code: public String get(String key)
  	{
  		String urlKey = urlEncode(key);
  		ApiResponseReader<String> reader = new ApiResponseReader<String>()
  		{
  			public String parse(InputStream in) throws Exception
  			{
  				InputStreamReader isr = new InputStreamReader(in, OsmConnection.CHARSET);
  				BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(isr, BUFFER_SIZE_PREFS);
  				return reader.readLine();
  			}
  		};
  		try
  		{
  			return osm.makeAuthenticatedRequest(USERPREFS + urlKey, "GET", reader);
  		}
  		catch(OsmNotFoundException e)
  		{
  			return null;
  		}
  	}
docs: @param key the preference to query
  @return	the value of the given preference or null if the preference does not exist
  
  @throws	OsmAuthorizationException if the application is not authenticated to read the
  user's preferences. (Permission.READ_PREFERENCES_AND_USER_DETAILS)