I'm watching and I saw the nipple thing and you guys are funny. Thanks for the laugh. I'll email something some other time, but I have a high squeaky voice so I'll pass on calling in... Yeah Sasha that would be a laugh to pull Johns shirt open during the show. T:)
I'm curious why would a live stream website cater only to a selective group of people who use Mozilla Firefox or safire? A professional webmaster would build there website media stream to work on all browser, esp. around IE user who are 80% of the microsoft environment. The reason I ask since most of the poor community use the schools, work, or public library computers, which they can't download or install updates. usability testing should be designed around the user from the beginning, during the test, and after testing is complete, with questions was it simple to understand and easy to use. This stream is not, which I thought this was the the whole reason to move to the flash environment?
LOL
LOL? Don't you mean, IAGTIYATL (I Am Going To Insult You And Then Laugh)?
I have tested this stream on dozens of both Windows and Macs and with a variety of browsers and have gotten great results on most and as good or better results that the QuickTime player on the rest.
I've posted some information from our Google Analytics on my blog.
I'm sorry if you can't update the version of the Flash player or don't have enough bandwidth to watch the live stream on the computers you have access to, but that ONLY prevents you from watching the live stream. The individual videos in the archive are still being encoded as FLVs and will simply buffer on slower connections.
I guess I'm not really as concerned that a few users can't access the live stream from schools, work, or public library as the majority of users can access a stream that's truly a watchable quality.
Dude! If you’re insulting me no hard feelings, it’s all – good. Life is too short to be angry. If you think I was insulting you, I’m sorry that was never my intention. Personally I just think its funny that a professional Webmaster could careless about all Internet user coming to DOM website. But I understand now -- who cares if a few users can't access the live stream (To me that’s a Cop out). Ohhhh I forgot DOM is a business now, and doesn’t care if the community, let alone the minority, youth, students or poor people can watch the broadcast live. Before you say they can watch on TV – not true since not everyone can get this station, unless you have cable and are in the Denver County area. Yes they can go to the video archive (which loads slow, on public computers only) to find a show to watch the http:// flash player file, but why does it have to be so difficult? People when they come to a site are scanning and don’t want to think where and what they should do next, and not everyone is computer literate. My bad for giving you feedback when the live stream is down or not working right, but I thought DOM would like to know? Why are you so hung up on this QuickTime player stuff? I just brought it up because of the DNC………. The 10min thing and safari was after the live stream was down for three days. I was at home on a Mac Pro with only a cable connection, not dial up, which someone could have been on a wireless using my bandwidth. But Firefox my default browser was not working too, so I launched safari and it was down too (Why I know is every time the stream is down I try to check and find out why and if it is my computer connection. I even leave both browser pages up to see if the web launches the stream. While waiting I go about my other business. I even test other syndicated news station to see if there is a problem but they connect fast. As far as my job was concerned it was fine on IE just the comment issue before taking off the week of the DNC… Tuesday I asked Brian from IT if he could launch DOM stream and it popped up fine… But he was on a Mac Pro using firefox. So I went back to my computer (PC Dell, IE, Flash 9) still down. So he installed firefox and the flash player it was up. Sorry but I can’t watch TV at work so I like to go to the live stream and watch. Yes I know now DOM is not worried about all the community. Thanks for the tip. Thanks for sharing the bandwidth info I’m dumb founded on the technical stuff I just know it goes from here to there. But I applaud you on the quality, since it does look great when it’s working, like how the audio syncs perfect now. Don’t worry! Be Happy! ☺ ☺ ☺
"Dude", you are one of the most passive aggressive people I've ever tried to interacted with. There is a difference between not caring and not being able to do anything about a problem. I try to point out that computers that can't be updated or don't have the bandwidth to watch the live steam can still access the archived version and your response is that archive "loads slow on public computers". What exactly do you want me to do about those computers? I point out that the majority of the people using DOM's site have the bandwidth and updated software to watch the stream and that it is more popular than it's ever been and you respond "DOM is not worried about all the community" and "Ohhhh I forgot DOM is a business now, and doesn’t care if the community, let alone the minority, youth, students or poor people can watch the broadcast live"?
Is your point that DOM shouldn't be trying to improve the site for the people who are actually using it, but be investing our time in trying to find a way to stream high quality video to slow connections on old software and hardware?
As far as your specific problem with the stream being down, the video is not going to start if the Flash player failed to connect when you initially visited the live stream page leaving a browser window because you left the window open. If you are watching the stream and we change the settings on the encoder, the video will stall for a second or two and then pick back up, but a connection failure will not fix itself without reloading the page.
I find it offensive that you would suggest through attacks like -- just exactly what makes you think you’re worth ANYTHING with your insipid behavior, you bitch? So do you think your reply makes you perfect? I am flabbergasted how confused you are about my personality… I know how to express myself, and sorry if it was not courtesy enough for you but I was not pouting. I say what’s on mind, because I know who I am -- a strong Assertive Feminist who to some might come off as a totally rude bitch? Yes I can be tactless, blunt, and quick to say anything without considering the consequences. But that's life, and I could careless if I please you.... Also, I know some stuff I ‘m not that dumb on how and when to refresh a page… And I know what DOM is about, I was just being sarcastic to you after your comment “I guess I'm not really as concerned that a few users can't access the live stream”. Personally I am not worried about the live stream since most of my favorite shows are on Channel 57, not 56... I was just be myself a master control operator who thinks like a broadcaster.
If it takes 10 minutes to load, it isn't a problem with the browser or player, but your internet connection. The stream is capped at 300kbps. The more motion in the video and range in the audio, the more of that 300kbps the stream will use. A black screen with no audio will play on even the slowest connection, but a normal video with nearly constant audio and video that pans, zooms, and fades between shots will vary between 250kbps and 300kbps.
It sounds like either someone else who shares your bandwidth was doing something bandwidth intensive for 10 minutes or you just don't have the bandwidth required to watch the live stream.
Neil,
Thanks for the feedback. The motion in the video footage impacts the encoding, so we are still making adjustments looking for the 'sweet spot' in the settings so that the most videos look the best for the most users. Since every user's operating system, browser, and network connection are different, we can't test everything and need your feedback to make improvements.
I've made a few changes to the encoding settings. Is it any better?
not working! Maybe you should of kept the quicktime stream up until after the DNC? Bad time to have problems, esp. when your trying to give the independent media people access to your station for streaming, etc.... Good Luck!
Are you seeing a small No H.264 message or just a black screen? If you are seeing the H.264 message, you need to upgrade Flash. If you are seeing a black screen with the ticker, it is an issue with switching. The switching issue was an issue with QuickTime stream as well. The main difference between QuickTime and Flash is that Flash is a much better quality that works fro more people. I have been testing this on every machine I come across and watching the logs so I can say with confidence if you are not seeing at least a black screen with the ticker, the problem is on your end.
I am watching an episode of Cafe Nuba w/ M-1 and Umi from 2005 - and i have never seen such an amazing display of diverse Black culture in Denver! Thank U for documenting this courageous movement and conscious hip-hop for the people!
Sorry about the inconvenience. We are looking into it. For some reason this problem only seems to happen with PCs. Please be sure you have the latest version of Quicktime installed on your computer.
So, Jacob set up a live stream for us. It requires QuickTime. This is the initial test, and we only have one stream. In order to set up a second or third stream, we need about $1,000 for each (for a mac mini and an encoder box). This stream is currently using our edit server to function, which isn't a permanent solution, but until we can get some budget to do it right, or a couple donated mac mini's, this will have to do.
Stay patient. Things are getting better all the time.
Submitted by dwhitmore on Wed, 02/07/2007 - 09:57.
How soon is it before we can vote on content? Also can there be an update weekly to menbers via email on how different areas are coming along??? i.e. Ingest, scheduling, voting...
A lot of people are asking this question David. Because this task is not entirely within the abilities of my staff, and depends on contractors, the best I can do is guess. My guess is that there will be some form of this available in March. The team responsible for this (Geek Gene) had promised an initial release by Jan 31, and we have not been successful in getting them to respond since then, probably because it is a lower priority than some of the other deliverables they had promised long before Jan 31 that have also not arrived.
With or without them, I believe we'll have some form of this available in March, but, as an entirely new system, it will likely have all the quirks and shortcomings you've come to expect from DOM web-tools for the first few months, as we work with guinea-pigs like you to work them out.
Also, I bet we're looking at April or May before we have a web connection that will be able to handle many visitors.
As for the weekly updates, this stuff moves so slowly, it wouldn't make sense to do it more frequently than every month or two. We have producer meetings, Member collective meetings, and we're scheduling a semi-annual meeting with city and board representatives as well. Together, those should be enough. Scan the site for those dates.
Is your point that DOM shouldn't be trying to improve the site for the people who are actually using it, but be investing our time in trying to find a way to stream high quality video to slow connections on old software and hardware?
As far as your specific problem with the stream being down, the video is not going to start if the Flash player failed to connect when you initially visited the live stream page leaving a browser window because you left the window open. If you are watching the stream and we change the settings on the encoder, the video will stall for a second or two and then pick back up, but a connection failure will not fix itself without reloading the page.
A lot of people are asking this question David. Because this task is not entirely within the abilities of my staff, and depends on contractors, the best I can do is guess. My guess is that there will be some form of this available in March. The team responsible for this (Geek Gene) had promised an initial release by Jan 31, and we have not been successful in getting them to respond since then, probably because it is a lower priority than some of the other deliverables they had promised long before Jan 31 that have also not arrived.
With or without them, I believe we'll have some form of this available in March, but, as an entirely new system, it will likely have all the quirks and shortcomings you've come to expect from DOM web-tools for the first few months, as we work with guinea-pigs like you to work them out.
Also, I bet we're looking at April or May before we have a web connection that will be able to handle many visitors.
As for the weekly updates, this stuff moves so slowly, it wouldn't make sense to do it more frequently than every month or two. We have producer meetings, Member collective meetings, and we're scheduling a semi-annual meeting with city and board representatives as well. Together, those should be enough. Scan the site for those dates.