12 local programmers, of varying experience, gathered at FP Towers and Joh talked us through the format for the event before we got down to tackling the first kata. I kicked off and managed to waste my allotted five minutes on setting up the project and putting in place some dodgy design decisions, despite my better half (Mr Roddis).

And we round-robinned from there. It was really great actually, driving home the cost of communication (we all had to explain what we were doing constantly), and giving me lots to think about. Interesting to see lots of different approaches to the same problem too - particularly the more lateral ones - and great to see a few folks who I only catch rarely these days.

I'm already looking forward to the next one, and firmly resolved never to shop at any Supermarket named Dallaway's ... ;)

Thanks again to Joh and Devi for sterling organisational efforts. It wouldn't have happened without you :)

UI as a soft form of lock-in: "Essentially the UI raises the comfort level once you are inside, which is also an exit barrier – a soft walled garden. So I don’t think we will have a homogenization of the user interface into a single mobile paradigm. Manufacturers will probably continue to manifest and develop their own unique UI:s because there is an opportunity to continuously “lock in” the consumer"

Spot on.

Mobile banking service disappoints: "most publications have overlooked the long list of exclusions – those handsets which don't support the new Monilink software."

L'Inq goes on to list the handsets which aren't supported. These include "All Windows CE; NEC; Philips; Sanyo; Sendo; Orange SPV and all Orange 3G devices (except the Nokia 6630)". With the exception of "all Orange 3G devices" I wouldn't be too concerned about the missing support, they're all very niche handsets and don't (in our experience) get much in the way of usage compared to other devices out there.

I thought I'd sign up for Monilink and take a look. First impressions: OW! An 11-step registration process? Look, I know this is banking and all that, but this is ridiculous.

Second impression: a "gateway timeout" when I clicked on the WAP Push link Monilink sent me. Ah well...

Are you a Sussex Flash developer?: "Future Platforms are running "Flash on the Move" which gives all local Flash designers the chance to show off their talent by designing a Flash Lite business card for a mobile phone. Designers will need to use Flash Lite using a canvas size of 176x220 pixels and a maximum file size of 150k."

SMS sprinklers reduce water wastage: "A council spokeswoman said the new system reduced water wastage by enabling council staff to monitor and control irrigation timetables from a remote location rather than manually changing the program at each site."