OverView Zoomy presentations with OpenGL
And so we have OverView which is in truth at the moment very little more than a statement of intent and a window with a ball in it. I have started to outline the design and to learn a bit about OpenGL and fonts, but the project is at a very early stage. If you are interested and either know a bit about 3d programming or, like me, nothing at all then do join in on the design discussion or in the #overview channel on Freenode IRC.
The Ubuntu UK Christmas Party
The decorations have been in the shops for months, the clocks have changed, sooner or later we are going to have to face up to the inevitability of another Christmas, and there is nothing we can do to prevent it.
Take a moment to look forward to your long weekend of seasonal festivities with close family, distant relatives, and the not-quite-distant-enough ones. Think of the present opening, the joy of seeing another pair of socks, the screams of rage that inform you that Ben 10 was last years hot thing and a completely inappropriate present to have given this year. Just think about the meal of curiously burned stuffing inside a not-quite-cooked turkey which you will then smother with cranberry jam for no apparent culinary purpose. Spare a moment to consider the bowl of sprouts and the fun of watching adults attempting to fool children into thinking they are edible. Perhaps after the meal someone will suggest that you all play a board game together, won’t that be fun! The best you can hope for is that they will all be asleep before the Dr Who Christmas special starts.
If these thoughts of Christmas have left you in need of a stiff drink, don’t worry you are not alone, and we have a plan. The Ubuntu UK Christmas event will be held at The Hub Islington on December 21st from 7PM. You can register your attendance here (launchpad account required). We would invite you to bring some Christmas and/or Ubuntu themed nibbles and optionally a bottle of something to ward off the cold. Take an evening out to relax with friends and steel yourself for what is to come.
Ubuntu IRC Council
Over the past few years I have become more involved in the Internet Relay Chat or IRC community around the Ubuntu project. IRC is a rather old technology dating back to 1988 and is still going strong as a platform for online collaboration. Just like Twitter the beauty is in the simplicity of the system, just plain text and simple fast messages and rooms for different subjects (think hashtags, but better). The Ubuntu project has rather a lot of rooms and thousands of active users at any one time and there is a team of operators keeping things in order and making it a spam free and productive place to work and collaborate. There is also a community governance team, the IRC Council which is the decision making and governance body for the Ubuntu channels. There has recently been a call for nominations to the council as some members have reached the end of their term and I am thrown my hat into the ring for this process. If you think I would make a good addition to the council it would be great if you could support me by adding a short testimonial to my wiki page. Thanks!
A Good Pub Guide: The White Hart, Sherington
The White Hart, Sherington
Earlier this week, we had a bit of a road trip on our hands… A day discussing OpenERP in Cambridge and the next day vtiger CRM consulting in Milton Keynes which is not too far away, so we needed somewhere to stay to avoid driving a 200+ mile round trip.
We found a real gem of place! A very attractive country pub with extremely pleasant rooms, very friendly service, fantastic food (the Mixed Grill was really, really excellent), good beer and entertaining and congenial locals too.
If you happen to be working around the Bedford, Milton Keynes, Newport Pagnell area and want somewhere to stay, I whole-heartedly recommend you check out The White Hart in Sherington.
