Archive for February, 2007

Posted on February 28, 2007 - by jono

Update-tastic

OK, I have a few things to cover in this blog post, so hang tight.

• Dammit, that sucks – Unfortunately I have had to cancel my appearance at the Free Software and Open Source Days 2007 event in Turkey. I wish I could attend the event but alas, circumstances mean that I can’t. Apologies to anyone this may have affected.
• But, wow, this doesn’t – Wow, the Big Red Recording has already raised a whopping £776.00 in just two, yep, that’s two days. Only another couple of hundred quid and we will hit the £1000 mark. Thanks to everyone who has donated, I am so grateful to everyone for chipping in. And for you ‘orrible lot who haven’t yet donated, DONATE RIGHT NOW and lets just see how much money we can raise for such a good cause.
• I am an artist don’t you know… – I have started writing music for The Big Red Recording, and I have four songs on the go at the moment. My mission statement for this album is to “tap into the full range of human emotions” – expect happy, sad, aggressive, sensitive and other emotions thundering through with the songs. I am really excited about the material that is coming together. As ever, this will be blogged about over at Recreant View,so keep your eyeballs over there for updates.
• The single greatest event ever to happen – We have had some incredible LUGRadio Live 2007 paper submissions, and this years event is shaping up to be pretty incredible. We are still very keen for more paper submissions though, so see this page and get them in! We want a diverse and interesting range of talks, so everyone should submit something. Try and get your submissions in over the next few weeks.

Right, thats it.

Posted on February 26, 2007 - by jono

The Big Red Recording

Well, on Friday 30th and Saturday 31st March 2007, I will be doing my bit for Comic Relief and charity – the Big Red Recording!

I am going to record an entire album, that is, writing, performing and recording all instruments, all by myself, in one 24-hour session.

None of the songs are written yet. I have one month to get my material together, which in itself is one helluva task, but at 7pm on Friday 30th March I will enter my home studio with seven songs in my head, and come out on Saturday 31st March at 7pm with seven fully recorded songs burned to a CD and available online under the same Creative Commons license as the rest of my music on Recreant View.

The marathon recording session will involve me micing, prepping and recording myself playing acoustic and electric guitars, bass, drums, vocals, and also involve me editing, mixing and mastering the entire record. In addition to this, Emelye will be joining me for the entire session and playing Cello and performing backing vocals on some of the songs. It is going to be tight on timing to get the whole lot done in 24 hours, but I am determined to pull it off.

From now until the big day I will be regularly reporting progress on writing over at Recreant View and on the big day I will be regularly blogging and posting photos of the session. I am also hoping to have a documentary of the experience. What more could you want – seven Creative Commons songs and a stack of cash for charity? Well, maybe an Audi TT, but this is good enough I would say.

SPONSOR! To make this worthwhile, I need YOUR money. Well, I don’t need your cash, but the people I am doing this for do, so click here to sponsor me. I want to raise £1000 so get your arses in gear and sponsor me! SPONSOR!

GO AND DONATE!!!

Thanks to tigert for the image

Posted on February 26, 2007 - by jono

Lies, lies and more lies

You know what, I hate cough medicine. Not the taste, no. Well, yes actually, it tastes like ground up donkey balls, but it is more the promise of cough medicine that irks me. Last week I had a rather nasty cough. It was contracted in Los Angeles, transported to Ireland where I tried to cure it with late nights and drinking, but alas on my welcome return to blighty the black lung was still there. Normally I sit these things out, but life is more hectic than it used to, so I resorted to a chemist, a fiver and a shelf full of potions. I chose what looked like the most likely substance to fix said lung butter and returned to my abode where I chucked the filthy recipe down my throat. I repeated every four hours like the lies on the side the packet indicated.

What happened? Bugger all, thats what happened. It had no effect whatsoever. Instead, I took my already weakened state of health and augmented it with a regular dose of disgusting tasting, viscous, repugnant, vomit inducing liquid. Where in the name of all that is sweet and good do these companies get off selling such junk? I may as well try one of those old-wives tales solutions to such problems where you sprinkle bicarbonate of soda on your chest, bite a lemon and stand on one leg – I am sure it would be as predictable and as effective. What a load of old bollocks. I demand compensation for the mental trauma involved in gulping that disgusting stuff down in the hope of making the involuntary voluntary again.

Oh, and thanks to a kind email pointing out an image, it turns out that the trip to LA not only gave me the black lung, but the Open Source paparazzi snapped this beacon of glory:

Thats right, if my dad was Brian May, I would have turned out like that. Sorry ladies for shattering the normally handsome, manly, hunky image. Normal service will be resumed soon. If you looking for someone to blame, blame Meryl:

You can contact her at this address: Meryl, Los Angeles, America.

The shot was snapped during a pictionary competition at SCALE, which was rather amusing and run by the aforementioned Meryl. She has turned mockery into a fine art. Rest assured my vengeance will be sweet when I return to SCALE next year.

Despite such depravity I do have good news to report. My good friends in the Ubuntu Loco Community are running a Loco Docs Day on March 3rd. This is where all the juicy best practise documentation will be refined, improved and otherwise made to feel rather good and spanky. The LoCo project is growing immensely and the community is doing an incredible job. I am so proud of them all. So, get along and be a part of the LoCo docs day.

Posted on February 25, 2007 - by jono

One of those little things…

Tonight I went to see Hammerfall play. It was awesome, as expected.

While stood there watching the band at the front, a drumstick came hurtling my way and I caught it. Inscribed with Anders Johansson, I was rather chuffed, and kept watching the band, spinning the stick round in my hand. A little later, a young kid and what looked like his older sister came and stood near me to watch the band. It was clear this was his first gig, with his sister clinging onto him for dear life. So, I tapped him on the shoulder and said “do you like Hammerfall then?” and he said “yeah! they are my fave band”, so I said to him “here, have this” and gave him the drumstick. I figured he would get much more of a kick out of it than me. His eyes lit up as I handed it to him. His sister told me it was his first gig, and he had just turned 13, so she took him for his birthday. She said that the drumstick will have really made his night.

I remember the buzz, the excitement and the adrenaline of going to my first gig (Donnington ‘92 to see Iron Maiden for the curious) and I am pleased I could have helped make it a little more special.

This has nothing to do with free software, but is just one of those little experiences that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Posted on February 24, 2007 - by jono

Not at FOSDEM

I have been getting stack of people asking the same question, so just to be clear – no I am not at FOSDEM this weekend. The hectic travel schedule demanded a weekend off, so FOSDEM had to suffer unfortunately. Next year, I promise.

Oh, and don’t believe any lies that Edward Hervey may tell. Don’t trust his cheese eating ways…

Posted on February 23, 2007 - by jono

Red Nose Day charity stunt – suggestions on a postcard

I like charity stuff. Previously I have taken part in various charity events, the most recent being the shaving off of the beard for Amnesty International at LUGRadio Live 2006.

On March 16th it is Red Nose Day and I want to do something fun for the event. I don’t exactly want to sit in a bathtub of beans like seems to happen every year, but I am keen to do something interesting that will raise lots of wonga for the cause.

So, I am looking for your suggestions. What would you suggest I could do for Red Nose Day. While I obviously encourage the sublime and ridiculous suggestions (this is what this blog is all about), I am looking for things that I can actually do. Of course, if this makes me look like an ass that can be a benefit for you all.

So, use that comment box wisely and give me your suggestions for something to do.

Posted on February 22, 2007 - by jono

United, not divided

We are all part of different communities. From our local communities (your street) right up to nationwide groupings (your political party, consumer demographics etc), we are all part of something. While many of the communities are non-interactive and just being part of the audience makes you a member, there are of course communities that we actively choose to be a part of. As many of you will know, I am part of two distinctive communities that I participate in – Free Software and Metal.

I often compare and contrast the two communities, and when I was younger I felt quite emotionally torn between the two. I remember being 16 and battling with myself as to whether I enjoyed playing my guitar more or enjoyed using BBSs more. On one side, the guitar thing was cool, likely to attract women and more of a physical and artistic endeavour that played to my creative side. I am also a physical person and the buzz I get from playing a guitar (creative but defined) and from playing drums (raw physicality) appeal to my different sides. Then, contrast this with computers. Obviously far less cool in the minds of most, but my interest in computers flexed my mental muscles and a different type of social muscle. On one side the music side of me gets me out to gigs, drinking with people, headbanging, dancing, stage diving etc, but the computer side, and particularly around that time, put me in touch with people all over the world. This was a huge buzz and incredibly exciting.

But, I was torn. Which group did I want to fit into? Life could have certainly turned out quite different if I had picked one over the other, and I found it difficult to figure out what I wanted from life and which box I wanted to fall into. As time went on, my interests naturally moved me in different directions as I explored these different areas.

One such example is that I totally screwed up my A-Levels. I joined a band (called Conspiracy) which was well established and spent lots of time performing live. Although I was always a consistent worker at school, this experience was so mind blowing that it got in the way of school work and my mind was always focused on playing to crowds of sweaty metallers who would elegantly beat the shit of each other on the dancefloor to our music (for a better explanation of such beatings, see the Wikipedia Moshing article). Likewise, as time went on, I found myself increasingly interested in Linux. I spent my year out between A-Levels and University working in Cranfield Bookshop in Milton Keynes, and with very little work to do and a business that was being sold to Waterstones, I spent my days just reading the computer books there. After the year was out, I had read most of the books I was interested in, and I used to wear self-printed Linux t-shirts to advocate Linux to people who came into the shop.

I was two people – Linux t-shirt wearing Linux fan by day, Overkill t-shirt wearing metaller by night. Mentally, the two sides were still separate, but as time meandered on, they meshed into the same person. Why should I have these separate sides? Why can’t I be one person with both? Surely it would be good to influence both sides with their merits? The stuffier technical corners of the Linux world could do with some of the raw social input from the metal world, and the metal world could do with some of the thinking and structure of the Linux world. It was then that I realised that community cannot live in a vacuum; well, it can, but it suffers greatly if it does.

Even within specific sub-communities, internal bickering can cause divides. A great example is the metal world. There are a great many styles of metal, such as:

• Heavy Metal – traditionally anthemic, like a heavy version of rock. Examples include Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath.
• Thrash Metal – a combination of Heavy Metal and Punk, fast, speedy metal, clear vocals and chunky-ish guitars. Examples include Metallica, Megadeth and Exodus.
• Black Metal – metal that focuses on Satan and upside down crosses, screechy growly high vocals, often deliberately produced to sound like it was recorded in a dustbin, aside from Satan the subject is often cold weather, artists wear make-up and look like badgers. Examples include Immortal, Cradle Of Filth and Mayhem.
• Death Metal – thick, chunky, aggressive metal with growly vocals where the vocals are more of an instrument than a vocal (less melody and more rhythm), often subjects are about violence and squalor, very cool. Examples include Decapitated, Cannibal Corpse, Deicide and Napalm Death.
• Power Metal – anthemic, German sounding, speedy, high singing vocals, often sing about being a brother of true metal, spandex essential, excellent. Examples include Manowar, Stratovarius, Primal Fear and Helloween.
• Hardcore – thick, crunchy, rhythmic, shouty vocals, subject matter typically rebellion and honour, dancing is a combination of moshing and karate, listeners often look like chavs, very cool. Examples include Hatebreed, Raging Speedhorn and Stamping Ground.
• Stoner Rock – does exactly what it says on the tin, loose, groovy, usually sung vocals. Examples include Black Label Society, Down and Spiritual Beggars.
• Industrial – slightly dancy, machine like, very rhythmic and accessible, listeners are often strange. Examples include Nine Inch Nails and Rammstein.
• Mathcore – take Hardcore or Death Metal and apply crazy time signatures that make it impossible to headbang to. Examples include Cryptopsy and Meshuggah.
• Speed Metal – thrash turned upto 11. Examples include Cacophony and The Great Kat.

Each of these different sub-styles of metal are often very cynical to the other sub-communities. As an example, a Thrash Metal fan may be sneering to an Industrial fan, despite having so much in common. Each community has this view because a community not only instills an ethic, but also a gauge of how true you are to that community. Power Metal fans are particularly affected by this as their style is not just about music but about being a real brother or sister of metal. This may sound crazy to many of you, but it is deep in the hearts of people who listen to that style of music. If you are not into metal, you are not my friend.

This is all understandable – we are social creatures and we form our own groupings, but when we break these barriers down and work together interesting things happen. Take for example Slipknot. Traditionally from Death Metal bands, the jumpsuit-masked nutters combined Death Metal, Hardcore, Nu Metal, Thrash and bits of Drum n’ Bass to create a unique and interesting sound. They broke down the barriers, explored how they could combine different styles and community and hit on a winning formula. Not only did they creatively innovate but they broke down social barriers in the metal world – they opened peoples minds.

In recent years this kind of change has been rampant in the free software world. We are seeing different communities working together, breaking down social and technical barriers and exploring how we can do different things in different ways. While this is great, we need to always remain open to those outside our community – breaking down the barriers within the free software community is one thing, but we also need to realise that outside our wonderful community are so many interesting opinions, ideas and opportunities. It is an exciting time for free software and if we can harness our similarities and revel in our differences, we can do some amazing things.

Posted on February 21, 2007 - by jono

New Ubuntu community toys

I have always believed in open community processes. As I have banged on about in How To Herd Cats, those companies who have shown a commitment to open processes have been more successful in the Open Source and free software world. Here I am thinking of companies such as Red Hat, Novell and Canonical. Companies who have been less open have struggled.

Creating an open community is only half of the challenge though – an open yet disorganised community does no-one any favours, so I am keen to ensure that we have a well organised community that is adept at sharing best practise and knowledge and working hard to do things the right way. I am keen to achieve the dizzy heights of open and effective community.

With this in mind, I have two things to announce that I have been working on for a little while:

• Community Question Time – in a similar vain to Prime Ministers Questions in the UK, this will be a session in which I will answer questions from the community in a public and open meeting. I hope to hold these sessions monthly. This will ensure the community can gather together for the questions. The first session is pencilled in for 1st March 2007 at 3pm UTC.
• BuildingCommunity Portal – this is a collection of pages on the Ubuntu Wiki in which I am documenting best practise when running community teams as well as building an extensive FAQ. Its still very new and minimal right now, but I am keen to see the site grow and cover a range of different areas. I am particularly keen to see the Knowledge Base be filled with lots of best practise articles, the FAQ cover a huge range of questions and more. If you want to help with this effort, see the Contribute page.

I believe that building effective community is about lots of little steps, and getting everyone involved in a mindset to achieve, document and share their experiences with their and other community teams. Its incredible how much can be achieved and learned just by talking to each other and sharing experiences.

As ever, feedback always welcome, and Ubuntu people, lets get these resources up to full speed ASAP!

Posted on February 20, 2007 - by jono

Herding Cats YouTube’d

Adam has done it again. Herding Cats lovers, curious people and those with nothing better to do can see the LCA presentation of the talk in full YouTube glory here. Thanks Adam!

Posted on February 20, 2007 - by jono

Ubucon Sevilla

On Sat May 5th in Sevilla, Spain, I am holding an Ubucon community event. The aim of the event is to have a full day of community based talks, discussions, BOFs and get everyone together to discuss and debate Ubuntu. Its going to be great fun, and the plan is to have a number of talks in both English and Spanish and plenty of BOF sessions about the many varied and interesting subjects that form the Ubuntu landscape.

The Ubucon Sevilla is sandwiched in between the Ubuntu Education Summit on the 3rd/4th May 2007 and the Ubuntu Developer Summit from the 6th – 11th May 2007. This is an ideal time to come over to sunny Spain and be a part of this interesting and fun event.

Like all community efforts, I need YOUR help! I am keen to hear from a number of Spanish and Non-Spanish speakers who would like to speak at the event. Talks are 50 minutes long, including questions, and I am keen to run an English track and a Spanish track. In particular, I would love to see the Spanish community talk about Spanish issues at the event as well as English and Spanish talks about Ubuntu, the community and other things. A few ideas for possible talk subjects:

• Ubuntu
• The Ubuntu community
• Packaging and development
• LoCo Teams
• Multimedia
• Advocacy
• Translations
• Local issues in spain
• Etc…

If you are interested in speaking, see the Call For Papers page. I am really keen to see a variety of talks submitted so we can have a really interesting and varied conference.

I am also keen in having a number of informal BOF discussion sessions. If you would like to give a BOF at the event, let me know too.

All talk submissions should go to me at jono AT ubuntu DOT com.

Finally, Spanish Ubuntu fans – spread the word about the Ubucon and let people know how to be a part of it. See the Ubucon Sevilla Homepage for more details.