I got my first N900 today!

I'm a little late to the party, I know, but I'm a Neo900 backer and I wanted to get used to the form factor and get familiar with maemo.

It seems that I've chosen a really awkward time to start! I received my phone today from ebay, and it's in good condition. As far as I can tell, it doesn't have the USB charging issue I've read so much about.

Unfortunately, the previous owner didn't flash it back to factory settings before selling it (seriously, it's making me a bit uncomfortable, there's loads of personal info on it!).

I have read the Wiki page on flashing but unfortunately all of the links to the firmware are broken, so I can't download "flasher" or the firmware itself. I am guessing this has something to do with the Ovi store closing?

My two most important questions are:

1. I noticed that 0xffff is in the Ubuntu repositories, can I use that instead of "flasher"?
2. Does anyone know where I can get a trusted copy of Maemo 5 PR 1.3, preferably the UK variant (what's the difference anyway?).

Many thanks in advance!

Sam