LostCarPark's Journal

Just got a spam message that slipped through my spam filter. It contained a single image of a distorted browser window showing a URL with an arrow and some text saying "Don't click, type in your browser".

Okay, they may have got through my spam filter, but what fractions of percentages are we talking for people that will be bothered typing in the URL, and then believing whatever bogus offer it takes them to?

Sheesh!

Misjudged the Luas (tram) tracks and got my wheel caught in the groove. My tyre is just thin enough to fit in the groove, and just thick enough to come to a very sudden stop when it does, resulting in nicely skinning all the knuckles on my left hand and taking the knee out of my trousers, which are now fit for the bin.

At least I'm not otherwise hurt, and my new bike is fine apart from a few minor scratches.

Prior to that, I had a very nice cycle around Phoenix Park and took some photos of my bike:



Undeterred, I will be going for more bike rides, but will be more cautious of the tram lines.

Let me nail my colours to the wall by telling you that I love Linux. I've experimented with several distros, and door the most part enjoyed the experience and learned a lot from it. I don't see myself going back to Windows any time soon.

However if you ask me would I recommend Linux to other people, unless they are the sort of techies who consider computing for its own sake an end rather than a means to an end, I would have to say no.

I find this a pity, as I would so love to be able to put Linux on my Mum's computer and leave her to get on with it, but I know there would be to many problems that I would have to fix, and they would invariably happen at a time when I wouldn't be able to remote access and I'd have to try to feed commands over the phone.

Let me give a few examples of things that are far to complex for mainstream users, and need to be sorted out before Linux can work for non-techies. These use Ubuntu, because in my experience it is the closest top being ready for wider use, mainly because it has had the most money thrown at it.

The first is upgrading Firefox. This is something Ubuntu completely ignores. New versions of Ubuntu only come around every six months, and the Firefox team aren't kind enough to follow the same schedule, so Ubuntu is often months behind the latest release. Sure, its possible to override that and shoehorn the latest version in, but it's much more complicated than just running an installer like in Windows. Of course the Windows version updates itself. It's not just Firefox. If you want Flash, that's another non trivial process. And of you want to talk to people with Skype, that's certainly not as easy it ought to be. Any program that that the Ubuntu overseers haven't seen fit to offer is a similar story, but the above are the real show-stoppers.

Another big issue surrounds graphics drivers. I've had several computers suddenly declaring they weren't happy with the state of their drivers, and dump you into "low graphics mode". From Googling, it's clear that this is far from uncommon, and virtually every solution requires command line gymnastics that would baffle most users. Another similar problem I've encountered is my window borders mysteriously disappearing. The command to fix this is simple enough, but it's not something most users want to be faced with.

The final issue that really doesn't work for novice users is support. Linux pundits are always keen to tell us how wonderful the community is, and it is, but I see the same questions over and over again on Linux forums. Linux experts get feed up of offering answers over and over again, will often provide the sort of terse answer that doesn't really give a novice user much of a clue of what to do.

I think that to properly broaden its appeal, Linux needs to be a lot more helpful. Major releases of main applications should be easily available in a timely fashion without the user having to do anything difficult. And when things go wrong, the system should take the user by the hand and guide them through the problem. I know there are many problems that really need community support, but if a concerted effort was made to identify the top 100 problems on forums and provide solutions that guide the user through the problem, this would make it an awful lot easier for Linux experts too, since they would only have deal with the more interesting, challenging problems.

I really hope that Linux reaches the point where I can offer it to my Mum wit confidence, but were certainly not there yet.

I don't usually do these, but what the hell...

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Well, to answer the question literally, there are objects which fly, and not all of them are identified.

Do I think think there are UFOs of extraterrestrial origin? Certainly. Every meteorite that hits the Earth is an extraterrestrial UFO, but most are just space dust. I think it's possible that some meteorites may carry spores of microbes from elsewhere in the solar system, but they are likely to be so rare that we may never find one, and may not identify it if we do.

Okay, so stop beating about the bush. Do I think that intelligent extraterrestrial life has visited Earth? I think it very unlikely, but not impossible. I think that any lifeform that has visited Earth would either observe us invisibly, and we'd never know about it, or strip mine the whole planet for its resources. Thankfully the latter hasn't happened. Or maybe we're the aliens and it's happening now...

I've been trying out various apps on my Android phone.

First off there's Eljay, a LiveJournal posting app. It'sa big improvement on posting from the website when on the move, as the LiveJournal site is a bit bloaty and slow to load, and I just don't trust it to not refresh when you're about to post and lose everything. Eljay will save your post as a draft on a regular basis so that if disaster happens it's easy to retrieve a recent version. It seems trip cover pretty much the full range of posting options.

Sadly out doesn't let me read my friends page or post comments, so it falls short of my dream LiveJournal app.

The other android add-on that I'm really enjoying is ShapeWriter, a really cool keyboard replacement utility. It gives you an onscreen keyboard, but instead of tapping out words, you trace the letters of a word in a single movement. This is remarkably efficient, as the keyboard recognises patterns, so even if you miss the exact letters, it can usually figure out what you meant.

I've been using both of these for this post, and with ShapeWriter I could see myself going for a touchscreen only phone, something never believed I'd say.

More fun android toys will here soon.

Edit: How embarrassing! I didn't notice that ShapeWriter managed to turn "of" in the title into "PhD". I suspect it works best on a device with a slightly bigger screen.

I'm glad I left this series open-ended, as I now find I have material for several more instalments. However, while the first set of episodes talked about fan funds and GUFF in general terms, it may get a little more personal from here on. I hope the transition will make sense. Without further ado...

Part 7: On the Campaign Trail

If you're thinking of running for GUFF - or any fan fund for that matter - it's probably a good idea to start by seeking advice from friends. If you can talk to some previous delegates better still. They'll hopefully give you an idea of what to expect and how best to proceed. It's a good idea to know what you're letting yourself in for before your name is on the ballot, and you're trying to answer questions you're not quite clear on at a convention.

Once you've decided to run the next step is to find people to nominate you. Getting this right is essential, as people looking at the ballot might not know you, but if they see a name on the ballot they know and respect, they are much more likely to vote for their nominee, as people tend to think "well if they're good enough for so-and-so, they're good enough for me". You need to think "who are the most respected people I know in fandom?" Then you need to write them a nice letter or email, along the lines of "Dear respected-fan, I would like to run for GUFF, and as you are the most respected I know in fandom, I would consider it a great honour if you considered me worthy of your nomination."

You need five nominators, three from your own side of the world, and two from your destination. It's likely the ones from the destination country will be harder to come by, since you may not know many people from there, but hopefully there will be people who can help out.

One final word about nominators - try to strike a balance between different kinds of fans to appeal to a broad cross-section of fandom. You should have a mix of male and female, serious and fun fans, media and book fans, con runners, fanzine writers and previous trip delegates. Obviously that's more than five things, so picking people who score in several areas is a bonus.

Once you have your nominators, you need to write a platform. This is a short blurb about yourself, and is important at it's likely to sway people who aren't solely convinced by your list of nominators. I think it's important to show excitement and enthusiasm for the country you're hoping to go, and fan funds, mention some things you hope to do on the trip, and if there's room left, some of the things you've done. Above all sound enthusiastic.

Once you've got all that, you need a bond (currently £15) to go with them to show you're serious. These need to go to the fund administrator, and you're officially a GUFF candidate.

You now have several months to persuade people to vote for you. It's important to get to as many local conventions (by local, I mean on the same continent) as you can, and get as many people as possible to give you their vote. It's a good idea to carry a wad of voting forms wherever you go, though voters are expected to have been active sci-fi fans for at least a year, so you can't ask your aunt (or at least most of us can't).

But do ask all your friends in fandom to cast their vote for you. This is especially easy now that they can vote online, so it should be as simple as emailing your science fiction friends. Following up with a phone call is a good idea to make sure they actually get around to it.

The most important event is the last convention before the voting closes, so it's vital to be there. There will often be a panel to promote it, which is a great opportunity to put your views and plans forward. Try to have coherent answers to the most obvious questions clear in your head.

Make sure you "work the floor" at the convention. I didn't think of it till afterwards, but a big badge on your lapel saying "Ask me about GUFF!" would really help. I did manage the next best thing - fracturing my arm a few weeks before meant my arm was in a cast, which was a good talking point, especially when I had a permanent marker to get them to sign it. I just had to bring the conversation around to asking for their vote.

While you're trying to win people's votes, you should show respect for the other candidates throughout the campaign. This was especially easy in my case since I've known Doug a long time, and running against him was a real pleasure.

I'm looking forward to future fan fund campaigns, and meeting other wonderful candidates. Maybe you'll be one of them.

I really meant to post this before the following Friday, but better late than never...

Was up at 4am on Friday morning, and ready to depart by 4:30 when the phone rings. Problem at work - not a good sign. Ask them to call back in 10 mins so we can get on the road. They do and I'm on the phone for half an hour while my dear sister drives to the airport. Get to the bottom of the problem, which is fortunately caused by someone else doing something stupid. Get to airport in plenty of time, and have uneventful flight to Heathrow.

Arrive in Radisson before 9 and enquire at reception "I know it's way too early, but I wonder what time my room might be ready?" "Let me check. Oh, it's ready now, sir." Head down for a shower, and leave feeling fresh. Only later learn that lots of people are left waiting till late afternoon for their rooms.

After picking up membership pack, head to bar and meet other early arrivers. Bridget wanders by and mentions Ops are looking for volunteers. I express interest and am escorted to control centre where I sign up for several stints.

I wander about the hotel, exploring the non euclidian geometry. I'm sure I take four consecutive right turns, walking approximately distances between them, but end up in a completely different part of the hotel. I end up at the art show, which is still setting up, but already looks amazing.

I pop into a couple of programme items, and before long it's time to go back for my first stint as Ops support. This proves very interesting, mainly involving sitting at the desk dealing with people's problems, usually by asking the Ops manager what I should do. I also learn that one should not volunteer for a block unless someone has already voluntteered for the one immediately after. My two hour stint turns into nearly four. I didn't mind as I was enjoying myself.

We closed Ops for the opening ceremony, which left me with a good feeling for the weekend. I then went on to the 2014 UK Worldcon bid launch, where it was announced that the location was going to be the Excel centre on London's docklands. This was accompanied by free wine, so all was well. Then it was back to the bar to chat with fans until far too late in the night. I did also pop into the caeleigh, but the linking arms and swinging around didn't look like a good idea in a cast.

Saturday morning came around far too early, but I struggled out of bed and made it down to breakfast. Filling myself with enough bacon to last past lunchtime.

I spent a while flitting in and out of programme items, exploring the dealer's room and did a stint on the 2014 Worldcon table. Then it was time for my shift in Ops, which proved a great way to get to know people. Fortunately this time I was safe as there was someone scheduled right after me.

Of course, there's no getting away from the highlight of Saturday night: Doctor Who. My first impression of the new doctor was pretty good, but watching in a room packed with nearly a thousand other fans can cause a loss of objectivity. I have a good feeling about Matt Smith, though.

I caught some of the Cabaret, which looked fantastic, but had to leave as we were setting up the fan fund auction. This started a little slow, but picked up as more people arrived, and items began to fetch better prices. Determined to embarrass me, Alison asked me to model a corset, I couldn't confuse, could I? I'm not sure whether it's more embarrassing to wear it, or that it failed to raise a single bid. Alison told me after that it never does. There were a few impressive sales the highlight being a fanzine produced for Corflu, signed by most of the contributors, which fetched a jaw-dropping £100.

I did pop into the New Romantics disco a few times and even had a bit of a dance, but I was mainly talking toot in the bar. I must have talked a lot of toot, as it was past 4am when I got to sleep.

Sunday morning, and I struggle out to breakfast. I'm just wolfing down the last round of toast when I idly wonder what time I'm supposed to be in Ops. I mention this, and someone says I should check as it would be really bad to be late. I head back to my room, but my key has stopped working, so I hurry up to ops. Fortunately I'm not due till later, but that's about to change. "James, we're stuck for someone to be Ops Manager at 11:30, could you do it?" "Okay," I say, without really thinking about it.

If I'd thought about it, I'd have realised this slot was the bid session for the next two Eastercons, which I might have liked to attend. Oh well, it was a promotion. I discover lots of things I don't know, and Marion on Ops support is new to the role too. Still, we muddle through, with others available whenever we get stuck.

I finish my session with a pile of groats (the convention currency) and a lovely blue shirt (the convention had Star Trek style shirts, yellow for committee, blue for ops, tech and a few others, and red for the poor gophers).

Shortly after I head to the green room to prepare for the GUFF panel with Ang and Doug. We head to room 12, hidden in a dark corner of the hotel. Ang talks a little about her trip, and embarrassing moments in New Zealand. Then Doug and I respond to questions from Ang, the audience and the Twitterverse. It seems to go well. We talked about our thoughts about fan funds in general and GUFF in particular, our trip plans if we win and what we'll do if we don't. But all that deserves a post of its own.

I take a break from the con and nip next door to McDonalds as I can't face another meal in the hotel. Then, back for Mitch Benn, an amazing comedian and sci-fi fan. He strikes up a great rapport with the fans.

Next is the Steampunk ball, featuring a live and very steampunky band. There are lots of great costumes on show, and we are asked to have a cheer-off to select our favourite.

Speaking of costumes, there were dozens of excellent costumes on show over the weekend. My personal favourite was the Doctor and Captain Jack, but there were many others including a transformer and a strange and slightly scary fox creature. There was also a masquerade on Saturday, though personally I find masquerades a little too formal and stuffy.

On Monday I did another stint in Ops, and popped into several more programme items, and hung around the dealers room, twisting people's arms to vote in GUFF, assisted by a couple of very kind and helpful campaigners.

I then joined a group for another excursion to McDonalds, who must have done well out of us over the weekend. We had an interesting discussion about future Eastercons over dinner.

When I got back it was nearly time to head to the airport, so I started my tour of the hotel to say goodbye to everyone. Until the next one, that is.

Just back from an awesome weekend at Eastercon. I had a great time catching up with people and having a few laughs, and helping out in ops and even going to a few programme items, but I'll write about all that later.

The big focus for me was the GUFF race with dougs and we both spent a lot of time talking to people about it, and had what I thought was a very good discussion at the GUFF panel. It will be a little while before the European and Australian votes have been collated and we know the outcome, so I would like to thank everyone who took part now.

To everyone who voted, regardless of which way you cast your vote, thank you. Having a large voter base is vital to the future of the fan funds, and if people don't vote, there's really no point in having them. I know Doug and I have a lot of friends in common, and a fair few won't want to choose between us, but I still feel it really important to register a "no preference" vote as that's a vote for the fund, which is bigger than any candidate.

Thanks to all the people who nominated me, Claire Brialey, Danny Oz, David Langford, David Lally and Juliette Woods. You are all awesome and have been hugely supportive and helpful. You have shown a lot of trust in me, and I'll do my best to wive up to that.

I also want to thank everyone who campaigned for me throughout the last few months. I really appreciate it, and you've all been a great help, especially in getting me to get off my backside and do my own campaigning.

I'd also really like to thank dougs for being a great candidate to run against. We've known each other a long time, and I don't know if I'd have run if I'd known he was my opponent. I know if he wins he will be a fantastic delegate.

I'd especially like to thank the administrators, Sue Ann and Trevor, and ang_grr. They have been a great encouragement both to take part and during the race, and have done a really excellent job of running GUFF. I feel they have done a lot to raise the profile of GUFF, and future administrators will inherit a great legacy from them.

James

Issue. 2 on my fanzine, "BrickFix" is almost finished, and hopefully it's a big improvement on issue 1. I'm hoping to give paper versions to lots of you over the next two weekends. If you don't expect to see me, there'll be a downloadable version, or let me know and I'll post one to you.

Thanks to everyone who's contributed. Just waiting on the cover, which should be coming in around 10:30 tonight.