I tried the YouTube embed facility, but I couldn’t get it to work.  Is it je

So instead I have used the link address in the usual way.  You can watch Alan’s video here.

Our next Netmasters meeting will be a trail run for our next stage. It will be held on Monday evening, August 2. Alan, David and Gerry will be posting speeches for which I will post links so we can all view them. Alan’s speech is the first of these. Using the Comments facility on YouTube – as I have already done for Alan’s boating speech – we will post brief evaluations. They have to be brief because of the size limitation on comments.

The Monday evening, August 2nd Meeting

It’s an experiment.  It will be completely online or close to it.  I hope to get Skype Video working for this.  That could be another important part of our system.  More news during the week.

David
VP Education

Between October 2009 and February 2010 we held our meetings in the training room of a large company.   High speed wireless internet connection, a large screen monitor and professional telephone conference facilities were all available.  However, the offices were high security and we had to be inside the building by 6:00pm.  This created some difficulties for those running late or unable to find nearby parking.   Another problem was the set up of our equipment and testing of applications which eroded our meeting time.    A moment-of-truth came when we discovered that the dial-up telephone conference facility was far superior to our computers for video and voice over internet communications. 

Our physical March meeting was held at David’s house and included Mark who participated via Skype from his home.  Back to our hodge-podge of technical equipment working through a wireless home network.  It all worked well and the meeting was very successful.  A great lift in spirits for the members. 

Internet video meetings – not yet practicable? 

Netmasters has persisted with Skype video to include remote members in our meetings.  It works, but it is not very satisfactory.   Members have Skype versions installed for Macintosh, PC and Linux computers, each with different qualities of sound and vision.   Quality of two way video communication is not consistent enough for immediate interactive meetings.  Skype audio conferencing was briefly tested with a third party joining from Tasmania (thanks Damian and Hilary!).  Communication was clear with no hint of breaking up.   I think we may use Video Skype for establishing social contact, but switch to audio only for the formal meeting.   (See www.skype.com ). 

In previous months we conducted video meeting trials using the DimDim webinar (web seminar) process.  While DimDim provides an amazing service, it did not prove to be suitable for an interactive meeting.  The severe line delay for audio and vision was the biggest drawback.   (see www.dimdim.com ). 

Pre-recorded podcasts a great success. 

Perhaps Netmasters has turned a full circle.  At one of our 2008 meetings, Michael recorded a speech on his computer webcam which was played to the audience via a USB memory stick.  Netmasters pursued other internet options including interactive video meeting techniques for the next year.  At the March 2010 meeting pre-recorded video speeches from Alan and David were presented.   Bill demonstrated an audio iPod recorded speech. 

Audio quality is the most significant criteria for a successful podcast.    The home-made video recordings (using webcams and built-in computer microphone) were of fair quality.  We will test a video from a HD digital camera next time.    Members will need to check technical specs for their microphone for future recordings.   Sound level and audio quality from an iPod or iPhone audio recording taken at a “live” presentation was not really suited for playback to an audience.   Still, we are learning fast.  Podcast results have been very encouraging and we will persist with both video and audio speeches. 

A key feature was the use of Dropbox  to share the files between members enabling the videos to be viewed at different locations.  Playback at David’s house was straight off Dropbox.   This is an excellent application for file transfer and sharing, but not all members could install the software.   We will continue to use and recommend Dropbox.    (see www.dropbox.com ). 

Next meeting will be on 8th April at Alan’s house.

Toastmaster: Leonor
Inspiration: 2 mins David
Table Topics: 10 mins Gerry
  Table Topics Evaluation: 4 mins Bill
Club Business: Charles
Speech: 5-7 mins Alan “ ”
  Evaluation of the speech 2 mins Leonor
  Group discussion on speech content 8 mins Leonor
Speech: 5-7 mins Charles “ ”
  Evaluation of the speech 2 mins Gerry
  Group discussion on speech content 8 mins Gerry
Speech: 5-7 mins Bill “ ”
  Evaluation of the speech 2 mins David
  Group discussion on speech content 8 mins David
Timing: Charles
Meeting Evaluation: 7 mins Alan

Leonor’s speech aroused much interest, particularly from David. David has recently expanded his photography interests with a new camcorder and is now inspired to create video podcasts.

Video podcasts will certainly require a large pre-publishing effort to edit the movie. I guess that synchronising sound and vision of an edited file adds further complications. Techniques to upload the resultant video to a website should be similar to a voice file. The ultimate end-user may be limited to just a few technologies to view the podcast. Would you seriously watch a podcast on a 2 inch mobile phone screen or on an iPod?

Audio podcasts are very simple to create. Any sound recording device with a file output facility can be used. The objective is produce a standard mp3 file. Leonor demonstrated the use of an iPod and mobile phone to record voice with a laptop computer for any required conversion to mp3 format. The end user can easily download the resultant podcast for replay on any mp3 device. Simple.

Video or voice podcasts – is one superior or is it horses for courses? What do you think?

Toastmaster: David
Inspiration: 3 mins Mark
Speech: 5-7 mins Leonor “ ”
Evaluation of the speech 2 mins Alan
Group discussion on speech content 8 mins Alan
Speech: 5-7 mins Meechan “ ”
Evaluation of the speech 2 mins Ross
Group discussion on speech contest 8 mins Ross
Table Topics: 10 mins Bill
Tonic: 1 min Ross
Table Topics Evaluation: 4 mins Charles
Meeting Evaluation: 7 mins Gerry
Timing: Kristin
Club Business: Charles

All club members (with a Google email account) can access the spreadsheet to amend or enter roles for future meetings.  The Toastmaster for the particular meeting can be automatically advised by email of any changes made to the agenda. 

After the speech evaluation, there was a vigorous and passionate group discussion about the BEST interactive or automatic meeting agenda program.  Bill argued for the facilities of the free.toast.host website application, which provide a range of Toastmaster specific options.  Alan reminded the group that the VPE trainer at the recent COT session recommended Club Scheduler*. 

Discussion ran way over time and continued for 30 minutes after the meeting.  Who would have thought that the simple VPE planning agenda would raise such passion and controversy? 

* Club Scheduler details at the WHQ website www.toastmasters.org  or at www.clubscheduler.com

www.avg.com

AVG Free is well known and well regarded virus scanner. It is not a full internet security suite. I use AVG Free on my Windows XP computer. It updates automatically each day for the latest anti-virus signatures; scans email and provides a safety check on web sites (e.g. on results from a Google search). Manual scans of single files, folders or USB memory sticks are quick and simple.

AVG Free has a major irritant. It takes around 90 minutes to do a (default) full scan on my desktop PC. As scans are set to run automatically every day I now set the scanner to start at 4.00am (when the PC is turned off) and start the scan manually when I think of it. It kind of defeats the purpose of up to date virus protection. Scan time can be reduced to around 45 minutes by de-selecting “scan inside archives”. Bill indicated AVG Free scans his PC in a matter of seconds. What is your experience?

FREE Voice and Video calls over the internet with SKYPE.

www.skype.com

The nitty gritty of Netmasters! Some members have been using Skype for personal calls for some time. Mark, Alan and David have recently installed the software and tested out video and voice calls. Next step – have a club member deliver a speech via Skype at home to the rest of the club at a meeting.

There are different versions of Skype to suit individual operating systems. Our three testers used Windows XP, Linux and Mac versions. No problems speaking (and viewing) each other.

Skype software is free and internet calls to other Skype users are free (V+VOIP). Skype offer chargeable options such as speaking from your computer to external local and international telephone numbers. There are options for conference calls (more than two parties) which I think are chargeable too. The main advantage of Skype is that it is world-wide and has literally millions of users. I have a niggling doubt about the definition of “local” calls with Skype. As a European company, are calls from Perth to Fremantle charged at the “international” rate? There may be advantages to use Australian VOIP software.

Using video uses Megabytes! On my niggardly 400MB ADSL1 plan, Skype uses about 5MB per minute. Irritants? Yes! Skype user documentation is woeful. Perhaps this is because the software is so widely used and known that there is no need for the company to provide detailed help files for a novice.

The use of standard domestic facilities and inexpensive computer peripherals will be a critical test for the ultimate aim of Netmaster members in remote localities to join in a standard club meeting.

Netmasters members: ensure Thursday 3 September is free of other engagements so you can take part in this historic event. Watch for emails detailing the meeting agenda and the actual address in Shelley.

The meeting will be held at Alan’s home starting at 7 pm.  See the emailed agenda for address details.  To start on time please arrive at least 5 minutes beforehand.

Toastmaster Bill
Inspiration 3 mins Charles
Research topics – 90 seconds each!

David “Naked DSL”
Meechan “Net Learning”
Ross “You Tube”
Bill “Finding Resources”

Club Business: 5 mins Charles

includes website update 90 secs David

Presentation: 5-7 mins Diana
Presentation evaluation 3 mins Meechan
Presentation: 5-7 mins Alan What is VOIP?
Presentation evaluation 2 mins Mark
Group discussion of the presentation content 8 mins Mark
Table Topics 10 mins David
Tonic 1 min Ross
TT Evaluation 5 mins Charles
Meeting Evaluation 7 mins Leonor
Timing  Alan
Close Charles

Supper

If you have any, add your suggestions for the meeting by posting a comment.

We had a stimulating and productive meeting tonight at Kristin’s unit.

• Kristin was Toastmaster.
• Diana gave the Inspiration.
• Alan was Table Topics Master.
• David evaluated the Table Topics.
• Billy completed an Advanced Manual with “Why borrow?”
• Diana evaluated his speech.
• David gave a speech to inform from the Inform Manual – “Using the Net”
• Billy evaluated David.
• Leonor gave the Timing Report.
• Then Leonor gave the Meeting Evaluation.
• Kristin moderated a vigorous discussion about what we are doing in Netmasters.

Kristin supplied the supper.

Add your comment

We need to share the ideas which we have for developing Netmasters. We can do so by adding a comment to this story. You can add more than one comment, as other people post their suggestions. In this way, we can prepare for our next meeting – it is noted on the Calendar for June – when Kristin will be facilitating an intensive discussion.

Let’s start the process
I see Netmasters as meeting a range of needs in WA Toastmasters. The underlying drive to me is how to use the net in creative ways. In this early phase I expect that we will have a small, committed membership who establish our rationale and our style. Later, we will aim to increase our membership with interested people.

Here are some suggestions

This is a start. Make your contribution.

David

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