DemoCampVancouver05 Live Blog

As an experiment, and to try something new that looks pretty fancy, I will be using CoverItLive to live blog tonight’s DemoCamp. During the live blog you’ll see me posting in real-time and you’ll also be able to comment as it is fully interactive. Once the live portion is complete, I will paste the archive here as well.

The live blog is over and available at the bottom of this post. Here’s some feedback as I think overall CoverItLive was pleasant from a readers’ perspective.

Posting

Comments

I’ll let this all marinate a little longer but my overall impressions of CiL were very positive. I believe there are more functions I haven’t yet explored (and perhaps even a more useful archive feature) so I’ll give it some time and a couple more chances.

Read the live blog (after the jump on the main page) as covered in CiL and pasted here from my in TextEdit. The CiL instant replay is available after the text, at the bottom of this post.

5:43
Okay it appears that CoverItLive is working from DemoCampVancouver05. Apparently I can’t use the consol to blog while in Safari so this is Firefox-a-licious. Hopefully anyone following along (if there is anyone following) won’t have any issues. Things are getting underway. With the instant live chat capability I feel like Dougie Howser…

5:47
Moderated by the always-fabulous Megan Cole, we’re going through the rundown. First, Battledecks (slide of powerpoint that was created and YOU don’t know what it is, but you have to “sell” it). Next everyone gets a chance to promo their demo, then we vote on the ones we want to see, then everyone goes at it.

5:47
Hmmm ability to go back and fix typos… not available.

5:48
Promo for the NEXT DemoCamp (which would be DemoCamp06), the theme will be Gaming.
A DemoCamp first.. only four people are putting their hats in the ring to do demos.

5:52
30 second pitch: Twemes
30 second pitch: Localiti
30 second pitch: These Are My Kids, by Kinzin

5:53
Switching to HTML mode to compose the live blog – although cannot publish in HTML mode

5:54
30 second pitch: Pulse
30 second pitch: Jamm
30 second pitch: MusicBrains
30 second pitch: Scannerfly

5:59
Can’t connect to wifi with my iPhone and all my pals with cameras aren’t in attendance (that’s you John Biehler, Phillip Jeffrey, and Duane Storey)

6:02
Twemes, Locality, Pulse and Scanner Fly have been voted in. Roland will now be trying to stream the presentations/demos on his Qik stream

6:04
“New guy” Richard is up as the first contestant on Battledecks.

His first slide states: “Cultivating Best-of-Breed… Convergence: Then and Now…. Leveraging the past, catapulting into the future”

6:06
Diagrams, charts and a lot of talk about catapults follows, including a slide featuring “donotological studies” and images of bovines. If you’re lost – you’re not the only one, but that’s half the fun of Battledecks.

6:07
Next is an image of a ninja…. “um how many slides are left?” followed by a “percentage chart that looks like pac-man” – that’s its official name, by the way.

6:09
The next person up for Battledecks is another newbie (Jeremy Lim – as seen at Facebook Developer Garage) who immediately asks about the possibility of dancing during the presentation. Pretty much anything goes, really.

6:12
Later. Rinse. Repeat. Jeremy’s on a roll, just breezing through the fictional slides. “How do you measure up?” a slide that features a bar graph that looks suspiciously…. like…. a part of the male anatomy is next, luckily to avoid awkwardness the next slide is put in place and it’s an lolcat – “Stop! Hammah Time”. Good times.

6:13
There were no winners (and no losers) and no prizes to be given, but the room is now warmed up for the first demo by Rochelle (one of my fellow Tech Women to Watch in 2008)

6:15
Rochelle is presenting about a mashup and as you may be able to guess, it’s a Twitter – meme. Basically it’s global tagging for Twitter.

6:17
Oh that part about guessing it’s a Twitter meme? That would have been more useful if I told you what the demo was about: Twemes.com. Anyone can include a “#” to tag your tweet so people can follow (and you can follow) specific topics. Twemes is “only as fast as Twitter itself” – you do not actually enter the information on Twemes.com

6:18
Thanks reader comments! I promise to fix all typos for the archive version.

6:20
Next up is Localiti – an internet app with a desktop client that will “make your communication life that much better, that much easier”.

6:21
Roland should be streaming now, I can *see* him. Try Qik.com/Roland to view the demos live.

6:23
@ Paul from CiL, thanks for the info! And I’ll try to make mention of CaseCampVancouver3, Cinci.

Back to Localiti, it’s supposed to save you from too many user accounts, too make access points and “information decay”.

6:25
[Comment From Tod]
You can publish specific comments by clicking the Add button on them… 🙂

6:26
[Comment From Tod]
Roland’s stream: “We think” (18 sec pause)…. “that” (14 sec pause)… “this will be”…(23 sec pause)

6:26
[Comment From Duane]
looks good

6:26
[Comment From Paul from CiL]
Ability to fix typos is provided for the completed blog only. So if you post the blog later for others to review (“replay mode”) you can fix anything you like… typos, remove entire entries, etc.

6:26
[Comment From Guest]
I just got on – there in spirit – would like perhaps you or Meg to mention CCV3 at the Lamplighter Feb. 20, 2008 at 5:45 pm – still looking for sponsors – have a great crowd coming! Contact [email protected] for any questions 🙂

6:26
[Comment From Daniel Gibbons]
Very cool to be able to “watch” DemoCamp even though I’m stuck at home with a migraine. Keep up the good work!

6:26
[Comment From Paul from CiL]
Anytime… just peeking in on the live blogs running to see how the users are enjoying it. Have a good night on behalf of the folks at CoveritLive!!

6:26
[Comment From Cinci Csere]
It’s a bit slow but I can see, thanks for that info 🙂

6:27
Zimbra is a similar product, “your email is broken, we can fix it.” Or it’s also similar to Orgoo – but these systems are still just for email. Localiti accesses much more, it’s a social networking tool (including instant messaging) for your projects that is more universally searchable – using groups and tags.

It organizes inputs, keeps information in context and prevents information access delay (so the slides tell me, anyway). Not sure I’m grasping the entire concept here – but I’m distracted by the liveblogging app.

6:29
Not sure about the website for Localiti, but Jason Murphy is the contact/presenter.

6:31
[Comment From Daniel Gibbons]
I think Orgoo already includes fully integrated IM.

6:33
Q and A session with Jason right now… I’m playing with Twemes (just posted a tweet using #democamp)… and it’s up!

6:34
[Comment From Tod]
Still no URL mentioned for Localiti??

6:35
No, he just had a slide with contact email, and phone number… I’ll find out after.
Next up is Pulse… who have a super-fun URL pul.se. It’s a Facebook app right now that’s based on a realtime search application.

6:36
[Comment From Daniel Gibbons]
@Tod: I met with Jason a month or so ago and it was very much at the concept stage, so there may not be a live site yet.

6:36
[Comment From Tod]
How many people are watching the liveblog, out of curiosity? (left panel, tools…)

6:36
More information about about pulse can be found on the Something Simpler website as well. pulse gets to “know you”. It will know what music you like, therefor what concerts coming through town that you may be interested in.

6:38
Hmm wonder if I can include images. I think that will have to wait for the archive post.

6:38
[Comment From Cinci Csere]
This is very cool, could come but here in spirit 🙂

6:38
I’m not sure which comments to publish haha

6:39
Note to self: Private Message Tod.

6:40
I wonder, will CiL save comments for the archive? Even ones I don’t publish?

6:41
The Beta for pulse starts tomorrow – feedback is requested.

6:42
Photos are uploaded, not sure how to move them into the chat.

6:43
[Comment From Tod]
Pul.se seems to be yet another “Hey, let’s compare what kind of music we like!” app. “Dare to compare!” is their tagline. How about “Dare to piss off your friends by sending another pointless app invitation to them?”

6:43
[Comment From Tod]
Twemes, on the other hand, seems cool and actually useful with its RSS feeds for specific topics. Easy way to track conversations a specific event, company, etc. I can’t believe nobody’s thought of it until now!

6:44
[Comment From Tod]
It would be cool, though, to be able to have an account on Twemes so that I can filter out certain topics from appearing. I don’t care about #cparty, for instance, but everyone’s talking about it on there.

6:46
pulse will also find the latest albums from your favourite bands, as well as concert updates…. although in the demo it just found that the presenter might be interested in the new Monster Magnet release. Hmm….

6:46
[Comment From Tod]
Even better: Let me give it a list of #tags I’m following, then it can (a) show me those only on the front page, and (b) give me a consolidated RSS feed with all those comments. (Right now, you subscribe one #tag at a time.)

6:47
I like how I’m test-driving something new at DemoCamp. I almost seem to fit in now.

6:51
[Comment From Tod]
pic worked! 🙂

6:51
Re: pulse – worried about a name conflict with Plaxo’s Pulse?… not so much.

6:55
pulse’s presentation is over, the room is clambering with folks discussing the products and demos so far…. although I think my hungry belly might be drowning out their voices at this point.

6:56
[Comment From Tod]
We saw the whole question when it popped up. It pops up over the chat so we kind of “have” to answer.

6:57
Next up is ScannerFly – SDK…. Brendan Wilson who made everyone stand up and stretch, “reach up and reveal your programmer belly!”

6:59
“Entering product data is rediculous – multi-step, slow and increases friction to adoption.” ScannerFly would like to handle and resolve inventory problems ahhhh, barcodes.

7:01
Web-based barcode scanner from image… How to extract data from a low-resolution file or something in low-light? Turn any/every webcam into a barcode scanner with Scannerfly.

7:02
[Comment From Paul from CiL]
FYI, If viewers click on the “Answer Now” link, they will see the popup again with the entire question.

7:02
[Comment From Tod]
Barcodes!! What will they think of next!! 😉

7:02
[Comment From Tris Hussey]
Coming in late here…Twemes looks cool

7:03
Ah there’s an online demo for Scannerfly – Cinci may be able to help me out if that doesn’t work.

7:04
Scannerfly: Basically you would be sending or receiving something with a barcode OR taking inventory information, simply hold up the barcode to your webcam and ZING! it scans it in.

7:05
Now comes times for the developer talk… it’s all flash-based, simple for users to implement.

7:06
[Comment From Daniel Gibbons]
Be interesting to know if Brendon has any thoughts on Google’s print advertising initiative that uses barcode tagging and cellphone readers to measure response

7:06
[Comment From Tris Hussey]
Scannerfly … wow. Also could be great for quick POS instead of complicated systems.

7:06
@Tris… better than those red lasers that dance around and blind customers I suppose eh

7:07
[Comment From Tod]
Is ScannerFly a local firm? Brendan’s phone number at the end of his Flash demo has a San Fran area code. I thought DemoCamp was supposed to be all local developers?

7:07
There’s a few Silicon Valley dudes here, I believe the Localiti guy is a transplant as well.

7:08
Question: Could this be put on a cellphone?

7:09
[Comment From Tod]
I guess if they live here now, it’s cool. But what prevents a company from going to lots of DemoCamps everywhere? I suppose they’re still at the will of the 30-sec-pitch vote. Who said communism was dead? ‘;-)

7:10
Yeah I gues you could work a “circuit”… but maybe you’re recruiting, need more ideas, need VC… dunno
7:10
[Comment From Tris Hussey]
Could ScannerFly jump into NoAm instead of QR codes?

7:11
QR codes: they’re those funky 2 dimenional things … they’re designed inherently to overcome the hurdles of the 1 dimensional codes, so they would be the next step – and probably a natural “next step”
7:12
Open Forum: Upcoming Events!

7:14
i lost power!

7:15
Northern Voice, Feb 22-23…. CaseCamp Feb 20th, FusionForum, Feb 20 or 21….LaunchParty most likely late March…. next DemoCamp probably March April and the next Nitobi hack day is Saturday. Links will be up in the archive.

7:15
[Comment From Tod]
Working a democamp circuit isn’t a bad idea (although pricey) but it would kind of turn these local democamps into mini trade shows. I find the value in them to be that they showcase cool people doing cool things IN my city.

7:15
[Comment From Daniel Gibbons]
I think it’s a good thing to attract “outsiders” to local events. The more competition the better, and it’s a sign that the tech scene here is lively enough to have its own gravity.

7:17
How to find out about upcoming events? Look on Facebook, Upcoming and Barcamp wikis, also check TechVibes and blogs for cross-promotion.

I think things are wrapping up – thanks everyone! I’m going to see if I can possibly figure out how to archive all this (it’s probably completely simple).

7:17
[Comment From Tod]
Third Tuesday most likely Feb 26

7:17
11 viewers now, awesome

7:18
[Comment From Tod]
It automatically archives.

7:18
[Comment From Tod]
Thanks Rebecca! This was good. I napped too long to make it down in time. 🙂

7:18
Cinci – they announced CCV3 🙂

7:19
[Comment From Tod]
http://www.bctechnology.com/frameset_events.html Also great source of tech events.

7:20
[Comment From Tris Hussey]
Rebecca look for the “download the code” once this is done and paste into the post. Very easy.

7:20
hmm… Tools > Get Embed Code?

7:22
Okay I think I’m going to attempt to sign out and get this archived. I also require some dinner – thanks everyone!!

7:23
This Live Blog has now ended.