Due to my terrible organisational skills, I was unable to book into one of the hotels near the conference venue, but I’m actually now glad I didn’t. I’m staying a great hotel just a couple of miles down from the Brighton Pier. The room is more than adequate, and I’ve just discovered it has free wi-fi, which is how I’m posting this message now!

Off shortly to Heist, which is where the pre-party is being held. I had a wander earlier and it’s very easy to spot - it’s black and very Gothic looking. According to the web site it’s very cosy inside however!

Will write more on my return from the pub…

The conference venue is Wi-Fi enabled so I’ll most likely post when I’m there. No photos though, I have too much stuff to carry around with me, and although my Canon digital camera takes excellent pictures, it’s not exactly pocket-sized!

It does sound really interesting, and I’m keen to learn about all the latest developments in all things web. I’m hoping my shyness doesn’t get the better of me at the post-conference party in the evening, and I get to chat to some interesting peeps!

In another news, my house seems to be full of stacks of Ruby and Rails programming books, notes, print-outs! I’ve made a start on my top secret project (more to be revealed in due course), and I’m trying to persuade my brilliant graphic designer friend (who sadly does currently have a portfolio online to link to) to design a logo for me.

In other news, the satnav I bought a few weeks ago is incredibly useful and accurate. Last weekend, I successfully went into London and out again unscaved! Normally, I would go by train, but it was a Sunday and I nether wanted to risk engineering work disruptions, nor have to leave there particularly early.

It’s the second of third (I lost count) week where the temperatures have been over 30°C during the day, and combined with the humidity it’s getting close to unbearable. Luckily, I have the luxury of working in an air-conditioned office, or I’d be feeling a little worse for wear by this point.

Thanks to a friend of a friend, I just aquired a TomTom Go GPS unit - my latest gadget. It’s good for me, as my sense of direction isn’t exactly great, and my reliance on online mapping web sites hasn’t helped, as they frequently make mistakes! So far, I haven’t used it a great deal, but the directions seems quite accurate, even if it’s not 100% accurate, but then I’m sure it’s very difficult to make it so.

I’ve just booked my place at the d.Construct 2006 conference in Brighton, as I’m trying to learn more about the so-called “Web 2.0″ (hoping O’Reilly doesn’t read this and sue, as they own the trademark on this terribly generic term). Lots of interesting speakers, and quite a small event, so it should be a good experience.

I mean, I can understand people who write SMS messages on their phones like that because I find them incredibly difficult to type on, and one of the reasons I still own a Nokia phone with worn plastic, crack screen, and it’s one redeeming feature - a fold-out keyboard! But last time I looked, most computers came with a full size QWERTY keyboard, and even people who hunt and peck can type full sentences reasonably speedily on them!
Of course, as I write this, I realise that the majority of people who are writing ‘txt spk’ style online, are younger than me, and this whole entry is just me realising that I am getting old. I only hope they are able to form proper English sentences when they are using traditional, more analogue forms of writing.

Gah, how I wish someone could invent some form of universal remote that could control all these devices without being over complicated, and portable enough that I could have it with me at all times, so I couldn’t ever lose it. Most of the time they disappear down the sides of my sofa, or when getting up to put a DVD in the player, I inadvertantly take one of them with me, and then leave it over by the television. Of course I only realise this when I have walked back across the room and settled myself into the chair once again.

I actually only have five remote controls at present, six counting the tiny one that came with my MacBook and that I am constantly scared of losing. Also, as I sit here I look up to notice that one of the remotes is for a device I don’t even use anymore, unless you count gathering dust in the cupboard useful!

I hope it lives up the hype. I’ve tried working with frameworks before, and found them too strict to use in the real world. A colleague of mine once structured a project we were working on around a complex MVC (Model, View, Controller) framework that baffles me even to this day. I just couldn’t see how the pieces go together, and I ended up hating frameworks altogether.

Worst still, every HTML form element was generated automagically by some mystery form builder. The only way to get it to generate nice, clean XHTML-compliant code (with proper end tags and lowercase attributes), was to hack the hell out of it.

But anyway, back to Rails. I’ve never used Ruby before, but it seems pretty straightforward. I’m hoping that learning the framework at the same time as learning the language will help be structure my code better, as I tend to code chaotically. Hopefully some structure will do me some good!

Well, I’ve now compiled and installed Ruby and Rails onto my MacBook, and have a copy of “Agile Web Development with Rails” sat next to me - so, wish me luck! I’ll be sure to keep you all updated on my progress.

Wireless Radio Use
This device is restricted to indoor use due to its
operation in the 5.15 to 5.25 GHz frequency range to
reduce the potential for harmful interference to co-
channel Mobile Satellite systems.

Bizarre indeed.

I somehow reached the advertised meeting place in good time, just before midday on Sunday. I paced about until I spotted Bill, who was the organiser of whom I recognised from the photos of the previous years event.
From then on it was somewhat of a whirlwind of meeting and being introduced to all these new faces, many of whom had known each other through other events etc, but they all made me feel very welcome it must be said.

As soon as we had sorted ourselves out, and taken account of an absentees, punts were organised and we then made our way along the River Cam. The weather was excellent, and the conversation was to, even if I did feel a tad out of my depth at times.

(Photo courtesy of LoopZilla)

When we reached the picnic site and met up with the remainder of our party (they had charged ahead into the distance), we settled down to our picnic. Bill had brought plentiful supplies along, and through his encouragement no one returned to the boat who wasn’t suitably stuffed! I suspect we sat slightly lower in the water on our return.

The more spontaneous of our group decided to take an impromptu swim in the River Cam much to my amazement. Word has it that the river was surprisingly pleasant to swim in. They were no alone, as we had passed may swimmer braving the water, including one man who had decided to swim in exactly zero clothing!

On our return to the punt hire station, we said our farewells to several members of the group who had to make their way home. I decided to stay, and was certainly glad I did. Ended up in a student bar slap-bang in the middle of Trinity College. It was quite an honour to be able to see some of the courtyards that are normally off-limits to us mere-mortal members of the public!

After more conversation on the grounds, with the time fast approaching 9pm, I said my goodbyes and made my way back to my car.

All in all, an interesting day indeed. Plenty of people I hope to stay in contact with. I’m sure they’ll be back again next year, as will I - for PuntCon IV.

My only regret is not having a go at punting myself, which did look like a lot of fun. I really shouldn’t have let my fears get the better of me so often, but I know I’m not the most co-ordinated person, for which I blame partially on my high centre of gravity.

I heard about it on the formerly weekly, formerly fortnightly, email newsletter “Need to Know” that I’ve been subscribed to for several years. They’ve been a number of events I quite liked the sound of posted on there in the past, but either they’re miles away, fall on the wrong day. Mainly it’s been a lack of confidence that’s stopped me, but I’m making an effort to sort that out by trying new things as often as possible.

So, it should be fun, and Wi-Fi access permitting my next entry should be posted from Cambridge - fingers crossed!