28: I stream, do uStream?
2008-10-19
Download MP3 For Geekons Episode 28
Pop-Up: Dropbox
- Dropbox is worry-free document syncing
- A web service with desktop applications for the computers you use most
- You start with 2GB of storage space, but can purchase a 50GB plan for $99/year (or $9.99 per month)
- How it works:
- You download dropbox from getdropbox.com
- You install it and sign up for a dropbox account.
- After pairing your computer with your dropbox account, everything you put in the "my dropbox" folder will by uploaded automatically to your getdropbox.com account.
- Changes, additions, and deletions to files will be reflected on your online account, and later synced to any other computers paired with this account.
- Previous versions WILL BE KEPT!
- You can even un-delete recently deleted items.
- Only changes are stored, even on photos! so syncing changes is surprisingly quick, and backups take up very little storage space on your account.
- You can sync multiple computers with the same account, even with different OSes!
- You can establish folders as public so everyone can view them online.
- You can easily get a link to show friends your public files by right-clicking the file and choosing "copy public link"
- 5 out of 5 stars, it runs on the top 3 OSes or 100% online, stores up to 2GB for free, keeps previous versions of documents, and is relatively cost-effective for the larger 50GB storage accounts.
Geek-Tweak: How to stream video on ustream.tv
- ustream.tv is an online streaming service, which of course, means you must be online.
- You need to have a computer powerful enough to process video and stream it online. Anything above a P4 with 512MB of RAM should do fine for standard streaming.
- For higher quality streaming, you can purchase a video encoding card, such as the Osprey line from ViewCast, which will allow you to plug analog video and audio directly into your streaming computer.
- My ideal mid-budget setup:
- A PC with a Core 2 Duo processor, 1GB of RAM, Windows XP Pro, and a ViewCast Osprey 230 plugged into a PCI-X slot.
- A video camera (or multiple cameras plugged into a video switcher) with composite video out.
- An audio source with balanced XLR out. (preferably with some ability to adjust a delay, so you can ensure a/v sync)
- The computer hardware and software could probably be purchased for $1300 or less. (I have set up computers for less than $1,000 with low powered AMD computers, and they work fine.)
- Now that you have your hardware setup, sign up for a ustream.tv account
- go to ustream.tv and click "signup"
- fill out the registration portion of the form as you would any other online services.
- You will probably have to verify your email address by responding to a validation email, once again very common for online services.
- Once your account is established, you will want to create a "show".
- Chose a Show name, like "MyChurch of MyCity's Live Services"
- Upload a show logo (optional)
- Select a category (they do have a "Religion" category which includes "Faith" and "Christianity")
- Enter tags, such as your church name, your church denomination, and possibly some of your church goals like "grace", "faith", "love", etc.
- Fill out a show description. A great place to describe your church and mention your website URL.
- Look through all the other areas to fine tune your show if you'd like.
- Now that you have a show established, let's get the stream set up!
- Make sure you have a camera plugged into your computer. This could be a webcam, or an anlog camera plugged into a video capture card like the Osprey 230.
- Log into your ustream.tv account and click on the big "Broadcast Now" button on the top right.
- Click "Allow" to allow flash access to your camera hardware.
- If you have multiple shows, you may want to go to your "my shows" page first to choose the show to stream. If you only have one show, it will be easy.
- If you don't see the video you are expecting in the preview window, check the video-source drop down to ensure you have the proper video hardware chosen.
- You will also want to check audio levels, via the "VU Meter". Once again check the audio-source drop down to ensure you have the proper audio hardware chosen.
- To the right you will notice "sliders" to let you control Video and Audio quality. Just remember that Audio quality is most important, video quality is just icing on the cake.
- Okay, we've got the hardware, the show, and the stream setup, time to stream and make some decisions!
- Click "Start Streaming" to begin streaming your audio and video live!
- Make the decision of whether or not you want ustream.tv to archive your video.
- Do you want your service viewable by the public at any time at a streamed video quality? Or do you want to control the quality of video archives that the public will see?
- If you want to let ustream archive, just click "start recording"
- Now that you have streamed your service, you can click "Stop Streaming", and if you were recording your video you can choose a name for your archive so people can easily search for them.
- Next steps:
- Start reading the support pages on ustream.tv
- Especially focus on the ability to stream high-quality video with the Flash Media Encoder, cool stuff!
- Make use of networking services like twitter, jaiku, etc.
View-Source: The Righteous Geek
- We are sinful, separated from God by that sinful nature.
- As sinful beings, we cannot have a relationship directly with God because of how perfect and sinless He is.
- To enable a relationship with us, God created a righteousness for us apart from the law. (Simply "being perfect" is not a physical possibility for us, even though we can "be good" at times.)
- This righteousness comes through Faith in Jesus Christ, not through anything we can do.
- We do good because of this righteousness through Christ, we aren't righteous because we are good.
- We receive the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ, not obedience to the Law.
- Through faith in Christ we have peace with God and can enjoy the grace of God.
- While we can't boast as self-righteous geeks worthy of any real blessings, we can boast as geeks righteous in Christ, made worthy of the grace of God.
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