A Quick Guide to desktop Videoconf

Some interesting questions last week regarding desk based 1:1 videoconferencing (ReTS#8022). Desktop Videoconferencing (or DVC) is a generic description for the use of desktop computers to simultaneously send and receive video+audio with a remote site. A headset microphone combination is recommended to avoid the need for echo-cancellation technology.

SOME BENEFITS OF VIDEOCONFERENCING [1]
In addition to bringing experts into the classroom, interactive videoconferencing has other benefits.

• Videoconferencing appeals to students’ different learning styles; students who are visual and auditory learners can benefit.
• Using the technology allows multiple classrooms at various locations to collaborate while learning about other cultures from primary sources.
• Videoconferencing increases many students’ motivation to learn.
• Students are able to practice and improve their presentation and communication skills.
• Students improve their research skills as they prepare for the conferences.
• Students practice graphing and other skills as they create pictures, graphs, or drawings on whiteboards for use during videoconferences.

SOFTWARE:
Currently desktop based solutions are available for this type of workstation based *conferencing* (eg. Skype, Windows Messenger) – programs that fall more into a “video chat” category. These applications do not produce the same quality as a dedicated system, in the same way that a laptop can be used as a stereo system but cannot compete with a dedicated system.

Moving into more specialised video/voice-conferencing software requires an investment in more specialised video/voice-conferencing equipment, beyond the scope of this post (eg. for teleconferencing we use a dedicated Polycom Soundstation, rather than a desktop based solution).

Commonly used;

• Windows (MSN) Messenger / Windows Live Messenger
• Skype

More specialised;

• Access Grid, Personal Interface to the access Grid (PIG)
• WebEx
• Elluminate Live!

other products;

• Apple iChat
• AOL Instant Messenger
• Teamspeak
• CUseeMe
• im4cam
• iSpQ Video Chat
• iVisit
• MS Netmeeting

Videoconferencing simply does not work unless the highest possible quality is achieved in design of installations, selection of equipment and the overall architectural environment. [5]

HARDWARE:
A popular camera choice is the Logitec Quick Cam, available for both PC and MAC platforms.

MS Messenger using an early USB Logitech Quickcam.
Produces pretty poor video.

For SKYPE we have two contact addresses available; melbourne-education and edfac.video

[1.] Desktop Videoconferencing: Novelty or Legitimate Teaching Tool? [Education World - Curriculum] (03-01-1999)
[2.] Knowledge Network Explorer: Videoconferencing for Learning Homepage [AT&T]
[3.] Videoconferencing for Educators [ ] (Nov-1998)
[4.] Easy Video Conferencing in Schools [Keith Lightbody - ICT Consultant] (9-May-2004)
[5.] 11. Video Teaching and Conferencing in University of Melbourne Teaching Space Design Guidelines [UNIMELB:Information Services:Teaching and Learning Support Services]
[6.] Desktop Video Conferencing Recommendations [Penn State:ITS]
[7.] Video Conferencing [SOFWeb]

Թ

Digging through some of my old paper work the other day, I rediscovered a printout of “A Word Wrapped in Light” by John Marstall (Firewheel Design – Sparkplug). Images make you stupid? from Feb 2005.

Tentative or not, though, the third example suggests another consideration — that ideographs can be composed of multiple “idea parts.” If ideography is a visual language, than a multi-part ideograph is that language’s phrase or sentence. The relationships between the parts become important in deciphering the whole graphic. Is one element larger than the others? More central? Does an element fall behind another part, seeming to act as a basis for it? Does one part seem to “possess” some other part?

[1.] A Word Wrapped in Light [Firewheel Design - Sparkplug]
[2.] A Word Wrapped in Light: John Marstall’s Response [Fire and Knowledge]

Sysadmin Appreciation Day

Today is Sysadmin Appreciation Day … considering some of the issues we have had today perhaps it was good that we didn’t mention this

System Administrator Appreciation Day [1]
If you can read this, thank your sysadmin

A sysadmin unpacked the server for this website from its box, installed an operating system, patched it for security, made sure the power and air conditioning was working in the server room, monitored it for stability, set up the software, and kept backups in case anything went wrong. All to serve this webpage.

A sysadmin installed the routers, laid the cables, configured the networks, set up the firewalls, and watched and guided the traffic for each hop of the network that runs over copper, fiber optic glass, and even the air itself to bring the Internet to your computer. All to make sure the webpage found its way from the server to your computer.

A sysadmin makes sure your network connection is safe, secure, open, and working.
A sysadmin makes sure your computer is working in a healthy way on a healthy network.
A sysadmin takes backups to guard against disaster both human and otherwise, holds the gates against security threats and crackers, and keeps the printers going no matter how many copies of the tax code someone from Accounting prints out.

A sysadmin worries about spam, viruses, spyware, but also power outages, fires and floods.

When the email server goes down at 2 AM on a Sunday, your sysadmin is paged, wakes up, and goes to work.

A sysadmin is a professional, who plans, worries, hacks, fixes, pushes, advocates, protects and creates good computer networks, to get you your data, to help you do work — to bring the potential of computing ever closer to reality.

So if you can read this, thank your sysadmin — and know she is only one of dozens or possibly hundreds whose work brings you the email from your aunt on the West Coast, the instant message from your son at college, the free phone call from the friend in Australia, and this webpage.

There you go …

[1.] System Administrator Appreciation Day
[2.] System Administrator Appreciation Day [Wikipedia]
[3.] The Sysadmin Song – Streaming Google Version [GoogleVideo]

When terrorism is state sanctioned II

Each coffin represents a single person killed in the on-going conflict between Israel and Lebanon. I will be updating this page daily with new numbers taken from BBC’s coverage on the conflict. For comments and suggestions please email me at info[at]moiz.ca [1]

Lebanon damage report [2]
Summary of the main Lebanese infrastructure damaged by Israeli bombing in the two weeks since the conflict began on 12 July, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Social Affairs.

Security Council fails to condemn post attack [3]
The United Nations Security Council has failed to condemn this week’s Israeli attack on a UN observer post in Lebanon, which killed four peacekeepers.
The attack on the post in the town of Khiam killed peacekeepers from Austria, Canada, China and Finland.

The Security Council has adopted a statement saying it “is deeply shocked an distressed by the firing by the Israeli Defence Forces on a United Nations Observer post in southern Lebanon on 25 July, 2006.”

But it stops short of condemning the bombing.

Diplomats say the US refused to agree to any statement which criticised Israel.

The policy statement, which carries less weight than a resolution, is weaker than one proposed by China and other nations. …

[1.] Israeli/Lebanese Coffin Counter
[2.] Damage in maps: Lebanon damage report [BBC]
[3.] Security Council fails to condemn post attack [The AGE]
[4.] Timeline: Key events in Middle East crisis [The AGE]

SECURITY: Windows VPN Client Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

Another CISCO VPN Windows client issue; as we should have already moved to the 4.8.01.x version this should not be a big issue. We will need to ensure that all machines *were* upgraded last time.

====================================================
The following is a important notice from ed-IT.

SECURITY: Windows VPN Client Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

Please read this complete document.

====================================================

PROBLEM:

The Cisco VPN Client for Windows is affected by a local privilege
escalation vulnerability that allows non-privileged users to gain
administrative privileges.

NATURE, EXTENT AND IMPLICATIONS OF THE PROBLEM:

Cisco VPN Client for Windows version 4.8.01.x and later are not
affected by this vulnerability.

Our current VPN is Version 4.8.01.0300

Installation software is available from ed-Server
        I:\Install\win\Software\Applications-SECURITY\VPN\

STAFF ACTIONS:

i.) Please ensure that all machines with Windows VPN clients
are running a 4.8.01.x version.

REFERENCES:

1.) University of Melbourne VPN Service: Windows VPN [UNIMELB]
        http://www.infodiv.unimelb.edu.au/vpn/win.html

2.) VPN Client User Guide for Windows, Release 4.0 [CISCO]
        http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/
	vpn/client/rel4_0/user_gd/index.htm

====================================================

[1.] (AUSCERT ESB-2006.0512) [Win] – Windows VPN Client Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability [AUSCERT ]
[2.] Advisory ID: cisco-sa-20060524-vpnclient [CISCO]

When terrorism is state sanctioned

In the past few days Israel has killed hundreds of Lebanese and Palestinian civilians; in many cases wiping out entire families, targeting Red Cross ambulances and UN peace keepers — in clear violation of international law.

Despite the indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas, the U.S. via Condoleezza Rice has stifled any attempts in the United Nations of negotiating a cease fire (wouldn’t have anything to do with the laser guided missiles the US are currently delivering to Israel would it?)

Ireland warned Israel [2]
Ireland revealed that its most senior army officer in Lebanon contacted the Israelis six times to warn them about shelling and bombing close to UN positions before the fatal air strike on the UN observers.
Irish Defence Minister Willie O’Dea told RTE state radio that Israel’s actions were “grossly reckless at a minimum” as he wondered whether it had deliberately targeted the base. …

Base ‘clearly marked’
In New York, deputy head of UN peacekeeping operations Jane Holl Lute and UN Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown telephoned Israeli UN Ambassador Dan Gillerman and his deputy half a dozen times to convey the same message, UN officials said.
“The base is clearly marked, a well-known, well-established position for a generation,” said a UN official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity.
The UN still wanted a joint investigation, as Annan requested, despite Olmert’s decision to conduct a solely Israeli inquiry, the UN official said. …

Fear had many faces today :: BBC reporter Fergal Keane

On Sunday, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour told CNN that Israel’s actions in Lebanon could lead to the prosecution of its military commanders. She issued a statement last week suggesting that the failure of both sides to spare civilians was a violation of international criminal law.
…
The already simmering tensions between Israel and the U.N. exploded Tuesday, after Israel dropped a bomb on a U.N. outpost in south Lebanon, killing four observers. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan quickly accused Jerusalem of intentionally targeting the outpost — an allegation that Israeli officials angrily denied, insisting the incident was not deliberate. [4]

Under fire: missile damage on the clearly marked ambulances, hit while caring for injured in the town of Qana. (Photo: AP) [8]

[1.] Fear had many faces today [SMH Blogs: MashUp]
[2.] Danger interrupts evacuation effort [The AGE]
[3.] Conflicting views of the Middle East crisis [The AGE]
[4.] U.N., Rights Groups Accuse Israel of Possible War Crimes [Forward]
[5.] Yes, We Are Witnessing War Crimes in Lebanon [Arab News]
[6.] Ralph Nader: U.S. Carries “Inescapable Responsibility” for “Israeli Government’s Escalating War Crimes” [Scoop NZ]
[7.] Middle East: Expert Discusses Issue Of War Crimes [RadioFreeEurope]
[8.] Agonies anew for team on the side of the angels [The AGE]
[9.] Where’s the int’l outcry over Israeli war crimes? [Aljazeera]

SECURITY: warning – Trojan attachment

PROBLEM:
This morning an unwanted email attachment is being delivered via spam email, see below for an example of the wording used in the email.

This attachment is a “trojan” (a malicious program that is disguised as or embedded within legitimate software ) that is currently undetected by our anti-virus package.

Please do not open the attachment. Delete all instances of the attachment.

Thinking of a datastream?

Blogject [Wikipedia]
Blogject is a neologism coined by Julian Bleecker for an object that gathers metadata about its interaction with people, other objects, or its environment. Just as people can blog about their interactions in the world, blogjects similarly gather and communicate this information as well – Objects that Blog

Blogjects: Small Clarification [1]
… Blogjects are “only” sources of information if that is all we want from them. Websites were only sources of information once, too, until they because conversational (in a Weinberger/Searls/Locke sort of way way) and changed the way we engage in social discourse, and even had measurable, substantial effect in 1st life politics and further. We know this for a fact. The social web changed things measurably. Can objects, also participating in the same register of discourse, do likewise, and perhaps have impactful effect? …

Spime [Wikipedia]
Spime is a neologism for a currently-theoretical object that can be tracked through space and time throughout the lifetime of the object. The name “spime” for this concept was coined by Bruce Sterling, in various speeches and writings on the subject.

Spime (From Wikipedia)
Sterling sees spimes as coming through the convergence of six emerging technologies, related to both the manufacturing process for consumer goods, and through identification and location technologies. These six facets of spimes are:

1. Small, inexpensive means of remotely and uniquely identifying objects over short ranges; in other words, radio-frequency identification.
2. A mechanism to precisely locate something on Earth, such as a global-positioning system.
3. A way to mine large amounts of data for things that match some given criteria, like internet search engines.
4. Tools to virtually construct nearly any kind of object; computer-aided design.
5. Ways to rapidly prototype virtual objects into real ones. Sophisticated, automated fabrication of a specification for an object, through “three-dimensional printers.”
6. “Cradle-to-cradle” life-spans for objects. Cheap, effective recycling.

With all six of these, in theory one could track the entire existence of an object, from before it was made (its virtual representation), through its manufacture, its ownership history, its physical location, until its eventual obsolescence and breaking-down back into raw material to be used for new instantiations of objects. If recorded, the lifetime of the object can be archived, and searched for.

Kaywa QR code generator

MeSH Industry-specific metadata.

Why do I blog this?
Using real, live and ‘meaning full’ data; and then making the data accessable. Syndicated live data to produce larger Meta data sets for analysis; “My object did this” cf “these objects did this”. The concept of public data sets. Distributed, collaborative techniques.

[1.] Blogjects: Small Clarification [research.techkwondo]
[2.] Blogject Presentation at Reboot [research.techkwondo]

TDF – And the fat lady sings!

Wow, what an unpredictable tour!

Yellow Jersey (maillot jaune) “General Classifiaction”:

   GC 				Team	Country	Time
01	LANDIS Floyd  		PHO  	USA
02	PEREIRO SIO Oscar 	CEI 	ESP 	00' 57"
03	KLÖDEN Andréas 		TMO 	GER 	01' 29"
04	SASTRE Carlos 		CSC 	ESP 	03' 13"
05	EVANS Cadel 		DVL 	AUS 	05' 08"
06	MENCHOV Denis 		RAB 	RUS 	07' 06"
07	DESSEL Cyril 		A2R 	FRA 	08' 41"
08	MOREAU Christophe 	A2R 	FRA 	09' 37"
09	ZUBELDIA Haimar 	EUS 	ESP 	12' 05"
10	ROGERS Michael  	TMO  	AUS	15' 07"

Green Jersey (maillot vert) “Sprint Points”:

				Team	Country	Points
01	MC EWEN Robbie  	DVL  	AUS  	288
02	ZABEL Erik 		MRM 	GER 	199
03	HUSHOVD Thor 		C.A 	NOR 	195
04	EISEL Bernhard 		FDJ 	AUT 	176
05	PAOLINI Luca 		LIQ 	ITA 	174
06	ISASI Inaki 		EUS 	ESP 	130
07	VENTOSO Francisco 	SDV 	ESP 	128
08	MORENI Cristian 	COF 	ITA 	116
09	CASPER Jimmy 		COF 	FRA 	98
10	LANDIS Floyd 		PHO 	USA 	93

Polka Dot Jersey (maillot pois) “King of the Mountain”:

				Team	Country	Points
01	RASMUSSEN Mickael  	RAB  	DEN  	166
02	LANDIS Floyd 		PHO 	USA 	131
03	DE LA FUENTE David 	SDV 	ESP 	113
04	SASTRE Carlos 		CSC 	ESP 	99
05	SCHLECK Frank 		CSC 	LUX 	96
06	BOOGERD Michael 	RAB 	NED 	93
07	CUNEGO Damiano 		LAM 	ITA 	80
08	DESSEL Cyril 		A2R 	FRA 	72
09	LEIPHEIMER Levi 	GST 	USA 	66
10	KLÖDEN Andréas 		TMO 	GER 	64

White “Young Rider”: no more than 25 years old

				Team	Country	Time
01	CUNEGO Damiano  	LAM  	ITA
02	FOTHEN Marcus 		GST 	GER 	00' 38"
03	SPRICK Matthieu 	BTL 	FRA 	1h 29' 12"
04	DE LA FUENTE David 	SDV 	ESP 	1h 36' 00"
05	DUENAS NEVADO Moises 	AGR 	ESP 	1h 48' 40"
06	LÖVKVIST Thomas 	FDJ 	SWE 	1h 52' 54"
07	VENTOSO Francisco 	SDV 	ESP 	2h 22' 03"
08	POSTHUMA Joost 		RAB 	NED 	2h 32' 41"
09	VAUGRENARD Benoît 	FDJ 	FRA 	2h 33' 12"
10	WEENING Pieter 		RAB 	NED 	2h 36' 44"

Teams:

	Team				Time
01  	T-MOBILE TEAM
02 	TEAM CSC 			17' 04"
03 	RABOBANK 			23' 26"
04 	AG2R PREVOYANCE 		33' 19"
05 	CAISSE D’EPARGNE-ILLES BALEARS 	56' 53"
06 	LAMPRE-FONDITAL 		57' 37"
07 	GEROLSTEINER 			1h 45' 25"
08 	DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM 		2h 19' 17"
09 	EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 		2h 26' 38"
10 	PHONAK HEARING SYSTEMS 		2h 49' 06"

Stage 15: Gap – L’Alpe d’Huez

Stage 16: Bourg d’Oisans – La Toussuire

Stage 17: Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne – Morzine

Stage 18: Morzine – Mâcon

Stage 19: Individual Time Trial : Le Creusot – Montceau-les-Mines
Sastre bombs, and drops to 4th allowing Kloden podium.
Pereiro rides the trial of his life to keep a podium with 2nd.
Landis takes the maillot jaune!

Stage 20: Sceaux – Antony – Paris Champs-Élysées
Hushovd bookends the tour winning the Prologue time trial and the final stage into Paris.

[1.] Tour de France 2006 [tdfblog]
[2.] The Tour de France for the Rest of Us
[3.] Tour de France 2006 [SBS]
[4.] Digital Peloton
[5.] Peloton Blog
[6.] Cycling News [cyclingnews.com]
[7.] Tour de France 2006 [Graham Watson Cycling Photography]

This weeks links (2006-07-24)

Something to think about
The best business solution is not always the best technology solution. The burden is on you, the technologist, to make the best system the business will use. There are two basic types of processes in business: physical and logical. Physical requires the proximity of two or more objects which must interact; like someone to load a crate onto a barge. Logical means it can be done anywhere with an acceptable network connection (like invoicing the loaded barge). …
Technologist Manifesto…, or Things Everyone in IT Should Know [ITtoolbox Blogs]

… I called over the “DBA” and told him we may be looking at a recovery scenario
and to start preparing options like if we were going to recover the database to
the test server (and finally sync it with production) or if we could use a recent export to pull that data.
He gave me that deer-in-a-headlight look that I only see from IT professionals
who look like they’ve been found out. …
IT Audit Pt. 6…or, No Wonder They Needed Help. [ITtoolbox Blogs]

The whole story:
IT Audit Pt.1…or, Meet the Fockers
IT Audit Pt.2…or, PC Load Letter???
IT Audit Pt. 3…or The First Person Voted off the Island is…
IT Audit Pt. 4…or, Into the Rabbit Hole
IT Audit Pt. 5…or, You’re invited
IT Audit Pt. 6…or, No Wonder They Needed Help.
IT Audit Pt. 7…or, it’s about time!

Detour de France
A new Australian-made doco is out to give a larrikin’s eye view of the world’s biggest cycling race. Called Detour de France it follows Australian journalist John Trevorrow and his team on the road with the 2005 edition of the race.
…
There have been a rash of – well, two – Tour docos out in recent years but while Hell on Wheels and Overcoming take a serious look at the race from the riders’ viewpoints, Detour concentrates more on the behind-the-scenes fun and games.
Aussies on Tour [ABC Sport]

The Google Toolbar PageRank Demystified
… Search engine optimization? Not a chance. We’re not even let into the kitchen to see what’s in the fridge, never mind given the recipe to cook a feast for our clients. It is a truly interesting and challenging aspect of Internet business development. It is tantamount to working in the dark or having business plans plucked from the pages of the grocery store rag. Heck, maybe Aliens can tell me the truth about the algorithms. Maybe even Macdonald’s ‘secret’ sauce while they’re at it. …
The Google Toolbar PageRank Demystified [SiteReference]

You can’t die with dignity. You can only live with dignity. — Dr Greg House (House MD, pilot episode.)

Battleship:GoogleEarth (a 1st Life/2nd Life mashup)
… The mechanic I’m experimenting with is simpler. One person places their ships using Google Earth and the other person goes out in the normal world with a mobile phone, a GPS connected to the mobile phone. The phone has a small Python script on it that reads the GPS and sends the data to the game engine, which then updates the Google Earth KML model showing the current state of the game grid. When the player who’s trying to sink the ships wants to try for a hit, they call into the game engine and say “drop”. The game reads back the coordinates at which the “peg” was dropped and shortly thereafter, the other player will see the peg appear at the coordinate it was dropped. If the peg hits one of the ships, it’s a Hit, otherwise it’s a miss. …
Battleship:GoogleEarth [research.techkwondo]

95 Theses of Geek Activism
Geek activism has not taken off yet, but it should. With the gamers recognizing the need for a louder voice, EFF gaining momentum and Linux taking on the mainstream on the one hand and recent severe losses in privacy, freedom of speech and intellectual property rights on the other, now seems to be the best time to rally around the cause.
95 Theses of Geek Activism [Science Addiction]

Geotagthings
Geotagthings is a simple way to assign any web resource – anything with a url – a location in the normal, human physical world.
Geotagthings [Geotagthings]