of mutual trust, but now people realize that if 20 people are contributing to a project, any code you write for that project can be amplified and come back to you in a much better shape. In so much better shape that it's stupid to worry about freeloaders. I did send an email to guns@penguicon.org so as to receive planning and scheduling information, but.... As I have said, I am a poor boy with a bad spine. I could survive the cost. However, there is no telling whether any given seat (on a plane or at a conference) will be comfortable or painful until I try it. It might turn out that travelling a couple thousand km each way would be no fun at all . There are other aspects... To tell the truth, I hate conferences. I also pretty much hate parties. (Have I mentioned that I like computers?) I am sure that the Armed & Dangerous party would be great, and there are a bunch of people I would like to meet, but.... after an hour or two, I am sure I would just want to be home. I am sure that Geeks with Guns would be a (loud) blast, but, again, after a few hours... I just like being at home with my parrot, Merlin. (And, of course, Merlin wouldn't like being boarded for what would effectively be at least 3 days -- we have never been separated that long since I got him about 13 years