1. ‘Hacktivists’ target MasterCard, Visa and Amazon websites, to name but a few, in retaliation for the withdrawal of donations to the WikiLeaks website. Our client, Dermot Williams from IT security company, Threatscape, helped break down the denial-of-service attack into layman’s terms for RTE Drivetime and Pat Kenny listeners as the news unfolded – http://tinyurl.com/2a722nt
2. Eircom launch MusicHub, which offers free, unlimited music streaming for its broadband customers and music downloads from just 32c per track. The service will also be available to non-Eircom customers for €6.99 per month for unlimited music streaming – http://tinyurl.com/39mkxc9
3. Mashable counted down the top viral ads of 2010, proving what while money may not be thick on the ground just now, creativity and humour certainly are – http://tinyurl.com/273tlqj
4. Conversation unfolded this week on how social media is changing the way we watch TV. You only have to log on to Twitter or Facebook during the X Factor each Saturday night to see clear evidence of this – http://tinyurl.com/2f7z55n
5. Despite the doom and gloom of this week’s budget, Facebook and Dell have managed to lighten the mood a little with job creation announcements. US firms Kemp Technologies, Rockwell Automation and Aspect also announced plans to expand into Ireland – http://tinyurl.com/29e7p3f
6. While the high street took a battering this week with the adverse weather, with even the famed 8th December shopping day turning into a damp if not frozen squib, online retail saw a jump as people avoided the cold – http://tinyurl.com/2vp2ntr
7. Tech Christmas gifts appear to be on many lists this year with gift guides being dominated with the iPad, Samsung Galaxy and much more – http://tinyurl.com/2ees6gr
8. €44m will be allocated this year to deploy 100Mbps broadband to 300 schools in the country in 2011 under Budget 2011. It’s a far cry from copy books wrapped in old wallpaper but a very exciting development for Irish education, which this week was criticised as an OECD survey revealed low literacy and maths standards – http://tinyurl.com/2amoa8v
9. Ireland’s top Google searches were revealed this week with Chatroulette, a site that allows you have video chats with random strangers, emerging as the fastest-growing search term on Google in 2011 – http://tinyurl.com/32vqsc5
10. The big freeze went viral this week as cunning bystanders filmed some of the funniest slips and slides of the cold snap. Here’s one of our favourites – http://tinyurl.com/2dbg82n
