The Ballyfermot Post

Internet blocking at BCFE expands

Internet censorship at Ballyfermot college has expanded in the last month, even restricting access to search engine Yahoo.

What’ next? blocking Google?

With Ballyfermot college’s internet censorship expanded once again – even if access to Yahoo was only restricted  for around a week – we find our selves saying again:

The blocks have no place in a modern third level education establishment, and such is even more so the case for a media focused college.

Blocking websites could be appropriated for secondary schools, but treating third level students like this amounts to counterproductive censorship. It is on par with China’s censorship of its people, not because the intent is there, but due to the results. 

The college is at fault creating a weakness in knowledge, and experience for its students. It is putting students of a small college in a disadvantage in an area that it is completely unnecessary.

Dail30.ie plans to interview every TD

An Irish website set up by a young Irish journalist is aiming to make audio interviews of every TD sitting in the current Dail available as audio files called podcasts.

Vodafone launchs service for blind users

VODAFONE has worked in partnership with the Royal National Institute of Blind People, to introduce mobile phones for blind people, writes Elaine Stevens.

It has text-to-speech facility, which reads aloud the information that appears on the screen, allowing a person with visual difficulty to use a mobile phone. 

Kerry Doyle (20) has been blind from birth. She has ‘Talk’ software in her phone Nokia 6630, which was a present from her parents for achieving good leaving cert results.

Kerry is a member of the National Counsel for the Blind, and has the software since 2005, but it is now available at all Vodafone stores.

“It gave and has given me freedom. No longer do I need to rely on family and friends to read text messages or put numbers in my phone book for me. It continues to this day to be my lifeline”.

88% do not know of Irish “digital dossiers”

The government is tracking and storage phone calls and movements of people vie mobile phones, there are also plans to record internet commutations, but few students at BCFE appear to know of the current and planned data retention by the State.