Yeah yeah yeah.. we need someone to blame ya know

Poll is a good idea. The only problem I have with polls is that they take so darn long. Here's what I mean - there's a week left, how long are you going to run the poll for before we have the final decision? Let's say the option to keep the current deadline is chosen, then how much notice are folks gonna have? Personally, I'd rather an organiser or whomever just came out with

or whatever the date/reason given. I just like things done and dusted

The other only problem (Ive just remembered ) I have with polls is that you could have a bunch of people moaning that they didnt have their say after the poll closes. One example, if you remember the last competition, I had a poll near the end for the bounty split. I ran it for a day cos im an impatient beast, I already knew what we all wanted anyway, and I just wanted it sorted asap. Basically there was a hoo-hah when a few people (who hadn't participated, donated, or contributed to the competition thread/anything in any way) started complaining that they didnt get time to vote. Some even took it further and tried to get the competition stopped at the last minute. I emailed every participant and donator to ask their blessing, and thankfully the majority were in favor of the result so .. well i told the moaners to ****.. err.. suck a lemon Now.. Im not saying that is the best approach to handling disputes but whatever we do, let's do it with the interests of the folks taking part with their apps and donations put first

i think that's what im trying to say.. got offtrack rambling a bit there.

Anyway.. onto the "Fun and Strange" category. We don't just want to give helex the prize, right? Not without a fight first? What's that helex.. yes we do? lol. Well the thing is, without competition in a category it really devalues it. Is there anybody currently working on an application for this category that hasn't declared it in the wiki yet? You don't have to say what it is, if it's such a big surprise, just so we would know there's apps to come and not to be concerned. Else, what can we do to attract submissions? At a minimum we'd want 3 entries ofcourse. Could we offer an extra prize maybe? Could we open it up to include theme makers, etc? Or is nobody that bothered if we dont have 3 entries, that'll be just what the community decided to enter..?

Hmm.. thoughts...

Ooookay... this will create some more headache...

There are a lot more possible voting options. I would add those, too. But what if they will make in the end a nonsense out of our competition?

What about: "extend the competition until the community is able to order the Nokia N9 in at least 3 countries - the competition will get extendet until the devices are somewhere at the world at minimum 6 weeks aviable for end customers - regardless if some big countries still unable to order it"

The community members will vote and elect at the end of the competition. So they should be able to test the applications themselves before they vote. Not everybody owns a tablet, but they are able to buy a ExoPC or a WeTab. A N900 is wide-spread but a N950 or N9 is on the fringes.

Do we have Aplications, targeting especially only the N9?

Creamy Godness started this discussion because of a Qt Mobility problem at the N900 and he needs more time for the N950 adaption. So we have at least one application that runs only at the Harmattan device. The most users are in fact unable to test this application before they vote.

But if this option in the poll will get elected and because of this we have to extend it until December? Will this be still okay?

And what about the possibility to excluding the N9/50 because it is currently not aviable? I'm sure we are not able to withdraw this decision after the organisators got a N950 and announced that N950 submissions are admitted.

I want to avoid a poll result that will cause some upset developers but want to cover all possible solutions...

This kind of poll is always a headache, so you do have my sympathy Let's be honest, we can't run this comp til December or we might aswell run it for a year, and who knows when the N9 will be available in various countries.. Sept at earliest?

Another thing - if we're running a poll on here (maemo.org), what about the folks from MeeGo.com that might not see it/can't vote. Should we bring it to their attention? Should we create another poll there, and somehow join the results together? Or ask them to register here/leave them out...

I dunno the answers either. this is why i hate polls and like someone just making the decision :P It's so much easier, it could be done.. instantly!

To try and be helpful, i think you should stick to timeframes rather than when devices ship and which countries have what. But I can still see only two choices - leave as is or extend to end of August. I cant see the competition extending beyond into September, it would be too long imo.

it seems there are some downsides/concerns about extending. As there has already been an extension, how about taking the view that, as it is a _competition_, it makes sense to end it sooner rather than later, otherwise its more of a 'Meego Coding in your spare time for as long as you like until the apps are perfected'

PS, im not saying thats _my_ view, just giving it as an option. Im easy either way, more time gives the opportunity to write another app maybe, tho, regardless of the competition, i'll be coding anyway.

This competition is in danger of becoming a farce. I vote against extending the deadline. Otherwise, I have a project that will be ready in about two years...

Make us a "Fun and Strange" application entry this week and I'll back you up And you can keep that other project for the N1150 coding competition

Im kinda 60-40 against extending the competition. I think I want it to end, but Im not sure if it's ready.

To help finding a good decision I created now a not binding poll to see what tendency the community has.

Please vote and lets see what happens. A well formulated veto from a developer or a donator will have more weight than a single vote over there. But in the end zehjotkah started this competition. He has the final word. Whether he want or not!

Note: The Poll is public and several choices are possible!

In terms overall productivity; extending the competition should have net positive effect because it prolongs the race condition that's fueling the participants' motivations, no?

The main downside is that this would be seen as unfair, by anyone with limited time/plan/strategy that can't take advantage of the extended time to raise the value of their submission along with the rest of the competitors.

ps: i'm pitching in too... a little late, but I hope it's still accepted and useful.

I suppose if it is extended i could re-write my urbandictionary app, and stick it in the fun and strange section

i mean 're-write in QML'