Financial Times:
Skype founders raise $165m for new fund  —  Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, the founders of Skype, have raised a new venture capital fund for investing in so-called “disruptive” early-stage European technology.  —  Atomico Ventures, the London-based group established by the pair in 2006 …

A Quick Look at Maemo Official Platform in Bugzilla
2010-03-15 through 2010-03-21

As of 2010-03-22 Maemo Official Platform contains 3221 items (+30 this week), including 669 open issues (-4 this week):

• 474 open bugs (-5 this week)
• • 23 critical/blocker (-5 this week)
  • 8 "easyfix" (no change this week)
  • 96 "moreinfo" (-8 this week)
  • 19 "crash" (-4 this week)
  • 21 "patch" (no change this week)
  • 23 reopened (+4 this week)
  • 137 unconfirmed (-19 this week)
• 195 open enhancements (+1 this week)
• • 1 "easyfix" (no change this week)
  • 10 "moreinfo" (-1 this week)
  • 5 "patch" (+1 this week)
  • 9 reopened (no change this week)
  • 29 unconfirmed (-2 this week)

Ten biggest open bugs by number of votes:

• (6%) 5982 Phone unlocked when receiving call
• (4%) 6063 voice calls inaudible most of the time, but not through speakers or earplugs (+1 this week)
• (4%) 5880 A2DP unstable when WiFi is on. (-1 this week)
• (4%) 6766 Bluetooth Audio Very Choppy and Stuttering
• (3%) 8723 items become totally non-responsive for no reason
• (3%) 7633 Enable SmartReflex on N900 by default
• (2%) 6694 No audio when playing through playbin2 in "Silent" profile
• (2%) 6359 Geolocation show the wrong country when more than one country code in cities database
• (2%) 5786 "Wi-Fi Protected Setup" doesn't work, is not optional, and is used when disabled. (+1 this week)
• (2%) 6859 Contacts unmerge when signing in to im network (new this week)
• Please visit bugs.maemo.org to vote. Registration is easy and free.

Ten biggest open enhancements by number of votes:

• (5%) 6368 No way for car kit to access contact information (PBAP)
• (4%) 5371 Allow same shortcut to be used on multiple home screen desktops
• (4%) 6685 Generic pc105 layout is not supported
• (4%) 793 lock screen should have 'if lost' info (e.g. display owner contact info)
• (4%) 6357 HildonPannableArea: Support arrow keys (in Image Viewer/Photos & RSS feed reader & MicroB) (+1 this week)
• (4%) 5835 Mail for Exchange does not Sync all Information for Google Contacts (-1 this week)
• (3%) 1043 Add priority to defined wifi connections
• (3%) 5422 Disconnect inactive internet connections after idle timeout
• (3%) 5791 Unable to set alternate APN
• (3%) 8483 Bluetooth HID does not work
• Please visit bugs.maemo.org to vote. Registration is easy and free.

Ten hottest open bugs:

• 9606 Bluetooth disconnects/can't send files (new this week)
• 9644 Caller Name from Provider's service does not show up for Canadian providers (new this week)
• 4607 Sbrsh not included in Fremantle SDK devkits (CPU Transparency not working) (-2 this week)
• 7971 mail for exchange freezes when trying to sync calendar and tasks (-1 this week)
• 6878 UK Country variant of firmware not available for download (new this week)
• 7896 Vodafone UK (205) varient firmware not available for update or download (-2 this week)
• 9138 HildonFancyButton - request to have its licensing changed to LGPL 2.1 (-2 this week)
• 6806 Cannot turn on device while charging (-2 this week)
• 4609 Installation instructions: How to patch mmap_min_addr value for Ubuntu 8.10 (-2 this week)
• 7017 SGX memory reset seems failed during reboot (-1 this week)

Ten hottest open enhancements:

• 793 lock screen should have 'if lost' info (e.g. display owner contact info)
• 7019 Release source code of "getbootstate"
• 356 Kernel lacks IPv6 support
• 995 DNS resolution ignores local domain
• 1043 Add priority to defined wifi connections
• 1050 "Connect automatically" should be connection specific
• 1249 Maemo does not have persistent state
• 1574 Certificate Manager and WLAN EAP-TLS
• 2043 Development environment should support x86_64 and other non-x86 platforms
• 2076 Adding file directories (i.e. Documents, MMC) to Task Launcher/Navigator

Ten oldest open bugs:

• 796 Fix hard-coded paths in osso-af-startup build files
• 1045 Media player breaks the original sorting of songs in a CD
• 1792 chage assumes shadow passwords enabled, hence fails
• 2051 Unable to connect to EAP PEAP MSCHAPV2 without certificates
• 2168 API needs destroy functions for user data
• 2441 Apps failing to launch without any feedback why it failed
• 2468 scratchbox should not include windres for arm
• 2747 inconsistent mmc device naming at boot time when one card is missing
• 2821 Connection Manager: Global WLAN power saving settings in per-connection settings
• 2918 Shell line editing doesn't support UTF-8, non-ASCII letters followed by Ctrl+a in XTerminal move cursor too far to the left

Ten oldest open enhancements:

• 356 Kernel lacks IPv6 support
• 700 Split busybox into busybox and busybox_root
• 708 Connection icon should show signalstrength
• 793 lock screen should have 'if lost' info (e.g. display owner contact info)
• 995 DNS resolution ignores local domain
• 1043 Add priority to defined wifi connections
• 1050 "Connect automatically" should be connection specific
• 1109 Use english strings if locale does not exist after restore (instead of logical strings)
• 1232 preferences for listing networks in "selection connection" window
• 1249 Maemo does not have persistent state
• New Items

29 bugs were opened:

• 9546 want per package repo name in install/update package list
• 9548 Application menu items and "More..." items overlap
• 9550 Font Kerning hard to read when zoomed in web browser
• 9552 Polish virtual keyboard: Cannot enter CAPITAL chars with diacritical signs
• 9553 No margin at bottom of application list
• 9559 File transfer via bluetooth fails
• 9562 Incorrect gramar when performing package manipulation in application manager
• 9563 volume slider(for ringing volume) from status does not work
• 9564 will try WPS on open networks
• 9572 WiFi fails to provide connectivity on Buffalo WZR2-G300N
• 9574 Power button menu is not consistent
• 9576 CTRL+Space does not switch input language properly.
• 9577 Reboot caused by bluetooth probe
• 9583 Inconsistent use of "and" versus "&"
• 9587 'icd2' PID 1891 died to signal 11
• 9597 Email/SMS/IM sounds muted when music paused by headphoned
• 9598 WPA setup prompting for WEP key
• 9600 attempting to power up to soon after unplugging power cord
• 9606 Bluetooth disconnects/can't send files
• 9616 Native app to maemo 5, photos, displays wrong time stamp for image
• 9622 N900 misdetects DI-524 WPA network as WEP network
• 9624 NEON not available when compiling as c++
• 9628 wlan0 still up after disconnecting from GPRS (wifi scanning interrupted), causing battery drain
• 9637 Unable to play any media files after attempting to play a file with an unsupported codec
• 9640 Huge battery drain because sound is not stopped
• 9642 Yahoo mail leaves mail on the server when option is not to
• 9643 scrolling doesn't work properly
• 9644 Caller Name from Provider's service does not show up for Canadian providers
• 9651 Crash reports fails to send cores to server

Of these, 3 were critical/blockers:

• 9587 'icd2' PID 1891 died to signal 11
• 9606 Bluetooth disconnects/can't send files
• 9644 Caller Name from Provider's service does not show up for Canadian providers

0 enhancements were opened.

11 bugs were resolved "fixed":

• 2501 Hardware keyboard doesn't switch Input language when pressing Ctrl+Space
• 5712 Ad-hoc wifi leaks kernel memory, puts N900 into unusable swap hell
• 6176 bashism in bash uninstall script causes busybox error
• 7151 If pause media player using BT headset, it locks after some time
• 7432 /opt and /home/user not cleared after firmware reflash
• 7844 No sound on loudspeaker for call notifications when connected to BH-103 or BH-604 bluetooth headset
• 8553 APN with static IP address malfunction
• 9272 TDC (Denmark) GPRS settings are "incorrect" (or could be better)
• 9433 icd2 shell script (zz_static_ip_if_down) broken (nc)
• 9552 Polish virtual keyboard: Cannot enter CAPITAL chars with diacritical signs
• 9577 Reboot caused by bluetooth probe

7 bugs were resolved "invalid":

• 6611 Can't compile with -fshort-wchar flag
• 7775 System is hanging after some fast screenshots ...
• 9056 Telephone Calls (GSM) end abruptly with "connection problem"
• 9104 N900 does not charge if MicroUSB cable is connected BEFORE turning on external Power Source
• 9563 volume slider(for ringing volume) from status does not work
• 9574 Power button menu is not consistent
• 9587 'icd2' PID 1891 died to signal 11

3 bugs were resolved "wontfix":

• 5260 N900 user manual is unnecessarily awkward in avoiding use of e.g.
• 8343 Skype throws "Incorrect address" error for phone numbers with p (pause tone) in Contacts (nc)
• 8355 Building the farsight fails on Fremantle SDK

9 bugs were resolved "duplicate":

• 8645 External vfat mmc corrupted, file tables damaged? all files missing (nc)
• 9297 Rattles sound on a call song
• 9517 Won't find previously used WiFi after reflash until SIM is inserted
• 9525 Unable to distinguish files in File Manager
• 9546 want per package repo name in install/update package list
• 9548 Application menu items and "More..." items overlap
• 9550 Font Kerning hard to read when zoomed in web browser
• 9559 File transfer via bluetooth fails
• 9564 will try WPS on open networks

12 bugs were resolved "worksforme":

• 5723 N900 multiple crashes that led to device failure with wireless network that redirects to a login page
• 6452 Phone abruptly shutsdown while on charge and during a call via the headset.
• 6538 Copying folder(s) with large number of files failed over USB
• 6633 Keyboard backlight goes off while typing in low light conditions (nc)
• 7325 Turning off phone while charging and phone stops charging
• 7341 cannot create a shortcut for contacts to the desktop
• 7724 Device rebooted when sending vCard over bluetooth while using FM transmitter
• 7877 GLSL compiler crashes when a float with exponent is used
• 8218 device would get stuck or reboot at hangup (bootreason: sw_rst)
• 8896 Microphone is dead
• 9137 need to take out battery twice for changing SIM card
• 9156 SMS fails after latest upgrade. No messages is delivered

0 bugs were resolved "moved".

0 enhancements were resolved "fixed".

0 enhancements were resolved "invalid".

0 enhancements were resolved "wontfix".

0 enhancements were resolved "duplicate".

0 enhancements were resolved "worksforme".

0 enhancements were resolved "moved".

14 bugs were confirmed:

• 4886 When $MYDOCSDIR points to dir under visible hildon-fm roots (any sd card), file monitor events ignored for $MYDOCSDIR
• 6108 tracker takes cpu and time when scanning media
• 6558 ohmd fails if discover_plugins cannot open plugin directory
• 7920 Loud noise played when receiving incoming call when FM transmitter is on
• 8258 sb-menu freezes with an unknown TERM
• 8607 Network connection should not switch automatically while a VoIP call is active
• 8672 Drop-down menu entries change while mail application is preparing itself
• 8981 Flasher error message not being substituted for %m
• 9076 Rapid circular swiping of "panoramic desktop" leads to black screen
• 9319 Permission to host N900's UK firmware outside of tablets-dev.nokia.com
• 9500 internet connection settings aren't followed if 2 APs configured
• 9553 No margin at bottom of application list
• 9576 CTRL+Space does not switch input language properly.
• 9583 Inconsistent use of "and" versus "&"

2 enhancements were confirmed:

• 6012 Better feedback during boot process
• 8658 Need way to disable cell calls and set SIP/Skype as default

5 bugs were reopened:

• 2501 Hardware keyboard doesn't switch Input language when pressing Ctrl+Space (nc)
• 5699 WLAN regulatory domain changes to US when no position data available
• 6633 Keyboard backlight goes off while typing in low light conditions
• 8343 Skype throws "Incorrect address" error for phone numbers with p (pause tone) in Contacts
• 9433 icd2 shell script (zz_static_ip_if_down) broken

1 enhancement was reopened:

• 7737 HildonDateSelector should show day of the week on the day list

10 bugs were needing love:

• 9616 Native app to maemo 5, photos, displays wrong time stamp for image
• 9637 Unable to play any media files after attempting to play a file with an unsupported codec
• 9643 scrolling doesn't work properly
• 8465 conn_fi_no_conn_available stays around with network list disabled
• 9562 Incorrect gramar when performing package manipulation in application manager
• 9600 attempting to power up to soon after unplugging power cord
• 9624 NEON not available when compiling as c++
• 9628 wlan0 still up after disconnecting from GPRS (wifi scanning interrupted), causing battery drain
• 9640 Huge battery drain because sound is not stopped
• 9642 Yahoo mail leaves mail on the server when option is not to

4 enhancements were needing love:

• 7924 Packager should include filesys usage in description automatically
• 8201 [metabug] Make more use of the keyboard in the dialogs / lists
• 8709 There is not an option to turn on the speaker in a call while headset is connected
• 9078 Add WPA/2 Support for ad-hoc wireless mode

1 bug was tagged "crash":

• 9587 'icd2' PID 1891 died to signal 11

0 bugs were tagged "easyfix".

Audrey

Audrey Lambert teaches English to advanced students of the Lycée Ozenne, a public high school in the capital town of south-west France,  Toulouse. A faithful volunteer translator at Global Voices in French since 2008, she is also a pioneer of using Global Voices in the classroom, where it has now been part of her students' advanced English curriculum for two years.

Traditional question: how did you discover Global Voices?

I stumbled upon Global Voices in French by chance and was happy to see everyone could contribute. I find translating a very stimulating exercise. Very tricky sometimes, but it brings enormous satisfactions when you finally crack it. Plus, I've been made to feel welcome by a very warm community (Note: how could we edit this? Audrey likes us!). In 2008, I've taken it a step further and asked my students to translate blog posts into French, as part of their translation exercises.

My students have completed high-school, they are training for very competitive and difficult exams to get into “Les grandes écoles“, the French “elite” schools.  A high level of English and news literacy is required of them, they will be evaluated on both. For instance, we listen to radio news in English during my classes. At their level, they have no real problems with the source vocabulary. What is difficult to achieve with Global Voices, compared to other translations of mainstream media articles they have to do, is to recreate in French the looser style of writing on blogs, the bloggers' tone, personality, jokes, slang.

Which routine did you set up? Do they enjoy it?

It certainly makes a change from their regular English curriculum, which is very scholastic and focused on exams. I have tested a number of methods: one post per student, or one post translated by many students. This year, they work in pairs. They chose themselves what they want to translate, deadlines are after school holidays or long weekends. Translations have to be handed in by email. We've set up a special user account on Global Voices in French to publish their translations (see last year's and this year's). In a way, they have produced something unique, so they are credited. To see their work and their name on the Web is a real incentive, some are very impatient to see it live on the Web.

Would you recommend this experiment to other teachers?

To be honest, be prepared for a lot of work! I'm sometimes overwhelmed when, on top of everything else, I get fifteen translations by email to read, comment and edit. But it truly is a very rewarding experiment, I do recommend it to other teachers. It builds a more personal relationship with students, I get to know them a little better from the posts they pick. I do not grade their translations, which makes for a more relaxed teacher-student relationship.

Students are credited at the top of the posts for their translations

How are citizen news media perceived in a French scholastic environment?

Teachers of advanced classes are pretty free to chose the material we work on. I informed the inspectorate at the beginning of this experiment and it was well received. As for myself, translating for Global Voices taught me a great deal on a linguistic as well as a cultural level. I've had access to news never (or seldom) covered by traditional media. I see citizen media as a considerable advancement in democracy. Blogs bring a new perspective, a personal view on a wide variety of subjects.

Was your true calling languages or teaching?

I always wanted to teach. As a kid, I taught my dolls and teddy bears. I fell in love with English when my mum - who lived for 8 years in South Africa - taught me English songs for children. Later, I had to chose between English and Spanish, which I also love. I majored in English literature, with a graduation paper on the myth of the Amazon in Elizabethan literature! I love reading contemporary literature in English and would love, one day, to translate into French one of my favorite novels. But time is tight, and for the moment, I dedicate myself to my other passion: advocacy for animals. My dream is to have the opportunity to live close to primates…

"Les Jacobins" cloister in Toulouse, the French town where Audrey lives and works (Photo by nz_willowherb on flickr used under a Creative Commons licence)

Chancellor insists budget measures will be 'sensible and workmanlike' rather than pre-election giveaway

Alastair Darling will use the proceeds from the state sell-off of the Channel Tunnel rail link to pay for a £2bn green infrastructure fund, in a budget designed to help business and tackle Britain's emerging energy crisis, Treasury sources said tonight.

The chancellor, who insisted today that Wednesday's package of measures would be "sensible and workmanlike" rather than a pre-election giveaway, plans to earmark the first tranche of cash from the privatisation of High Speed 1 for seedcorn capital for low-carbon energy projects.

The projects likely to benefit from the fund will include low-carbon cars, wind energy, green waste projects and a new generation of nuclear power stations. Darling will claim that the fund will create 400,000 low-carbon jobs by 2015.

Without the investment, Britain would struggle to meet its targets for the next decade of cutting CO2 emissions by 34% and producing 15% of its energy from renewable sources.

Darling will also announce that Britain's banks will contribute £250m to a £500m growth capital fund, designed to ease the financial pressures on the small and medium-sized companies most affected by the credit crunch.

"A little bit of government help can unlock a lot of private sector investment, and that is going to be the focus this week," Darling said in a BBC interview.

He picked out the creative industries and the pharmaceutical sector as two industries warranting extra government help.

The overall aim of the budget is to set out a pathway for growth, and to give fresh details on the deficit reduction plans outlined in December.

The chancellor ruled out rises in VAT and indicated he would dedicate any windfall from lower than expected borrowing figures and unemployment to investments in the future, rather than extra departmental spending.

"If a politician offered Christmas trees the voters would roll their eyes and say, 'Oh well, you know you've clearly lost touch'," he argued.

Darling is expected to provide fresh detail on how government departments are meeting efficiency targets, deemed to be essential to plans to halve the deficit by 2013-14.

He also insisted there would not be an emergency budget after the election, and said he hoped the 50p income tax rate on those earning £150,000 or more would be a temporary feature of the tax landscape.

The government is expected to announce fresh measures to reduce youth unemployment, as well as some extra cash for defence.

Overall, the budget will represent a shift to a more European interventionist industrial policy. Darling and Lord Mandelson, the business secretary, believe the case for a more hands-on approach has been made by the success of limited state support for Nissan in Sunderland, which last week announced plans for a new electric car, and for Sheffield Forgemasters, one of only two plants in the world capable of making reactor vessels for the nuclear industry.

The High Speed 1 rail link was taken into public ownership last year, and Darling intends to use £1bn from the sell-off to attract a further £1bn from the private sector for a fund to be set up in 2011.

Other state assets earmarked for sale include the Dartford crossing and the Tote.

Treasury sources said Britain needed to spend £165bn over the next 15 years to replace 40% of its energy infrastructure, and public money had to be found – even in tough financial times – to attract private finance for new and unproven technologies. Mandelson's business department are also looking at using more active industrial policies – such as government procurement policies and small-scale loans – to help business recover from the deepest and longest recession since the second world war.

The budget is likely to set a target for the percentage of government business that should go to SMEs and propose an updated form of 3i, set up after the war to provide venture capital for start-up companies. "The fund is needed to deal with the problem of barriers to entry for private sector investment in technologies perceived to be high risk", a Treasury source said.

• Budget
• Alistair Darling
• Economic policy
• Green politics

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In Silicon Valley, every startup fears than an established brand will one day acquire a rival or build a similar offering and instantly become the industry gorilla. When it comes to advertising, Google, which claims not only both the largest ad network and number of relationships with advertisers, but the most automated and profitable system on the Internet, is the most obvious example of this phenomenon. Ditto for Oracle and Cisco in the enterprise software space and eBay and Amazon in e-commerce.

Yet while fear of the 800-pound gorilla rightfully looms, upstart ad ventures can take heart in mounting evidence that suggests online ad categories are not cornered by deep-pocketed brands, but by new market entrants. This has held true across several different categories, including Google in search, DoubleClick in ad serving, Advertising.com in display, NexTag in CPA, RightMedia in exchanges and AdMob in mobile. Each of these companies emerged from humble beginnings to become billion-dollar businesses, and did so in the face of large, incumbent competitors. Additionally, a slew of other firms exited at valuations in the hundreds of millions of dollars, among them Overture (search), Atlas (ad serving), ValueClick (display) and Quattro (mobile), to name just a few.

So, what makes online ad categories so likely to be won by new entrants? History sheds some light:

First, on an economic front, online ad businesses exhibit clear network effects that ultimately preclude incumbents from contending in the category. When Advertising.com began to scale its network in the early 2000s, two trends emerged. As the company generated more leads for advertisers, the advertisers were willing to pay more per lead, and as it bought more inventory from publishers, they become more willing to accept lower per-impression CPMs. Per-impression ad-serving costs for DoubleClick and per-impression publisher onboarding costs for AdMob demonstrate similar network benefits. Each of these examples make clear that in online ad categories, new entrants grow so quickly that they effectively create a market dynamic in which slower-moving and less nimble incumbents simply can’t compete.

Second, on an innovation front, the classic innovator’s dilemma is unusually powerful in new ad categories because incumbents are hampered by legacy business models and technology infrastructure developed during a prior market development phase. When NexTag entered the education and finance lead-generation business, it brought with it a new model for buying traffic and valuing it on a per-impression basis based on advanced algorithms. Within a few years, NexTag’s internal media buying tools were so automated and accurate compared to the company’s predecessors that it was able to far out-pay for good inventory — and avoid paying for bad inventory at all. NexTag’s suite of media technologies put it at an advantage as the category grew and the cost of inventory rose, further enabling it to pull away from the pack and eventually exit for more than $1 billion. Incumbents often underestimate the importance of iterating early in a market, which means that as a category matures and the price of learning goes up, they find themselves falling behind.

Third, relationships with key inventory sources matter. On the Internet, there are millions of inventory sources, but only a few that can change the dynamics of the category. In search, it was the relationship that Google developed to monetize Yahoo search results. In display, it was Advertising.com’s entrenched relationship with the AIM client that enabled it to generate millions of dollars in profit from view-through conversions. And in exchanges it was the Yahoo partnership that solidified RightMedia as the No. 1 ad exchange. Incumbents seem more willing to give huge inventory opportunities to small, up-and-coming companies than they are to building out solutions internally. Such tight-knit relationships ensure the success of new entrants across the board.

The final lesson history has taught us is that focus leads to superior execution. Perhaps the least recognized but most valuable asset new entrants have is focus. In their respective times, Google was the best search engine, RightMedia was the best ad exchange and AdMob was the best mobile ad platform. Yes, incumbents often build a better product down the line (DoubleClick’s Ad Exchange is one example), but by that point the new entrant has already exited, as RightMedia did for $680 million. Incumbents know this fact implicitly, so it’s imperative that startups invest in and preserve their focus as they continue to grow.

The next generation of online ad categories is already repeating history. The key for investors and entrepreneurs is to identify which areas are going to be categories, not features, and get involved with them early.

Tod M. Sacerdoti is the CEO and co-founder of BrightRoll; follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/todsacerdoti. Disclosure: Brightroll is backed by True Ventures, a venture capital firm that is an investor in the parent company of this blog, Giga Omni Media. Om Malik, founder of Giga Omni Media, is also a venture partner at True.

Los madrileños estamos de celebración, porque la mítica Gran Vía cumple nada menos que un centenario y se están organizando una serie de eventos para homenajearla, entre ellos el I encuentro mundial de la tapa.

Y es que amigos, las tapas son una seña de identidad de la gastronomía española, así nace este encuentro mundial que quiere impulsar a Madrid como “la capital mundial de la tapa con una mayor proyección en su oferta turística”.

Cabe destacar que vendrán cocineros de diferentes países a realizar demostraciones culinarias con la tapa española como protagonista.

El encuentro, organizado por el director organizador de los Concursos Nacionales de Tapas, Luis Cepeda, y la Agrupación Matritense Gran Vía, también tiene como objetivo elegir la Tapa Centenario Gran Vía.

La cita tendrá lugar los días 3,4 y 5 de mayo en la plaza de Callao, en la que se habilitará una carpa con anfiteatro para acoger dicho encuentro. También habrá puestos en los que los visitantes y ciudadanos podrás degustar tapas y bebidas a precios populares

Más información | Gran Vía 2010
En Directo al Paladar | De tapas por Madrid, Taberna el Capricho
En Directo al Paladar | De tapas por Madrid, Casa Lucharna

Sunday, March 21, 2010

25-year-old man David Striegl was knocked unconscious by a kangaroo on the Mount Ainslie nature reserve in the Australian capital Canberra on Thursday. He received cuts and bruises and a black eye after being scratched and hit by the kangaroo. Mount Ainslie is located near the centre of the Australian capital, with Australia's parliament houses designed to be viewed from the top of the mountain.

He does not remember much about the incident, only that he turned around and saw the kangaroo which hit him in the face. He said that the kangaroo scratched him at first then guessed that it must have hit him which caused him to lose consciousness. He was taken to hospital by a motorist who was passing by. At the hospital he was given x-rays and a tetanus shot before being discharged.

This year's Emerald City Con was... an extraordinary experience.

Truthfully, I'm still trying to get my head wrapped around some of it. Doing our Artist's Alley table as a fundraiser for the Cartooning Class was very much a last-minute, spur-of-the-moment decision, we weren't organized about it at all... and I was very moved, and a little awed, at how well the kids came through. Not just the current students but many of our grads, as well.

The experience could be summed up in this exchange between our friend Lorinda and myself. At one point, I shook my head and muttered, "This is so amazing... I mean, teaching, it's like putting a note in a bottle and throwing it in the ocean, you never really know how it's going to work out."

Rin replied, "Well, you sure had a lot of bottles come back this weekend."

We took a lot of pictures and I think I'll just run those for you and talk a little bit about each one.

*

This is what it looked like before we opened.

And another.

This is the last time we would experience quiet until Sunday evening. LATE Sunday evening. My ears are still ringing a little.

Outside, the crowd was milling around panting to get in.

Clearly, convention security was going to be overtaxed so the stormtroopers thought they'd assist with crowd control.

And then we were off....

This may give you a little bit of an idea of the swarms that descended once the doors were open. Saturday, in particular, was Hell Day.

Fortunately, we had a great crew. I honestly don't know how Julie and I ever used to do this by ourselves. It takes a teenage metabolism to keep up with the Saturday hordes at a convention.

In the rear we have Rachel, Aja, and that's Katrina under the mop, with our friend Rin in the front. Rachel decided to be Rogue again this year, as you can see. Katrina wanted to dress up too but couldn't decide on an outfit (she'd brought a couple.) This is the one she started with, a character of her own named Connor, but Connor only lasted till noon or so.

Once again this year, we won the lottery by having awesome neighbors. One one side we had Jeffrey Ellis and the crew from Cloudscape Comics, a small-press artists-collective outfit based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

On the other side we had Two Percent Solution.

They do a raunchy humor self-published book and a podcast as well.

I'm so embarrassed I can't remember their names -- I know I introduced myself at some point, but I couldn't really hear them very well. The echo chamber in the hall, once the crowds were in, made it nearly impossible to converse on Saturday. But they were great, swore up and down they loved being next to us and claimed we brought them a lot of extra traffic. They were especially hilarious about pretending to almost-swear in front of the kids but they never actually did.

Since we were doing a for-real fundraiser, and thus actually accepting money, our setup changed a little this year.

The idea was that we had students on the left, alumni on the right. As people would approach, the kids would offer them a giveaway book, and if they stopped, then they'd volunteer to sign it.

Ben, Marie, and Eileen, working hard.

Then Katie or myself would explain about the budget shortfall and collecting for donations, and add that anything over $10 got you a custom sketch from an alum. More often than not, they'd at least stop and admire the sample sketches we had up, and put a couple of bucks in the box.

Here's a customer getting The Spiel. Marie, especially, was really good at explaining to people what we were doing.

Many did in fact commission sketches.

Once we were set up it went fairly smoothly despite being a bit cramped, up against the wall as we were.

That's me and my boss, Katie. For the last seven years I've exhorted my various supervisors at school to come to the convention and really see how hard the kids work, but this was the first time anyone took me up on it. It really was a lot of fun having Katie there as she knew nothing about comics, conventions, or geek culture in general. But she adapted quickly. Watching her take in the experience was a lot of fun, and by the end of her day there she was a complete convert. At one point Katie was even speculating on the possibility of doing this kind of thing more often and wondering what other shows there were that we could attend as a class. The Stumptown Festival in Portland, especially, was a possibility we talked about quite a bit. (Katie was also interested in hearing about WonderCon and APE, but I told her, "Baby steps. I'm only just now getting to a place where I think I know how to get us to THIS show.")

The alumni were kept very busy sketching all day both days.

Fortunately they love to draw but my GOD they worked hard. I wish I'd gotten more shots of their work, it was of an extraordinarily high level, especially the high school kids. I was so proud of all of them and the way they've all kept learning and growing as artists, years after leaving my charge.

I did get a few. Here's one of Aja's.

And this is one of Katrina's custom commissions. She asked the lady what she wanted and the woman said, "Well, I like octopuses." (Yes, I know it's octopi but that's what she said.)

For a second I thought Katrina was going to be stuck but then she blew out this caricature of the woman herself with an octopus on her head. Yeah, the kids are THAT good.

Some people were kind of crass about it. This mother, especially, was really annoying. First she wanted to know what she'd be getting for her ten dollars.

It takes a special kind of chutzpah to haggle with a sixteen-year-old volunteer over your CHARITABLE ACT.

Katrina rather helplessly pointed to the samples, but it developed that this woman wanted to see the actual sketch before she would pay for it.

And this woman wanted something special, too-- a caricature of her two boys... an action pose of the two of them in their martial arts class. Geez lady, demanding much?

Here's Katrina working on the commission -- I cropped her out, but cheapskate Mom is hovering just out of frame, watching like a hawk to make sure she gets her money's worth.

Katrina was amazingly diplomatic about it. I thought Rin was going to go ballistic on the woman and I had to squelch a few sharp remarks myself. She deserved some kind of smack.

The two boys with the final product. I think they were a little embarrassed over how their mother treated Katrina.

Fortunately, the finished product satisfied everyone and we got the ten bucks.

But most of our visitors were much nicer. You remember Rachel's shot of the X-Men at the beach?

Guess who got that one.

Yeah, that's Matt Fraction, proud new owner of Rachel's X-Men Beach Party. This may be my favorite photo from the show. Only in comics do moments like this happen: my former student Rachel, the world's most ardent fan of the X-Men, posing with Matt Fraction, current writer of the X-Men comic, who's just told her that her cartoon is brilliant, that he would love to do a scene of the team at the beach and that she's caught all their personalities perfectly.

Matt was great with all the kids. He signed autographs, talked with them about comics, and generally was awesome. Here he is signing an autograph for Emma.

It was only a couple of minutes out of his day but I know how hard it can be to get away from your table when you're working a show, and it really meant a lot to the students to have a pro take such an interest. Even my students, whose comics fandom usually begins and ends with manga, know who Iron Man and the X-Men are. They were thrilled that he stopped by.

Michael Alan Nelson also visited our table briefly.

The kids loved him too, though they had only the vaguest idea of who he was -- I explained he worked for Boom! Comics and I think many of them had the idea he worked on the Muppets or something, since that was always where the line was over there. I enjoyed getting to meet him at last -- I interviewed him here a while back, but it was via e-mail and we'd never met in person. I am a big fan of his Fall Of Cthulhu series, and I got Swordsmith Assassin at the show as well, since Chip Mosher sent us the first issue for review and I liked it quite a lot, I'd been meaning to pick it up for a while now... though I forgot to ask Mr. Nelson to sign it. Too busy chitchatting.

I was mostly at our table all weekend, but Julie got out some. There was no way she was missing Leonard Nimoy.

She was actually in panels for most of Saturday, she also went to see Wil Wheaton and Stan Lee. Of them all, I think Julie was the most impressed with Nimoy's, she said he was "inspiring."

As for me, well, I was enjoying my time at the table because it was turning into old home week. We had many visitors from past classes -- Amethyst, Jessica, Shane, Andrew, and Jay, among others. Some I hardly recognized because they're, you know, adults now. (The last time I saw Jay he was a scrawny little soft-spoken kid. Today he's in his twenties, six feet tall and ponytailed, very outgoing with an infectious laugh. And of course his voice is an octave lower.)

Some even volunteered to put in some time sketching for us, which melted me. Lindon popped up out of nowhere and immediately wanted to put in some table time. Of course I agreed.

A lot of the kids dressed up this year, too. Saturday Lindon was in street clothes, but Sunday she was Pikachu.

I took this one just because it made me laugh.

That's right, Pikachu supports Cartooning in schools!

This is Lindon and Devon. I shot this because when Lindon has her head down -- even today, she always draws with her nose to the paper like that, it can't be comfortable but she always has to get way down there -- anyway, it tickles me because it looks like Pikachu is sitting at the table.

Lots of parents volunteered time too.

That's Marie, Ben, and Eileen, under the watchful eye of Gus' mother Marilyn. She looks a little annoyed, not because of the three kids but because her own son has abandoned his post again.

I get three kinds of students -- the ones who want to write, the ones who want to draw, and the ones who just want to geek out and be surrounded by comics. Gus is one of the geeks. He will produce drawings if you lean on him, but for him the point of being at a con is to get cool stuff. All I ask of the kids is to put in a ninety-minute shift at our table on the day they attend, but Gus could hardly bring himself to even do that much, he'd brought money and it was burning a hole in his pocket. First it was Leonard Nimoy's autograph -- even if you brought your own item for him to sign it was still a wince-worthy forty dollars -- and then he negotiated an advance on his allowance to go buy some comics.

Marilyn has always been one of my favorite parents and her reaction to this was completely charming. She ordered Gus to stay at the table and do his job. Then she went off to go get her son's comics herself. Naturally, not being an expert, she consulted me.

"Randy's Readers," I told her. "He's your guy. He sells comics that aren't collectible, just in average shape... his market is people that don't really Collect with a capital C, but only want to read comics. If I ever get a chance to take a break I was thinking of stopping over there myself, to be honest."

Marilyn agreed that was the place to go and the girls were exhorting me to take some kind of a break, and Marie wanted to come too, so off we went.

Marilyn explained that Gus wanted war comics. "So violent," she said, ruefully.

Gus did the tank for the group poster. He's all about the war comics.

I laughed. "Well, I grew up on blood and thunder myself, it's not all that damaging really. The key is that there has to be a story, I try to make sure they aren't just doing a videogame shoot-'em-up. There's a fine old tradition of war comics that did great stories, Sgt. Rock, G.I. Combat, Unknown Soldier.... we'll find him some of the good stuff."

Marilyn perked up. "Yes, I know Gus liked that Unknown Soldier book you loaned him. I was going to try and find some of those."

I brought this to class to show the boys that even hardcore shoot-em-ups still had to have a STORY. For Gus it was love at first sight.

Mission defined, we now moved with a clear purpose. Once we were at Randy's booth Randy himself stepped in and was very helpful, explaining to Marilyn that there was the Unknown Soldier series from Star-Spangled War Storiesand then there were the ones in his own book.

"What's the difference?" Marilyn wanted to know.

"Later ones are probably cheaper," I told her, smiling. "But I don't think Gus will care that much, he'd enjoy any of them."

As for me, in showing the various war series to Marilyn I stumbled across this one and decided I couldn't pass it up for six bucks.

Sorry, Gus, I got this one.

Our Army At War #269, a reprint of stories featuring work by Joe Kubert, George Evans, John Severin, Russ Heath, and even Mort Drucker (!) I could spend hours just looking at the pictures in this one.

I also fell for a couple of Superboy Giant reprint collections from my childhood that I'd been trying to replace for a while. Mostly these days I'm a trade paperback guy, but nostalgia can still get me.

Marie said curiously, "I know who Superman is, but I never heard of Superboy."

"It's like Smallville, only he actually wears the costume," I heard myself say, and suddenly felt a hundred years old as i realized there's probably two generations of schoolkids now who know Smallville as 'their' Superman the way I think of Bates-Maggin-Swan Bronze-Age Superman as 'mine.'

When we got back I told Gus he had the coolest mother ever. "At your age I'd have killed for a mom who said, 'you finish your work, I'll go make sure you get your comics.' That's unheard of."

Gus blushed, grinned sheepishly, and gave his mother a hug. Marilyn beamed and said, "I have my moments."

There wasn't time for me to do a whole lot of shopping -- there never is -- but Rin found a dealer who had a big box full of graphic novels and trades for $5 and I fell for a couple of those, too.

Empire is one of those late 1970s Byron Preiss productions where he was deliberately trying to move comics into a bookstore market -- about twenty-five years too soon, it turned out, but he produced some handsome books when he was trying. This one was an original piece by Samuel Delany and Howard Chaykin, hoping to scoop up some of that newly-minted SF audience that Star Wars created back then. I'd never actually read it and I've always been curious about it. Holliday I've never heard of, but I'm always up for a Western comic, and for a $5 trade paperback it's hard to go wrong.

Most of our shopping, though, we tried to do in Artist's Alley itself as much as possible. We like to support the creators. Julie picked up the new Muppet book from Boom! where Amy Mebberson was -- you should pardon the expression -- doing a BOOMing business.

Possibly the most popular artist at the show this year.

She was kept busy all weekend. A lovely lady, she was great with all the kids that came up to her and sketched Kermits and Animals and Miss Piggys till her hands were raw, most likely. I don't think a single kid went away empty-handed.

And I made it a point to pick up a bunch of stuff from Camilla d'Errico on Sunday morning. I was able to catch her a few minutes before the show opened, when it was actually possible to have a conversation.

Camilla's a favorite with my kids.

Camilla has been a great friend to my students for many years now... they don't remember her name but they all know the Awesome Manga Lady From Vancouver. I bought about $25 worth of stuff from her because A) I can use it in class and B) she deserves to be rich and I do what I can. She had a line all weekend but I did get to chat with her for a few minutes on Sunday morning. Largely on what became the typical Sunday conversation topic in Artist's Alley, "Great to see you, sorry I didn't come by earlier, we were stuck at the table.... My God! Wasn't yesterday hell? How many people did YOU get?" Everyone loved the increase in business but hated fighting through the crowds on Saturday.

Sunday afternoon I did get around a little bit. I got a couple of books signed from Kurt Busiek and Len Wein, and I had a flattering couple of minutes with Les McClaine, original artist on The Middleman. He saw my badge and said, "Hey, Greg Hatcher! I love your column!"

Seriously. I was shocked speechless. I spluttered and fumfuh'd and blushed like a schoolgirl, finally managing to choke out that I was a huge fan of his, that my students and I all adored The Middleman. This pleased him, and we agreed that it was a shame it didn't last but it was great to have something that cool exist at all.

And I got to say hi to Pete and Rebecca Woods, from Periscope Studios. We hadn't seen Rebecca in about six years, she hadn't come to ECCC in a while, so it was great to catch up. Rebecca immediately wanted to know how Brianna was doing, since when Bri was my student years ago she practically camped out at the Periscope Studios table, and Rebecca happily adopted her. I told her that Bri wanted desperately to come this year but she had finals up at Bellingham, she was in college up at Western. Then we had a mutual groan about how old we are getting.

Because Bri couldn't make it to the convention this year, we wanted to at least let her know she was missed.

When I got the idea to recruit additional Cartooning alumni to do charity sketches for our fundraiser, my first two thoughts were Brianna and Nadine. They're both in college now, and they've kept up with their comics work as well. They were pretty amazing in the seventh grade, and they've only gotten better.

Here's what Bri was doing when she was in my class...

...and here's a more current piece.

Sadly, Brianna had finals or she'd have been there with bells on, she assured us.

Nadine had finals too but she did make it down, which delighted me. She was probably the single most gifted student I've ever had. Her serial "Mermaid's Touch" still gets gasps of awe when the kids go through the old books.

In fact, when Katrina joined my class when she was in middle school, she was so inspired by Nadine's work that she took the same pen name, "KittyBell."

Can a luxury resort ever be green? A new hotel on the Maldivian island of Hadahaa is a true eco-paradise

With great pride, our "butler" Atheef is describing the utter deliciousness, the supreme sweetness, the irresistible flavour and vast superiority of the Maldivian mango. When I offer the Indian mango in comparison, he snorts with derision: the Maldivian variety is clearly in a much higher league. It's also only available in this island paradise for two months of the year, and as Atheef speaks I have a flashback to childhood and the giddy excitement of strawberries coming into season – a delight wholly unknown to my own children, for whom such exotic delicacies are these days pedestrian staples thanks to the global food market.

The Maldives, however, is not the place to get radical about eating only local, or indeed seasonal, foodstuffs: these idyllic islands rely on imported produce, and working out how to feed themselves while striving to become the first carbon-neutral nation on earth is one of the many conundrums facing the inhabitants of this breathtaking collection of islands. There are 1,190 of them in all, scattered among some of the most pristine coral reefs in the Indian Ocean, and at two metres above sea level this vacation paradise is one of the most threatened nations on earth. The most pessimistic estimates suggest that they will be underwater by the beginning of the next century, a danger their energetic new president, Mohamed Nasheed, is striving to publicise to the international community – last October the entire cabinet donned scuba gear and met underwater.

As a result of the very real threat on their doorstep, words like "sustainability", whispered among a very few of the forward-thinking hotels a decade ago, are now littered generously throughout their brochures. The bonanza that took place in the 1980s and 90s, turning the area around the capital, Malé, into a resort metropolis with barely a care for preserving reefs or local livelihoods, has thankfully all but come to a halt.

If the Maldives are a dot on the world map, the island of Hadahaa is a mere grain in an enormous oceanic expanse, as far south as you can go without crossing the equator. It lies in the utterly unspoilt and second largest atoll in the world, Huvadhoo. Until recently the whole area was off limits to visitors, the result of a government policy that sought to protect its ecosystem but also discouraged mingling between tourists and the local population, which put many travellers off these islands because they felt them to be a cultural void.

Since 2007 a small clutch of hotels has been allowed to set up among the native islands under the strictest environmental supervision, bringing employment and visitors to a region previously ignored. The contrast between this gloriously underpopulated, development-free atoll and the frenzy of the resort scene around Malé is extraordinary.

The latest arrivals, such as the one I'm visiting, pay more than lip service to environmental concerns. At Alila Hadahaa, which opened in August, they have their own desalination plant to create drinking water, hold a Green Globe Certification for planning and construction, and use wood certified sustainable from Malaysia. Most commendable of all is the presence of so many local staff; Maldivians make up 65% of the workforce. For a people in search of a homeland – as their president has described them – they couldn't be doing a better job of the audition. Staff such as Atheef – in his roving role of villa butler – and Shamin (snorkeller, babysitter, football expert and purveyor of popcorn) are proud of their country, eager to help you to experience more of it and so good with the kids that I feel surplus to requirements.

For a resort so clearly not imagined with children in mind – from the lavish luxury of the super-chic rooms to the glass and stone-hewn bathrooms – they couldn't cater for them better. Chicken curry sans spices, jelly made to order, babysitting on request and everywhere waiters happy to build "volcano land" in the sand, dive masters who long to take them snorkelling. I virtually have to wrestle the staff to get the children back for a couple of hours a day.

Alila's new resort is certainly architecturally adventurous. The two-storey state-of-the-art restaurant with its Bauhaus severity is slightly wasted on an ageing barefoot boho like myself, but the luxury beach bungalows and water villas make it a positively elemental experience. Of course it's an irony that is hard for the arriving tourist to ignore that the popular wooden water bungalows strung out on stilts above the aquamarine shallows at most resorts could, in the course of our children's lifetime, be all that's left of this island nation.

FOR THOSE WHO stray as far south as Hadahaa, the reward is a pewter evening ocean with a hazy shadow of islands on the far horizon, bearing no sign of human habitation. Ears pump with the complete silence we so rarely get to hear. When I take my four-year-old son snorkelling 5ft off the beach and find a lionfish swaying in the swell, a couple of Moorish Idols guarding the reef and as many small yellowtails as I can count, Dan starts to choke on his snorkel in excitement. To say the ocean is still stocked biblically here would be to underestimate what lies below.

Visiting the local villages is also now actively encouraged, as we discover when we are taken on an afternoon trip to Gadhdhoo, where hand-weaving straw tablemats and fishing offer the only alternative employment to the hotel and tourist sector. Despite obvious poverty and very basic amenities, the village looks like it is auditioning for a Best Kept Town award: no rubbish, well-tended homes with immaculate front yards and trees adorned with colourful strips of the Maldivian flag.

Shamin explains that every evening at sunset the women and children take to street cleaning in order to keep their collective home in good order. If only a similar civic spirit could be nurtured in the UK. During our amble around town an elderly lady in a headscarf (since 9/11 the Maldivians, previously relaxed Muslims with a little bit of local magic thrown in, have increasingly been embracing a stricter Islamic code) stops me to enquire whether Molly and Dan are my only children. When I reply that they are, she looks at me pityingly before declaring that she has produced 14. Patting my meagre contribution to the population on their heads, she wanders off chuckling in amusement at my uselessness as a woman.

This is my fourth trip to the Maldives and the first where I get to meet local people in their own environment and also to eat their cuisine. Along with western delights that include breakfast croissants the finest Parisian pastry chef would be proud of, Alila Hadahaa boasts a local restaurant – sand-floored, trestle-tabled and musically themed – offering the spiciest of curries, the tastiest of pumpkins, the crunchiest papaya and chilli salads on poppadoms, and pancakes with caramel bananas or fresh coconut rice pudding to follow. Where other Maldivian resorts can seem hell bent on ignoring their surroundings, this one is utterly committed to celebrating them.

On our last night, as the great fiery disc of the sun begins its exhausted slide into the sea, we spot a pod of dolphins gliding in and out of water thick as oil, feeding on the plentifully stocked and carefully protected home reef. The children, who have been weaving coconut-frond tapestries with Shamin, run shrieking toward the ocean, dropping clothes along the powder-white sand as they race into the sea in pursuit of each other. The dolphins make a hasty exit to open water, but in their absence a familiar figure steps into the frame: Shamin, waist deep in the ocean, still in uniform shorts and polo shirt, initiating a game with the kids.

It's my abiding image of our brief sojourn on this entrancing island. Thanks not to the cutting-edge design of the resort nor the fantastic food but to the seductive charm of the local staff, the five nights here number among the best vacations of my life.

HOW TO GET THERE... Elegant Resorts (01244 897 515; elegantresorts.co.uk) is offering seven nights at Alila Villas Hadahaa for the price of five, from £2,280 per adult, £2,070 per child (based on four sharing), including breakfast, British Airways flights and all transfers.

Visit guardian.co.uk/travel for more advice and travel suggestions

CARBON NEUTRAL... BUT WHAT ABOUT THE FLIGHTS?

The Maldives is engaged in an ambitious plan to become the world's first carbon-neutral country. By 2020 all its power will come from the wind and the sun, plus a biomass plant burning coconut husks. But the Maldives' biggest industry is tourism, so what about all the carbon emitted by the flights? There is no magic solution, but the government's plans include offsetting the emissions of all flights. Several offsetting methods are being examined, including buying "European emissions permits" which reduce pollution from Europe's factories. Until the scheme is operational, tourists have to arrange their own offsets. Mariella Frostrup did so with Climate Care (jpmorgan climatecare.com).

• Maldives

New York-based hedge fund Elliott Associates L.P. in a letter to Novell’s board of directors dated March 2 offered to purchase the infrastructure software company for a cash price of $5.75 per share, or $1 billion net of the cash on the company’s books.

Elliott Associates at the time said it already owned 8.5 percent of Novell and wanted to take the company private for $2 billion.

This morning, Novell’s board publicly responded to the letter, deeming the “unsolicited, conditional proposal” from the hedge fund “inadequate”. It’s not hard to see why Novell feels that way: immediately after the initial purchase offer was made, its shares surged as investors hoped for a better bid, and stock value hasn’t decreased much since.

Shares were valued at 5.64 at market’s close on Friday – it was priced 4.20 at the beginning of this year and 4.75 when Elliott made its purchase offer public on March 2.

It’s thus unsurprising to learn that Novell’s board of directors will start looking for alternatives for the company to enhance stockholder value, including a sale to another entity, joint ventures, partnerships or a return of capital to stockholders through a stock repurchase or cash dividend program.