Hello all. I purchased a Nokia 770 about a year back, and have just gotten around to seriously playing around with the thing. I've been doing a lot of reading, and have been having trouble figuring out what I should and shouldn't be doing.

So far, I've managed to set up Python & SSH, as well as install a few apps on the 770. But I'm wary of trying some of the more advanced hacks because of the risks involved...

(1) When someone mentions 'bricking' the device, exactly what do they mean by that? Is it generally hardware or software damage? Most often I hear it used in relation to flashing the device - does that mean it would involve firmware damage?

Most importantly, is there anything I can do to prevent such damage? I remember reading one post where the user mentioned that they had narrowly avoided bricking their device by booting from the memory card.

(2) What are the actual risks involved with using a 9V battery or powered USB hub to get USB mode working? What about getting USB host mode working? (see #1 )

(3) What sort of speed hacks are possible and what are the risks involved? I've heard of swap partitions on the memory card, and that booting from the memory card can make your system 2x faster because the onboard memory uses a compressed filesystem. Are these really worth it?

(4) Is it possible to do a backup of the entire system, which can be loaded in case of a major buggerup? If, as I'm guessing, the boot device selector menu is in firmware, can you make a 'backup' memory card with Maemo+apps and use that in case you tank the filesystem in the onboard memory?

(5) What reasons are there to switch to OS2007He? What are the risks involved?