2.  Facebook is increasingly influential in determining what online news is being read. That’s according to a new study which looked at the flow of traffic to the web’s 25 largest news destinations.

3.  As an anonymous Twitter user posts a list of celebrities who allegedly have obtained super-injuctions, senior legal figures warn that the internet renders such gagging orders ‘pointless’.

4.  Broadband is to be rolled out all over Ireland by 2012. The scheme aims to promote development in rural areas who do not currently have broadband access.

5.  The first Facebook training suite has been launched in Dublin. Social media agency Simply Zesty says it will teach companies world wide everything they need to know about Facebook.

6.  A national movement has been launched to get more Irish businesses online. It will allow businesses with no website to create one for free in under 30 minutes.

7.  A US billionaire has won a high court order over Wikipedia defamation. Hedge fund manager Louis Bacon has been given the go ahead by a UK court to force three websites, including Wikipedia to reveal the identity of online commenters who posted alleged libellous material about him on the sites.

8.  Toshiba are predicting a 25 per cent rise in profits. The company, which is Japan’s biggest chipmaker, expects to earn an operating profit of  $3.7 billion in the year to March 2012.

9.  A new app, Onavo, is claiming that it will cut mobile phone bills. The app, which is free and available to iPhone 4 users, compresses data usage, allowing users to double their existing plan.

And finally…

10. People have twice as many online friends as they have in real life. A new study found that typical users of social networking sites have 121 online friends and count 55 actual physical mates.

2.Twitter has bought Tweetdeck for $40-$50 million, according to reports. Tweet Deck had previously been in talks with Uber Media, which was close to buying the company for a figure in the region of $24-$30 millions.

3. An investigation by two NGOs has revealed that young workers in an Apple factory in Southern China are working in difficult conditions and exploitative conditions.

4. Osama bin Laden’s death broke Twitter records. Over a period of an hour, there were 3,000 Tweets per second regarding it, peaking to 5106 when President Obama made his address.

5. Goldenpages.ie is to add new features to the website. These will include click-to-call and content generated by crowd-sourcing, where consumers can share their experiences.

6. The Irish government is being called upon to open up all data to its citizens. Joan Mulvihill, CEO of the Irish Internet Association says that an open data policy would benefit everyone, including citizens, government and entrepreneurs.

7. A new survey has revealed that more than 1/3 of tech companies will check prospective employees social media profiles. 38 per cent of the 660 senior level executives surveyed have used Facebook etc,. to determine an interviewee’s suitability.

8. In the United States, the internet uses more electricity than the auto industry, it has been revealed. The internet accounts for 2 per cent of electricity consumed, while the recession has seen a decrease in industrial clients’ demands.

9. The White iPhone 4 is not thicker than the black model, despite claims to the contrary. So is there any difference? No, just the colour…The device went on sale in Ireland at the weekend.

10. A new poll of 30,000 respondents has found that Google is the most reputable company in the US. Apple was ranked fifth and Microsoft 16th, while General Motors, BP and Bank of America ranked lowest.

2. Meteor profits fell by 75 per cent in 2010 with pretax profits dropping from €37.2m to €9m. The company blamed the downturn and the competitive market for the fall.
http://tinyurl.com/5rj7qvn

3. Microsoft has issued a security alert to Xbox live gamers relating to a phishing scam. This follows on from the hacking of 77 million PlayStation user accounts, which is thought to be the biggest security breach in history.
http://tinyurl.com/68mpadm

4. A US tech firm is to create 50 new jobs in Galway. Software company NEI, will launch its expansion into Europe from here. The company already employs 250 worldwide.
http://tinyurl.com/5shtc5a

5. People are spending less time randomly surfing and spend their time more efficiently on the net according to a study published by Microsoft. The study also showed that emerging economies were more open to online ads than more established ones.
http://tinyurl.com/6a8sqsx

6. Analysts are predicting that instant messaging will cause a drop in the number of text messages sent by the 15-24 year old age group. Blackberry, which has a free messaging service, is the main driver of the trend.
http://tinyurl.com/5twpxvg

7. Google has found that smartphones are causing a dramatic change in online shopping. Their study revealed that 71 per cent of smartphone users search online because of an ad they’ve seen either offline or online.
http://tinyurl.com/6z7nxrp

8. Sony is to release two new tablets. The models, unveiled in Tokyo this week will be released worldwide at the end of this year and both will be running the Android 3.0 OS.
http://tinyurl.com/63rf8mp

9. Twitter founder, Biz Stone, has bit back at claims that the company is falling apart. Responding to a Fortune magazine report that the company was at war with itself, he said that such coverage was par for the course when it came to media coverage of tech companies.
http://tinyurl.com/6kl5dlk

10. There is increased pressure on Apple to explain why the iPhone tracks its users’ coordinates. Apple has yet to release an official statement explaining the hidden location-tracking file.
http://tinyurl.com/3p7t5pc

Karen is a freelance journalist, specialising in travel. She is editor of the Sunday Independent Travel Magazine and reports on travel for national radio and television also. She’s mastered the art of packing and has travelled all around the globe but she never leaves home without some Lyons tea bags.

How did you get into travel journalism?
Funnily enough I fell into travel journalism without any intention to make it a full-time career. I was focused on working in news journalism when I was approached to write an article for the Sunday Independent about my experience in Florida. The following week I was asked to write about Thailand and it kind of snowballed from there. That was five years ago and I keep saying I will eventually leave travel journalism to go back into news. I haven’t yet.

Is it as exciting and glamorous as it appears?
When I sip on a celebrity-inspired cocktail in a five star hotel, it feels like the most glamorous job in the world. When I am trekking through a rainforest in Malaysia, battling midgets and spiders, it can be a challenge. It is ironically these experiences that outshine the five star hotel stays. While I of course enjoy the chance of luxury every now and then, the real excitement of travel journalism is ticking off my long bucket list of random places and adrenalin activities.

How much of your time is actually spent travelling?
I used to travel three times a month. Now I usually plan ahead so that I embark on one long haul trip and one short haul (e.g. a city break in Europe) every month. At the start of every year I tend to write down my wish list of destinations for the 12 months ahead, but usually I end up only getting to half of these places. I have to make sure I visit the countries that the newspaper wants me to cover, and not just my personal bucket list.

Have you ever had a bad experience on a press trip and if so, did you write about it?
Not so much bad experiences as minor disasters. I have missed flights and lost luggage but probably the worst experience was being attacked in Brisbane. A man randomly came up as I was walking down town and he punched me in the face before running off. Thankfully two passers by stopped to help me and report the incident to the police. It turned out the guy who punched me was a homeless drug addict and it was just a random attack. I had a nice black eye for the remainder of my holiday.

What have been your most memorable trips to date and why?
New Zealand astounded me. I was expecting it to be quite boring, but I was converted the minute I touched down in Queenstown. It is the party town of South Island and lures thrill-seekers in their droves. Within ten minutes of arriving I was doing a canyon jump, followed by a river safari. In terms of city breaks Tallinn in Estonia really impressed, for its great value as much as its beauty, while press trips to far-flung places like Las Vegas, South Africa and Mykonos were made all the better by the fantastic company. I often think it’s not the places as much as the people you meet that have the impact on your holiday experience.

What do you think makes for a really good travel feature?
It depends. Personally I enjoy reading firsthand experiences, where people document their travel experience like a story, taking us on a journey, allowing us to visualise everything. That said, travel features do need their balance and facts about the destination are important to include, so that the person reading it has a good understanding of the destination after reading the article.

Who are your other favourite travel writers?
Like a million others, I enjoy reading Bill Bryson for his humour, but to be honest there is no one particular travel writer that I enjoy reading. I particularly like the fact that travel writing isn’t exclusive to one group of people, but any one could end up writing a fantastic travel article for a paper, magazine or website. It keeps the competition high.

How do you normally source information and ideas?
I get my ideas from several outlets – books, television programmes, websites and magazines like Wanderlust. I also get approached by PR companies, tour operators and others who work in the travel industry who suggest ideas to me. Word of mouth is also a great avenue for ideas.

How often do you deal with PR firms?
I liaise with PR people on a regular basis. I think it’s the same for most travel writers. A PR is your best friend when it comes to assisting with the planning of certain trips. I have had some of the best press trips because of the PR being so efficient and organised with an itinerary. One I did recently to France was a ski trip with Highlife. I didn’t need to think for a second if I was missing out on any aspect of the ski holiday as everything was taken care of. The PR even made sure we ended the trip on a high note with a champagne breakfast on the way home.

What kind of content from PR firms works for you – press releases, brief deal alerts, trends pieces etc?
All types of content from PR firms are welcome, as long as it has a news hook or something innovative worth pursuing.

Approximately how many press releases would you receive in a day and do you read them all? What would compel you to read a press release?
On a typical day I receive about five or six press releases. There has to be a strong, effective header/intro (not sensational however) to get me interested to read the full press release.

What are your pet peeves about PR people?
I really appreciate PR’s following up on press releases, but not ringing several times to make sure you received it. The best PRs are the ones who don’t need to hound you. That said I am sure I irritate so many PRs as I am notorious for ringing them with last minute requests.

Have you mastered the art of packing?
Yes. I like to think I am a pro when it comes to packing. Not so much because I travel often, but because I hated being charged for extra weight. I often bring just a small carry-on with me, even when I am travelling for one week.

What do you never leave home without?
Tea bags. Ridiculous I know but Lyon’s tea has come everywhere with me. Usually I pack a fun-size packet of Kit Kats too. In fact I have removed a pair of shoes from a suitcase once, just so I could fit the bag of chocolate in.

Where is still left on your list of ‘must visit’ destinations?
The three B’s. Bali, Belize and Brazil. I want to do a yoga holiday in Bali, a beach holiday in Brazil and visit Belize during their annual chocolate week.

What ‘hot’ destinations should we be looking out for in 2011?
Where’s hot really depends on the holidaymaker. For great value Turkey is leading the way this year, with so many charter flights and four star breaks for under €500. Madeira is rising up the ranks too, for its yoga, scuba diving and detox breaks. Round the world trips are a tempting option, where you can combine a few of your favourite destinations into the one trip while cruising is still showing excellent value. Instead of thinking big, consider small like the SeaDream cruise. It takes luxury on the sea to another level.

What airline does actually serve the best food?
Etihad is excellent. And Continental’s First Class dining is exactly that.

So we thought we’d wallow in the glory of the results achieved for two recent surveys by lastminute.com, which demonstrates once again the value of this PR tactic and the direct impact it can have on website traffic and sales.

Financial Affairs

At the beginning of March a survey was commissioned looking at the financial secrets we keep from our partners to tie in with lastminute.com’s Top Secret Hotels Sale. As anything related to personal finances is very topical in Ireland right now, we believed that a survey on this subject matter would prove to be a discussion point and be highly newsworthy across a range of media.

Does money comes before love and how secretive are people in Ireland when it comes to their financial affairs?  The survey revealed that one in ten Irish people hide money from their partner, with 34 per cent having more than €5,000 in their secret bank account. Surprisingly, a lot of men would find lies about money harder to forgive than a full blown affair!

The campaign delivered a total PR value of over €305,300 for a fraction of that in spend, while the survey also had a significant sales impact. The day following the survey, flight transactions on the site were up by 333% on the previous year.

Irish Language Survey

Following swiftly on from our financial infidelity survey we decided to find out how fluent Irish people are in their native tongue to coincide with both St. Patrick’s Day and Seachtain na Gaeilge. The results surprised us and revealed that half of those surveyed say they can speak Irish fluently. And for those of us who may think the language is dead, the young people of the country yielded the most startling results with 56% of those between 18 and 25 years claiming to speak the language fluently.

Again there was a great media response to this survey – highlights included coverage on national and regional radio stations, national TV station TV3, national newspapers the Irish Examiner and the Irish Independent, as well as a range of website and influential bloggers.

To wrap up

In total the two surveys had a very substantial PR value of €398,000. More importantly, they have delivered strong brand recognition for lastminute.com in Ireland, as well as significant annual increases in website traffic and bookings.

2. Apple is set to dominate the tablet market until 2015, say Gartner analysts. While it will not maintain this, it’s predicted that 63 percent of all tablets sold next year will be Apple.
http://tinyurl.com/6hjs8co

3. What exactly constitutes online identity? Evan Williams, ex-Twitter CEO has opened the debate with his blog post last weekend
http://tinyurl.com/664n3pf

4. The New York Times website is experiencing a drop of as much as 15 percent in visitors per day after introducing its paywall last month. Currently, visitors can read up to 20 articles for free before having to pay.
http://tinyurl.com/6527b7c

5. There’s been an increase in registrations for i.e. domains, which exceeded 10,000 in the first quarter. The domain is ranked as one of the safest in the world.
http://tinyurl.com/666pgh6

6. ‘Irish Field’ readers’ details were posted on Boards.ie after the horse trade magazine’s subscriber directory was hacked. Gardai and the DPC are investigating the issue.
http://tinyurl.com/5s6lcse

7. YouTube has launched live streaming of various TV programmes and sporting events. Cricket fans can currently watch the Indian Premier League online
http://tinyurl.com/5uerymf

8. PCH International, head quartered in Cork, has reported a 170% increase in revenue. The firm, which manufactures and distributes smartphone accessories, saw turnover increase from $153m to $413m in 2010.
http://tinyurl.com/62kt3qs

9. Kindle users aren’t technological innovators; they just love to read according to Amazon’s vice president of Kindle Content. Russ Grandinetti says Kindle buyers want to: “spend more minutes of the day connecting with the words that authors put down”.
http://tinyurl.com/6zdavv5

10 While the Russian government says they have no plans to cut off Skype, Gmail or Hotmail, it will force restrictions on encryption technology, which makes surveillance impossible.
http://tinyurl.com/6exughv

1. Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign has begun and it’s making strategic use of social networking. The focus is on Facebook, as opposed to Twitter, and a YouTube video started off proceedings.
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3ershmj

2. Millions of customer details were stolen by hackers following an attack on US marketing company Epsilon. It’s been described as one of the biggest security breaches in US history.
http://tinyurl.com/3tegu24

3. As Larry Page takes over from Eric Schmidt as Google CEO, TechRepublic’s Jason Hiner gives his views on where Page should take the company next.
http://tinyurl.com/3mqjlrc

4. Irish broadband provider and Bvisible client Magnet announced that their WebTV service is now available on iPhone and iPad devices. This means that Magnet WebTV can be played on 99 per cent of all handheld, media and personal communications devices.
http://tinyurl.com/3chaerf

5. Operating profits at Amazon.com’s Irish unit increased by 29 per cent last year. According to accounts just filed, sales for the same period rocketed 62pc to €53.6m.
http://tinyurl.com/3uz3nxl

6. Technology company Avaya, which specialises in enterprise communications systems, is to create 75 new jobs in Galway. The company already employs 275 people at its Dublin and Galway bases.
http://tinyurl.com/3bnz6w5

7.A new Sony tablet based on Google’s Android Honeycomb operating system will be launched this year. The company is yet to reveal further details but CEO Sir Howard Stringer did confirm it would appear before the end of summer.
http://tinyurl.com/3btjtmh

8.Vodafone has acquired Irish IP firm Interfusion Networks (and former Bvisible client) for an undisclosed figure. Vodafone Ireland will now Vodafone Ireland will now sell IP networking, IP voice, and data applications to Irish businesses.
http://tinyurl.com/6jp3p5f

9. What will the new Windows 8 operating system offer? According to analysts, expect enhanced graphics, 3-D support, facial recognition, instant-on capability, and a Windows app store.
http://tinyurl.com/3rtv8ez

10. It’s essentially repetitive strain injury but ‘Blackberry thumb’ sounds much catchier and a UK law firm says an increase in lawsuits from employees looking to be compensated for the condition can be expected.
http://tinyurl.com/6l45dcv

Dick O’Brien is the technology industry correspondent at the Sunday Business Post. Previously he has worked as a business reporter with the Sunday Tribune and was deputy editor with Business Plus. Here, he talks about his favourite interviewees – Irish entrepreneurs – as well as the future of the tech sector and how, if he wasn’t a journalist, he’d be a full-time cyclist.

What is your typical working day?
It depends on the day. Early on in the week I’d spend a fair bit of time researching pieces, conducting interviews and going out meeting people. On Thursdays and Fridays you spend most of your time writing.

Did you always have an interest in technology or did it develop over time?
I was always fairly interested, but it did develop a lot over time, particularly when I was covering consumer technology, where you tend to get a lot of hands-on experience of the stuff you’re writing about.

Is it important for your job that you have the latest mobile phone/computer?
Not particularly. Essentially, I write business stories about technology companies. As long as I have a half decent computer, I’m good to go. Having said that, I do rely increasingly on my iPhone to keep on top of things when I’m not at my desk.

Are you on Twitter and what do you use it for?
I am, although I wouldn’t post every day. I’ve blogged a lot in the past and I found it easier to get into a routine with blogging than with Twitter. I tend to use it to highlight interesting or quirky stories I’ve come across and occasionally post about stuff I’m covering. The most recent example of that would be the General Election count. I’d read Twitter more than I post on it, but the signal to noise ratio is fairly high, even if you’re quite selective with who you follow.

Does social media play much of a role in your job?
It does to a small degree and its mainly centred around Twitter. It’s useful for getting to know people in the industries I’m covering. I’d also use it for finding interviews or case studies. Now and then I’d throw up a post asking if people have experience or knowledge of X, Y or Z and invariably get a few responses.

Do you believe print can survive?
Yes, but not in its current form. News organisations can survive, but will have to begin developing their online offerings. If you look at the data coming out of the US, that’s where the readership and the advertising revenues are shifting to. Papers need to realise that while the content is the same, the medium is different. Just because you can put out a good paper doesn’t immediately mean that you’ll be strong online.

What are your most visited websites?
I use Google Reader to manage my RSS feeds and within that I’d track a big range of news sites and blogs. After that, it would probably be the Irish and British papers.

Who has been your most inspiring interviewee to date?
It’s hard to pick one. I’ve interviewed some big names in business like Michael Dell and Larry Ellison. But my favourite interviewees are Irish entrepreneurs. There’s a real “can do” spirit out there that I find quite admirable. You can always tell when someone absolutely loves what they do and that tends to rub off a little bit. Irish entrepreneurs also tend to be a lot more candid than their international peers. They’re not afraid to speak their mind and you can get great copy.

Do you think the tech sector in Ireland has a good future?
Absolutely. I’ll put it this way. At a time when unemployment is higher than it’s been in years, I talk to technology executives nearly every week who say they’re desperate to hire more people. There is a nice ecosystem here now. We’ve a lot of big multinationals who not only create jobs but also provide invaluable experience to people who go on to found their own companies. The range of supports for start-ups is getting better all the time and I think Irish companies are getting better at marketing themselves abroad.

How much of your work involves dealing with PR companies?
Some of it does. A lot of firms I’d write about use PR firms as an intermediary for dealing with the media and they can be quite good in terms of helping organising interviews and sourcing background material or pictures.

Do you read every press release that is sent to you? And what ones do you/don’t you?
It would be impossible to read every one, because we get so many. Releases that are clearly irrelevant to what I do get binned straight away. With everything else, I’d at least read the first few paragraphs before deciding whether it’s useful or not.

What makes a story pitch interesting to you?
Relevance. I get a lot of pitches and to be honest I’d pass on most of them. The main reason for that is the people sending them in don’t really understand what we’re interested in, sometimes to the extent that you’d wonder if they read the paper at all. At the end of the day, I’m a business journalist and if there isn’t a business angle there, I’m unlikely to bite.

Apart from press releases and pitches are there any other ways you like to be approached with a story?
I prefer email, but a phone call is fine too. People ringing you to “talk you through” a press release, is a bit much though.

If you weren’t working in journalism, what would you like to do?
Race my bicycle full time. I’m hopelessly bad at it, but I’d love that life, at least for a few years.

1. Global SMS traffic is due to hit 3 trillion by 2015 with more banks and financial institutions turning to it, not just to deliver alerts but also for appointment reminders, loyalty programmes and payments.
http://tinyurl.com/6eogqdp

2. Amazon’s music streaming, Cloud Drive service preempts Apple and Google versions and there’s a free introductory offer for Amazon account holders.
http://tinyurl.com/6dklmrf

3. Minute amount of users send over half of all Tweets and Twitter less of a social platform than Facebook, study reveals.
http://tinyurl.com/4ado3y5

4. HuffPost, which was bought by AOL for €223m last month, is set to launch in the UK this summer.
http://tinyurl.com/6jz3257

5. Google to trial mobile phone credit card, which would allow Google to offer data about their customers to retailers.
http://tinyurl.com/6h52nrc

6. Nokia files another patent infringement claim against Apple bringing the total of patents in suit to 46.
http://tinyurl.com/664q4kq

7. iPhone 5 unlikely to debut at summer conference but will probably launch in autumn of this year.
http://tinyurl.com/4hbsdd6

8. 11 Irish IT and science startups compete for funding tomorrow, marking the culmination of Propel II, Enterprise Ireland’s nationwide business development programme.
http://tinyurl.com/4plaawm

9. The New York Times erects paywall, to the frustration of some readers. But it’s proven surprisingly easy to hack.
http://tinyurl.com/6d3lntt

10. And finally, is this the most novel and romantic use of an iPad2 to date?
http://tinyurl.com/5v5879r

.

1. Firefox 4 went on worldwide release this week, after missing earlier target dates. The Mozilla browser has been revamped and features anti-tracking privacy and HTML 5 compatibility.
http://tinyurl.com/4fodsjl

2. The much hyped iPad2 goes on sale in 25 countries, including Ireland, this Friday at 1am at an expected price of €479 including VAT.
http://tinyurl.com/4ltb8g3

3. Professional social network site LinkedIn, which is establishing its European headquarters in Dublin hit 100m members this week.
http://tinyurl.com/47q4td9

4. Independent News and Media plan to launch an online coupon service called GrabOne.ie and are investing considerably in their online business.
http://tinyurl.com/65te66a

5. Irish telecom revenues grew by 3.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2010, with cable and mobile broadband in particular driving growth.
http://tinyurl.com/4o5wqt4

6. Mobile phone company 3 is to create 50 new jobs within the finance, retail and product development sections at its headquarters in Dublin.
http://tinyurl.com/4caofk7

7. China authorities have denied Google’s claim that they have been blocking Gmail accounts.
http://tinyurl.com/6du34f5

8. French mobile and web-based game developers, 2PaperDolls are relocating from Paris to Dublin next month, creating 3 new jobs.
http://tinyurl.com/4u422f

9. There will no excuses for not knowing exactly what you’re clicking into now that the adult entertainment, domain .XXX has been given the go ahead by US authorities.
http://tinyurl.com/4zqcldu

10. Apple is suing Amazon, who was due to open its Google Android app store. And the reason is use of the term ‘app store’, with Apple accusing the online retailer of infringement rights.
http://tinyurl.com/4b423co