Streaming the Inauguration In a School?

Anonymous Teacher writes "I work in a small school in Washington and we are trying to prepare a way to watch the inauguration in 20 classrooms over a 1.5 T1. As our bandwidth severely limits the ability to individually stream to these rooms, is there an alternative to presenting it to the students? Are there any sites that offer a downloadable copy of the video quickly after the event that can be hosted locally or is reconfiguring the computers to use a proxy server the best solution?"

Comments

Projector

[russlar]

1. Gather all the students in an auditorium, gym or cafeteria 2. Set up a single PC with a projector 3. ????? 4. Profit!

television

[Anonymous Coward]

seriously... that's how we did it back in my day. While it isn't as sexy as modern computer tech, it just works.

Re:television

[WindBourne]

And before that it was radio, before that it press, and before that it was in person. The simple fact is that time changes. I am 49 and would love to have kids see this from the net, rather than the TV. The news will be far more impressed by themselves and will be making loads of worthless comments; CNN will prattle on about this being a black man, while Fox will do everything to warn about the evils of a dem (with tones of it being that it is a black man). It would be better for the kids just to get a straight stream of this from the white house cams. If Obama and the dems are smart (and they tend to be), they will have multiple streams set up for this.

Re:television

[SydShamino]

CSPAN?

Re:television

[adolf]

I agree, in theory.

But in practice, your argument just doesn't stand up.

First: TV is best. It's a broadcast medium, made to transmit a single moving image to thousands (or, in this case, millions) of recipients. It does this job very well. If you want to avoid outlandish commentary and commercialization, obvious channel choices are either C-Span or PBS (in order of preference).

Second: There isn't enough bandwidth in a T1 to send 20 video streams of any rational (for 2008) quality. Multicast IP would solve this problem, of course, but the M-Bone is all but dead. (Wikipedia those terms yourself if you don't understand.)

Third: Why do you assume that the coverage on a television channel like C-Span is worse than the coverage which might be available online? No matter what the medium, someone has to produce the feed, and in doing so, they'll almost certainly be adding commentary of some sort.

Fourth: Internet video for the sake of internet video. Who gives a shit? I know it's 2009, and we're supposed to be in Teh Future and stuff, but for fuck's sake: If, in 2009, this were a solved problem, the question would never have been raised. Think about it.

Re:television

[adolf]

Radio was an improvement over not witnessing it at all.

Remember, kid: The United States hasn't always had a thorough network of interstate highways and a monsoon of motor vehicles with which to utilize them. If a Californian wanted to see an inauguration in the early 1800s, it'd have taken months, and few would have had the wherewithal to do so. Instead, they just read about it in the left-coast newspapers, once the news eventually showed up over there.

Radio is definitely a step forward, in comparison.

Re:television

[adolf]

I find the manner in which you attack the person instead of the idea to be very telling. It is a very moronic and nonsensical behavioral pattern, like using brass knuckles to finish off a chess match.

Unfortunately, I don't know of any schools (aside from church, or perhaps prison) which can rectify such basic and imbecilic logical fallacies as these.

I don't have any particular advice for you on this matter. These are just my observations.

But I digress. VLC might be part of the answer, but Google brought me to this post which states that VLC and C-Span do not cohabitate well.

With this in mind, perhaps the question would be better stated as follows:

"We have chosen to use a labor-intensive network video distribution system in a production environment, with little time for testing and even less time to develop failsafes, and huge opportunities for human error at all points. We selected this route because television is too easy, the picture is too good, the sound is always in sync. We feel that by using Teh Intarwebs, we'll be inspiring our schoolchildren to always look for the most difficult, elaborate, and expensive attack angle whenever there is a problem to solve, as per the gospel of Rube Goldberg.

Besides, TV is just uncool, with its lack of buffering and all. Where might we find a VLC-compatible feed of the inauguration proceedings?"

Re:television

[WhiteDragon]

C-SPAN has feeds in Windows Media and Real. Dunno how this maps to anything or how you can suck down either feed and "rebroadcast it" over your network. My guess is both Microsoft and Real have some gadget that would support this

VLC will also live convert a stream and multi- , uni- or broadcast it. A T1 connection should be fine for one stream, assuming that you have the local bandwidth. I actually set this up at a previous job. We had some DirectTV feeds going into a computer with a couple of video capture cards, and then re-transmitted it over the company LAN.

Interestingly enough, I am also helping with getting a school set up to watch the inauguration. Our solution, have all the students go into the auditorium, and display the video from an ATSC tuner on two projectors.

VLC?

[Tyris]

Could be wrong, but can't VLC (VideoLanClient) do the trick?
Get it to recieve one copy of the stream, and then repeat it over the local network (assuming your local network has the bandwidth).

Re:VLC?

[jellomizer]

Ummm... TV...

Dag Nabbit Back in my day classrooms had TV that you can pick up via Radio waves. Near every classroom had a TV, a huge 20" TV. I remember watching the first shuttle launch after the challenger exploded. The results of the first O.J. Simpson trial. Also other big current events that has happened during school hours. For the classes that didn't have a TV we just merged 2 classes together. I can't believe that civilization has fallen so far that this simple concept is no longer possible. And you need to setup some odd Internet Hack to watch this.

No wonder schools are always running out of money, no one is smart enough to do it the easy way.

VLC - VideoLAN Client

[Jherek Carnelian]

VLC might be an option.

VLC can play back from a file that another process is writing to. So if you can figure out how to write the incoming video stream to a network filesystem, each classroom could use VLC to playback that file and you would only have to worry about a delay buffer of a minute or two to ensure smooth playback.

While I have not tried it myself, VLC is also capable of rebroadcasting video. So if you can view the live stream directly with VLC, you can probably get that copy of VLC to multiplex it out to other VLC clients on other machines.

TV

[Toonol]

It'll be broadcast free over the air. Give each classroom a TV. Why deal with the internet?

Re:TV

[Ecuador]

What is this "TV" you speak of?
And does it run Linux?

Is this why...

[Quiet_Desperation]

...we don't get much bang for our education dollars? Something that is going to be broadcast on 97 different networks for free, and you need to go through who knows what effort to stream it? Do you have math classes at that school? Get some parents to volunteer to bring in a TV. If you want the kids to see it later, you don't think YouYube will be inundated with copies of it?

Re:Is this why...

[NNKK]

The fact that they're running off a single T1 would seem to imply that the "Washington" being referred to is Washington State, not D.C. (since the latter is unlikely to have anywhere in it that it's not far easier and more economical to go for DSL or another more modern solution, yet there are many such places in Washington State).

That being the case, some small schools, particularly in eastern parts of the state, may have difficulty getting any sort of television signal. Check out a map, we've got an awful lot of empty space up here.

Re:Is this why...

[Albanach]

Most schools have no reason for owning any sort of TV tuner in every classroom, and are located in steel-roofed buildings that do not get reception easily.

Seriously?

When I was at school in the UK we would regularly - though not frequently - use video as part of lessons. The BBC broadcast a whole host of TV shows designed to be shown in the classroom with accompanying teaching material.

Is this some peculiar European teaching strategy?

All our classrooms has access to a TV and an aerial socket on the wall. That was decades ago, seems hard to believe it isn't the case for most schools.

Re:Is this why...

[adolf]

Around 1992 when I was in school in Ohio, there was a big effort to put televisions in every classroom. Nothing terribly fancy; just wall-mounted 21" Zenith TVs with a factory modification so that they could be turned on centrally. Larger classrooms got more than one. There was a fairly elaborate head-end system with automated tape recorders which would record educational programs (apparently broadcast during middle-of-the-night off-peak hours for free). The regularly-scheduled use of this system was for a specially-produced program of current events and a bit of science, which the entire school would watch in unison. Regular cable TV was also available on the system (which the school would also get for free), but was normally turned off to prevent abuse.

Prior to that, there were big carts which lived in a few places on each floor of the school, each with a color TV and a VCR. They'd get wheeled around between classrooms as needed. But even then, we had cable. We watched the Challenger explode on the set in the school library (which was then quickly turned off, and we were ushered back to our classrooms in solid wonderment about what the silence was all about until we got home).

I'm also old enough to remember film projectors being used in school. There typically was a large projection screen which lived on the stage, which could be used for assemblies.

I can't imagine that schools these days can't come up with a bloody TV, or a projector and a blank wall, or something that allows large groups of kids to watch a broadcast. If they really, really can't, they're doing something very wrong.

Odd

[WindBourne]

I keep trying to get that to work on my system. Where in KDE can I start this and make it work? Otherwise, I will stick with VLC.

Broadcast/multicast?

[SanityInAnarchy]

You shouldn't even need more bandwidth, if your local network is configured properly.

Maybe. Just Maybe

[coryking]

Because it is a historic moment in our time. That might be, oh, a *small* part of it, you think?

Back when I was in high school, they stopped classes to show the OJ verdict live on every TV in the school. I'd say in terms of importance, this is a bit more important and historic.

Re:Just do what you did...

[dcowart]

First Black President, that's why this is important. I plan to watch it. This is how far we as a nation have come in the 60 years since the civil rights movement and the Jim Crow laws that held black people down for so long. More than just another president being inaugurated this is a statement that anyone can achieve anything they push for. Yes, I'm a flag waving optimist about this but having grown up in an inner city and having seen the devastation of being poor in America, It makes me hopeful that things can change for the better.

This is the kind of thing that can give an inner city kid a shred of hope that he can get out of the slums and into something better.

I'm starting to get all preachy now, but that's why this is something kids should watch.

Re:There's this invention called television

[A Commentor]

Wouldn't it make more sense to watch the live video on a TV leaving the computer free to look things up? This allows computer use without interfering with the video.

Here's an idea

[Henry V .009]

Why don't you just do whatever you did to stream the inauguration 4 years ago? Oh, wait.

Re:Bunch of Crap

[Geoffreyerffoeg]

Being black helped Obama during the election, period.

This is exactly why this is such a huge deal and worth celebrating. One of these days we'll get over skin colors entirely, but until then, I'm quite happy with the American consciousness having become explicitly in favor of electing a black person.

Re:Your racism is showing.

[shiftless]

Hi, I'm a good ole boy from Alabama and I get called a racist--that is, racist against anyone who isn't white--all the time on the interwebs. So allow me to weigh in with my racist opinion. I am glad Obama got elected. Back in the 60s, or even the 80s, a black president was an impossible dream. Now today it is reality. This is certainly proof of how far we have come as a nation. This is a shining example for the world to see, at a time when America's image is somewhat tarnished. I'm happy that black folks, especially the old timers who saw real racism in past decades, now have something like this to stand up and be proud of. I'm glad that we had a record turnout this election and large numbers of people becoming interested in politics. It's good for the country. The story of a poor black kid growing up to be the president of the United States is very inspiring. It IS a big deal.

Chucking...

[Stanislav_J]

This old fogy is getting a good laugh at the thread. Some (very few) have already touched on it, but what the hell is wrong with watching TV on a TV? Borrow someone's huge-ass plasma and set it up in a large classroom. You don't even need cable or satellite as the broadcast networks will be covering the inauguration stem-to-stern in beautiful 1080i HD.

But no, the parent is hellbound to do this via computer. (And most of the responses seem to be troubleshooting and spitballing the idea.) Why? Because it's "cool" or the latest thing? Because he has some anti-TV bias? Or because he's so caught up in that "it's newer, so it must be better" mentality and literally did not even think of good old broadcast TV?

Sometimes the best and most appropriate technology is the good ol' tried and true. There are many applications in life where previously existing and "old fashioned" solutions are good enough. (And much simpler.) Often it's also cheaper, and it's almost always a hell of a lot less convoluted and headache-inducing.

Alas, so many are caught up in this "newer must be better" mentality. And the companies who develop and more importantly sell the stuff feed the frenzy by insuring that there's always something new out there to shell out the big bucks for. Today's new, neat-o technological breakthrough will be "obsolete" next year (hell, maybe next month) and of course you are encouraged to upgrade or replace what you already have that still works perfectly well for the newest, biggest, fastest, sharpest, shiniest, coolest thing. Feel free. I sit here with my old computer, relatively tiny picture-tube TVs, $29 radio and CD player, books and printed newspapers, and enjoy the hell out of all of them with no diminishment of my quality of life because all of these things are "old-fashioned." And I laugh.

Now, turn down that music and get off my lawn, you whippersnappers...

Re:Just do what you did...

[umbra_dweller]

Aside from the obvious racial issues, because Obama drew so much support and interest among young people.

Growing up with Clinton and the Bushs being elected, I never saw the kind of interest among young people that Obama garnered - at least not at my schools. I have a number of under-18 family members in high school who not only followed Obama's progress through the election season but have continued to read about and comment about his speeches and proposals after the election.

Perhaps you feel that they have just been caught up in a cult of personality - but regardless, in my mind the point of showing this type of thing in school is to capitalize on a teachable moment. The pre-existing interest that kids have in Obama represents a perfect opportunity for educators to get them interested and involved in government and politics. It's the perfect thing to spark discussion, which can later grow into a discussion about some of the challenges that the Obama administration is facing, and what students think about the proposed solutions. Of course, one could have done this for any inauguration - but as I said, it's much more valuable if the kids are already interested and engaged.

CNN, VLC

[gatkinso]

Watch it on CNN.

Or, download it and UDP stream to your.sub.net.255.

   

Don't you have channel one?

[kabocox]

I graduated HS in 96 from Arkansas. That was 93-96 in HS and 90-93 in junior high. We had what was called "channel one" almost daily from junior high to the end of HS. What the heck was channel one? About a 5-10 min news program aimed at kids and broadcast to schools through out the nation. They had about a 5 minute local segment where the local school could insert their daily news program if they wanted from the A/V kids if they wanted. I had the impression at the time that it was paid for by a grant or bond or something. Now if we had that in Arkansas back then, I'd assume that every one else had similar educational tools growing up.

If there was any content that the school wanted piped to every one, they'd make sure to tell the teachers and then they'd run it though the tv. They could centrally turn on the tvs play it and then turn them off. (It took effort of a teacher manually turning the things off if they wanted to do something during that period of time.)

I'd really be surprised that in 2008 that there are schools without those sorts of resources. Oh on commentary, what the heck do you think we did for the next 5 minutes after channel one was over? It was discuss/debate what ever the heck was running and wait for the teacher to quieten the room down. We learned more from each other and discussing than from the teacher at that point. The teachers generally thought that it was cutting into their class time and didn't want to waste any time discussing most of the content anyway. It was wait for lunch if you wanted to talk about it. Like we'd have really cared to bring it up by then any way. ;)

Re:Mod parent up

[elrous0]

You can easily get a pretty good projector (5000-9000 lumens) in the $6000 range. That's chickenshit money for even the smallest schools (contrary to pleadings of poverty, most schools actually get big bucks in technology grants for computers and related equipment). Most 5000 lumen models (like the NEC NP4000) can be had for under $4000.

Re:logic error

[bobobobo]

Hell I've got karma to burn. I still don't buy that arguement. Why is it a factor? You just kind of danced around the topic saying it mattered, but didn't say why. If you want to vote on a guy because he happens to be black that is obviously your choice. How much farther as a society do we have to go? We just elected a black president, where his being black was a net positive for the guy. Where do we go from here? I'm not being antagonistic, I'm genuinely curious on your thoughts.