The DOBlog

As I write this I’m travelling on the new evening rail service from Wexford to Dublin. It is really good. Cleverly Irish Rail have figured out that if they run a commuter service between Wexford and Waterford (using the lines previously hogged by Sugar beet trains that are no more) then they can run a service to Dublin via a connection at Enniscorthy.

For anyone travelling to or from Wexford this is a very much needed service. Indeed as a total package the new timetables provides a much needed piece of strategic connectivity between the South East and Dublin.

Passenger numbers on this, the first evening service to run, are OK for an evening train. However I think that with a bit of publicity the numbers travelling on the revised routes will easily justify them. Personally it makes my life a shit load easier as I can actually get some work done and then spend and hour or two with my wife (who was on the morning bus to Dublin today).

I will be trying out the morning service next week and will blog about my experiences live from the train… I really hope I can blog about overcrowding.

The only drawback is that the speed of the train is slightly less than that of the bus… but with a bit of investment in the lines we could actually get a viable eco-friendly transport system out of the south-east and reduce the reliance people have on the overstretched bus services.

Well done to who ever thought of this new schedule… and Santa, if you are listening, I’ve been really good all year and would really like to have faster trains that could get me to Dublin in less than 2hrs from Wexford.

I have noticed that I’ve been neglecting book reviews recently. This is in part due to other things eating up my time (such as my day job, my family and other extra curricular things) and in part due to my not having had time to put my reviews of the books I have been reading into a human-readable (as opposed to Daragh-readable) form.

Among the books that I really want to get reviews up for are:

Improving Data Warehouse and Business Information Quality by Larry P. English.

this is one of the first and best books on Information Quality that I read. It sets a clear vision and roadmap for improving Information Quality in a sustainable way which challenges us to think bigger and better… I’ll say more in the full review.

Data Quality for the Information Age by Tom Redman.

This is the second book I read on Information Quality (Tom calls it Data Quality). The book is quite strong on real world case studies drawn from Dr Redman’s experiences and presents another robust framework for sustainable improvements in the quality of information. Again, once I get the full review blocked out I’ll say more.

Information Quality, edited by Wang, Pierce, Madnick and Fisher

A more ‘academic’ focussed book, this is a collection of papers more than a consistent narrative exposition of a methodology or framework. Some sections are very academic focussed and are of limited immediate practical benefit (note -immediate) while others present very interesting approaches to presenting and measuring the importance of information quality to your organisation. Again, the review is still in jottings stage but I’ll say more when I get a chance, hopefully over Christmas.

Quality - 2nd Edition by John Beckford

Quite possibly the best crash course primer on the fundamental teachings of Quality Management from Crosby to Stills Nash and Young Deming to Taguchi and beyond. I’m a proud owner of both the first edition (as an ebook) and the second edition (paperback) and the coffee stains on the book are a badge of honour. Summarises core practices and principles of various Quality teachers in a succint and readily digested manner. Again, I’ll say more when I have the time to put the full review together.