Everyone is talking about the new Tony Buzan language learning method as published by Collins. Buzan’s reputation has attracted me to the product to find out what the fuss is about + I had a notion at the beginning of the year I wanted to learn Spanish.

So I swung on by Amazon to take a look at the reviews. Lots of them there. This comment made me smile and made up my mind that I will buy it!

“So I don’t want to be too negative about this product because all in all it is nicely presented and easy to use. (It also smells nice. Like crayons. Mmm)”.

Clickety split

The process of picking a domain name for this blog was a pain. I didn’t know what to call it. I didn’t want to use my name or a derivative. I’m one of those “I’ll know it when I hear it” kind of people. I eventually settled on lecraic because, well, hmm, I dunno, I just liked it and it “stuck”. The process of naming a company is even worse. I went through that process a good few years ago and it was a nightmare (company now defunct though ). It’s not a process I would like to repeat in a hurry.

So, hats off to these great Irish companies / websites that have recently caught my eye. I like the names. They stuck with me and hopefully they are sticking with customers and visitors because without them it’s all for naught. These are the sort of names that if you heard briefly on the radio or read about, you would remember.

Please suggest more great Irish site names and companies (.ie or otherwise). Would love to add more to my list!

Click on the graphic for a link to the sites in question.

Baba Beag – It might depend on how someone pronounces it whether you will spell it right. Hopefully the spelling isn’t too difficult on this one and the name is sticking for them.

The Brew Crew – Rhymes help!

Carlist – Looking for a car, better get a list of cars in mind then. Short and sweet name, really easy to use site. Blogger too.

Chocoholics – Irish chocolote lover? There can be no other domain name. Nice catch.

Dine to meet – Dining and dating. Nice play on words.

Drinklink – Another drink site. Drinklink already part of the Irish lexicon, so they capitalised on that.

Fizzlestix – Loved them when I was a kid, but they sell baby stuff.

Hairybaby – Love the logo. Love the name – sticky, sticky, sticky. Not a .ie but couldn’t not put them on this list.

Little Star Parties – Need stuff for a party, your little star’s party… Who better than little star parties.

Mingle – Another dating site with a sticky name.

PJ’s and Prose – Targetting a niche with a unique name.

Realbeers – Another drink related, easy to remember if you were half cut.

Sass.ie – Site isn’t launched yet, but clever use of the .ie

Domino’s Pizza in Cork have added an electric scooter to their fleet of delivery vehicles. They recently purchased a Verde 1500 from Cork supplier Verde Autos

The Verde 1500 will travel for up to 70km on a charge and has a a top speed of 50km/h. It retails for €2,500 inc vat. The cost of a full charge is only 12cent!

Cathal McDonnell, franchisee of Domino’s Pizza in Cork, says, “Domino’s Pizza is innovative in its approach to its business and is always thinking about how to be more environmentally aware. Currently 80% of pizzas boxes are made with recycled board and are 100% recyclable, just one step to making the business greener. Electric scooters are also a great way of becoming more energy efficient, and, as a forward-thinking company, an approach for Domino’s to consider in its on-going commitment to the environment.”

Moves like this are to be applauded but unfortunately, unless countries like the United States, China and India do more to reduce emissions, the changes we make won’t have any impact. A particular quote of Tony Blair’s has always stuck in my mind in relation to global warming  :

“The reality is, if we shut down the whole of Britain — shut it down, nothing emitted — within two years, the growth in Chinese emissions would wipe out the difference we would make.” “China’s carbon emissions almost equal America’s and in a few years will surpass that level”

In addition to changing lightbulbs at home and making sure the tv isn’t on standby, we should look a bit more closely at our addiction to Chinese made products…. It’s easy for us to go tut tut at the Chinese, but our consumption drives their dirty economic engine. I’ll bet the most dedicated environmentalist would find it hard NOT to buy a Chinese made product.

Hard to see it changing, or maybe I’m just believing too much hype about global warming?

Article image adapted from a Photo by Mike from Zurich under a Creative Commons License