AT TRINITY College Dublin, 1641 is coming face to face with 2009, to the benefit of scholars but also the public.
A set of priceless manuscripts – aged, coffee-coloured and covered in the looping, spidery scrawl of many different 17th-century hands – is to emerge as a cutting-edge semantic web and documentation project accessible by all online.
The manuscripts are the famous – or, depending on your view, infamous – 1641 Depositions, eight volumes of 1,559 personal accounts of one of the most violent moments in Irish history, the 1641 Rebellion.
The depositions – witness statements taken mostly from Protestants – describe incidents of murder, rape and pillage but also many aspects of everyday life in the 1600s.
This rich material is valued by social, religious, historical and political researchers but is also the source of hundreds of years of bitter dispute over the truthfulness of the events described. Read More
Courtesy: Irish Times
More bang for your buck with latest consoles
THE ALLIANCE of Microsoft with Sky this week has signalled a clear intent by the Xbox maker to target those paying for the presents this Christmas.
Xbox Live users can from this week subscribe to the full range of channels available through Sky Digital. The service does not require the user to own a Sky box, as content can be accessed directly through an Xbox 360 console. This alliance is the most significant part of a series of non-gaming efforts by Microsoft to make Christmas shoppers think about the console as more than just a gaming device.
On top of Sky Digital, there are downloadable movies, music on demand and upcoming Facebook and Twitter services. All of this is part of a push to spread the appeal of the Xbox 360. Hardcore gamers will always prioritise gaming, but this latest effort aims to target a different market segment. Read More
Courtesy: Irish Times
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