Twitter is coming to Dublin

Twitter has today announced that it plans to set up a European Headquarters in Dublin Ireland. Twitter is following a long trend of other giant tech companies to the emerald Isle including the like of Microsoft, Google, and Facebook. The Reasoning? Taxes.

TechCrunch‘s Mike Butcher: “Ireland’s 12% corporation tax, and 45 minute flight from London (where corporation tax is 28%) is just too tempting not to take advantage of.”

To put how big this tax break is for these large tech giants, Google saved an estimed $3.1 billion over the past three years in tax breaks by moving all of its international capital thorugh the Ireland and the Netherlands.

This is a great move for Twitter and also for Ireland who has been struggling financial as of recently. Dublin is an incredible city and is quickly becoming the social media capital of Europe with Facebook already a resident. With the recent boom in tech startups in Silicon Valley, look for more and more companies to expand internationally, and especially into Ireland. In fact, I don’t understand why more US companies have moved their EU headquarters here yet. I certainly would.

 

Jumping on the Kindle bandwagon

The new Amazon Kindle Dx

So I thought it was about time to announce that I have officially jumped on the Amazon Kindle bandwagon and I would encourage you to do so as well. Buying a kindle was the last thing I did before leaving the US to head over to Ireland. And can’t tell you how much I love this device and I am 100 percent certain this thing is going to be unbelievably successful, even more so than it is now. I have used this device so much in the last week it scares me, and the amazing part is, I haven’t even had to consider recharging it.The best part is that I have been able to use it for many other things other than just “reading a book”

There are several things that make the Kindle so amazing to me.

• Battery life- This things can go up to 2 months without needing to be recharged. That was not a typo. 2 months.
• Usefulness- What I mean by this is how awesome it is to use other than just for reading your typical novel. Not only can you have your magazines or newspapers delivered to it, I have been able to put all of the many  30+ page PDF’s I have to read for school easily on my kindle. This alone makes this device worth it, solely because i don’t have to take my laptop everywhere with me to do my readings.
• Size- Unless you have held one your self you don’t realize how thin, light, and portable this thing is.
• Screen- I am not sure how it is engineered, and I am sure somebody could explain it to you, but this thing reads like a book. You can be in the middle of the desert, in the sun, and this thing reads perfectly clear, unlike any tablet, smartphone, or laptop.
• Price- In the states is $114. Not sure how much it is here in Europe but it cant be much more. And its way cheaper than any tablet.

With so many great features I could really see this amazing device blow up far more so than it has. In fact I think schools really need to consider giving one of these to each student, or rather having them buy one, and providing all their books in its format. It would dramatically lower the cost of books, which as of last year, I was paying about  $600 for. I could also see the kindle make strides in the business word. Being able to read important docs on the go, newspapers, and magazines certainly makes it useful. And the device already comes in 3G, so my guess is that if they can do email on it, wow you may have a home run. Tablets are too expensive for a company to buy everybody one. But Kindles are pretty doable. My only complaint s far is that I cant have my Google Reader on here. Hopefully that is coming in the near future.

I know much of the general public has yet to really consider making the switch from holding a tangible book, and I know that train of thought because I was one of those people. But I know once they just try a Kindle, they will be hooked. I was.

The beginning

Yesterday marked the beginning of “immersion” week for me and about 120ish other kids here at DCU as part of the “Next Generation Management” masters program which includes all students pursuing masters degrees in Business Management, eCommerce, and Marketing. So far, the program seems to be everything I wanted in a Masters program and about 3x more. I cant think of any other program around that offers the opportunity to gain as much real world experience as this one does. I am thoroughly looking forward to seeing all the different opportunities that will come of it.

The program truly seems to be right on the edge of the next generation of business. There already is a tremendous stress so far on incorporating current and emerging technology into our business practice. I sees this as such a major advantage over more “traditional” cookie cutter masters programs specially as technology plays a larger role in how international business functions on a daily basis that it ever has before. The program is a unique blend of traditional classes, project management, individual development, and reald world team projects.

Traditional Classes

Exactly what they sound like, Accounting, Finance, Economoics, etc.

Project Management

This was definitely the biggest shocker for most of us. Over the course of the next year each of us will be responsible for a team of 5 “first years” (Freshmen). We are their designated project managers on two different projects they must complete over the course of the year in addition to their normal schooling. More to come here.

Individual development

From what I understand so far, we will have to identify certain areas we wish to build  our skills in, then have to actually go out and build those skills. To do these things we will need to attend many different workshops,  guest presentations, and events. More on this to come as well.

Real World Team Projects

Later this week we will all be placed into groups of about 4 or 5 I believe. From there we will then keep these groups throughout the year while we compete 5 real life projects from an assortment of 150+ different companies.

So far I am very impressed with the program and  I can assure you I am going to be a very, very busy man the next year. I ma looking forward to seeing where this goes. More to come.