Tag: Paramagnus

California Trip Recap

Our trip this past weekend to California was definitely what I would call a “business trip” as we didn’t have much time to do anything vacation-like. After the expo was finished on Saturday, Dickson and I drove into Hollywood and Beverly Hills for some sightseeing. The drive also meant more time on the busy and very fast freeways! Actually, I think the reason they seem so fast is the cement walls on either side, the large number of lanes, and the incredible number of vehicles.

The houses in Beverly Hills were quite amazing! We also drove down Rodeo Drive, and saw some of the fancy stores like Gucci and Louis Vuitton. Lots of fancy cars too. Sunset Blvd was very busy, making it almost impossible to change lanes without cutting someone off! For a late dinner we went to IHOP and had, what else, breakfast! The pancakes were very good, I must admit, though very filling. We didn’t have too much time though, as we had to return the rental car, which meant some fast driving on I-10 to get back to Ontario.

As for the conference/expo, it was great! We definitely had one of the most simplistic booths, but that’s okay. We were there to talk with people, both to learn and share, so a flashy booth wasn’t required. We met a lot of great people, and learned about lots of new projects. Exciting! We definitely want to something more for next year, but we’ve got almost a year to plan it.

Traveling home was long! Fortunately we met Dave Slusher and rode with him to Denver. We chatted about quite a few things, it was great! We also departed Denver at the same time, although in different locations, so we hung out til boarding. Thanks Dave!

In Calgary we stopped at Earls for lunch and then at Krispy Kreme to pickup some donuts. No trip to Calgary is complete without getting one of the hot, fresh original glazed donuts while waiting in line to buy four dozen! Finally we were on our way home. I realize now that I actually did a lot of driving over the weekend, and it just tired me out. Fortunately I slept longer than a few hours last night 🙂

For my pictures of our trip and the Expo, click here. Dickson will have more posted soon too, so check out his blog.

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!

Breaking out of his pod

Post ImageToday the Edmonton Journal featured the Alberta Centennial Edition, a collection of stories about 100 Albertans living and working in the province today. Along with each one is a related story about Alberta’s history. If you follow the above link and navigate to page 46, you’ll find an article entitled “Breaking out of his pod”, all about Dickson Wong.

It’s a really well-written article, although it says that Dickson sings in three choirs when in fact he plays piano in three choirs. In fact, Dickson is quite the piano man! He played last night at Yi-Li’s BBQ, and he often entertains guests at the Paramagnus offices, as seen here. The article talks about a number of things including Paramagnus, the podcasting robot, and Dickson’s Chinese heritage and language. It mentions our leather couch and frequent late night trips to Denny’s! I even got quoted a few times.

The subtitle of the article is “Versatile computer engineer aims to market podcasting software in China” – perhaps more a prediction for the future than an accurate representation of present day, but intriguing nonetheless. Dickson scanned in the article, which you can find here.

Congratulations Dickson!

Read: Alberta Centennial Edition

Podbot in Podcasting News

Post ImageThe folks over at Podcasting News were at Gnomedex last week, and they were kind enough to post a little something about our robot:

Podbot is built around a tablet pc with WiFi connectivity, allowing it to be remote-controlled wirelessly. Podbot runs a piece of software called Podcast Wizard. The software, combined with the custom hardware, makes it possible to remotely control and record podcasts, save them to Podbot’s hard drive, and upload them to a web server.

They’ve got a really nice write-up, so check it out. If you’re interesting in checking out the Podbot, it may be making an appearance at the Podcast Hotel in September – with a few upgrades of course.

Read: Podcasting News

Podbot in MAKE!

Post ImageWe were really fortunate to meet Phillip Torrone at Gnomedex, and to have the opportunity to chat with him about the Podbot. He’s got a new entry up in the MAKE: Blog on our beloved podcasting robot, so check it out. And watch future issues of Make Magazine because you never know, we might publish instructions on how to build your own!

The entry includes a number of pretty cool photos of the Podbot too. I especially like the one of me holding up my tablet with the control software open, looks pretty intense. If this is the first you’ve heard of the Podbot, be sure to check out our official site.

Read: Make Blog

Seattle Trip Day 5

Post ImageToday was just one of those days. We slept in a little. We didn’t do a whole heck of a lot. And we got some much needed rest and relaxation time. After we did finally get up and check messages, we went to the Pike Place Bagels shop for lunch. Next we decided to just wander around downtown. We went all through the famer’s market, to the original Starbucks, and to a few different local stores.

We ended up walking for quite a while, which killed a good part of the afternoon. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at Barnes and Noble to pick up a coule magazines. Once back at the hotel, we did a little reading, and eventually watched Secret Window on HBO. You can totally tell that the movie was written by Stephen King – it was pretty intense! Probably would have been a good one to see on the big screen now that I think of it.

We stopped at Subway for dinner tonight because it was close, and it had gotten quite cold and actually rained a little. Since coming back to the hotel, I’ve just been sitting here reading and listening to music, basically. I don’t remember the last time I sat and watched TV or the last time I just sat and read stuff for a few hours, so it has been nice and comfortable.

Tomorrow we’re heading on a three-hour city tour, so that should be fun. Then in the evening, it’s off to the airport to head home. Check out some photos I took of our Seattle adventures, and from Gnomedex.

Read: My Photos