It is always nice seeing the face to the name you've only known online through BeShare or the odd mailing list post, so coming once again to BeGeistert was definately a treat for me after missing the last three in a row. I know that every BeGeistert tries to be a little different, and also tries to improve on the previous events, so missing three in a row was something I just had to put a stop to. :)

After living now for over three years in the Netherlands, I've become accostomed to taking the train to where I want to go. Getting to Dusseldorf was hardly any trouble, enjoying the passing scenary zooming past my window reminded me again of why I decided to move here. Before I started my journey I did what most people do nowadays; Fire up Google, type in the destination address and print a map of the city, just in case. I had forgotten which metro to take, but all become clear through consulting the Oracle Google.

But really, it was hardly any trouble. My ticket for the metro was a bit pricy at 2 euros, but it sure beat walking from HBF (haufbanhoff, think central station) to the Dusseldorf Youth Hostel across the river rhine. Located across the Rhine from city centre proper, the hostel is minutes walk over a choice of two fabulous bridges to Aldstadt (old city), famous for the longest bar in the world. For those on a budget there are a number of market shops about 15 minutes walk away from the bridge down Dusseldorfer Strasse. The fresh air did me good when I went for a small supply of snackables.

Friday

Upon arriving I discovered I was not one of the first present, as evidenced by the beaming Michael Phipps as he sat talking with Charlie Clark in the courtyard, the two of them immensely enjoying the afternoon sun. I would soon enough discover the passion with which Michael employs when he has something to say, quite animated is he for such a large man, pleasantly surprising. I would find myself the participant in such a deep conversation later that day when Michael came over to inspect the muscle server I had setup.

Every event simply must have BeShare up and running all weekend, to mitigate the many file transfers people are wont for, as well as small conference purposes when doing interviews or sharing code between two computers. Just fire up BeShare, pop in your shares what you want, and away you go. Just that easy.

A few events ago Charlie Clark was forced to change locations, but it was for the best as through the years attendance steadily rose each time the event was held, and the old facilities were brimming at the seams to accommodate. The current location, the Dusseldorf Youth Hostel, is a nice old place, built over the years as additions to the main building. As telling by the route I had to take to find my room (121/2) which resides on the SECOND floor; taking two stairs and a bit of a walk through one "wing" of the building. I suppose I could have walked outside through the courtyard, up the shorter route up the outside curved stairway to reach the second floor, but I guess I like doing things the hard way. :)

If Charlie Clark were to be a star wars character, he would be strong in the force, be kind and generous to those in need, and be able to use nerual implants to speak a bazillion languages while holding a dozen conversations at the same time. He's a wonder, and we're blessed he lends himself to effortlessly to the running of BeGeistert. Each and every time the event takes place Charlie makes sure it is just that tinsy bit better than last, that potential problems are headed off at the pass, and more. It shows as we're now up to fourteen events so far, with plans surely already in motion for the fifteenth. I'd just like to say Thank You, while I have the opportunity to do so... A virtual touch of the glass for a guy with class, won't you all raise your glass in kind? Thanks.

Moving on...

Markus runs the registration/sign-in using Gobe Productive entirely, printing the funky BeGeistert placards for each member, and handles the keys given out to each participant. I didn't interact too much with Markus, but from what I can see, he is a valued member of the Orga team, and I'm glad he's involved.

Scholly is another interesting icon of the "scene". He never visits BeShare, rarely participates on the mailing lists, but his presence is strong and a respected part of the BeGeistert venue. He has been involved with every BeGeistert since its inception, and while he has such a kind soul and passion for BeOS, he has a short temper when it comes to cable logistics. I mean no disrespect, honestly, and I found it fun to hear his German come through when he was "perfecting" the path of various cables by laying and re-laying down tape to fasten said cables to the floor, table, etc.

It's one of those, just-have-to-be-there moments, and I can't say I made it any better by trying to offer helpful suggestions. Ah well, people is people. In the end the cables got laid, the networking components got sorted, and all was right with the world.

As I'm writing this I'm seeing a lot of activity around the room, with various people hunched over their laptops (many, many laptops) working on drivers, their projects, you name it. I see Rudolf being approached by one of the developers about the nvidia driver, and it not working correctly with his nv15 based chipset. Rudlolf is now working through what could be the problem, and as I continue to write this, it appears they've come to what could be a possible cause.

With the newest version of the driver, the graphics cards memory system was too slow in retrieving the display data. In an earlier version, 0.09, there was no such problem, so Rudolf is confident that he can backtrack where the changes are between the releases, and come to a solution that will fix the issue.

This display dilemma turned out to be quite a valuable coincidence as Rudolf had been sent previously many emails from others with the same card, describing the same type of problem, but as he did not possess such a card, it was up till now quite hard to pinpoint exactly where the problem lay. It is nice to see the various elements come together to allowing tackling a sticky problem with finally all the tools at hand. I'll be checking back with Rudolf later on if/when the problem becomes resolved. Bruno G. Albequerque has the same card with the same issue, so this is not an uncommon occurance but one that can be fixed in time. Rudolf will be lent one of the cards to test further, so we'll all be seeing that progress later.

Dinner Friday evening was an eclectic mix of conversation, joke telling (in German but translated for the benefit of us english speakers. :) and the finer points of the definition of blogging. Yes, the discussion came to a head when we tried to define how blogging has changed the media landscape online. It was my assertion that one can gain valuable insight into not only what someone says but by the knowledge gained from reading the results of someone else's hard work, if only to facilitate ones own similar attempts.

I had a great chat with Michael Phipps over the goals of Haiku, the target audience, the community, life at the top of such a large project, planning ahead to R2, developers and lack thereof, and well let me just say that Michael is very well informed on all things Haiku. He is strong in the force, this Haiku Jedi is, yes.

"Whether you like it or not, you are becoming an icon of the community.

What happens if you double click me?"