Re: HCC 2006 Report? Message #2 Posted by Howard Owen on 18 Sept 2006, 1:18 p.m., in response to message #1 by Meindert Kuipers
Hi, Meindert,
Highlights included:
Presentations
- Best Presentation was won by Jeff Bronfield for "The method of Symmetrical Components," a very interesting talk about concrete applications of abstract mathematics in power systems. The math was fascinating, but I think the videos of arcing high voltage systems swayed the jury. (Not to mention Jeff's glee in presenting them. We know now what motivates electric power engineers. 8)
- Presentation of Precision Survey Systems' DC50, A data collector based on the 49g+/50g.
- A detailed look at the software for the above. Written using HPGCC, it beats the pants off all the competition.
- Eric Smith's presentation of considerable progress in the DIY Calculator project. Two prototypes running emulations of many 20 series machines were shown.
- Jean-Yves Avenard presented a prototype board for the Qonos scientific calculator project. This project foundered on the rocks of the financing required to get the largely completed design to market. Fortunately, Hydrix was able to apply much of the expertise they developed to other projects, and are a successful, going concern. Jean-Yves presented a handheld credit card terminal that is going into pilot in London taxicabs very soon. A large order awaits completion of successful trials. Jean-Yves described some of the measures Hydrix took to ensure physical and logical security of the device. Let's just say it would be a poor choice for a hobbyist to attempt a reverse engineering project with. 8)
- Jake Schwartz presented a retrospective on 30 years of PPC conferences. Many current attendees appeared on screen with more hair. 8)
- Jake got a lifetime acheivment award for his many,many contributions to the handheld computer community. (Personally, I am particularly grateful to him for his conservation of the various journals of calculator-related clubs.)
- Richard Nelson delivered a paper entitled "Keeping HP Calculators Distinguishable." This presented some thoughts on design elements that helped make HP calculators successful in the past, and how these might be applied to calculators today. The paper took into account the changes in technology generally and the calculator marketplace specifically, and tried to abstract out principles that could apply across the changes.
- Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz made two presentations, One, "The Ideal HP33s - The eye problem and more." helped focus the message the conference delivered to HP about what we would collectively like to see HP produce. The other was a survey of current books about HP calculators.
- Gene Wright made several presentations on the HP-12C, collecting interesting code that we could enter into our new machines. Valentin Albillo's trig programs were included. What a wizard he is!
- Tim Wessman demonstrated HPGCC, showing what a marvelous tool it is for moving large amounts of data around a 49g+ or 50g. With large SD card support now a reality, that capability is increasingly important.
- John Cadick presented "The Per Unit System," a mathematical technique for taming large complex electrical networks.
HP and Goodies
- Presentation by Sam Kim of HP of a new autosensing solver that gives the answer to the problem you actually meant, rather than what you entered. Available now as a retrofit for the HP9g.
- Just kidding. We are NDA'd to the hilt about what Sam Kim and Cyrille de Bression told us specifically, but in general, it was extremely positive stuff. If they can deliver on what they presented, HP will greatly please this community.
- An HP-12Cp 25th anniversary calculator for each attendee! No joke, and a very nice gift. Thanks HP!
- Lots of door prizes. Everybody got at least two. I chose a copy of Wlodek's "RCL 20" and an HP-9g. My number was picked in the last half of the first drawing and the first third of the second, so I think I did pretty well!
I'm sure I've left out something important. Please forgive my feeble memory if so. Fortunately, the "many eyeballs" phenomenon should help correct any omissions or errors on my part.
There was a lot of activity outside the formal presentations, too. This was my first HHC conference, and I had a ball. I will definitely be there next year in San Diego!
Regards,
Howard
Edited: 18 Sept 2006, 2:03 p.m.
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