[Advantage X7500, MDA Ameo ROM Development] apap:
My ap4 story

Last week I was caught up in the upgrade frenzy along with many others. I managed somehow to get into the ap teams chat room and felt privileged to be among the all knowing. Quietly I listened to their chatter as they grappled ceaselessly with unresolved problems with their new baby (ap4 rom). After a couple of days of eavesdropping a delightful little bomb appeared on the scene. Olipro provided a link for some of the team to test the latest spl integrated into the new rom update. I grabbed the link and anxiously counted the moments till I had the rom. Despite endless warnings from the team that this rom was not ready and should be avoided by the faint at heart or those in serious need of a working advantage I followed my lesser instincts. A rush for novelty drowned out all prudence. All went well with the upgrade. I was now savoring what so many had been dreaming about. I noticed a great potential but a few problems had also appeared.

Because I am used to the old opera 8.65 with vueflo (which works great with squeezed pages for news reading) and vlueflo was not working on the new opera I decided to return to AP3. Big mistake! I fell into an endless loop of automatic rebooting and quickly panicked that I was bricked. I now had to turn for help to the same community that was working tirelessly on the new ap4 and had warned us not to install the pre-release to save me. I was now totally dependent on their good will to save me from a bricked device and spend time on someone who didn’t heed their warnings (diverting their attention from the rest of the community). My initial requests for help were largely ignored or met with cold indifference and occasional remarks directed at ‘idiots’ like me that deserved to be thrown to the dogs (btw idiot comes from the ancient Greek term meaning ‘private’ … an idiot was a person that did not mingle with the public or was uncomfortable with social interaction). I humbly apologized and repeated my pleas for help….after all there was no one else I could turn to. Grudgingly, one of the stars (Cmonex) started to offer assistance. Then Pawel063 weighed in. Eventually, and with understandable time lags, the ap team pulled through for me and got me back on my feet with a functioning advantage (back to the pre-release ap4). They had no reason to help me, indeed they had reason to ignore me, but they helped me nonetheless.

I often wondered what makes this community buzz. I know there are donations (I have occasionally donated myself) but it’s hard to imagine that this is what moves them. I have been an htc fanatic since they first arrived with the wallaby and have benefited from countless geeks who seem to love to toy and tinker with these gadgets and share their knowledge. I certainly have received much more than I have given, either in donations or advice to others. I would like to the thank the AP4 team and all the other xda-ers that have offered us much and hope that they maintain their spirit even in the face of cynics, parasites and exploiters of all kinds. They should know that their work and spirit is appreciated by many even if we often do not show it. I take this opportunity to thank them once again.