Nick,
Where are you guys going to eat ?
I might go, I have to wind down a little first though.
Bean
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"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you·have."·· Thomas Jefferson
"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."·Dumbledore from Harry Potter
Rebekah and I just arrived home a little while ago, and couldn't resist reading the comment
slips from the attendees. It looks like the only real challenge this year revolved around
the size of the expo location. [noparse]:)[/noparse] [noparse]:)[/noparse] You guys gave us an awesome turn out!
We'll shoot for a bigger venue for next year. Yes... As far as we are concerned there
WILL BE A UPENE next year!
I'll file a full report and post more pics whenever I come back to life Sunday. [noparse]:)[/noparse]
Thank you all for an AWESOME TIME! We couldn't have done this without all of you!
I wanted to say that I just arrived back home safely, and for those at the expo...yes my car held up with absolutely no problems (no "floods" from the car). The expo was absolutely great. I think the best part was not long after I got there I was talking to a guy about this demo he had set up and low and behold it was Chip himself with the FPGA of the Prop II. I'm already looking forward to it after seeing it and hearing about what to expect. [noparse]:)[/noparse] Now to decide whether to sleep or play with my new proto boards.
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Truth can be dangerous... Trust can be deadly.
"I'm leaving!"
"But I haven't set you on fire yet!"
Post Edited (Agent Cobalt) : 8/24/2008 3:45:28 AM GMT
I want to thank everyone who attended the expo. Its so nice to meet a room full of avid Parallax and Propeller fans. And a special thanks to Jeff, while he tries demure on this, it was his drive and dedication that made the expo a reality; especially after fighting with Sandusky for so many months. I think we are going to have to take over the gym next year, plenty of room to have robots running around. Here is the first high rez picture of the attendees. My appologies to the person who got cut off on the left side of the picture, I didn't realize I did that until the group had broken up.
Timothy D. Swieter said...
I got a couple captions/comments inserted. Hopefully more pictures to come later and a video that Bagger sent to OBC to show. WOW!
Hi all, Thanks for the compliments Tim, and glad you ( and all ) enjoyed the show, and my demo, sorry it wasn't as good as Chips lol speaking of which has anyone got a video of chips demo? I'd love to see the PropII in action, really gutted I couldn't make it to the meet, but looking forward to the UK tour now [noparse]:)[/noparse]
Edit:One of the finest complements I received was from Chip, who took me aside and said that
this Expo reminded him of the West Cost Computer Fair. That was EXACTLY the feel I was shooting for.
Great report OBC [noparse];)[/noparse]
PS, did you get details of the winners of our stuff? so I can get in touch wit them, to give them details on coms with the Lite's etc.
Oldbitcollector said...
Expo Report posted to top of thread...
OBC
Edit:One of the finest complements I received was from Chip, who took me aside and said that
this Expo reminded him of the West Cost Computer Fair. That was EXACTLY the feel I was shooting for.
Yes, that was exactly the feeling of the meeting. A lot like the early computer club meetings I fondly remember going to about 25-30 years ago. It was a good group of people and it was a pleasure meeting all in person. I like that it wasn't too large since when there are too many people it loses a bit of the informal atmosphere of the gathering. It was very well done and I was glad I could make it. Chips presentation was awesome and my only regret is that I didn't get a chance to talk to him other than to say a quick hello during the group photo.
If there was a bit more room I could have had one of the robots roaming around inside but instead had him running around in the parking lot for a quick demo.
OBC, I've got schill's info he PM'd me [noparse]:)[/noparse] just need the other recipients name [noparse];)[/noparse]
also, Tim, and anyone else who wants to see it, I've downloaded a video of my demo, but it's slightly different, as this is THAT VERY SAME binary file running on Hybrid with PropGFX-VGA·plugged in instead of PropGFX-Lite, and automatically re-orders the palette to the VGA comparison of the Propeller's Composite palette [noparse];)[/noparse] also sorry in advance for the dodgy camera work.
Hi OBC, really congratulations for what you did, and for all nice people seems to be there.
I've just see all the pictures of the expo, and I've the same feeling, that I had, when the "oficial" expo happened, or saying beter, the last expo in CA where was Parallax. That feeling is I'm very sad.
It seems to be ...funnny, usefull, great !! and you've the chance to see the PropII demos !!!, also it is great that all of you can share experiences, speak, pizza, all !!! (I didn't see beer bottles there .....that's so bad... [noparse]:)[/noparse] ....)
So, I'm so sorry again to be so far from you, I just hope, if some day I could have anough money to go in some events from you.
Just thanks all, and I think this is a great people grup & forum !!! I've to write this, in this post...sorry.
Hey, I was thinking about Apple ][noparse][[/noparse] -vs- C 64. (that discussion would have been worth the price of admission)
One thing I think is significant about how the Prop is designed is that it's clear doing as much in software as is possible is one of the fundamental design ideologies behind the thing. Woz thought the same way when building the Apple. That idea was clearly one of the core drivers behind Personal Computing becoming mainstream at the time.
From there, we saw lots of custom silicon doing lots of interesting things! C64 & Atari (bit ahead of their time), Amiga (way ahead of it's time), Silicon Graphics, followed by the many PC graphics sub systems in the general computing space, and a bazillion little hardware bits in the embedded / dedicated space.
We kind of lost the Apple in there somewhere, didn't we? Even Apple lost the Apple.
Fast forward to today and we've got the Prop!
I think Chip never, ever forgot that subtle, but important ideal and it's embodied in the Prop nicely.
That's it! Just wanted to highlight the parallels between that time and today, and also highlight that I believe that's a lot of where the magic is!
Thanks Jeff for the photos!
@TPW_Rules What the heck is TPW? Why does it rule? It's gotta be a 11 year old thing, so clue us old farts in!
Thanks potatohead, and your so right about the Prop, there's something about it that makes you want to play with it more and more and more and more and more, oh yeah and more lol [noparse]:)[/noparse]
I just got my video posted on YouTube. I think there was something at the Expo center blocking the YouTube upload. The video is still processing but should be up shortly. Tomorrow I should also get pictures up as well as the slides from the one presentation I did and the second one that was unseen.
OBC (Jeff) - Thank you so much for you and your team putting this together. I enjoyed visiting, meeting so many people from the forum, showing off my products, doing the presentation, meeting Paul and Chip, and just enjoying the atmosphere. This event was rocking and as we plan next year let me know and I will help with web stuff ahead of time since I have the PropellerExpo.com and .net domains.
I am kicking myself for not getting video of Chip's demo (I had pizza in my hands). Chip was showing off an FPGA that has an 8 COG version of the Propeller II programmed in it. The FPGA brand I don't recall, but I believe Chip said it is around US$1000. The FPGA Prop II still works with the Prop Tool with a few added ASM code. In the future he will have to break something to expand the memory and add cogs. I believe Chip said the FPGA can't handle the 16 COGs. The FPGA was running at 120MHz. Chip was humble and said he broke something in the code and was having problems at 160MHz.
The Prop II, based on what we saw, will have a single cycle multiple instructions. It will have a CORDIC operation, which I barely understand, but boy it will be amazing. Most instructions will be single cycle! The current Prop takes four cycles per instruction. There was mention of the pipeline for the instruction and something unique going on there.
Chip's little demo and talk showed the basic graphics demo that the Prop Demo board comes with. Chip then hooked up the Prop II using the same demo. Then he started modifying the graphics code and showed how adding the multiple instruction shorten this part or using the CORDIC instruction cut out a bag full of clock cycles.
The Prop II will be amazing when it is ready. I cut out of the talk a little early so I may have missed some tidbits. I wouldn't start drooling or asking for a ship date. I haven't designed an IC before, but it sounds like there is a lot of work and testing to do. There appears to be an almost functional version in the FPGA of the logic, but I am sure there is a dump truck load full of issue to conquer and solve as they expand the COGs, the memory and consider the silicon architecture, pin layout, etc.
I got to talk to Chip briefly about a product design and FCC issue I have regarding the Propeller. Chip was very calm and cool talking with me about it. I am still learning a lot in embedded development, but he proposed several ideas and so did Paul when I talked with him.
Maybe that is enough for now. Man, the Propeller, Parallax and the Prop Expo are all amazing. The community is the best and I enjoy being a customer of Parallax and a member of this forum with many other genuine and honest people doing cool things.
In others that attended please correct me if I have something wrong.· I assume it was OK to share this information since it was talked about at the meeting.
@potatohead
LOL, that's my initials. I use them because they sound kinda cool to me [noparse];)[/noparse]
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I am 1011, so be surprised!
Advertisement sponsored by dfletch:
Come and join us on the Propeller IRC channel for fast and easy help!
Channel: #propeller
Server: irc.freenode.net or freenode.net
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Hi all, I'm new to the forums but I wanted to let anyone interested know that I just finished a short writeup of my experience at the expo at my website, IZationLabs.com
It was a real pleasure to meet everyone, especially tpw. You are one of the brightest and most pleasant young men I have ever met. After seeing everything at the expo next year maybe I will finally get up the courage to start using that Propeller that has been sitting in my closet for a month or two. I hope to see everyone again next year, and I'm sure I'll bump into everyone here on the forums.
Comments
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Concentrate on understanding the problem, not applying the tool
Where are you guys going to eat ?
I might go, I have to wind down a little first though.
Bean
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"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you·have."·· Thomas Jefferson
"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."·Dumbledore from Harry Potter
www.iElectronicDesigns.com
·
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Concentrate on understanding the problem, not applying the tool
Glad it turned out well though!
I am going to go find my happy place now, Goodnight!
Thanks for the invite though,
Ron
Thanks,
Craig
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My system: 1.6 GHz AMD Turion64 X2, 4GB DDR2, 256MB ATI Radeon Graphics card, 15.4" Widescreen HD Screen
I have a duel boot of Ubuntu Linux and Windows Vista. Vista, because it came with the PC, Ubuntu because I like software that works.
"Failure is not an option -- it comes bundled with Windows."
Use The Best...
Linux for Servers
Mac for Graphics
Android for Mobility
Windows for Blue Screens
slips from the attendees. It looks like the only real challenge this year revolved around
the size of the expo location. [noparse]:)[/noparse] [noparse]:)[/noparse] You guys gave us an awesome turn out!
We'll shoot for a bigger venue for next year. Yes... As far as we are concerned there
WILL BE A UPENE next year!
I'll file a full report and post more pics whenever I come back to life Sunday. [noparse]:)[/noparse]
Thank you all for an AWESOME TIME! We couldn't have done this without all of you!
OBC
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New to the Propeller?
Getting started with a Propeller Protoboard?
Check out: Introduction to the Proboard & Propeller Cookbook 1.4
Updates to the Cookbook are now posted to: Propeller.warrantyvoid.us
Got an SD card connected? - PropDOS
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Truth can be dangerous... Trust can be deadly.
"I'm leaving!"
"But I haven't set you on fire yet!"
Post Edited (Agent Cobalt) : 8/24/2008 3:45:28 AM GMT
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Paul Baker
Propeller Applications Engineer
Parallax, Inc.
Baggers.
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http://www.propgfx.co.uk/forum/·home of the PropGFX Lite
·
Regards,
John Twomey
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'Necessity is the mother of invention'
@ Bagger - I second the request for any all videos, especially Chip and the Prop II.
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Whit+
"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney
OBC
Edit:One of the finest complements I received was from Chip, who took me aside and said that
this Expo reminded him of the West Cost Computer Fair. That was EXACTLY the feel I was shooting for.
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New to the Propeller?
Getting started with a Propeller Protoboard?
Check out: Introduction to the Proboard & Propeller Cookbook 1.4
Updates to the Cookbook are now posted to: Propeller.warrantyvoid.us
Got an SD card connected? - PropDOS
Post Edited (Oldbitcollector) : 8/24/2008 2:22:50 PM GMT
PS, did you get details of the winners of our stuff? so I can get in touch wit them, to give them details on coms with the Lite's etc.
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http://www.propgfx.co.uk/forum/·home of the PropGFX Lite
·
Yes, that was exactly the feeling of the meeting. A lot like the early computer club meetings I fondly remember going to about 25-30 years ago. It was a good group of people and it was a pleasure meeting all in person. I like that it wasn't too large since when there are too many people it loses a bit of the informal atmosphere of the gathering. It was very well done and I was glad I could make it. Chips presentation was awesome and my only regret is that I didn't get a chance to talk to him other than to say a quick hello during the group photo.
If there was a bit more room I could have had one of the robots roaming around inside but instead had him running around in the parking lot for a quick demo.
Robert
picasaweb.google.com/jeffledger/UnofficialPropellerExpoNE2008
@Baggers: As soon as I locate the paper and decipher handwriting, I'll email those names.
OBC
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New to the Propeller?
Getting started with a Propeller Protoboard?
Check out: Introduction to the Proboard & Propeller Cookbook 1.4
Updates to the Cookbook are now posted to: Propeller.warrantyvoid.us
Got an SD card connected? - PropDOS
also, Tim, and anyone else who wants to see it, I've downloaded a video of my demo, but it's slightly different, as this is THAT VERY SAME binary file running on Hybrid with PropGFX-VGA·plugged in instead of PropGFX-Lite, and automatically re-orders the palette to the VGA comparison of the Propeller's Composite palette [noparse];)[/noparse] also sorry in advance for the dodgy camera work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E44y9uBn48s
enjoy
Baggers.
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http://www.propgfx.co.uk/forum/·home of the PropGFX Lite
·
Holy cow, that's impressive!
I liked the multiple Amiga balls at the end. But why did you call it "8-bit bounce"?
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Michael Park
PS, BTW, and FYI:
To search the forum, use search.parallax.com (do not use the Search button).
Check out the Propeller Wiki: propeller.wikispaces.com/
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http://www.propgfx.co.uk/forum/·home of the PropGFX Lite
·
In case any of you Propheads·have to have a Propeller Beanie of your own (as worn by Paul Baker and Chip Gracey) - Here is the source!
http://www.misskaties.com/pd-propeller-beanie.cfm
Thanks for the picture Timothy!
·Baker and Gracey - Propheads
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Whit+
"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney
Post Edited (Whit) : 8/24/2008 11:43:47 PM GMT
Hi OBC, really congratulations for what you did, and for all nice people seems to be there.
I've just see all the pictures of the expo, and I've the same feeling, that I had, when the "oficial" expo happened, or saying beter, the last expo in CA where was Parallax. That feeling is I'm very sad.
It seems to be ...funnny, usefull, great !! and you've the chance to see the PropII demos !!!, also it is great that all of you can share experiences, speak, pizza, all !!! (I didn't see beer bottles there .....that's so bad... [noparse]:)[/noparse] ....)
So, I'm so sorry again to be so far from you, I just hope, if some day I could have anough money to go in some events from you.
Just thanks all, and I think this is a great people grup & forum !!! I've to write this, in this post...sorry.
God bless you & have a great day!!!.
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Regards.
Alberto.
Anyone got a vid of the Prop2 demo ? .. (Green with envy !)
Regards,
John Twomey
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'Necessity is the mother of invention'
I mean, !!!!!!!
Good show Baggars!
Hey, I was thinking about Apple ][noparse][[/noparse] -vs- C 64. (that discussion would have been worth the price of admission)
One thing I think is significant about how the Prop is designed is that it's clear doing as much in software as is possible is one of the fundamental design ideologies behind the thing. Woz thought the same way when building the Apple. That idea was clearly one of the core drivers behind Personal Computing becoming mainstream at the time.
From there, we saw lots of custom silicon doing lots of interesting things! C64 & Atari (bit ahead of their time), Amiga (way ahead of it's time), Silicon Graphics, followed by the many PC graphics sub systems in the general computing space, and a bazillion little hardware bits in the embedded / dedicated space.
We kind of lost the Apple in there somewhere, didn't we? Even Apple lost the Apple.
Fast forward to today and we've got the Prop!
I think Chip never, ever forgot that subtle, but important ideal and it's embodied in the Prop nicely.
That's it! Just wanted to highlight the parallels between that time and today, and also highlight that I believe that's a lot of where the magic is!
Thanks Jeff for the photos!
@TPW_Rules What the heck is TPW? Why does it rule? It's gotta be a 11 year old thing, so clue us old farts in!
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Propeller Wiki: Share the coolness!
Chat in real time with other Propellerheads on IRC #propeller @ freenode.net
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http://www.propgfx.co.uk/forum/·home of the PropGFX Lite
·
OBC (Jeff) - Thank you so much for you and your team putting this together. I enjoyed visiting, meeting so many people from the forum, showing off my products, doing the presentation, meeting Paul and Chip, and just enjoying the atmosphere. This event was rocking and as we plan next year let me know and I will help with web stuff ahead of time since I have the PropellerExpo.com and .net domains.
I am kicking myself for not getting video of Chip's demo (I had pizza in my hands). Chip was showing off an FPGA that has an 8 COG version of the Propeller II programmed in it. The FPGA brand I don't recall, but I believe Chip said it is around US$1000. The FPGA Prop II still works with the Prop Tool with a few added ASM code. In the future he will have to break something to expand the memory and add cogs. I believe Chip said the FPGA can't handle the 16 COGs. The FPGA was running at 120MHz. Chip was humble and said he broke something in the code and was having problems at 160MHz.
The Prop II, based on what we saw, will have a single cycle multiple instructions. It will have a CORDIC operation, which I barely understand, but boy it will be amazing. Most instructions will be single cycle! The current Prop takes four cycles per instruction. There was mention of the pipeline for the instruction and something unique going on there.
Chip's little demo and talk showed the basic graphics demo that the Prop Demo board comes with. Chip then hooked up the Prop II using the same demo. Then he started modifying the graphics code and showed how adding the multiple instruction shorten this part or using the CORDIC instruction cut out a bag full of clock cycles.
The Prop II will be amazing when it is ready. I cut out of the talk a little early so I may have missed some tidbits. I wouldn't start drooling or asking for a ship date. I haven't designed an IC before, but it sounds like there is a lot of work and testing to do. There appears to be an almost functional version in the FPGA of the logic, but I am sure there is a dump truck load full of issue to conquer and solve as they expand the COGs, the memory and consider the silicon architecture, pin layout, etc.
I got to talk to Chip briefly about a product design and FCC issue I have regarding the Propeller. Chip was very calm and cool talking with me about it. I am still learning a lot in embedded development, but he proposed several ideas and so did Paul when I talked with him.
Maybe that is enough for now. Man, the Propeller, Parallax and the Prop Expo are all amazing. The community is the best and I enjoy being a customer of Parallax and a member of this forum with many other genuine and honest people doing cool things.
In others that attended please correct me if I have something wrong.· I assume it was OK to share this information since it was talked about at the meeting.
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Timothy D. Swieter, E.I.
www.brilldea.com·- Prop Blade, LED Painter, RGB LEDs, uOLED-IOC, eProto fo SunSPOT, BitScope
www.sxmicro.com - a blog·exploring the SX micro
www.tdswieter.com
LOL, that's my initials. I use them because they sound kinda cool to me [noparse];)[/noparse]
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I am 1011, so be surprised!
Advertisement sponsored by dfletch:
Come and join us on the Propeller IRC channel for fast and easy help!
Channel: #propeller
Server: irc.freenode.net or freenode.net
If you don't want to bother installing an IRC client, use Mibbit. www.mibbit.com
It was a real pleasure to meet everyone, especially tpw. You are one of the brightest and most pleasant young men I have ever met. After seeing everything at the expo next year maybe I will finally get up the courage to start using that Propeller that has been sitting in my closet for a month or two. I hope to see everyone again next year, and I'm sure I'll bump into everyone here on the forums.
The Expo rocked!
Ken, if you are planning a 16 city tour, please bring one close to Des Moines Iowa [noparse]:)[/noparse]
John Abshier