Month: November 2005

Portable Media Expo Day 2

Post ImageTraveling has a way of making the old schedule go a little nutty, so I didn’t get a chance to post much over the weekend. Well, that and the fact that Internet access was not as abundant as it should have been! Overall, the Expo was great – both for Paramagnus and for podcasting in general. My only complaint about the entire event would be that there was no wireless Internet. I don’t believe that any technology-related conference in the year 2005 should be without Internet access! That’s one thing Chris Pirillo has absolutely correct with Gnomedex.

In any case, the second day of the Expo went very well. I’d say it was the busier of the two days. We were the first to present in the morning, and despite the fact that the stage Internet did not work, it went very well. I hope the people who were in the audience gained some value out of my presentation. I know some of them did, because they came by the booth later. We also got the chance on Saturday to take a look at some of the interesting things the other exhibitors were doing. It’s a very exciting time for podcasting!

Thanks to everyone who came by and spoke to us during the two-day Expo! It was great to meet you, and we look forward to helping you with podcasting. Thanks also to Tim and everyone at TNC New Media for putting on a great show! We’re looking forward to next year already.

Read: Podcast & Portable Media Expo

Portable Media Expo Day 1

Post ImageOverall I’d say that today was a very productive one for Paramagnus! We didn’t arrive at LAX until around 9:30 AM, which meant it was near 11:30 AM by the time we made it to Ontario – an hour and a half after the Expo opened. We rented a car in Los Angeles to drive into Ontario, and I must say, it was an experience! Once I did the first merge onto the freeway it wasn’t so bad, but that initial merge was a little scary – so many lanes, so many cars, such fast speeds! The freeways really are a good idea though, as it doesn’t take long to get where you need to go.

This is the first year for the Portable Media Expo, so we didn’t know exactly what to expect. As it turns out, the event has been a huge success! There were lots of people roaming the floors of the exhibit hall today, so we got the chance to introduce ourselves and our podcasting stuff to a pretty sizable audience. The feedback we have received thus far was all very encouraging – so much so that all we really want to do is go back to Edmonton to continue coding!

We’ll be in the exhibit hall all day tomorrow, and we’ve also got the stage for thirty minutes tomorrow morning starting at 10:15 AM. We’re planning to give an overview of the company and our products, and do a couple of quick demos. Unfortunately we won’t have the Podbot on hand – the robot is in need of repairs that we just can’t do in the hotel room.

I posted up a quick sample episode tonight to my podcast, so you can take a look at some of the features we’ve got working. Obviously there is much to be done, but you can see the audio conversion and the dynamic segmenting, for example. More to come soon!

Paramagnus Podcasting

Post ImageI just posted an introduction to our podcasting solution over at the Paramagnus Blog, so go check it out to find out what we’ve been up to for the last few months! I am glad that we’ve finally released some bits, but there’s still so much more to come. I can’t wait until we get everything finished – it’ll be great for podcasting!

So far we’ve released Podcast Tags and Podcast Spot. Both of them are in beta, though Podcast Spot is really more of an alpha and Podcast Tags is closer to completion. We wanted to release something though, to demonstrate what we’re working on and where we’re going with it, and to hopefully get some feedback. So take a look and let us know what you think!

If all goes according to plan we’ll be posting some demos and other information tomorrow to better explain the two products, so stay tuned!

Still in Calgary

Post ImageWell as some of you are aware, and as Dickson posted, we’re still in Calgary. I knew that leaving from Calgary instead of Edmonton would be a problem, and it turns out that we missed our flight, for a variety of reasons. After evaluating all of our options (because the later flight was booked solid, so we couldn’t get bumped), and after some great help from our travel agent (thanks Wendy!) we found a flight leaving Calgary early tomorrow morning to LA. Once there we’re going to rent a car and drive to Ontario, which means we should hopefully arrive just after the Expo floor opens at 10 AM.

We’re quite excited about the Expo, despite the travel problems we encountered today! I am really looking forward to meeting podcasters, listeners and others. And I’m also looking forward to sharing our products and services.

So we’re slightly delayed, but that won’t stop us!

Off to California

Post ImageIt used to be that an all-nighter was a rare event, something that only happened once in a while and only when absolutely necessary. Lately though it seems like every night is an all-nighter! Dickson and I have been working like crazy lately, but I think it will all be worth it. I guess we’ll find out this weekend in any case!

We’re off to Calgary now, which is where our flight for Ontario, California departs. We’ll be at the Podcast & Portable Media Expo this weekend, so stay tuned to my blog and the Paramagnus blog for news and updates. Thanks to everyone who has wished us luck!

Have a great weekend!

Get Visual Studio Express FREE

Post ImageThe official launch date for Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005 was yesterday – I’ve been waiting a long time! Congrats to the teams for getting everything shipped. And there’s good news for novice, hobbyist and student programmers too – you can get the Express tools for free:

We originally announced pricing of Visual Studio Express at US$49. We are now offering Visual Studio Express for free, as a limited-in-time promotional offer, until November 6, 2006. Note that we are also offering SQL Server 2005 Express Edition as a free download, and that this offer is not limited to the same promotional pricing period as Visual Studio Express.

If you’ve ever wanted to start playing around with .NET or ASP.NET or anything else that Visual Studio can help you do, this is a great opportunity. Download sizes range from 35-70 MB (excluding SQL Server 2005 Express) and you can choose your edition here. Happy coding!

Read: Visual Studio Express

Starbucks Eggnog Latte

Post ImageI really don’t like how stores start playing Christmas music and displaying decorations the day after Halloween, but one thing I do like is that Starbucks starts serving their Christmas drinks around this time of year. I am currently drinking my favorite, the Eggnog Latte, but they also have a Gingerbread Latte and Peppermint Mocha as part of the Christmas drink lineup. I am a complete eggnog addict, so this latte just hits the spot.

The barista told me that the red Christmas cups and all the other decorations and stuff will be arriving on November 10th. She also said that in many major cities in the US, they are leaving red cups on cars and other places with gift certificates (or something to that effect). I guess I’ll have to keep my eyes peeled when we’re in California this weekend.

Notes for 11/6/2005

And just like that, we have snow! I guess I shouldn’t complain too much; after all it is already a week into November.

  • My Mom was in town again this weekend, on the way home. It was good
    to see her again – I only see her once or twice a year! We had a really
    nice dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory last night…thanks Mom!
  • I finally replaced my phone this week! I got a new Motorola V710. It’s been working great, I’m really happy with it so far. So much more useful than my old phone!
  • Went to Denny’s tonight as Ylz is back in town for a few days…good times!
  • The Podcast & Portable Media Expo
    is coming up really soon! Dickson and I are excited to go, but still
    not ready. As you can see, sleeping times are completely out of whack,
    as are blogging habits!
  • Did you know there was a fish processing plant here in Edmonton? I didn’t until I saw the CEO of Experience Gastronomique give a presentation on Wednesday evening. Apparently they have been quite successful, despite being completely landlocked!

UPDATE: I forgot to mention it, but my blog turned two years old on Sunday, November 6th!

My new phone!

Post ImageNo longer will I be the target of “old phone” jokes! Today I finally replaced my aging Motorola Timeport with a brand new Motorola V710 (yes I happen to like Moto phones). I got the Timeport back in high school, and at the time it was a top of the line phone. It has served me well over the last 6 or so years, but lately the battery life has deteriorated, and it had started making weird buzzing noises. That and I’ve replaced the antenna twice already. Reception isn’t as good as the newer phones, and let’s face it, for someone who’s supposedly so technically inclined my Timeport was bad for the image!

My phone number is the same, in case you’re wondering. Here are some of the features of my new phone:

  • Bluetooth support!
  • Voice activated calling
  • Built-in 1.3 Megapixel digital camera with 4X digital zoom, and it captures video too
  • Speakerphone, MP3 player, picture, text and video messaging, etc.
  • Trimode, full color display and color outer display

I also picked up a Motorola HS820 Blueooth Headset today, and it works amazingly well with the phone. I can make and answer phone calls without ever touching the actual phone itself! It’s like geek heaven! I am also planning to pick up a USB Bluetooth adapter for my Tablet PC which should enable me to record audio using the headset (and talk on Skype) – will be an interesting podcasting application.

There are so many features on the new phone, it will take me a while to digest them. It comes with a number of different ring tones, unlike my old Timeport which had only one! However, as I said in my ring tones post, I just like simple ring tones, so that’s what I have it set to (actually vibrate and then ring). I’ve only had the phone for a few hours, but I already have some favorite features. One is the voice activated commands – very accurate. Another is the calendar which is avaiable with a single button press – so handy!

I feel like I have entered the modern age now. I can finally send and reply to text messages without loading up and navigating a clumsy browser interface!

Microsoft Live – all about services

Post ImageTo truly understand what the new Windows Live and Office Live services are all about, you need not look any further than Microsoft itself. Thanks to the magic that is Robert Scoble, we get a very honest description:

Yesterday will be remembered not because of what we announced. But because of the direction we’re now headed in.

Microsoft is no longer an applications company. It is a services company.

Don’t get caught up in the badly-pulled-off demos yesterday. There is something a lot deeper happening inside Microsoft than that.

That’s important to understand. People do not remember the famous Bill Gates Internet Memo as the day Microsoft decided to integrate Internet Explorer into Windows (though that was certainly a result). Instead, that infamous memo is remembered as the day Gates and Co “got” the Internet. I expect yesterday’s announcement will be remembered in much the same way.

That said, they still launched a product yesterday, and at first glance, it sucked. How could they release a web-based service that doesn’t work in anything other than IE? Scoble has an answer for that too:

So, when you see Microsoft not supporting Firefox out of the gate, you are seeing that we don’t get the role of influentials in gathering audiences.

Just imagine if Microsoft both understood “the role of influentials” and had Robert Scoble on the payroll!