Month: March 2006

In Calgary Once Again

Seems we end up in Calgary for almost every trip we take (except for Northern Voice). Fortunately there is free wireless Internet here, so I am not complaining. Well, at least it makes the travelling a little better. This is our insane flight schedule:

  • 9:00 PM – Depart Edmonton
  • 9:45 PM – Arrive Calgary
  • 12:32 AM – Depart Calgary
  • 6:17 AM – Arrive Toronto
  • 8:30 AM – Depart Toronto
  • 9:30 AM – Arrive Ottawa

Currently we’re scheduled to come back on the 24th, but we’re going to try to change that to the 26th. Preferrably, the 26th departing from Toronto, as we’re planning to drive from Ottawa to Toronto on the 25th for business and to meet up with some people. I’m hoping we can get the flights worked out anyway!

We’re in Tim Horton’s at the moment, as it was the only food establishment open (unsurprisingly). Seems those 24 hour McDonalds express locations would be perfect for an airport!

More on the trip later…

VenturePrize Finals Complete

Post ImageWe just got back from the final event, and unfortunately, we didn’t win. We’re really proud that we made it to the finals of VenturePrize however, and we have our sights set on the Wes Nicol competition tomorrow in Ottawa. Congratulations to Chris and Don at Leading Edge Technologies for winning this year’s competition.

We’ve got lots of pictures and stuff to post, and we’ll do that slowly over the next few days. Our flight to Ottawa leaves in about five hours, so we’re getting ready for that. We’re a little disappointed about VenturePrize obviously, but we’re going to take what we’ve learned and do our best tomorrow evening.

You can read my post on today’s event at our VenturePrize blog.

Read: VenturePrize Experience

5 Hours To Go…

It’s time to get this show on the road! We practiced our presentation and elevator pitch a lot last night, and we went to Denny’s for a late meal. Now we’re totally pumped and we’re going to give it everything we’ve got!

Wish us luck! And if I’ve got your cell, watch for a text message in about five hours or so 🙂

NewsGator Inbox and other news

Post ImageMy aggregator of choice has a new name! NewsGator Outlook Edition is now known as NewsGator Inbox, and the first release candidate is now available (and stay tuned to the blog for future updates). I’ve been playing with it for a while, and it’s very solid. I for one really like the name change – the whole “Outlook Edition” is not as easy to say as Inbox. The change does make me wonder if they are planning to release a version for other mail clients, like perhaps Thunderbird or Entourage. This is just speculation on my part though, I don’t have any insider information unfortunately.

Another bit of NewsGator news hit the wires recently too, this one about the synchronization story with Internet Explorer 7 and Windows Vista:

NewsGator Technologies, Inc., the leading RSS Platform Company, today announced plans that its suite of RSS aggregators will synchronize with the upcoming releases of Microsoft Windows Vista and Internet Explorer 7. The synchronization will enable users to ensure that Windows Vista and Internet Explorer 7 users stay up-to-date with all their subscriptions, whether they are accessing them via the Web, mobile devices, Mac OS-based computers, and other platforms.

Honestly, I don’t know why Microsoft hasn’t outright purchased NewsGator. Seems like a deal that would make a lot of sense. In any case, the announcement is great news for users of NewsGator products like myself.

I’ve also been testing the new FeedDemon beta (another NewsGator product that supports synchronization) and I quite like it. I now use it on my desktop, to complete my own personal synchronization story:

  • NewsGator Inbox on my Tablet PC
  • FeedDemon on my workstation
  • NewsGator Online when I’m using a public computer

Synchronization is powerful, yet its one of those ideas that makes you go “damn, why didn’t I think of that!”

Read: NewsGator

Snow storm prompts plowing review

Post ImageAfter going most of the winter with very little snow, we received enough snow in the last week to break the record for March snowfall here in Edmonton. Actually, we didn’t just break the record, we completely shattered it:

The blizzard delivered up to 25 centimetres of snow in some spots, easily breaking a 1967 snowfall record for March. That record had been a meagre 9 cm.

And as usual when we get lots of snow, people complain that the city isn’t doing enough to plow residential streets. Forget the residential streets and plow the damn LRT parking lots, I say! Though I am biased – I got stuck in the Stadium LRT lot yesterday morning (floor mats are good for traction if you’re ever stuck). In any case, the city is looking at ways to improve the situation and have come up with a new plan:

But the new plan, which would involve paying contract snow crews to be on standby, could cost the city millions more, says Mayor Stephen Mandel. Mandel says he’s not sure the public would support paying crews to do nothing if the snow doesn’t fall.

Its definitely a possible solution. Apparently the problem this time is that so few of the contract plows responded to the city’s emergency call. Perhaps having them on retainer would make a difference. Depends how much it costs I guess. Either that, or we need someone to invent roads that eat the snow or clear themselves somehow!

Read: CBC News

iTunes Challenged in France

Post ImageA very interesting law that attempts to prevent a digital music store monopoly was passed in France by the lower house of parliament today. I don’t know exactly how these things work, but I think the law still must be considered by the upper house too. In any case, it doesn’t look good for Apple:

French officials said the law is aimed at preventing any single media playing system–Apple’s iTunes or Microsoft’s Windows Media Player, for example–from building a grip on the digital online music retail market.

The new legislation will require that online music retailers such as iTunes provide the software codes that protect copyrighted material–known as digital rights management (DRM)–to allow the conversion from one format to another.

At first glance this might be bad news for Apple and good news for Microsoft. Think a little harder though, and you’ll realize this could potentially be very bad for everyone. I don’t know if opening up the DRM codes is very wise, because it wouild probably make them easier to crack. And if that happens, it won’t be the Napster utopia of years past. Instead, we could be stuck with physical media because the record labels are too afraid to sell content digitally. Bad news for everyone.

I found this comment in the article particularly interesting:

Consumers are prepared to pay twice as much for a song that can freely move between different devices, a recent study of the European Union project Indicare showed.

I find that hard to believe, given that something like 90% of the market is iPods. Do all of the iPod owners also own Windows Media devices? I don’t think so, which makes me wonder where this demand for freely moving songs comes from. It’s not like Apple is price gouging at iTunes (on the contrary, they are fighting against variable song prices).

Read: CNET News.com

Shaw Conference Centre Hall D

Dickson and I went to the new Hall D at the Shaw Conference Centre this afternoon to meet with the VenturePrize people and do a sound check, so we got our first glimpse at the new addition. We were escorted in by the construction foreman who eyed my camera nervously. He didn’t ask me to leave it or anything though, so once inside, I snapped a few photos.

The place is gigantic! My first impression upon walking in was, wow, this is big. The windows are floor to ceiling, and they have massive drapes that can be mechanically raised or lowered. The ceiling itself is entirely black, with beams running the full length of the hall. There appears to be a “control room” at the back of the hall, and just outside the main room are a bunch of smaller rooms. We didn’t get to see these though as most of the construction was happening back there. Actually, that was the second thing I noticed – there is much to be done.

I have no idea what the entrance is going to look like, because we were led through a small hallway that appeared to exist only for construction purposes. There were small teams of construction workers all over the place, doing various things. Apparently the giant media screens are not part of the Hall D, but were instead “flown in” especially for VenturePrize (this is what they told me). In addition to the construction workers there were lots of people just milling about, so I’m not sure what they were doing. I wouldn’t be surprised if some people are putting in a lot of hours to get things ready for Wednesday though.

Speaking of, we’re less than two days away now. Don’t forget to follow along at our VenturePrize Experience blog!

Read: Flickr Photoset

Notes for 3/19/2006

Here are my weekly notes:

  • It’s been a busy last few days getting ready for our presentations this week. You can read all about our business plan competitions and follow along this week at our VenturePrize Experience blog.
  • The real web 2.0 application has arrived. Here’s another humorous app.
  • Man we sure got dumped on this week, so much snow! The worst part about all the snow is that the farmers still won’t be happy. No snow, they complain there’s not enough water. Too much snow, too much water!
  • Amazon S3 is amazing; its truly game-changing. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the other big players copy them, and in fact, I hope they do. More services like S3 are what we need.
  • Went to the Rush game on Friday night with Sharon because Tom was working (he got a job at Petsmart). I think she enjoyed the game, even though we got slaughtered 16-9. The next game is the 25th, with the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders! I’ll be in Ottawa though…
  • “Trip” by Hedley is my current favorite song. I also really like “Move Along” by The All American Rejects.
  • Do you find the font size at Google or Yahoo or any other search engine too small? If so, Big.com is for you. The text is very, ahem, big.

Crazy March Snow

I cannot believe how much snow there is in Edmonton today. It had started to snow pretty hard when I got home last night around 4, but it wasn’t too bad. When I got up today though? I literally had to dig myself out of the house! I took some pictures this afternoon, because I don’t think we’ll have another dumping like that for a while. At least I hope not.

The roads are pretty bad in the city, but not so bad on the highways. Many of the major roads have been cleared, except for a few like the Yellowhead, but none of the secondary or residential streets have been cleared.

Tom, Kim and I went to Boston Pizza downtown tonight for dinner and to watch the Oilers, and during the first period, Tom and I ended up going outside to help push a car that had gotten stuck in the snow. To make things worse, the driver totally didn’t know how to drive, and he flooded the engine.

So if you’re out driving in Edmonton, be careful, and don’t get stuck!

The WHL comes to Edmonton

Post ImageLooks like things are going to get a little more crowded here in the heartland of hockey. Patrick LaForge’s efforts to bring a WHL team to our city are starting to bear fruit:

Today at a Western Hockey League Board of Governor’s Meeting in Calgary, a decision was made to conditionally award the Edmonton Oilers a WHL expansion team for the 2007/08 season. The Oilers have been granted 30 days to study the conditions of the expansion, and to assess their suitability as it pertains to their business plan.

Further details on Edmonton’s WHL expansion team will be announced in the coming weeks.

The decision has been criticized by some existing WHL teams, but I think it will be great not only for Edmonton, but for the WHL too. Increased visibility, more room for players, and new competition are all great benefits of bringing a team to Edmonton. Hopefully this deal really does go through!

Read: Edmonton Oilers