In addition to what I do here at b5media, I’m also one of the Intruders.tv Canada.  While at DEMO I recorded several interviews and they are all ready to go up now.  The first of the 10 is xtranormal!

Interview with DEMOgod winners xtranormal

The remainder of the videos are going to go up over the rest of the week.  Just keep an eye there, I’m not going to post every video here, just my favourites.

I’m home now.  The cold that started to tighten its grip on my head Wednesday is slowly abating.  Something about sleeping for fourteen hours helps.

During the DEMOgod awards dinner I was sitting with Don Dodge and Brian Solis, we had a great conversation (who knew that we are all Patriots fans!).

Regardless I had been wanting to meet Don in person the whole time.  It was awesome to finally get the chance.  Getting to put a real person together with their words is always something that just adds richness to what you’re reading.

Don told Brian and I about the Flight of the Conchords from CES … and sent us the link

that he included in his post.

Certainly worth a watch.

Fresh from the DEMO 2008 dinner I am excited to let everyone know that Montreal-based xtranormal won a coveted DEMOgod award tonight.

Of course nine other companies won as well, but before I let you know about them, let me refresh your memory about xtranormal.

They make a very cool and simple 3D animation tool that you can use online to make short, or long, segments that include scenes, dialog, and even actions.

Very proud of all the Canadians who were at DEMO and special congrats to xtranormal.

Great, great job.

Oh, the other winners?

People’s choice was: atlaspost.com www.atlaspost.com

The other winners were:

• BitGravity, Inc. www.bitgravity.com
• Ecrio, Inc. www.ecrio.com
• Education.com www.education.com
• Flypaper, Inc. www.freshbrew.com
• Green Plug, Inc. www.greenplug.com
• LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. www.leapfrog.com
• Livescribe, Inc. www.livescribe.com
• Sprout, Inc. www.sproutfusion.com
• Vidyo™, Inc. www.vidyo.com

Congratulations to all 77 companies who presented, just for being here, and to the winners of the DEMOgod award.

The fun kicks off at 2 PM … see you there!

Live Blog:

DEMO 2008 Afternoon Sessions

(01/30/2008)  Powered by: CoveritLive

  

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2:10	Chris is giving out free stuff …

2:17	KonoLive www.konolive.com

2:17

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2:19	Collaboration sw … little IM-like software … comments pop up on the screen over  the document

2:20	Here is the question … adding comments to a document, but not really editing it?  Is that really helpful?

2:21	Should collaboration SW really be “instant”?

2:21

chalex …

2:22

[Be Right Back Countdown]

5 minutes

2:27	bpdam is the name of the product. Okay, the UI is bad.  Terrible, like pre-2000 bad. Their market is clearly enterprise.  Its focus is security, auditing, etc. … Spoke to them Monday night.

2:29	Huddle is up next … and I’m looking forward to this.  Huddle’s new FB app … I tried it yesterday … can really bring business to Facebook.

2:33	www.huddle.net

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2:34	I’ve used Huddle since Office 2.0 … and adding this FB app … I think it’s really cool

2:37

Rove Mobile  From Ottawa on stage … I saw it action.  I couldn’t belive it eventhough I saw it … a Blackberry controling a PC … and seeing the PC screen on the Berry screen.  Data transfer you ask … yeah me too.  It was minor.  Like few hundred k or less.  It’s so well optimized they say.  Fewer colours, only sending what you need to see when you need to see it.

2:41	PCMobilizr … I have it on a flash drive they gave me … but haven’t installed it yet.  Generally I’m with my computers but … the execution of the tech is so cool I just have to try it.

2:48

Catalyst Web Services … oh boy a whole office suite via the web.  Dunno I’m not stoked about this.  I’ve tried similar services, let me replace your usual email client with a web-based system that isn’t even pleasing to the eye. They are trying to show their differentiating factor that their documents load fast.  I didn’t see something that caught my eye.

2:52	Sterna … business positioning system (BPS) .. ah a business information system with nice graphics.  Is that it?

2:56

asankya …

3:01

Network optimization … Parallel Networking.  Idea here is that you find multiple paths on the global network to get data to-from the users and servers.  Traffic is optimized both down and up.  This is amazing to see … but who is it for.  They are working with InQTel (?) … US intelligence community.  Hypermesh is their new product.  But the problem is that they haven’t made clear who would be their customers … does this go on the ISP side or what?

3:07	Kaazing … real time message brokering for the Internet that is scalable.  I gather that this is a server level app layer that should make it more efficient.

3:15

Nirvanix … distributed file storage and delivery.  Coupled with tech/sw to adjust the delivery for multiple clients … PCs, mobile, etc. Customer example FreeDrive on Facebook.  Pretty darn cool, upload a basic WMV and the video can be seen in a browser … the format is adjusted on the fly.  That’s pretty cool.  The data transmition was cool.  They made the clear comparison to Akamai … I think the only differateing factor is that Akamai doesn’t do any transcoding.

3:21	Squidcast video storage and sharing.  High quality sharing and transmition.  Squidcast handles the conversion of the file format so people can see it regardless.  A high def video file was convertered to MP4 …

3:22	Ah … it uses P2P technology to temporarily use client drive space to distribute.

3:23	This has some potential … Shel and I will try

3:30

Yoics … Controlling and managing web-accessable devices, through an IM-like client. Shared folders become virtual servers … I’m impressed.  The file sharing, this without configurations on the network.  Music streaming sounded very good.  There is a mobile client or mobile capable.  looking at a document on an iPhone was nice. The shared camera is streaming, and tied to the camera device, not the computer.

3:37	delver … formerly semingo … user assisted search … You do a search and it checks your query against information people in your social networks.  This could be really valuable to revealing what you need to know from your friends who already know it.

3:39	HealthPricer … Expedia for Health (and they are Canadian … from Vancouver no less!) Got a look at this too.  You search for a health product, say vitamins or contact lenses, and they find the places to buy it and how much it is at various resellers.

3:40	[Comment From Andy] Delver looks very promising, but the demo seems like it isn't ready for prime time yet

3:41	@Andy yes … a tad rough, real potential though for finding information.

3:41	www.healthpricer.com

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3:45	HealthPricer told me that they focused on the States first, but can make versions for different countries and even different verticals (beyond health … electronics?)

3:52

Eyealike simple and clean demo.  They are trying to solve the copyright issue by being able to search through social media websites against a library of “real” content.  It is very, very sophisitcated.  Amazing actually.  I think, however, it is for companies to buy and use against you and I. Is this wrong?  No, of course not.  Actually a consumer version of this for folks like me who take lot of pictures and post on Flickr.  I’d love to know if my pics are being used in ways that I don’t allow through my CC lisense.

3:55	SiloBreaker www.silobreaker.com

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3:58	Very, very cool technology.  I have to play with it.  The example of searching for Davos and pulling out results that don’t match or are relavant … and see the relationship among all the results.

4:04	Circos … focused search.  Me-centric search.  Basically it learns about you, like through your Facebook profile (through their app).  Right now just resturants and hotels … and I think just in the States.

4:05	Given a lot of these new search tools … would you try these over Google?

4:08	Jodange … looking at the sentiment of opinion on a topic or issue.

4:13	WOW!  SiloBreaker … play with it!  Now!  Really! http://www.flickr.com/photos/tris/2231887386

4:24	AfraGadget Panel: Technology is picking up on Africa … I had no idea.  It’s amazing.  The use of tech to do good things.  Things that make peoples’ lives better.  What a concept.

4:34	How important is the $100 laptop?  Is it important?  More important than the basics that are also urgently needed? But is getting kids into technology at a young age building a future for them?

4:35	Balkanization of Net by cultural nuances

4:38	What is the role of the First World in the development of the Third?

4:42	South Africa has the lead … because its economy is ahead, but this doesn’t mean that Kenya is far behind.  Maybe just a little seed money could launch a great company with a great idea.

4:44	Cell phone signal “in the middle of no where” … cell towers powered by wind and solar.  Pay as you go has opened the market to many … no contract, ease of entry.  Mobile is growing fast in Africa.

4:47	No handouts, no kid gloves … real advice.  Real critiques.  Don’t hold back.  That’s the advice from Mike Stopforth

4:48	That’s a wrap folks!  Next might be live DEMOGod awards.

4:48	This Live Blog has now ended.

Less chatter, but still live …

Live Blog:

DEMO 2008 Day 2 Morning

(01/30/2008)  Powered by: CoveritLive

  

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8:44	Good morning from DEMO08 Day 2!  Chris Shippley did a great morning dance, with giving away free software … got us going. BitGravity is talking about their streaming service.  Which many of you have been watching.  Did you know it was in HighDef?  Yeah no kidding.  It’s amazing

8:49

[Poll]

Will streaming HighDef video over the net change things dramatically? Yes, omg, yes  ( 100% ) No way  ( 0% ) Someday, not now  ( 0% )

8:54	Cozimo, from Montreal and CA is on stage talking about their interactive, collaborative fim-making.  So I guess like ConceptShare for video.  Think about that. Looking at Cozimo www.cozimo.com/ – very interesting tech to see the collaboriative video process

9:00

xtranormal, also from Montreal, on stage. I got a demo from them yesterday … www.xtranormal.com Very easy to use, the auto camera stuff is fun … now okay this is amazing stuff … but what is the market?  Who will really use it?  It seems to me (fitting since Shel Israel is sitting next to me) … that Canada is really leading the way in animation and 3D

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9:07	Capzles on stage … more video.  This is for building an online video diary.  Videoblogging … in timelines …  etc.  Flash-based interface.  Good, but … yeah not a solid demo … I didn’t get the answer to the “yeah so…” question.

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9:10	HubDub … I’ve be hearing buzz about them. This is a service for forcasting news … what will the future hold.

9:11	www.hubdub.com

9:13	They guys started good … but why do I want to try to predict the news?  What should I do this on their site.  Maybe I’m a cynic.  Okay, I am a cynic.  Sorry I’m not getting it … They are saying I can use this to “prove” my credibility?  Isn’t that what my writing does?

9:15	iLeonardo … on stage.  Umm where is the demo part?

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9:17	www.ileonardo.com

9:19	iLeonardo … this is search with social bookmarking.  Okay you’re building notebooks of information to share and gather.  I’ll get an invite code to try it.  The demo didn’t do it for me.

9:20	www.atlaspost.com

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9:25	Blogging with geography … the question is why.  Okay … be blunt.  We’re hot in Taiwan give us money in the States … and we’ll be big in China.

9:29	youchoose.net/

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9:31	YouChoose … how will this succed where CoComment failed?

9:34	Buzka PopNets ..  another notebooking, searching … focusing on travel … popnets.com/

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9:37	Redux social networking and online dating … meeting new people.  Connecting people who don’t know each other.

9:40	redux.com/

9:42	Here is the essential problem.  Building more and more social networks, isn’t all that helpful.  Sure Redux might help you find people who share similar interests, but gee I already do that.  Again … this is a critical mass issue

9:43	W00t! Standout Jobs is in the house!

9:44	“HR isn’t about Human Resources, it’s about human relationships.” — Ben Yoskovitz

9:46	I got an early look at this offering called Reception.  It is great.  Having had to help HR build career sites — it sucks.  I like the fast and easy layout options.  It’s fun, interesting and lets people get an inside look at companies.

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9:48	Yes, I’m biased.  I’ve know and worked with Ben for nearly two years.  I think he’s sharp and cool.  I chatted with him this morning in the press room … gave him tips on presenting–doesn’t look like he needed them!  Great job!

9:50	www.standoutjobs.com

9:51	Liquidus Corp … video creation and sharing.

9:57	The product is called Spotsense … yeah, bad demo.  Sorry guys, you lost me

9:57	TubeMogul on stage … listening

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10:01

Interesting … upload through them … send your video to multiple places and give you analytics on them across the site.

10:02

Just closed their Series A VC round … didn’t say how much.  It looks really interesting.  Wonder … hmm

10:07

Visible Measures … analytics for video.  See how people are interacting with video.  How it’s being watched and where it’s going online.  This is an umet need for sure. Hmm, parters with BrightCove … which is doing the video I guess … wow gelocating where people are watching.

10:08

You know this it pretty darn cool, of course I’m a stats wonk … but I liked what I saw.

10:11

PCHealth Check … I got their demo at their space.  I dunno … you run their free app and it it scans your machine for problems, etc. then recommends changes.  I can’t remember if it supports Vista.

10:16

The thing that scares me about these auto scanning fixing things is that sometimes they make things worse because they are based on general assumptions.

10:16

No link to PCHealthCheck ’cause you can’t get to it!  Dude, lame.

10:17

Pathworks Software … providing customer service help

10:21

Helpstream … how is this better.  You need to answer that question in your demo.  Helpstream is integrating “crowdsourced”  help (forums, etc) … okay so what it means that customer support can flag an answer as the best answer from the community.  So if this is tied into their support ticket system … I can see that this would be helpful.  Now, the question is … is that a good thing?  How good are their forums?  Wouldn’t it be better if they just tied into standard forums?

10:22

Wow, Helpstream … is free?  www.helpstream.biz

10:22

Okay, how, pray tell, will they earn money?  What are they selling?

10:24

supportspace  www.supportspace.com

10:27

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10:31

This is a little different … people register as “experts” and they help people … and sometimes for cash.  Risky?  What do you think?

10:32

To any new readers … you can comment live in this little window thingy

10:33

[Poll]

Would you use and online support tool to fix your computer Yes, I am a computer idiot  ( 60% ) Hands off buddy  ( 40% )

10:36

[Comment From Keith from CiL] Hey Tris. Just opened up some popcorn. Kicking back watching this. Like the pics.

10:36

[Comment From Keith from CiL] Guru.com 1999

10:36

[Comment From akshay] what do people think of http://www.tvduck.com

10:36

Aternity, another support solution.  You know I didn’t get their “I’m different because ..”

10:38

MANDIANT … eek the Internet is a scary place!  Oh no there is stuff that spyware and anti-virus can’t find and clear!

10:38

“Find evil, do good, justice … ”

10:41

MANDIANT … okay their solution is a box.  This is an enterprise solution … but what about the people who work at home or connect remotely?

10:42

[Poll]

Should MANDIANT release a consumer product to find evil? Yes, like yesterday  ( 67% ) Eh, why bother  ( 33% )

10:44

Symantec is up next … I’m not a fan of their software … always bogs things done.  Their solution is a “family safety initiative” …

10:45

[Comment From Jevon] Great work Tris!!

10:45

Thank you Jevon!

10:47

This sw needs to be installed on every computer in the house.  Oh boy another Symantec product to slow down everyone in the house.  Charming.

10:49

In my house, the kids’ computer is in my line of sight.  I keep tabs on what is going on … you know this is about trust.  Dad being able to block specific people on IM … keep tabs on Facebook, etc too …

10:50

I’m not sure about this.  I know it’s important … but I’m not sure that this is the answer

10:52

good2gether … helping collecting people to non-profits to volunteer. www.good2gether.com

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10:55

[Comment From Andy] They've got good branding. their tshirts' call to action: DoGood

10:55

[Comment From Keith from CiL] Tris, how many of the demos in the last two days have some sort of charming cutout of a person involved in their logo/homepage…got to be 65%

10:55

Yes, non-profits suck at online marketing.  Yes, they need help.  Yes it would be great to help them more … This is why I just help organizations I like … whatever they need, they get my time.  Simple as that.

10:56

DoGood is a great slogan.  And I think we should all consider how we can help?  What organization that you support could use even a little SEO help?  How about a nice WP-powered website?

10:57

Yeah I guess that the cardboard cut out seems to be the style du jour.

10:58

And this is wrap for the morning … Chris is just wrapping up.

11:01

Thanks to all of you who have been reading along, and esp people who have commented.  Catch you after lunch!

11:01

This Live Blog has now ended.

Day 1 of DEMO is in the can and … wow what a day of contrasts.  There were some awesome demos–apps or services you start to try before the six minutes are up–and those you just have a WTF moment.

There were a couple presentations that didn’t go as well as planned (including a softly uttered f-bomb) and others that were polished and flawless.  That is, of course, the way it is at conferences.  However DEMO is different.  Selected companies have to pay $19,000 to be here and present for 6, yes 6, minutes.  That’s a ton of pressure.  Most presentations were heavily scripted.  Like high school drama club production scripted.  I understand, but it makes you have to look beyond the presenter and more at the app.  Not an easy task.

Marshall hammered out a great post during the morning session while sitting next to men–The Pros and Cons of DEMO - ReadWriteWeb.  And he waxed melodic about Sprout’s new SproutBuilder–SproutBuilder: You’ve Got to See This Drag and Drop Widget Maker (go and sign up ASAP before they close down the semi-open beta)–during the afternoon session.

All this time when other bloggers and journalists were working on one great post (which then is on Techmeme, etc) … I live blogged the morning session at DEMO and the afternoon session at DEMO.  Which is making me wonder…what if I did what Shel Israel and Graeme Thickins are doing which is to just tweet the sessions and have their mental energy for later.

While CoverItLive did a great job for me today … blogging for a solid three hours is rough.  I don’t think I will do it again tomorrow.  I’ll take notes (liberal use of SnagIt and OneNote I think) and just use Twitter for my thoughts on each demo.

In the morning, when my brain has had a chance to recharge, I’ll reflect on yesterday’s presenters and look at what is coming up as well.

Today only one Canadian company, SceneCaster, presented, tomorrow it’s the remaining 5.

I’m also slowly getting the hang of the video camera.  Remembering to check the battery in the mic and that it’s actually on … good things when interviewing.

Those videos will be up … no earlier than the weekend, but yeah I got some good ones.

Until then … see you in the morning.

For at least a little while I’m going to hang out in the press room and watch the streaming video.  Yeah I won’t get as many pictures, but I have a hard wire connection.

Live Blog:

Afternoon Session at DEMO

(01/29/2008)  Powered by: CoveritLive

  

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2:09	I decided that I’d upload pics to flickr with the media only hardline instead of going into the sessions.  Three hours is a long time.

2:10	I’m going to watch the live stream and hope that I can hear well enough.  Looks like things are getting off to a slow start.

2:11	BTW … if you’re reading this page live … and I hope you ar.  Please feel free to enter a comment, answer the polls, etc.

2:13	Chris says the afternoon sessions about simplicity.  And Chris is bang on … making something simple is extremely hard.

2:14	LiquidTalk … making podcasting easy.

2:14	Why is he wearing his Bluetooth headset?

2:16

[Poll]

Would you like to have movies and podcasts on your mobile phone? Totally! Hit me baby!  ( 33% ) No, my phone is still a brick  ( 0% ) Eh, not really.  ( 67% )

2:16	Software as a service … and this is all about pushing content to mobile devices.  Is the future all mobile?  I don’t know if I’d like to watch this stuff on something as small as a phone.

2:17	They are announcing today there service/software now works on the Blackberry.

2:20	Sure it looked great, but I don’t know.  In Canada the data rates would kill you.

2:23	Zodico … mobile content on demand.  Again … why … is this the centre of the universe?

2:24	Okay I can get a coupon from Dominos … I’m still unconvinced

2:25	You know the ordering a 100 pizzas from Dominos on stage is just, well, tired.  Sorry.  Maybe I’m jaded.

2:26	116 of 191 photos from this morning up on Flickr … In case you’d like to see ;)

2:28	voyant … financial planing .voyant@home  financial planning and what if anaylsis.  Will this be the Mint of DEMO 2008?

2:28	Oh of course it’s free.

2:30	I shouldn’t make fun, considering I could use this kind of help.

2:31	This does look like simple what if analysis to try to match your income to your dreams (buying a house, kids to University, retiring in style)

2:34	So the revenue model here, I would gather, is that they have sold some software to financial planners who then offer advice to the people using the free software.

2:34	People are winning stuff on stage (Zune, MSFT sw ) whew I wasn’t called. ;)

2:35	Review2Buy …

2:38	okay … this product … another mobile one is geared to helping pick things to buy … while you’re in the store.  You text a query … like a make and model of a camera or a wine … and get reviews SMSed back to you.

2:40	You know this sounds groovy … The service also can do comparison shopping … are you getting the best price. Useful service for sure.  So I wouldn’t want to get sales training videos on my phone, but making sure I buy the right thing at the right price … that’s cool.

2:41	I case you’re wondering … yes, I’m going to put links up to today’s companies later today.

2:45	Electronic health records … Acesis is trying to make EHRs better because they had doctors help design it.  Still going to be a tough sell.  Yes, pen and paper is easy … and portible and doesn’t break you drop it on the floor (like a tablet PC).

2:47	Now I will say that this can provide real value to patients and doctors … why?  Gee I don’t even have to wait for his answer … just pulling things together is important.

2:47	BTW … the pics from the morning are all up now.

2:54	Now I’m back in the session room watching the blist demo … this is a web-based visual database builder.  As we were talking about at lunch … Zoho Creator, Dabble DB, Filemaker … Google Base … will a nice ui let it win the day?

2:59	ecrio … mobeam.  Beam barcodes into a device I think … this is supposed to make using coupons easier … tied into barcodes.  Ah, this device uses a fast-flickering LED instead of a laser (whew because that might be problematic).  Another device to carry.  Oh good it’s keychain sized.

3:00	The device receives offers from retailers and looks like an iPod-ish thing.  They are taking the green angle (no paper used or wasted) … I can deal with that.  Now, is the device free?

3:02	On the retailer side .. they can adopt it without changing HW or SW.  It could have potential, but I don’t think I’d buy one.  Rather retailers support by giving them to consumers … a loyalty program-esque.

3:06	CellSpin … sending content from your phone to your social media site of choice. Sending video to an ebay auction … that’s pretty new.  The technology is ad supported … after you post the item, you are shown an ad.  Seems fair.

3:09	Another send media to from phone to the social media world … Utterz, Seesmic … how many other services do this?  Is there room for them?  I wonder if really the cool bit is the tech behind the scenes.

3:09	And we’re moving into the world of content creation …

3:12	Flypaper … presentations to flash .. they want want to make Flash easy. Create stories with templates … they call the “models” … like almost a scrapbooking app.  The idea is not having to program in Flash …

3:14	The example is building an interactive resume.  It does look pretty cool.  Okay … this takes your typical powerpoint and makes it pretty cool.  If this takes off could powerpoint get even more wild?

3:15	As you’d expect the next demo is taking the resume model/template and making it a marketing presentation.  Frankly, if you can use PowerPoint … this would be easy.

3:16	Okay … why is Flypaper totally free?  They don’t explain that … that’s a question at the booth I think.

3:19	GoldMail … hmm more interactive email.  It is also like a Flash thing .. rich media email messaging …

3:22	GoldMail Business is their new product … I gather is a white labeled v of GoldMail.  There is a client app for you to use.  Creation looks simple.  You upload the file to their servers, then get a link and embed code … send the link via email and …

3:23	Now while this is great, and the players is slick (basically a flash player) … still might not get you to open the email.

3:25	sprout … web-based, drag and drop why to create Flash files.  Pretty slick.

3:28	Now the widget, and this is cool, you post it, host, it somewhere, but when users look at it … you can copy the embed code too …

3:31

so the whatever (they are using Ben Harper as an example) the object you build can become viral.  I have to say, while I’m getting pretty stale on web-based techs … yeah I know.  Regardless, a Flash development is expensive and buying the software yeah … you see.  So this might be a great way to do something hot and then move on…

3:37	GreenPlug … trying to make a universal power thing.  They make a chip, and give it away, that goes in the device (iPod, laptop, camera, etc) and then it would “talk” to a GreenTalk power supply and supply only the power needs for as long as it’s needed.

3:38	While this might not seem cool and sexy … how many power supplies do you carry around?  I have at least three with me all the time.  Imagine carrying only one …  Now the manufacturers have to get it into devices…

3:39	Celsias … I talked with them earlier today before lunch.

3:41	www.celsias.com/ they want to help people start and fund projects to help save the planet.  You all know that global climate change was my academic passion, clearly this is up my alley.

3:42	So your project can be used to communicate or raise money for a project.

3:42	[Comment From Keith from CoveritLive] Hey Tris. This one is nice work. Nice chunks of commentary. Not so rushed. Found your groove…

3:42	[Comment From Keith from CoveritLive] When we went looking for a domain name, we quickly learned that 'Fahrenheit' and 'Celsius' were not available, so we next looked for derivatives of those two words, and a bright spark came-up with 'Celsias'

3:45

The platform is flexible … and the revenue model appears to be ad supported.  That’s okay.  And coming soon is a marketplace to sell green products.  The marketplace is a great idea. Imagine being able to get a class involved with some ecological idea … and raising awareness about it.  Looks simple and fun.  Note to self, tell kids’ teachers about this…

3:47	Panel discussion time … turning ideas into innovations…

3:50

This reminds me of the book the myth of innovation.  That was a great read.  It is true … yes I have those moments that could be called “ah ha!” … but really it is the product of getting lots of pieces and finally finding the connector.  That stroke of inspriation tends to come to me when I least expect it. My last challenge was getting a custom comment form for a blog/website.  Some categories needed one comment form, another a different one.  i tried if , else out the wazoo … but couldn’t get it to work … then … boom.  Remembering a another bit of code … remembering a file name … poof I had my answer and it took only minutes to put into place.

3:51

[Poll]

When do you get your ideas… as I’m sleeping  ( 0% ) in the shower  ( 50% ) on a walk  ( 50% ) doing a mundane task  ( 0% )

3:58	This neo-natal device to teach preemies to nurse/suck properly … wow.  Might seem like something that you’d just know (i.e. how to eat) … however it is a learned behaviour that partially comes in later in gestational development.

4:00	app2you … another quick web-based DB creator.  Not as sexy as the one from earlier … blists …

4:02	Sprout … it looks cool.  Marshall is waxing melodic about it … URL: sproutbuilder.com

4:04	Yes … I’ve been taking a pause from typing here to Tweet … yeah I’m the ADD poster boy.

4:06	Okay … I know this person is smart and is on the panel … but he’s showing off his start up for MUCH MUCH more than 6 mins … I hope he paid.  It really wouldn’t be fair to other companies.  Esp. if they are also in the competition. On the plus side the apps isn’t that exciting. Nor is his talk.

4:08	Now the key to anything that starts as an idea to make it real … is hard work.  And luck.

4:13

The innovation comes from collaboration … of course the missing piece to a puzzle is often something from the outside that you don’t think is even close to related.  If you’ve seen the Shell Oil commercial about oil drilling … the idea coming from a bendy straw … that’s inspiration.  That’s innovation.  You mind … must be open.  You must be able to see the bigger picture. And be ready to be hit over the head with the idea.  It doesn’t, usually, hurt

4:15	And now back to the DEMO demos …

4:19	Citrix … XenDesktop … virtual machines.  The idea is that users don’t notice … umm what is it running on?

4:22	Okay, instant on. Everything is running on machines in the data center … but … it has to use something. … Monitors don’t run on their own. I guess it’s somekind of thin device … need an app … it just runs.  No installs.  Access from anywhere.  I guess it can’t be used offline, eh?

4:22	Now … what if you had a light laptop running some kind of micro OS … then sync when connected … yeah I guess nort

4:23	Up next … StackSafe.  They linked here last week.  I was wondering what they do…

4:28

StackSafe TestCenter so you have to patch your server … instead of pushing it live … you can do a virtual rollout … and see if it will wrecksomething. Yeah good idea.  Now, I’ve never rolled out a “fix” to a website and taken it down.  I’ve never tweaked a server config file live and taken down about 6 websites … Yeah right.

4:29	For a lot of you ready this … maybe not you Brian of the b5 tech team (you’re still reading right?) …

4:30	SceneCaster!  A Canadian company!  Finally! W00t!

4:34	[Comment From Brian] Oh yea, of course I am!

4:34	[Comment From Brian] Are you trying to imply something about the occasional roll out issues? meh Issues never happen…

4:35	Nope Brian … but of all the things I’ve seen today you might be interested in that

4:36	So you can even look at it on things like an iPod Touch.  And soon launching SceneCaster Japan!

4:37	I see this being big in Japan.  I don’t know about me … I’m not that artistic…

4:40	LiveScribe … pulse smart pen.  Write notes, record them to the computer … do you have to use special paper … I love to jot and doodle.  Oh wow … live audio recording as you’re taking notes … that could be very cool for a meeting.

4:41	I’ll have to give this a try … of course that’s what everyone is thinking too.

4:44	I can imagine doing this mapping out ideas … something that I always want to do.    So the paper is special and will be sold for the same price as regular note books and the pens … $100-$200

4:44	And up next … Seesmic!

4:46	I gather that Seesmic is now open beta … and I gather Loic LeMeur is going to talk about a new mobile client. Ooops first try recording didn’t work!  All the beta service.

4:48

[Poll]

Would you buy the LightScribe pen? Yes!  ( 50% ) No, I like kickin’ it old skool  ( 0% ) No, the special paper is a turn off  ( 50% ) Gimme one!  ( 0% )

4:50	I did several Seesmic videos ..and thought it was really cool.  Loic describes Seesmic as the CNN of my friends. So the mobile phone … demoed on the N95.  Cool Kosso gets a shout out for his Seesmic search (madly looking for link to him…)

4:52	One last demo … oh dear Chris started the intro with talking about Facebook.  This doesn’t bode well … MOLI … ah a social networking site where you have multiple profiles!

4:54

This has been one of my main gripes with Facebook, your public persona, work persona, and private persona can start to blur together. So moli lets you decide if a type of profile (student ,work, family, etc) … is public, private, or even hidden (so people don’t find out about your secret tea cozy fetish).

4:56	Wow this profile reminds me of a cross between Netvibes/Pageflakes and Facebook.  Seems a little more “grown up” than Facebook.

4:57	I can’t imagine having to do these presentations in 6 mins.  No wonder people are reading most of the time.  It’s all timed and such.

5:00	iVideotunes … a new way to learn music.  Wow you get lessons by watching greats like Graham Nash … they’ve worked out licenses with the publishers.  They accurate, original, and taught by the artist …

5:01	Non-DRM … view anywhere.

5:02	W00t! John Oates of Hall and Oates … teaching us “She’s Gone”

5:03	Listening … as should you

5:06	And that’s a wrap

5:07	Like the irony of the Talking Heads … Same as it ever was

5:08	I think my last comment on the iVideotunes didn’t get through … Basically I don’t know how much the service costs, but to learn from the greats … wow.

5:08	Time to do some video!  Catch you on the flipside!

5:10	This Live Blog has now ended.

It should be starting soon watch this space …

Live Blog:

DEMO08 Opening Keynote

(01/29/2008)  Powered by: CoveritLive

  

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8:39	Good morning from DEMO08–this time for real!

8:41	Looks like things are getting under way soon.  Marshall Kirkpatrick says this is first time he’s been at the keynote at DEMO

8:42	Dancing on stage!

8:43	Got great pics of Chris Shippley dancing on stage with the stage crew. Very nice

8:44	Looked at 100s of companies … picked 77.  Chris feels that this is like casting runes on the tech industry

8:46	Beyond Web 2.0 , beyond tech etc … what is the larger market … what is going on overall. Bringing the larger pieces to together “magic happens”.  Yes, this is very true.  It is the amalgum (sp?) of all the good stuff.

8:47	We want more … bandwidth, resolution, security, stability … Chris feels that she has brought a good slice of the companies doing this here at DEMO.

8:49	Where on the vast internet are the tools that will make our work and lives easier … yeah sometimes the sites we rely on suck.  My bank happens to be good, but I’ve seen a lot of crappy ones.  Telus Mobility … Shaw.ca … both suck.  Why?  It shouldn’t be that way

8:49	[Comment From Steve Garfield] So yo think you can dance… ha ha. funny.

8:49	[Comment From Keith from CiL] hook up your camera to your laptop and upload a pic (Media Uploader)…need to experience the magical VC dance…lol…no need to respond…

8:50	Since I’m shooting gignormous pics … getting pics live … not going to be easy

8:51	We, as consumers, demand .. better stuff.

8:51	The demostrations are starting … now this is interesting bit … switching?

8:53	Timetrade systems … put a schedule now button in an email timedriver i think is the name

8:54	Okay this system is to help sales folks book sales calls … I hate scripted talks.  Okay I guess they have to because this is so important, but man.

8:56	Leader in enterprise scheduling?  Timedriver is supposed to make things easier by pulling these into Outlook or Google Calendar. Umm I’m not too, too impressed.  I haven’t seen the wow factor, yet.

8:57	So, timedriver will help you make sure you only offer times that are actually available.  … hmm. Okay.  I’m not seeing how this is more wow than iKordo.

8:59	Next product coming up .. iterasi .. met them last night

9:00	it helps you preserve dynamic pages like Google maps, etc

9:00	Toolbar .. ad in IE and Firefox coming soon

9:01	wow, it actually keeps the real live page.  And it still works.  This is cool.  Really cool

9:03	Can be found at www.iterasi.net/ enough keep those receipts and such instead of printing.  Like those travel sites.  Hmm, search saving.

9:03	The scheduler lets you have it “notarize” a page or search on something.  Saving and sharing.  Okay this is a download

9:05	LiquidPlanner … project planning.  Online project managment tool.  They say it will help you manage uncertainty.

9:08

Okay, I love a lot of online apps, but you know if you rely on them … and they croak … Love these totally scripted demos “Charles, would you create a task and assign it to me…”  LOL. So a when you set a task you can add a fudge factor in.  Like … this will take me 3-5 days.  Instead of saying “we’ll say 4″ … you can know the edges. It lets you look at where you have red zone issues … where your fudge is getting in the way of something that MUST be done on a certain date.

9:10	Okay goes beyond the MS Project stuff.  adds in documents liquidplanner.com

9:11	Next up … Citiport

9:13	The idea is that locals add information about a place to help visitors (or other locals I guess) find things (resturants, places to see, etc) … now this sounds great but ..

9:14	you need a critical mass of active users to make this useful.

9:15	Like Vancouver is there … but with just two users.

9:17	LeapFrog!  W00t! Love their stuff for kids … Tag get kids 4-8 into reading …

9:18	okay there is a pen thing, that downloads audio, uploads usage data … uses “real” books … but you have to use their special books with special ink

9:20	boy my 5 yr old would love this …

9:21	the challenge will be getting the books …

9:22	LOL the alphabet game … he started the game and stopped too much pressure on stage!

9:23	This is cool tech.  No, it might not be Web 2.0, but watching my son use TuxPaint to type … I think he’s ready for this.  www.leapfrog.com/tag/

9:24

[Poll]

Would you get Tag? Yes!  ( 75% ) Maybe?  ( 25% ) Uh uh.  ( 0% )

9:25	[Comment From Keith from CiL] just gotta leave a little <space> after a URL before hitting send..should make most links work

9:26	New mobile browser … Skyfire.  Supposed to be all websites on the phone.  Wow ESPN.com looks pretty good.  Actually great.

9:28	Now showing Facebook  … showing slide shows.  Hmm, wonder how they get the pages to load so fast.  Okay MobileIE fails, Opera mini, iPhone … don’t show the FB slide shows.

9:29	Here’s the question … would you want to look at all these sites like this.  Marshall is impressed.

9:30	YouTube worked great.  Maybe the app looks simple but has got to complex.  Blackberry client?

9:31	Oops Chris lost her iPhone …

9:32	Fabrik … Adobe AIR app … web storage and solutions company (Marshall says old news)

9:32	BTW, I did beat Brian Solis uploading pics to Flickr from DEMO!  Hee hee.

9:33	The app is called joggle … simple interface.  Reminds me of Adobe Lightroom.

9:35	Okay, aggregating content online and local … he’s showing yellow images from Flickr, green local, white on a USB drive. I’m still not getting it. Okay I can share it.  Uh huh.

9:37	Still waiting for the whoa.  Why should I bother?  That’s the key question for all these presenters … if you don’t answer that … you haven’t done your job. Tag … why?  Cause my son will love it and start to learn to read. fabrik … hmm, okay I have content in lots of places but … I dunno.

9:39	SpeekLike …  auto translation … through a dedicated IM … with fast translation.  Umm, can you say frought with peril?

9:41	If there aren’t humans involved … well.  Okay looks like this is hybrid tech.  Automation does part of the work … a human can be involved to make sure it gets it right.  Slang, idioms, IM abbrv. those go through humans, but the system learns

9:43	fine, but how will these people be paid … clearly not free. The demoed Spanish … now Chinese … so three languages at once.  Yeah that’s cool.  Rather amazing.  Question is it affordable?

9:45	I might have to try it … just to see.  I really want to know the costs. Waving to folks on the live stream: demo2008.bitgravity.com Noise cancelling headsets … steplabs

9:45

Oops?

9:49	Whew … just a lag. stepware auto … the idea is that you should be able to hear stuff on your cell.  They are in a car with abou 87 db of background.  Okay I’m impressed with this handsfree device.  so it’s a car kit.  Rather a headset me.

9:51	live demo …. hitting 100 db from music and audience. while recording a script.  Ouch a lot of distortion … but well it worked okay.  Hmm.

9:54	Notchup … just got an invite for this.  Okay this is like Standout Jobs … sorta.  You connect people who aren’t looking for jobs per se to get connected with a potential new employer. Gee and I though getting found on Monster.com  would be bad!

9:56	You get paid to do the interview.  So you calculate how much your interview time is worth you can get paid.  Yes, you can hide from some companies … but man ,sno that isn’t enough.  This is dangerous stuff.  Marshall says “this is just silly”.

9:57	Sure they are taking measures to protect members’ privacy, but for folks like me, my resume, my experience is so tied to me that it would be a dead giveaway.

9:59	Hmm, they have 50,000 user now … it like less than a week.  400 companies have applied to be in the recruiting pool.  BTW, this startup is from Boulder, CO and are friends with the folks at Med.ium.

10:00

education.com … a solution to the education crisis in the states “the WebMD of education” … they are announcing schoolfinder.

10:03

A parent’s resource for what are the right goals and education info … gonna check that one out.  How many 5 yr olds can type?

10:04

SchoolFinder was designed to help find a school for their kids … I’m guessing this is US only.

10:05

Darn, Marshall is actually getting a real post out.  Yeah I love live blogging … but wow my brain is getting tired.  Coffee elves … right side, front row, cream pls

10:06

[Poll]

What do you think of this live-blogging format? Good  ( 0% ) Go back to your old way  ( 0% ) Your coffee is on its way  ( 100% )

10:08

800PBX … you call in a number… I guess … 800Genie … you can blog too (hmm sounds like Utterz, but doesn’t look as cool.

10:10

So you can listen to Gmail … on the phone … in the car?  Umm, okay.  Ugh.  Listening to the email being read … yuck.  Then audio reply.  Sorry this is distracting.  Harder than trying to just talk on the phone.  If the email is that important, pull over.

10:12

Last demo for the first session.  Whew.  I need a break

10:12

break?  Pls Chris, pls … the live bloggers are dying out here!

10:13

Talktome … setting up a small business telphone network.

10:14

Hmm, I think I need to change lenses.

10:15

okay TalkToMe is an adapter for your phone. Interesting

10:16

Sorry it’s Toktumi … and I think one of the presenters just dropped the f-bomb when the computer borked!

10:18

the peril of live demos at DEMO … stuff not working! BTW … new lens on camera

10:19

Okay … looked interesting.  Pity that it didn’t go as well.

10:20

Avistar … Video for unified communications.

10:21

[Comment From Keith from CiL] Easy to get wrapped up in the "how and what" instead of the "why"..

10:21

[Comment From Keith from CiL] Leappad rocks…

10:23

Holy smokes!  He brought up CNBC, plus two video streams … it manages the net connection

10:24

Now, cost?  See people don’t like to pay for stuff.  We’re happy with what we get.  Mostly.

10:26

So the dynamic bandwidth bit is one of the cool thing.  Have to check out pricing , etc.  Clearly most bang is for large companies.  Us regular folks just Skype.

10:27

Santrum networks .. Blocafe … new blogging platform?

10:29

Uh oh, danger Will Robinson …  do I have to change platforms?  I like my blogs.  I love WP.  Ain’t gonna change.  You think NYT would leave WP?

10:31

Ah… target seems to be China.  Remember  that is the next wave online.  Looks cool for that.  But, I don’t know.  I don’t see anything super.

10:32

So if they want to build large communities in China … yeah this could have legs.  Here in North America/Europe … yeah don’t think so.  We already have enough tools for social media.

10:33

Social graph in your pocket … is that a tad kinky? Sorry getting punchy. Movial on now

10:35

Sharing videos with friends … SocialCommunicator … okay sharing personal social media, online, offline, computer, mobile …

10:36

Client on PC .. synced addressbook.  Social media comes to me.  Uh oh.  That would kill me!  Sharing a YouTube video with other person on stage and a person in the audience.

10:42

Ribbit Amphibian … lots my Net connection.  Argh.  So …

10:42

New post from Marshall http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/demo_pro_con.php Pros and Cons of DEMO.

10:43

Try that link again … www.readwriteweb.com/archives/demo_pro_con.php

10:44

If you’re wondering about SEO … when I’m done with this uber long post, I’ll just get code to embed it for real in my blog.

10:45

ChaulkBoard phone?  You connect a web widget to your mobile phone.

10:46

AIR app that uses the Ribbit API to make your PC a phone.  Hmm.  Another toy.

10:46

Legitime technologies

10:49

Legitext … okay an app for a phone that syncs in with other systems like Outlook or Notes.

10:51

Wondering why I’d like to do group e-mails on my phone.  Okay, yes, there are times when there are urgent things … but I’m not getting it yet. Web-based interfaced.  K … management console

10:53

SMS as a viable and effective communications tool?

10:55

Cisco has licensed their video conferencing tech … video conferencing never took off … web conferencing did … because it was easy.

10:57

Vidyo … is the portal .. wow .. this is very, very clear.  This is better than a lot of video conferencing

10:57

OMG!  The HD camera and cheap laptop over residential cable net line … look crystal clear!

10:58

Audio is a heir muddy, but that can be due to background noise.

10:59

Wow, they live resize the video … and the bandwidth drops automagically!  Marshall concurs … we’re both wowed.

10:59

Annual subscription model.  Yeah, I’ll certainly try it.  Now it might not be worth for ad hoc but for distributed teams … this could be amazing.

11:00

Whew.  I can finally take a break … the pavillion is opening … and lunch.  Yeah! Back here at 2 PM folks …

11:01

This Live Blog has now ended.

Why?  Because I don’t want to test CoverItLive for the first time in a session!

Live Blog:

In the press room at DEMO08

(01/29/2008)  Powered by: CoveritLive

  

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7:56	I’m testing CoverItLive for real now.  Here early in the press room (got here at 7 AM)

7:57	Just met Claude from extra-normal (from Montreal) … getting my booth list together.

7:57	Really wish this had something to hit return and post … yeah this is still early

7:58	Okay this might be boring, but when the sessions start … well I might be ready to keep up with Rafe Needleman!

7:59	I was thinking this morning that we need a beards of Web 2.0 press … seems like we all have them … Dan Farber, Shel Israel, Marshall Kirkpatrick, Walt Mossberg, Rafe Needleman, Me …

8:01	[Comment From Keith from CiL] some people like the carriage return…some don't…ctrl+enter works but we don't tell people about it..

8:02	Sweet cntrl-enter does it!

8:03	www.flickr.com/photos/tris/sets/72157603812860596/ This is where my DEMO pics are going to be … on Flickr. I think I beat Brian Solis to upload!

8:05

[Poll]

What do you, fair readers, think of this? Good, keep it  ( 100% ) Dude, write about real stuff  ( 0% ) Ugh, please  ( 0% ) Wait and see..  ( 0% )

8:06

[Be Right Back Countdown]

5 minutes

8:09

BRB …

8:10	[Comment From Keith from CiL] instant…instead of sending people to flickr (for those MUST have now pics…obviously flickr great for the total catalog)

8:10	Okay the opening talk starts in about 20 mins …

8:11	Being a newbie at this I a) grabbed too many press materials and b) left my DEMO bag at the hotel (why carry three bags!).  Doh!

8:13	I’ll be doing Intruders video later … more pics to come.  Nice press room, lots and lots of power, hardwire if you need it. Solid WiFi… and snacks.  Coffee, is key of course!

8:15	Time for me to wrap this test post up, take pics of the crowd, and get my seat next to Shel for the openner … so glad that this is a one-track conference!

8:16	This Live Blog has now ended.

Wow, what a journey to get here.  Now, I didn’t have the roller coaster flight in that the folks from San Fran did (I’ve been hearing stories all night), but I had my own struggles.

Regardless the DEMO08 mixer was tonight and it was great re-connecting with my usual peeps here.

Tomorrow the real fun begins.  Okay I have my badge and bag, but tomorrow I start blogging in earnest.  In fact, I’ll be giving CoverItLive a real-world test.  Why? Because I heard from Keith today that after the post is “done”, it can be transferred to your blog!

Now that rocks.  Rafe Needleman and I will be giving it a shot together I think.

The way it will work is that I will put some special code in a page and it will update live.  Including polls, etc.  When I’m done, I’ll get code for the final post to “live” here.

Pretty darn spiffy.  Chatting with Rafe about it tonight, I talked about the next step being a little app that chat handle intermittent network trouble (it always happens are conferences).  One step at a time.

For tonight .. well I have a couple more posts in me, then I’ll get into things double time tomorrow.  Yes, I didn’t get the Standout Jobs announcement out today, even though Ben gave me a demo last week.  Traveling just kills my blogging schedule.

Also don’t forget Marshall Kirkpatrick’s great RWW DEMO Toolkit post.  If it isn’t published from one of the places he cited … it isn’t news!