: St Aloysius School Teacher: Niall Sweetnam Stand Number: 440 Student(s): Darragh Kinsella

Title: Transition Year - Al or NG School: St Peters College Secondary School Teacher: Jim Doyle Stand Number: 441 Student(s): Robert Conway - Kenny Title: Household waste - everyone's problem School: St Michaels College Teacher: Jason Kelly

Stand Number: 442 Student(s): Maea Lenei Buhre Title: The sleeping habits of Dublin teenagers School: St Louis High School Teacher: Lorraine Galvin

Stand Number: 456 Student(s): Tadhg Murphy, Robert Cast Title: A statistical analysis of the public's

attitude and response to Global warming School: Kinsale Community School

Teacher: Caroline Whelan Stand Number: 443 Student(s): Claire McEneaney Title: A warm heart and a clear head - The effects of weather on mood and cognition School: St Louis Secondary School Teacher: Siohhan Greer Stand Number: 444 Student(s): Howard Helen Title: How stress influences an individual's performance in the completion of a task (using the tower of Hanoi) School: Newtown School Teacher: Bryan Ronan Stand Number: 445 Student(s): Robyn Kelly Title: An investigation into Piaget's theories of cognitive development, with reference to children aged 5-6 years School: Loreto College Teacher: Sheila Porter Stand Number: 446 Student(s): Siomha Connolly Title: Spend , spend , spend School: Dominican College Teacher: Siobhan Crowe Stand Number: 447 Student(s): Aisling Mc Glacken Byrne Title: Eye - strain due to screen watching School: Loreto Abbey Secondary School Teacher: Alison MacKenna Stand Number: 448 Student(s): Hugo Stewart Title: The Impact of immigration on Roscommon Town School: Clongowes Wood College Teacher: Kevin Maume

Stand Number: 457 Student(s): Darragh McHugh, Mark Meehan, Nicholas Cooper Title: Does Sight and Smell affect your Perception of Taste?

School: Knocklyon Community School Teacher: Fergal O'Neill Stand Number: 458 Student(s): Kevin Irving, James Bull, Aaron Cregan Title: Do isotonic sports drinks really deliver what they promise?

School: Knocklyon Community School Teacher: Fergal O'Neill Stand Number: 459 Student(s): Kate Hughes, Margaret 0' Reilly

Title: Dancability -To examine if regular structured dance lessons can be beneficial to both children with special needs and normally developing children School: Colaiste Choilm Teacher: Patrick Meaney Stand Number: 450 Student(s): Dearbhail O'Crowley Title: The Osteoporosis time bomb School: St Gerards School Teacher: his Catherine Stapleton Stand Number: 451 Student(s): Fiona Ni Chearnaigh Title: lompar ar Thimpeallah School: Colaiste Choilm Teacher: Pat Meany Stand Number: 452 Student(s): Ciaran Deasy Title: GAA Tipsters: Winners Or Losers?

School: Colaiste Choilm Teacher: Pat Meaney

Stand Number: 455 Student(s): Julianne Ni Ghibeallain, Rachael Nic Einrt Title: Effects on perception School: Colaiste losagain Teacher: Valerie Ni Chochldin

14;

Stand Number: 469

Student(s): Siobhan Ni Mhurchu, Amanda Ni Loinsigh Title: Creation and Evolution A New Synthesis?

School: Colaiste Choilm Teacher: Pat Meaney Stand Number: 470

Student(s): Jillian Browne, Siobhan Hill, Emer Whelan Title: An investigation into the physical effects on the ear from listening to different types of music in open spaces vs earphones School: Borrisokane Community College Teacher: Mary O'Callaghan Stand Number: 471

School: Loreto College Teacher: Sheila Porter

Student(s): John Kyrie, Stephen Fahy Title: Text expectations: A self-fulfilling prophecy?

School: Catholic University School Teacher: Ruth Hickey

Stand Number: 460 Student(s): Laura Cunningham, TJ Durkin Title: The effects marriage break -ups have on teens School: St Olivers Community College Teacher: B 0' Connor Stand Number: 461 Student(s): Yvonne Mahoney, Jade Casholt Title: Sports drinks - Do they really work?

School: St Wolstans Community School Teacher: Tom Kiely Stand Number: 462 Student(s): Michael Fenton, Ross Hannon, Chris Cashel Title: Is yawning contagious?

School: Blackwater Community School Teacher: David King Stand Number: 463 Student(s): Grainne Walsh, Christina Toomey Title: Do sight, smell and colour affect your

Stand Number: 472

Student(s): Barry Singleton, Don Browne, Niall Owens Title: Maths as you see it School: Catholic University School Teacher: Ruth Hickey Stand Number: 473

Student(s): Aoife Cannon, Maeve 0' Sullivan Title: The effects of different musical accompaniment on driving capabilities School: Christ King Secondary School Teacher: Deirdre Brosnan Stand Number: 474 Student(s): Brion Gilligan, James Trayer, Jonnie Hollis

Title: Don't look at this project - Reverse Psychology - Does it really work??

School: St Columbas College Teacher: Humphrey Jones

perception of taste?

School: Blackwater Community School Teacher: David King

Stand Number: 475 Student(s): Louise McNamara, Sinead Whelan Title: Does increased health awareness lead to

Stand Number: 464

better eating habits in teenagers?

Student(s): Conor Bredin, Conor Molloy, Title: What do your doodles say about you?

School: St Clares Comprehensive Teacher: Edel McPhelim

School: Colaiste Lorcain Teacher: Sylvester McEvoy

Stand Number: 465 Student(s): Kate Richardson, Sarah Compton, Tara McFadden Title: To board, or not to board School: Alexandra College Teacher: Niamh McShane

Stand Number: 476 Student(s): Ruth O'Gallagher, Stephanie Rio-Lynch, Jennifer Allen Title: An investigation of the facilities for disabled people in Dublin School: The Teresian School Teacher: Claire Shine Stand Number: 477

Stand Number: 466 Student(s): Jason Storey, Jack Nolan, Tamara Werder Title: Violence in cartoons

Student(s): Gavin Wilson, Aran Hennessy, Linda Corbett Taylor

School: Arklow Community College

School: Colaiste Mhuire Teacher: Gemma Dunphy

Teacher: Helen Corbett

Intermediate Group Projects

Student(s): Becky Ni Dhabadc, Susan Ni Cheannabhuaidh, Lisa Ni She Title: Ag muineadh tri litearthacht radharcadh/Teaching through visual literacy School: Colaiste Choilm Teacher: Pat Meaney

Title: An investigation into underage drinking

Stand Number: 449 Student(s): Triona Barret

Stand Number: 468

Stand Number: 467 Student(s): Liam Jennings, Kealan Hickey Title: A study of rhythmic hand-clapping School: Colaiste Choilm Teacher: Karina Lyne

Title: Effects of photosensitive epilepsy caused by gaming

Stand Number: 478 Student(s): Melanie Doyle, Emma Kelly, Olwen Byrne Title: Enhancement drinks - Fact or fiction School: Colaiste Eoin Teacher: Brigid McCarthy

Stand Number: 479 Student(s): Robert Reid , Oisin Parsons, Ben Clancy Title: Anti -social behaviour as perceived by different age groups School: Colaiste Phadraig Teacher: David Gray

Stand Number: 491 Student (s): Laura Mc Dunphy , Ciara Tuohy, Jennifer Hughes

Title: Wasted Youths (Tipsy teenagers) School: Dominican College

Student( s): Jonathan Butler , Mark Halley, Alan Gallagher Title: Exploration of medieval building

materials in comparison with modern day building materials and standards School: Colaiste Cois Siuire Teacher: Mary Purcell Stand Number: 481 Student ( s): Caoimhe Ni Dhonaill,

Christina Ni Dhalaigh , Ciara Ni Chuirc Title: Graifeolaiocht : seaf6id no fianaise School: Colaiste losagain Teacher : Valerie Ni Chochlain Stand Number: 482 Student(s): Philippa DeFaoite , Ruth Ni Chuilleandin

Title: An Reamhaithriseann vdtail tuairimi buaiteoiri toghchain?

School : Colaiste losagain Teacher : Valerie Ni Chochlain

Stand Number: 483 Student(s): Karen Sisk , Claire Ryan , Laura Barret Title: Ballincollig bypass - Is it bypassed?

School: Colaiste Choilm Teacher: Pat Meaney Stand Number: 484

Student(s): Laura Ni Shuilleabhain, Sally Ni Chearuill Title: An deanann dathanna airithe truicear ar an reise airde?

School: Colaiste Choilm Teacher: Pat Meaney Stand Number: 485

Student(s): Jilly McAteer , Caroline McNally, Debbie Maguire Title: Having a bad chair day?

School: Dominican College Teacher : Lorraine McCool

Student (s): Tina Watters , Niall Boyle,

Gordon Connor Title: A study of casual observation School: Dundalk Grammar School Teacher : Stephanie Ledwith

Stand Number: 487 Student( s): Aislinn O ' Connell , Amy Blythe Title: Can your surroundings affect your honesty?

School: Confey College Teacher: Rachel Linney Stand Number: 488 Student (s): Danielle Kenny , Sinead White Title: How altruistic are you?

School : Confey College Teacher: Rachel Linney

Student(s): Dorothy Kavanagh , Sadhbh 0' Brien Title: An evaluation of the knowledge and attitudes of female transition year students in Dublin to breastfeeding School: Loreto College Teacher : Sheila Porter Stand Number: 493

Student(s): Niamh Murray , Niamh Crotty, Lydia Walsh Title: Is the education system of today suited to both sexes? - What parents and teachers should know School: Loreto College Teacher: Sheila Porter Stand Number: 494 Student (s): Mary O ' Loughlin , Aisling Fallon,

Caroline Flynn Title: Sweets or medicine?

School : Loreto College Teacher : Sheila Porter Stand Number: 495 Student(s): Grace Twohig, Lisa Canty,

Lorraine Breen Title: The food pyramid - A serving full of facts, please!

School: John the Baptist Community School Teacher : Mary Sheehan

Title: The positive effects of gaming

School: Inver College Teacher: Rosemary O ' Rourke Stand Number: 504

Student(s): Gary Sheridan , Jordan Lee, Nicholas Murray Title: SKILL,KILL,THRILL:The effects of gaming on the behaviour of people both mentally and physically School: Inver College Teacher: Rosemary O ' Rourke Stand Number: 505 Student(s): Alison Cawley , Audrey Whyte, Seona Rossi Title: Does subliminal messaging have varying effects on different groups of people?

School: Holy Faith Secondary School Teacher : John White

Stand Number: 506 Student ( s): Orla Noonan , Lance Kerrigan, Fergal Reilly Title: Faith - A halo over our lives?

School : Moyne Community School Teacher: Louise Killian

Stand Number: 507 Student(s): Michelle Martin , Rebecca Higgins, Aisling McMarrow

Title: The cure : A load of manure?

School: Our Ladys Bower Teacher : Pat Horan

Joanne Galligan

Title: Growing beyond genders - The effect of gender roles on pupils in an Irish post

primary school School : John the Baptist Community School Teacher : Mary Sheehan Stand Number: 497

Student(s): Sarah Quinn , Lucy Kinghan Title: A burning question - Links between School : Inver College Teacher: Rosemary O ' Rourke Stand Number: 498 Student(s): Katelyn Skerritt , Etain Brigdale, Saorla Ni Dhonnabadin Title: Can you remember what ' s in your stimulant drink?

School : Ennis Community School Teacher : Elaine Daly Stand Number: 499

Student(s): Bethany Bailie, Sarah Furlong Title: Mozart , mnemonics , mint and memory?

School: Eureka Secondary School Teacher: Mary Byrne Stand Number: 500

our concentration

Teacher: Fairweather

Stand Number: 490 Student (s): Ciaran Donnelly , Paul Bradley Title: Peter Cavanan - Asthmatic all-star School : Dean Maguirc College Teacher : Terry McCann

Student( s): Enda O'Reilly, Cathal Connolly, Daniel Connolly

Stand Number: 496

Stand Number: 489 Student(s): Colin Breen , Brian Conlon , Paul Kelly Title: Does listening to music affect

Teacher : Rachel Linney

Teacher : Maureen Walsh

Student(s): Aoife Carroll, James Hehir,

Student(s): Eoin Roche , Daniel Dunbar , Peter Lauraunt Title: The effects of music on 'White Coat Syndrome' School: Gorey Community School

School : Confey College

School: Holy Rosary College

Stand Number: 503

appliances and fires

Stand Number: 486

Student(s): Katie 0 Sullivan , Megan Lohan Title: Youth and religion : an attitude problem?

Teacher: Lorraine Mc Cool Stand Number: 492

Stand Number: 480

Stand Number: 502

Stand Number: 501 Student(s): Katie 0' Hara , Adam Butler, Mary Dunphy Title: Non -competitive sports programs will improve activity levels in young people

School: Grennan College Teacher : Caitriona Grace

Stand Number: 508 Student (s): Noreen Mimnagh - Fleming, Clara Rigney Title: Tetra vs. plastic - Taste or texture School: Our Ladys Bower Teacher : Pat Horan Stand Number: 509 Student(s): Jason Murray , Shane McQuillan, Daniel Cumiskey

Title: The great mosher /scanger divide School: Patrician High School Teacher : John O'Rourke Stand Number: 510 Student(s): Amy 0 ' Connell, Aoife Duignan Title: The influence of birth order on teenage drinking of alcohol School: Sacred Heart Secondary School Teacher : Moire 0' Donohoe Stand Number: 511

Student(s): Cora Commane , Patricia Cusack Title: Burial patterns in North Clare past and future School: Mary Immaculate Secondary School Teacher : John Sims Stand Number: 512 Student(s): Chloe Roberts Byrne , Laura Burke , Audrey Boyle Title: Stem cells - How much do you know?

School: Loreto College Teacher : Sheila Porter Stand Number: 514

Student(s): Aisling Billington , Clare Kealey Title: One night can last a lifetime School : Loreto High School Teacher : Susan Parker

Stand Number: 515

`: .^r 527

Student(s): Eimear Hickey, Aisling Kearney,

Student(s): David Griffin, Bernard Mc Donald

Doireann Lawlor

Title: The use of aromatherapy in the

Title: Pets in the home, pest or pleasure?

School: Loreto Secondary College Teacher: Gerry Bolger

Student(s): Olive Nic Eachmarcaig h , Cliona Mi Mhaeltuile

classroom to increase alertness and concentration levels School: St Keirans College Teacher: Eileen Hanrick

Title: Oiriunacht Orscealta Gaeilge do mheanscoileanna School: Colaiste Ailigh Teacher: Micheal 0 Giobuin

Student(s): Shane Harran, Cathal 0' Neill Title: Study Methods - What's the Best?

School: St Kevins C.B.S. Teacher: Michelle White

Student(s): Aidan Fitzsimons, Kevin Pigott, Patrick Boland Title: School nutrition School: Marist College Teacher: Georgina Clear

Stand i\iumber: 516

Student(s): Marie Doyle , Aine Doyle Title: To examine some of the effects of the Education Welfare Act 2000 on school communities School: Loreto Secondary School Teacher: Mary Riordan Stand Number 5 2 7

Student(s): Fergus Rattigan, Niall 0' Connor Title: What shapes our minds today School: St Aloysius College Teacher: Carmel Wims Stand Number: 518 Student(s): Michael O'Callaghan, Martin Dunne , John Foley Title: The effect of rhythm on the rate of running

School: St Aidans Community College Teacher: John Doyle Stand Number: 519 Student(s): Aishling Donohue, Alwynne McGeever Title: An awareness study of Down's Syndrome in our school School: St Aidans Comprehensive School Teacher: Deborah Coss Stand Number: 520 Student(s): Karen Wallace , Michael Sherlock, Kirean Butler Title: Putting a professional and amateur hurler through a series of tests and compare their fitness School: Scoil Mhuire Teacher: Sharon Galvin

Student(s): Kiara Moran, Jenni Holian, Victoria Adeeko Title: Battle of the schools! Secondary Vs. primary. Are we the laziest?

School: St Peters College Teacher: Marie Louise McElroy

Student(s): Hannah Moran, Siobhan Maguire, Jayne McAuliffe Title: How loud is too loud?

School: St Wolstans Community School Teacher: Margaret Bonner

Stand ^!,rnber: 531

Student(s): Sinead Martin, Aoife Gallagher, Emily Gavin

Title: Battle of the brains: Which side are you on?

School: St Wolstans Community School Teacher: Tom Kiely

young scientist competition

School: Convent of Mercy Secondary School Teacher: Padraig Harlow

Stand Number: 521

Student(s): Riona Tully, Amy 0' Connell,

School: Scoil Chriost Ri

Nicole MacFarlane Title: Chromotherapy uncovered School: Convent of Mercy Secondary School

Teacher: Marie Delaney

Teacher: Padraig Harlow

Stand (^_!rnbe;:

Student(s): Angela Seoighe , Sinead Mercier Title: Patr6in Bia School: Scoil Chuimsitheach Chiarain Teacher: Neasa Mhic Dhonncha

Stead Number: 523 Student(s): Sarah Dillon, Emma Kelleher Title: A canine conundrum School: Scoil Dara Teacher: Elaine Gillick Stand Number: 524 Student(s): Hayley Lynam, Shauna Daly, Aisling Kay

Title: Do we have a need for vowels?

School: St Dominics High School Teacher: Audrey Carty

Student(s): Siobhain Gaughan, Laura Naughton, Catie McLoughlin Title: Students - Are you high, on the facts?

School: Convent of Mercy Secondary School Teacher: Padraig Harlow

Student(s): Niamh Kelly, Caitriona Keigher Title: Da Vinci Code - Believed fact or fiction?

School: Convent of Mercy Secondary School Teacher: Padraig Harlow

Student(s): Caoimhe Casey, Maria Dowling, Emily Brick Title: Battle of the bulge School: Mercy Secondary School Teacher: Mary Enright

Stand \!u-her: 523

Student(s): Meggan King, Jade Stanford Title: The barriers that prevent the people in Ireland from donating blood School: St Marys Secondary School Teacher: Elaine Kelly

School: Castlecomer Community School Teacher: Mary Manning

Student(s): David Cullen, Cian Coakley, William Prasitka Title: Active brain, hot body School: St Conleths College Teacher: Garret Campbell Student(s): Adam O' Brien , Johnny 0 ' Neill, Mark Davidson Title: The Effect of Chemical Stimulants on the Performance of an Athlete School: St Conleths College Teacher: Garret Campbell

Student(s): Niall Farrell, Richard Craven, Gavin Boland Title: An examination of the effects of music on study School: Templeogue College Teacher: Philippa Moran

Student(s): Rachel Butler, Susan Irwin Title: Why do we use beauty products?

School: Ursuline Secondary School Teacher: Nora Brownlon

Senior Individual Projects Student(s): Lorna Gissane Title: Transition year, by choice, leads to a third level education School: Skerries Community College Teacher: Theresa Gannon

Student(s): Laura Connor Title: Investigation into the Safety Measures Associated with the Equine Profession School: St Olivers Community College Teacher: Bernie O'Connor

Student(s): Mark Sims

Stand Number: 525

Student(s): Aisling Connolly, Ciara Garland Title: DIY CSI School: St Dominics High School Teacher: Audrey Carty

Title: Alcohol use/abuse among young people

cii

Student(s): Maeve Kilroy, Grainne Doolan Title: The good, the bad and the ugly of the

Student(s): Heather Browne, Martina Dwyer Title: Junk Food - Does it Drain the Brain?

nber: 541

Student(s): Catherine Whelan, Carol Coogan, Brid Collins

537 Student(s): Hannah Nic Stiofain, Aine Ni Cheitinn, Oisin Mac An Ghoill Title: An gaol eta idir meon cathrach agus meon baillte beaga agus tuiscint sbisialta School: Colaiste Ailigh Teacher: Micheal O'Giobuin

Title: Voting Patterns - A tale of two counties

Student(s): CiaraNi Raifeartaigh, Colm

Teacher: Anne Moy

McMenamin, CJ Macllwaine Title: An Eifeacht Ata Ag Fbn Poca ar an Tiomaint School: Colaiste Ailigh Teacher: Micheal O'Giobuin

School: Mary Immaculate Secondary School Teacher: John Sims

Student(s): Sarah Doherty Title: Multiple intelligences - Theory vs. results, a comparative analysis School: Rosses Community School

Students

Biological and Ecological Sciences Junior Individual Projects

Student(s): Ronan Kearney Title: Caddis larvae - builders at work

School: Christian Brothers (Abbey) Grammar School Teacher: Margaret Lawe

Student(s): Eoin Gorman Title: Are School Bags Weighing us Down?

School: Catholic University School Teacher: Ruth Hickey

Student(s): Aoife Walsh Title: A Comparison of Plant Growth Indoors and Outdoors

Stand ivo . 226

Student(s): Ryan Nichols Title: The locomotion of spiders School: Mayfield Community School

Student(s): Jessica Murshed , Aisling Murley, Jennifer Hegarty Title: The influence of a dam on the water

Teacher: Liam Begley

quality in a river

School: Colaiste Choilm Teacher: Joan Faherty Student(s): Christopher Hannan Title: Effects of household cleaning products on seed germination School: Colaiste Chiarain Teacher: Daithi Mac an Aircinn

Student(s): Harriet Burgess Title: Are communal toys in the doctors surgery a threat to your child's health?

School: Colaiste Choilm Teacher: Ann Downey

in the Balbriggan area Student(s): Sadhbh Soper Ni Chafraidh Title: High frequency hearing loss and age School: The High School Teacher: Carol Whitford

Count y Cork School: Davis College Teacher: Sarah Moore

Teacher: Sean Fitzmaurice

Student(s): Aisling Judge Title: The development and evaluation of a Biolo g ical food spoilage indicator School: Kinsale Community School Teacher: Catriona Barrett

to see which one is more efficient School: Lucan Community College

Title: Are 'green' cleaning products as

Teacher: Audrey Byrne

effective against bacteria?

School: East Glendalough School

Stand No . 229

Teacher: Declan Cathcart

Student(s): Anna Mealy, Alice Miller Title: Do people vary in ability to taste sweetness?

School: Loreto Secondary School

Junior Group Projects

Teacher: Louise Murphy

Student(s): Molly Godson Treacy Caroline McCarthy, Jill Brazil Title: Vitamin C content of Vitamin C enriched drinks?

School: Holy Child Secondary School Teacher: Regina Greeny

Student(s): Emmet Ryan , Kevin Ryan, Stephen Cullinan Title: Tackling obesity: same food, less fat School: Cistercian College Teacher: Jim McManus

soils for plant and vegetable growth

Student(s): Heather Mulcahy , Rebecca Casey

School: Kilrush Community School Teacher: Jacinta McKenna

Title: Predicting success in pedigree dogs

School: Christ King Secondary School Teacher: Aine Bernard

Student(s): Karl Brennan

School: St Gerards School

Student(s): Clara Molloy , Rachel Nolan, Claire Lester Title: Investigating the effects of make

Teacher: Catherine 0' Dwyer

up on pores

of the Potato

School: Christ King Secondary School Teacher: Deirdre Brosnan Student(s): Deirdre O'Rourke

Title: The Safety and cleanliness of Drinking water and Ice in Pubs and Restaurants School: Loreto Secondary School Teacher: Janet Clynes

Student(s): Mark McAlister Title: A study of head-bobbing behaviour in birds School: Mayfield Community School Teacher: Liam Begley

W AS

Stand No. 230 Student(s): Lynn Kilgallon, Juliet Dodd, Hannah Lucey Title: Do fingerprints have similarities in family members?

School: Loreto College Teacher: Sheila Porter .231

Student(s): Emma Sheridan, Emma Donnelly Title: The importance of eating breakfast School: Hartstowr Community School Teacher: John Kerr

Student(s): Kate 0 Reilly Title: The suitability of different fertilisers and

Title: An investigation of the Growth

Student(s): K y anna Smith Hayden ,

Student(s): Kate Beahan , Hilary Smyth

Student(s): Melika Khandanian Title: Rate of Fruit Ripening School: Hartstown Community School

Teacher: Theresa Gannon

Aoife Collins Title: Comparing different types of mouthwash

Student(s): John 0' Callaghan Title: A study of the water cycle on farmland in

Title: An investigation into the drinking water School: Balbriggin Community College

School: Colaiste Bride Teacher: Una McGowigle

Vii.-; di Na -__7

Student(s): Martin Thompson, Andrew Guthrie

Student(s): Kevin O'Connor , Donnacha Gleeson, Tomas Miller Title: Do fruit Juices and natural juices erode teeth?

School: Colaiste Choilm Teacher: Karina Lyne

Student(s): Aine Kenny O'Shea, Rosalind 0 ' Sullivan Title: An Enzyme Inhibitor in Red Kidney Beans

School: Loreto College Teacher: Sheila Porter 232

Student(s): Sorcha Keogh, Megan Quigley, Verity Walsh Title: Which Disinfectant is most effective against the growth of bacteria

School: Loreto College Teacher: Sheila Porter ^3

Student(s): Justin O ' Keeffe , Denis Myers Title: Digital Differences between men and women School: Mayfield Community School Teacher: Liam Begley 234 Student(s): Shona Fitzpatrick , Lorraine Stringer, India Molloy Title: Exposure and Actinia Equinia Distribution

School: Mary Immaculate Secondary School Teacher: John Sims 1j^ Student(s): Sarah Nic Suibhne , Aine Nit Fhloinn, Catherine Nic Fhloinn

Title: Meath Na Bportach I lar Thuasceart Thir Chonaill

School: Pobalscoil Ghaoth Dobhair Teacher: Susan Ni Loinsigh

c. _47

230

Student(s): Rachel Lennon, Katie Ryan, Shauna Lyons Title: Wriggly action School: Presentation Secondary School Teacher: Gretta 0' Sullivan

Student(s): Donal Mac Giolla Bhain, Ryan Dubchain, Michael De Faoite Title: Diomhneacht le siol a chuir de refs a mheid School: Colaiste Ailigh Teacher: Una Ni Chumhaill ,..Ion

Stand No. 237

Student(s): Ruby Jennings, Ellen Hegarty Title: Survival rates of probiotic bacteria in probiotic products School: St Peters Community School Teacher: Martina Drohan

Student(s): Damian Mc Parland Title: Shell selection in Hermit Crabs

School: St Conleths College Teacher: Pat McGrath

School: Christian Brothers (Abbey) Grammar School Teacher: Deirdre Mulgrew

Stand No. 2

Stand i` .,.

Student(s): Aisling Tully , Emer 0' Reilly, Laura Collins Title: Sphagnum Moss - A local natural resource

School: Glenamaddy Community School Teacher: Deirdre Hardiman

School: Sandford Park School Teacher: Keith McBain

Student(s): Sinead Ni Bhraonain, Emma Ni Ghrabhartaigh Title: Leibheal mearcair Sna h-Eisc i dTir Chonaill School: Colaiste Ailigh Teacher: Una Ni Chumhaill

Student(s): Christopher Walshe , Eoghan Ryan , David Lynch

Student(s): Mairead Vesey, Seanagh Glynnmartin, Amy Harte

Title: Feminising Hormones - There

Title: Bird survey in North Leitrim

Everywhere?

School: St Caimins Community School

School: St Clares Comprehensive Teacher: Edel McPhelim

during Transportation

a 252

Stand No. 24.1 Student(s): Victoria McNaughton, Grainne Morgan , Caoimhe McReynolds Title: The effect of body size on the number of eggs laid by female spiders(Zygiella X-notata) and the rate of parasitoidism by

Student(s): Stephanie Depuis , Katie Hanley Title: Do you know about marfans?

School: Ursuline Secondary School

Hymenopteran Wasps

Student(s): Louise O'Gallagher, Lauran Kilmartin, Hannah Schofield Title: Can your sight control your taste buds?

School: The Teresian School Teacher: Rebecca James

Stand No, '142 Student(s): Katie Nangle, Eimear McPhilips Title: Lean mean grilling machines Do they really work?

School: St Dominics High School Teacher: Aine Woods Stand ,No .

Student(s): Nicole Fagan , Katie Hensey Title: Does captivity affect the natural instinct of certain species of amphibians to hibernate?

School: St Dominics High School Teacher: Claire Murphy

Stand No. 244 Student(s): Ellen Overy , Lisa Brady, Jill McQuaid Title: Who's Fitter at the End of the Day? Students or Teachers?

School: St Dominics High School Teacher: Audrey Carty Stand No. 2 5

Student(s): Conchur 0 Giobuin,

Teacher: Niamh Murphy

Stand No. 2(,44 Student(s): Raisin Healy Title: Himalayan Balsam on the Blackwater School: Davis College Teacher: Jim McCarthy Stand No. 265 Student(s): Justin Daly Title: The use of Marigolds as Natural Pesticide

School: Gallen Community School Teacher: Agnes Doolin

Student(s): Edain Quinn Title: An investigation of the anti-pathogenic properties of garlic

School: Sutton Park School Teacher: Catherine Tattersall

Intermediate indfvic(ual Projects

Intermediate Group Projects Stand No. 269

Student(s): Daniel Hurley , Martin Kelly, Kevin Furlong Title: The Force Required to Break a Bone School: Salesian College Teacher: Sinead Greene

Stand No. 256

Student(s): Paul Kelly Title: To investigate the possible effects of electromagnetic fields on seed germination School: Knocklyon Community School Teacher: Fergal O'Neill Stand No. 257

Student(s): Joshua Gregory McCarthy Title: The impact of feed type on the performance of a competition horse School: Blackwater Community School Teacher: David King S

I No. _58

Student(s): Gemma Boyle

Stand No. 270

Student(s): Jacqueline Fox , Sarah Keigher, Edel Doherty Title: Does bird song affect the growth rate of plants?

School: Presentation Secondary School Teacher: Bernie Crawford Stand No. 271

Student(s): Brian McAree-Murphy , Paul McGlynn, Sean 0' Brien Title: An investigation of poultry farming and utilisation of domestic waste School: Patrician High School Teacher: John 0' Rourke

Title: An investigation into a willow tree bio-

filtration system purifying waste water School: Rosses Community School Teacher: Michelle Gallagher

Student(s): Colin McDonnell Title: Do Sports Drinks Improve Performance?

School: Mayfield Community School Teacher: Liam Begley

Stand No. 2'6

Student(s): Ronan 0 Murchu, Ara 0' Pamhain, Annraoi Kerr Title: Teocht ailp cruimh mar meastan ar an am a nochtaiodh feoil lofa School: Colaiste Ailigh Teacher: Una Ni Chumhaill

Stand No. 263

Student(s): Barry Walsh Title: The effects of trampling on plant communities in recreational pitches School: Colaiste Choilm Teacher: Joan Faherty

Stand i`.o 721

Caolan Maolchiaran

Title: Staidear Bitheolaiochta agus Eiceolaiochta ar 'Rogers Burn' School: Colaiste Ailigh Teacher: Micheal 0 Giobuin

(Pagurus bernhardus)

Stand No. 2`â&#x20AC;˘6

Teacher: Maria Sheehan

School: St Catherines College Teacher: Caroline Crowe

No. 262

Student(s): James Reynell, Camaron Carr, Robert Caroll Title: Do energy drinks help?

Student(s): Rowan Moorkens O'Reilly, Philip Dix , Cillian Barden Title: The isopoda of Pollardstown fen School: St Marys College Teacher: John Nisbey

Student(s): Patrick Carey , Hugo Kieran, Andrew Collings Title: An Investigation of Fruit Damage

Stand No. 261

Student(s): Eoghan Hartigan Title: The investigation of soil conditions in relation to garden plants in Celbridge School: Salesian College Teacher: Sinead Greene

Stand

Student(s): Thomas Bent Title: Behavioural differences between isolated and un-isolated juvenile and adult male budgerigars

School: St Josephs C.B.S Teacher: Geraldine Gilroy

Stand No. 272

Student(s): Fiona O'Donovan, Clodagh ODea, Amy Nolan Title: Accumulation of heavy metals by seaweeds School: Mount Sackville Secondary School Teacher: Jenifer Simmons Stand No. 273

Student(s): Elaine Mc Carthy, Carly McLaughlin Title: The Investigation of the effect of breakfast on blood sugar concentration and sports performance School: Blackwater Community School Teacher: David King

Stand No. 274 Student( s): Pearse Lynch , Robert Wright

Stand No. 285 Student(s): Laura Sims , Darren 0' Gorman

Stand No. 297 Student(s): Gene Cashman , Emer 0 ' Donovan

Title: To see if the diet of Drosophila affects their rate of reproduction School: Knocklyon Community School

Title: Effects of exposure on Nucella lapillus

Title: Rapid Identification of Food Borne Bacteria

School: Mary Immaculate Secondary School Teacher: John Sims

Teacher: Niall Sweetnam

Teacher: Fergal O'Neill Stand No. 275 Student(s): Niamh Dolan , Ailbhe Harrison,

Stand No. 286 Student(s): Kevin Walsh , Christy Stover Title: Factors affecting seaweed morphology

Lisa Maughan

& growth

Title: Is Lagarosiphon-major and others like it destroying our Mayo waters?

School: Jesus & Mary Secondary School Teacher: Deirdre Fahy Stand No. 276

Student(s): Elaine Tomlinson, Aishling Costello Title: The study of summer seasonal recurrent dermatitis (SSRD) that affects horses School: Colaiste Lorcain Teacher: Sylvester McEvoy Stand No. 277 Student(s): Alan Garry, Christopher Power, Killian Murphy Title: An investigation into renewable energy and its involvement in Ireland 's future

School: St Geralds College Teacher: Brendan Mc Hugh Stand No. 278 Student(s): Clare Moore, Ruth Costelloe, Sheila Nolan Title: Investigation into which plant

School: Mary Immaculate Secondary School Teacher: John Sims Stand No. 287 Student(s): Leon Kent, Marc Browne, David 0' Reilly Title: A Comparative Analysis Testing the Amount of Bacteria in Animals Mouths

Teacher: Deirdre Knox

Stand No. 279 Student(s): Michelle Hayes, Niamh Hayes, Donna 0' Reagan Title: To investigate the use of recyclable

materials in the construction of artificial marine reefs School: Mount St Michael Teacher: Enda Favier

Stand No. 298 Student(s): Stephen Quinlan , Oisin Daly, David Walton

Title: De-euthrophication of lake in Castle Park Kilkenny School: St Keirans College Teacher: Eileen Hanrick

Stand No. 299 Student(s): Roisin O'Grady , Meghan Mooney, Jacqueline Brunton

School: Maynooth Post Primary School Teacher: Siobhan McCauley

Title: Assisting good agricultural and environmental condition by encouraging Nitrate uptake using electromagnetic

Stand No. 288

stimulated water School: St Josephs College

Student(s): Jacqueline Healy , Ann Fagan

Teacher: Michelle Dunne

Title: Energy Drinks Just for Thirst-or For

a Real Energy Burst School: Moate Community School

Stand No. 300 Student(s): Aine Gallagher , Holly Murphy,

Teacher: Alannah O'Shea

Jennifer McCarthy Title: Environmental and chemical factors

Stand No. 289 Student(s): Kate McCutcheon , Jill 0' Sullivan,

affecting the growth patterns of native tree species along the river Liffey bank School: St Josephs College

Rachael Cusack

Title: The benefits of landfill gas-to-energy plants School: Mount Mercy College Teacher: Mary Twomey-Cowhig

performs best in photosynthesis, experiments

in a school laboratory School: Presentation Secondary School

School: St Aloysius School

Stand No. 290 Student( s): Maria Spillane, Gillian Beatty Title: A Study of the Effectiveness of Soaps in Removing Bacteria from Hands School: Mount Mercy College

Teacher: Michelle Dunne ii,=nd No. 301

Student(s): Stephanie Kelly , Claire 0 ' Brien, Ruth Finlay Title: The Anti-Microbial and Relaxing effects

of Chamomile tea School: St Josephs College Teacher: Michelle Dunne

Teacher: Margaret Teegan

Stand No. 291 Student(s): Kay Muldowney, Hannah Roche, Maria Murphy

Title: Converting slurry into a renewable source of energy

School: Loreto Secondary College

Stand No, 302 Student(s): Lauren Daly , Sarah Noonan, Alison Smith Title: A study of a mouth parasite Entamoeba Gingivalis- The Tooth Amoeba

School: St Josephs College Teacher: Geraldine Lyons

Stand No. 280 Student(s): Margaret Collins , Aoife O'Mahony

Teacher: Gerry Bolger

Title: To investigate the amount of damage to hair caused by hair straightening to protected and unprotected hair

Stand No. 292 Student(s): Aine 0' Shea, Laura Gleeson, Rhona Nherity Title: Testing the acidity of saliva and its affects

Student(s): Anne-Marie Flynn , Emma Finlay,

on our health

School: St Josephs College Teacher: Michelle Dunne

School: North Presentation Secondary School Teacher: Hazel O'Sullivan Stand No. 281 Student(s): Ellen Mathews, Mairead Lynch Title: Natural oils as alternative potato

sprout inhibitors School: Our Ladys College Teacher: Frances 0' Regan Stand No. 282 Student(s): Aisling Mc Cormack, Niamh Kenny,

Stand No. 303

School: Loreto Convent Teacher: Elaine Gallagher Stand No. 293 Student(s): Jane Kelly , Lena McLoughlin Title: Is the speed of neural transmission gender linked?

School: Loreto College Teacher: Sheila Porter

plastic, a synthetic fibre, for use in maize growth?

Stand No. 304 Student(s): Kate Kelly , Aine McDownell, Karen McConnell Title: Growth rate of Avena sativa

School: St Josephs College Teacher: Majella MacNeice Stand No. 305

Title: Alternative Natural Resources of Energy School: Our Ladys Bower

Stand No, 294 Student(s): Derval Mc Cormack, Megan Byrne, Shauna Farrell

Teacher: Pat Horan

Title: The loss of vitamin C in food processing

Eleanor Moran

Melissa Walsh

Title: Coir, a natural fibre or bio-degradable

Student(s): Emma Bell , Kelley 0' Hanlon Title: Rain - how can it affect a plants growth?

School: St Louis Secondary School Teacher: Siobhan Greer

School: St Dominics High School Stand No. 283 Student(s): Rachael Campbell, Ruby McEntegart

Teacher: Audrey Carty

Stand No. 306

Title: A review of water quality in the River

Stand No. 295 Student(s): Ellen O'Keeffe , Jackie-Ann Molloy

Emma McDonnell Title: Hand Hygiene:A study of hand hygiene

Shannon over 50 years School: Our Ladys Bower Teacher: Pat Horan Stand No. 284 Student(s): Aishling Clancy , Noreen Lynch, Barry Shannon Title: Windblow - Possible Causes School: Mary Immaculate Secondary School Teacher: John Sims

Student(s): Falilat Ogbara, Bronagh McConnell,

between two rivers - The Hinde and The Suck

practices and the transfer of micro-organisms School: St Louis Secondary School

School: Scoil Muire Gan Smol

Teacher: Siobhan Greer

Title: A comparative study on pollution

Teacher: Padraig Harlow Stand No. 307

Stand No. 296 Student(s): Catherine Rogerson , Sabina Egan Title: Biting Insects- A Survey of Irish Hosts School: Scoil Muire Gan Smol Teacher: Padraig Harlow

Student(s): Naomi Ni Raghallaigh , Eimear Ni Dhubhda, Richeal Nic Gearailt Title: Ce chomh salach is ata do bhuideal uisce?

School: Colaiste An Phiarsaigh Teacher: Brona Ni Cheallachain

Stand No. 308 Student(s): Sinead McLoughlin, Elie Townsend, Lisa 0' Sullivan

Stand No. 319 Student(s): Simon Hanna , Peter Carleton, Daniel Gallagher

Title: Bacterial Growth in Shoes and Runners School: Colaiste Choilm Teacher: Pat Meaney

Title: Radioactive Seaweeds School: La Salle Boys School Teacher: Deirdre Conway

Stand No. 309 Student(s): Shane Curran, Stephen Buckley, Shane Campbell Title: The Effects of the New Town Centre in

Stand No. 320 Student(s): Chloe Coffey , Tara Duffy Title: The Physical Effects of Texting School: Lanesboro Community College Teacher: Micheal Lyons

Ballincollig on the River Lee Teacher: Karina Lyne

Stand No. 321 Student(s): Katie Ryan , Alison Swaine

Stand No. 310 Student(s): Corm O'Leary , Colm Foley Title: Mice: How local Habitat Determines Diet School: Colaiste Choilm Teacher: Pat Meaney

Title: The anatomy, the distribution and the

Stand No. 312 Student(s): Findabhair Ni Fhaolain, Margaret Fleming

Teacher: Margaret Bonner

Title: Transpiration And The Use Of Aspirin As An Antitranspirant

Stand No. 333

School: Loreto College Teacher: Sheila Porter Stand No. 323 Student(s): Claire Byrne , Louise Roe, Laoise Quinn Title: The Effects Of Environmental Changes On The Chirping Behaviour Of The House Cricket (Acheta Domesticus)

Stand No. 315 Student(s): Ciaran Hanrahan, Sinead Lee, Greg Dormer Title: An investigation of student posture in the classroom School: Ennis Community School Teacher: Vivienne MacMahon Stand No . 316 Student(s): Ruth Reynolds, Clara Ryan, Laura Headon Title: A qualitative and quantitative comparison of water quality in Dollymount Strand (Blue flag) and Hole in the Wall (Sutton) School: Holy Faith Secondary School Teacher: John White Stand No. 317 Student(s): Saoirse Jacoby , Fiona Dolan, Jenny Dillon-Murphy Title: How do different preparation methods affect levels of vitamin C in fruit juices (compared with natural fruits) School: Holy Faith Secondary School Teacher: John White Stand No. 318 Student(s): Louise Curtis, Emma 0 Connor, Katie Cleary Title: Do different coloured filters affect the growth rate of plants - specifically cress and broad bean plants School: Holy Faith Secondary School Teacher: John White

Title: The variation in the decomposition rate of fallen leaves from native and non native trees School: The Teresian School Teacher: Claire Shine

Stand No. 322 Student(s): Maude Grant , Emily McClenahan

School: Loreto College Teacher: Sheila Porter

Stand No. 314 Student(s): Eva Spitere , Gillian Cronin, Kate McCarthy Title: Lagarosiphon: A Study of It's effects on Irish Fresh Waters School: Colaiste Choilm Teacher: Fiona 0 Sullivan

Joanna Cornwell

Stand No, 332 Student(s): Kate Buckley , Adrienne Kehoe Title: Asthma and Eczema - What is the link?

School: St Wolstans Community School

your chances in other?

Stand No. 313 Student(s): Kelly White , Aoife Forde, Title: Exercise to the Beat - The Effect Music has on Exercise School: Colaiste Choilm Teacher: Karina Lyne

Stand No. 331 Student(s): Aoife Quinn, Abigail Cornwell,

morphology of Pleurococcus School: Loreto College Teacher: Sheila Porter

Title: Dedication to one sport - Damaging School: Colaiste Raithin Teacher: Terry Mulcahy

Grace Barry

Title: Water analysis - our study of Dublin ' s rivers, canals and ponds School: The Teresian School Teacher: Claire Shine

School: Colaiste Choilm

Stand No. 311 Student(s): Susan Johnson, Emily Walsh, Kate Healy Title: The Consequences of Global Warming on the Marine Food Chain School: Colaiste Choilm Teacher: Fiona O'Sulllivan

Stand No. 330 Student(s): Hannah Fraser , Megan Flood,

Stand No. 324 Student(s): Clara Madden , Niamh Cahill Title: To determine the effect of various contaminants on the growth of plants School: Loreto College Teacher: Sheila Porter

Student(s): Amy Hughes, Christine Rorke, Nicola Burns Title: Susceptibility of organic fruit to infection by Botrytis cinerea

School: The High School Teacher: Carol Whitford Stand No. 334 Student(s): Pol 0 Gallchoir, Seosamh 0 Baoill, Clan 0 Domhnaill Title: An tionchan ata ag ceol ar do buailedh craoi agus bru fola School: Colaiste Ailigh Teacher: Micheal 0 Giobuin Stand No. 335 Student(s): Michael 0 Gailin , Clar Nic lolbhain Title: Bonamia ostreae i Loch Suilli + Uisce na Heirinn School: Colaiste Ailigh

Stand No. 325 Student(s): Alison Finn, Gillian Kelly, Claire Lambe Title: Anti-dandruff Shampoos and Their Effects on Asthma School: Loreto College Teacher: Sheila Porter

Teacher: Una Ni Chumhaill

Stand No. 326 Student(s): Mairead Hackett, Niamh Keaveney, Julianne Kennedy Title: An ecological study of the Cabragh Wetlands in the Suir Valley School: Presentation Secondary School Teacher: Trish O'Callaghan

Stand No. 337 Student(s): Finbar Hussey, Fearghal Fitzgibbon Title: To investigate what influences social behaviour among ants School: Mercy Secondary School Teacher: Patrick Lyne

Stand No. 327 Student(s): Maeve Butler, Ruth Nolan, Cloie Ryan Title: An Investigation Into The Effective Breeding Of Ornamental Pheasant Species In Ireland School: Presentation Secondary School Teacher: Olivia O'Brien Stand No. 328 Student(s): Sinead Nig Uidhir, Cliodhna Ni Cheallaigh Title: Gealluchdin Fiacla - Eifeachtai ar do Shlainte School: Colaiste Pobail Osrai Teacher: Madalin MhicCana Stand No. 329 Student(s): Chris Kelly , Declan Johnston Title: Biodegradable packaging - an alternative?

School: The Kings Hospital Teacher: David Plummer

Stand No. 336 Student(s): Emma Cronin , Colm Meaney Title: Ragwort- a killer in disguise School: Hazelwood College Teacher: Maria Neville

Stand No. 338 Student(s): Sarah Mullins, Niamh O ' Shea, Martina Quirke Title: An investigation of the consequences of having an appendix removed School: Mercy Secondary School Teacher: Patrick Lyne Stand No. 339 Student(s): Emer Nugent , Aisling Farrel, Niamh Gannon Title: Comparative study of mosquito population over seasonal change between

housing estate and countryside location with respect to local flora and fauna School: Convent of Mercy Secondary School Teacher: Padraig Harlow

Senior Individual Projects No. 342

Student(s): Jennifer Cassidy Title: Development of a simple and rapid kit test for total Coliforms and Ecoli in drinking water, for domestic use S c hool: St Louis Hi g h School Teacher: Maire Canniffe Stand No. 343 Student(s): Rachel Church Title: Evaluation and application of an active site-directed biotinylated probe for the di s closure of elastase- like serine proteases in vivo

School: Hunterhouse College Teacher: Maureen Clark Stand No. 344 Student(s): Rebecca Curtin Titl e: Five second rule-when food drops!

School: Colaiste Choilm Tea cher: Mar g aret Dewhurst

Senior Group Projects Stand No, 347 Student(s): Oisin McWeeney, Enda Downs, Liam Hendrick Title: Bacteria on the Average Kitchen Tea Towel School: Maynooth Post Primary School Teacher: Siobhan McCauley Stand No. 348 Student(s): Mairead Ward , Jean Gaughan, Niamh Doherty Title: How does sugar affect our co-ordination?

School: Loreto Secondary School Teacher: Helen Daly

Stand No. 349 Student(s): Meghan O'Doherty , Claire Dunn Title: The affects of apple juice on your teeth School: Lucan Community College Teacher: Aisling Quirke Stand No. 350 Student(s): Eimear Beardmore, Aisling Donnelly

Title: A Comparison of Plant Growth in Different Composts School: Loreto High School Teacher: Susan Parker Stand No. 351 Student(s): Ruth Fitzpatrick, Amy Murphy Title: Water Pollution in Herbert Park School: Muckross Park College Teacher: Johanne Egan

Stand No. 355 Student(s): Aisling Daly, Catherine Tooher Title: The effectiveness of anaerobic digestion in the breakdown of wastes and biogas production School: Kilcormac Vocational School Teacher: Lisa Dunne

St a nd No . 356 Student(s): Billy Fehin , Mary Ennis Title: Elephant Grass- A further study School: Hazelwood College Teacher: Maria Neville Stand No. 357 St u dent(s): Joann Cussen , Jessica Kelly , Linda Bryan Title: A study of biodiversity within Dundrum woods, Co. Tipperary School: Presentation Secondary School Teacher: Olivia 0' Brien

Stand No. 352

Student(s): Elizabeth McManus, Julie-Anne Baker , Deirdre Fox Title: An alternative to silage wrap School: St Josephs College Teacher: Irene 0' Sullivan

St a nd No . 358

Student(s): Matthew Tumulty, James D oo l ey Titl e: Tar S p ots on Leaves School: St Josephs College Garbally Teacher: Micheal Fitzgerald

Stand No. 353 Student(s): Aisling Grady , Aisling Halligan, Grainne Whelan Title: Zebra Mussels, How quickly can they mussel in and clog our pipes

School: St Josephs College Teacher: Irene 0' Sullivan Stand No. 354 Student(s): Paula Lehane , Ciara Roberti Title: A further study of dogwhelk populations in Castletownbere Harbour

School: Beara Community School Teacher: Kathleen Dwyer

Primary Science Fair The National Children's Office is the sponsor of the Primary Science Fair, which is part of the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition 2006.

Given the importance of science, not only for the economic well-being of the country but also for the personal development of the individual citizen, participation rates in science at second level have been a cause of concern for some time. The National Children's Office is involved in this initiative under Goal 1 of the National Children's Strategy Strategy, which focuses on children's participation. The Primary Science Fair offers children a way to participate in a major national science event and stimulates an early interest in science.

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Up to 40 primary schools will be exhibiting projects each day of the exhibition.

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2005 winners

New for 2006 'Healthy Option' lunches for students supported by safefood www.safefoodonline.com

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The winner of Young Scientist 2005 was Patrick Collison, a transition year student from Castletroy College, Limerick. Patrick travelled to Moscow in September, with his winning project on 'CROMA: a new dialect of LISP', where he represented Ireland at the European Young Scientist competition and was placed 2nd.

www.safefi

A healthy lunch box should include a wide variety of foods The lunchbox should include at least one portion each of the breads and cereals and fruit and vegetable food groups and one portion from each of the following : dairy products and meat or an alternative

00

Try not to offer the same foods on consecutive days Make an effort to add interest to the lunchbox eg; different types of bread - pitta bread, bagels, wholemeal rolls Fluids are important for children - up to 6 cups of fluid should be encouraged daily - remember to avoid sugary and fizzy drinks.

YOUNG SCIENTIST GROUP WINNERS TAKE TOP PRIZE IN AMERICA Winners of the best group project overall Young Scientist 2005 were Francis Wasser and Michael Mulhall from Christian Brothers School, Synge Street, Dublin with their project 'Numerical Solutions of Hamilton's Equations . As well as winning the Group prize, the boys also won the Intel Student Award. This gave them the opportunity to compete in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix, Arizona in May, where they won the $3,000 first prize in the group section of the Physics competition.

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o zone Waste ecvcle I'd- u

CA ENFO is the environmental information service of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Its aim is to raise environmental awareness by providing easy access to environmental information, including sustainable development. Our services include leaflets, a query answering service, Reference Library, Exhibitions, Children's Club and a drop in information centre at 17 St. Andrew Street, Dublin 2.

Race Against Waste is national waste awareness campaign changing people's behaviour at home, at work and in the community in order to reduce the amount of waste being produced and increase recycling and composting. Visit our stand to find out what the Race Against Waste can do for you!

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epa The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) protects the environment for everyone in the country. Education is vital to ensure the protection of the environment for future generations. Visit our stand to learn about our free online education resources and see our latest waste exhibition ncluding our waste monster made from recycled materials.

0 SELF HELP Self Help is an Irish Charity engaged in implementing development projects in Africa. Through their `Africa Alive' development programme, teachers and students have an opportunity to learn more about the projects by school

visits and activities, curriculum material and an annual visit to Africa to see the work in action. Meet and talk later with all our workshop presenters (see workshop 2pm Wednesday) Central Fisheries Board c l)

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The Central Fisheries Board is a statutory body operating under the aegis of the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. The principal functions of the CFB are to advise the Minister on policy relating to the conservation, protection, management, development and improvement of inland fisheries and sea angling. The CFB is also involved in `Something Fishy', a national primary school education programme aimed at encouraging young people to take an interest in angling and their local fisheries habitat. www.cfb. ie

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Ireland's marine resource is over 900 , 000 km2 of seabed, over ten times its land area and is largely undiscovered . The Marine Institute is the State agency responsible for promoting the sustainable development of Ireland's vast marine resource through research , and providing management advice to industry, the Government and the EU . The Marine Institute's role is to support existing marine businesses and related activities through the provision of key scientific services and advice and to provide management advice to guide the sustainable development of the marine resource . The agency provides essential marine research services, including national research and development funding programmes , fish stock assessment, fish health services, marine food safety monitoring , environmental monitoring , research vessel operations and data management , which provide crucial support and policy advice to industry , EU and the Government.

VISTA VNABLE

At Sustainable Energy Ireland ' s stand students will find details of a Photo Competition for all secondary schools.

Teachers can find out what resources we have for teaching energy in the science curriculum.

SEI's Guzzler character is a friendly monster who uses too much energy. Guzzler was developed by SEI in consultation with a number of primary teachers in response to the introduction of the new science curriculum for primary schools in 2003, through which science became a mandatory subject for pupils of all ages.

0 U B L I N

Dublin Zoo has a year-round education programme, which aims to encourage people of all ages to appreciate and respect their environment. The 'Living Classroom' at the Zoo offers a range of curriculum linked programmes to cater for all levels (pre-school, primary and secondary) and the Education Centre also has a 'hands-on' teaching session to further enhance the education experience. See our Mini-beast Safari at the Young Scientist Exhibition where children can examine :'ose-up some of the smaller animals living at the Zoo using ::ers and bug viewers!

Mary Donohoe set up The Rose Project in December 2003 following a visit to a HIV and AIDS programme in Nakuru, Kenya. The project is named after Rose Atieno, a 32 year old woman from Nakura who died in a rat-infested hut cared for by her eight-year-old son Curtis who since her death continues to care for his father and three-year-old sister, both of whom have AIDS. For Rose there was little food, no drugs, no doctor and no hospital.

THE WORLD OF

SCIENCE &TECHNOLOGY ANALOG DEVICES Visit the fun-packed Analog Devices stand. You will be required to advance through a maze of lasers, race your friend on the frazzle and test your strength on the punch bag.

Win prizes with your snazzy dance moves and play a tune on the harp with no strings!

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Down Syndrome Ireland

Down Syndrome Ireland was established in 1971 by a group of parents who wanted to change the way people with Down Syndrome were perceived. Down Syndrome Ireland's goal is to help people with Down Syndrome make their own futures as bright and independent as possible by providing them with education, support and friendship every step of the way.

Institute (#' Physics The best demonstrations are Physics ones! Come to the stand and try out hands on exhibits including astronomy and medical physics with the experts. Experience the best of 'Physics on stage' at the stand with magnets, plastic bottles, mirrors, water and more - see http://ireland.iop.org/sos/ Find out about what has always fascinated you and see why physics is at the heart of everything.

in a lorry

Lab in a Lorry is an interactive mobile physics laboratory.

The aim of Lab in a Lorry is to give young people aged 11-14 the opportunity to do experimental science in the way it actually happens ; exploratory, accidental , informed by curiosity and intuition, but also bounded and guided by the experience and insight of practicing scientists . There are four great experiments on-board including the resonating wine glass where sound is used to break a wine glass and a scattering experiment showing why the sky is blue and why sunsets appear so red! There are two Labs in Lorries at the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition and each Lab can take up to 18 children at a time.

Irish Uniwrsi-_

CALMAST, the Centre for the Advancement of Learning of Maths, Science and Technology from Waterford Institute of Technology is joined by leading healthcare and pharmaceutical companies: Bausch and Lomb, Genzyme and IVAX to encourage the scientists and technologists of the future. This highly interactive stand covers most areas of science, engineering, and technology. To help the environment, we will be giving away thousands of broadleaf trees, sponsored by Coillte.

Mensa The High IQ Society

Irish Mensa will, as usual, have puzzle pages for the contestants who are exhibiting. They will also have tests for everyone to be taken at home to check their IQ and, possibly, find out if they qualify for Mensa membership.

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The National Safety Council and An Garda Siochana have come together to show you what we do, so why don't you make your way over to our stand and discover all about road safety.

Try out the " Driver Theory test" and just see how good your knowledge of the rules of the road actually are. We are giving away incredible prizes , so fill out a competition entry form so you don't miss out . We have part of a car on display, showing you how to properly restrain children in cars. Our Teacher educational resources are also on display and we have very friendly staff who are waiting to answer any questions that you have with regard to Road Safety.

T I PPF_RARY

Tipperary Institute is a dynamic third level institute with campuses located in Clonmel and Thurles. TI offers HETAC accredited Honours Degree programmes in Business, eBusiness, Multimedia & Communications, Software Development, IT Support and Rural Development. Both campuses are equipped with state-of-the-art technology to enhance the student's learning experience.

pyo110ting ,a Do you want to access a wide range of information about science on just one website ? The science faculties of the seven Irish Universities have developed www.universityscience . ie which will save you hours researching Irish Universities , science programmes available, career and research opportunities along with other information on science.

"USH-PIATEMS

The role of the Patents Office is to provide an efficient and effective system of industrial property protection that will encourage technological progress and promote enterprise through the implementation by the Office of the relevant legislation". This is to be achieved through the protection of industrial property rights in the fields of patents, trade marks and designs, and the dissemination of relevant information in conjunction with each of these activities.

Irish Blood Transfusion Service

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The Irish Blood Transfusion Service is constantly looking to recruit new blood donors. With one in four of us needing a transfusion at some point in our lives now is the ideal opportunity to visit our information stand and find out how you too can become a blood donor.

Intel The Intel stand showcases the application of Intel technology in a variety of areas. A selection of programmable robots can be seen and kids can try some simple programming for themselves. The 'Digital Home' will show how technology can be applied in the home, where every computer and every device, from TVs and Stereos to cameras and PDAs are all wirelessly integrated through your PC. Skoool.ie, Intel's award winning education portal will be online providing access to a variety of free educational resources. Nanoscience - the exciting new science of building and synthesizing at the atomic scale will be explained.

The stand also hosts the Intel Computer Clubhouse members from Dublin and Belfast where they demo how they mix music, make videos and create video graphics. The stand promises to be a fun, interactive learning experience that will capture the imagination of the whole family.

Have your portrait sketched by a giant assembly - line robot or take the K ' NEX Challenge at the Discover Science & Engineering stand at the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition, presented with STEPS to Engineering.

Discover Science and Engineering's mission is to contribute to Ireland's continued growth and development as a society that has an active and informed interest and involvement in science, engineering and technology. DSE's overall objectives are to increase the numbers of students studying the physical sciences, to promote a positive attitude to careers in science, engineering and technology and to foster a greater

understanding of science and its value to Irish society.

For more information visit www.science.ie The STEPS to engineering stand illustrates the exciting world of engineering with lots of interactive challenges. STEPS to engineering aims to encourage primary and post-primary students to explore the world of science and engineering and to increase awareness about engineering as a career choice.

STEPS to engineering is an Engineers Ireland programme supported by Discover Science & Engineering, the Department of Education & Science, FAS and industry.

Sharing Science Across Ireland Visit the W5 stand, and sample some of the excitement of Ireland's only interactive discovery centre. From in the Odyssey complex at Belfast, W5's Team offers an insight into its 160 exciting exhibits and innovative education programme, with a hands-on opportunity to try some fun experiments, and get an insight into the fascinating scientific processes on which they are based.

SCIENCE Science Spin is Ireland's science, wildlife and discovery magazine. But it's not just for scientists; it's for anyone with a fascination for finding out how and why. Covering everything from astronomy to zoology, Science SPI is dedicated to the science behind the news.

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EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation

Learning and teaching of science can be Innovative, Creative and Exciting! Learning to understand science and each other are life enriching! ICT helps to explore science and to develop friendships! The project, which is funded by the European Programme for Peace and Reconciliation, is supported by DE (NI) and DES (ROI), ASE, ISTA and the five Education and Library Boards in NI. SSAI involves 52 primary and 29 post-primary schools from NI and the 6 border counties of ROl. Schools co-operate on an agreed science topic in groups of 3-5, each cluster having cross-community and cross-border representation. The `chalkbytes' website is being used to link schools across Ireland and beyond to South Africa and India.

For further information contact David McCullough, Project Director at ssaidmcc@yahoo.co.uk or +447854828969

BT --The Marie Keating Foundation has been established primarily to provide Breast Cancer Information and Awareness free of charge to the general public throughout the Republic of Ireland through three Mobile Cancer Information Units based in the Eastern, Western and Southern regions of Ireland. ms`s f i Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) is investing in academic scientific and engineering researchers who are most likely to generate new knowledge, leading-edge technologies, and competitive enterprises. SFI's awards programme includes the Secondary Teachers Assistant Researchers Programme (STARs) and the SFI Young Women in Engineering Scholarship. SFI strongly encourages researchers to undertake outreach activities - through the speakers for schools programme.

BT Broadband Experience BT Ireland continues to promote and encourage broadband uptake in Irish homes with its road show. Here at the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition 2006 you can visit the BT Roadshow area outside the World of Science and Technology and experience it at its best. The Interactive Broadband Studio has been developed and fully funded by BT Ireland to encourage people to experience broadband and all it can do.The BT Roadshow is a 35ft rig that is fully broadband enabled and equipped with the latest computers, plasma screens, games consoles and gaming software.

Throughout the Young Scientist Exhibition BT staff will offer live demonstrations of broadband applications including photo-sharing, e-mailing large attachments, music downloads, viewing movie trailers, shopping Xbox demos.

You can also enter competitions for lots of prizes incuding. free broadband for a year or a free Xbox.

Chompalot 2005 Champion

The World of Robots is back in the 700-seater Big Top for 2006. This year heralds the 2nd International Robots of Destruction championships, with the biggest and baddest battle robots fighting it out in the Arena.

Chompalot with its 14 tons of crushing power is back again to defend its title against an All-Star list of opponent robots. Putting the heavy into metal, the full pressure flipper of Bigger Brother is the number two seed this year. Also returning are, King B, 8645t (Beast) and the monster of power, Behemoth.

Representing Ireland will be the furry favourites, Diotoir with its hydraulic lifter and the axe of Stanoscloir. They will be joined by the spinning disc of Top Bot and Monad with those powerful hydraulic crushing jaws. New contenders for 2006 include Ripper, Merlin and the hottest newcomer, Pressure.

And don't forget the Mechanoids! There will be robotic boxing displays and the mechanoids will excite and delight with their high jinks and mischeif. Rumour has it that one of Doctor Who's deadliest foes has infiltrated the world of robots so keep your eyes peeled for the Daleks!

Bigger Brother

Timetable of shows in the Robots of Destruction Arena Thursday 12th, Friday 13th and Saturday 14th January:

10.30 a.m., 11.30 a.m., 12.30 p.m., 2.15 p.m., 3.15 p.m. and 4.15 p.m. daily.

BTU'

ARENA Timetable of shows Doors open approximately

15 minutes before each performance

Thursday 12th, Friday 13th and Saturday 14th* January:

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10.45 a.m.

Titan the Robot

11.45 a.m.

Theatre of Science

12.45 p.m.

Titan the Robot

2.15 p.m.

Theatre of Science

3.15 p.m.

Titan the Robot.

* There will be an extra Arena performance on Saturday at 4.15 p.m.

Titan the Robot Four years in the making, "Titan" is the next generation state of the art robot from Cyberstein Productions. Watch as he arrives motionless on stage, transported on his Docking Station driven by a Man In Black.

Once in position the Man In Black starts a systems check and when all systems are operative the voice from the computer says 'Activate'. With a flash and a bang Titan leaps to life before your very eyes! As this eight foot tall robot scans the audience looking for its next `victim', be afraid... be very afraid!

ALIE N S is there Iife out there?

Are we alone in the cosmos ? is there life on other planets ? Where will we look for it? What will it look like? What are the odds of there being other worlds where life exists?

This exhibit explains the size of the cosmos, the sheer number of potential sites where life could have arisen,

They would be able to thrive on other worlds if the conditions were right. With this diversity on Earth, life

and examines where in our Solar System we might

elsewhere in the cosmos might be really quite mundane! We will show you how astronomers see

look for alien life forms. We see Mars as a prime candidate for exploration. If you are aged about 7 or 8 it's time to start planning your career as a Martian explorer! The exhibit looks at the odd forms of life on Earth that are so unlike ourselves that they can be considered as Aliens on Earth.

distant objects in the sky using the Faulkes robotic telescope.

Our home galaxy is the Milky Way: it is a star city which contains a hundred billion stars.

any food source, particular So why are some of us reluctant to tuck into a plate grasshoppers?

In at least 13 countries on four continents , eating insects is the most natural thing in the world . In China water beetles are on the menu, in Japan you can feast on baby bees . And it's not only insects - in Venezuela people eat tarantulas . Eating Creepy Crawlies looks at the variety of insects eaten all over the world: some are eaten as delicacies , others form part of a staple diet.

The exhibition gives a fascinating insight into entomophagy (eating insects). It is a colourful and fun family exhibition presenting a stimulating mix of specimens , images and artefacts , as well as yummy (and not so yummy) recipes.

In conjunction with the Eating Creepy Crawlies exhibit , fans of the BBC Nature Program ' Life in the Undergrowth ' are in for a special Treat. Dale Treadwell of Naturally Wild will be manning a Nature Table featuring invertebrates from Ireland and other parts of the world.

Dale has a unique and humorous way of explaining the intricacies of the micro-world which is bound to entertain and amuse the young and young -at-heart.

Bush Tucker Trials

As well as this he will also be hosting a number of 'Dale Treadwell ' s Bush Tucker Trials' from the stage in the EcoZone.

These activities will pit school against school , guys against the Bids to see who in Ireland is the ultimate invertebrate dare devil. Challenges will involve giant insects crawling over contestants heads and faces , plus participants getting their teeth into the culinary delights of the insect world.

A table of points will be kept and the points weighted in relation to the difficulty or palatability of the challenge. The team with the highest tally of points at the end of the YSE will receive for themselves or their school science department, a unique live specimen of the creepiest crawliest variety.

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IRMA cracking down on illegal music uploading

News & reviews Latest tech trends and products

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The notebook and the desktop: the shape of things in 2006 Putting your new PC to work - part I Special report: Education technology What our children need to learn about IT to succeed in the digital world Special interest: Sat nav and GPS PC Live! Workshops Copy and paste to create photo collages Use compressed folders to save space Upgrade your PC's hard disk Automatically sort e-mails in Outlook Express

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january 2006 • 1

Editor ' s comment SWITCHBOARD 01 207 4288 Contacting PC Live!

• Contact the team by individual e-mail or direct-dial numbers listed here • Send press releases to newsroom@mediateam.ie PUBLISHER Frank Quinn f r a n k. q u i n n @mediatea m . ie 01 207 4253

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Stephen Cawley

IRMA b ac k in the courts

stephen.cawley@mediateam.ie 01 207 4271

SALES & MARKETING DIRECTOR Paul Byrne paul.byrne@mediatea m. it 01 207 425E

BUSINESS MANAGEF Eimear Nealor

It seems persistent litigation is the only way to combat internet music pirates. STEPHEN CAWLEY comments on IRMA's return to the courts

C

ART DIRECTO Miriam Case miriam.casey@mediateam.

01 207 42;

songs.

The traditional defence for illegal file sharing though P2P services was that there was no legal digital alternative. This is certainly no longer the case with Itunes and Sony among others offering legal digital download services in Ireland. Doyle himself says that IRMA "would never go to court without legitimate digital download services being in place".

The central point here is that it is uploaders that the recording industry is chasing as they are distributing content without licence. Downloaders are less at risk, home users may still rip their music to their portable music players, and download tracks from legitimate sites, more of which are coming on stream all of the

ISPs reveal identities So much is IRMA in the right, that in the first phase of legal action, Irish internet service providers were compelled by the High Court to disclose the identities of those most serious file uploading offenders so that they could be pursued for compensation.

time.

In the end persistent litigation complemented by increasing legitimate digital distribution seems to be the only successful strategy for the music industry to pursue internet pirates. The serial uploaders are getting the message and if they aren't, the parents of the teenage ones certainly are with fines of up to €2,500 in the offing.

Stephen Cawley - editor

PRODUCTIO Liz O'Rour4 l i z. o rou r ke@ m e d iateam.

01 207 421

CIRCULATION MANAGE Niall Kits( niall.kitson @ mediateam 01 207 42

ONLINE EDITOR Barry Gild( b a r ry. g i l d e a @mediatea m 01 207 42

COMPANY ACCOUNTAP VICTORIA SMIvi cto r i a. s m i t h @mediatea rr 01 207 42

mediateam JOINT MANAGING DIRECT( Frank Quinn • John McDo Published by Mediateam Trintech Build South County Business F Leopardstown, Dublin Tel: 01 207 4288 • Fax: 01 207 4 www.techcentr Printed in Ireland by Lithographic Web F

The PC Live! CD ROM is Ireland's only regular magazine disc. Packed with great software, it's the easy way to keep up to date with what's new for your PC. To get your disc, text or dial the number here

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jr- 1580 123 971 Simply call and follow the prompts

Always ask the bill payer for Permission to (w0. Calls cost £2.40c per min waisliadd last no lager than one minute Text messages cost E2.50c. Total cost of CD ben will receive two SMS @ €1.25c el it message).

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teresa.lene han @ med iatea m.I 01 207 42E

To give you an idea of the extent of the illegal sharing, Doyle claims that over 50,800 songs were uploaded by the 50 users in question. One user uploaded 5,000

It is now clear that continuous legal action is necessary for IRMA if it is to reduce the number of illegal file shares through peer to peer networks. It is just a pity that its extensive education process and media campaign wasn't enough to reduce the piracy. While IRMA may have been presented by some as a guard dog of the record companies coming down on the innocent consumer, it is clear that the organisation is well within its right to protect the copyright material of the companies it represents and to reaffirm to the general public that the sharing of the copyright material over P2P is illegal and is the equivalent of stealing.

followed by your name , postal address and daytime telephone number.

BUSINESS SUPPORT MANAGEI Teresa Leneha

Serious uploading

,,ous legal action

TXT 57070 Text PCCD followed by a space

mark.webster@med i ateam.i 01 207 426

of the offending uploaders.

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ACCOUNT MANAGEI Mark Webste

Fifty cases will be pursued by IRMA in the second phase and it will go after 50 serial uploaders who were subscribers to the internet services of Eircom Net, Esat BT, Irish Broadband and Chorus. Once more IRMA will require high court orders to get the identities

n November 15th, IRMA - The trade association of the Irish music industry initiated the second phase of its legal action against serial uploaders of copyright music for illegal sharing. The first legal class action which was taken in April was deemed a short term success. In the immediate timeframe after the action, according to IRMA's director general Dick Doyle, "the number of illegal uploads had halved".

However, by July, August and September, the number was back up to its original high. It seems that the first legal action had sent a shock to the uploaders locally, only to drive them underground for a short period and for them to raise up again when they felt the coast was

C-cirntG

eimear.nealon @mediateam.i, 01 207 426:

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@ Mediateam Ltd 2 All rights reset No part of this publication be reproduced withou prior written consent o publisher. The views exprc herein are not necessarily I of the public ISSN No. 13934

PC Live! is published in cooperation witl Business Publications Ltd. Select ed items that were originally published i publications are the copyright of VNU t Publications Ltd. Copyright © 200 Business Publications Ltd. All Rights Res

www.microsoft. com/ireland/webdev LM AAX IT - how many of us really follow through on our 16* TmI resolutions? It's often a promise we can't keep lli^ normally, we just don't have the tools to make it bgppm So for this year PC Live! has decided to make Afarr ^afa keep one resolution - build your first website. *&*Apuorr6is PC Live! Cover CD ROM, we have fRa111a l sp with Microsoft Ireland to give away a full, free wg ormpietr copy of Microsoft Visual Web Developer ^+trt4 Espr +css Edition.

Web development

New Year's website resolution Build your own website with Microsoft's free web software accessed functionality one click away. And if the going gets tough, simplified debugging is at your service from breakpoints that essentially "pause" your application while its running, to the Exception Assistant, which provides detailed information and recommendations for how to fix any errors.

ftft to build

it .+a sad Itnt a few hours, and a free copy of a fun, easy•issa application for building great websites and web Woos, what would you create? A personal weblog?

A ehw fur selling your home-made crafts? A news site for pwiacal sports club? A utility that solves those trendy DATABASE SUPPORT Also included with Visual Web 60- ia . g Sudoku puzzles? How about a photo Robert Burke, developer, Developer Express Edition is SQL Server 2005 Express aims M our Christmas snaps with sections exclusive to Microsoft Ireland Edition, a lightweight version of our Enterprise database ,pmts fbsair and friends? You're already holding the perfect server that's ideal for smaller load websites. Within the Visual Web w1hs^. so you better prepare yourself for fulfilling at least one Developer environment, you can visually design your databases, and nwwh w this year! then present and modify data in your web application with DataWeb Developer 2005 Express Edition was Visual %g otaroh enabled controls. For example, the powerful wed lu the Irish market in November of this year, alongside the Grid View lets you present multiple records of __ .l and Team Suite editions of their developer products.

1 data from your SQL Server database in a Vrnal Web Developer Express is designed for hobbyist and novice table, and even offers you advanced features, wai developers who are looking for a stand-alone, lightweight, easysuch as sorting and editing your data - all building web applications with ASP.NET 2.0.

It wms cool for without writing a single line of code! ad o&* ere:r thing you need to begin building web applicati ons, e0ad" fully functional Starter Kit applications and a built-in HOSTING What good is a web application 6rati,V ment and test web server. unless you can show it off? Visual Web Developer makes it easy to manage and rwe highlights deploy your website's files through simple file along Robert Burke, a developer with Microsoft Ireland you 1e *cip copying. Even SQL Server 2005 Express hops aogether some highlights and ups so you can get the most out Edition databases can be deployed by simply i irita tic free software in 2006: copying the database file to a server 9ffT FROM DAY ONE After you install Visual Web Developer, the configured for SQL Server 2005. Finding a eet started is by exploring the Starter Kits. In one step, oar -r. home for your website is easy, with a large and sllr ^c. vinai 1Veb Site Starter Kit creates a complete, ready-to-run, growing number of hosting providers salt-o-cvstomise interactive website for sharing photos, personal supporting ASP.NET Visual Web Developer arm hoes and more . Starter Kits are fully documented, and simple offers 30 days of free web hosting from wvw* drat a quick exploration will help you understand how the Microsoft. We also have a number of WV'- ooo works so that you can make customisations and Irish hosting partners who would be delighted to host your website after that.

See oww. niicrosoft . com/ireland/"ebdev ISABLE CONTENT Concepts like site membership, for details. let you easily customise your application vow -w- >L-_d personalisation Whether you're offering a portion of Art mX.ufual visitors.

REGISTER FOR MORE If you register your row qVlicstion to only an elite few, or letting your visitors free copy of Visual Web Developer during +rtt! awd maintain their own custom view of your site - the the installation, you can also download drw,rhr' ies are endless. thousands of euros worth of resources from Microsoft and their partners including 250 Web Developer features a Visual ENE VISUAL ENVIRONMENT royalty-free images from Corbis, over 100 w rim-% a-d environment that lets you create great-looking and professional, royalty-free stock icons from omm -eo-cac u eb applications using an intuitive, drag-and-drop user IconBuffet.com and a free e-book from emer6a designer. You can take advantage of more than 60 new Microsoft Press to help you get started. *end* eomrrols and hundreds of reusable code snippets to reduce Also register to hear about a great Irish web i#r amt nc eded to create engaging, interactive applications. development competition in the New Year we will be giving away thousands of euros OPI POWER Visual Web Developer is simple to use, but worth of hardware and software to the r•drr r' ^_-=a,e lies the power to build complete ASP.NET 2.0 winners. So, what are you waiting for?

--. With Intellisense to guide you, you'll discover and have fast There's never been a better time to build ^eertfa so methods and libraries for use within your applications.

■ your web application! fl^awra snth as Common Tasks and Smart Tags place commonly

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :,v _• ;t? PC with a processor of at ar atissf fiFG Mliz and at least 256 MB of memory.

See our cover CD ROM this month for more ...

The Design Surface makes it easy to visually design the look and feel of web pages

Visualise your relationships and preview your data in Database Explorer

The Club Site starter kit provides everything you need to get started and get customising

IntelliSense helps you discover and quickly access rich

libraries of functionality

SUPPORT For unofficial support, visit the ASP.NET forum ( http ://forms. asp.net/default.aspx? ForumGrouplD = 26); see also http ://go.microsoft . com/fwlink /? Iinkid=53464 for questions specific to Visual Developer Web Express.

See also Robert Burke's blog at http:// blogs.msdn . com/robburke.

january 2006 • 3

news & reviews M, Lori M<kenna B,ttrr1o, Mr. Sunskint

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PALM has launched a new mobile manager that's likely to prove a hit with movie fans. The Palm Lifedrive Showtime Limited Edition is 4.34 123 designed to provide music and film enthusiasts with a comprehensive portable entertainment system. It's a bit of an all-rounder really, fusing business productivity tools with entertainment applications, and is designed for people with a significant volume of digital information. The device boasts 4Gb of hard-drive storage, a large 320x480 high-resolution colour screen that flips from horizontal to vertical at the touch of a button, and wireless access through builtin Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless technologies. While on the go, Lifedrive mobile manager users can enjoy listening to songs from their personal music collection, viewing photos or watching videos, with enhanced performance for business and multimedia applications, thanks to the 416MHz Intel Xscale processor. The built-in voice recorder allows for hands-free notes or personal narrations to accompany photo slideshows. In addition to allowing users to have an entertainment experience on the move, the Lifedrive mobile manager also allows users to access the web by connecting to any of the more than 80,000+ public Wi-Fi hotspots in hotels, cafes and airports around the world. It comes bundled with Philips headphones (SSBC HS520), entertainment applications and a coupon worth €10 offering customers cash back on the DVD

AsINn What's One More Tone Paper Wotgt and Halo

Ruby's Rwes

Movies on the go with Palm

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or CD of their choice, all for a recommended retail price of €483.

Spectra Photo hits O'Connell Street

Harvey Norman 01 890 9900

SPECTRA PHOTO, the photo

complete range of digital cameras , MP3 players including (pods , pod accessories, memory cards , same day film processing and onsite digital printing. www.spectra.ie

MAGNET NETWORKS has just signed an agreement with ESB for the rights to use the company's national fibre optic network for a ten year period.

Under the agreement ESB will provide connectivity between the cities of Galway, Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Portlaoise back to Magnet Network 's central facility in Dublin . This is very good news for the Irish consumer.

All of the country's major urban centres will be able to take advantage of Magnet's 'Triple Play' service bundle, which includes the fastest broadband in Ireland (with speeds up to 24Mbit/ sec), as well as digital TV and unlimited local and national calls. It is anticipated that the national element of the network will be complete in the first two months of 2006 as work has already begun.

Magnet 1890 535 353 www.magnet.ie

A new multi-card reader from Transcenc

processing and digital store, has just opened a new outlet on the first floor at Eason 's, O'Connell Street in Dublin . It will sell a

Magnet Networks expands service nationally to 700,000 homes

AS MORE of us discover the benefits of digital devices such as came phones, PDAs, digital cameras, MP3 players and multimedia devices, ii increasingly important that users have a quick and easy solution for transferring data and information between all their devices and a compute Transcend's latest portable Multi-Card Reader is the perfect answer, as it is small, requires no installation and simply connects to any PC, Mac, or notebo computer using a high-speed USB 2.0 connection. It scores highly in the design stakes, available in three classy colours, blue, orange, and silver. More importantly it is compatible with a vast array of memory cards, without the need for an adapter: Compactflash Type I/II (CF), Microdrive, Secure Digital (SD), MiniSD, Multimediacard (MMC),

( New online quiz targets Irish school kids AFTER the nations dismal showing in The Digital Divide in Europe , a report by the EU Statistics Agency in which we ranked 24th out of 25 member states for use of the Web in schools and colleges, comes a worthy effort to up our game . The 'Graduate Online Youth Quiz ,' is a free on -line civics, social and political quiz for primary and secondary school children throughout Ireland that promotes online learning . To enter the quiz, students simply log on to the website and answer questions relating to the school curriculum and on the Arts , politics , environment , health and safety, etc. Links to relevant websites make it easy for students to correctly answer the questions . The Quiz operates on a weekly basis from September to May each year . So far, prizes to the value of €23,500 have been won: It's time for the youth of today to get out there and restore the nation 's pride. www.graduate.ie

4

january 2006

MMCplus, Memory Stick (MS), Memory Stick Pro, Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick Pro Duo and X1 Picture Cards. With the use of their supplied adapters, the Multi-Card Reader also supports the direct insertion of, RS-MMC, MMCmobile MMCmicro and MicroSD memory cards. It's USB 2.0-compliant, and does not require an external power source or battery. Retailing at arour €23, it's available now. www.gravit.ie

news & reviews

S gem a

F i,,.'. 'i Ta Y L i 9 (, ry

Media center controller lights up the room HAVE A PC with the Windows Media Center Edition operating 'stalled on it, then this keyboard will make a stylish and functional aIOOMosory for it . The keyboard is both compact and robust, with quick key to control the media centre from a distance. It is 3in-1 in design with an integrated mouse and TV remote control.

TIiis keyboard makes a The keyboard is wireless via infrared and can 940 addition to the be used to play videos, TV programmes, surf the cloltee table or couch in Web and instant message from up to 30 feet. }O.w Media CenterBacklit media keys allow you to control the AIat1ed living room. At media centre in the dark. While the now familiar t?%, it is a little expensive green Media Center start button lets you enjoy t#Is 1w it does offer a 3single-touch start and launch Media Center PC wl design and has a functions with a single press. a/!y feel about it.

NOVEMBER saw the launch of a new Sagem ultra-slim mobile phone to the Irish market - the Sagem my301 X. Its features include a 65k colour screen to enable users effortless access services such as WAP 2.0 over GPRS, and the latest Java MIDP2.0 version. Connectivity is enhanced with embedded Bluetooth features, SyncML services and a radio for even more independence. The triband phone is currently available SIM-free from www,sagem - online.com, at €149.

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Osmosis 01 890 0600

Sony launches new, high-contrast projector

This security suite is an aggressive animal

BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY 6 is a set of programs to keel your computer data safe. It incorporates an anti-virus program, firewall (to protect against hackers and spyware), spam filtering

GOOD news for film lovers: The Sony VPL-HS60 is a high definition-ready home cinema projector with a stunning contrast ratio of 10,000:1 and 1,200 ANSI lumens. The projector's contrast ratio is the result of 3LCD technology, which uses separate panels for red, green and blue, to produce brighter pictures, better detail and natural colours.

BUSINESS ISP Netsource, The HS60 has a resolution recently announced an of 2.8 million pixels (1280 x upgrade to all business 720 x 3), an HDMI broadband services , available connector and 12 bit panel driver for from January 2006. For no optimum picture quality. Real Colour existing , extra charge Processing (RCP) technology by Sony business bustomers will be allows customers to make detailed given increased download and adjustments to projected colours, in upload speeds . The increased order to obtain a picture exactly suited speeds mean that Netsource's to individual taste. The All Range Crisp entry level product , `Office @ Focus (ARC-F) lens ensures picture Home ', available for €30 per uniformity across the entire screen. month , will see its download speeds doubled to 2Mbps.

Elegantly designed in black and silver, Netsource will also introduce the HS60 is extremely quiet. With a fan the first ADSL service with a noise of only 23dB the audience can download speed of up to be assured that they will never be 5Mbps and up to 512k disturbed by intrusive equipment noise.

The Sony VPL-HS60 hit the stores in upstream. www.netsource.ie November, retailing at €2,949.

Netsource brings lincreased speeds for 2006

and backup tools.

Despite the large list of features, it is quite easy to use as everything is accessed from a single control panel. After installation, Bullguard Internet Security 6 automatically downloads the latest virus updates. It also suggests you run a full virus scan of your PC. Unlike some free anti -virus programs , Bullguard lets you scan files on other files connected to a home network.

The integrated firewall protection ,/Guard detects when each Wekome to your BulIGuard program on your P( v wd tries to send or receive data via the system status v internet, such as Enabled axmw<iyd-.

00 instant messaging ^: 1 !

1 programs. Each vrus p«e<dan time, a pop-up will 0 scarred, 0 Hec[ed 00Ns 0,,&c .0 rf«ted saes levs mzso,Task you to allow or a«mm«ded amm: forbid it, although • ' this only needs to be done for each program.

Bullguard Antispam is designed to reduce the number of unsolicited Easy to use with a good e-mails you receive in e-mail clients, online backup option. On such as Microsoft Outlook and the downside, the spam Outlook Express, by using the filter isn't totally reliable. collective input of Buliguard users worldwide to classify e-mails as spam. In practice, though, we still received a number of unwelcome e-mails.

Bullguard Backup provides 1 Gb of space on its servers where data can be archived. While this certainly saves hard disk space, the service can be slow due to the limited upload speeds of most broadband connections, but it represents quite good

I

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value for money.

On the whole, Bullguard 6 offers a good degree of protection and the online backup option makes it stand out from the crowd.

Sony 01 413 1700 • www.sony.ie

Travel has never been so entertaining or so productive.

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HDS ire l a nd *â&#x201A;Ź10 each , per annum, ex VAT, tin

news & reviews

CHOS AV700

Price: €599 Beaumex Ireland 01 419 1100

Major new online resource for schoolchildren

ARCHOS

INSPIRED by 'Ingenious Ireland', the award-winning book by Mary Mulvihill that takes readers on a county by county tour of Irish invention, Ingenious Ireland Online explores Irish science and technology, innovation and ingenuity, investigates the science behind stories, gives real-life career case studies, and provides learning activities and curriculum links for schools. Available in both Irish and English, the online resource is packed with multimedia wizardry, including podcasting and animations, and with content specially authored by science teachers and curriculum experts. To mark the launch of the new resource, school children aged 11-16 can also enter a competition online to win an Ipod Nano. To enter, children will upload an image of scientific or local interest and add their own explanatory text. www.ingeniousirelandonline.ie

it Media on the move

..... 3

THE AV700 offers widescreen video when on the move, with enough features to satisfy any media addict. In addition to Ii video, it can also play music and display slideshows of photos, which can be copied directly from compatible digital cameras. A 40 Gb hard disk offers plenty of storage space, while a 100 Gb version is also available.

The AV700 is dominated by the screen , with control buttons on either side. Video quality is very good very good portable and the internal speaker is reasonable. The AV700 media player that is not claims four hours of video playback and 30 hours of overly reliant on access to music on a charged battery. a computer.

The cradle can record video and has an attachment to send infrared commands directly to a video player or TV decoder box. The device can also edit recorded video.

The AV700 is an impressive media player and the recording function removes the need for a TV tuner to watch video on the move.

Instantly faster Internet OnSpeed 0.01 / 39.99 EURO a year - www.onspeed.com

00000 Dial-up , Broadband , 3G and GPRS all work much faster with OnSpeed.

OnSpeed is a quick, easy software download that works by using superior compression technology developed by NASA to help data travel faster. This means two things: 1. Its been developed in an environment where speed of communication and response could be said to be on the crucial side. 2. The developers weren't short of a bob or two.

You download the software and it starts straight away. There is no need to change your internet provider LISP) or email settings, no new equipment, no engineers and you keep your existing phoneline.

OnSpeed costs €39.99 for a whole year.

Broadband costs around that every month.

If you don't have Broadband, its like moving from a pushbike to a sports car. If you do, its like realising you've been driving with the handbrake on.

Unlike broadband, OnSpeed is portable.

Installed on your laptop it can travel with you

wherever you are - it works in any town, in any country anywhere in the world via any internet connection. OnSpeed can be used to accelerate Pocket PC PDAs' and Smart Phones' including GSM, UMTS, 313 and GPRS. It works by compressing your web browsing and web - based email , so not only will it dramatically speed up your connection by nearly 8x, it will also reduce your mobile data bill saving you €€€'s.

All you need to do is visit www.onspeed.cc and download the software. It takes two minutes from start to finish - after that, you're done. And with a 14-day money bac guarantee and no contract, there's absolu no risk. 91% of OnSpeed's 250,000 customers would recommend the service a friend. So visit www.onspeed.com One quick download and a faster internet connection's yours.

Speed up your online life www.onspeed.com Dial-up 5x faster, Broadband 3x faster, GPRS 8x faster.

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8 • january 2006

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Dell recommends Windows° XP Media Center Edition.

Dell Inspiron' 9300

Dell' Dimension" 3100 .t1fd• Pentium® 4 Processor 521 with HT Todrmlogy (2.80GHz,1 MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB) •;,arur ,IeWndows' XP Media Center :1'cr 2005 :+dE DOR RAM .

8 S-- ,al ATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM) •'T Rat Panel Monitor (17.0" v.i.s) • m-ed Intel" Extreme Graphics •'6r DVD+/-RW • • Collect and Return Service •aNerne Analogue TV Tuner & Remote

• Intel® Centrino"' Mobile Technology with Intel' Pentium' M Processor 740 (1.73GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB) & Intel" Pro Wireless 2200 (802.11 b/g) • Genuine Windows' XP Media Center Edition 2005 •512MB 533MHz DDR SDRAM .80GB Hard Drive .17.0" UltraSharp" Wide Screen WXGA TFT Sharp .128MB ATi' Mobility Radeon" X300 Graphics card • Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive' • 1 Year Euro Collect and Return Service' • 56K Data Fax Modem

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Enjoy TV, movies, music, photos, and more - all at your fingertips with a single remote on a Dell PC preinstalled with Microsoft' Windows' XP Media Centre Edition 2005. And with Dell, because we're direct, you can order from the comfort of your couch too! You won't find these new deals in the shops, so simply call or go online. Buy before 1st February 2006 to benefit from our amazing January sale.

The power of a PC with the fun of an entertainment centre.

Accessories Dell 32" LCD N Dells range of fVs just got bigger. These new models are HO ready and offer amazing picture and sound quality Price includes PRF Contribution of €220

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Delivering outstanding all-in-one portability, flexibility and value, the 340OMP projector features 1500 lumens' brightness, 2100:1 contrast ratio, native XGA resolution and weighs only 109Kg Price includes PRF Contribution of €5

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Go online for the latest deals Click www. dell.ie/special Home PCs 1850 964 070 Business PCs 1850 964 071

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c/o Cherrywood Science & Technology Park, Dublin 18 Offers subject to availability, prices and specifications are correct at date of publication and may change without notice. Offers available Dell products , Incl. VAT from 29th December 2005 to Ireland consumer customers only Dell's Terms and Conditions of Sale, Service and Finance apply and are available on request at www . della Delivery charge is €60 59.29 Inc] VAT. Consumers are entitled to cancel orders within 7 working days beginning the day after the date of delivery One GB = I billion bytes; actual capacity per system . Dell collection charge is € 41 Incl.

VAT depending on order site on items purchased without a system. . varies with preloaded material and operating environment and will be less ' Freight pricing ranges from € 2.42 Inc]. VAT to €25 Dell Dimension desktops and Inspiron notebooks include Microsoft Works TO as standard unless 'Discs burned with DVS./- RW drives, where featured, may not be compatiable with certain existing drives .

NAPM IT7 . 228-1997 tests (using new bulbs ) of between 34305 units in 2002 4 (dependent otherwise specified . ' Earo Collect and Return Service is available in limited countries and places 'Based on ANSI/ . For Dell recycling visit. on model ), Average Lumens at least 90% of max Lumens. Bulb brightness degrades with use . periodic changes recommended PRF is tire Producer Recycling Fund ww a eurodell corn /recycling Dell disclaims proprietary interest in the trademarks or trade names of other entities ©2005 Dell Inc . the Dell logo. Inspiron , UltraSharp and Dimension are registered trademarks or trademarks of Dell Inc . , Intel Centrino logo and used to refer to them or their products. Microsoft. MS and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation . Intel, Intel logo, Intel Inside, Intel Inside logo. Intel Centrino Pentium are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.

Upgrade Your Sound Card To Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic & Enjoy a Music Experience You Just Won't Believe!

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RELPA -

Price: €151 www.micromail.ie

RTE unveils a new podcast AS PART OF Science Week 2005, RTE has begun podcasting the weekly science show "The Quantum Leap". This will make each programme in the science series freely available for listeners to download and transfer to portable audio players . The feed for The Quantum Leap is www.rte . ie/radiol /podcast/podcast_quantumlea p.xml and there 's full information on the website www.rte.ie/radiol /quantum.

Corel 's image editor on test PAINT SHOP PRO has always had two main problems. The first was that it's always beer more expensive than rival photo editors such as Adobe's Photoshop Elements and Ulead's Photoimpact. The second was that it wasn't quite as easy to use m<easiest way ,,,_However the program was taken over by Corel a few months

ago, which has clearly attempted to address at least one of these problems. There are a number of new tools in this upgrade that will allow even complete novices to perform complex photo-editing tasks quickly and easily.

The Smartphoto Fix option allows you to correct a number of settings simultaneously, including brightness, colour saturation and focus. It can make the adjustments for you automatically, displaying `before' and 'after' versions of a photo for you to judge whether the change is worth keeping. Alternatively more experienced users can adjust individual settings themselves.

There are also some clever `makeover' tools that allow you tc improve portrait photography. The Blemisl Fixer can remove skin imperfections such as wrinkles and moles, and there's a toothbrush tool that can even whiten teeth. Finally, if someone is overdoing the `pale but interesting look', you can zap them with the 'suntar brush to give them a healthier skin tone.

These tools work well, but our favourite improvement is the redesigned Learning Centre. This is a panel that provides help with all the program's main tools. However, rather than just providing simple hints and tips, the Learning Centre will actually select tools for you and display them on screen to get you started. This is a major step in the ease of use direction, which Corel will hope attracts a new audience.

Chuck in some fun new special effects, and a copy of photo album program to keep your photo library organised, and Good value for money Paint Shop Pro makes a pretty good upgrade. Unfortunately, considering the depth it's still almost twice the price of rival packages Photoshop of tools and features Elements or Ulead Photoimpact. included.

It

IRMA continues filesharer THE Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) has announced Phase 11 of its legal action against "serial filesharers" in Ireland who illegally make copyrighted music available on the Internet. Now IRMA is seeking damages and injunctions against 50 more individuals or companies who have illegally uploaded hundreds or thousands of music tracks onto peer-to-peer filesharing networks.

IRMA is asking internet service providers to release the names of the individuals they have found to be abusing copyright on the Internet. The major filesharers subject to legal action include users of the filesharing network Fasttrack - on which Kazaa runs - and the Gnutella network.

As a result of its first phase legal action against 17 illegal filesharers last April, IRMA has settled with 12 at an average of €2,500 per case, is suing a further three, and is considering its legal options in the two remaining cases.

IRMA's Phase 11 legal action comes after a successful year for legitimate online music services offering legal downloads to consumers.

This new wave of legal actions is aimed at deterring the illegals and giving crucial breathing space to legal services, and allowing them further room to develop their customer services. There are six major legitimate services in Ireland: Itunes, Eircom Music Club, Mycoke.com, Vitaminic.com music club, Wippit.co.uk and Sony Connect. www.irma.ie

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3 heat IRELAND's newest mobile network has announced the launch of Heat magazine on its handsets. The M-site version of Heat magazine can be accessed directly on all 3 mobiles by clicking on the Heat icon in the 'services' section. For €3 per month, 3's customers can subscribe to Heat where they can view and download all the latest celebrity gossip, entertainment and TV news directly on their 3 video mobile handsets. The best of Heat is available in an easy to navigate format, including features such as Today's Pic, Interview of the Week, celebrity relationships - On or Off, TV Pick of the Day, as well as a range of celebrity photographs. In addition, 3's customers have the opportunity to earn €297 reward for sending their best celebrity snaps to Heat via MMS. This announcement builds on 3's generous mobile video content offering, much of which is available to all customers for unlimited usage and at no extra charge as part of their monthly packages. This includes soccer highlights, video news bulletins from RTE, film clips, comedy sketches, video horoscopes and MTV news.

3 Ireland 1800 330 3333 • www.three.ie

Ubisoft and Sony to produce more games for the PSP GAMES publisher Ubisoft is to introduce two new games for the PlayStation Portable : Field Commander and Untold Legends : The Warrior's Code. Both games are scheduled for release in spring 2006 . Field Commander is the first military turn -based strategy game for the PSP system and offers engaging, skill-based warfare in a realistic military setting . Untold Legends: The Warrior's Code is the sequel to the highly successful Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade. It promises an all-new, epic storyline brought to life through dramatic in -game cinematics and character voice -over, an evolutionary combat experience and unique 3D graphics with real-time lighting and handcrafted environments.

Gamestop stores nationwide

Price: TBA Spectra Photo outlets nationwide

Super SD card AT FIRST GLANCE, the SD Plus Card looks just like a normal SD memory card, until you notice the pair of hinges halfway down the card's body. Pushing down on one side of the hinges exposes a tiny USB connector, which can be used to plug the card directly into a PC's USB socket.

This removes the need for a memory card reader on your PC. If you don't have the data cable for a camera, with SD Plus it's possible to open the card and plug it straight into a PC. It acts just like any other USB memory key once it's plugged in, so it can be used for other data storage too.

The cards carry Sandisk's Ultra II badge which means they are faster than standard cards. It feels a little fragile, but Expensive, but it's a in reality it's great idea well quite sturdily executed. built.

The version we looked at here is the 512 MB version, but there are other options available. The price is higher than standard SD cards, but it's certainly worth it for the extra flexibility.

14 • january 2006

With our digital darkroom, every photograph you've ever taken can now look perfect.

photo printer, scanner and copier but without sacrificing any of the quality. Now you can scan , retouch, restore, print and archive your old photographs and negatives just as easily as your new digital ones . So

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UK ISP Telewest now offers TV broadcasts to its DSL subscribers . The trend is sure to reach these shores

only 19c per print scheme concurrently with a trial of << TV over broadband (IPTV) later in 2006.

It is projected that IPTV subscribers in Europe will make up to 10% of the payTV market by 2010.

A new service from Sky, Sky by Wire, also takes advantage of this emergence of alternative distribution networks and offers Smart Telecom customers television channels such as Sky Sports 1, 2, 3 and Xtra, Sky Movies 1 & 2 and Sky Cinema, through a broadband connection.

^n the contemporary world, the last thing you want in your high tech living room or office is wires coming out of every wall or dangling across ceilings, cluttering up the sought after clean look of modern living.

Wireless is the way to go and the good news is products are being added to the portfolio all the time so it's now more possible to position equipment in places that would make plugging them in difficult if not dangerous. The bad news is that the wireless products, because of their novelty, popularity and Wi-Fi or Bluetooth technology, are expensive but as these become more the norm, it is expected that prices might get a little easier on your wallet.

2 006 is going to be a big year for garners.

The XBox 360 bounced off Irish store shelves just weeks before Christmas leaving retailers scrambling to get additional supplies.

But post Christmas, smug owners of the 360, still testing out the new machines, will know that there is more on the gaming horizon this year and with the release of both the Sony PS3 and the Nintendo Revolution.

The PS3 is hyped to outdo the Xbox 360 because of its increased processing power (said to be 35 times faster than that in the PS2) and its ability to use both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technology. The Revolution however takes a whole new look at gaming control, using a remote like device as a control that can track movement in a 3D virtual reality - you physically move the controller to the right and drop it lower and the onscreen plane, gun or character will mirror your movement. It's supposed to mean far greater control and ease of movement.

Both machines are designed with broadband and home networks in mind, come ready 18 • january 2006

Out this month, Logitech has come up with the Z-5450, (€499) an integrated surround sound speaker system with wireless rear speakers.

Maybe the next step will be an entirely wireless system but at this stage it's relatively easy to hide cables from the three front speakers, and the subwoofer in a unit or disguised in the corner of the room but when connecting two satellite speakers at opposite ends of the room, short of drilling holes in the ceiling, hiding the wires can be an issue.

In the Z-5450 set up, each speaker with a 2.4GHz digital receiver, receives

to be hooked to the internet, by a built-in Ethernet port or via Wi-Fi and deliver high-definition cinematic images in real time in addition to detailed sophisticated game play.

Set to be available in black, white and silver, and of a similar size to the PS2, Sony wants the PS3 to be the media hub in a prime spot in the living room. The console has features that allow connection to, among other Sony devices a CD and HD DVD player, therefore creating a home entertainment network. The Plavstation 3 leads the way in bringing in the latest in DVD, the Bluray.

Named for the blue laser that reads it, Blurays hold up to 27Gb, five times more than the standard red-laser DVD and is another huge development on the technology circuit. The PS3 is set to be on sale in the spring of 2006 in Japan at least - and it is rumoured it may be priced similarly to the Xbox360 at around €280 but Sony is waiting for the waves of

Live broadband TV broadcast is a giant stride, along from the video download capabilities the internet has provided for some time, as there really is no comparison when it comes to clarity of image and quality.

On the mobile phone front, Vodafone Ireland already offer video downloads of music and TV programmes to its 3G customers and plans in the first few months of this year to launch live television streaming capability to Vodafone customers, also taking advantage of increased ■ bandwidth, only in a wireless capacity.

wireless transmission from the Soundtouch Control Centre. A digital decoder converts the 2.4GHz signal into audio, which is then reproduced by the speaker. The rear speakers are designed to work in a range of up to 8.5 metres (28') and a built in amplifier and power cord offer 42 Watts of RMS power per speaker.

The wireless technology used in this surround sound speaker system claims very low latency, with minimal interference. The delay between when the signal is sent and when the speakers reproduce the sound is meant to be around 20 milliseconds a delay imperceptible to the

^ ao

human ear.

■ I

Sony's next generation console will be the most powerful console ever created but it may be 2007 before we see it hit Ireland

360 attention to die down before confirming anything much at all.

Nintendo loyalists may have to wait until May of this year to even get an update on where the Revolution is at and when they are likely to be able to try it out. We know the Revolution will have a new IBM processor, codenamed Broadway, and a graphics chip from ATI, it will play DVDs, have built in Wi-Fi and 512Mb of flash memory but other details are sketchy and the machine is not likely to be on sale until late this year at the earliest. What is clear is the Japanese games giant hope to grasp back the gaming crown with its `revolutionary' version of control, said to be ■ extremely intuitive, easy to use and fast.

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PhotoCentre only 19c per print

Hitachi's 55PD 5200 high definition LCD TV

HD televisions will be highly sought after this year as Sky launches its HDTV service, which will broadcast HD Sky Sports, Sky One, Arts World, two Sky Movie channels and one Sky Box Office channel.

To get the most out of the HD aspect of the new service you will need a Sky set top box and a HD ready television. If you've got a television with less than a 26" screen you may be wasting your money worrying about High Definition as on smaller screens the difference between standard and high definition is small, however on a larger screen HD offers up to four times the clarity of image and colour.

The greater impact is because HD images have a far greater number of pixels, on HD TVs the image shows through either 720 lines or 1080 lines compared with the 576 lines projected on the current PAL system.

HD Ready televisions have been on the Irish market since early 2005. Sony

Hitachi now, offers a high definition-enabled home cinema projector

The high definition HC1 DR camcorder from Sony

Shown off to the Irish public at the Toys4BigBoys event in November the launch of the Nokia N91, the star of Nokia's new media centric N-Series, is keenly awaited.

Though its release was delayed several months, originally due out in November, it's expected to hit store shelves in the early

has 26" (€1,349), 32" (€1,949) and recently added a 40" HD Ready flat-screen TV (€2,799) to its S Series; Sony's V Series models (€1,949 to €3,499) are High Definition-ready and work with all HD devices and the recent addition of two W Series HD flat screen TVs feature a floating design 40" and 50" Plasma screen.

Hitachi also offers HD ready 32" and 37" LCD and 42" and 55" Plasma screens and Hitachi's Irish distributor Squareone says it expects 50", 55" and 65" HD screens to be available and be highly sought after as the High Definition format is seen and appreciated. The bigger the better it would seem.

Hitachi has also added the PJTX200 projector to its products available in Ireland adding both High Definition and widescreen formats into

the at home cinema concept . In the US, movies and television shows for release across other foreign markets , have been filmed in HD format for years and the BBC also film programmes such as new series `Rome ' in HD format. The broadcaster plans to begin trial broadcasts of some HD material to some digital satellite and cable viewers this year.

Sadly, HDTV free to air on a digital platform is unlikely to be broached before 2010.

If you want to stay one step ahead of the neighbours , however, and want to really experience the High Definition format before it is broadcast in Ireland, Sony has brought out the HDR HCIE which is the smallest HD Camcorder on the market and records onto Mini DV tapes storing 60 minutes of footage on each and can he connected to both HD TVs as well as traditional televisions.

■

part of this year and for some fans it can't get here soon enough. The slightly chunky-looking, square-edged metallic phone is 3G-enabled, has a 4Gb hard drive, 2 Megapixel camera and built in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. This is the kind of technology we have come to expect in all our multimedia devices.

The Nokia N91 is optimised for connected mobile music enjoyment, including the ability to download new songs and manage music collections. Because of its USB 2.0 you can simply drag and drop your files over from your PC or use its Bluetooth functionality to trade files with others.

Midland Computer IT Solutions PC's - Printers - Laptops - MP3 - LCD TV Consumables - Cameras - Networking Web Design - PoS Systems www. M i

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New Online Store Safe & Secure Shopping 20 • january 2006

Midland Computer IT Solutions Unit 3 Mountrath Business Park Mountrath, Co. Laois Tel / Fax : 057 875 6537 Email : sales@midcis.com

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Nokia demonstrate digital TV broadcasts from a mobile phone

Mere streaming occurred, dodafone will soon offer live digital broadcasts of Sky News to the your mobile phone

It's not compatible with songs bought via Itunes but supports most other music formats, MP3 and WALK storing up to 3,000 songs, using an advanced coding system.

Nokia has also managed to integrate a 3.5mm stereo headset jack directly into the handset.

Reportedly Nokia delayed the phone's release to ensure full compatibility with all intended systems and offer a true competitor to Motorola's ROKR phone and the Sony

he beginning of 2006 brings in a new era in data storage and security with the Disgo U3 -mart drives, which allow you to, when leaving a PC, take your entire workspace with you, leaving not a trace behind.

Ideal for business on the move, shared work or play spaces or indeed public computers, the Disgo U3 smartdrive is a mini portable hard drive, which stores everything securely on it, that makes your computer yours -,our files, data, settings, applications and .. ,ftware.

All you need is any one of the Disgo U3_nabled Smartdrives, then install the set of U3 programs you need and run them from any Windows 2000 or Windows XP PC through the USB port.

We once thought notebooks were compact and efficient - now there is all the notebook golds on something the size of your thumb.

The U3 Smartdrives come with a U3

T

Ericsson's W800i walkman phone a run for their money.

It is a real smart phone among other things the N91 pauses playback to receive calls and resumes playback when the call is disconnected. A pretty handy feature!

When playing MP3's on mobile phones, battery life can sometimes be an issue, however Nokia says the N91 serves up to 12.5 hours of sound and is expected to retail at somewhere ■ between €650 and €750.

Launchpad - like the Start menu on a Windows XP - this is where you can upload and save your files, manage your programmes, settings and preferences.

The U3 Launchpad can also be configured to run certain applications automatically when the U3 smart drive is inserted into a computer.

Good because it saves loading a programme permanently onto your PC when you may only use it once a month and it's good too because the programmes are not locked into any one computer.

You could be limited by the capacity of the Smartdrives, but in something so tiny holding multiple programmes what do you expect, and from early 2006 all Cleverstuff Disgo Smart Drives will be U3-enabled meaning they are available in 1- 2- and 4Gb units. Try your new U3 enabled Smart Drive on an unsupported operating systems though and it will ■ behave like any normal USB flash drive.

Let disgo lite'n your load The ultimate in personal USB data storage, disgo lite is all you need to carry pretty much anything you can produce on a computer: files, documents, presentations, photographs, movies, MP3s and even programmes can all be safely stored and carried with you. disgo is small on the outside and huge within; capacities range from 256MB to16B

disgo lite is the entry-level portable storage solution from the fantastic range of disgo products.

Let disgo lite'n your load today!

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Portable hard disk, for ;TM s other companies fight to make consumers bring the PC into the living room, making the central and controlling hub of all your -nedia entertainment demands, Iomega inversely has developed a way of viewing all of ,ur video and audio content on your TV

A

without the presence of a PC. The New Iomega Screenplay Multimedia Drive with its 60Gb drive aside from being a useful external harddrive storage device, adds ultimate portability to all your media files, photos, music and video with no need for a PC or notebook, just >> January 2006 • 21

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Intel's Viiv project "Enjoy with Intel Viiv technology." This is the slogan that the world 's largest chip-maker, Intel , hopes will be on every consumer 's mind when setting up digital The Iomega Screeplay ?????

TV ???from a hard disk

<< plug it in to the television or speaker system and enjoy.

Little more than 5" by 3" and 0.7" deep, the device is sleek and looks good alongside other big name media centre devices. It comes with a remote control and has very easy, fast data transfer speeds via USB 2.0 port and Firewire. Menus are easy to navigate from across the room via the remote or via DVD style playback buttons. When connected to a TV or AN system, the Screenplay Multimedia Drive becomes the media jukebox of the digital age. It streams popular video formats directly to TV via its S-Video or composite video connectors and can handle JPEG photos of up to 8 Megapixel resolution, motion JPEG files at 15 or 30 frames per second (digital ■ camera movies), and MP3 digital audio files.

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entertainment at home.

Launching in the first few months of 2006, Intel 's latest brand , Viiv (sounds like Jive) technology, will be incorporated into as yet secret but leading PC brands and integrators and the company intends to expand and soon go hand and hand with a bunch of other network

Intel will launch a nec brand for the digital home called Viiv

necessities - portable media players, DVD and Digital TVs, routers and digital media adapters.

The brand's concept is for Viiv technology to become an essential element in all digital home entertainment products. Intel plans that Viiv-compatible PCs should become the central and controlling hub in people's entertainment networks storing photos and music, capable of sharing content across a variety of different rooms and devices, at the same time or separately.

It's not surprising the actual details and launch of the Viiv brand are still a bit hush-hush, Intel have spent $100 million on developing the technology and more than 40 music, movie, television, gaming and photo-editing companies are reportedly testing and verifying the services and software.

Intel Digital Home Group VP and general manager, Donald MacDonald, describes the Intel Viiv technology as simply groundbreaking.

"It marks an intersection point where innovation, a multitude of digital devices, first class entertainment and state of the art technology converge to put consumers in more control of experiencing digital entertainment on their own terms," he said.

So Viiv's name on our home electronics are going to pull the whole package together, make things easier to use, access and coordinate, but will it make relaxing at home that much more enjoyable', We won't have long to wait. Intel is expected to launch the first of Viiv compatible PCs in the next month or two.

N

D igital photo frames seem an obvious idea but, despite being around for some time, they've never really taken off. Since you're basically getting a miniature LCD monitor, pricing is the main obstacle.

Philips is attempting to breathe new life into the market with the Digital Photo Display.

Powered by mains or internal battery, it accepts SD (Secure Digital ),1'vItMC (Multimedia Memory Card ), Memory Stick and CF (Compact Flash) cards.

Slideshow intervals vary in length from seconds up to days and the bright 7" U (720 x 480) screen performs well.

9'^^The road ahead It's expected the market place will be flooded over the course of 2006, with products and services that incorporate these new technologies plus some, and

OR VISIT US ONLINE

cartridgeworld.ie

it's easy to think you need it all.

The best advice that can be given is research the products thoroughly, check product and system compatibility and read the news and reviews on your favourite brands and wish list tech products.

The old geek is the new chic but all this advanced technology is still developing and improving, and consumers have a bit of time before it becomes vital to have all the new gear. Some it of may come down in price, and upgrades and improvements may be made but if you're informed and ready now to make the leap into the digital communications arena 2006 will see mos of it there for the taking.

22 • january 2006

PC Live!

datafile

VLiie!

RESOURCE BUYERS GUIDE Computer driving you nuts? Welcome to our new Resource Guide where the specialists below can help you boost your PC performance.

To list your company contact Mark Webster on (01) 207 4263 or e-mail mark . webster @mediateam.ie

Bits and PCs Limited

COMPUTER WORKS J

LEINSTER user-Computers Sales Ltd

shop4memory.com Upper Main Street, Celbridge, Co. Kildare Tel: 01-6275611 Fax: 0 1 -62 7 5612

,,,n d PCs Limited Unit 5, Cian Park Industrial Estate Drumcondra, Dublin 9 Tel: (01) 80 40 120 Fax: (01 ) 80 40 110

email: printerparts@eircom.net

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t Andrum Rd, Dundrum, in 14 let 296 2330 â&#x20AC;˘ Fax: 296 2341 mail: nikki@laser-computers.com !b: www.laser-computers.com

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98 Nutgrove Avenue Rathfarnham, Dublin 14 Tel: 01 4930514 Fax: 01 4943885 email: info@micropro.ie Shop opens 8.30am - 7pm 6 days

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Unit 5, Pine View Industrial Estate, Firhouse Rd, Dublin 16 Tel/Fax: 01 4954300 email: mail @rosscomputers.ie Web: www.rosscomputers.ie

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Tel: 01 676 2205 â&#x20AC;˘ Fax: 01 493 41 56 email: info@rtech.ie

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me TECMM O,OGe 01100E

it PC Live! 2006 - Cannot be reproduced in any form without our prior consent

email: opurcell @ corkcomputerclinic.ie Web: wwwcorkcomputerclinic.ie

ts''Iu'i'128.16: Main Street, Corofin, Co. Clare

Tel: 086 1078698 email: seanburke@epages.ie Web: www.epages.ie Webmaster : Ray Doherty

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haology Ltd email: sales@dtl.ie Web: www.dtl.ie Ce1R4i6-EAr+I^UeR ^e4ViEe

Unit K, The Milkmarket, Limerick Tel: 061 313414 Fax: 061 313415

email: carrigsales@eircom.net Web: indigo.ie/-carrig/systems

Corlt I,,Iomputer Clinic Ltd 16 South Terrace, Cork, Co Cork

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MB Technology/ Ingram Micro Unit 2 Goldenbridge Industrial Estate, Inchicore, Dublin 8

110,an Computers 18 Crescent Place, Dublin 3 Tel: 01853 1111 i Wartie Computers.ie AW E:.. Pineview Business Park iRase Rd , Dublin 16

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tic 01 478 3946

Crbertec Computers 4w all your computer needs. bq Online at

Nenagh, Co. Tipperary Tel: 067 43877

CONNACHT Westside Computers) Computer Repair Centre Connolly Street, Co Sligo Tel: 071 9154810

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ULSTER

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77 Glaslough St Monaghan, Co Monaghan Tel: 047 72672 Fax: 047 72673

email: info@pcwhirl.com Web: www,pcwhirl.com

January 2006

23

I

broadband trends

Bi

gviews

PC Live! readers shout aloud and tell us what they think of their service providers

P ipe

f the results of the PC Live! Broadband Reader survey 2006 are anything to go by, broadband appears to he catching on, but there are some sobering facts to bear in mind before we get too carried away. Forfas, the state think-tank, reported in December that DSL coverage by population in Ireland was the second lowest in the EU and that it came 25th out of 32 countries surveyed for broadband take up. The reasonably good news is that in terms of cost, Ireland is the seventh cheapest country out of the 32.

The responses were not all positive for our survey either. A fifth of readers said they had changed their broadband supplier in the past 12 months and close to a quarter were displeased or very displeased with the upload and download speeds they were experiencing.

Whatever the Forfas figures suggest, very few of those who responded to our survey - less than three per cent - did not have a broadband connection, although it's possible only a handful of those without broadband would be interested in taking the time to reply to a broadband survey.

Vital statistics When it comes to the question of which company holds the lead in terms of providing broadband, just over a quarter of readers named Eircom as their broadband provider.

Esat BT was in second place with 15 per cent and NTL tied with Irish Broadband for fourth spot with seven per cent . UTV had five per cent.

Where they use it?

Questioned where they used broadband, three-quarters of readers said at home and 22 per cent replied at work. A small number, seven per cent, used broadband at school.

24 â&#x20AC;˘ January 2006

broadband trends

Build & Keep your own computer on our

Reader Broadband Survey 2005 16L on top The most popular form of broadband was DSL - used by '2 per cent of readers. Wireless led a respectable 15 per cent, a figure which chimes with the tend identified in a recent Comreg report which stated lead wireless had grown to ten per cent of broadband abscriptions, increasing by 313 per cent over 2004. Cable accounted for seven per cent.

With broadband, there's waiting and then there's waiting.

The first wait is for it to arrive s your area - a number of people are still waiting and re not happy about it. Once eat wait finishes, the next one $ for the actual connection self. There's another wait after *at, but we 'll get it to later.

In terms of connection times, nst under half of respondents bed to wait as little as two weeks e get broadband. Close to a d ird waited for between two reeks and a month and a lrther 14 per cent were left ienging for more than a month.

Some had to be patient for even imger. Two people complained tin- had been waiting for six months while , at the other end tithe scale , it only took four s for one lucky reader. One aitcck^ reader installed te±z,hand himself.

!iy are we waiting?

PC Builder

Topline results

Course! clis coU I.t

Eircom is the leading broadband provider, followed

by Esat BT in second, with NTL and Irish Broadband sharing joint -third. UTV Internet and Digiweb also registered.

PC # .

for

The most popular form of broadband among our readers is DSL followed by wireless. :: Only a fifth of readers said they had changed their broadband supplier in the past 12 months.

Only a quarter of readers were displeased or very displeased with the upload and download speeds they were experiencing. :: Only a third waited for between two weeks and a month to get their broadband connection installed.

A good proportion of readers - 59 per cent - were pleased with the speeds they were getting from their broadband connection and another 15 per cent were extremely pleased.

Web browsing and e-mail are still the most applications for having broadband, followed by using it to make free phone calls. Online gaming and teleworking follow behind.

Then there's the other wait - for lose readers unwilling to use Sicom who have to hang on X1 an alternative becomes =adlable. One respondent .e, with a sense of operation , "I've asked every broadband company in the country to supply boadband to my house either by cable or wireless - no joy! It's a joke in 3105 that when you live l5km outside the second largest city in Ireland, you ='t get broadband at a reasonable price." Another admitted to waiting for amoral months for the option of a non-Eircom offering.

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Rfformance ratings )ig attraction of broadband is the upload and download speeds it p.". ales compared to standard dial-up. A good proportion of readers OR ; r cent - were pleased with the speeds they were getting and another Ih xr cent were extremely pleased, but there were others whose wwxrience of broadband did not live up to the hype or the ad-man's pi-r,;:es. As many as 18 per cent of respondents were disappointed and >> r eight per cent were very disappointed. A number of readers ob january 2006 • 25

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broadband trends Eircom is still the ISP with the most subscribers Digiweb was commended for its wireless broadband service

r&0r11

had experience found the speed to be "very slow" during the afternoon. Several said their connections sometimes disappeared. "Connection can be inconsistent and slow at times," complained one reader.

Another was "very unhappy with the upstream speed of my service," while a third respondent reported that "the speed achieved falls short".

Unhappiness with connection speeds may have helped to account for the reasonably large numbers of you - just over a fifth - who switched suppliers during the year, although a small percentage did so because they were moving house . No one supplier was singled out for special mention but a number of providers received strong criticism from readers for the service they provided.

A reader complained at being unable to switch to Irish Broadband from Eircom because there was no line of sight. BT was slammed by two other readers for poor customer service - "while ringing customer service I could be on hold for an hour sometimes,"

gaming, uploading and transferring photos.

We asked which of the applications they used broadband for most regularly.

No surprises for guessing that the biggest preference was for web browsing (42 per cent), followed by e-mail (27 per cent). The number who placed web browsing as their second most used application was 29 per cent and the figure for email was 39 per cent. A surprising eight per cent o readers said they used their broadband primarily for making phone calls with their PC using Skype.

That's quite a high number, although the figures for online gaming were very low - two per cent for PC gaming and six three cent for console gaming as were those for teleworking (four per cent).

Apps for always on

Given the promotion of uploading and downloading speeds as one of the main attractions of broadband compared to dial-up, it's intriguing that so many readers use their broadband for things which dial-up can handle pretty well. It suggests that adoption of broadband has not changed the way in which most people use the Internet to any revolutionary degree, although its interesting to see "using your PC as a phone" in third place, even if it is with eight per cent.

The low figure for teleworking is also interesting for what it says about broadband usage As many as 74 per cent of respondents may have broadband installed at home, but it's not driving teleworking to any great extent. If you break dowr the figures in a little more detail, by looking at the results for those who placed the different applications in third or fourth spot, you can get some food for thought, but not with teleworking. The numbers for those who put it in fourth, fifth or sixth spot are all around the ten per cent mark or so. The biggest percentage it gets (16 per cent) is from those who place it eighth out of ten in their list. That's a ranking that doesn't say a lot for teleworking.

The results are much more varied for other applications. For example, messaging (a small one per cent in the main poll), was the third most popular broadband application for nearly a quarter of readers. Just over 20 per cent of readers rated online console gaming as your fifth most popular application and the same number had uploading and transferring photos in fourth spot.

"Questioned where they used broadband, three-quarters of readers said at home and 22 per cent replied at work"

one of them wrote.

On the upside , Digiweb was commended for the strength of its wireless signal.

A big motivator for changing suppliers was saving money. One respondent claimed to have saved â&#x201A;Ź20 by switching from Eircom to Imagine . "NTL offered me a cheaper service," said another . A third wrote, "I was with UTV Clicksilver but I was still on the three month trial and switched to Smart Telecom as it was Esat BT stills trails Eircom in the market according to our survey

rauese - Yi . e- r-

services

cheaper and faster."

Some didn't have the luxury of choice to make a switch. "There are no choices," wrote one reader, "because there are very few offers from other providers."

Leaving the gripes aside, we also lL- Q asked people to grade what they used their broadband for and gave them a ^^rome. products & services login list of categories to choose from, including e-mail, Spxial offers. browsing the Web, messaging, VoIP, teleworking, using P2P networks for file sharing, online

26 â&#x20AC;˘ january 2006

Positive for the most part

In conclusion, most readers had a positive view of broadband and were happy with their service in terms of upload and download speeds, but there was a significant minority or whom broadband turned out to he a disappointment and who were unhappy with the service they received from their suppliers. It will he interesting next year to see whether growing familiarity with broadband will have led to a rise in the number of different applications people use it for, over and above web browsing and e-mail. Might the problems some of you have experienced with your broadband service, particularly regarding connection speeds, be hindering the adoption of more ambitious applications â&#x2013; than web browsing and e-mail:

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Let the games A great gamer in the making needs a mighty machine. The experts at Peats provide a guide to building the ultimate gaming PC GAMING and garners are well and truly out in the public and gaming is no longer something only done in the locked den of a teenager's room. It is a dedicated and recognised sport with millions of players pitting their wits against each other for days at a time at organised LAN parties and tens of millions more fighting it out across the Web. For an uncanny few it could be seen as a career option with a good deal of money up for grabs and the opportunity for lucrative sponsorship deals - opportunities as yet not seen in Ireland, but possibly just around the corner.

However if you've got the goods you need to get the gear, some might even say without good equipment you're not even at first base so we asked staff member and gaming expert at Peats, Almir Kahrimanovic, for advice on the best of what's around and to explain what you need to think about when setting up your PC.

Build in stages When getting into the gaming scene you may find you want to set up your

The player

iii

machine bit by bit and build it yourself - this will save you a lot of money in the long run and you'll get a machine that works for you. There is a lot of information out there on the Web, and on dedicated forums and gaming sites like Gamespy.com and the gaming area at Boards.ie where you can get advice, chat to serious garners and get free or subsidised downloads.

The key components Almir says putting your machine together shouldn't end up putting you in debt - a good gaming PC if you customise it yourself with good parts shouldn't cost you any more €800; reusing older parts of PCs can save you a lot on cost.

Power supply You can get a good case for €45 with a 400w power supply unit (PSU).

Processor Then you'll need a processor and you've got two choices in Intel or AMD. Intel chips are rated higher in gigahertz

Rickard Sundberg - an Irish gamer on the trail of glory

Hardcore gamer profiled RICKARD SUNDBERG aka RUMBLEBee is one of Ireland's leading garners.

RUMBLEBee is a Quake4 player and is heading towards the CPL (cyber professional league) 2006 World Tour.

He plays for Rize Gaming Ltd (www. rize-gaming.net) - an ambitious gaming organisation but says to make it through the World Tour it will take a massive amount of commitment and belief, and hundreds of hours of pre-event practice.

This is aside from a considerable financial commitment, as though the top players in the

28 • january 2006

world can clear a quarter of a million a year, sponsorship deals and regular money for garners in Ireland is thin on the ground.

He has considered switching permanently to online poker which generates more regular earnings and larger prize pools but at 20 years of age he has time to think about what he wants to do with the rest of his life.

He says regardless of whether he has to pay

than AMDs, which makes them seem faster, but AMDs can usually do more per clock cycle, AMD is generally better than Intel for gaming. You can get a decent AMD 64 Processor socket 939 for around €169 and Intel Pentium 4 socket 775 processor for €179.

Cooling systems When you buy a CPU you will generally get a heat sink and a fan with it but it never hurts to invest some money into a good cooling system for your CPU. Why? Because in order to play your favourite games for as long as you want your system needs to be kept cool. The price for one of these coolers is around €20 to €139 for a state-ofthe-art liquid cooling system. To

his own way through the World Tour event he is committed to giving it a go and wants to continue to be a part of the gaming revolution.

"The gaming events have some nice prizepools, (2005 had a combined CPL prizepoo of $1 million over the stops globally), but in reality that's not what I want. I just want the title as one of the best, or the best. In gaming the money is just a nice bonus at the moment."

He describes competing at the highest level as a huge adrenaline rush but to get to that top level you need to dedicate yourself.

"The top players practice anything from eight to 14 hours a day regularly with one to two week boot camps prior to events but making a living out of it in Ireland is a long shot investment."

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world of electronics be on the safe side ensure your system has at least two 80mm fans which cost around €3.99.

Motherboard You'll need a motherboard that supports a PCI Express card and you've got a choice between AMD 64 or Intel. For AMD 64, Amir recommends an (socket 939) motherboard, (€169) and for Intel the ASUS P5GDC Pro (socket775) motherboard (€139).

Security firewall Another feature is to have a hardware firewall embedded into the motherboard to protect hackers getting access to your machine. If you are a gamer you're likely to have a better machine then average so you've got to be prepared to be targeted.

Memory Next up is the RAM. It is important that you have at least 512MB of RAM because Microsoft Windows XP alone can use up to 256MB and the two motherboards above use DDR RAM. A stick of 512MB DDR RAM (400 Mhz Speed) will cost you €65, also shielded RAM would be recommended so you can overclock it but this should be attempted by the more experienced users.

Graphics engine You'll need a good graphics card and when choosing a graphics card you should know that if you choose a good card you can compensate for the lack of power of your CPU. So if you buy a cheaper CPU then you should buy a good graphics card because graphics card makes all of the difference in the world of gaming. A good graphics card is the Sapphire Radeon X800GTO which has 256MB of DDR3 PCI-Express and costs around €209. If your budget is bigger then try GeCube Radeon X850 Pro which is also 256MB DDR3 PCI-Express and costs around €279.

Sound card Then choose a sound card that will allow you to experience your games to their full potential and

Grinding away at the same game, six to eight hours a day, fiver or six days a week with no guaranteed income is not everyone's piece of pie, although many Irish hard-core players supplement their incomes with online poker, he says.

Rumblebee was signed up for the CPL Winter pre-tour qualifier event with a $200.000 prizepurse but pulled out, as he wasn't overly comfortable playing a newly released game called Q4.

"I want to give the game some time to develop with the modifications which will be released in the coming months before I participate in the big events. Because if I'm going to participate it means that I have to play several hours every day and that's

Creative's X-FI Platinum (€195.99) comes with three modes build into it: the gaming, entertainment and music creation modes. The latter also allows you to rip your own music and create MP3s without background noise due to its 24 bit crystalliser. The 24 bit crystalliser enhances the sound of your games and movies.

Hard drive capacity For your hard disk drive you should look for at least 8MB buffer, 7200rpm and 40Gbs of capacity. The price for a 40GB hard drive is around €59 a 3.5" Floppy Disk Drive, will be your saviour when your system crashes or fails to load. Our expert stresses to trust him on this one. Also don't forget a CD/DVD-ROM or CD/DVD-RW drive, you can get a good dual layer DVD-RW for around €59.

Other things to consider And last but by no means least you'll need a mouse, a keyboard and a monitor. Logitech has the MX1 000 which is around €89 but whatever mouse you use you'll need not less than 800dpi.

For a keyboard you can use any standard keyboard which starts at around €9.99 or you can choose dedicated keyboards such as Logitech's G15 Gaming Keyboard which allows you to program your own macros and execute them in a game play which can lead you to victory. This keyboard will cost you around €79.

For screen size something no less than 17" will suffice and if possible TFT or LCD - these usually cost around €289 plus VAT, but CRT screens can also be used which are a lot cheaper.

Of course you are going to care that your machine looks good and there are extra pieces and features you can add, like case fan grills which come customised and cost around €2.99, LED case fans (€6.99) illuminating cathodes (€9.49) and fluorescent cables (€11) for additional colour.

Chances are when you know where to look you can get almost any kind of modification for your PC, it's just a matter of knowing what, deciding on a budget and making up your mind ■ to stick to it.

something I can't do if I don't enjoy the game."

He says pro gaming is growing and anyone keen to get in on the scene should check out websites like www. esreality.com, www.gotfrag .com and www. ggl.com.

Professional gaming is defined by tournaments like the CPL and Starcraft in Korea, which is televised and hugely popular.

The Painkiller CPL WT finals were also covered on MN Overdrive where you could stream the matches from through your PC and watch commentary without having the game, which brought in people who didn't even know this type of gaming existed, he says.

"Prizepools are getting bigger, the scene is getting bigger and no-one can tell when or if it will stop growing."

January 2006 • 29

Gear of the garners Graphics cards The Gigabyte 7800GTX, with PCI-Express 16 and SLI Compatibility is where its at with top of the line graphics cards and is suitably priced at €579.

Sound cards The audio aspect of Creative's X-Fi Elite Pro makes it worth its weight in gold; its 24-bit Crystalizer enhances MP3s & Movies to sound better than they do on their original CD or DVD (€344.99).

Surround sound Logitech Z-5500 5.1 speakers (€399) offer new innovations like real-time digital sound equalisation and powerful, distortion free bass.

Motherboard The Abit Fatality A8N SU for € 229 is specially designed for AMD Socket 939 Athlon 64/64FX and Athlon 64 X2 dual-core Processors. The Abit Fatality A8N offers Nvidia NF4 SU single chip and Nvidia Gigabit Ethernet with Nvidia Firewall and supports NV SATA 3G RAID.

Mice and keyboards The Logitech Razer Copperhead Gaming Mouse (€79) has a 2000 DPI Laser Engine, with 1000Hz Ultrapolling with 1 ms response time and a 32KB onboard memory. With seven independently programmable buttons optimised with Razer's Hyperesponse technology for ultra tactile button feedback and maximum actions-per -minute, response time is optimised with the Copperhead and its ergonomic , ambidextrous design make play time comfortable for the masses.

Logitech's G15 Gaming Keyboard (€79) is cool because you can create new macros and keep track of system information without leaving your game. The illuminated keys make seeing in low light conditions easy and the GI 5 has convenient media keys for easy management of audio and video playback.

Headsets Sennheiser PC140 (€59.95) - these neckband-style headsets incorporate noise cancelling microphones and a mute switch with inline volume control and CD/DVD/MP3 players.

Screens The thin, two tone silver and black design of the Prestigio 17" TFT combined with its integrated stereo speakers and 12ms response time provide excellent value for hard earned cash at €289. The Prestigio 17" has 450:1 contrast ratio, dual voltage compatibility and anti-reflection treatment on screen.

Mods The Gigabyte 3D Galaxy Water Cooler (€139) cools P4 478, 775 and Athlon64 754 and 939 and with its built-in safety shut off this product is an outstanding performer. The radiator can be mounted internally or externally and installation is easy.

digital photography & printing

Image

4 `,

Pick of the photo printers

if your snaps are too embarrassing to show the family or just not up to scratch, it's time to take advantage of photo-editing software and make a good impression

Diminutive devices that output your photos at home are put under the spotlight he advent of compact photo printers has allowed digital camera owners to create a photodeveloping lab in their own home. Rather than battling with high-street photo kiosks or emailing photos to an online service, today's compact photo printers allow you to produce 6" x 4" photos from a computer, CD, USB key, over Bluetooth or directly from a camera or memory card.

Two printing models are currently available. Inkjet printers use a traditional ink cartridge, which generally produces more vivid colours, but they take longer to print. Dye-sublimation printing uses a thermal transfer method to produce images. Aside from producing high-quality prints, dye-sublimation (dye-sub) prints are quicker to arrive and aren't susceptible to smudging.

We've looked at three of each and weighed up each model based on features, print speed, print quality and the price per print. The price per print is based on the cheapest paper/ink bundle we could find.

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novice user, we'll include the icon that

HP Photosmart 475 Price €349 Harvey Norman 01 890 9900 :: It's twice as expensive as Epson's offering, but packed with features. As well as support for most memory card types, there is an integrated 1.5Gb hard disk for storing photos. This means images can be stored on and printed from the printer.

There's a TV-out socket and remote control for viewing and printing images using a TV screen as the display.

A USB Bluetooth dongle, which will cost you another €27.99, allows for wireless

o you've made the leap to digital photography and it really does seem as easy as everyone says. Until, that is, you download the snaps from your digital camera.

With hindsight, perhaps auntie Nora won't appreciate the fact you have inadvertently focused on her S unsightly mole, making it look twice as large as usual.

And will over-serious cousin Sean appreciate the bunny ears someone has given him by sticking their fingers up behind his head?

Unlikely. Something has to be done and fast. But where to start?

Most of us have photo-editing software that came bundled with the PC or the digital camera we bought, but often we end up overwhelmed by the array of tools and, uncertain of where to begin, we simply choose to file it under `too hard'. Cue the embarrassing family album no one ever gets to view.

In the interests of family harmony, we decided to offer a refresher course in the most basic of image-editing tools and, because there are so many packages available, we're not going to focus on any particular one. Instead, we will break down tools by the kinds of task they are suited to. This means we'll look at three main groups of tools: those that control, those that select, and those that add effects to digital photographs. To make it simple for even the most

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The zoom tool allows you to select a part of the image to look at closely and pan in and out

30 • january 2006

digital photography & printing

<< printing. The battery pack, another extra that will cost €79, tucks in underneath the printer for portable printing.

The 475 was slow compared to the others at one minute, 40 seconds per print, but just 29c per print is very cheap.

Standard ink cartridges are used. The tri-colour can be swapped out for a greyscale one, which produces better results for black and white photos. The colour prints were as rich as results from the Canon and Epson printers, but lacked the same definition. We noticed slight speckling on skin tones and small text wasn't as easy to decipher,

makeover Pressing the delete key will remove the image from the selected area

Canon Selphy CP71O

The freeform tool lets you trace around irregular shapes

:: The CP710 is the second most expensive device here . It has a USB connection for Pictbridge-compatible cameras and slots on the front for memory cards, so a PC isn't needed to generate prints.

There's also an LCD screen for previewing prints. If you do want to print from a computer, Canon has included a good, easy-to-use range of software for storing, stitching and printing photos.

The CP71 0 is one of the smallest printers here, but because it feeds paper out the back and through the front, you need around 19cm of free desk >>

usually represents the tool under discussion in the tool palette - so look for something similar in the program that you have. Before long, you'll be able to diffuse family tensions and make the most of your digital camera.

The first thing to say is that there's no need to be concerned about ruining precious pictures. If you're new to image editing, open your chosen photo and use the application's Save As option to create a copy. This is usually found under the File menu at the top of the window. Now you can experiment and learn on the copy. If you make a mistake and don't want to start all over again, hold down the Ctrl key and press Z - this will reverse the last action made in the application.

Control tools enable us to negotiate our way around, into and out of the image. The Hand tool (also known as the Pan tool) is the simplest and is named such for obvious reasons; it looks like a hand and allows us to move - or pan - our way around the image. It is of most use when the image being viewed is larger than the program window, such as when taking a close look at a part of an image using the zoom tool. To pan around, click on the hand tool and hold down the left mouse button while dragging the mouse across the image.

To take a closer look we need to use the zoom tool. Shaped like a magnifying glass, the zoom tool allows us to magnify a portion of an image or zoom out of it. Click on the ?Magnifying glass tool in some applications and the cursor will change to a magnifying glass with either a plus sign, for zooming in, or a minus sign for zooming out. Often on tool palettes you will find that some icons reveal more than one tool (which perform similarly themed tasks), and these are usually marked with a small arrow to indicate a drop-down menu. Click and hold to reveal the other tools.

At its simplest, the zoom tool works by magnifying the area you left-click on, although many enable you to hold down the mouse key and drag around a specific area. Often right-clicking will zoom out of the image by a set increment.

Images will appear distorted when you zoom in, because the actual pixels (the tiny dots that make up digital images) will be displayed.

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>>

january 2006 • 31

digital photography & printing

space in front of the device and 10cm behind.

Each 6" x 4" print takes one minute, 13 seconds to appear and, because this is a dye-sub printer, they're ready to handle immediately.

The 41c per print cost is one of the highest here, but print quality is extremely good and on a par with the Epson. Colours are exceptionally rich and vivid, which is quite unusual for dye-sub printing.

There's also an excellent level of detail for printing close-up photos. <<

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Dell Photo Printer 540 Price €160 www.dell.ie :: Dell's shot at the photo printer is a dye-sub model.

It's one of the cheapest to buy but the most expensive to run, costing 47c per print. None of the printers here come with a USB cable so you'll have to factor that into the cost. The 540 is Pictbridge and memory cardcompatible, and the large LCD screen displays clear images.

The printer allows for basic image tinkering without a computer, using simple menus. It will print an index showing all images on a card or camera. The LCD screen will tell you hdw many remaining prints are possible from the film cartridge installed. Trial versions of Paint Shop Pro and Paint Shop Photo album are included but expire after 30 days.

A printing time of one minute, two seconds per print is the fastest in this test. Once during testing, the feed took two sheets at a time. The second sheet could be re-used, but the photo had to be reprinted.

Photos had slight banding and some worrying image noise, and colour levels looked flat compared to results from the other printers.

Epson Picturemate 100 Price €149 Cantec 1350 201117

:: Epson's Picturemate 100 supports Pictbridge and will accept most types of memory card, including XD Picture Card, which will please Fuji and Olympus camera owners.

The 100 has a carry handle and space for a rechargeable battery, which is available as an optional extra. The LCD screen is sharp and there are various options for printing an index, doubles, or with or without a border. The printer also comes with a decent collection of setup >> material and a reference sticker, which

32 • january 2006

Dropper Toal :.,k [o select colour for

The eye dropper can identify a colour...

<< That doesn't mean the printed image will appear like that. To see a representation of the image as it will be printed, look for the zoom percentage - this is usually displayed in the Title Bar of the document. At 100 per cent the image appears normal.

Selection tools enable you to remove or enhance specific parts of an image and most packages include a simple marquee tool for drawing rectangles, circles or ellipse shapes, to a freeform tool that allows you to draw around an unsymmetrical object. In addition, the Eyedropper tool is useful for selecting pixels of a particular colour - for example, selecting a sea or a sky if you wish to replace a section of the image with some other background.

The marquee tools are usually depicted in the palette as a square or circle with a dotted outline. The freeform version normally has an irregular shape, a bit like a clothes hanger. A square-ish object is best handled with the rectangle tool, while an unsymmetrical shape - like the buoy in our snap - is best traced around with the freeform tool. Hold and drag around an area to select it - experiment with different starting positions to get the closest fit. The freeform tool requires you to trace around an image while holding down the mouse button or clicking around the desired area to create a series of dots that the application connects when you re-click on the first dot.

Once you have selected a portion of your image, a flowing dotted line will appear around it. Now only that area will be affected by any changes. The circle or ellipse tools can come in handy to select the red part of an eye in an image where red-eye has occurred.

We wish to lose the buoy entirely, so we have pressed the Delete key and consequently are left with a blank, buoy-shaped hole. We can then select colour to fill this space by using the Eyedropper tool. To do this we would simply click on the Eyedropper tool from the palette, then click on the colour we wish to fill our space with - in our case, the sea. Replacing static backgrounds such as sea and sky can also be done with an effect tool called the Clone Stamp, which we'll investigate shortly.

The more sophisticated your package is, the easier selection tools are to use. For instance, Paint Shop Pro offers an Edge Selecter freeform tool with which you can click on the edges of the shape in question. As you do so, it will stick to the edges of all pixels within the edges of two subtle colour or light differences, thus picking out the object from its background. This made the selection of our buoy a lot easier and gave a cleaner result. This tool is sometimes called the magnetic lasso, because it sticks to the sides of objects within images as you drag it around the rough shape.

digital photography & printing

<< identifies what each button does. In short, it's a great product for those new to home photo printing.

The ink cartridge uses a four-colour high-gloss ink, which prints at an enhanced resolution of 5,760dpi on suitable media using Epson's Resolution Performance Management.

At one minute, 30 seconds each, the Picturemate takes longer to produce images than the dye-sub models, but the cost per print works out at just 32c.

Colours are rich and the inkjet gloss gives photos an extra touch of class.

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Use the clone tool to replace part of an image with a similar colour

Once you know how to move around an image and select parts of it, there is really only one more basic principle of photo-editing to get to grips with. Applying effects can range from simply cropping a large image in order to enhance one aspect of it - a cottage in the middle of a landscape shot, for example - to filling in a hole left by the removal of one part of an image, such as our trusty buoy. Many packages also include lots of preset effects - often called filters - that can transform entire images (see box on the left).

The cropping tool is the one you will use most often - in the palette, it's denoted as a box with a diagonal line through it. Left-click and drag diagonally across part of a photo and a box with a dotted edge will appear indicating the portion of the image you have elected to keep. To change it, drag the resize handles located around the rectangle's border. Once you are happy, double-click and your image is resized accordingly.

Paint also includes a Brush and an Airbrush tool, which you can use to add colour to your image - effectively `painting' it. The colour used is dictated by the colours palette, which is most often found as a square of colour on one side of the working area. Click this to choose a new colour. There's also a clone tool, which you can use to copy and paste part of a picture on to another area.

The marquee tools are useful for copying and pasting one part of a picture to another spot - it's really handy when trying to edit out a small unwanted feature from an image. In our picture of Stockholm, we'll use the clone tool to cut and paste a section of the river, bank and grass over the hole left by the removal of our buoy. From the toolbar, we choose the rectangular selection tool to draw around the portion of the image we wish to copy and right-click.

From the Edit menu, click on Copy and Paste. The Selected matter can

:: This is the only printer here that can't connect directly to a computer, but it's also the only one with a CD writer. You can print via a USB key, CD, Pictbridge camera and six types of memory card and Bluetooth (with an appropriate adapter). The printer is bulky, but it doesn't take up too much desk space.

The large LCD screen is good quality and lets you preview any of the built-in effects, such as red-eye removal.

Another useful feature is the ability to archive digital photos from a memory card, straight to the CD-writer.

Everything is clearly labelled and easy to navigate.

Printing is slow, taking two minutes, 40 seconds to produce a 6" x 4" photo from a memory card almost three times that of the Dell. The printing cost of 43c per photo is a bit more expensive compared to the others. As with the other inkjet models, you might waste ink if one colour runs out before the rest.

Print quality was the worst here, with noisy images and flat colours. This is a shame as the printer has some interesting features.

Price €177

Sony Centres Nationwide :: The DPP-FP50 has an unusual square design and, like the Dell and Canon devices, paper is fed out of the back and into the paper tray at the front, so you need space behind and in front of the unit. >> It prints via Pictbridge and most >>

To which company did Bill Gates award the `Microsoft Green Button Award' in 2004 - HANTAREX HANTAREX. Italian in design . Excellence in engineering

January 2006 • 33

digital photography & printing

memory card types (bar XD Picture Card).

There's no preview display, only a small LCD screen showing menus and the print status. To view pictures from a memory card without a computer, the DPP-FP50 must be connected to a television. Once connected it offers a basic range of editing features such as red-eye removal and adding text to photos.

Print speed comes in at one minute, nine seconds per print, which is one of the quickest here. The printing costs are also cheap at just 34c per print.

Print quality was reasonable but nothing to shout about. As it's a dye-sub model there isn't the same sort of colour depth as the inkjet models, but the detail level is good.

In short, the DPP-FP50 is very much a middle-ofthe-road printer. <<

Compact photo printers are unquestionably useful, but churn out enough prints and it soon starts to get expensive. As we've found out, the price per print varies from model to model and can range from 32p to 42p. The advantage of dye-sub printing is that you know exactly how many prints you will get for your money. Inkjet printing can vary depending on the amount and type of colour used for each photo.

Your choice of compact photo printer will largely depend on what you need it for. The HP and Lexmark devices both come with some technology we haven't seen before - a built-in hard disk and CD writer respectively. We expect to see similar models appearing from their competitors.

The fact is that most people will only be concerned about two things - print quality and the overall cost of printing. The Lexmark may be one of the cheapest, but the photo quality is very disappointing. The Canon model leads the way in terms of photo quality but prints cost 12c more than the HP, which is itself a good all-rounder.

For the best of both worlds, Epson's device is the one to plump for. The print quality really shines, it costs just 32c per print and the unit is the cheapest here at €149. The Canon and HP comes a close second but it is the Epson Picturemate 100 ■ that gets our vote.

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Altered states

Whether creating a groovy mosaic effect from a photo or turning a photographic image into a charcoal drawing or a needlepoint template, you can make much more of your digital snaps by getting to grips with the Filter effects in your photo-editing application.

Look out for the word Effects or Filters in the menu bar. Most are designed to mimic the style of a specific type of photography or art technique, such as embossing an image or rendering it in the style of an impressionist painting.

<< now be dragged to where we wish to copy to. Right-click, choose paste, and drag the selection to the new location.

An alternative is to use the Fill tool - the icon usually resembles a paint tin in mid-tip. This will enable you to reproduce colour from one section of an image to another. This can be a rough-and-ready approach to take where subtle colours are required. For those areas, the clone tool works better.

The clone tool works by taking a sample of one area of the image and copying it on another area. In practice, you first have to select the point to be copied and this is usually done by right-clicking, or holding down the Alt or Ctrl key while left-clicking.

Then let go of the mouse key, move the cursor to the area you want to apply the effect to and hold down the left mouse button to start cloning the image, while moving the cursor over the area. It's important to take the sample from the right spot, because when you begin to apply the clone, the sample point (depicted in our screen grab by the X) remains relative to the cursor; this makes it much easier to sample textured backgrounds and you can also use it to clone people's faces onto another person's body for a giggle. If you've ever wondered what a bald relative may have looked like with hair, the clone tool can help fill you, and their shining pate, in.

Another useful feature found on the tools palette of many image-editing applications is the sponge.

This changes the colour saturation or vividness of an Paint includes a brush that can be used to area when used. In blackadd colour from the and-white images, it changes palette to an image the contrast. Once you have selected sponge from the toolbar, you will be able to specify your requirements and then drag the sponge over the portion of the image you wish to modify.

While a picture can often paint a thousand words, a few well-chosen ones added to the image itself can bring out the meaning or impart a message.

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W e thought you needed a good reason to go out and invest in a new digital camera or indeed a photo printer for the home, so we asked the manufacturers for the lowdown on their latest offerings. This is what we and they come up with.

Nikon has added wireless capability to its latest digital cameras. The Coolpix P1 and Coolpix P2 with 8- and 5.1 megapixels respectively, offer built-in Wi-Fi wireless networking support. You can throw out your cables and wires and send all of your photos to a particular computer through the wireless connection.

Nikon also points out three unique features that are on both cameras. A D-Lighting function creates a copy of an image that suffered due to excessive back light or insufficient flash. The copy will have enhanced detail and corrected light. The Portrait Mode detects a human face in the frame and sharpens the focus. The third feature is a red eye fix which is nothing really new.

The Wi-Fi connection also allows cable-free direct printing to PictBridge-compatible printers. Wireless connectivity for your camera is a great advantage and another example of the global push towards a wireless world. The Coolpix P1 and P2 cost €519 and €419.

The picture is now ready, with the buoy removed and replaced with a colour copied from another part of the image The HP Photosmart 422 Portable Photo Studio with M Series Camera bundle is a 3-in-1 that

letter of the alphabet in the palette, usually a T or an A, which represents the text tool.

Clicking on the image using this tool will do one of two things, depending on your particular application. Either a flashing cursor will appear on the image, enabling you to enter text, or a window will open where text can be typed in.

In either case, it's possible to change the font and point size of the text in a way similar to word processing programs, by highlighting the text using the mouse, then choosing options from the menu bar at the top of the screen.

covers all aspects of your photographic needs. It features a digital camera, docking station and colour printer.

You can take pictures with the 5.2 megapixel camera and place it on the printer which has an integrated docking station. There you can preview and edit the photographs before printing them out. And this device is portable with HP claiming it can fit in a handbag or glove compartment.

For someone who has everything or even someone who is just starting out this option covers all bases. You can even use an optional wireless Bluetooth adapter to connect to phones and PDAs. Photosmart 422 Portable Photo Studio costs €239.

One of Sony's new offerings in the digital arena is not for a beginner. Sony's Cyber-shot R1 is for someone who really wants to take their photography to a new level. Sony claims that the R1 is the world's first still camera that combines a large 10.3 effective Megapixel CMOS sensor and a

Once you know how to manoeuvre around an image and make a selection of elements within it and then change them, it becomes easy to explore a photo-editing package and really get to grips with all its features. The Help files are a useful resource for giving you an overview of a feature of the program and providing a step-by-step guide to using it. And if you still need motivation, imagine cropping that hideous ex-boyfriend out of old birthday snaps, or filling in uncle Arthur's bald patch for his 60th birthday card.

Memories are so much nicer with a little airbrushing.

high quality 24mm-120mm (35mm) Carl Zeiss Zoom lens in the same body. Furthermore the Real Imaging Processor has been improved resulting in a shorter response time. This heavy duty camera has a multitude of options and enough features to make your cameraphone pictures look like drawings compared to the photos the R1 will produce. Of course, there is a hitch. Sony's Cyber-shot R1 retails for €1,049.

For about half the price, Sony offer the Cyber-shot N1. This is a compact digital camera that features 8.1 effective megapixels and a large 3" touch screen LCD. It also comes with a Carl Zeiss lens. Although the N1 is not as strong as the R1, it is more compact which may be more up your alley. It retails for €579.

Canon will have a new processor in many of its cameras come Christmas. The Digic II replaces With the

the original Digic processor which means a stronger, faster camera for the consumer.

new processor, a camera in quick shot mode should take outdoor shots in 2 seconds and indoor shots in 4 seconds. It also means you can take constant photos until your memory card fills up

Most image editing programs offer quick-fix functions for those of us who like the thought of being photo-editing whizzes, but cannot quite muster the energy.

Digital correction filters for common problems such as grainy images (called noise for those in the know) are often on hand. Backlighting, flash and that unearthly coloured glow that sometimes afflicts your snaps can also be corrected with a few clicks of the mouse.

A common feature in most quick-fix menus these days is a red-eye reduction tool. Most photographers find that portraits of saintly aunts can appear satanic when unwittingly taken with an evil red-eyed glare. Hovering this tool over the affected pupil, detects the red and converts it to black. Only the most puritanical of image editors will 0 be able to resist.

without the camera ever slowing down.

Canon will also be offering some very cool effects on its cameras. Colour swap and colour keep are two such effects. With colour swap, you interchange colours on the photo with the press of a button. If you and your friend appear in a picture together, you can swap each other's shirt colour.

Colour keep can leave your photos with a Hollywood feel. You can choose one colour in the photo and let the rest change to black and white. This would look similar to the effect in such movies as Sin City or Schindler's list.

It looks like Canon's Ixus Wireless will be competing with Nikon's Coolpix cameras for the wireless market. It too features a Wi-Fi connection for easy connectivity and picture transfer. It sports 5 megapixels putting it on par with the Coolpix P 2. It also features one of the new Digic 11 processors. The Ixus wireless is not on the Irish market just yet, but it will more than likely sell at a E price near the Nikon's Coolpix cameras.

january 2006 • 35

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Bigger and b et The Toys 4 Big Boys Show 2005 was the ultimate male lifestyle event... with something for the

girls too

A imost 26,000 visitors checked out the newest release gadgets, cars, technologies and in-home devices at Toys4BigBoys shown at the RDS this past November, a record crowd and a huge growth in the number and diversity of exhibitors.

Toys4BigBoys in 2005 offered something for everyone, regardless of age, gender or budget and all involved had a great time, many trying out and going home with purchases and an overwhelming majority pledging their support, and keenly awaiting the 2006 event.

X-Fi and portable music rocks Creative was exhibiting its new X-Fl audio card and the full range of MP3 players. Its stand was separated into two sections, a bright colourful MP3 section, with six listening stations for the Zen Micro Photo and a tech savvy X-FI section, where visitors could experience the new X-FI card.

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Entertainment PCs and printers on show HP and Microsoft combined the latest in computer technology and software to produce the ultimate entertainment experience - this was a must-see for those interested in future technology.

In order to accommodate the increased entertainment, the show spread into a fourth hall at the RDS in addition to the active outdoor area, allowing room for an even bigger array of gadgets and gizmos - from toys and handheld devices, to cars and copters to view.

Aston Martin, was on the ^NIotorminder stand, showing off its suite of in-car security and audio products. The cars at the 05 show, Ferrari, Porsche, Lotus Invicta and the Dukes of Hazzard 1969 Dodge General Lee, all lived up to expectations with nearly three quarters of visitors rating them as `Awesome!'

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Cantec Computerstore Large Irish-owned computer retailer, Cantec Computerstore had its massive range of IT products from manufacturers such as HP, Fujitsu Siemens, Canon, Brother, Epson, Microsoft, Sony, Fujifilm, Iomega, Disgo and Iriver on show at the T4BB event and gave a glimpse of new products set to be in store this year.

te rthan ever Car Zone The Car Zone blew many visitors away with some of the coolest cars to be seen in Ireland some to buy and others to fantasise about! This area, in the central part of the main hall, also featured new satellite navigation systems and car security systems that track your vehicle from your mobile phone or computer. The original Bond Car from `The Living Daylights' movie, restored to perfection by

Fun Zone Indoor The Fun Zone offered up a diverse range of attractions and a constant crowd of people filled the Shelbourne Hall in anticipation of the next entertaining event.

The Bscene Fashion Show drew record crowds while some of the best Irish talent showed off their expertise on the spine ramp, on skateboards/BMX bikes and roller blades.

Dirty Sanchez's Pritchard thrilled the crowd on Saturday and Sunday by MC-ing the

"84% of exhibitc said they would exhibit again at the 2006 show"

activities on the Spine ramp, before plunging into a hot tub on the Arctic Spa's stand and whilst being interviewed by film crews, he signed autographs and posed for pictures.

The `FIFA 06 Big Penalty Shootout' competition was there in search of Ireland's fastest penalty taker and hundreds of hopefuls lined up for a chance to break the World Record. A very respectable 74 mph was achieved at the show, not good enough though to exceed the 80.8 mph record! Golf

Sony PSP Dome Visitors experienced the new portable entertainment system in the PSP Dome. The PSP Dome featured a multitude of sampling opportunities and equipment to enable people to experience PSP in a completely unique environment.

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What visitors to the show said: "Great day out, well worth the entry price"

"Skateboards/bike stunts savage" "Taking pictures of children in the helicopter and on the tank was great" "Great to be able to get to it on the Dart" "Could spend all weekend here, great show"

Boats bonanza The guys from Bluewater Marine showed off two awesome boats at the show with both their top of the line express cruiser, the Four Winns 248 Vista, and the more modest Four Winns 180 Horizon on the floor for public viewing.

lovers had their own golf swings analysed by the GolfPro Simulator using state-of-art equipment combining accurate Computer Swing analyses and Club Fitting Technology. Also in the Fun Zone the Sony Experience got its first outing in Ireland and visitors got the chance to use and test everything from the latest Sony technology from mega sound systems and mind blowing home entertainment systems to the tiniest MP3 players and digital cameras.

BT staff offered live demonstrations of broadband applications including photosharing, e-mailing large attachments, music downloads, viewing movie trailers, shopping, Xbox demos and even got a sneak preview of the new Xbox 360! If all this entertainment was not enough you could operate a Helicopter simulator or sit in the real thing, courtesy of Eircopters.

Fun Zone Outdoor Aside from providing great entertainment via Europe's largest climbing wall, Todds Leap thrilled the crowds with the Quad Bike Stunt Show, which was a visual spectacle that left a major impact on the kids from the audience that were selected to accompany the rider through wheelies / 2-wheeled stunts

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Nokia shows off N-series The Creative Solutions team presented the latest in Nokia N-Series phones at the show and Nokia staff answered questions and gave demos of the N91, N90 and N70 top of the line mobiles. There was a lot of buzz about the N91 phone as it has yet to be released and so visitors to the Creative Solutions stand at T4BB 2005 got to see it first of anyone in Ireland.

79% of visitors indicated that they would visit the event in 2006"

and 360 degrees skidding - generating a huge round of applause. The Military Display ranged from the Chieftain Tank and an array of other vehicles ripping up the paddock at the RDS, to the display of weaponry from handguns to machine guns and rifles. The Formula One model racers thrilled the crowd with speeds approaching 100kin/h from remote control racing cars, when in action it sounded like a swarm of bees!

Foundation were on offer and these additions proved such a success that it is anticipated this zone will be developed for next year's show and that the growth in numbers of women attending the show will continue.

Sales galore

Intel Lads Pad Always a must-see at Toys 4 Big Boys, the Lads Pad featured installments such as the Intel E-Shell and Microsoft Windows XP Media Center provided a formidable amount of entertainment value. Catering for DVD, audio, television and VCR, photos, radio and a top of the range home PC in the one box, Media Center does what a whole host of other devices used to do, only in a more elegant and neat way.

Vodafone

Toys 4 Big Girls The 2005 Toys4BigBoys event saw an increase in female attendance, with one day nearly 40% of visitors being female, and in order to cater for this growing audience event organisers introduced an area catering specifically for women wanting to take a break from the show, the Ladies Pamper Zone: Free eyebrow waxing from Brazilia, massages and hair consultations from

It was everything 3G from the Vodafone stand with, the new generation mobiles download music, you could play 3D games and video clips. You could even watch music TV, check out Vodafone's Full Track Music Downloads and see how to download the hottest new tracks around on demo handsets.

From an exhibitors' point of view the success of the show came from both the money visitors spent on the day and the interest the products on offer generated. More than €220,000 of products were purchased at the event and what's more important is that a postevent survey showed 92% of visitors either had, or said they planned to, spend money as a result of the 2005 event.

Firmly established as "Ireland's lifestyle show", Toys4BigBoys returns to the RDS from the 9th through to the 12th of November 2006. To book your place and take advantage of the promotional and resale opportunities at the 2006 show contact: Paul Byrne on 01 207 4256 or e-mail him at paul.byrne@mediateam.ie.

To view photos or video footage of this years show, point your browser @ www.toys4bigboys.ie.

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Find what you're looking for by taking advantage of the MSN Search Toolbar with Windows Desktop Search AT TIMES, using the internet can be something of a headache. There are pop-ups to avoid, forms to fill in and information to be found. MSN Search Toolbar with Windows Desktop Search provides a series of tools that make the internet easier to use, including a long-awaited `tabbed browsing' feature for Internet Explorer. Searches are central to this utility - both on the internet and the hard disk drive. Desktop Search silently indexes all of the files on the PC's hard drive and a Taskbar search box enables you to access information in just a couple of clicks.

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Start by paying a visit to Desktop . msn.com to download the MSN Search Toolbar with Windows Desktop Search. Click the Download Toolbar Now button and save the file to your Desktop. When the download is complete, double-click the saved file (which will be called something like 'MsnSearchToolbarSetup_enus.exe', and click Run when prompted. Click Next, agree to the license agreement, and click Next again. If you still have Internet Explorer running, you will be prompted to close it before the installation can take place. A pop-up window will inform you that indexing is taking place. Click Next to start setting up the toolbar.

On the next screen, you will probably want to leave all of the checkboxes ticked so that the MSN Search Toolbar is displayed in Internet Explorer, Explorer and Outlook. Click Next and then indicate if MSN search engine is to be used as the default in Internet Explorer.

Click Next again and choose the types of files and folders that Desktop Search should index.

Launch Internet Explorer, and if a new toolbar is not displayed, right-click an empty section of the existing toolbar and select MSN Search Toolbar. Notice that there are two levels of toolbar - one displaying the MSN logo and a search box, and beneath this there is a new tab.

This is one of the great features of Search Toolbar - it adds tabbed browsing to Internet Explorer so it is possible to view several websites in a single browser window. More on this later.

To configure Search Toolbar options, click the button displaying a screwdriver and a pair of pliers. Move to the General section and make sure to select the correct country settings, or make a new selection from the drop-down menu. Moving to the Toolbar section, select the buttons you would like to be displayed on Search Toolbar - just clear the tick boxes next to anything that is not of interest. These buttons can always be reinstated at a later date should you change your mind.

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40 • january 2006

Make your selections and click Next. We'll ignore the add-on options for now, so click to clear the tick box and then Finish.

To search for something on the internet, there's no need to visit a search engine - just type a name into the search box and press Enter to use MSN Search. Next to the Search Web button, notice a small arrow pointing down. This menu gives access to a number of options, such as searching news stories, tracking down images, looking up word definitions or searching for encyclopaedia entries.

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This is made easier by automatically highlighting these words - just click on the Search Toolbar button with a fluorescent highlighter and the search term will be shown in yellow wherever it appears on the page. The button next to this is a Highlight Viewer, which displays a preview of the page on the right of the screen with all instances of your search term highlighted. The preview

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One of the more tedious aspects of using the internet is filling in online forms, many of which ask for the same details over and over again. The Form Fill feature of MSN Search Toolbar helps to speed things up.

Click the arrow to the right of the toolbar button depicting a blue pen, select Add Or Change Addresses and then click Add. Fill in all of the fields and click Save All Changes. The next time a website asks you to provide these details, simply click the Form Fill button and it will be done automatically.

While the Form Fill dialogue box is open, you can choose to fill in other personal details that may be required in the future. This feature can be used to store credit card details as well as login information for favourite websites, to save you having to remember them. While this may sound like a worrying security risk, particularly if the computer is shared, when the Credit Card or Sign-In Information links to the left are clicked, the user will be Send This Page prompted to Inbox create a password so Calendar that no-one Send E-mail else can Add a Contact Add an Appointment access the details. i 0 I To view several websites at >> once - when

january 2006 â&#x20AC;˘ 41

If you now invest in a disgo classic U3 USB memory key, you will be getting more than just a smart piece of hardware that allows you to carry all of your data with you everywhere. You will also be getting a device that carries smart software that will increase your productivity levels dramatically.

Now, from the Cleverstuff.ie website, users of the disgo classic U3 key can download U3 Migo Software.

With Migo installed on your disgo classic U3, you can take your computer desktop (files, settings, and morel with you, so you can always access your email, calendar, and other important information when working from different computers. And when you return home, any changes you've Gulhd, Gan,d Fla, made to your data are synchronised ielaGed Sixe: 3.90 ME Used See Die back to your main PC. Cr-,, outlaw lice, is SynoManixe ------------- ---With Migo installed on your disgo classic U3 key, you can access, send and receive your Microsoft Outlook email from any computer that has td Nix, Outlook installed. Synchronise again ieaeived o I,we when you return home and the mail ^N SW Ceniki ResoAr`on 30 days you sent remotely will appear in your 6cam q Remhe m reva of PC no deertens Re,alvelnlavmddevke Sent Items folder on your main PC. ^de,^.laRe uoeo,e,eueeenll.

Notes You can also bring your calendar, ,.mot T, IncdWeorlyiiem, r,Ola, Tian L KB contacts, notes, and tasks everywhere you go, and simply update your home PC when you return.

For web browsing with the Migo-enabled disgo classic U3, you can also store your Internet Explorer favourites, browsing history, and cookies on a disgo classic U3 key and access them automatically on any PC. Perhaps the most important benefit of using Migo with your disgo classic U3 key is that it offers you the ability to automatically carry the most current version of your most important documents, arranged and organised just like your desktop PC at home. This saves you time when looking for files.

You can also port your desktop settings icons, shortcuts, and even your desktop wallpaper, to any PC you use.

Currently the U3 key does not work with Exchange Server-based e-mail accounts, Harvey Norman but a Professional version due to launch in 2006 will. eeâ&#x20AC;&#x17E;ape,

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Use these tabs as an extension of the Favorites list with help from the My Tabs feature. This enables the speedy opening of a number of favourite websites all at once, each in a separate tab. To configure the sites to use in My Tabs, open each of the sites in a new tab to start with. Now click the down arrow to the right of the first button on the lower toolbar and select Set Current Pages As My Tabs. To open these sites in future, just click the same button again.

MSN Search Toolbar features a pop-up blocker to prevent the -. tra pp pa e a O lC m.r .ps ( e.. ,4, r appearance of unwanted advertisement windows. This feature s,w rr ap ^^ sDuC^ ^p.^ lFl a._ r.a„ r areo..r'me0Isc* ,a,dm400,-ur-xh. ppl (tree... rnrsm r'5 is switched on by default, but it can • t71,] Fla,Poar l>a+taalwra.,a,oa00rc-a. wl (r,^s. ,. TA3S mro registry a nd a eaCan s,ca cat be disabled it by clicking the Toolbar . to.

• 3] Flaraarcrppeeaxuywdsoptcanaen t oot (Flea s. .. rN9mvc button showing a red cross - simply • d nee-O,eOae+.bpcOga.r.fn.0mlr.rapp, 0a,a,... hardware, want to reset p,ob(e raton to attempt 10 to p opv, a tick this box again to re-enable. Some sites, however, such as internet I offer ne guarantees for Mls bw ph t o a d d-^; Io banking services, require pop-ups to work. If you visit a site where this is the case, click the down arrow next to the pop-up button and select Allow Pop-Ups << comparing prices, for example - it doesn't take For This Site. Configure several sites at once by long for the Taskbar to fill up with countless selecting Options and entering the relevant buttons for Internet Explorer. The MSN Search Toolbar offers a Solution in the form of tabbed website addresses. browsing. Rather than opening a new browser window to view a site, click the plus (+) button The next four Search Toolbar buttons on the Search Toolbar to bring up a new tab. provide access to various Microsoft tools: You can also right-click on a link and select the Hotmail, Messenger, MSN Spaces and My option to open the page in a new tab.

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Another useful feature is Desktop Search, which is accessed from the Taskbar.

Click in the search box and start typing. As you type, the tool immediately starts searching the hard disk drive for matching files. A pop-up window starts to display results as files are found. Click on any of the results to open the file in question, or click the More link at the bottom of the list if you can't see what you're looking for straight away. Alternatively, click the Web button to search the internet without having to launch Internet Explorer.

Rather than clicking the More link, it's possible to view more detailed search results by pressing Enter after typing the search term. Files matching the search term are displayed to the left, and can be filtered by clicking the Everything, Documents, Email or Other links at the top of the page. By clicking on one of the search results, a preview of the file will be displayed to the right - great if you're unsure if it's the right one.

When you've tracked down the file that you ■ want, double-click to open it.

The set-up wizard starts, recommending you close any other programs. This could save you from having to restart your PC, so it's worth doing, and then click on Next. The wizard will try to put Photobie in the Program Files folder; click on Install to go ahead with this. Click on Finish to complete the installation and to start Photobie.

allows users to view, correct and add elements to their digital images. In this Workshop we'll show you some of the basic tools, while over the next few issues we'll explore the application in more depth.

To open a file in Photobie, you can either click on the File menu and ^Ee4,.h select Open or click on the Open file button on the t oo lb ar. I n the O pen dialo g ue box, browse in the usual way for a file. By default, Photobie will list all graphics files, but if you click on the down arrow by the File type box, you can restrict this to files of a particular type.

To install Photobie, a new icon will have appeared on the Windows Desktop, called `photobieinstaller.exe'. Double-click on this icon to start installing the software.

By default, images are opened in a maximised window. This can be inconvenient, so click on the Restore Down button, just to the left of the Close button. You

Why pay a fortune for an image-editing package when you can download this little gem for free?

ONE of the best things about the internet is that it's home to all sorts of kind people who are happy to share programs and other resources they have created. While these programs don't have the slick finish or advanced features of the expensive products that are available in the shops, they are often more than adequate for the needs of the average person. Here we introduce you to a great free application called Photobie (www.photobie.com), which

relevant program or website will launch, but additional options are available by clicking the arrow next to the main button. It's possible, for example, to go straight to a Hotmail inbox, contact list, create a new contact, or email the current page to someone. Similarly, when using the MSN Spaces button, you can access your Space or start a new blog entry linking to the current page.

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can subsequently resize the editing window to whatever dimensions you fancy, by clicking and dragging on of the borders.

Once a file is open, the Album View can be used to look at your images. Click on the Album menu and select Open Album Directory which Contains Current Image. In the Album view, click on a thumbnail to see it full size, and use the Next and Previous buttons to look through the other images. There are also buttons to zoom in and out, to edit the current image and to return to the main workspace.

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"'' To do any kind of drawing in Photobie, it is important to be aware of the transparency colour. You'll know when this is causing a problem if you draw on an image only for the ink or paint to disappear. Click on the Colour button on the left-hand toolbar, and select a colour not used in the image. Then click on the TransparentColour menu and select the top option to set the Global Transparent Colour.

This should solve any disappearing ink or paint problems.

be smoothed away, and red eyes can regain their normal colour. Select the dropper tool (it looks like a small pipette) from the left-hand toolbar and click somewhere on the image to pick up the colour you want to use. Then select the brush and carefully paint away the problem patch. Zoom in on an area and select a small brush using the brush or pen settings panel for more detailed

corrections.

There's more to image editing than just repairing faults. You can also use this software to have fun, perhaps by adding

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Now click to position, and drag out the oval near to the subject's mouth.

Select the pen and add a squiggle to finish off the bubble. Click on the 'A' button to add some text. A dialogue box appears and the font, size and colour can be selected. The standard setting is very small, at only 8, so you'll almost certainly want to increase this. Type in your text and click OK. _a A Y, 0 V L3 i"F #=:C.;^i'f£;FNeT F'S`;:..?:^"Y✓'0.:«?3'v^P4E

« elements. Select a pen and a colour and draw on the classic moustache and glasses, perhaps. Another fun thing to do with digital photos is to put on speech bubbles.

Zoom in near your victim's head. Select the colour white.

Click on the down arrow by the Fill Shapes button near the top of the left-hand tool bar, and select Oval.

Customise Windows with FreshUl Tweak Windows' settings for optimum performance, security and a personalised computing experience WHILE WINDOWS enables users to change a large number of settings using the Control Panel, there are some irritations that are simply impossible to iron out without turning to a separate program. FreshUl is a fantastic tweaking utility that allows you to remove annoying features and place you firmly in control of the way Windows works. The utility can help improve security and privacy by limiting access and preventing users from making amendments. There are also great time saving options, such as quick access to files 44 • january 2006

that are frequently used, as well as a feature to maximise the efficiency of your PC by closing down system files once the program is no longer in use.

Every time you add something to your photo, a new layer is added. You'll see the list steadily increase in the Layer Manager window on the right of the Photobie window.

You can click on an item to see what is in that layer. This is useful if you want to erase something. So, if the text in your speech bubble was too small, find it in the list, then select the Layer Eraser on the left-hand toolbar. Now you can rub out the text without ■ disturbing anything else.

To download a free copy of FreshUl, launch your web browser and visit www.freshdevices . com/freshui.html.

Click the Download Free link and enter your name and email address before clicking the / Agree button. An email address is needed to receive a free registration code, and it s important not to use a webmail service such as Hotmail instead, use the e-mail address provided by your ISP. Soon, an email will arrive containing a download link for the program.

When the e-mail from Fresh Devices arrives, click the link in the message and then click Download Here beneath FreshUl. Save the file to the Windows Desktop and when the download is complete, double-click the file (which should be called 'frui.exe'). Work through the installation process and then launch the program. By now you should have received another email containing the registration code . From within FreshUl, click Help, select Register and enter the registration code.

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Windows Settings before entering a name for the back up file. Now click File, choose Set Password and type in the desired name. Be sure to tick the box labeled Ask Password To Login and then click OK. This will ensure that no-one else will be able to change the settings.

In addition to the many tweaking options F4 ph!11Rei0tratipn offered by FreshUl code below .

If you dart have Enter yea registration the code or only have old code, ckk he,& and get (which we will the code for free. explore shortly), PCLive User Name the program RegishaUOo Code includes a number X Carrcel of handy shortcuts to built-in Windows r^r..,.a tools. Click the Tools menu and you can gain access to Dr Watson, Before tweaking Windows with the File Signature Verification FreshUl, it's a good idea to utility, Registry Editor and System back up existing settings and Configuration Editor. While configure the program to these tools can be easily accessed prevent other users from from within Windows, it is useful to making changes. Start by have shortcuts in the same place clicking File and selecting Save as all of the tweaking options. ,gel ,g,aa.

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FreshUl presents all of the tweaks in a familiar Explorerstyle tree structure to the left of the screen. We'll start by looking in the Applications section where important security Cancel settings can be changed. If the computer is shared, you may not want others to have access to some of Windows' tools and options.

Expand Applications by clicking the plus (+) sign, click on Regedit and then Disable Regedit.

In the right-hand pane, double-click Enable Registry Application, clear the tick box >> and click OK. january 2006 â&#x20AC;˘ 45

MICHELE NEYLON looks at online photo sharing services IT WASN' T that long ago that digital cameras were considered a luxury item.

Only a very small number of people used them and they were both expensive and awkward.

Nowadays almost everyone either has a digital camera or a phone with a built-in one.

So what do you do with all those photos that you 've taken at the New Year's Eve party? While blackmailing your boss in return for a promotion may seem attractive , sharing your photos online is probably a lot less likely to get you jailed.

If you want to setup an online photo gallery you have two options.

You can either choose to do it yourself or you can subscribe to one of the many online services.

Let's look at both options.

If you have a personal website or blog you may have the option of installing a photo gallery through your hosting control panel. Many hosting providers now offer a choice of scripts pre-installed such as Coppermine (Coppermine. sourceforge.net/) or Gallery (Gallery.menalto. com/). You can also link these scripts into your existing blog or website.

If this all seems too technical for you then maybe a 3rd party service might be more attractive.

There are a growing number of companies offering photo and image hosting services, but the one we'll look at is Flickr (www flickrcom).

Flickr has proved very popular with bloggers , as it allows you not only to share your photos with friends , but with the wider community.

You can "tag" both photos and albums to aid others in finding them, so if you want to find photos from other Irish users you could search for the tags "Ireland", "irish " or "irishblogs". For an example of results see : www.flickr.com/photos/tags /irishblogs/clusters/.

To get started with Flickr you will need to signup for an account. If you already use Yahoo for any other service you can simply login with your Y! details and choose your new Flickr usemame . The basic free account is probably more than enough for most users , but if you need more features you can upgrade to "Pro " account.

Uploading photos from your computer is very easy and Flickr has provided a wide selection of tools for both windows and Mac users (httpJ/wwwflickr.com/tools/). You can even upload the photos via email!

The FIickr . developers have also exposed a lot of functions via an API, so other software developers can hook into it. One such tool allows you to spell any word you wish using other users ' photos. If you go to. http.//metaatem .net/words/pclive . You should see this magazine's title. Refresh the page to see variants.

Links: www.flickrcom

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Now head to the Drives Settings section of the Explorer category.

This offers the option of hiding drives or partitions from Explorer and My Computer or simply rendering them inaccessible to protect private files. The Restrict Drive Access option prevents users from accessing any of the drives contained on a selected drive or partition although the drive will still be visible in My Computer. Use the Show/Hide Drive tweak if you'd prefer them to be invisible.

Moving down the Explorer menu, two Windows irritations can be fixed. Start in the Folder Settings section and click XP Folder Options. Enable the Restore Folder At Windows Startup, and the next time the

computer is shut down prior to restarting, Windows will automatically open any folder that was left open. If you find XP's Search Assistant annoying, head to Search Files Settings and click Using Classic Search In XP. Enable the tweak labeled Use Classic Search In Explorer and the assistant will never be seen again.

In the CD section of Hardware, a number of options relating to the CD drive can be controlled. It's possible, for example, to choose which program is used to play audio discs by default, disable Windows XP's built-in CD burning and turn off the Autorun function. A great little timesaver can be activated in the Mouse Options section of the Mouse category. Tick the box labeled 'Move mouse pointer to default button', and whenever a dialogue box opens, the mouse pointer will jump to where the buttons are.

More security options can be found in the Control Panel section of the Windows Interface category.

Use Control Panel Options to completely disable access to the Control Panel or use the Hide Folders In Control Panel to block access to individual applets.

Further down the list, choose the options that you want accessible on various control windows - Display, Network, Password, Printers and System - to prevent unwanted changes being made to the Windows settings.

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When saving a file in the likes of Microsoft Office, the Save dialogue option appears in the Places Bar to the lefthand side. This provides fast access to a number of frequently used locations on the hard disk, such as My Documents. Head to the Windows Interface Settings section and click Windows Open/Save Dialogue Box Places Bar. Double-click one of the entries to the right and add up to five folder shortcuts.

FreshUl can also be used to customise the Start menu for security purposes, or just to help reduce its size. Go to the Start menu section of the Windows Interface category. Use the Cascaded Menus tweak to add a full list of Control Panel options to the Start menu, and speed up reaction time by reducing the Menu Reaction Delay setting from 400 to 50. Using the various `Show/Hide' options, remove numerous elements from the Start menu to help cut it down to size.

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When a program is closed, any system files it was using should be automatically closed down - but this is not always the case. Leaving these files in memory is a waste of system resources that can gradually slow down your computer and cause stability problems. To fix this, open the Windows System category and click Advanced System Settings followed

by Force Windows To Unload DLLs

From Memory. Make sure that the Always Unload DLLs tweak is enabled and click OK. If a typing error was made when installing Windows, or if you bought the computer and found out that Windows was registered to the company it was bought from, head to the Other section. Use the Owner/Company tweak to make the necessary changes. Beneath this, the Uninstall Software

Level 2

Install a games controller Configure a dedicated handheld games controller to make it easier to play your favourite leisure titles COMPUTERS aren't just about creating wordprocessed documents and spreadsheets to handle administrative tasks and accounts, or even browsing the internet in the evening.

There's fun to be had by playing the latest games as well.

While the majority of games can be controlled

using a keyboard or mouse, or sometimes both, it is often a little fiddly, and there can be a large number of key combinations to remember. Adding a games controller, be it handheld or an upright joystick, to your system is not only cheap and simple, but it will make it much easier for you and other players to enjoy the variety of games on offer.

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List Editor can be used to tidy up any entries that have been left in the Add Or Remove Programs Control Panel after uninstalling a piece of software.

The Covering Your Tracks category provides users with a number of options to help protect privacy. For example, prevent Windows from maintaining the My Recent Documents list from within the Options List 1 section. Similarly, opt to clear the Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer histories when turning on the computer, so other users can't tell which sites and files you have been accessing.

Use the Windows `Junk' Files section to quickly and easily free up hard disk space by ■ removing unnecessary temporary files.

Whether you've decided to opt for a console-style gamepad or a more traditional joystick, you will find that virtually all modern game controllers connect to your computer using a USB connection. If you have used up all of your USB ports with your mouse, keyboard, printer and other peripherals, you may want to invest in a USB hub. These work in much the same way as a socket doubler, enabling you to plug more than one device into a single

connection.

In the majority of cases, all you will need to do is plug in your controller and it will be automatically installed. You probably won't even have to click any confirmation boxes because Windows has a number of standard drivers built in. You may notice the `New Hardware' icon appear now briefly in the Notification Area by the clock in the Taskbar: this might tell you the name of the gamepad or joystick, and inform Q Fight yoke a figN slick (-J Pace c,co!,dk, you when its work is complete. More advanced controllers, such as force-feedback devices, may require a special driver that you will have to install before connecting the device.

january 2006 • 47

2-Axis,B-Button properties

followed by the Properties button. This will bring up the Test dialogue box. Press each of the buttons in turn on your controller and you should see the corresponding button light up on screen. Similarly, move the joystick or directional thumbpad in all directions and check that the crosshair on screen moves accordingly.

Settings I Test Test the game controller If the controller is not functioning properly, it may need to be calibrated . To calibrate it, go to the Settings page.

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Open the Control Panel (from the Start menu) and doubleclick Game Controller - this can be found in the Printers And Other Hardware section if you are working in Category view. The new controller should be listed as a device with a status of 'OK'. If the number of buttons has been incorrectly detected, select the controller and click Add and then select the correct type of device from the list before clicking OK. If you can't find a suitable device listed, click Custom and enter the details manually.

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Axis Calibration Press all of the 0 Pad's comers, then press a button on the controller.

If you decide to add more than one controller, you will need to indicate which should be the default device. Click Advanced and select your preferred controller from the list before clicking OK. Now click your controller in the list

Even if the controller seems to be working properly, it's a good idea to calibrate it, so move to the Settings tab and click the Calibrate button to start the Game Device Calibration Wizard. Click Next, make sure your directional pad or stick is centred, and click Next again. Now move your pad or stick as far as you can in all directions and click Next.

Finally, leave the controller centred once more and click Next, Followed by Finish. If you return to the Test tab, you should find that the controller is properly configured.

You're now ready to start gaming! Even though the controller has been fully configured in Windows, it's likely that each new game will require adjustments of its own.

Load up the game and head to the Options or Configuration section. It may be possible to select the gamepad and start playing straight away, but it may be that you have to assign individual game actions to the buttons that are ■ needed on the controller.

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allianc%lectric ALLIANCE ELECTRIC Retailer: Alliance Electric Outlet: 7 Castle House, South Great Georges St , Dublin 2 Phone : 01-4755755 Website: in development Email: allianceelectric@eircom.net Brand names supplied: Sony, Panasonic , JVC and Canon Online photo Processing: No Current special offer promotion: The leading camcorder centre in Ireland to stock consumer / professional and broadcasting camcorders would like to offer PC Live! readers a 10% discount for May.

HARVEY NORMAN Retailer: Harvey Norman Ireland Outlet(s): Swords - Airside Retail Park and Dundalk- Dundalk retail park.

Phone : Swords 01 890 9900, Dundalk 042 9396600 Website: To be announced shortly. email: mark. poIlard@harveynorman.ie and melissaw@harveynorman.ie Brand names supplied : Canon, Fuji, Sony, Kodak, Casio, HP and Olympus In-store photo processing: Yes Online photo processing: No Current special offer promotion: Free 128mb card with every digital camera purchase. Fantastic new prices on 1gb Memory cards. Phone stores for details.

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4. Fairgreen Shopping Centre, Co. Carlow. Phone : 059 9134300 Website: www.canteconline.ie Email: computers@cantecne.ie Brand names supplied : Canon, Fujifilm, HP, Casio, Epson, Trust, Olympus

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Outlet : Online Website: www.midwestaudiovisual.com email: info @midwestaudiovisual.com Brand names supplied : Olympus, Fuji, HP, Sigma, Samsung Online photo processing: NO Current special offer promotion: 44 x Ni-MH AA 2000mah Rechargeable Batteries €9.99, HP R717 6.2 mp €249.95, all prices include VAT and delivery.

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ESB Retailer: ESB Shopelectric Outlet(s): 54 shops Nationwide, including Superstores in Blanchardstown, Nutgrove, Coolock, and Fleet St. in Dublin and also Tralee, Mullingar, Longford and Tullamore.

THE CAMERA CENTRE Outlet(s): Grafton Street, Tallaght, Blanchardstown Phone (s): Grafton St: 01 677 5594 Tallaght: 01 45 21105 Blanchardstown: 01 822 1989 Website: www.cameracentre.ie email: sales@cameracentre.ie Brand names supplied : Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Fuji, Konica Minolta, Casio, Samsung, HP, Sony, Kodak.

In-store photo processing: Yes Online photo processing: Yes Current special offer promotion: Fuji F455 Kit @ €299 Fuji 345 Kit @ €219 Fuji 350 kit @ €249 Canon MV800 @ €399 Canon CP/500 Printer @ €159

Phone: 353-1-6765831 Website: www.esb.ie email: shopelectric@esb.ie Brand names supplied : Sony, Canon, Kodak, Samsung, Fujifilm, Casio,

January 2006 • 49

The Logitech Playgear pocket case for PSP

Protective shells An absolutely necessary thing for PSP players will be to get their hands on some protective armour for their gaming machine.

Logitech's Playgear Pocket is perfect for keeping dust and damage at a distance from the PSP and has a couple of other uses to boot. The Playgear Pocket is virtually indestructible so will keep the PSP safe, its lid can come in handy to shade the sun while playing and if you want to watch a movie the lid comes into play when you tip the device up and prop it so the lid is in use as a stand. Magic!

Pim p

your PSP Protective shells, plug-in speakers etc.. .your portable console will look fabulous with

these add-ons

Stormin ' stereo For good stereo sound when you're out and about on your PSP without having to plug in your headset, the Logitech's Playgear puts out loud clear audio from its two maneuverable speakers. It's fairly easy to carry around too, coming with a separate case about the size of a regular CD wallet, making taking it with you to watch share a movie with a friend a breeze.

Solar power If you can grab enough sunlight from somewhere at this time of year a really cool accessory for the PSP is the Logic 3 solar charger. Part of the responsibility of owning a PSP is ensuring its battery is topped up when and where you need it so having an extra power source is of the utmost importance.

The Solar Charger opens up to reveal two solar panels which when charged provide enough power to fully recharge a PSP or can be used as an external power source. The downside being it can take a while (up to eight hours) to actually charge up but if you're not near a standard power source it's a great alternative.

Power backup

Logic 3 solar power for the PSP

50 â&#x20AC;˘ january 2006

For protection and power wrapped into one, Nyko has made the Chargercase available, an aluminum case with a built-in rechargeable battery. The chunky black case provides heavy duty protection with the ability to fully charge your PSP while another inbuilt battery source provides up to seven-hours extra playtime.

Another bonus is the case's sturdy construction and a recessed latch that prevents accidental openings.

Contact : Gamestop 01 872 4305

Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness Has Pokemon finally lost its appeal?

AT THIS POINT in the long and illustrious history of Pokemon, garners have got to be the most serious of Pikachu-lovers to really get into a new game. Could it be that, as the years have rolled on, catching them all has somehow lost its tantalising allure?

Poke problems The plot of Gale of Darkness revolves around the capture and purification of poor little shadow pokemon that have been perverted into tools of evil. As players progress through the incredibly monotonous program of battle-battle-snag-battle, they'll meet forgettable characters that pretty much only exist to provide fodder for your growing horde of pocket monsters. Maybe it would be more exciting if there was some actual challenge involved, but most of the battles amount to a rock, paper, scissors competition where your opponent is limited to "rock" for their arsenal. While it is somewhat understandable that the difficulty be ratcheted down >> for the younger fans of the

Multimedia PC

The Chronicles of Narnia : The Lion , S The Witch and The Wardrobe C.S. Lewis' classic tale is faithfully ported into gameplay WITH the holiday season comes the slew of big-time Hollywood films and their accompanying licensed products. For garners this means wading through a sea of mediocre movie games aimed at making a quick euro.

Thankfully, The Chronicles of Narnia isn't one of these gaming experiences, although it does fall into a few of the dreaded movie-game cliches (like loads of lengthy clips from the film). Based closely on the movie of the same name (which is, of course, based on C.S. Lewis's classic series of children's books), The Chronicles of Narnia is an enjoyable if unremarkable co-operative actionadventure title that takes its cue from other surprisingly decent, multiplayer movie-to-game adaptations - like Shrek 2.

Once upon a time The simplistic and straightforward gameplay is understandably geared toward younger audiences, and probably won't appeal to older garners who aren't fans of the film or feeling nostalgic about their favourite childhood story books. That said, Narnia sports enough variety in its four heroes and their distinct skills to make it a satisfying adventure. The aesthetic presentation is appealing enough, with bright, pleasant visuals, a motion picture soundtrack, and a responsive control scheme that only suffers when selecting targets for Susan's projectile attacks. Plus the basic group fighting sequences are punctuated with a few fun segments such as hiding from an approaching foe or racing downhill on an avalanche, which helps to ward off the monotony.

Into the closet Despite the overall quality of the game, there are a few problems in the land of Narnia. The difficulty can leap to disproportionate heights in a few odd places, and sometimes it can be difficult to realise what needs to be done in order to advance. The between-level load times are also slow, but the greatest concern is the unhelpful and idiotic friendly A.I. that leaves you alone, fending off hordes of attacking wolves while your siblings stand stupidly by. Although it may not match the majesty of the books, The Chronicles of Narnia is still a solid choice for a group of younger garners.

SPECS The Chronicles of Narnia : The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe Rating: 85% Price: â&#x201A;Ź49.99 Contact : Gamestop 01 872 4305

january 2006 â&#x20AC;˘ 51

level one

Multimedia PC;

Civilization IV This could be the best civilization yet SID MEIER's epic turn-based franchise returns with a far more drastic overhaul than any of its previous sequels, setting the series on a path toward greater accessibility. This is the best Civilization yet... but it' s still only a glimmer of what it could be.

Rise of Nations The concept is simple. As in all Civilization games, you and your opponents start by building a village. While expanding to claim land on the map, you simultaneously manage your existing cities by improving their culture, research, and workload. The game starts in the year 4000 B.C. and runs through 2050 A.D. As the Stone Age gives way to the space age, you'll develop, engage in research, and upgrade from crude catapults to stealth bombers.

The real strategy, however, rests in your diplomatic relations - how are you going to share the map with your opponents? There are six solutions for victory, ranging from the diplomatic approach to full-on military conquest. You can even win a technological victory by being the first to send a manned capsule to Alpha Centauri.

Technological deficits...

Civ IV takes the game board to the world of 3D, so your units move and fight more realistically. In a nice touch, their models even reflect the damage they incur. This is a fantastic improvement to the genre and makes the game far more enjoyable , but in all fairness , this game is still leagues behind current visual standards . Civ IV's aural package includes insightful and amusing quotes from Leonard Nimoy, complimented by an inspiring score and crisp sound effects that are always appropriate but never impressive.

...Lead to strategic superiority Sid Meier and his Civilization development crew know that this game isn't about audiovisual bells and whistles, however, and they focused their improvements right in the heart of the matter - the gameplay.

If God is in the details, Civilization is the high priest of video games.

Each of your cities has a complicated details screen that allows you to micromanage things such as trade routes and development concentrations. Civ IV's greatest improvement is that it drastically simplifies this interface - easier difficulty levels allow you to bypass this screen altogether, while still enjoying a compelling experience.

Thanks to a new RTS-style interface, units and cities can be moved, adjusted and brought into battle with simple mouse clicks on main screen menus. It feels like every element of the interface has been simplified or improved, making the franchise more accessible and intuitive. The vastly improved multiplayer mode, meanwhile, includes a play by e-mail, in case you want to play a match out over a few days.

Civilization IV leaves little to want from fans of the franchise and makes vast inroads towards accessibility for newbies. There are still some strange sticking points - buried icons or inexplicable quirks - that leave room for improvement, and a more complete tutorial would also be helpful. But in the end, this is the tightest Civ yet.

SPECS Civilization IV Rating : 90% Game of the month Price : â&#x201A;Ź54.99 Contact: Gamestop 01 872 4305

Micrc

Kameo : Elements of Power Elves fight trolls with delightful consequences

<< series (of which there are plenty), it certainly doesn't pack any pizzazz for a mature audience. Throw in the pop-y but fairly uninspired soundtrack, and this game could be a complete yawn-fest.

Missing Nurse Joy The fact remains, however, that there are a tonne of people who love and revere Pokemon, and this game delivers on the solid elements that have made this property so popular in the past.

There are a vast number of Pokemon available in this game, each with their own unique abilities, and both the Pokemon themselves and their attacks

have a flashy visual style that truly captures the eye. Still, the fact remains that this title does little to build on the dynamics of past versions, so Pokefans looking for something new and exciting will be disappointed.

Gale of Darkness is not a terminally unplayable game by any stretch of the definition, but garners are going to really have to love Pokemon in order to find gratification here.

SPECS Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness Requirements: Nintendo Gamecube Rating: 70% Price: TBA Contact: Gamestop 01 872 4305

IT'S been a long and hard road to release for Kameo: Elements of Power.

Originally slated for the Gamecube, and then shuffled on to the Xbox and later the Xbox 360, Rare's much-hyped adventure game is finally here and ready to play. But, unlike fine wine, this game hasn't gotten better with time.

Eye candy at its sweetest Kameo: Elements of Power has a lot of things going for it.

For one, it has some of the best visuals you'll see in any Xbox 360 launch title. Environments and character models are incredibly detailed and well-animated, lending the game a tremendous amount of personality. The more expansive levels will also usually throw in hundreds of on-screen enemies, the results of which are jawdropping. While some other games out there for launch look good, Kameo: Elements of Power is perhaps the first game that truly looks great.

Beauty and the beasts As you play through the game, Kameo will gain the ability to call on a number of special element-based animals, such as the icicle-throwing Chilla (the gorilla) and the fire-breathing Ash (the dragon). Each animal has its own unique attacks and powers (as well as embarrassing and juvenile name); it's just a shame that most of them only prove useful when solving puzzles. The combat engine in the game is woefully repetitive and at times unresponsive, turning even routine enemy encounters into a frustrating mess. Granted, the puzzle-solving is pretty spoton, but we literally cringed whenever we had to break out of that mould and turn our attention to actual fighting.

Disappointingly, the storyline of the game is also quite hit and miss. It seems that Kameo's sister has awakened an evil Troll king, but good luck getting that from the game's inane and sometimes confusing cutscenes, including perhaps the worst "game over" sequence ever put in a game. With so much of the game looking absolutely stunning, it's a crying shame that the parts of the game that actually tell the story seem so amateurish and rushed.

Just like a supermodel, Kameo: Elements of Power is all about outward appearances. The visuals are stunning, but the weak and repetitive game-play, the vapid cutscenes, and the groaninducing attempts at humour make this game perhaps one of the most disappointing of the Xbox 360 launch.

SPECS Kameo : Elements of Power Requirements : Microsoft Xbox 360 Rating: 75% Price : â&#x201A;Ź69.99 Contact: Gamestop 01 872 4305 january 2006 â&#x20AC;˘ 53

level one

Mortal Kombat : Deception Foo fighters take heed MORTAL KOMBAT's been one of the most popular fighting franchises since its humble arcade beginnings, and love it or hate it, it deserves props for enduring against such seasoned competitors such as Soul Calibur, Street Fighter, and Tekken.

Part of its success is the violent content and grisly fatality finishing moves, but cheap thrills aside, a robust fighting system has emerged throughout the years, and honed to near perfection with Deadly Alliance. Deception continues the legacy, and lives up to its name with additional play modes outside the fighting genre.

Make mine mortal The 3D engine from Deadly Alliance remains relatively unchanged. Each character still has three stances - one weapon-based - but each fighter has an extra fatality and a new suicide move to deprive a victorious opponent the glory of a gruesome finale. Other key additions include a combo breaker move and multi-tiered fighting stages, which some of the latter allow you to defeat an opponent instantly (it's the same effect as a Soul Calibur ring-out, except the loser dies a gruesome death). The controls do an ample job of keeping the action flowing, but some of the flashier, multi-style combos can become a guessing game.

Puzzle Kombat is a Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo clone where two super-deformed combatants try and bury each other underneath a pile of multi-

coloured bricks. Sure, it's similar to Capcom's puzzler, but nevertheless highly addictive. Chess is a cool spin on the ageless board game, but with spells, bombs, and fighting thrown into the mix.

And, yes, there's blood aplenty and other MK carnage - even in Puzzle Kombat: decapitations, disembowelings, you name it.

Kombat, Chess, and Puzzle are all online ready, too.

Deception's drop-dead gorgeous graphics are loaded with clever details (Mileena's thinly veiled mouth or razor-sharp teeth, for instance) and vibrant colours. The Xbox version has the edge over its PlayStation 2 brother with sharper graphics; otherwise the two console offerings are identical. The audio's equally effective and it has the right mix of blows being delivered and taken.

What lies beneath Then there are the secrets ... lots of them, and what had to be done in Deadly Alliance was a cakewalk compared to the flaming hoops one must jump through here. Sure, the Krypt is back (where you can spend Kurrency that's earned through the different play modes), but Konquest mode is where the real secrets are revealed.

In it, you take a wannabe combatant through six different, timeconsuming, MK realms, converse with characters, complete various tasks, train (learn every fighter's special moves and combo strings) for the tournament, and find Krypt keys.

But the difficulty gets ramped up to a near impossible degree, as you eventually fight enemies under increasingly ludicrous conditions. It's Deception's biggest glaring flaw.

Deception gives gamers a lot to digest, as it cleverly-weaves multi-genre offerings under a fighting-game roof.

Fans of the series will doubtlessly be pleased, and attracting non-fighting fans to the MK universe doesn't hurt either.

SPECS Mortal Kombat: Deception Requirements: PS2 Rating: 85% Price : â&#x201A;Ź29.99 Contact: Gamestop 01 872 4305

54 â&#x20AC;˘ january 2006

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w woo h o 0 ^ â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘ The whole country is talking about BT Broadband.

If you haven't already tried it, you probably have a lot of questions. Like, how can I use it to shop around for the best bargains? How will it help me plan and book holidays? Is it useful for digital photography?

Will it really transform my experience of the Internet?

Well, the BT Broadband Roadshow is coming to towns and cities all over Ireland to answer your questions and give you and your family a chance to experience the fun, excitement and value you've been missing - for free!

So you can browse the latest fashions or download recipes, for example, while your kids try online gaming.

Here's wwwhere: at the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition

RDS, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.

12th - 14th January.

Why not bring your latest phone/internet bill to compare what you're paying now

with the better value BT can give you. www.btireland.ie/roadshow

at Pfizer,

is our life's work Pfizer Ireland Pharmaceuticals Dublin Sterile Plant , Pottery Road, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin. Tel: 01 2049 100 Inchera API Plant , Little Island, Co. Cork. Tel: 021 4S 10200 Little Island API Plant , Castle Road, Little Island, Co. Cork. Tel: 021 4523600 Loughbeg API Plant , Ringaskiddy, Co. Cork. Tel: 021 4378788 Operations Support Group , 2900 Cork Airport Business Park, Airport Road, Cork. Tel: 02 1 4525600 Loughbeg DP Plant , Loughbeg, Ringaskiddy, Co. Cork. Tel: 021 4974000 Ringaskiddy API Plant , Ringaskiddy Co. Cork. Tel: 021 437870I