My stay at Velocity has exceeded all my initial expections. To begin the term, all Velocity residents were invited to attend the Velocity Gala to have dinner with industry leaders and Velocity’s sponsors. The day after the event, we had a conference dedicated to Velocity residents. There were great keynote speakers who I’ve heard of at Impact’s National Conference, but they reminded me of what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur.

The beginning of term events were well planned. As an entrepreneurial residence, students needed to learn more about entrepreneurship and how to bring an idea to a realizable product/service.

Lucky for you, Velocity posts all their videos. I’ve shared them with you here

GALA

Opening Remarks –

Meg Beckel and Sean Van Koughnett

Keynote Address –

Mike Lee

CONFERENCE

Opening Keynote –

Iain Klugman, President, Communitech

The VC’s View on Entrepreneurship –

Amar Varma, Founder, Extreme Venture Partners

The Journey Begins Now –

Eric Solowka, Vice President, Programs and Principal, Lewis Media

Keynote –

Duncan Hill, Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Ventures West

The Entrepreneur’s Mindset –

Jackie Lee, Founder, Jackie Lee Talent Management Inc.

Closing Keynote –

Sanjay Singhal, Chairman and Director, Simply Audio books

The original source can be found here: http://www.velocity.uwaterloo.ca/videos/opening_conference/index.php
 

Peter Kao

If you’re around my age (21 years old) or younger, than you’ll more or less enjoy this Flash game called PongOut. The game has two screens: one for Pong and the other for Breakout. The objective of the game is to play both games – at the same time.

Back in the 70′s, Pong was a fairly fun game even though it seems as a ridiculously slow-paced game now. With so much stimulus around us we just can’t use enough of our brains.

PongOut makes an excellent comparison of how attention-deficit the younger generations are compared to the older generations. And what makes this game fun is that it challenges players to focus on two relatively complicated things at once, each of which has it’s own gameplay.

Now, if only there was a third screen…

Peter Kao

Yes, I've arrived

Just moved into Velocity, Canada’s first (that I know of) student incubator residence. I first wrote about it in January (see Velocity – The UW Student Residence for Undergraduate Entrepreneurs) and now I’m living in it.

At first glance, the Velocity building doesn’t look like a student residence at all, rather it looks like an University staff building, but upon entering you are presented with a nice slab of glass that lists impressive sounding areas of the residence. You also get a top-view glimpse of the Rogers Wireless Device Lab which, sadly, is still in construction. I can already imagine it looking stunning though.

Entrance Slab

Device Lab in Construction

The residence will have several rooms that are completely at our disposal. Rooms such as the Device Lab, Great Hall and Conference Room will help entrepreneurial students like me collaborate on projects without having to worry about space or technical limitations.

My only peeve are the old-fashioned rooms and how everything is laid out. Don’t get me wrong, the rooms look nice and habitable. It’s decently sized as well. It’s only the old wooden cabinents and tables and the un-usable layout of the plugs that bother me. First off, the ethernet jack is at least 2 meters away from the today, so you’ll need an extra long ethernet cable to access the LAN line. The other thing is that when sitting down at the table, you irresistibly feel like you’re in a prison cell. There are no windows visible. Maybe it’s just the layout of my room, so let me know if yours is fine, but from what I’ve seen from my friends a lot of the rooms feel very secluded. These problems are small and won’t be a bother once you get used to the room, but I thought I would lay it out for those interested in joining us next term.

My Room! MH-225a

My Room (again)! MH-225a

Door Room Vanity

Here are some more pictures:

My Cheesy Looking Room Door

Sexiest Looking Kitchen I've seen on Rez

And here’s a video showcasing the world’s most advance window at Velocity! It’s a rod attached to a window…

The people are nice, the facilities look nice (though some are still in construction) and the energy is superb. Can’t wait till we have our first Velocity meeting tonight!

PS: News is that we’ll be hooking up an XBOX 360, PS3 and Wii on the big screen TV in the lounge! Man, how are we going to get work done in this place?

Peter Kao

I came across an interesting article today: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/magazine/03wwln-guestsafire-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

The article explains the reason why we capitalize the single letter ‘I’.

Not going to spoil it for you.

Go have a read for yourself

Peter Kao

Have you been bothered by those pesky telemarketers recently? I know I have. In fact, I remember several times when my dinner was interrupted by some college student asking me if I would like to lower all my credit card bills.

Well – as of September 30th, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) will allow phone owners to put their number on a ‘Do not call’ list. Telemarketers will still have a grace-period of 31 days to “adjust” but any unsolicited calls thereafter will result in a fine up to $1,500 for individuals and $15,000 for businesses.

To put your number(s) on the list, visit www.LNNTE-DNCL.gc.ca after September 30th, or call 1-866-580-DNCL (3625).

Man, this is going to piss off a lot of telemarketers!

Source: CTV Canada

Peter Kao