Chicago is the great American city

Tim Cook stepping down as CEO, John Ternus (Apple VP for hardware engineering) taking over in September. End of the hardest ever follow-on-act (post Steve Jobs) in tech history We interviewed Ternus when he was last in Cork, asked him about the top job m.independent.ie/business/tec...

In 2026, it’s cheaper to buy a new electric car in almost all sizes to petrol, diesel or hybrid. Used to be opposite til very recently. Especially small cars (a previous weak spot): 4 EVs now under €20k — only 2 petrol and 0 diesel/hybrid at that price m.independent.ie/business/tec...

Am told that it also applies to electric car bookings within GoCar's fleet.

Peter Thiel is really interested in the Antichrist. He's been on a lecture tour about it, suggesting that regulating AI could hasten the Antichrist. TCD's excellent @massimofaggioli.bsky.social talks me through the Antichrist, Thiel, Pope Leo and Trump on the pod. open.spotify.com/episode/6l72...

GoCar announces €2 fuel surcharge on bookings because of Iran war www.independent.ie/business/tec...

Anyone interested, next 3-4 weeks are best of the year for shooting sunsets in Dublin — skies and air quality. Best place is Burrow Beach (Sutton) — sun sets really nicely over the water in late April / early May.

Have not been shy pointing out challenges of owning an EV. But right now, very attractive. Cheaper, more variety, fraction of the cost to run. A good chance you’d never have to visit a forecourt again too. Outselling petrol and diesel, easy to see why. m.independent.ie/business/iri...

Patriots www.independent.ie/irish-news/a...

May be time to massively increase home solar power subsidies. Currently €1,800 — around 177k homes using solar. But at least 1m capable. No-brainer to double or even triple subsidy? Slash home energy bills and lessen dependence on oil/grid/diesel? www.independent.ie/business/tec...

I know it’s off topic, but what’s the most expensive mineral water in a pub? Drumcondra’s Ivy House charges €5 for a small River Rock

Electric car registrations surged 52% in Ireland last month. What will it be in April? With the fuel chaos? Difference from 1-2 years ago: way more + *way* cheaper EV models eg Cheapest car *of any kind* in Ireland is this Dacia Spring, €15k Now this charging gap with diesel

X’s curated ‘top’ posts on Ireland’s fuel protests. Quite clear what its biggest accounts, and maybe its algorithm, want to turn this into

"Buyers are picking up office towers in major US cities for roughly the price of a three-bedroom condo in Manhattan." US office buildings are going for 90% off. In Chicago, this 485,000 sq ft building just sold for $4m; it sold for $68m a decade ago. www.wsj.com/real-estate/...

NYT deep dive investigation into the mysterious founder of Bitcoin identifies 55-year-old British computer scientist, Adam Back, as the legendary Satoshi Nakamoto Very persuasive www.nytimes.com/2026/04/08/b...

Greece bans social media for under-15s, starting next January. France and Portugal close to it. Spain, UK, Denmark, others not far off. Cautionary note: Australia's first big update since its ban finds 70% still using platforms and no fall in teen abuse www.independent.ie/world-news/g...

O’Connell St, standstill

We’re beyond whatever it is that gives Trump a bye, now.

Intel to buy back the 49pc of the Fab 34 plant it sold to US private equity firm Apollo in 2024. It will pay $14.2bn, a $3bn premium on the $11.2bn it sold it for in 2024. Will be seen as a vote of confidence in Leixlip operation and its 4,900 workers. www.independent.ie/business/tec...

Ireland car sales in March -- first full month of effect from Iran war Electric: +52% Petrol: -38% Diesel: -37% Electric now outselling petrol and diesel -- first time. Hybrid (petrol-electric): 27.4% Full electric: 21.6% Petrol 21.2% Plug-In hybrid: 14.4% Diesel 12.9% (Simi)

Bobby Healy's drone delivery firm Manna raises $50m in Series B with plans for 400 new jobs in Ireland and US. Round includes Cathie Wood's Ark Invest. www.independent.ie/business/tec...

Apple made €1.3bn profit per week in Ireland last year, its accounts show. Paid €20bn in tax to the Irish govt in 2025, mostly cos of the EU tax ruling. (All of that EU penalty tax fine cash is kept by Irish govt/people) www.independent.ie/business/app...

What attracts teenage boys to the manosphere online? Algorithms, sure — but there may be more going on, as Richie Sadlier explains in today’s pod (Big Tech Show, available on all platforms including YouTube)

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For years, we’ve been shouting about dodgy or fake discounts at Black Friday. A major sweep of online retailers by Ireland’s competition authority now shows that a third of stated discounts during Black Friday/Cyber Monday are problematic. www.independent.ie/business/tec...

Man arrested after gardaí seize €110,000 of cannabis at Dublin office of Bauer Media, home of radio stations including Newstalk, 98FM, Today FM and Spin 1038 www.independent.ie/irish-news/c...

AI hallucinations and the danger of falling for “irresistible” quotes m.independent.ie/business/tec...

😬

Arne Slot’s time, sadly, is almost up. It may not be entirely his fault that players don’t (or won’t) play with the required intensity. But at season’s end, it’ll be time to put in someone more invested in, and capable around, players’ intensity and effort.

How AI music scams work. Man just pleaded guilty to creating thousands of bot accounts on Spotify, Apple Music etc and then used AI to generate hundreds of thousands of songs, streamed billions of times. = $8m in royalties. www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/streaming-fr...

Mediahuis suspends Peter Vandermeersch after former Irish boss admits misuse of AI in new role. The Irish Independent has removed recent opinion articles written by the journalist while seeking clarity www.independent.ie/business/tec...

New DarkSword iPhone hack ‘can steal everything’ just by visiting the wrong website. Researchers say it’s likely Russian created and affects iOS 18 (the previous iOS version). Takes passwords, WhatsApps, wallet details, browser history. m.independent.ie/business/tec...

From May, Meta will be able to see your DMs on Instagram. Company now warning users to download/remove content from DMs that users wouldn’t want others to see. Company says it’s still committed to encryption privacy (eg WhatsApp), just not on Instagram www.independent.ie/business/tec...

Only out of the city can you see the sky properly (simple phone shot)

Instagram is ending encryption on DMs. It warns some people’s chats will be “affected” — ie any photos or messages sent may now not be secure and private. Meta claims few people wanted encryption, despite it being a core feature of WhatsApp

The Iran war landed in Ireland, with a hacking attack on Cork-based medical tech multinational Stryker. With Iran indicating that it may target US multinationals, and Ireland to take up EU presidency, more facilities here may be in the line of fire. www.independent.ie/world-news/m...

Former minister Alan Shatter sues TD Paul Murphy over tweet wrongly linking him to Jeffrey Epstein www.independent.ie/irish-news/c...

Dublin is now doing well out of the AI giants, just like it did well out of the web giants. Anthropic (styling themselves ‘the good guys’) hiring another 200 people + new 21,000 sq ft office. OpenAI also looking to double its workforce to 400 people. www.independent.ie/business/tec...

Apple’s new MacBook Neo is unbelievable. Half the price (€699) of a MacBook Air — and honestly, 98% of the experience (and even power). If I was buying a new laptop tomorrow, this would absolutely be it. Full review: m.independent.ie/business/tec...

Grand day

Sharp fall in pay TV subscriptions (Sky, Virgin etc) — from 70% to 57%. Netflix etc subscriptions unchanged. Seems like dodgy boxes (400k homes) are now really biting, shrinking the TV industry here m.independent.ie/business/tec...

‪Outlook as Gaeilge‬

Fón as Gaeilge don seachtain (Outlook ina measc) … iPhone: Settings —> General —> Language & Region Android: Settings —> System —> Languages/Input

Apple’s new budget (€699) MacBook Neo - 13-inch size - 256GB or 512GB - iPhone chip (A18 Pro) - MacOS - battery life slightly less than other MacBooks - multiple colours

So Apple has increased prices by $100 in US and £100 in UK — but no price increase in EU. = Apple forecasting strong € and weak $ and £

Apple has announced new MacBook Air M5 and MacBook Pro today. Good news 1: twice the base storage Good news 2: no price increase here in € (but $100 more in US! Trump tariff!) Bad news: no charging adapters included anymore (charged separately!)

Today’s ep: “I was naive and stupid”. Interview with a guy who had €30k of crypto stolen — he had stored the keys in a Gmail draft (Big Tech Show podcast, Spotify/YT etc)

Full review now published: www.independent.ie/business/tec...