I found a gold mine of lost blog entries! Here is another…
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Rating: 4 WaterTowers (Internet streaming made easy)
Justin TV allows you to stream live video and audio over the Internet. It took me all of two minutes to sign up and start streaming.
Very easy and very cool. 🙂
I can see tons of applications for this, and I’m sure there are thousands already on Justin TV. For us at the TracyVirtualOffice and maybe other coworking locations or businesses / education, I can see Lectures being streamed, meetings being streamed (like the TweetUP we just hosted), and when I am at home…this is an efficient security system! We can connect coworking locations worldwide as easy as 3.14.
Official announcement: The TracyVirtualOffice now has it’s own LIVE stream (8:30 AM to 5:00 PM, PST) that you can watch at two locations:
Take a look…just don’t get bored! 😉
My New Slogan: “TracyVirtualOffice TV: As Exciting as Watching Corn Grow”
I will occasionally turn the web cam inward so you can see the TracyVirtualOffice in action, but, I’ll wait until we have a few more members. Right now, we are as interesting as the parking lot. 😉
What Am I Using?
I am using the TracyVirtualOffice emachines computer, running Vista, with a Logitech 9000 web cam. I have Comcast Business Internet with 2.5 Mbps upstream and 20 Mbps, or more, downstream and the Google Chrome browser.
The Justin TV application is running in “Good” mode (see picture below) and it automatically selected an upstream BW of about 450 kbps. I see no slowing of the Internet at that bit rate which is good.
The video quality at the viewer end appears to be very good (Comments?). Note that I have muted audio for privacy, but, when it was on it worked very well.
Features
As a viewer:
You can watch the video at the default size or make it full screen. You can chat with other viewers and the broadcaster. You see updated list of the number of viewers, the number of fans, and the number of views since broadcasting started. And you can change the audio volume. The embed and link codes are there if you want to use them.
As the owner:
You can record video.
I did that yesterday but I have not been able to find it. Maybe because I am using Chrome? The recording seems to work ok, but, it never shows up in the designated spot. I’ll give Firefox and IE a try over the next few days and let you know what happens.
You can change the video quality
The default is “Good” but there is a “Best” as well. Since “Good” is running at 450 kbps, I have not yet fired up the “Best”. 450 kbps is plenty good for me. 🙂
You can personalize your Justin TV page
I uploaded a properly sized (650 x 125 pixel) logo, changed the coloring, and uploaded a background picture of our mug. It all worked out very nicely. See the picture at the top.
You can embed the video on your web page
Justin TV provides links and embed code that you can copy. The picture shows how it looks on my web page.
You can link to it here to give it a whirl. You have to click on the arrow button to start the video. Once it is running, you can change the audio (we are muted), view the video in full-screen, and stop the video. There is a link to the Justin TV site below the video feed.
I just wonder what the this will do to the data transfer rate of the web site? Does the video feed thru it? Or does it get fed somehow thru Justin TV?
Here is a full screen shot from the web site feed:
Summary
Not to long ago streaming video over the Internet was a difficult process requiring specialized equipment and expertise. Those days are gone!
Justin TV brings this capabilty to the average person while providing excellent quality video and audio. And the price is right….it is free. Justin TV is super easy to set up and use.
All in all……a super app! 🙂
As for my new slogan…..”TracyVirtualOffice TV: As Exciting as Watching Corn Grow”! Believe me, I have experience there, my Masters Degree Thesis (University of Kansas) was on “The Coherent Optical Determination of the Leaf Angle Distribution of Corn”. Many many (wonderful) hours spent in the cornfields of Kansas.
TechyMike: Technology Made Easy 