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Dodd-Frank's Problems -- and Potential Solutions
A Commentary by Michael Barone
Over the next year, we will probably see much controversy over the implementation of Obamacare. Health insurance is something that almost every adult has some acquaintance with, and there seem to be glitches aplenty in the legislation, much delay in issuing regulations and some possible changes resulting from litigation.
We're likely to see or hear less about the operations of the Dodd-Frank financial regulation legislation, passed four months after Obamacare. Most of us don't work at banks or financial institutions, which will have to grapple with its myriad provisions and the regulations to be issued thereunder, and we tend to toss out those disclosure forms our bank sends out.
But Dodd-Frank may produce more problems than it solves. That is the thesis of David Skeel, professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, in his new book, "The New Financial Deal: Understanding the Dodd-Frank Act and Its (Unintended) Consequences."
Skeel does not find fault in Dodd-Frank's effort to regulate derivatives -- contracts in which one party agrees to pay another in case of changes in interest rates, currency exchange rates, oil prices or just about anything else -- with provisions encouraging them to be conducted through clearinghouses.
Derivatives were an obvious target for regulation, since it was derivatives based on the value of mortgage-backed securities that did much to trigger the collapse of Lehman Brothers and AIG in 2008. Skeel calls these Dodd-Frank derivative provisions "an unequivocal advance."
But he sees serious problems in what he describes as the two themes that emerge from the law's 2,319 pages: "(1) government partnership with the largest financial institutions and (2) ad hoc interventions by regulators rather than a more predictable, rule-based response to crises."
The prime mover behind these policies, he argues, was Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who as a junior Treasury official played a role in the bailout packages for the Mexican peso in 1994-95 and the hedge fund Long Term Capital Management in 1998. They're his models for future regulation.
As president of the New York Federal Reserve, he played a key role in fashioning responses to the financial crises of 2008. Dodd-Frank, Skeel argues, was written to give regulators powers they felt they lacked when they allowed Lehman Brothers to go into bankruptcy in September 2008.
Lehman's collapse, followed by the Bush administration's demand for the $700 billion TARP legislation and especially its initial rejection (reversed four days later) in the House, led to staggering losses first in the stock market and then in the economy at large.
Skeel is one of many who argue, persuasively in my view, that the real mistake here was not the failure to bail out Lehman but the apparently successful bailout of a smaller investment bank, Bear Stearns, in March 2008.
The Bear bailout created expectations that the Federal Reserve and the Treasury would bail out every big financial institution -- expectations strengthened when the government took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in August 2008 and AIG in early September.
Lehman could and almost certainly would have sold itself out of trouble, Skeel argues, if its executives had not had such expectations.
Dodd-Frank's provisions requiring special treatment of the very largest financial institutions create similar expectations, Skeel says. And it enables those "too big to fail" institutions to borrow money at lower rates than smaller banks. Similarly, Fannie and Freddie -- with their implicit government guarantee -- were able to borrow cheaply and engage in the practices that brought them down, which has cost taxpayers $140 billion.
Skeel is a specialist in bankruptcy law, and he argues that the relatively fixed rules of bankruptcy could better handle the breakdown of big financial institutions than the discretion Dodd-Frank gives to regulators.
One reason Dodd-Frank is tilted against bankruptcy, he says, is congressional committee jurisdiction lines: Dodd-Frank was the product of banking committees, and bankruptcy is handled by the judiciary committees.
Solutions? Skeel argues that small amendments could improve the law. Remove the special treatment for derivatives in bankruptcy. Allow investment banks to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy without liquidation. A special panel of judges could be set up to handle financial firm bankruptcies. And, based on his criticism of the Chrysler and General Motors bankruptcies, he argues that bankrupt firms should not be able to sell assets without an auction allowing outsiders to bid.
Not everyone will agree with Skeel's analysis and recommendations. But they're worth looking at.
Michael Barone, senior political analyst for The Washington Examiner (www.washingtonexaminer.com), is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a Fox News Channel contributor and a co-author of The Almanac of American Politics.
See Other Political Commentaries.
See Other Commentaries by Michael Barone.
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What are the job responsibilities of a Real Estate Appraiser? What does an individual in this position get paid in Oregon?
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Appraise real property to determine its fair value. May assess taxes in accordance with prescribed schedules.
In Oregon, the midpoint of salaries reported for the position (50th percentile) is $52,344. The 75th percentile (the rate below which 75% of salary data falls) is $69,139. The 25th percentile (the rate below which 25% of the data falls) is $41,353.
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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea has moved a missile with "considerable range" to its east coast, South Korea's defense minister said Thursday, but he added that there are no signs that the North is preparing for a full-scale conflict.
The report came hours after North Korea's military warned that it has been authorized to attack the U.S. using "smaller, lighter and diversified" nuclear weapons. It was the North's latest war cry against America in recent weeks. The reference to smaller weapons could be a claim that North Korea has improved its nuclear technology, or a bluff.
The North is not believed to have mastered the technology needed to miniaturize nuclear bombs enough to mount them on long-range missiles.
South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin said he did not know the reasons behind the North's missile movement, and that it "could be for testing or drills."
He dismissed reports in Japanese media that the missile could be a KN-08, which is believed to be a long-range missile that if operable could hit the United States.
Kim told lawmakers at a parliamentary committee meeting that the missile has "considerable range" but not enough to hit the U.S. mainland.
The range he described could refer to a mobile North Korean missile known as the Musudan, believed to have a range of 3,000 kilometers (1,800 miles). That would make Japan and South Korea potential targets — along with U.S. bases in both countries — but there are doubts about the missile's accuracy.
The Pentagon announced that it will hasten the deployment of a missile defense system to the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam to strengthen regional protection against a possible attack.
Experts say North Korea has not demonstrated that it has accurate long-range missiles. Some suspect that an apparent long-range missile unveiled by the North at a parade last year was actually a mockup.
"From what we know of its existing inventory, North Korea has short- and medium-range missiles that could complicate a situation on the Korean Peninsula (and perhaps reach Japan), but we have not seen any evidence that it has long-range missiles that could strike the continental U.S., Guam or Hawaii," James Hardy, Asia Pacific editor of IHS Jane's Defence Weekly, wrote in a recent analysis.
Kim, the South Korean defense minister, said that if North Korea were preparing for a full-scale conflict, there would be signs such as the mobilization of a number of units, including supply and rear troops, but South Korean military officials have found no such preparations.
"(North Korea's recent threats) are rhetorical threats. I believe the odds of a full-scale provocation are small," he said. But he added that North Korea might mount a small-scale provocation such as its 2010 shelling of a South Korean island, an attack that killed four people.
North Korea has been railing against joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises that are taking place in South Korea and has expressed anger over tightened U.N. sanctions for its February nuclear test. Many of the threats come in the middle of the night in Asia — daytime for the U.S. audience.
Analysts say the threats are probably efforts to provoke softer policies from South Korea, to win diplomatic talks with Washington and to solidify the image of young North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
At times, North Korea has gone beyond rhetoric.
On Tuesday, it announced it would restart a plutonium reactor it had shut down in 2007. A U.S. research institute said Wednesday that satellite imagery shows that construction needed for the restart has already begun.
For a second day Thursday, North Korean border authorities denied entry to South Koreans who manage jointly run factories in the North Korean city of Kaesong. South Koreans already at the plant were being allowed to return home.
South Korea has prepared a military contingency plan should North Korea hold South Korean workers hostage in Kaesong, Defense Minister Kim said. He wouldn't elaborate.
Outraged over comments in the South about possible hostage-taking and a military response from Seoul, a North Korean government-run committee threatened to pull North Korean workers out of Kaesong as well.
North Korea's military statement Thursday, from an unnamed spokesman from the General Bureau of the Korean People's Army, said its troops had been authorized to counter U.S. "aggression" with "powerful practical military counteractions," including nuclear weapons.
It said America's "hostile policy" and "nuclear threat" against North Korea "will be smashed by the strong will of all the united service personnel and people and cutting-edge smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear strike means."
U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Washington is doing all it can to defuse the situation.
"Some of the actions they've taken over the last few weeks present a real and clear danger and threat" to the U.S. and its allies, Hagel said Wednesday.
South Korea's Defense Ministry said its military is ready to deal with any provocation by North Korea. "I can say we have no problem in crisis management," deputy ministry spokesman Wee Yong-sub told reporters.
The defense minister, however, was criticized by lawmakers over a North Korean defector who stole a South Korean fishing boat Wednesday night and fled back to North Korea across the western sea border.
Kim said South Korean radar had a "blind spot" in the area and South Korean troops were unaware the defector was fleeing until he almost reached the North Korean side. Lawmakers questioned his military's readiness to detect and counter enemy troops who might use similar blind spots.
This spring's annual U.S.-South Korea drills have incorporated fighter jets and nuclear-capable stealth bombers. The allies insist they are routine exercises. North Korea calls them rehearsals for a northward invasion and says it needs nuclear weapons to defend itself.
On Sunday, Kim Jong Un led a high-level meeting of party officials who declared building the economy and "nuclear armed forces" as the nation's priorities.
North Korea is believed to be working toward building an atomic bomb small enough to mount on a long-range missile. Long-range rocket launches designed to send satellites into space in 2009 and 2012 were widely considered covert tests of missile technology, and North Korea has conducted three underground nuclear tests.
"I don't believe North Korea has the capacity to attack the United States with nuclear weapons mounted on missiles, and won't for many years. Its ability to target and strike South Korea is also very limited," nuclear scientist Siegfried Hecker, a senior fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University, said this week.
In comments posted on CISAC's website, Hecker said North Korea knows a nuclear attack would be met with "a devastating nuclear response."
Hecker has estimated that North Korea has enough plutonium to make several crude nuclear bombs. Its announcement Tuesday that it would restart a plutonium reactor indicated that it intends to produce more nuclear weapons material.
The U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies has analyzed recent commercial satellite imagery of the Nyongbyon nuclear facility, where the reactor was shut down in 2007 under the terms of a disarmament agreement. A cooling tower for the reactor was destroyed in 2008.
The analysis published Wednesday on the institute's website, 38 North, says that rebuilding the tower would take six months, but a March 27 photo shows building work may have started for an alternative cooling system that could take just weeks. Experts estimate it could take three months to a year to restart the plant.
Associated Press writers Matthew Pennington in Washington and Youkyung Lee in Seoul contributed to this report.


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Friday, October 17, 2008
Are Retribution Paladins Overpowered?
1. Ret paladins deal burst damage by design.
As I mentioned in this post, written a year and half ago in March 2007, Blizzard likes giving paladins a few strong abilities with long cooldowns. This means that you can line up all your cooldowns and deal a ton of damage in a short timespan. The downside is that you are then basically auto-attacking until your cooldowns come back up.
Second, burst damage is how Ret paladins are designed to kill people. Other than straight damage abilities, a Ret paladin only has 2 stuns with 60s cooldowns. Other than those two stuns, a paladin has no way to really control or put pressure on the other player. Paladins have no snares, no spell interrupts, no gap closing abilities like charge, no anti-healing debuffs like Mortal Strike, and most of all, no real ranged abilities. Hammer of Justice is the solution to all those problems. (When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.) A Ret paladin basically runs up to the other player, tries to stun, and hopes the sheer amount of damage kills them.
The paladin sees the 90% of the time they are without these long-cooldown skills, and considers them underpowered. The person who was on the receiving end the other 10% of the time is unhappy, and considers paladins overpowered.
2. Retribution is relatively simple to play.
You run up to someone, hit all your buttons, and hope they fall over dead. All the other classes are more complicated, and require a bit more time to get accustomed to. I don't think people have really gotten used to the new tools they have available. So it's no surprise that Retribution appeared the most powerful right out of the gate. All the other classes have a steeper learning curve.
3. Seal of Command is very swingy.
Seal of Command (or Seal of Casino, as paladins like to call it) is a powerful but random ability. It has about a 50% chance to proc if you are using a 3.6 spd weapon and the SoC glyph (1s internal cooldown). It does about 56% holy weapon damage, which we'll handwave and say is roughly equal to a weapon swing.
So let's say a Ret paladin runs up to someone and hits Judgement, Crusader Strike, and Divine Storm. She'll get off about 2 weapon swings as well. So that's a total of 5 swings in 4.5s. But SoC has a chance to proc off every ability. Taking the internal cooldown into account, there's a 30% chance SoC will proc 3 times (which is the maximum), giving 8 attacks in 4.5s, all of which can crit. That's very bursty.
4. Retribution damage talents are all front-loaded.
Pretty much all the damage talents for a Retribution spec are in the Ret tree, this means that they can all be taken at 70. The talent points from 70-80 will be spent on utility talents. A Ret talent plan for WotLK might look something like:
71: Finish Pursuit of Justice
72-73: Improved Ret Aura
74-75: Sanctified Wrath
76-80: Blessing of Kings
None of those are talents which directly increase active damage. They're all essentially utility talents. This is different from the other classes. Most other classes will get an increase in damage from the next 10 talent points, probably on the order of an extra 10%.
So a Ret paladin at 70 will have a greater proportion of damage talents than other classes, but they won't gain damage from the next 10 levels. So Ret is slightly ahead at 70, in order to ensure that everyone is level at 80.
So that's how I view Retribution at the moment. Retribution uses a few powerful abilities with longer cooldowns, and thus deals burst damage by design, apparently to compensate for its lack of control. All the other classes have a steeper learning curve. Seal of Command is very swingy. And Ret is able to max out the damage gained from talents much earlier than the other classes.
Is that overpowered? Maybe the talent issue at 70, but it will sort itself out by 80. I certainly don't think Ret is or was overpowered enough to warrant a hotfixed nerf. But I could be wrong. We need burst damage to function properly, but how much burst damage is too much? Half the challenge of playing a Ret paladin is actually getting to melee range. It's not like Retribution can Charge or Stealth or Death Grip. If a player lets a Ret paladin get in range, she has already lost half the battle.
Though you should take my opinion with a grain of salt. I'm not really a PvP player. I just want my class to: 1) feel like a paladin, not a warrior or priest; and 2) be viable in PvE raiding.
Edit: I do agree with people saying that Divine Shield (bubble) should be changed to -50% damage while it's up. It's currently -50% attack speed. Back in the old days, this was functionally equivalent to -50% damage because all we had was auto-attack + Seal. But now with our instant attacks, the attack speed reduction is a much lower penalty. Divine Shield is a defensive ability, and you shouldn't be able to use it to push through a burst kill without repercussion.
47 comments:
- Anonymous9:18 PM, October 17, 2008
Yes Ret Pallies are OP ... like outside the box OP right now... I encountered in Hellfire a pvp flagged level 59 Ret doing the HF pvp quest. As a 62 SP I died in under the 4 seconds despite the fact my gear is absolutely the best you can get twinked out (including enchants)and my shield started the fight up. I then watched a 70 hunter almost die within about the same amount of time about 3 mins later after completing my corpse run. The only thing that stopped the hunter from dying was a few well placed heals and a shield. The bursting nature of those procs is basically BS.... even if it evens out over time ... a coin flip "I win" button isn't pvp its just a random death without any skill or actual fighting involved. Ret pallies should get to DPS as every other DPS spec but you basically have a situation now where pvp against ret is ridiculous ...ReplyDelete
Excellent analysis! I was arguing with my brother some more on this topic. I should direct him to this post.ReplyDelete
Most classes have a fair shot of taking out a Paladin. Mages can kite, especially frost. Hunters can kite. Prot Warriors are a PITA and they seem to have a lot stuns. Rogues can stunlock. Resto Shaman are impossible to get below 50% if they know what they are doing. Druids have several options. Priests don't seem to die. Warlocks can chain fear and do other nasty nasty stuff.
Do I think any of those classes are OP? No, not really. That is just how it is. If I get the drop on someone or I can stun them, I have a really good chance of winning. If not, there is a good chance the HoF and Cleanse will chew up all my GCDs and I will die before I get my damage in. And thats cool. Its give and take in PvP, and you cannot expect to be the one on the winning end all the time. That is foolish.
As long as PvE is good though, I am happy :P Did you see some of the goodies we are getting? Check out Zebra's blog for that.
One thing that I think you should have at least mentioned, though, is that much of their damage is Holy. You can't ignore that if you get hit by Holy damage, you can only hope that you have enough HP to soak it because your only options are to take or avoid. Very few effects reduce Holy damage (and that's only because they reduces all damage), and there's nothing to help resist it.ReplyDelete
@RJ, I don't think it's much different from most magic damage. As a practical matter, almost all magic damage is unmitigated unless you wear specialized armor.ReplyDelete
All that really changes is the size of the burst, in any case. It doesn't really change anything else.
@anonymous, maybe so, but then Blizzard would have to give us the tools (gap closer, interrupt, etc.) so we could actually DPS like any other spec.
Also, the anonymous post points out another issue. For many people, the fight starts when the Ret pally does her first swing. But in reality, the fight actually started when the Ret paladin was 30 yards away. The SP needed to keep away from the Ret paladin. Mind flay, psychic scream, DoT and run, Dispersion when you get stunned, etc.
I can somewhat see your point about the Holy damage. The reason I say somewhat is because we are not the only melee class that does magic damage of some kind. Shaman do as well with their Stormstrike, Maelstrom Weapon, Shocks, and the occaisional Lightning Bolt. Also, Rogues and Warriors can debuff your armor quite a bit, so more of their physical damage gets through. Rogues also have poisons that can be rather nasty, and those count as nature damage, which bypasses anything other then nature resistance. Also, this really only has validity in PvP. How much nature resist are you stack on your PvP gear to help with incoming Shaman and Rogue damage?ReplyDelete
For that matter, how much resist gear are stacking to help with any school of magic?
- Anonymous2:25 AM, October 18, 2008
Give up Divine Storm.ReplyDelete
Get one Stun every 20s (+4er) and Stoicism.
Kite? Hand of Freedom, if someone wants to try to dispel it, it can take a while, at least long enough to get killed.
Disarm? 50% reduced duration
Stunlock from Rogue? 30% reduced duration, so he can stun every 20s for 4s. Now compare with Improved Hammer of Justice.
Even if there are 2-3 people, they cant stop me from killing at least one of them (or two).
"The paladin sees the 90% of the time they are without these long-cooldown skills,..."
Yeah, you cant always bubble oO.
So even if i have to wait one minute for some of my cooldowns, i can kill every class with ease, then i have to wait a minute, but hey, they are dead. One heal, a drink, and again...
The main issue I think is that people won't listen. Blizzard has CLEARLY said that the balance would be off for lvl 70, only to get the balance back at lvl 80.ReplyDelete
Also, it is true that the GCD is essentially our greatest foe during a fight. I've tested it, and if you immediately cast every spell you have (Judgment, Crusader Strike, Divine Storm, even Consecration) you're left with a few seconds auto-attacking. You can get an enemy's health down very quickly, but if you don't kill your foe with those initial spells, you're dead in the water for several seconds. And if your opponent is any good, those few seconds should be enough for your opponent to take over the fight.
Excellent post overall, BoK. I wholeheartedly agree with your standpoint.
Great post as usual, Rohan.ReplyDelete
You've really nailed what I feel are the problem with palas - burst damage, lack of combat control (special tricks - interupts etc.) and then just autoattacking until your cds are finished.
It's obvious that Blizzard still need to work on ret pala damage adjustments but retadins are in roughly the right place.
However, as you've said the gameplay, the easiness of the class is still in a really poor place - in fact I'd go as far to say that the pala in WoW is an extremely poor piece of class design and unfortunately it always has been.
When I compare the pala to a sophisticated class like the warrior say, it feels such a shame that still, Blizzard cannot seem to work out properly what the pala is for. And it's annoying that another class, the druid which was in a poor state in vanilla wow, is in a pretty place now and has been strong since TBC.
I'd always imagined the pala as a holy warrior i.e. with lots of strikes other than crusader. In fact a holy version of the death knight! But sadly faced with a new class i.e. the DK Blizzard seem to have given the DK all of it's most interesting caster melee ideas and given the pala the leftovers.
I love the pala archetype, I want to love my WoW pala but am always disappointed by Blizzard's vision for it.
- Anonymous6:11 AM, October 18, 2008
Okay so, I played Ret at a high level, 2200+ in 3s, before it was "good".ReplyDelete
Now it's a joke. Plain and simple. It's completely overpowered at 70.
I played about 100 2v2 games at around 2k-2.1k, and all you do is pop all your timers and attack someone. If they aren't a mage or a paladin, they die. If they are, you kill them when it drops. If you get attacked, shield and heal to full.
Every team I played above 2k had a Ret paladin. Some keyboard turned. Many did not know Freedom breaks stuns. Some would pop wings running at us (we were mounted and simply ran away) every single game.
Great post Rohan.ReplyDelete
It'll be interesting to see how the WoW Tourney in Montreal goes this weekend as I believe they are running the new 3.0 build. Will it be dominated by Ret Paladins, or will the usual suspects succeed in the 3v3 bracket?
While you're right, Rohan, the point is still that you -can- do things to mitigate that damage. A Paladin can toss up an elemental aura, a Shaman can toss down an elemental totem, a Hunter can put up his Nature aura, and other players can try to quickly put on resist gear.ReplyDelete
But you can't do any of this against Holy.
- Anonymous9:14 AM, October 18, 2008
Ret paladins needed a hotfix because of PvP. They where not to bad in PvE but it was scary in 2v2 and 3v3 before the patch.ReplyDelete
Ranged stun, bubble, wings, hammer, melee swing, divine storm, crusader strike, melee swing, judgement.
If SoC proc's on either melee swing anyone was dead. The defender had to trinket (maybe twice) and remove bubble (not that hard) and get a heal off to live.
That is over powered. Now they could only do this once per minute but still. If you have the same number of ret paladins as other people in the arena the game is over.
- Anonymous9:17 AM, October 18, 2008
I forgot to add what scares me the most about this. I kinda feel it means gear scaling is off for ret paladins. They will rock for t7 but suck after the first raid dungeons at 80 due to poor gear scaling. Moral is if you have a lv 70 paladin go ret and enjoy the OP while it lasts because it won't.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous10:15 AM, October 18, 2008
More like the moral is Play warhammer's Warriorpriest if you want a real paladin.ReplyDelete
Anonymous: "Now it's a joke. Plain and simple. It's completely overpowered at 70."ReplyDelete
My earlier point has been proven, it seems. People clearly don't listen what's being said that Retribution has a lead at 70 (for the reasons Rohan described), but it all balances out at 80. Blizzard acknowledged this right from the start.
Tacklebeth: "Ret paladins needed a hotfix because of PvP."
PvP is pretty much all that seems to matter, it seems. It's a shame that raid viability has to suffer in order to keep the Paladin's opponents in PvP happy campers. Like Rohan said, the fight starts well before the Paladin is in melee range. As a ranged class, you have the ability to keep us out of melee range, and that should be your strategy. As a melee fighter, there's still ways to beat us. We're just as helpless when disarmed or stunlocked as the warriors and rogues who are stunned by a Paladin's Hammer of Justice.
- Anonymous1:53 PM, October 18, 2008
I play a 70 ret paladin at the moment with, in my opinion, has good gear including S2, Blade of the Harbingers and other random epics i picked up from doing heroics and raids.ReplyDelete
Lately, I've been doing battlegrounds and think that we are a bit overpowered considering with the right gear, our burst dps is enough to take most people out within a matter of seconds. Usually I can defeat mages/locks and other low armor wearers in about 4-5 hits.
Although, there have been some cases where other players knew how to play their class very well. For example: I dueled this mage numerous times and if he timed his pvp trinket and blink at the right times, he was able to kite me around and take me out before I could reach him.
leave ret as it is right now, any more nerfs and its going to be lolret again and i don't want that.ReplyDelete
I play a prot paladin for the most part (Nagmos on US Shadow Council) and a rogue (Svengoro, US shadow Council) Ret paladins are not overpowered. I have kited many to death with my rogue. A prot paladin is far more frightening.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous4:38 AM, October 19, 2008
I play for battlegrounds. I love battlegrounds. But as they stand, ret pallies are (quite literally) a game-breaker for me.ReplyDelete
a Ret paladin only has 2 stuns with 60s cooldowns
In battlegrounds, 60 seconds is almost exactly how long it will take to rez, cast a buff, mount up, check the map, find where the action is, ride there, and join in. Just in time for another insta-gib.
I really don't care what the exact cooldowns are on the stuns, if the cooldowns are up every single time I see you.
People clearly don't listen what's being said that Retribution has a lead at 70 (for the reasons Rohan described), but it all balances out at 80. Blizzard acknowledged this right from the start.
Blizzard acknowledging the issue doesn't justify it. If they acknowledge it "right from the start", then they knew it was broken right from the start. For as long as there is a significant level 70 population, there is a huge problem, and one which I can honestly only ascribe to lazy design.
- Anonymous11:28 AM, October 19, 2008
There are a couple things in play here.ReplyDelete
1) First we need to remeber that Blizzard has stated during the Warcrat III developement process they intentionally break things for the purposes of players using them, creating wide interest and eventually bringing them down. Crypt Fiends are a perfect example of this. Whether or not they do this in WoW I have no proof. Also Assuming this is a "Broken" problem.
2)People do not realise there is a new threat on the battlefeild on par with everyone else. Players that originally had no problems with Ret Paladins, mostly healers, are now in need or re-tooling their strategies. And may feel overwhelmed at first.
3) Finally, as with all major class overhauls, players are going to flock to those alts (geared or not) and start playing, so they will find signifigantly more of them.
A couple things to keep in mind.
GC has just suggested that Holy DPS is going to be looked at, noting that Pally healers got much less of a DPS increase than other healing specs.ReplyDelete
The simplest way to address this would be to make SoR require 1-handed weapons, drop SoC to baseline lvl1 and place a significant SoR DPS boost deep in Holy (~Tier 8+) coupled with a decent +healing effect in the same talent (Holy Guidance seems like a good candidate).
On Topic, I'm still not convinced with decoupling Specials from damaging Seal Procs, but frankly if Burst can't get us over the finishing line in PvP then a more exotic solution as Rohan suggests, including many more abilities, may be required.
@ robReplyDelete
I really don't see how you think that you are going to be taken out by the same Paladin within 60 seconds just because that is the time it takes for their stuns to come off of cooldown. Swirling/flying hammers, wings, and pink name plates are just asking to be focus fired in a BG. That paladin will probably get killed seconds after killing you. Then he will have to do that same stuff, and most likely will stop and kill/get killed somewhere along the way to where you were.
It will probably be a few minutes before you see him a again if its AV.
- Anonymous4:39 AM, October 20, 2008
With 3.0.2 WoW simply became a tad to quick. From my experience most Damagedealers got a DPS buff. Now the DDs are in a DPS range of 1200-1600DPS. If you compare this to the HP the average Level 70 Char has, you will see that most fights will be over after 10s.ReplyDelete
Most players will have noticed how easy and quick they burn through instances and raid dungeons. And the same is happening in PvP. The DDs all got a huge buff. Mages, Warriors, Rogues, Moonkins can all wear down an opponent in a matter of seconds.
The only issue with the Ret is, before the patch 95% of the players did not see the Ret as a DD. And now he became one.
- Anonymous5:06 AM, October 20, 2008
The major flaw in your argument is that Retribution Paladins are almost impossible to kite. With Blessing of Freedom, and Pursuit of Justice a ret pally is faster than I am and cannot be snared. On top of that are Hammer of Justice and Repentance, which both stun me so the Paladin can catch up.ReplyDelete
Not all Paladins are capable of using those skills effectively, but if they are, kiting is not going to happen.
- Anonymous7:40 AM, October 20, 2008
Ret pallys are ONLY over powered in comparison to Ret pallys prior to the patch. Paladins were the class that got the most changes in 3.0, and most of those changes were buffs.ReplyDelete
Ret pallys really changed there game because a Retadin can now DPS(no joke dps), heal, and tank to an extent. I'm happy about this. I'm happy I can hit mobs and instant FOL the tank when needed so the healer can save his mana for when fight gets dirty. I'm also very happy my paladin is feared in PvP.
As far as big burst damage goes, They don't out do other classes. An MS warrior has the same thing going as a Retadin. Two instant attacks, one is AoE. Who cares if DS has a small heal, the heal is really really tiny.
Anyone complaing about Retadins needs to go look at MS warriors.
- Anonymous7:53 AM, October 20, 2008
While the bulk of the population is 70 ret needs the massive nerf hammer. When the population is mostly 80 it should go back up again in power. Or ideally Bliz would create talents more scalable with level and avoid this problem. They won't.ReplyDelete
Pallys have nothing to cry about right now. The crying can reasonably start at 80 in a couple months.
~ Jason, DPS Liberation Front
For all those in support of this new version of the Ret, I applaud you. It must be fun.ReplyDelete
But please don't say it's deserving or "I'm also very happy my paladin is feared in PvP."
You are not feared, your class is feared. Because in the time one stun is over, the opponent is dead. What did you do? Nothing but what you always did. It was the patch. It was not you.
As for the blog, I argue that it is OP. It is to the point where there is no contest, no probability of success; no way to win against a Ret pally.
You say that it is just the use of cooldowns. They are 60 second cooldowns. Big whoop. If they were five minute copoldowns, I would agree. But 60 second cooldowns are up quickly. There is a slight pause between fights in PvP, and the "two" stuns are up again. So I fell that you are wrong, and justifying due to dedication to this one class.
And to the rogue who said that he easily kites paladins, I say false. What do you use, poison? Even with 30% to avoid dispelling your poisons, a paladin'ss cleanse spell is cheap. They can stun you from a distance. Your stuns are a shorter duration on him. And he can kill you in one stun.
Every class deserves its day in the sun, but WoW, that sh*t be crazy.
There's a point many fail to realize. With the still-to-come Ret nerfs (looks like 2 more waves of them) Ret will be terrible for all but the leet players in PVP. And they will be back to sub-par in PVE when all is done. Sure, if you have Nintendo reflexes, Ret will still be awesome, but if you are a keyboard-turner, forget it.ReplyDelete
Rets will be the new rogues. Deadly with a good player, terribad in the hands of the less skilled.
What really concerns me is the effect on PVE due to folks crying over PVP. THis happens over and over... (except the druids, Blizz refuses to nerf those...)
Thank God Prot pallys will stay viable. No one takes a Prot pally in PVP, so the QQers haven't realized that Prot got a lot better.
As a holy priest:ReplyDelete
I'd personally like to see a nerf to the BURST damage a ret pally can put out over 5 seconds. I'd rather see that and a buff to the damage that they can deal in 10 seconds. In PVP burst kills. In PVE DPS and time on target kills. It shouldnt be that hard for Blizz to push from one to the other without nerfing the spec to where it used to be.
- Anonymous11:23 AM, October 20, 2008
It will probably be a few minutes before you see him a again if its AV.ReplyDelete
This is true as far as it goes -- except I play the other BGs much more than I do AV.
- Anonymous11:26 AM, October 20, 2008
(except the druids, Blizz refuses to nerf those...)ReplyDelete
Lifebloom was hit pretty hard by 3.0.2, but my understanding is that the big druid nerf is going to be death knight diseases.
The impossible to kite is just flat out false. I get kited like that's my only purpose in life. People like to complain that in mere seconds Ret Paladins can destroy an opponent. However, a Frost Nova means I am stuck in place. Burn up a a GCD using Freedom. No problem right? Wrong. Mage Spellsteals, now he has a glowing orange circles under his feet and I am starting to walk real slow again. PoJ has nothing on a snare, it is useful for two things: Running away from something like Boss AOE, or chasing down a running who you have debuffed with JoJ.ReplyDelete
You are not going to run down a snare happy Mage just because you have PoJ. The Mage has Blink to get distance and time. The Mage has Spellsteal. The Mage also has instant cast nukes.
Examples can be made of any class that is generally capable of kiting or fearing. In fact I was reverse kited by Shadow Priest the other day. She used S:WP, VE, Fear, and Mind Flay. I was walking away from her very slowly while my life got drained off. Fear came down, I turned and ran and hit Cleanse on the way over there. It really didn't matter since she turned my brain into Jello with a Mind Blast. Down goes the Pally.
Why not bubble? Bubble was on cooldown. Why no trinket, it was down to from a chain fearing Warlock who also killed me like 30 seconds prior. Point is, we are not invincible. You just have to figure out what to do about the Paladin that is running at you. Once you have figured out a strategy, you will probably be as worried about a Paladin as you are a Warrior, Rogue, or Enhancement Shaman. We also tend to be very squishy outside of our Bubble and we don't have a lot of tricks like a Rogue or a Shaman. Shaman is probably the worst to deal with if they know what do with their totems and shocks.
In 2v2 perhaps, perhaps Ret are over the top at 70, but when has 2v2 ever been balanced? And indeed, where are all the nerf calls for Rogues, Mages and Boomkin Druids? Unfortunately this stinks of people who are used to facerolling to a win against Ret and now have to come up with some sort of a strategy for dealing with them (hint: Kite/CC works better now than it did before... Blown bubble = free kill).ReplyDelete
If there is one thing the Tourney in Montreal showed this weekend it's that Ret is in no way uncounterable in the 'Balanced' bracket of 3v3. In fact in many ways Rogues and Mages, especially in tandem, are a whole lot more devastating than any combination of Ret in this bracket.
I'm sure that once everyone on Live hits 80 and gets a decent amount of PvP gear (and the 20k+ HP's, 750 resil that goes with it) and realises that 35%+ crit rates are a thing of the past they'll understand why calls for nerfs are premature.
The fundamental issue for many Paladins is that nerfs at the level cap tend to be overblown and remain in the game for a few patch cycles. It may be that you're happy with Ret being sidelined at 80 for 7 months, but I'm not enamoured with that idea.
@ ZebraReplyDelete
want to get a bunch of hits on your blog? make the title of your post with the words "Ret Pally" and "OP".ReplyDelete
Dradis is spot on with the kiting comment.
Going after a decent frost mage makes me feel like a fat kid on a treadmill with a piece of cake on a stick, just out of my reach. only the chocolate cake is ice lancing me every 5 seconds. and if i finally get the cake it tastes like troll.
I think that because most ret pally's have been easy kills for so long people have forgotten the critical weaknesses of the class. Like zebra said now they actually need /gasp
a stragtegy. we still have weaknesses, are easily kitable, susceptible to spell damage, and are dependent on a small pool or mana.
The burst and faster pace of pvp now forces other classes to think on their feet and execute a strategy quickly against a pally, or else they are holy toast.
- Anonymous5:14 AM, October 22, 2008
I see both sides of the arguement and I can say each has their points. WoW is about to hotfix the paly in a few days reducing their damage I suppose. Nothing has been said but its mostly from all the "OP" ret palys. Here is the point bliz did say that ret palys were going to be above the game, here is their problem. You still have arena going on see battlegrounds dont matter getting recked in the world whatever. You die you spawn you live life. They should of had palys toned down intill the end of the arena season. They did know about this and should of made an attempt to fix that. Yes its still a burst but as everyone that runs arena knows that all your spells get reset at the end of each match thus you don't wait for cooldowns. Two palys 2 v 2 against most classes own. I as a mage can "kite" but after casting their spells and immunity im barly ahead of them. I can drop a ret paly but if they are on my im screwed. Just relize this for people that get pissed they changed spell pushback for this reason. At level 80 youll see a leveling out of classes. Arcane vs Frost or Fire mage Arcane usually wins. Hunters are all messed up from spell pushback not being there...that was their bread and butter relying on pushing back their preys spells to nothing. Got warriors reflecting spells now why? well Death Knight will be best DPS caster tank so they give warrior something to help out with casters. It all goes around if ur looking at headup match yeah palys mostly put a whomping on most classes. But it goes to say every class has their nitch u dont see me running up to Balinda with my staff out going rawr, you generally see casters in the back or trying to be sneaky with spells..you have hunters traping and distracting, rouges stealthing and being scared cause they cant show themselves when they get almost killed. You see it all the time its the role of the class and that what makes it fun.ReplyDelete
Sum it up
Yes ret is OP a bit but will level out I feel yes bliz should of seen a problem in arena since everyone is making push for points before reset. And then applyied their full strength. When Wotlk comes out im sure you wish your ret paly had the dps it does now and can heal back up to full and do it all over again just to save you!!
- Anonymous4:04 AM, December 08, 2008
I have rolled a ret pala (or indeed two) on pvp realms and I must say that with full CD they are very OP if you know how to play one. I was unbeatable in duels even took a deathknight at 56he was 58. So basically you will own in duels, I recall a good-geared skilled huntard who was 4 levels higher than me... he thought he would own me in a duel and challenged me. He knew his class I got ice trapped twice during the fight but with lay on hands I beat him :3 Now as stated a Pala with CD's burnt is not nearly as big a threat but basically in PVP servers where you will likely have full CD on every encounter you will always come out on top... I recall taking two deathknights at the same time in Nagrand good times =P They were 1 and 2 levels lower Lay on hands ftw. Anyway if you have a rough idea how to play a ret you will beat anyone one on one BUT in BG's where CD's won't be up most of the time things will be alot harder.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous7:17 PM, April 20, 2009
So my 80 DK was mounted and I was running somewhere and this 80 pally attacks me out of nowhere. Miraculously i manage to get away. Ten seconds later, he's on my ass again cause of his stupid Crusader's aura. He stuns me, then just hits and watches me die. Camped me there til i was sneaky enough to rez a ways behind him and hit death gate. then i laughed at him and he starting running at me but i beat him with the port.ReplyDelete
and people were saying DKS were friggen OP. i'm just pissed i cant even escape a damn pally. Idc that they could kill me if i tried to fight. It's BS that once it sees you, you're screwed whether you're standing there or mounted and running.
- Anonymous8:10 PM, June 02, 2009
Yes Ret pallies are OP... Don't forget about their BS bubble. Look at me..I'm an OP pally and im gonna bubble and stun you then divine storm you while im immune to all your moves...that is so BS...and Blizzard keeps helping out the pallies..i don't remember what patch, but it increase the damg of divine storm..are you serious helping them out some more :(ReplyDelete
- kastmor6:04 AM, June 04, 2009
you know when we bubble annon we do 50% less damage, playing against a skilled player's it's at minimum a dair fight with paladins i ahve been in BG's and stun locked by rogues taken out in seconds! if people know how to work in small teams, even on there own in a BG it's easy to take out a ret pala. it's bad enough our only instant ragend attack had ben nerfed to no longer even effect players pets! i know were melee and get the run increase but even warriors get the choice of ranged attacks.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous2:54 AM, June 17, 2009
I've played a Warlock since before Burning Crusade. About a week until it was released. And I have to say that it's a sad thing when a Warlock has an easier time with Rogues than a Paladin.ReplyDelete
Paladins now are seriously OP. Speaking purely in a PvP sense,I fail to see the balance in a class that's all about stun, SotC, and spam divine storm while their completely immune to eveything else. And as if that wasn't bad enough, it even heals them. Sure they do 50% less damage while bubbled, but with melee hits, SotC, Divine Storm and Consecration going for them, where's the downside here? And let's think about the many bubbles they have.
- Anonymous8:20 PM, June 21, 2009
First of all... you people need to READ what the op talked about. ALL RET HAS IS BURST...ReplyDelete
There is not a healer in this game that a ret can kill...even today I had a holy priest ATTACK ME...why, because he knew there was not a damn thing I could do to shut down his easy mode healing. Any REAL pvp priest will tell you, they see a warrior, rogue, DK, hunter, shaman, hell anyone they worry about their healing being shut down...not so with ret.
ALSO for all you that think ret has more burst....even after the million nerfs we have taken since wrath...look at warrior or DK burst. I can tell you on the receiving end I'd rather face a ret vs a warrior or a DK.
I am just so so so sick of uneducated people QQing about ret..but you have a bubble...waaaaa...
man, priests have bubbles, DK have bubbles, rogues have bubbles, mages have bubbles...the only difference with a pallies is that his is 12 seconds on a 5 minute CD...all the rest can be done damn near all day long. It all has to do with damage mitigaion.
As for the lock QQing...use your succy...dot fear STILL works...
while I am on that topic..you have to love the lock tears when they QQ about rogues..
well lock, let me inform you..chain fearing and deathcoil is the EXACT SAME THING A ROGUE DOES..and that is BOTH people on the receiving end cant control their toon while they watch themselves die.
THINK man...
- Clarkie2:18 PM, June 27, 2009
Right..I play an 80 rogue, decently geared on alliance. Human, so i have EMFHS, so no need for a trinket (in fact, trinkets share the same cooldown, so they are useless). I admit, i can beat nearly anything, stunlock is ftw on hunters, mages, locks, sometimes even the occasional warrior. But when it comes to ret paladins, im screwed. Letting ret paladins do that much damage in 5 seconds, with a 6 second stun, doesnt make sense to me. Add their armor, health, ability to heal, bubble, instant heal, its rediculous trying to beat them.ReplyDelete
I have no problem with them being decent DD now, but this is stupid. Too often I've seen a ret paladin at the top of a BG score chart, with a score like 30 kills and 0 deaths, 40 kills and 1-2 deaths, etc. I rarely see warlocks or rogues with that type of score.
Sure, let them have the heals, bubbles, and LoH that they've always had, but if your going to let them heal, dont give them as much damage as a full geared warrior or dk.
As for the last post..people that complain about ret paladins aren't uneducated, if anything it seems like your post is just trying to put down anyone who doesnt like ret, just because you play one. Hell, like i said i play a rogue, and i would love to see mutilate assassination nerfed, its not nearly as fun as subtlety or combat, but it is by far the best spec for pvp. If blizzard paid attention to pvp in this game, which they clearly dont much (if at all), they would realize that pallys need to be brought back down to the point where they cant drop you on contact. Oh, and the tools everyone is talking about like charge, pallys get Redemption, which gives them the time to catch up to whoever they are fighting. And dont say trinket out of it, because then the pally pops HoJ and your still dead >.<
Dont mind the pallys dammage, bu then again.. i am a prot warrior =/ but really what gets to me is that bubble, that make then completly invincible... uhm, is that a joke? lookat me im a pally and i can rush into a group of 200 players and they wont be able to kill me hahahahahahaha. i think its a joke.... what about cap the flag on warsong gulch when that f'er goes invincible and caps. whoo!ReplyDelete
lets not forget that if you get close to killing a pally your fantisising, becouse hes gona use lay on hands. FULL HP!!!! lookit me i can heal faster than a resto druid.. in an instant, full heal. im uneducated becouse i know that pallys can sit back and use devine sheild, hand of freedom, that other sheild, and the mega armour move. ( forgot the name of it) hot dang, i wish a preist could do that ! lol.. pallys are blizzs classs of choice. not that id mind this but, they are to f'ing boring to play, i cant even play one! GG
- Anonymous9:32 AM, June 30, 2009
I have a story, there was a 79 pally was dueling people outside Org and i went out there (as a arms warrior with deadly/hateful i knew i could easily take him)ReplyDelete
and i saw that he had only had a couple peices of gear on like chest, legs, and his boots so i asked him to put all his gear on and he didnt say anything just challenged me to a duel so i accepted and i ran back did the whole warrior thing charge, ms, hamstring etc... so he stunned did strike/storm and i was down 1/3 health so he bubbled and healed then used repentance and ran away out of range for any of my abilities, he was running for acouple of seconds then i caught up and charged he stunned before i could get ms off and did combo again then i got out and i used bladestorm to end it but he used nitro boots! and lay on hands and then came back in stun and he killed me!
ok dude, first off i started my pally thinking they are OP i dont exactly have an opinion right now becuz both sides have brought up VERY good points. (more the pro pally side :D) but bradley, for one you cant use that bubble if you have the flag in WSG. i mean i guess you can use it but u drop the flag automatically. and as far as just using a sheild all the time. just... no. we cant use another one for 2 minutes so dont QQ about that. plus u r assuming that we have ALL of our stuff ready to go. Hand of Freedom-20 MIN cool down. and.... im probably going to get my self ina lot of trouble here but lol... ur a warrior, hate to brake it to you but no matter wat u figth u will probably lose lol.ReplyDelete
lay on hands* not hand of freedom.ReplyDelete


text:
Manuals/Neo 1973/zh cn
From Openmoko
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Google视频上有一些拆解演示: 打开后盖、拿走电池、拿走SIM卡、拿走micro-SD卡、插入micro-SD卡、插 SIM卡、插入电池、合上后盖
打开后盖,把指甲或者吉他片插入Neo顶部的小凹坑,轻轻地拉起后盖(参见Disassembling Neo1973中的第一步)。
用指甲撬电池底边,取下电池 battery
Before closing the cover, insert the battery by pushing it against the three metal springs with the contacts aligned and pressing the bottom edge of the battery down into the case.
SIM card从蜂窝网络运营商那里获得。SIM卡插槽在电池下面。在金属安装架上有箭头和文字标明了锁和解锁的方法 - 不要强力打开,否则可能导致金属架折断.
Click the holder unlocked and open it up. To remove the SIM card, slide it out of the holder.
When you're done with the micro-SD slot, slide the SIM card into its holder so that the pads make contact when you close the holder. Push the holder firmly against the springs, then lock it - otherwise the card will not be detected.
To check in Linux if the SIM card is inserted correctly, you can have a look in gsmd logs or use the instructions detailed in the Manually using GSM page and issue the AT+CIMI command.
You should have received a micro-SD memory card with your phone. You might want to copy some mp3 (or better Ogg Vorbis) files to it to try media playback.
The micro-SD slot is right under the SIM slot. Gently slide the micro-SD holder toward the battery contacts to unlock it. Lift up the holder. To remove a card, simply slide it out.
To insert a card, slide it into the holder the metal contacts first and away from the holder. Rotate the holder shut, press it firmly against the springs, and gently slide the holder away from the battery contacts to lock it closed.
The card should automatically be available under /media/card the next time you boot. You can test it and your audio drivers at the same time by playing an mp3 or ogg from it (see Neo1973 Audio Subsystem).
The power button is on the lower right-hand side, and the AUX button is on the top-left.
Button functions while the phone is on (as of writing):
- 短时间按电源: 关闭当前应用程序
- 按住电源1秒: 打开 电源管理菜单
- 按住电源10秒: 强制关机
- 短时间按AUX button : 打开 Today 程序
- 按住AUX button 1秒: 打开 functions menu
The stylus as shipped has three batteries in it, providing for the laser pointer and flashlight LEDs. A set of replacement batteries is also included. The stylus can be twisted open in middle to access the batteries.
To use the ballpoint or stylus head, turn the bottom part of the stylus to either direction.
The Neo ships with a stereo headset including a microphone and a push button. The plug is a standard 2.5 mm four-conductor version, though it differs from standard 3.5 mm headphones. The black socket is on the left side of the phone, and the last millimeter is somewhat firmer so make sure you push the plug all the way.
The provided lanyard can be attached to the hole in the bottom part of the phone. Put the loose end through the phone, through the two metal loops in the lanyard, between the metal loops and back through the first metal loop.
Just hitting the power button (depending on your u-boot version you have to press for >= 5 seconds) should get the phone first into the bootloader, then boot the kernel, and get into X/Openmoko. The shipped battery typically has enough charge to boot up directly without charging through the usb cable first.
Once you have pressed the power button sufficiently long, the vibrator makes a short pulse and the screen backlight turns on. You can now release the power button and watch the phone booting.
If the battery is not sufficiently charged, the phone will not turn on, even if the usb cable is plugged in.
刷机 Neo1973 GTA01Bv4
The GTA01Bv4 devices that are currently shipping do not boot out of the box. Flashing the phone with the latest kernel and supporting file system ("rootfs") is required before the phone will successfully boot.
Read more information at about Flashing the Neo 1973. MacOS X users please also refer to MacOS_X.
- See also Neo1973 Battery Charger
The Neo1973 supports two charging modes: One 100mA charge mode (called pre-charge) and 500mA (called fast charge). Charging is always done via the USB socket. You can use any USB-A to USB-mini-B cable to connect the phone to any USB host.
Note: If the Neo1973 battery completely drains it's possible that even after a long recharge you might not be able to power the phone on. To fix that you need to remove the battery, and leave it out for about a minute, then replace the battery and plug the phone back into a usb port. You should be able to power it on after a few minutes of charging.
在 u-boot 模式
While you are in u-boot mode, the phone only charges with 100mA by default. (This will change in one of the future revisions).
However, using the u-boot console you can manually enable fast charging. See U-boot#Battery_charger_related for more information.
在 Linux 模式
As soon as the phone is connected via USB cable, it will charge. However, the default charging current is only 100mA, way too little if you want to operate the phone and charge at the same time.
If your USB upstream port is capable of supplying 500mA, then it will configure the Neo1973 accordingly and use 500mA charging mode. You can notice this by the following line in the kernel log (/var/log/messages) of the Neo1973: usb0: full speed config #1: 500 mA, Ethernet Gadget, using CDC Ethernet
Getting shell access on the phone
By using the terminal emulator and on-screen keyboard
In Today (the main screen the phone boots to and which can always be accessed by pressing the AUX button), selecting (with a stylus or a thumb) the "+" tab in the center bottom of the screen shows the application launcher. Make sure the filter at the top of the window is set at "Applications" or "All", then drag upward on the list to scroll it until the Terminal application appears. Alternatively, you can toggle the magnifier glass in the filter and type "terminal" to the text box that appears. Click the application in the list to make it turn yellow and start - this might be difficult a first since any movement is interpreted as dragging rather than clicking.
The on-screen keyboard should appear whenever you choose a text entry. It can also be toggled by clicking on the tiny keyboard icon in the panel at the very top of the screen. More options are available via Input Manager which can be started in the application launcher filtered by "Utilities" or "All". A white box appears in the panel. It also can be used to toggle the keyboard. You can choose between different keyboard layouts and the stroke recognizer by dragging from the white box to the right of the box, which should make a menu appear.
By using Ethernet emulation over a USB cable
The standard Neo1973 Linux kernel has support for the "cdc_ether USB gadget", i.e. a standard implementation of how to emulate an Ethernet device over USB.
The following description is for generic *NIX system. For setting up connectivity specifically on a MacOS X machine, refer to MacOS_X (because there is no usb0 and you need a special kernel driver first).
As soon as the kernel is up and running, and you have the phone connected via USB, you should get a usb0 device on your host.
The Phone will have the IPv4 address 192.168.0.202/24. You can run `ifconfig` in the terminal on the phone to verify this (this is optional, just check it if it doesn't work given the instructions below)
If you plug a USB cable into a laptop running Linux, you'll likely see the "cdc_ether" kernel module being loaded and a usb0 network interface appear. If not, see USB_Networking for more details.
On the host PC, you should then configure your interface to 192.168.0.200 by using
- ifconfig usb0 192.168.0.200 netmask 255.255.255.0
Then you should be able to
- ping 192.168.0.202
and last, but not least
- ssh firstname.lastname@example.com
Once you press 'enter' (empty password), you should now have a root login.
See USB_Networking for more details, including instructions on how to automatically setup masquerading so that your phone can get access to the internet through the host PC.
Note: If you have a power management profile enabled on your device your ssh connection might appear to freeze when your phone tries to sleep. To stop this from occuring you need to hold the power button down for a few seconds until you get the menu with the "Power Off" option at the bottom. Once you do, you should select the "Profile: No PM" option. If your shell died and you want it back, you can do the following:
- modprobe -r cdc_ether
- modprobe -r cdc_acm
Then unplug the device and plug it back in after turning power-management off.
By using the debug board/serial/JTAG
Please see Debug Board#Usage_Instructions
Getting access to the bootloader console
Please see u-boot#Using_usbtty_from_Linux
Using Audio
Enable Internal Speaker and Mic in Phone Calls
If you got no Speaker and Mic during a Call you need to load the "gsmhandset.state" alsa-configfile
alsactl -f /etc/alsa/gsmhandset.state restore
Maybe you need to load another .state file for playing mp3 or a BT-Headset see in /etc/alsa/
To hear something you can find an .au file (or convert a .wav into an .au by using the sox tool):
sox ringtone_thereisnophone.wav -t raw -r 8012 -u -b -c 1 rigtone_thereisnophone.au
copy it to the device and run
cat ringtone_thereisnophone.au > /dev/dsp
Useful commands in Linux
Writing "mem" into /sys/power/state tells Linux to suspend - it will enter a low power mode where only the GSM and RAM are powered up and the CPU sleeps. It will persist in this state until a wake-up event arrives. Some currently enabled wake-up events are: AUX or POWER key press, USB cable detect.
If you're connected over ssh, sshd will stop responding when the OS suspends, so to avoid locking up your ssh client, use the command
- (sleep 1; echo mem > /sys/power/state) & exit
Initial backup
After getting your new Neo1973 booted for the first time you might want to make a back up of the original flash chip contents on your PC, before you overwrite the flash with a custom image or just update to a newer build.
|NOTE: For phase 0 developers only (GTA01Bv4 shippment 0, not > 0 ): This is a good idea because there are parts in the root filesystem that can't be distributed over internet so they are only found in the shipped ROM (see the GPS driver).
One easy way to back up all of the Flash, that doesn't require installing any special software, is with netcat over the USB ethernet. The following commands can be used for that.
|On the host
|On the target
$ nc -l -p 20000 > mtdblock0 $ nc -l -p 20000 > mtdblock1 $ nc -l -p 20000 > mtdblock2 $ nc -l -p 20000 > mtdblock3 $ nc -l -p 20000 > mtdblock4
# cat /dev/mtdblock0 | nc 192.168.0.200 20000 # cat /dev/mtdblock1 | nc 192.168.0.200 20000 # cat /dev/mtdblock2 | nc 192.168.0.200 20000 # cat /dev/mtdblock3 | nc 192.168.0.200 20000 # cat /dev/mtdblock4 | nc 192.168.0.200 20000
This stores the five NAND partitions in files named mtdblock*. Knowing the partition layout (u-boot "mtdparts" command or Linux dmesg) you can restore the whole flash with it.
Setting date and time
To set the date and time you need to open a terminal or ssh to the device. To set the date and time to August 9 19:02 2007 type:
- date -s 080919022007
The screensaver might turn on as you execute this command - just tap the screen to get back.
Now, you need to synchronize the time with the hardware date/time by typing:
- hwclock --systohc
Where to from here
You'll probably want to play with some of the interesting hardware in this device. Obviously, you can explore the applications available through the touch-screen interface. But for those who prefer doing things more in the raw from a shell prompt, you can manually use GSM, manually use SMS, or you can start playing with the GPS.


text:
a new favoriteFriday, October 26, 2007
It doesn't matter what time of year it is, anytime we curl up on our sofa, it's always with a blanket. There has always been one favorite. Until now, that is. Last week, I mentioned to Erin that I was collecting all of my old sweaters. Not hand knit sweaters, but nice sweaters that just didn't seem to fit me anymore. Erin suggested I make a blanket out of them. (Thank you, Erin.) I actually think I got off of the computer, grabbed those sweaters and started cutting. I used five sweaters, cut 2 13x13 pieces out of each sweater (front and back). This gave me 10 squares, not enough. I then cut the arms, and pieced two colors together to make a 13X13 square. I now had a total of 15, needing one more. Pieced some strips together, and now I had 16 squares. Just what I needed.
75 comments
Awesome! You always amaze me. You have a great weekend as well!ReplyDelete
That is such a fabulous blanket!Genius!ReplyDelete
well, look at that! i have this in the works too....gotta talk to my dad first and get his old cashmeres. :)ReplyDelete
Wow! That is fabulous! Great idea, beautiful job, love the colors!ReplyDelete
Have a great weekend!
Oh, I want one too! I have some cahsmere sweaters that I've been saving. Perfect!ReplyDelete
oh i want to reach in through my screen and touch it! it looks so soft...ReplyDelete
love it!
Fantastic idea!!! (starts digging through her old sweaters to see if she's got enough. . . )ReplyDelete
Your blanket is fabulous! Though I would have a hard time giving up those pretty sweaters ;)ReplyDelete
Oh, what an excellent idea. It looks so cuddly and warm.ReplyDelete
Makes perfect sense! I love it!ReplyDelete
I am over here soaking my Lizzie so I can get ready to cozy up with her as.soon.as.she.dries.....I forgot all about that! UGH!
How delicious!! I always have lots of blankets and throws for the sofa to snuggle under but that is a beauty! Great idea!ReplyDelete
Oooooh, this is just beautiful! It looks like cashmere.ReplyDelete
Its perfect!ReplyDelete
ooohhh! That is lovely. Great ideaReplyDelete
Just lovely. I have wanted to make a sweater blanket for so long, but never do. You did! And it is wonderful.ReplyDelete
Doesn't the blanket just make 'life nice'??? It feels cozy and warm and such a treasure for the whole family to share. You've done it again L!ReplyDelete
Have a fantastic weekend!
fantastic! just fantastic. i'm going to start collecting.ReplyDelete
How perfect! Yummy & cozy. :)ReplyDelete
What a great idea - thank you for sharing.ReplyDelete
I have been dying to do that with all my old but loved sweaters! You have just given me the 'push' to go to it (I have a thing for cutting things - it's so final...what if I make a mistake?!)ReplyDelete
You are so talented it's unreal!!!ReplyDelete
Wow! That Erin is always full of great ideas. It looks amazing.ReplyDelete
This is a beautiful blanket and idea! I may have to come over and steal it!ReplyDelete
Wow! I love the blanket! I don't know if I would have the guts to cut up my old sweaters, or let go of the hope that I could one day be skinny enough to wear them again!ReplyDelete
Wonderful project. Not only is it beautiful, but cherished by all...and a great use of old sweaters. Genius!ReplyDelete
It's beautiful! Looks soft and cozy...perfect for this time of year. And well worth fighting for. =)ReplyDelete
I'm just venturing in to making quilts, and this one looks so awesome! Now I'm going to have to collect my old sweaters. Another thing to add to my list. LOL! Great job!ReplyDelete
What a great idea and beautiful result! It looks so cozy.ReplyDelete
I wish I had old sweaters to do this with!!ReplyDelete
oh, that is a beautiful blanket! I love it...I bet it is super cozy.ReplyDelete
What a thoroughly fantastic idea!ReplyDelete
oh so clever!ReplyDelete
So much craftiness! It's Superb!ReplyDelete
Amazing!...Absolutely Amazing...ReplyDelete
The heaps of praise is well deserved for such a wonderful, cozy family blanket. Beautiful!ReplyDelete
What a great idea!ReplyDelete
If one can't give up their own or don't have enough...how about going to Good Will or similar consignment/used clothing shop and purchase a few for 'little" cash???ReplyDelete
Make several for the family! Then everyone will be happy! Yes???
Oh MY this looks like a cozy blankie. You are soooooooooo creative, makes me ill. Ha! Love your latest finish - looking forward to the next creation.ReplyDelete
Enjoy the weekend,
again, with the "not necessary but absolutely nice" stuff. you're amazing.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous10/28/2007
oh, i wish i had the blanket. or that many sweaters to make one. it is beautiful.ReplyDelete
heeehhee, look at those cute little feet peeking:)This would be my favorite blanket too! I love EVERY color you put together here. Esquisite!ReplyDelete
How did you stop the yarn from unraveling on the sweaters squares? Did you quickly use reinforced stitches all the way around? I would have loved to see photos of this in the process. That's the part I love about everything being made, the process:)
I so want a sweater blanket and yours look fabulous.... staring with emerald eyes....lolReplyDelete
Ooo - what a freaking FABULOUS idea. I have *tons* of old sweaters that I never wear anymore!ReplyDelete
I don't know if project linus would take something like this, but what a great gift for a hospital kid... I might just have to start trolling for sweaters at the flea market...
Thanks for the awesome idea! :D
PS - I love the little toes peeking out in that picture.
That is just beautiful! Makes me wish I had old sweaters to cut up.ReplyDelete
aw- share with your hubbie! i love this idea...you never disappoint!ReplyDelete
Thank you for the great idea -something fum for those old worn sweaters!ReplyDelete
It looks so gorgeous and cozy. The colours are all in the same family of muted tones - you have great taste in sweaters. But I must confess I had a gasp-for-air-she-cut-her-sweaters moment! I don't think I would have had the courage :)ReplyDelete
- Anonymous10/28/2007
Gorgeous! I've seen lots of recycled items, but I love this one best. I can see why the whole family calls it.ReplyDelete
what a great idea!!! it is the perfect time to get it out too - it got cold here today!!!ReplyDelete
What a beautiful blanket! It looks so soft... and how creative!ReplyDelete
- Anonymous10/29/2007
that looks very very snuggly. I think a rota might be in order here to keep things fair!ReplyDelete
Great idea! Might have to use that one someday.ReplyDelete
Great idea! Might have to use that one someday.ReplyDelete
Too cozy, even those little toes sticking out look cozy!ReplyDelete
Such a great idea for a cozy blanket!ReplyDelete
Awesome ! Your works are really fantastic. It never fails to motivate me. Thank you.ReplyDelete
That is so smart I can't stand it. I am also glad to note that I am not the only one who gets the same article of clothing in different colours if I like it well enough.ReplyDelete
You are incredibly creative. You just have this gift of seeing the potential in everything. I admire and envy that!ReplyDelete
Enjoy that unbelievably comfy looking blanket.
- Anonymous10/30/2007
I would like to do this as well. Genius, I say!ReplyDelete
- Anonymous10/30/2007
What an absolutely awesome idea this is! You never cease to amaze me, that's for sure! Perfect!ReplyDelete
that looks soooo cozyReplyDelete
What a fantastic idea, Leslie! That blanket is great. Now I know what do with my old sweaters. Another way that you amaze me with your talents.ReplyDelete
oooh, what a great idea! it looks sooooo snuggly!ReplyDelete
so incredible!!!ReplyDelete
i can feel how cuddly it is thru the screen!!!
i might just buy old sweaters to cut them up and make a leslie blanket! lol.
and then mom will copy b/c she adores you ;)
- Anonymous10/31/2007
amazing! i'd 'call' that one too if it were in my home.ReplyDelete
thanks for inspiring!
- Anonymous10/31/2007
i just discovered your blog -- and love, love, love that blanket. i'm inspired to gift something similar this holiday season. how did you reinforce those seams, ensuring that the unfelted sweaters don't go unraveling up to the seam? maybe that's not a problem?ReplyDelete
thanks for the inspiration!!
Looks absolutely beautiful, and soooo soft. Did you topstitch at all around the squares, to keep the lining from shifting?ReplyDelete
I just discovered your blog; it looks lovely!
- Anonymous11/08/2007
It's so pretty! I've been collecting and felting sweaters for a couple of years so I can make blanket, too. I have plenty of sweaters now, but haven't gotten around to actually make the blanket. One of these days... :) (Now that I see how nicely your blanket drapes, I'm thinking I shouldn't have felted the sweaters.)ReplyDelete
I love this blanket! Is there any chance that you could write more detail about the making of it? How did you finish the edges? IReplyDelete
i love this. what kind of sweaters did you use? do you have to do anything special to keep them from unraveling? these colors work so well together!ReplyDelete
I have a huge collection of thrift store sweaters I've been using to make bags and things and I've wanted to do a blanket. You've inspired me with yours. Thanks.ReplyDelete
I know a couple people have asked, but did you do anything special to sew them together? did they stretch much when you did sew them together? I've been slowly buying grey wool sweaters at the goodwill to make something just like this. Yours is beautiful!ReplyDelete
absolutely love this. i have saved sweaters for pillows before but never thought of making an afghan. what a wonderful idea.ReplyDelete
I was searhing online for instructions on how to make a blanket from old sweaters and came across your post. I found a bunch of nice old sweaters at the Goodwill yesterday but didn't buy them as I wasn't sure how to pull off the blanket making and thought I should figure that out first. Did you sew yours together on the sewing machine, and did you tack the backing to the front in any way?ReplyDelete
Many thanks,


text:
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text:
The wiki is being retired!
Documentation is now handled by the same processes we use for code: Add something to the Documentation/ directory in the coreboot repo, and it will be rendered to https://doc.coreboot.org/. Contributions welcome!
Google Summer of Code 2011
Welcome to the Google Summer of Code(tm) page of the coreboot project.
Apply for a coreboot GSoC project at: http://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/org/show/google/gsoc2011/coreboot
This year, coreboot also tries to host some flashrom projects.
Make sure you check the https://socghop.appspot.com/document/show/gsoc_program/google/gsoc2011/timeline
Why work for coreboot
Why would you like to work for coreboot?
- coreboot offers you the opportunity to work with modern technology "right on the iron".
- Your application will be available to users worldwide and promoted along with all other coreboot projects.
- We are a very passionate team - so you will interact directly with the project initiators and project leaders.
- We have a large, helpful community. Over 100 experts in hardware and firmware lurk on our mailing list, many of them waiting to help you.
Summer of Code Application
Please complete the standard Google SoC 2011 application. Prospective corebot GSoC student should provide the following information as part of their application.
- Name:
- Email:
- IM/IRC/Skype/other contact:
- Country/Timezone:
- School:
- Degree Program:
- Year:
- Most students have some time off planned during GSoC. Do you have any vacations? When and how long?
- coreboot welcomes students from all backgrounds and levels of experience. To be seriously consider for coreboot GSoC, we recommend joining the mailing list and IRC channel. Introduce yourself and mention that you are a prospective GSoC student. Ask questions and discuss the project that you are considering. Community involvement is a key component of coreboot development. By the time you have submitted your application, you should have downloaded, built a and booted coreboot in QEMU, SimNow, or on real hardware. Please, email your serial output results to the mailing list.
- The following information will help coreboot match students with mentors and projects.
- Please comment on your software and firmware experience.
- Have you participated in the coreboot community before?
- Have you contributed to an open source project? Which one? What was your experience?
- Have you built and run coreboot? Did you have problems?
- Bonus, Did you find and fix a coreboot bug? Did you send a patch to the email list?
- Please provide an overview of your project and a break down your project in small specific goals. Explain what risks or potential problems your project might experience. What would you expect as a minimum level of success? Do you have a stretch goal?
Feel free to keep your application short. A 15 page essay is no better than a 2 page summary. If you wish to write 15 pages, you are of course welcome to do so, and we will gladly put your paper up on the web page. But it is not required for the application.
How to apply
The Drupal project has a great page on How to write an SOC application.
Please also read Google's Advice for Students.
Some Caveats
- Google Summer-of-Code projects are a full (day-) time job. This means we expect roughly 30-40 hours per week on your project, during the three months of coding. Obviously we have flexibility, but if your schedule (exams, courses) does not give you this amount of spare time, then maybe you should not apply.
- Getting paid by Google requires that you meet certain milestones. First, you must be in good standing with the community before the official start of the program. We suggest you post some design emails to the mailing list, and get feedback on them, both before applying, and during the "community bonding period" between acceptance and official start. Also, you must have made progress and committed significant code before the mid-term point.
- We require accepted students to have a blog, where you will write about your project on a regular basis. This is so that the community at large can be involved and help you. SoC is not a private contract between your mentor and you. http://blogs.coreboot.org/
Note that "regular basis" in the last item does _not_ mean "3 days before evaluation deadlines". You should be "around" all the time (reporting your feedback, sending in partial successes). We don't expect our students to be experts in our problem domain, but we don't want you to fail because some basic misunderstanding was in your way of completing the task.
Time Frame
DEADLINE FOR STUDENT APPLICATIONS: Students who are interested in working on a coreboot-related GSoC project must apply between March 28, 2011 and April 8, 2011! If you want to apply, please get in contact with us right away, not just when you send your application!
Student requirements
We will only accept your proposal if you have demonstrated that you can work with our codebase. For that, you have to send a patch to the list which is acceptable. Just ask for simple tasks on the mailing list or on IRC.
If you are interested in becoming a GSoC student, please contact Marc Jones.
There is also an IRC channel on irc.freenode.net: #coreboot
Possible ideas
The following are some ideas that have come up in the community. Some are more or less suitable for GSoC and prospective students' application should expand on some ideas and pair back others.
Note: The list below is an idea collection. Individual list items are simple enough to serve only as partial GSoC task, but they are grouped to reasonable tasks. If you're interested, please talk to us on the flashrom mailing list and/or on IRC irc://irc.freenode.net/#flashrom
http://www.flashrom.org/GSoC/2010 has more flashrom ideas and suggestions.
Multiple UIs for flashrom
- flashrom TUI (text mode user interface) (for command line and flashrom-as-payload)
- flashrom GUI (graphics mode user interface) (should be cross-platform, Sean Nelson has preliminary code you can base this on)
Recovery of dead boards and onboard flash updates
- flashrom as payload
- flashrom remote flashing for coreboot panic room mode
- flashrom remote flashing with modified SerialICE
SPI bitbanging hardware support
- flashrom support for Nvidia SPI chipset hardware
- flashrom support for RayeR SPIPGM hardware
- flashrom support for Paraflasher hardware
- flashrom support for Willem hardware
- flashrom support for some-yet-uninvented cheap universal LPC/FWH/SPI flasher hardware
- flashrom support for bitbanging LPC/FWH (code exists, Uwe Hermann
- flashrom support for bitbanging Parallel
Generic flashrom infrastructure improvements
- flashrom support for automatic recovery in case something goes wrong
- flashrom support for partial reflashing
- flashrom support for bytewise flashing (similar to the point above)
Infrastructure for automatic code checking
We already have a build bot that builds various configurations of coreboot. It would be nice to extend it with various code validation routines, for example:
- Validate that there's no regression in doxygen documentation (eg. are all arguments to functions still explained in @param tags, eg. after new arguments were added?)
- Make code lint clean (and maybe extend lint to not fall into our traps), and run lint over the tree. Report regressions
- Use LLVM's static code checking facilities, report regressions.
- Work on code coverage support for coreboot code (dump data into ram, or via serial. Provide tools to fetch it). Analyse that data.
- LLVM tools: Clang static analyser, SSA assertion checker
- Lint tools: Splint
- Coverage: LCOV, GGCOV
coreboot ports for Family14 mainboards
Identify potential mainboards to port based on the recently released AMD Family 14 support. The goal would be to support publicly available plaftorms with a number of payloads and operating systems.
coreboot ACPI/S3/power managment
coreboot has support for ACPI tables and S3 support for some platforms, but it is very mainboard specific. Create a generic solution for ACPI table generation and S3 support.
coreboot test suite
Create a test suite to gather and report coreboot mainboard and payload settings. This project may leverage libpayload, coreinfo, memtest86, BITS, and other tools. The goal is to help coreboot developers identify problems and to test coreboot features.
coreboot port to Marvell ARM SOC's with PCIe
Marvell Processors These ARM SOC's with PCIe will become popular in netbooks later this year. These systems can take advantage of coreboot's strength in properly configuring PCI devices, fast boot time and payload support.
Note that coreboot has in the past supported three different CPUs (x86, Alpha, PPC), so the structure is there for adding in a new processor family. We will need to find the right platform to do the work, but I (Ron) can provide a board and JTAG debugger if needed.
- Bari Ari
- Ron Minnich
coreboot panic room
Create a safe boot solution for coreboot to easily and cheaply recover the system in case of a panic().
Ron would like to base this solution around SerialICE. The basic idea is that the system always boots to SerialICE. There is a test in CMOS for 'last boot worked' and, if this is set, SerialICE finds a coreboot in cbfs and runs it. If 'last boot worked' is not set, or the user hits some magic keyboard sequence, SerialICE takes control.
SerialICE needs to be extended (not much) to make this work. Having this capability would make it possible for Ron to get some very hard ports working that are just not possible today. At the same time, there are lots of hardware boards to test this idea on, so it should be easy to get it working.
It might be possible to integrate this into the coreboot build as a bootblock option (in the same spot as the fallback/normal switch and the simple loader).
coreboot cheap testing rig
The goal of this project is to create a cheap testing rig which works with the existing board test infrastructure. We have a hardware test system since 2006:
The initial version of our testing rig used a remote power switch and was rather expensive. With cheaper technologies such as X10, it's possible to drop the testing costs per board significantly.
Board config infrastructure
Design data structures that host information about the board layout so coreboot can better initialize components and generate all kinds of tables (mptable, pirq, acpi, ...) from that dynamically (at build or runtime, as appropriate). Adapt boards to use that instead of the current hardcodes.
- ?
- ?
Refactor AMD code
AMD K8 and AMD Fam10 are different enough to have their own code. This is unfortunate, as you have to decide which CPU type you use in a given mainboard. Refactor AMD code so a single image can support both chip types on a given board. Also move tables from get_bus_conf and the like to the device tree or kconfig options (or runtime detection), as appropriate.
- ?
Laptop support
This one is really HARD. If you're lucky and if you have datasheets, you can do it in maybe 1 month. If you're unlucky, it can take the whole GSoC or more. If there is interest, we'll try to find an embedded controller which won't cause you to give up in frustration. Still, it might be beneficial if you're willing to solder.
- flashrom support for embedded controllers (ECs) in laptops
- ?
Your own Project Ideas
We have come up with some ideas for cool Summer of Code projects here. These are projects that we think can be managed in the short period of GSoC, and they cover areas where coreboot is trying to reach new users and new use cases.
But of course your application does not need to be based on any of the ideas listed below. The opposite: Maybe you have a great idea that we just didn't think of yet. Please let us know!
Feel free to contact us at the email address above, and don't hesitate to suggest whatever you have in mind.
Previous Summer of Code projects
We successfully participated in Google's Summer of Code in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010. See our list of previous GSoC projects.