We've teamed up with the folks at Synology to give one lucky reader a DS110+ network attached storage device, worth £264. This mini box scored 9/10 in LXF136's review, so for a chance to get your mitts on one, head over to the competition page.

Oh, and if you're fully social-networked up, you can become a fan of Synology on Facebook.

Meanwhile, Synology are looking for feedback on a beta release of their DSM 3.0 software, so take a look at this thread on our forums for more info.

U^3 (U-Cubed), a self-described "Ubuntu and Upstream UnWorkshop day" in collaboration with HacMan, ManLUG and Manchester Free Software, is taking place in just a few days, and still have over 20 tickets available for free. If you use Ubuntu or one of its many upstream projects (Debian, Gnome, etc) and want to learn how you can get involved, this is the perfect event for you.

One of the organisers wrote in with a general invite: "we're hoping to find support on the day from people experienced in Ubuntu, but also people that are involved in more than just Ubuntu, so we're reaching out to anyone in the North West UK region to see if people are prepared to help out - even if Ubuntu isn't the Linux distribution you normally would use, so, if you're interested and available between 11am and 9pm and can get to Manchester, or even if you can just be around for part of the day, go to http://u-cubed.eventbrite.com to reserve a ticket."

So, there you have it: it sounds like it'll be a great day, it won't cost you anything, and you'll get to mingle with all sorts of other interesting geeks. Hurry - sign up ends soon!

Grüß Gott! I'm back from my epic 5-week Austro-Bavarian adventure. The bulk of this time was spent studying German at the Goethe Institut in Munich, which is a thoroughly brilliant place. Now I've gone from Watching Sturm der Liebe to, er, being able to give presentations about Sturm der Liebe! Munich is an amazing city, and it feels like I set off about six months ago... So much has happened. Here are some pictures for your perusing pleasure. Go on, you know you want to.