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Dancers from the Moscow Ballet on the banks of the Grand Canal in Dublin on Thursday Julien Behal/PA Wire

Top readers' comments of the week

Here’s our round-up of the funniest, most thought-provoking and interesting comments you lot made this week. Did you make it in?

EVERY SATURDAY MORNING we like to take a look at all the best comments left on the site by you lot over the past week.

There was a lot of talk this week about the Marie Stopes clinic opening in Belfast, Fianna Fáil bouncing back into second place in opinion polls, and whether Irish people will sign up to video their sex lives to try and counter and myths of the porn industry. Then there was the case of the missing dog who came home, women drivers, and the Germany guy who tried to jump through ice and failed. Failed badly.

So here, in no particular order, are the standout comments from the week that was.

One of the speakers at the Dublin Web Summit encouraged Irish people to upload videos of themselves having sex in a bid to counter the myths of the porn industry – and apparently Irish people rushed to sign up. Steve Herron explained why he did:

I’ll be honest. I signed up. I like the fact that they are trying to take the sleezyness and nastyness out of porn. They are trying to make it something a loving couple can enjoy together, rather than a shameful secret a man has to hide from his partner.

Creamy Hamstrings was slightly more… sceptical:

Yeah, hold on. I’ll try to convince the girlfriend now! “no love its not a porn, its an amateur love video. Now, you just hold that thousand island dressing, I’ll get the midget from next door who owns those 2 donkeys. Also, have you seen my leather hockey mask? Just remember though, its a love video..”

Dubliners will be voting in 2014 on whether the city should get a directly elected mayor or not. Chuck Farrelly had an important question:

Cut to the chase; will he have a batphone?

A plane had to make an emergency landing at Dublin Airport on Friday – but luckily it was able to find it, as Dermot D pointed out:

Alan Shatter must be relieved the pilot didn’t try landing at Airfield in Dundrum

Is mathematical ability something you’re born with? Readers had a good discussion about this under this column on Thursday. Barry O’Brien gave his story:

Up until Junior Cert I thought I was brutal at maths. Whenever I asked a question the teacher looked at me as if I had two heads and asked in amazement how come I couldn’t understand it. After the first year I stopped asking questions or paying attention.

I went into Leaving Cert and had a new teacher. He was able to explain things properly and made an effort to actually teach and not embarrass, it was then realised I wasn’t actually bad at maths but that a crappy teacher had made me think I was.

That was over ten years ago but now I’m doing an online course on logic and am signed up for courses on algebra, calculus, and algorithms. I’m hoping to start a degree in physics in the next couple of years.

The head of RTE Digital spoke at the Dublin Web Summit this week about how she wants to see all of RTE move to digital. Albert McEinstein had a question:

Does this mean the Rte symphony orchestra will only be allowed use keyboards and those Rolf Harris xylophones?

This is long but good. On this article about whether an iPhone or a Samsung Galaxy blends faster (important question, right?), Hakuin Murphy said this:

I got talking to this guy at a trade show by chance.
Asked him why he was there.
“Oh I do these videos on Youtube where I blend things in a blender”
“Interesting, is it popular?”
“We’ve got about half a billion views – its the most successful viral marketing campaign in history”
“Really? And do you make money from that?”
“Well, Nike just gave us $80,000 to blend one of their shoes.”
“Wow, that’s amazing!” I said, “You’re the first guy I’ve ever met who makes his living from Youtube videos. You guys are like unicorns”
“Oh I don’t make my living from the videos” he said.”I own the company. Our blenders are in every single Starbucks on the planet,”
Guy is minted, but was a nice down to earth Mormon father of seven who seemed like he knew how to enjoy his wealth.
Apropos nothing in particular….

On the same article, Peter ‘Nocky’ Naughnane brought up some older technology:

My Nokia 5510 (circa. 873bc) would wreck that blender.

On a story about adoption, one user said kids would be bullied if they had parents who were different. Donncha Ó Coileáin had this response:

Niall, kids get picked on for having glasses, for having ginger hair, for being poor, for being rich, for being Polish, for being from another street/town/county, for not having the right runners, for not being good at hurling, for being good at their schoolwork, for being bad of their schoolwork, for having same-sex parents, for having one parent, for being adopted, for living with their grandparents, for having strict parents……. You get the idea.

Bullies look for someone who is different. That is all.

A whole lot of rain hit parts of the country earlier this week. This is what Waterford train station looked like (the tracks are somewhere under all that water). There were a lot of good comments from readers but these were the best. From Alan Costello:

They’re calling it platform 9 and 3/waters now.

*badum tish*

And from Martin John McGroarty:

irish ferries honouring all tickets

(Image: Irish Rail)

Spot any good comments? Let us know! Mail any suggestions to christine@thejournal.ie

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20 Comments
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Eddie
    Favourite Eddie
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    Feb 21st 2014, 7:48 PM

    ISS is visible several times every year from Ireland
    Download the NASA app and go to missions / sighting opportunities and it will tell you exactly where in the sky to watch and the correct time & date.

    98
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    Mute Gowanoutathat
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    Feb 21st 2014, 8:54 PM

    The ISS passes over Ireland hundreds of times a year. The journal is abit late with this story, for the past week it’s passed directly over us twice every evening .

    ISS SPOTTER is a great App if anyone is interested. Tells you when, tells where from and the direction. Makes it very easy to watch out and track it.

    50
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    Mute Gowanoutathat
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    Feb 21st 2014, 9:13 PM

    22nd, 6:26 pm and 8:04 pm

    23rd. 7:15pm

    24th 6:26 pm

    26th. 6:25pm

    Clear sky is only requirement.

    58
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    Mute Eddie
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    Feb 21st 2014, 10:25 PM

    Eyesight is also a requirement

    92
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    Mute Arianna Toolan
    Favourite Arianna Toolan
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    Feb 21st 2014, 10:51 PM

    You can also get email alerts set up for a certain town/area, I set it up and I’ve seen the space station many times overhead!! All we need is a few clear nights :)

    13
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    Mute Pauliebhoy
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    Feb 21st 2014, 10:52 PM

    Despite the couple of red thumbs, that made me laugh a wee bit Eddie

    15
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    Mute john kavanagh
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    Feb 22nd 2014, 12:09 PM

    how do you set that up Arianna??…..

    1
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    Mute Arianna Toolan
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    Feb 22nd 2014, 1:05 PM

    I can’t remember exactly how I did it,it was a while ago, but this is the email address I receive them from so I’m sure if you google spot the station or go to the nasa website you should be able to find the link, sorry I can’t be of more help! spotthestation@mail.nasa.gov

    1
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    Mute Arianna Toolan
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    Feb 22nd 2014, 1:08 PM

    Found the link….. http://spotthestation.nasa.gov

    1
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    Mute Darren
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    Feb 21st 2014, 7:54 PM

    I miss Chris Hadfield, I only copped onto him for his last 3 months but what a guy, made science so interesting

    80
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    Mute Denis Moynihan
    Favourite Denis Moynihan
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    Feb 21st 2014, 9:47 PM

    I read his book and watched Space Oddity on YouTube. Does that count as a sighting?

    8
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    Mute Denis Moynihan
    Favourite Denis Moynihan
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    Feb 21st 2014, 8:06 PM

    Would it be half as bright if there were only three astronauts on board?

    56
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    Mute Donal O'Byrne
    Favourite Donal O'Byrne
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    Feb 21st 2014, 8:16 PM

    “The aircraft. . . .”? It’s not an aircraft, it’s a spacecraft. I know this isn’t National Geographic, and a lot of people are no longer bothered about punctuation, spelling or grammar, but it would be good if we could preserve the meanings of at least some words. Then we might have a chance of understanding each other.

    53
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    Mute Jimmy Vlad James
    Favourite Jimmy Vlad James
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    Feb 21st 2014, 8:22 PM

    Welcome to the journal – where we strive to get things wrong.

    36
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    Mute Jimmy Vlad James
    Favourite Jimmy Vlad James
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    Feb 21st 2014, 8:51 PM

    They’ve fixed it on the sly –
    None of these idiots will notice they said

    12
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    Mute Donal O'Byrne
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    Feb 22nd 2014, 12:46 AM

    Well, at least they fixed it, I guess that’s progress of a sort.

    2
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    Mute mart_n
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    Feb 21st 2014, 8:14 PM

    “The aircraft will be visible over Ireland for the next four nights”

    Sorry for the pedantry but it’s not an aircraft =p

    36
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    Mute commonsense
    Favourite commonsense
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    Feb 21st 2014, 7:48 PM

    Awesome sight. Science at its best.

    34
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    Mute David McShite
    Favourite David McShite
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    Feb 21st 2014, 8:55 PM

    I tracked it with a powerful telescope on its last pass over Ireland. I could even read the letters on its underside!
    G -A -R -D -A

    57
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    Mute James Rowan
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    Feb 21st 2014, 8:08 PM

    Report your sighting… Why? We know where it’s gonna be and be seen from.

    Oh yes so astronomy ireland can pound you with emails……

    32
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    Mute darnell
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    Feb 21st 2014, 7:56 PM

    Hope I get abducted and probed! #YOLO

    31
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    Mute Colin C
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    Feb 21st 2014, 8:13 PM

    It’s not an aircraft. It’s a spacecraft. There is no air up there.

    24
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    Mute Jimmy Vlad James
    Favourite Jimmy Vlad James
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    Feb 21st 2014, 8:11 PM

    Eh – iv seen it loads of times.
    It does this a few times a year

    15
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    Mute Sheik Yahbouti
    Favourite Sheik Yahbouti
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    Feb 21st 2014, 8:21 PM

    Err, don’t harsh the scientific dudes’ buzz – they get ratty!:-D

    6
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    Mute Jeremy Usbourne
    Favourite Jeremy Usbourne
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    Feb 21st 2014, 7:54 PM

    Been there.
    Nice spot.
    Great views.

    13
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    Mute Neil Dinnen
    Favourite Neil Dinnen
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    Feb 21st 2014, 8:45 PM

    Aircraft??!! Come on guys in fairness. SPACECRAFT.

    13
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    Mute Alan Dooley
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    Feb 22nd 2014, 11:57 AM

    This has been passing us around tea time for a couple of weeks already.

    2
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    Mute David Mullan
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    Feb 22nd 2014, 7:10 AM

    Looks like a standard phone box to me!

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    Mute Adam Gill
    Favourite Adam Gill
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    Feb 23rd 2014, 11:00 AM

    Seems like a strange story? It’s visible on average 2 or 3 times a week – you can get notifications for your area from spotthestation (.com possibly? Either Google it or search for it on NASA’s website)

    1
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