Online Broadcasts

Department of Mathematics and Computer Science

Saint Louis University

Computer Requirements

Software

Even if you have this software already installed, it may be wise to update to the latest versions.

Streaming Video and Audio

Streaming Video and Audio are provided via Quicktime Streaming of an MPEG-4 video stream.

Links for streaming video/audio

Download Quicktime Player for Windows or Macintosh
Unix/Linux users can use MPlayer, a part of many standard distributions. MPlayer may need to be recompiled with additional components installed first to permit the viewing of rtsp files.

You may test your video player in two ways. Firstly, try to view archived video from the web page of transcripts of a 2005 PREP workshop. Secondly, try to view streaming video from the construction site of a public library in Burlington, Iowa (this stream uses the same protocol as our video, although at a lower bitrate).

If you encounter difficulties with either stream, please check that port 554 is open on your network.

AOL Instant Messenger (AIM)

If you wish to ask questions, make comments, or provide feedback on the broadcast during the broadcast, you will need AOL Instant Messenger or another compatible client (for example, iChat on a Macintosh), and a screen name. Please send your screen name to Russell Blyth (email: blythrd[at]slu[dot]edu) no later than 24 hours prior to the broadcast, so that we may add it to the list of "buddies" for that event.

Links for AIM

Download AIM
To register a screen name, go to the download site and click on "Starting Out" in the menu on the left side of the screen; click on "Registration" in the submenu

We recommend you test the AIM client with a colleague or friend if you have never used one before.

Please make yourself available to chat about ten minutes prior to the event. You will then be invited to a chat and will be given the URL for the video feed in the chat.

VNC

For some events we will provide a VNC feed of a computer screen. You will need a VNC viewer to view the computer screen remotely.

Links for VNC clients

Download RealVNC, a VNC client for Windows (RealVNC seems to work more reliably than TightVNC for Windows)
Download TightVNC, a VNC client for Windows and Unix/Linux. Installation instructions for TightVNC (in pdf format).
Download Chicken of the VNC, a VNC client for Macintosh

The VNC address will be provided in the chat just prior to the event.

You may wish to test the VC viewer prior to the event. You can do this at your institution with the help of a colleague. Download a VNC server to the colleague's computer, run the server and attempt to connect to your colleague's computer using your VNC viewer client. If you encounter problems, check to see that ports 5900-5909 are open on your network, or are able to pass through any firewalls that are enabled.

Hardware and Network Requirements

Remote viewers will need:

a computer running Windows, Mac OS X, or some variety of Unix or Linux; and
a fast connection to the internet to receive an acceptable video feed; T-1, cable and DSL connections are fine, but dial-up modem connections are too slow.

Firewall settings may need to be adjusted at your institution to allow the appropriate internet feeds to reach you.

For further information, please contact Russell Blyth (email: blythrd[at]slu[dot]edu) or Mike May (maymk@slu.edu)