dublin

Man builds house from 1.4 billion shredded euros

It takes real money to build a decent house these days, and it's even more helpful if that money is already in the form of bricks.

Dublin artist Frank Buckley built a house from 1.4 billion euros ($1.8 billion) worth of decommissioned and shredded notes of the currency. The three-room house with a bedroom, bathroom, and living room is Buckley's way of making a statement about the crisis the European economy finds itself in, and Ireland's out-of-control construction boom of the last decade that stands as his country's major contribution to the current continent-wide fiscal emergency.

According to Buckley, the bricks of discarded euro notes he picked up with two trailers from a nearby Mint not only make a decent structural material, they also insulate the home pretty well. He estimates that each brick is made up of around 50,000 former euros. … Read more

Microsoft 'mega data centers' to support Azure, Bing

Microsoft on Wednesday launched a new data center in Dublin, describing it as the largest it has built outside the U.S.

The site is what Microsoft calls a "mega data center", a class the company has constructed previously only in the U.S. The company plans to open another mega data center in Chicago on July 20, it said in a blog post Monday.

Both new sites are intended to support Microsoft's online services, including its Azure hosted services and the recently introduced Bing search engine.

The Dublin facility covers 303,000 square feet, Arne Josefsberg, … Read more

A splash of Ireland

Unofficial Dublin is a Firefox theme that offers an exotic change from the sterile skin that comes standard. This unique theme will remind travelers of the famed Irish city and its charming streets.

The buttons and color of this free unlimited download are modeled after the pleasant blue-and-white street signs found around Dublin. Replacing Firefox's white navigation area with a gentle gray, the blue buttons really jump out and give the display a unique look and feel. While the icons of command--such as Display Your Bookmarks and Open New Window--look different, they maintain the traditional feel and should not … Read more

New Firefox themes for a new year

Tonight you're probably going to make some hefty New Year's resolutions, which statistically you're never going to keep. Why not at least make a change you know will make a difference immediately? A Firefox theme can change the feel of your browser and all it takes is a simple download. You can't just waltz into a new year without making a few changes, right?

We've put together a nice slide show of downloadable Firefox themes so you can improve your browsing experience in the New Year.

Report: Facebook's international HQ will be in Dublin

As it expands across the globe, social network Facebook will establish its official international headquarters in the Irish capital of Dublin, the Irish Times reported Thursday. The announcement was made by Mary Coughlan, Ireland's minister for enterprise, trade, and employment, and the Times hinted that the company is already recruiting to build up a local workforce.

The Dublin office will be the center of Facebook's operations for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, from ad sales to technical support.

"After exploring various locations throughout the region, we decided Ireland was the best place to establish our new … Read more

Cleaning 400 years of dust from books

DUBLIN, Ireland--There isn't quite an inch of dust on top of Institutione Catholica, a two-volume theological set of books dating back a few centuries. But it looks close.

The entire top of the volumes is coated in a thick, brown mass. Some of the dust has formed into balls about the size of beetles. When a graduate student picks up one of the volumes, part of the frayed binding falls off. It will be glued back on later.

The Long Room in the Old Library at Dublin's Trinity College houses one of the most extensive collections of antique … Read more

Better science through coffee

DUBLIN, Ireland--Necessity is the mother of invention, but coffee breaks help, too.

In an effort to encourage interaction among researchers, Pat Frain, director of NovaUCD, the incubation and technology transfer center at University College Dublin, had the cafe in the center's complex start serving 1 euro cappuccinos. That's a nice deal in a city where a coffee can set you back 3.20 euros, or nearly five dollars.

The deal made the front page of one of the local newspapers. Because it became popular, the facilities manager had him boost it up to 1.30 euros, but the … Read more