tonywhitmore.co.uk  

You might have heard us talk about this on the latest episode of the Ubuntu Podcast from the UK, but we’re going to be at OSSBarCamp in Dublin on the 24th and 25th September. We went last year and had a great time. Now it’s grown to a two day event, has two streams and a coding competition. There’s a already a lot on the timetable, including talks from Alan, me and my good friend Matt Revell. We’re also going to be doing a live podcast recording on the Saturday, so come along and watch us sweat and prattle our way through an hour show! I’m really looking forward to doing another live show, and we’ll certainly be ready for the party at the Landsdown Hotel afterwards…

Come along and say hello!

OggCamp10 came and went so quickly that it seems vaguely surreal already. The months of work poured into the event all exploded across 48 hectic hours in Liverpool. Now it’s all over, bar the administrivia. It’s just crazy that people travel from all over the country, and even abroad, to come to something we’ve set up. Crazy in a great way, crazy in a way that puts pressure on us to make sure the event goes well, crazy in a way that we really appreciate, but crazy nonetheless. So, how to sum it up? To be honest, I’m not in much of a position to do so. Such was the pace of the weekend that I spent most of it running around the main stage. I didn’t see any talks in either of the two smaller stages. Not one. There were also lots of people I only got to say hello to in passing, something which comes with the workload of running an event, but is still a bit sad. There are some great photos emerging on flickr too. So I’ll share my memories, but they are but a small, small part of the picture.

Laura and I set off for Liverpool early on Friday morning, via Basingstoke and Hammersmith. We were collecting bits of equipment for the event on the way, adding to the assortment of raffle prizes and other boxes which were already packed into the car. I had arranged to collect the kit as, at the time of booking it, we weren’t sure how much sponsorship money we’d have. Collecting kit in person saves on a day’s hire and a delivery charge. It added a few hours to the journey time though. The Hammersmith location was a small recording studio in a town house, of which I was immediately jealous. It looked like the perfect place to record podcasts. Goods all safely gathered in, we set off for the north.

Thanks to the wonder of Google Latitude we could see that we were going to reach the M6 at almost exactly the same time as Alan and Laura Czajkowski. We arranged to meet at the next services, where we enjoyed a quick break and a catch-up. Driving into Liverpool around 5pm, we were overtaken by Ciemon on his motorbike at some traffic lights. Laura and I went straight to the Black-E to drop off the kit from the car. We met up with Dan and Dan’s mum, Agnes, and helped them unload their car too. This was my first chance to look around the venue – Dan had seen it many times and Laura had visited a couple of weekends previously. I’d seen photos of course, but there’s no substitute for being there in person. It was immediately clear that this was a very cool venue, with just the right vibe. It was a real shame that the refurbishment work hadn’t been completed as this took quite a lot of the shine off. The main stage was just massive. With two hundred seats set out, there was still plenty of space round the outside for people to stand. There were two balconies right around the space, giving the whole thing the feeling of a roman gladiatorial arena. At least, to my slightly nervous and overwhelmed mind.

After checking in at our fairly minimal hotel, we had a quick brush-up before heading back to the Black-E for a photo-shoot. That’s right, someone actually wanted to take some photos of us. Graham Binns was taking photos during the OggCamp event but wanted to take some photos of the UUPC mob as a separate project. Although there was some confusion about where we were shooting, we had access to the venue for half an hour, where he shot some portraits. After that, we were whisked off to the beaches with Antony Gormley’s Another Place installation for some brief and cold photos. Graham has blogged about the process and whilst I agree with some of the areas for improvement, the results are very pleasing. We wrapped up just as the light faded.

UUPC on the beach - Graham Binns

After getting back from the photo-shoot, we went to find something to eat. Always the gastronomic adventurers, we ended up in Pizza Hut with Andy Stanford-Clark, Simon Phipps, Roger Light and Laura Czajkowski. One of the lessons I learnt this OggCamp is that not having a designated hotel is a pain! People end up staying all over the town and something as simple as getting together for a meal can become a much more protracted and involved operation than I’m comfortable with. After eating, most of us finally made it to the Rathole Radio gig, an arrival which was delayed by my poor map-reading in the darkened alleyways of Liverpool. We arrived just in time to get a beer in before Dan and his band took to the stage and played a great set. The venue was great, reminiscent of the Cavern Club with its low vaulted roofs. Seeing people gathering helped build the sense of anticipation for the following day. Weary from our travels and aware of the early start the following day, we left around midnight.

We arrived at the venue at 8am, beaten to it by a few ever-eager crew members. Those who had stayed up later at the Rathole gig rocked up some time after the designated start time. A whirlwind of activity ensured that exhibitors were loaded in, signs stuck up, projectors configured and PAs set up. The fantastic banners heralded the event outside the Black-E and there was a crowd outside well in advance of the doors opening. In what seemed like no time at all, we were on stage welcoming everyone along and introducing the first speaker, Simon Phipps. Fortunately lots of people had come along ready to give talks, so I missed Simon’s talk to help Laura set up the schedule for the rest of the day. Unfortunately we were rather surprised by the number of people putting forward half hour talks rather than hour long ones. Worried about not having enough talks to keep everyone occupied, we chickened out and only scheduled a single round of talks before lunch. In hindsight I’d have preferred to pack that time slot out more as it felt like a bit of an anti-climax. Being stuck up on the balcony looking after the sound desk, oblivious to the fascinating talks going on on the other two stages, it all felt like a bit of an anticlimax and I crashed hard.

After a lunch break the afternoon schedule kicked off with another round or two of talks. Dan did a great job of chairing a panel session, keeping our very chatty panelists in line with ease. All the panelists were great, but it was especially good to see Brad Pearce being part of it. Brad came along to OggCamp and offered a talk on neuroscience. During the talk it was clear that he was an articulate and intelligent speaker, so we just asked him to join the panel! It was also great to see my friends Ade Bradshaw and Chris Procter, former LugRadio presenters, taking part. Both had come along to support the event, but it was nice seeing them spout forth a bit. Saturday concluded with the wonderful raffle, with a range of prizes donated by various generous companies. Dave showed his salesman instincts, flogging loads more tickets just before we got underway. I really enjoyed the raffle, it was exciting, a little bit tense and very funny. Oh, and it helps us cover the costs of the event too.

After a pit stop at the hotel, (oh, alright, we watched Doctor Who) we headed off to Studio2 for the evening session. Studio2 is a fantastically cool venue, perfect for an event centred around two podcasts. It’s a recording studio, complete with sound booths and large studio monitors in the walls. Thanks to yet more poor navigation on my behalf, Laura, Andy Stanford-Clark and I took far longer to get there than we should, so we missed last orders for food. We had to make do with a nearby restaurant in Chinatown instead. We were finally able to let our hair down a bit at Studio2, knowing that tomorrow would not be an early start. But before too long it became clear that the day had taken its toll and we headed back to the hotel, leaving others knocking back baby guinesses.

The Live Show - By Lorna Jane Mitchell

Sunday was quieter than the Saturday, which was the case at LugRadio Live too. I’d love to know why people only attend on the one day – do they have family commitments on the other day, or just called in on the Saturday on the off chance? Nothing wrong with just coming on one day of course, but I’m curious. Again, I was in the main stage for most of Sunday, catching Alan Bell’s interesting talk on VoteGeek and Andy Stanford-Clark’s twittering house talk (for the third time!) This year we had provided a clip radio microphone for speakers and they all seemed more comfortable with it than the handheld radio microphone. Definitely a win over last year. But before we knew it, the live show was bearing down upon us. Popey had squeezed some ideas out of us and ensured that we all knew roughly what was going on, but the combination of nerves and having seven people on the stage meant that we were tripping over each other a bit during the recording. Although Fab and Dan are used to working together, and the UUPC presenters are too, we’re not used to working with all of us at once so we didn’t do as good a job of second-guessing what we were going to do as we could. That said, the show picked up pace in the second half and the last few minutes were really funny. We had to edit it a bit for the Ubuntu Podcast version of the show to stay family-friendly, but the Linux Outlaws released the unexpurgated version for those who aren’t of a sensitive disposition. (I’m very pleased that something I said became their episode title!) It’s always difficult to know how it went immediately after recording, but we had lots of great feedback. Then within an hour we packed up all our stuff and got out of the venue. A quick stop at the hotel to drop all the boxes off preceded another meal in China town, this time with Laura Czajkowski: a chance to mull over how we could make the event better in future. Yup, despite all the stress, pressure and work, it looks like we’re doing it again next year. We rounded off the weekend with a few more beers at Studio2, though once again tiredness hit before too long.

We drove home at a leisurely pace the following day, reflecting on the event and how all these amazing people come together from around the country, work hard, play hard and then disband, scattering across the globe. Events like this are essentially ephemeral, but not being able to speak to everyone and viewing the whole thing through a fug of tiredness is slightly disappointing. I don’t blame those who steer clear of volunteering for things. That said, I’m already looking forward to getting stuck into organising next year’s event. Once we’ve all unwound and properly put OggCamp10 to bed, we’ll think about “next year”, but please give us some time to get over this one first!

OggCamp10 is just a few days away. In fact, it’s next weekend. Before I know it, it’ll be Friday and I’ll be on my way up the M6 to sunny Liverpool. With a packed week ahead at work, an evening class and an entire episode of the Ubuntu Podcast for the team to record, edit, mix and release before we go, it’s going to be mad and manic and marvellous.

In the last week or so, things have really started to come together. Equipment is booked, ready to be collected or delivered, kit lists are being checked and double-checked, travel plans calculated and all the last minute details being sorted. Unfortunately, the venue staff have told us that lift to the first floor, where main stage is, won’t be finished in time for OggCamp. The lift to basement is OK, and the exhibition is on the ground floor. The crew will help any wheel-chair users to get up to the first floor, but we’re really sorry for the inconvenience.

On a happier note, the mugs have arrived, looking all shiny and lovely:

If you donate £5 to support the event, you can get your hands on one of these bad boys. Be the envy of geeks everywhere! Our exclusive t-shirts are also being printed as I type. From what I’ve seen so far they look fantastically cool and they are a “thank you” for everyone who donates £10 to support OggCamp.

The banners which will be hanging outside the venue have also been printed, and look like this:

I’m sure they are going to look great hanging outside the Black-E and, like all the design elements of OggCamp, are the result of Fab’s skills.

We’ve also had a flood of cool donations to our raffle. This was a highlight of last year’s event for many people. This year’s prizes include:

• 3x Viglen MPC-Ls
• An assortment of books from Wiley
• Two Aluetia PCs
• Books and ebook vouchers from Apress
• Some swish Ubuntu backpacks from Canonical
• An O2 joggler
• A 1.5TB USB disk from ebuyer

That’s a seriously nice collection of goodies, any of which I’d be happy to get my hands on! Every day new talks and activities are added to the OggCamp ideas wiki. I just hope I get time to enjoy some of them! With our Saturday night shin-dig now confirmed (Studio 2, from 7pm, a suitable venue for a podcast party if ever there was. ), and the volcanic ash being kept at bay, it looks set to one hell of a weekend. If you’re as excited as we are about OggCamp, join us in #oggcamp on the Freenode IRC network or our facebook page.

Well, the Digital Economy Bill got passed tonight, with 189 of the 236 MPs present voting for it, 184 of them Labour MPs. 23 Labour MPs ignored the three line whip to vote against the Bill. The Tories split their vote with 5 MPs voting for, 5 against. 16 Liberal Democrat MPs voted against the Bill. About 40 MPs were present for the reading, some wandering in late (and allegedly drunk) for the last few minutes of the debate. “Debate” is too strong a word for the two hours which saw less than half the clauses discussed and most rushed through without any scrutiny.

The best performances came from a group of Labour back benchers, including Tom Watson who spoke spontaneously and passionately. He said he felt “physically sick” after having voted against his party for the first time. He has a deeper understanding of the issues than most who spoke in the debate and was prepared to stand up and voice his concerns about both the text of the Bill and the manner in which it has been progressed. Kudos. Some back bench Tories were good too, particularly William Cash. (John Redwood, who spoke very intelligently on the subject in the second reading, wasn’t there for the third and didn’t vote either. Neither was SNP MP Pete Wishart who spoke against the Bill in the second reading.) Don Foster represented the promised LibDem opposition to the Bill. It was good to hear MPs who had created video games and written software speaking up in opposition too, including a BPI member! All said that the Bill had not been subject to proper scrutiny and should be left for the next Government to deal with. It wasn’t and the Government got the result it wanted thanks to support from some Conservatives, whose formal objections melted away following negotiations with the Government to remove some clauses over the proceeding 24 hours.

If I were using this Bill to decide my vote in the election, how would I react? Our incumbent is a Liberal Democrat. Whilst they did what they could in the Commons, my MP, Sandra Gidley, was absent so couldn’t support her party or represent me. More than half of all MPs were already out on the campaign trail, not representing their constituents in Parliament. If all the LibDem MPs had been present and voted against the Bill, it would have been tied. But of course the Labour whips would have ensured that more Labour MPs stuck around for the vote if they had seen the Liberal MPs around Westminster. A “West Wing” style subterfuge of hiding MPs in offices might have worked, but clearly real life isn’t that exciting. If I was in the constituency for the back benchers who were vocal in their objections to the speed with which the Bill was rushed through, I would give them credit for it. I will certainly be paying close attention to the statements of the PPCs in the area and their view on the issue.

This is the first time that I’ve played really close attention to the progress of a Bill through Parliament. I’ve watched the debates in the Lords and the second and third readings in the Commons. The arcane rituals of the House are confusing – apparently the second reading of a Bill is traditionally passed without objection. I had no idea what a probing amendment is. I was saddened by the front benches using the debate to score party political points and the boorish behaviour of some Members ribbing each other. I kept saying to myself “Take this seriously – this is important!” I think everyone in the country should watch a Commons debate on a subject about which they are knowledgeable – shipbuilding, finance, medicine, whatever. They will, I suspect, be shocked at the attitude of Members and the apparent levity with which some treat the laws they are debating. It is no wonder that people don’t understand the process by which laws are made and have no confidence in it when most of the MPs who voted last night had not even heard the arguments and just voted the way the whips wanted them to.

A bad Bill has been passed with the vague promise that it will be fixed later. If you are concerned, then find out what you can do by visiting the Open Rights Group website.

UPDATE: Rewritten some sections and clarified some of the voting details.

The Digital Economy Bill is receiving its second reading in the House of Commons today, the day of the formal announcement of the General Election.

There were only 40 MPs in the House when the debate started and it’s now down to about 18. That’s 2-5% of our elected representatives present. It is disappointing that with tens of thousands of messages being sent to MPs (some say 20,000, others 80,000) so few of them have turned up for the debate. The rest are presumably hitting the campaign trail – certainly my MP, Sandra Gidley, is. (It is telling how many of the MPs speaking in the debate are Scottish – I guess it is too far for them to go back home to start campaigning before having to attend Westminster for the last couple of days before the dissolution. The more southerly MPs are mostly absent.) I have written, e-mailed and tweeted Sandra about this issue, so it’s disappointing to see only one member of her LibDem party in the House – their spokesperson on the issue, Don Foster.

The Liberal Democrats have said they will object to the Bill going through the “wash-up” process, but I’m not alone in suspecting they will change this position as the evening goes on. Much of the debate about the more controversial elements of the bill seems to be about “creativity” versus “Internet freedom,” the two being seen as mutually exclusive. I am a podcaster and Internet freedom helps me be creative. I am a photographer and Internet freedom doesn’t stop me being creative.

Meanwhile, the #debill tag is trending worldwide on Twitter. That means more people are talking about the Bill on twitter than just about everything. In the entire world. Not even the tags for the General Election are trending globally. I would like to know the following:

• The number of constituents represented by MPs present in the House for the debate.
• The number of people representing themselves on twitter during the debate.

I suspect that the latter far outnumber the former, an example of the ability of the Internet to give everyone a voice. Free speech and open discussion online could be curtailed through sloppy legislation like this.

Even some MPs who support the Bill have said there has been insufficient time to debate the it and that it shouldn’t progress through the wash-up, showing that this is a matter of parliamentary process as well as human and digital rights. Labour and Conservative back-benchers have both complained about the lack of time to debate the Bill, but only the Labour MPs have actually said they would vote to stop the Bill from progressing at all, despite the fact that it’s a Bill from within their own party. It is equally disheartening to hear Conservative MPs saying that they disagree with various clauses in the Bill but will support it “under protest.” This surely undermines the purpose of elected representatives.

UPDATE: The Bill passed to the final stages tomorrow without a single objection.

UPDATE 2 (7th April, 14:35): The Daily Telegraph is reporting that over 5,000 people were tweeting about the Bill last night (and at the time of writing #debill is still trending worldwide). That’s obviously far fewer than the constituents represented by the few MPs who attended the debate last night. The crucial vote on whether the Bill can be passed through the wash-up process after just two hours of Committee discussion (usually 20+ hours) will be later tonight, probably around 10:30pm.

Last year I produced a documentary about LugRadio, one of the first and best Linux podcasts. A while ago I decided it needed a permanent home on the Internet, somewhere people could easily find, which would help them view it and which would answer the questions I get asked about how it was made!

To that end, I’m pleased to introduce the new home of the story of LugRadio: http://www.dontlistenalone.org

We’ve just released the latest episode of the Ubuntu UK Podcast. In this episode we’ve got an exclusive interview with Stuart Langridge about the Ubuntu One Music Store. We also discuss the new branding for Ubuntu, which has just been announced! There’s a whole heap of other stuff in there too – a Command Line Lurve, the “Bit About Ubuntu” and some great feedback. Download it now!

The first episode in the third season of the Ubuntu Podcast from the UK local community was released today and has already received a great response from listeners in the IRC channel. Hopefully the release will keep those who have been pestering for an episode happy for now. Despite repeated mentions in the final episodes of season two and comments in the blog posts for the episodes, at least two people assumed that our season break meant we had stopped doing the show entirely! I can’t quite work out why, if people are bothered by the absence enough to blog/tweet/dent/post about it that they haven’t listened to the episodes!

We haven’t made any major changes to the format from the last season, although we may have a few surprises up our sleeves for later in the year.I think we all felt a bit rusty at the recording session, even after only six weeks off! Interviews are always difficult but that’s what we tackled first. Other than that, the episode was recorded in order.

It seems like the first OggCamp was only a few weeks ago, but already the plans for the next OggCamp are out. Oggcamp10 as we are wittily calling it, will be at the Black-E centre in Liverpool on the 1st-2nd May.

This year’s event will be bigger and better than before, stretching over two days. The venue is a very cool community arts centre in a very cool city. It’s an unconference, so we don’t know what’s happening over the weekend yet, apart from there being another Linux Outlaws and Ubuntu UK Podcast live recording. We are keen to expand the free culture side of the event this year, whilst still retaining a good deal of Linux geekery, so the tagline is “Free Software, Free Culture, Free Thinking”. Get your thinking hats on, we need some great talks offered by you, the lovely attendees!

This year there will also be an official Friday night event: the Rathole Roadshow featuring David Rovics and Attilla the Stockbroker.

If you’re planning on coming, please sign up to the Facebook event. It’s not compulsory, but it’s a great help to us if you do! You can also keep up-to-date with us on twitter and identi.ca. There will be more details going up on the website soon.

If you’re not sure what all this OggCamp stuff is about, check out the retrospective of last year’s event.

As I’ve done a few times before, I’ve made a seasonal donation to a FLOSS project. This year I have chosen to make a donation to the Ardour project. We use Ardour to produce the Ubuntu UK Podcast and it’s fantastic to have a sophisticated, professional-grade digital audio workstation package available on Linux. Ardour is unusual among FLOSS projects in that the core developer relies on donations to enable him to work full-time on Ardour, so I’m more than happy to help support him!

Why not make a donation to a FLOSS project that you have used a lot this year?