I came across a new forum for Irish webmasters in the last few days. The format and style seems similar to that of Webmasterworld but with a local perspective. I'll keep my eye on it for a few weeks—it could prove useful for discussing governance issues specific to companies operating within Ireland.

Happy birthday Orla! (Orla runs her own business, UpfrontPR in Tralee, Co. Kerry)

Previous visitors will notice a fairly dramatic change to the design of this site. This was necessary for a number of reasons. First: to ensure the site presented well on the browsers actually being used by visitors, in particular Firefox (which accounts for 43% of all activity). Second: to improve my use of semantic MarkUp (which had been deployed, though not extensively enough). And Third: to 'modernise' the visual design. The old look&feel had a become a bit dated and I wanted something fresh. The biggest difference is that the site no longer uses liquid-layout techniques, but is optimised for 1024x768 screens.

No friend of self-indulgence, Gerry McGovern lays into SAS Scandanavian Airlines who have committed the worst of sins - self-promotion! Anyone taking bets on how long it will be before SAS remove the video from their reservations page? I think about a day.

A new report into the use of intranets in Ireland was launched today in Dublin. For someone like me who spends most of his time administering an intranet, publications of this nature are truely valuable. Indeed, the document provides a good overview of the state of intranet development in this country. For me, the most interesting conclusion was the fact that most firms believe they are not taking full advantage of their intranet investment. This is not very surprising. While the technology of intranets is relatively straightforward to implement, educating a business about how to use it in order to assist objectives requires much more time. Finally, one gap in the report (promised for next year) relates to systems of intranet governance, i.e. team structures, skills, assistive technology, etc. Benchmarking practices like this is an area that is only now beginning to get much attetion.

"The Website Manager's Handbook" was launched last night by a happy gathering of family, friends and colleagues in Dublin city centre. Some good wines and tasty finger-food ensured a good evening was had by all. Particular thanks to my friend Ecardo, who was co-opted as official photographer for the night. However, his task would have been a lot more difficult without Ann who (despite being late for the presentations!) did an amazing job of mustering everyone into place for the pictures.

Nina and her flatmate (both German) are cheering for Podolski, Balack, Schweinsteiger et al. Myself and Chris (both Irish) are not amused. Wait! What the..! Nooooooo!!! Germany just scored. Germany 1-0 Ireland. Well, at least I am using her wireless broadband to post this note.

Friends and colleagues will be joining me for the launch of the "The Website Manager's Handbook" on Thursday 7th September in La Cave on South Anne St at 7.30pm. I am looking forward to it, as it will give me the chance to thank those who have contributed to the book. I am also looking forward to some nice wines and tasty canapés!