MeeGo and Pandora: a nice match?

maemo.org members have been long interested in the open Linux device project Pandora, both seriously and in lovingly jesting fashion.

Now some are asking if MeeGo might look good sitting on a Pandora device, and I have to admit the thought is intriguing.  There shouldn’t be any insurmountable technical hurdles, and each open project could reinforce the legitimacy of the other.

But why not take that a step further?

Not a reboot, but maybe a patch

I’ve been rattling along on this blog for over a year now and while I’ve mostly stayed true to the original self-imposed charter, recent events have caused me to reflect and implement a tiny but important change.

The byline has been “Best practices, random analyses and wild speculation” since I started this.  That was lifted directly from the internal corporate blog I ran inside Nokia as a former employee (The Long Tail for all you current survivors).

Losing my position at Nokia meant gaining a little bit of journalistic freedom.  I’m still committed to keeping proprietary information sacred but I was able to reorient perspective if nothing else.  Criticizing from the outside is different.

For the most part my post-Nokia audience has been small.  But the attention given this blog in recent weeks, and especially recent days, has led me to to the conclusion that it has reached a point of critical mass, which I found both exhiliarating and frightening.  Gaining a greater audience is every serious writer’s goal– but like Spider-Man says, “with great power comes great responsibility”.

This is made especially poignant by two particular articles and their response.

The first relates to my last article, MeeGo and the N900 meet blogger irresponsibility.  The essential issue revolved around the blogger’s regrettable headline, which led to a great deal of angst and confusion.  True, these fuel the internet, but I think we should switch to unleaded.

The second involves the original article about the N900 micro USB connector falling out, and its follow-up.  I quickly realized many readers were looking here for something authoritative in the absence of news from Nokia.  While I do have some relevant expertise and experience on that matter, the best that I can do in general is be a voice of reason when all hell is breaking loose.  The rationality shown by most people experiencing the micro USB problem was an inspiration.  They truly demonstrated that calm persistence gets the solution, and I want to build on that.  Along those lines, there will be a post mortem soon.  Be warned: it will be a long one!

So I have changed the byline.  You’ll see it’s now “Best practices, random analyses and sober speculation”.  Sure, I’ll continue to wander off into uncharted desert territory on occasion but I’ll do so carrying water rather than vodka.

I don’t do this for a living, so there are no sponsors to offend, no trips to lose, no devices to hastily send back because I may scare some PR rep.  Still, I’d rather this be a blog that people can rely upon rather than one to seek sensationalism for its own sake.  To that end, I’m relaxing my concerns over stars and thumbs and view metrics.  However, I’m still hoping for more dialog with you all… so keep commenting!

I’ll happily shovel out the spam.

MeeGo and the N900 meet blogger irresponsibility

This morning got off to a roaring start, as a fast-filling thread plopped onto maemo.org seemed to have it from an authoritative source that there will not be a version of MeeGo to run on Nokia’s N900.  The fear, uncertainty and doubt spread like wildfire, naturally igniting the ideal 140-character vehicle for misunderstandings, Twitter.

It became obvious to me that the root problem was a misunderstanding by a CNET Asia blogger that was picked up by speed-readers and blown up into a noisy tornado of nonsense.

I’ll break this down for those interested.

Because I say so, Really Mobile!

Listen, Really Mobile, it’s high time you grew up and acted responsibly.  Do you want to just review devices your whole life or get a real job?

Don’t tell me what your friends are doing.  I’m not their parent.  Yes, I’m well aware that engadget gets to do and say whatever it wants, reality be damned.  But engadget doesn’t get any respect.  There’s a connection there, kid, and I’m just waiting for you to get it.

And your grades.  Sweet mother of all that’s holy, how you expect to make it into the big leagues is beyond me!  The only thing worse than a bad review site is a bad review of a bad review site, and I’ve seen yours.  Yeah, you thought wadding it up in those raggedy pants did the trick, but who does the laundry around here, genius?  And if you think signing that felt good, you’re sadly mistaken!

Look, I don’t like having to come down on you.  When I was just a little blog my old man used to knock me around something fierce.  So I try to cut you some slack.  But this partying all the time… blowing money right and left… it can’t come to any good.  You need to act more responsibly.  No more trips to electronics shows all over creation.  You know there’s never anything worthwhile going on.  And for pete’s sake no more contests!  You think those prizes grow on trees?

You look like you’re getting the picture, so I’ll let you go.  Oh, one more thing: stay off slashdot’s lawn, would ya?  That guy is certifiably NUTS.

(note: this was for a contest Really Mobile is holding, so don’t think I’ve completely flipped!)

Qt | Podcasting + conferencing + Twitter

A handful of people with ties to the maemo.org community have been kicking around the idea of a new podcast.  I’m not going to go too deeply into the proposed format at this time but rather will present the technical wishes discussed so far and solicit input from the readers on how to address them.

Interested?  Read on!

maemo.org council election Spring 2010

I’m going to take a brief break from the MeeGo cheerleading to rally support for a related and more immediate need: electing the next maemo.org community council.  The bad news is it means there’s gonna be a lecture… and it’s liable to stick to some readers.

MeeGo on wheels

With few exceptions, the product talk around the upcoming MeeGo mobile operating system has highly-focused on netbooks and cell phones, and understandably so.  Intel’s legacy contribution to the joint effort, Moblin, was designed for the former while Nokia’s equivalent, Maemo, has been the foundation for the latter.

Less discussed is the opportunity in automobiles… but it’s definitely part of the picture.

Transitioning to MeeGo

As most readers already know, Nokia’s Maemo operating system for handheld devices and Intel’s Moblin for netbooks are merging into MeeGo.  I’ve already covered the introduction to MeeGo and what I think it means for the future of mobile devices, so it’s time to delve into what’s going on to make that future happen.

There are numerous aspects to cover, but I’ll highlight a few big ones.