THIS WEEK IN TECTORIA

A community blog celebrating Victoria's booming tech sector

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Got a cool story about technology and creativity in Victoria? Email stories, tips, pictures, links and anything of interest to Tessa Bousfield at: tectoria@viatec.ca

Saanich to stream council meetings

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It’s so simple – why didn’t someone do this before. Saanich’s council and committee meetings are to be streamed live online and archived as podcasts, according to this report.

What a simple way of making local politics more accessible. “This will give residents more opportunity to have contact with the people they elect,” said Councillor Vic Derman.

I find the webcam displaying the line-ups at the Saanich garden waste dump on McKenzie Avenue very useful in my decision on whether I make the trip or not.

First AGM for Vancouver Island Atlassian User Group

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The first annual general meeting of the Vancouver Island Atlassian User Group is taking place on Monday 5 November at The Moon under Water pub on Bay Street. The meeting runs from 6pm to 8pm.

The Group offers a platform for folks who use Atlassian software. Come along and network, exchange ideas and share some knowledge (and have a beer too).

Atlassian is best known for its Confluence and Jira products. There must be many Atlassian users on this Island.

Another gaming studio coming to Victoria

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Kixeye, a San Francisco-based gaming company, is opening a 50-person development centre in Victoria’s downtown core, according to this news story.

According to Clayton Stark, the firm has already received “many, many CVs” and aims to open shop in January. Stark is best known as the creator of Flock, a web browser that integrates social media. Flock was bought by gaming giant Zynga, famous for making Farmville, in 2011.

Microsoft already has a gaming studio in Victoria.

German marine systems company opens for business in Victoria

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The lovely Carla Wilson reports in the Times Colonist that a German company specializing in high-tech marine systems has opened an office in Greater Victoria to win contracts from the lucrative Canadian maritime sector.

Rick Gerbrecht is running the newly incorporated Atlas Elektronik Canada Ltd, and he’s hiring now. The parent company, Atlas Elektronik Group, is headquartered in Bremen and is affiliated to the massive ThyssenKrupp.

The Canadian government has $35 million budget put aside for non-combat vessels so Atlas Elektronik Canada is well placed for orders for British Columbia shipyards.

Microsoft files US patent for new gaming system

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The BBC reports on a Microsoft patent in the US related to a new video gaming system that projects images of the game’s environment around a player’s room.

Microsoft’s patent suggests that current games console systems are constrained by their reliance on a single screen.

“Such displays are typically the only source of visual content, so that the media experience is bounded by the bezel of the display,” it said. “Even when focused on the display, the user may perceive architectural and decorative feature of the room the display is in… such features are typically out of context with respect to the displayed image, muting the entertainment potential.”

And what’s this got to do with the technology sector in Victoria? Earlier this year, Microsoft opened a game design studio in downtown Victoria, so I’m putting one and one together to make two. I have been told by one of the new hires that it’s an excellent place to work.

AbeBooks to stage Hackathon coding competition at Uvic

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Some news from my neck of the technology woods (I’ve worked for AbeBooks for more than seven years). Students in the University of Victoria computer science and software engineering programs are being invited by AbeBooks.com to participate in a 24-hour Hackathon coding competition on September 28-29.

The challenge is to conceive and produce an innovative application using the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud computing platform. At the conclusion, the students will demonstrate their work to a team of AbeBooks’ software engineers, who will award a series of prizes that include $500 worth of access to AWS. A group of AbeBooks software engineers including Director of Engineering Tim Munro and Engineering Manager Cliff McCollum will be on hand to answer questions and assist students with the processes.  Students can compete individually or in groups of up to four.

The event will be staged at the University of Victoria engineering labs and begins at 4pm on Friday September 28. The event is limited to the first 40 applicants.

It is free to participate and all entrants will receive a copy of a book called Programming Amazon EC2 by Jurg van Vliet,  a commemorative t-shirt (modelled by my colleague Kerry Wright in this picture) and a valuable learning experience with AWS; access to which will be provided by AbeBooks for the coding competition.

It should be a lot of fun. We have strong links to UVic – a couple of new interns from the computer science and software engineering programs were introduced to the company just yesterday.

Experience Tectoria coming soon

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The broad scope of technology in Victoria is going to be showcased by an exciting event called Experience Tectoria, organized by VIATeC, that takes place from September 13 to 16.

Folks involved in the Victoria technology scene are being joined by experts and gurus from out of town for a series of seminars, workshops and events that include tours and music. It’s not going to be all tech talk as the booking of comedian/entertainer Reggie Watts (pictured) shows.

Technologists, start-ups, established firms, venture capitalists, M&A firms, angel investors and tech bloggers and journalists will be present. Here is the line-up of speakers, which includes Hootesuite, Q5, Telus, Acetech, Terapeak, ChatterBlock and Nokia.  Here is the schedule of events.

Q5’s ‘multi-billion-dollar’ camera

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Andrew Duffy wrote in the Times Colonist over the week about Q5 and its “real-time polarization difference imaging camera” called Detect POL, which is designed to enhance images captured in challenging environments like smoke, fog and dirty water.

(CEO Sage) Baker says matter-of-factly that the camera has multi-billion-dollar market potential, likening it to the impact thermal imaging had on a number of sectors.

Astronaut Julie Payette to speak at UVic

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There’s an interesting event coming up at the University of Victoria – Canadian astronaut Julie Payette will be giving an illustrated presentation on Monday August 27 at 7 p.m. in the Farquhar Auditorium.

Payette’s presentation will feature photos and video from her space flights and there will also be a Q&A . It’s free and suitable for all ages.

An astronaut and a professional electrical and computing engineer, Payette has twice left the Earth and logged more than 611 hours in space. During her mission on the space shuttle Discovery in 1993, she orbited the Earth 153 times and was the first Canadian to board the International Space Station. Payette served as mission specialist, operating the robotic Canadarm and supervising the spacewalk. In 2009, Payette served as flight engineer on the crew of the shuttle Endeavour during a mission to the space station.

Payette was chief astronaut for the Canadian Space Agency from 2000 to 2007. That’s quite the resume and it should be a fascinating evening.

Tickets must be reserved in advance. Call 250-721-8480 or go online.

Daniels Electronics sold for $25 million

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Victoria’s technology firms continue to attract attention from the world’s movers and shakers. Last week, Daniels Electronics was sold to an Australian company called Codan for 25 million. The deal will be completed later this week, according to the Times Colonist.

When the deal closes, Daniels will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Codan, retaining its brand and its 73 employees. Manufacturing, research and development will remain in Victoria. “And if we can grow international sales, which is the whole goal, we will do more manufacturing and more R&D in Victoria and that’s great news,” Gerry Wight, Daniels’ vice-president of sales and marketing, said.

Daniels – which sells most of its products in North America – designs and manufactures radio communications systems.  The company has a long history in this province. It was founded in 1950 by F. Gordon Daniels a former  telegraph operator at the Merry Island Lighthouse off the northern coast of British Columbia. He also helped establish a regional radio network for the police in northern BC.