I was asked to speak at an educational conference on mobile technology [SLIDE5] in Reading, UK, and while planning my train trip from London to Reading this morning, saw a warning about the train schedule being disrupted by a terror alert.

Went straight to CNN and learned what most of you have as well by now.

Seems like a strange time, then, to mention that I’m going to be taking a few vacation days in London before the conference. I’ll be arriving on July 14th (Thursday) at about 6:00 AM, and I’m sure that I’ll be just fresh as a daisy when I step off the plane.

If anybody would like to get together for a nerd dinner in London anywhere from the 14th to the 17th, then leave a comment, and we can get something worked out.

Hell, if you just want to get together to walk around and talk about life (or Doctor Who (or how awesome Madonna’s Live8 performance was (or anything, really))), that’s cool, too.

Haven’t decided yet where I’m going to stay, but it will probably be someplace central (plus ou moins).

The only thing I have planned is a visit to the Boots inside the Gloucester mall (near the Gloucester Road tube stop) to buy an umbrella. I picked one up there in 1998, and it’s been the best umbrella I’ve ever owned. Although it still works, there’s enough wear on it that I can foresee the day it fails to give me that satisfying chunk…whoosh! deployment which results from an appropriate amount of pressure being placed on the very ergonomically friendly button located about 2/3 the way up the plastic handle. I’m not leaving without a second one of those beauties. No way.

So, yeah. Leave a comment if you’re interested. I’d love to meet you in person.