revdkathy

I've been thinking about a new phone for a few weeks, having realised that my n900 was having charging issues. They came to a head on Friday night when he was unable to charge. I removed the cable, and the usb socket came away with it. So that's that for Mo. I cried a little: I know he was only a piece of technology, but Mo introduced me to so many wonderful people and took me to places I would never have been without him. Besides, I need to find a way to get the data off him with a dead battery!

Which leaves me needing to rather rush my decision about a new phone.

I narrowed it down to a couple of choices, and asked my friends on twitter: Galaxy s2 or Nokia n9?Unsurprisingly given the people I interact with, they came down in favour of the n9. But I still haven't quite decided, as I have a few niggling doubts. So I thought I'd blog about them – partly as a way of getting my thoughts clear, and partly so people who know better than I can address the doubts and see if they're meaningful.

So: In favour of the S2:

Terrific specification – probably still the best phone spec on the market. Though some of that is because Android needs a fast chipset. Except...

Future proof: S2 is expecting to get ICS in the next few months. And ICS runs on a slower chip in the nexus, so presumably will run like lightening on the S2's chip.

Software: android market is huge, with stuff that's both practical and fun. I can probably make it do everything I want – and it will include DRM stuff like kindle and kobo books. I have both on the HTC flyer and it would be nice to have the same book on the phone so I can read at work.

Novelty items like locking (face unlock with ICS)

Against the S2:

Reputed to be plasticky build quality

Android operating system is a bit clunky in places. Though I do ok with it on the Flyer (actually, preferred Gingerbread to Honeycomb, to be honest)

Big phone for small teddy paws.


In favour of the N9:

Spec is pretty good. It has most of the features I would want to use, including that Carl Zeiss camera lens.

Harmattan is reputed to be the perfect operating system, running like silk with amazing integration.

Reported to have solid build quality – though the n900 is not a good recommendation given the problems those have had. Lovely shape, too.

Against the N9:

End of the line operating system – no future proofing

Do I want a phone I can't access the battery? No slot for an SD card, either.

Will have to switch to a micro-sim card so extra hassle

Less apps etc, though it has most of the things I'd look for apart from kobo/kindle app.



So that's where my thinking has got me. On the irrational side, I think I feel more excited technologically about the idea of an S2. But the n9 would bring me back into networking with the people who've been such great friends with the n900. Which is why I'm still sitting here undecided. I hoped one would drop in price today as the sales start and that would help me decide. But sadly not.

If anyone has comments I'd be really glad of them (Unless you're selling UGG boots – I've deleted a lot of those comments already!)

You know, I'd almost forgotten I wear it. I so seldom wear a real clerical collar, and working in the NHS, far fewer people see me through the lens of “clergyperson” so I'd got used to being seen as 'Me'.

This week, I was brought down to the pulpit with a bump.

It started with an email. From a gentleman. From a very nice gentleman. It said:

“There is due to be a charity ball on 1st October at the Eden Project. I shall be attending. Would there be any chance you could come as well?”

I wasn't sure what to make of that, so I showed it to a few trusted friends. Two said “That's asking you for a date”. The third said “Ooo err!” because she was the only person to whom I showed the name of the sender, and she, like me, knows that he has a long term partner. So no, I knew it wasn't a date.

But I was left very, very unsure what I WAS being asked. My best guess was that I was wanted as escort: the gentleman's partner had a very nasty accident earlier this year, and is recovering, so it was possible he needed someone to take to the event.

Rather than risk putting my foot in it, I emailed back discretely asking what I was being invited to.

And it turns out that the Trust Chair is organising a party to attend this Ball, and deputed the gentleman to find people to make up a table. And I got the impression from his reply that he was rather alarmed at the realisation that I might have misunderstood his email.

I momentarily toyed with the idea that I had been deliberately made to look foolish. But The gent is actually too nice for that. (I think!)

Which leaves me facing the sad reality that it never occurred to him to look carefully at how he worded his invitation. It didn't occur to him that as a woman I might just misread his intentions. He wasn't sending it to a woman. Because, after all, I'm not a woman. I'm the chaplain. A member of that mysterious asexual group known as clergy. Many years ago, I found a cartoon (sadly not online) showing the doors for three public loos: left, the door with the symbol for the gents, right, the door for the ladies, and in between, a door with a little stylised figure in cassock and clerical collar. Neither male nor female...

And I just didn't need that reminder right now.

Many people have commented and speculated on the recent events in the UK, which are being referred to as riots, criminal action, feral youth rampaging.. call it what you will.

For those readers not in the UK, this started as a peaceful protest at a police shooting (which was possibly a mistake but investigation takes ages) and the rather poor treatment of the family of the victim. In the UK, most of our police don't carry guns, so this is a rare and troubling event. The local community spontaneously protested. And someone decided this was a good setting for a riot.

But pretty quickly it became evident that this was not really anything to do with that. This is about young people taking the opportunity of a temporary breakdown in peace-keeping to have some destructive fun (smashing and burning things) and to get some stuff – it's no accident that the targets are phone, electronics and high-end sports and fashion shops. That's apart from the woman photographed looting armfuls of haribo – kids and grown-ups love it so!

Are these kids natural criminals? I don't think so. I think they're opportunists. Him Up North has written a lovely creative piece (I assume it's creative, as I have reason to believe Him Up North is not a teenager living at home ) expressing the sense of 'getting caught up' of what's going on.

So why? I'd like to make a simple suggestion: because no-one has given these kids any reason not to do stuff like that. And if our leaders really want to prevent this sort of thing happening again, that's what they need to do.

Historically, lots of things have been used to prevent criminal or amoral behaviour. Will any of them work here?


The fear of God.
Time was when God or religious belief was motivation enough to behave appropriately. People literally had the hell scared out of them. They were taught from an early age that stealing a sweetie or talking back at teacher was liable to end you in eternal torment. Unfortunately, most people these days don't actually believe in God. And those of us who do are highly uncomfortable with his/her being used to promote social control because of the dangers inherent in that: what happens when the state does need opposing? Besides, who wants to believe in a divine creator who loves people so much s/he send them to infinite torment for extremely finite crimes?

Because it's wrong
With God out of the picture, he has been replaced with a humanist morality. Some things are just 'wrong' because they obviously are. Or are they? Our collective social morality has become increasingly relativistic, to the point where 'right' has become equal to 'you can get away with it'. These young people have seen plenty of people – leaders of industry and politics among them – make off with huge wealth that wasn't theirs. And get away with it. So the notion that some things are just 'wrong' no longer has much currency. And when you're stealing from large corporations (like big chain stores) it feels vaguely victimless. So if you can get away with it, it's ok, right?

Fear of the law
It's no accident that this started at a peaceful protest into the police mis-handling something. Because that ensured that they were on the wrong foot. Did the police try the 'softy softly' approach a little too long out of fears of headlines about brutality? Realistically, how many of these young people will be brought to court? And if they are, what can/will the courts do? Our prisons are already overflowing. We lock up more of our population than anyone else in Western Europe. A fine? A few hours community service? Our law isn't scary any more

Fear of public disapproval
Really? Most of those kids will have had their peer group around them. When I was a kid the idea that a policeman came to a house in our street would set the neighbours talking for a week. If you had a social worker, it was something to be ashamed of. But “What will people think” is no longer a reason not to do something. People don't actually care any more. Besides, you can always take out an injunction to stop anyone making news out of it.

Because it will screw up your own future
This might work. If these folks had anything to lose.

And that's the point, isn't it? These are folk who cannot see that they have anything to lose. They have no reason not to opportunistically grab a wii, a pair of trainers or a bag of haribo. Most of them will get away with it. Our politicians will rant that there's no justification for this sort or behaviour – but was there justification for the bankers getting huge bonuses? for MPs (and fraud investigators, and council leaders...) claiming expenses that certainly don't look like they're job related? for sports-people and entertainers to earn the sorts of wealth most of us can't even imagine while ordinary people like nurses and firemen lose their jobs? If we want moral behaviour from the populace, we have to start by demonstrating moral behaviour from the leaders.

Otherwise, sooner or later this will happen. People have learned that they can get away with something for nothing. And they have no reason not to.

For the last two or three weeks, I've been battling the Black Dog. Those who know me well know that I suffer from chronic depression with acute patches. Those who meet me fleetingly find this hard to credit, since I do a damned good job of hiding it and acting like a happy bear.

But anyway, the last few weeks have been tough on the old emotional front. And one of the the things I do when I'm low is treat myself to things – partly on the “I'm worth it” principle, and partly because it's a pretty nifty distraction.

So a fortnight ago I eschewed morning service in favour of worshipping in the lingerie department at Matalan. I came away with all the knickers I might possibly need for my holiday in October. And since it wasn't yet lunchtime, I wandered into Comet next door.

A few months back I looked at the market in Tablets (that's digital ones, not large quantities of paracetemol). I didn't want an ipad – I've never had an apple product and don't plan on starting now – but the growing collection of android devices quietly seeping onto the market were interesting. And Comet had a few on display. To my utter astonishment, I found I could actually use the capacitive screen for typing on.

It proved a useful distraction: for the next few days I amused myself browsing in the stores and online, seeing what was available and what was nice to use. I also gave a great deal of thought to what I might actually use one for, and therefore which features and hardware would be of value.

And I fell in love. Not, as you might think, with the highest spec, biggest, newest thing on the market. I fell in love with the htc Flyer. It's a 7 inch tablet, with 3g as well as wifi, 32gb memory plus micro-sd expansion slot, running android 2.2 rather than the tablet-specific android 3, but with htc's 'sense' overlay.

The only downside was the price. By the end of the week, I'd convinced myself it was overpriced, being at the very top of the price range. I persuaded myself that the best thing would be to wait till either something better came out or the price dropped.

Great plan. Except that on Friday evening, Amazon launched a one off weekend-only offer reducing the price by £120. I decided the universe was trying to tell me something, and with relatives holding my paw on Saturday last I placed the order. (I still have to actually pay the credit bill, but the money is in my account!)

The Flyer arrived on Monday, and I've spent the last week playing with it, setting it up, filling it with things I will find Useful, removing things that turn out not to be Useful, and generally having fun.

So... impressions. I am surprised at how easy the capacitive screen is to work with. This bodes well for when (if?) Nokia release the N9 in the UK. Indeed, it's faintly alarming: I keep the haptic feedback turned on, and often find that I don't actually touch the screen – the heat from my finger is enough to trigger the response (I have very hot hands!) It feels almost alive as a result.

The htc sense UI is lovely to use. Most of its gestures seem to be some form of swipe – though I know Nokia has now claimed that (and I think Apple are trying to patent it!) I have 8 homescreens, now all suitably stuffed with, well, with stuff. It reads email, collects my friends stream from twitter, keeps me logged in to google-talk (Still looking for a google+ invite!) The screen is bright and clear – amazing for viewing video on, and I have an account now for the bookstore associated with the reader software, and even one for htc Watch film store. The 'live wallpaper' burns battery, but some of them are beautiful. In my usual style I shall collect a few and change them with the seasons. And I determined that the Flyer is not for work, so he doesn't have my work diary. Friends and fun only, please, as he'll be my companion in my leisure time and holidays.

The android market is mature and full of stuff. I have eschewed fart apps, but found plenty of utilities and even a few games to keep me amused: I'm an Angry Birds addict (want one of those cuddly toys!) I found a way to print stuff directly to my printer, and am currently struggling with the settings to access my network drive over the wifi. I have a Bible, daily reader, daily prayer cycle, and other personal stuff. The Tumblr app will let me post direct to my tumblr account where-ever I go, and I found something which will resize images so I don't have to post them full-size over 3g.

The location services work pretty well: my back garden recorded as being in the Chinese takeaway – which was off by about 10 yards. Inside the house it doesn't work so well, but then the house is made of granite.

The Flyer's “Killer feature” is the capacitive pen. This enables you to scribble notes and draw things. Well, in my case to doodle. There's a selection of pens from highlighter to calligraphy, taking in paintbrushes, pencils etc. It can be used in the note-taking application, the reader (for notes in the margins) and on photos (for putting Hitler-style moustaches on your friends). If you want to use it on anything else, it automatically takes a screenshot of what you're looking at, and saves it as an image for you to write on. And it links what you've scribbled to your calendar – so you can find stuff by “I wrote that last Thursday” if you get so many notes you can't sort them. I'm not sure how much use it will have in the long term, but it's certainly fun. And will be good for photos when I'm on holiday. (I've also downloaded the touchnote app for turning your photos into hard postcards.)

If I get really bored, I will get some screenshots and upload them for you. This was my first attempt with the 'notepad'.

I continue to play. I can't say the Flyer has cured this particular bout of depression, though he has kept me occupied and amused enough to be less aware of it. And if I want to find a cliff, the 'car panel sat nav' will get me there safely!

So Nokia have finally announced the shiny new N9, the next in their Open Source line of devices, and maybe the last. Allowing for a fairly normal lead time, it should hit markets about two years after its predecessor, the N900. (Though Nokia is not famous for getting devices out for due dates, something their new Powers That Be claim to have fixed.)

What's it like?

Well, most industry bloggers tripped over their feet in rushing to put finger to keyboard to extol its virtues. Even Engadget liked it! The BBC, notorious Apple fans, managed to say it was quite a good device, then pour negativity over its future.

The community seems pretty divided. Those who are willing to embrace something new can see its potential. But many people who came on board with the N900 are disappointed at the very different feature set. If you chose your device for the feature set, I can understand disappointment with the change of feature direction.

So what do I think?

Mostly, I think I like it. And more importantly, I think Nokia have made the right moves with this device. Unlike any of the maemo offerings, the N9 is first and foremost a consumer device. It follows current consumer fashions, and puts Nokia's own spin on them. Which means doing what everyone else is doing, only better.

What makes N9 a consumer device?

* Nokia have streamlined hardware and concentrated on form factor. The N9 is a fashionable keyboardless 'monoblock' device with a capacitive touch screen. Whereas the n900 was stuffed full of every piece of hardware you could think of, some of which shipped without software - left to the community to create, the N9 has more or less only those hardware features which are tried and tested in the market: it does what most people expect a phone to do, but there's no FM radio (receiver or transmitter) and no IrDA. But the items that are there are are high quality and polished. The camera may only be 8mp, but it's got quality software, and of course that Carl Zeiss lens that keeps some of us coming back to Nokia devices. The new idea in the block (rather than on the block!) is “Near Field Communication” - how useful that will prove will depend on whether other devices have it too. Great for pairing with your Nokia headset, but what I really want is to pair with a friend's Sony Ericsson so I can swap photos.

* The second thing that Nokia appear to have got right is the performance. Judging by the videos, this baby has enough juice in terms of processor and memory to comfortably multi-task a large number of apps while still being able to play those animated transitions. You slide off a video, and the half screen continues playing. It's paused in the background when you go to the 'open apps' screen, ready to pick up where you left off.

* And while we're mentioning the animated transitions, please can we give a huge cheer for the UI guys this time. I was chatting to a client yesterday about Open Source and his comment was “My problem with Open Source is that they tweak stuff and make it very hard to use”. I replied “It's not that they make it hard to use – most Open stuff is written by enthusiasts who don't worry too much about polishing the interface. On the other hand, go look at the N9!” Because if the N9 has done anything right, it's that nifty, user-friendly attractive interface that makes even die-hard resistive screen fans like me want to try it out. It may not be easy for us furry fingered types to get our paws round the capacitive typing, but that UI makes me determined to try!

* Did I mention the marketing? I confess I wondered what Nokia was about launching so far from home in Singapore. Though of course, they have huge markets over there – a fact often forgotten by the journalists and bloggers who think that Europe and N America is the centre of all things mobile. The launch went smoothly, the excellent website was ready to go live – and it didn't crash! The Excitement was all over the web within 5 hours of the announcement. The ads are smooth, the information enough without being overloaded – it looks like it's all been aimed at the consumer who was just waiting for the next big thing.


* And then there's the N950. Just when you wanted to bitch that Nokia has sold out their MeeGo project to the consumer and forgotten their loyal developers and community, there's the n950. A device just for the developer. There won't be many around, and it's not designed with glossiness in mind – but it has that all-important hardware keyboard for on-device programming. Actually getting your hands on one may not be terribly easy. If you think you could justify being awarded one for some project or idea you have, now is the time to sign up to the community devices programme.


Anyway, those are my first reflections on the new N9. Ideally, I'd like to check I can type on that screen. But this bear of very little brain is counting her pennies (and waiting for a release date) as I think I'd rather like one of those. In pink.

There's some talk online about whether those of us poking gentle fun at the whole “Rapture” business today are being unkind and unChristian. Jesus, they say, wouldn't mock the Rapture. Well, actually, I think that, had he a twitter account, Jesus would. And here's seven reasons why.


1) Gentle Jesus, not so meek and mild. The Victorians may have wanted to believe that Jesus was Tewwibly Nice, but we need to remember that this is the man who attacked the money changers in the temple with a whip of cords (John 2:15). A quick reread of his words in Matthew 23 might help to remind people of this rather less than meek aspect of his divine nature. Jesus didn't like self-righteous religious leaders who claimed to know the mind of God.

2) Jesus specifically said we wouldn't know the hour nor the day (Matthew 25:13). Don't you think he'd be a bit miffed at some pastor in the USA claiming to know the mind of God better than he did? (Disclaimer, Jesus didn't have modern computers on which to do his calculations: maybe he'd have been able to give us a date if he'd had more fingers and toes?)

3) Dateline God: according to the prediction, the “Rapture” will role around the world based on a time set by human clocks and human calculations. Err... since when was God (that's God Almighty, Creator, Lord of heaven and earth) bound by the international dateline? What does he do about daylight savings time zones? What happens to people who live too close to a time zone change?

4) Noah. Revd Camping has calculated his date as 7000 years since Noah's flood. Which is set as exactly when? I can't find Noah's Online Blog to give me an exact date for the start of the flood. Besides, is the exact moment when the rain started? When the ark first floated, probably several hours after the first raindrops? When the whole earth was covered? When the flood ended? (which was exactly when?) Seems a bit too uncertain a date to max out your credit cards on.

5) Noah (part 2). What's it got to do with Noah anyway? The end of the Noah story is the delightful assurance by God that he won't repeat the flood. While the earth remaineth and all that. So whatever happens at the end of the world (whenever it happens) it won't be a repeat of the flood. Sorry Revd Camping: unlike the BBC, God doesn't do repeats. (Genesis 8:21-22)

6) Waste of resource: Looking at all the millions suffering and dying in our world from unnecessary wars, curable diseases, lack of basics like clean water and enough to eat, I somehow feel Jesus would be a tad uncomfortable with the huge waste of resources which has been put into promoting this upcoming “Rapture”. Revd Camping's radio station is valued at $86 million. How much nearer could he make the Kingdom of God by using that to relieve suffering – and encouraging his followers to do the same? (Matthew 25:31-46)

7) The final reason I believe Jesus would mock the “Rapture” is this. I know I'm going out on a limb here, and probably setting myself against the whole of the world church. But I can't help believing that Jesus has a sense of humour.



Peace. ;-)

Watching events unfold on the world stage, I find myself wondering exactly how much responsibility lies in the hands of the Finns.

Once their goal was to put a phone into the hands of every citizen of the planet. Then to upgrade that phone to a camera/video enabled internet phone. Slowly, slowly they've been working towards that admirable commercial aim. Commercial? Maybe a bit more than that.

Travelling in both Egypt and Tunisia, Nokia was ubiquitous. In amongst the people wanting to sell me things I met geeks – people who despite a language barrier were eager to show off their devices and chat about smartphone capabilities. Other smartphone manufacturers are coming up on the rails in such places, but Nokia is still dominant. A cursory glance at the stats shows that even without counting the sale of second hand devices, passed down as people upgrade, there's an awful lot of Nokia handsets in N. Africa.

And now we see the effects. In Tunisia a Government riddled with corruption and held in power by oppressive activities was toppled by a community connected via Twitter, Facebook and bloggers, organised by sms and tweets to assemble and demonstrate. News hit the global media from smartphone video cameras and blogging apps. Now Tunisia are looking to rebuild with something resembling real democracy, real choice – with all the advantages and drawbacks which that will bring them.

Egypt is a different case: much greater poverty means less people with handsets, lower education standards, less optimism. And a rather more ruthless dictator, backed by a lot of Western money to keep him sweet since Egypt is a little too close to Israel for comfort.

In an effort to prevent people organising, the Egyptians authorities cut access to facebook and twitter (revealing their ignorance of the use of proxies!) Then they cut off the internet altogether. Finally, in an act of desperation, they shut down the mobile phone networks. (You might reflect what sort of Government passes laws allowing it to do that.) Even so, in the 24 hours up to lunchtime on 28th January (one of the major days of demonstration) some 8% of Tweets containing the word 'Egypt' were generated within the country itself (http://mashable.com/2011/01/28/cairo-protests-twitter/). Proving how hard it is to stop someone with a phone in their hand. (http://www.zdnet.co.uk/blogs/security-bullet-in-10000166/egyptian-government-orders-mobile-shutdown-10021573/)

Looking back, this ought to have been predictable. Devices empower people. Everyone and anyone can pass an opinion and get it read (even me!), send photos to news outlets, post video where the world can see it. Silencing your populace has never been harder. And it's leading slowly to demands for democracy and freedom in places where people could be quashed just a few short years ago.

I believe that when history looks back, the camera-smart-phone will be seen to have been a major factor in bringing down dictators who could no longer suppress those they ruled. Sneaky guys, those Finns.

Over my many years in ministry I've worked with all sorts of people dealing with all sorts of losses – many of them utter tragedies. The pain of loss is different for each person, and never to be minimised. One of the worst things that people say is that you will get over it, or that time is a great healer. It's not. So I developed my bereavement theology of the mineshaft. It should probably be noted that I live in Cornwall, where the experience described is perhaps less unlikely than in other parts of the world!A

Imagine you have a garden, a beautiful garden, that you have tended, worked in and enjoyed for a long time. And one morning you wake up to find that an old mineshaft has opened up in the middle of your garden – a great yawning hole, into which many of the things you cherished have fallen irretrievably. And now you have to start finding your way around the garden with this bloody great hole.

In the earliest days, you find that you can barely set foot in the garden. Whichever way you try to go, you find the mineshaft is in your way, and you fall in, causing yourself bruising, pain, broken bones. And you rely on others to lift you out.

Then you start to find ways of getting yourself out of the hole, pausing while you're there to look around at the bits of your garden you have lost.

As time goes on, you start to make new paths around your garden: you find a way to get down to the raspberry canes at the bottom without actually falling in the hole. You realise that you still have the camellias if not the roses, and that you can still enjoy what is left of your garden. You build some new paths, lay fresh paving and even plant new rosebushes.

But just occasionally you forget the hole is there, walk the wrong way, and fall in. And when you do it hurts every bit as much as it did on the first day. Never believe people who try to tell you it should hurt less: that hole stays as deep and painful as ever. You just get on with living and fall in less often.

So you get on with living with the hole. Your life goes on around it.

And if you are really, really lucky, it will fill with water, acquire rushes at the edges, and you can float water lilies on it in memory of the one you have lost. And that's the point when you realise that your garden is more beautiful for having loved, even if you have lost the one you love.

I stood there in the queue to receive my Conference Freebee Idea-pad fully expecting to be turned away. These devices were for the devs to work on, no?

The Nice Man from Intel who was handing out devices held out a box and asked “Which company are you from?”

“Err, I'm not a company” I stammered. “I'm just an end user.”

I paused, expecting him to snatch the box away out of my reach. Instead he thrust it eagerly into my waiting paws: “Well, we shall really want to hear what you make of it then!”

They asked me whether I wanted the broadcom drivers and thankfully someone answered for me. I had taken h0pbeat along with me to assist in the install, and he was a star, setting it all up and ready for me. I put it on the helpdesk with my MeeGon sticker on to identify it as mine (Thanks Texrat!) for others to play with and dashed into a talk about community.

I sat down next to Ash (MeegoExperts) who was running MeeGo on his own netbook. Watching over his shoulder I picked up a couple of keyboard shortcuts, and saw he was running tweetdeck. He suggested I google that and Open Office to see how they were installed.

I went back to the helpdesk and did just that. Within the hour I had both working. And both had required installing via the terminal. I was shaking slightly, but glowing. And in dire need of a pint of the black stuff to calm my nerves. But the exhilaration was worth it! And in response to my jubilant tweets I got congratulations from people beside whose tech knowledge I feel like an annoying mossie.

So the Idea-pad came home, causing pains in my shoulders from cabin luggage containing not one but two netbooks. And I started to play.

And that's where I began to hit the brick walls. Everything I tried to do was just out of my reach. I could get so far, but there would always be a line where the instructions were aimed at someone with just a spot more knowledge than I had. By Friday night, I had tried and tried to:
install the mp3 codecs
install the onscreen keyboard
make the ad hoc network operate
enable the community repo
customise the 'MyZone'

I was defeated. And a tad depressed. I retired to bed with my bear and had a little weep over my own inadequacy.

Fortunately, though I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, I have the grim determination of a small ill-tempered terrier. So after a day of chores, I settled down to Try Again.

AndyBleadon had kindly supplied directions for installing the fluendo codecs: I had stalled because the fluendo website had directed me to d/l the linux generic code, and the instructions were looking for an .rpm. I worked that bit out. I asked the website for the rpm, and got a scary message about rpm files damaging the device. With Andy's reassurance, I went ahead, and within minutes was playing an mp3 file. Still can't view mp4 though, for some reason.

One more shot at the community repo, and googling the fact that it was telling me that 'wget' was an unknown command, I duly installed wget and then followed the instructions.. I have access to that supply of apps now.

I opted to give up on the onscreen keyboard: I'll wait till Someone Clever has that sorted with a decent UI so I can turn it on and off. Instead, thanks to timoph, I have located and installed xournal, which gives me some usability for the tablet mode using the touch screen. Excellent. And yes, both that and x-chat were downloaded as rpms, and installed via the terminal. Without extra instructions.

Dawn Foster in IRC kindly pointed out to me how to customise the MyZone rather better (which is great!) and I have found the bug which stops JoikuSpot and other ad hoc networks connecting and voted on it. (Bug http://bugs.meego.com/show_bug.cgi?id=440 I think!)

So summing up?

The Idea-pad is a very decent piece of kit. It has better hardware than my current netbook, and the battery life is awesome. It's pleasant to use (though a little unbalanced with the battery weight – falls off the arm of the chair!)

The MeeGo netbook OS is... unfinished. In trying to make it simple to use, too many things have been left out. The UI still needs work and some of the basic things one would expect are not yet pre-installed as they should be.

And frankly, before this is released on the world to average bears, it needs to be made so that nothing ever needs to be installed via command line.

On the other hand, for me personally it has been an amazing experience. People from all over the community have stepped up to hold my paw, give instructions in a way that a bear of very little brain can follow, and cheer and support as I've made each step. I've probably missed some names out in the list of people who've been so incredibly helpful and supportive in not only getting the IdeaPad sorted, but teaching me things I can use for myself. As I tweeted earlier today: "Install a programme for a bear and you help for a day: teach her to use the terminal and she'll bug you for life." Thank you to each one who has helped me, supported me, and been so, so patient with a bear who head is full of sawdust.

Most importantly, I have lost my fear of the Terminal, not least because I've discovered that if I ask it to do something stupid it will probably politely tell me to sod off. On the n900, the Terminal was viewed as sacred ground, only to be entered if I was carrying suitable propitiatory gifts for the minor deities and demons that dwelt there. On the other hand, the terminal of the ideapad (which desperately needs a name) is somewhere I can work if necessary without having to reach for the valium.

I've found I can sometimes solve my own problems and work out what the Terminal is telling me – even if I daren't always act on my own initiative in the face of scary warning messages. In terms of investment, I doubt the people who distributed the IdeaPads will feel the have got their money's worth but the enormous steps forward I have made in my geekdom from playing with this is astonishing (to me at least!) I can even remember a few basic commands.

So Thank You to the people behind the #meegoconf ideapads, from a bear of still very little brain, but just a little more confidence than before.

Well, I'm back from Dublin. I'm sure there will be lots of really valuable reflection on the technical stuff, the marketing stuff and the code. But as a bear of very little brain, I thought I'd take a chance to reflect on the whole experience, the conference as a conference and my own reason for being there.

The venue
Dublin proved to be a near perfect setting, with easy air access coupled with a relaxed, easy approach to visitors that made it comfortable to be in. The Aviva stadium are clearly experts in putting on events of this kind, combining great catering, helpful but unobtrusive staff, and all the space, rooms and equipment we could ask for. Well, almost: there's never quite enough wifi when geeks meet! The hotel was excellent. I was lucky enough to be in a room the D4 Towers, so had enough room for a hackers lounge to myself, and beds for 3. Only me and Titch Ted to share, though. Bars, a small shop, and they supplied the hackers' lounge quietly but regularly. Ideal.
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The hospitality
This was nothing short of perfect. Breakfast was in the hotel for residents, or in the centre for non-residents (and early-birds stupid enough to volunteer for stuff at 8am). Lunch was provided each day, and was delicious (though SJGadsby wouldn't share his ice-cream). On Monday it was sponsored by Novell: as my employer uses groupwise for email/calendar and has a novell network drives, this was particularly enjoyable on an emotional level. Each evening there was an event. At no point was anything left out. Back at the hotel there was the hackers' lounge, which had a constant supply of beer and soft drinks, crisps and snacks (and chocolate!) and sandwiches intermittently – so if you missed a meal, you could catch up there. And you didn't need to worry about supplies should you be inspired to stay up till 4am playing werewolf!
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The events
On Monday evening, we were invited to a reception at the Aviva. This felt a little odd, as we'd been there mingling all day already, but nobody turned down free beer and canapes (though certain selections proved more popular than others!) The council took the opportunity to have a meeting at this point, and we sneaked into the TV room, where the pundits discuss the football at half time. It seemed a little ironic meeting in a soundproofed room, but it was good to finally get together, put faces to usernames and actually discuss some council business.
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Wednesday was the Big Match. Sadly, living in the sticks, I had to fly home on Wednesday as there were no flights on Thursdays, so I missed this. Judging from the tweets and photos, it was as good as the other events, though others will have to confirm that.

Tuesday evening we were carefully stashed into buses and transported into Dublin, to the Guinness centre. This is a huge warehouse space attached to the factory/brewery where the Guinness actually happens. We toured the exhibition of the history and the making of Guinness before sharing a delicious meal in the company of an Irish folk band.
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After that, we were treated to a U2 tribute band. And all the while the Guinness flowed. I drank rather more than I would normally – but the company was so inclusive, I felt quite accepted even squiffy. And I danced to the band, something I haven't done in years! It was an amazing experience, truly outstanding. And we can now safely say that MeeGo CAN organise a piss-up in a brewery! (explanation here: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=couldn%27t%20organise%20a%20piss-up%20in%20a%20brewery)
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The organisation
Barring a couple of hitches, this went like silk. There was a bit of confusion about day one registration, and the notorious hitch in the arrival of the give-away netbooks (on which I am typing this blog!) Other than that, the organisation was so good it was virtually unnoticeable, which is exactly as it should be. Huge, huge kudos to all involved, given the size of the event!

The content
To be honest, I didn't go to very many of the talks. Most of the content would have gone flying clean over my head – some of it at considerable altitude. I went to the opening keynotes, which were excellent. I would like a copy of the single slide that Carsten had on the Open Source way of working – inclusion, meritocracy, transparency, upstream first. I can think of a number of institutions where that philosophy could usefully be introduced!

I attended two talks by Dawn Foster on Community. These were mostly about metrics, but it was interesting to look at who the MeeGo people are, where they hang out and which ways of engaging are attractive to different people.

I attended Dave Neary's talk about community problems. This was excellent – and I recognised myself as many of the problems!

Listening to others, the content appeared to be varied enough to have plenty for everyone, and often too much for people to get to everything they wanted. Most people said the material was well delivered, with very few comments about quality or style of presentation – so I assume it was all good for those clever enough to understand it.

The Give-aways
I have worn my T shirt (must hand wash that tonight and put it away safely: I never wore the Barcelona one as powder blue is so not my colour!) I haven't tried the umbrella – though I have seen a few in use, so they do work!

The netbook is amazing. I confess I had help with installing MeeGo on it (thank you h0pbeat!) but I have managed to put a few bits and pieces on it using various 'how to' pages found on google. At the moment I can't get the media player working properly (despite having a whole gaggle of geeks work on it at one point!) There are a few things I would expect missing, and it's just a little bit too KISS even for me (there are things I want to configure and no settings for them – adding repos for example, and customizing myzone). But it feels like something that I can get to grips with fairly quickly and it's great to finally have my paws on something that is actually a form of MeeGo. And I'm sure it will make great strides now it's in the hands of a bunch of devs. (Allowing for the ones who will immediately install ubuntu!) It's also good to be pushed beyond my comfort zone (and into the X-terminal!) now and again.
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So what did the bear do?
For most of the conference, I hung out with Erika (who was great) at the Information Desk – the coolest (and coldest) place in the conference. It was right in front of the main doors, so we were never short of fresh air. We handed out tickets for the football match, provided information about events, directed people to taxis, atms and shops. We greeted people as they arrived, and provided a place to be when folk wanted a (brief) break from coding and content. We even handed out occasional painkillers, tissues, pens... On the last day, we looked after the odd suitcase. I went to network and meet people, and I can safely say I acheived my aims.

I think I have a question for others whether that was valuable. It felt useful at the time. In fact, it felt useful enough that I'd be looking at ways of improving it for another event: formally having a 'greeters' desk for information and help – and I can think of bits of information I'd have got in advance if I'd known I would be there so much. I loved doing it, and it felt like a good way I could contribute my particular input in something so technical. If other conferences would like a greeter/info desk run, I'd be there like a shot!

So Overall?
Overall, I'd want to offer a massive thank you to Dawn, Amy and their tireless team for putting on such a spectacular event, and allowing me to be part of it. As a mere end-user (sorry – people keep telling me I'm an engaged user) it was a special privilege to be there. To spend 3 days with a terrific bunch of people doing fun things and stuff that we all love, in a fabulous setting, with great hospitality and smooth organisation was nothing short of awesome. I loved every moment (even getting lynched for being a were-teddy) and can only ask... when can we do it all again?