[BLU/Officers] Online meetings

Sun Mar 15 16:51:38 EDT 2020

typo in previous message: "complete" was supposed to be "compete" :-)

On Sun, Mar 15, 2020 at 4:50 PM John Abreau <abreauj at gmail.com> wrote:

> Google Meet sounds like a good option to try.
>
> While the question of streaming or archiving the session to youtube is not
> a show-stopper, it's something I would very much like to do, if possible.
>
> I took a brief look at the BlueJeans page. I see the cost of the
> entry-level package is $9.99/month for up to 50 attendees, and the next
> level up is $13.99/month for up to 75 attendees.The second one provides up
> to 10 hours of "Cloud Meeting Recording", whereas the entry-level one
> doesn't provide for recording at all, so if we could afford it, I'd prefer
> the one with the recording option. It's unclear from the page whether
> that's up to 10 hours per meeting, per month, or per year, so we'd need to
> clarify that before committing to the platform.
>
> The other options Bill mentions are also worth looking into, of course.
>
> As for my broadband access, I borrow a 4G/LTE hotspot from my local
> library for a week at a time. I can't guarantee that I'll have it on the
> night of the meeting, as I have to complete with other library patrons for
> access to borrow one of the eight the library provides, but most of the
> time I've been able to borrow it again the day after returning it.
>
> Of course, if the library decides to shut down completely due to the
> pandemic, then I may no longer be able to borrow the hotspot.
>
>
> On Sat, Mar 14, 2020 at 3:17 PM Bill Ricker <bill.n1vux at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> *Adding Tom Metro* to CC: list since he has experience and opinions in
>> remote meeting tech.
>>
>> I've seen a number of new-to-work-from-home and new-to-teaching-online
>> posts on twitter this week.
>>
>> Two threads (of many) by old hands at remote-meeting/teaching that have
>> useful info
>>
>> *Options* (addressed to non-tech, but really is addressing anyone new to
>> WFH)
>>   https://twitter.com/GlennF/status/1238690177435852803?s=09
>>
>> *Hints for Zoom instructor*, half will apply to all platforms and many
>> to non-academic semi-lecture meeting like ours
>>    https://twitter.com/SamWangPhD/status/1238838659949961216?s=19
>>
>>
>> My own *comments* on platforms -
>>
>>    - *Screenleap* has 45 minutes (iirc) on free account and
>>    only-presenter-pays options also.
>>    Desktop clients for win, mac, Android, iOS.
>>    Iirc one of chrome or firefox would let me share a window on linux;
>>    the other would only let me share a tab.
>>    (*This may have changed with new FireFox security which is more
>>    flexible and explicit this year*. *We haven't used this one as much
>>    lately so not really current on it*. *When last used, it had some
>>    difficulty switching presenters but we eventually got used to how to do it
>>    without restarting meetings*.)
>>
>>    - *Slack* has screenshare/meetings too. *I think i used it once or
>>    twice, don't remember details.*
>>
>>    - *Google Meet*: Works well with our remote client and their remote
>>    team.
>>    Oddly Android client is least featureful, can't feed a screenshare; I
>>    suspect because Android has better program separation but might be less
>>    multiprocessing? (Android can watch screenshare. )
>>    Includes a phone bridge dial-in for folks who want audio via phone
>>    instead of tablet/laptop for whatever reason, or only want audio.
>>    Larger Meetings can be set to automute. Individuals can unmute/mute
>>    selves; and toggle their video camera.
>>    Will work with camera off.
>>    With Latest FireFox, the user must grant camera, mic, screenshare
>>    privs to in-tab applet, and FF keeps a visible warning that one is sharing,
>>    very nice. (*And will work if you deny camera, which i do.*)
>>    I haven't tried with Chrome but i think Tom did. We recently shared
>>    both Terminal window and a Google Docs tab alternately, switching
>>    presenters.
>>
>> Smaller replies interleaved below  ...
>>
>> On Sat, Mar 14, 2020 at 9:47 AM Jerry Feldman <gaf.linux at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Some of our speakers may have access to a video conferencing system. We
>>> certainly could have the speaker give his/her talk via YouTube. But, our
>>> next speaker is Federico who has access to BlueJeans
>>> <https://www.bluejeans.com/>.
>>>
>>
>> Perfectly reasonable to let the speaker present with their preferred
>> brand.
>> (Whether we can or should capture a BlueJeans presentation on our YouTube
>> channel is a separate question.)
>>
>> In the future, we can explore ways to be able to conduct online meetings
>>> where the audience will be able to interact with the speaker.
>>>
>>
>> Having an IRC-like back channel, either in the presentation app or on a
>> second screen (tablet) can work.
>> Some of the apps allow participants to unmute themselves and butt right
>> in, others have RAISE HAND button and chat channel.
>>
>>> We would need to secure a location with a high enough bandwidth for the
>>> speaker,
>>>
>>
>> Staples Brighton has a WeWork or equivalent meeting space in the back,
>> but if they have any sense they've shut that down for the duration.
>>
>>> or the speaker could present from his/her home or work.
>>>
>> During this time of sanitary isolation that's probably ideal.
>>
>>
>>> We would probably need to buy a license that would allow our members to
>>> connect. (Possibly Boston User Groups could use its funds to acquire a
>>> license). For us, we must be able to use Linux. I'm sure most support
>>> Android.
>>>
>>
>> True Linux Desktop clients are few and far between (due to the infinitude
>> of testing space) but ability to work from the browser on Linux is more
>> common; some Electron "It's not a browser" apps exist (e.g. Slack).
>>
>> As noted in my comments above, at least Google Meet native Android App
>> can not drive a screen share - which is likely an OS restriction so i
>> suspect may be across the board.
>>
>> Zoom is $14.99/Mo
>>>
>> This seems to be the popular choice for Universities going On Line.
>> Per Glenn's comments, they've fixed their egregious security botch.
>>
>>
>>> SamePage has a free option. Prices start at $7.50/User
>>> RingCentral $14.99/Mo
>>> jitsi https://jitsi.org/ Free/Open source. We may be able to use this.
>>> Source is on github.
>>>
>>
>>
>>> Google Hangouts Meet
>>>
>> I like, am using at least weekly with client currently.
>>
>>
>>> Talky (https://talky.io/) built on jitsi
>>>
>>
>>> Let's take a look at the above list and add or subtract.
>>>
>>
>> See my list and resources above.
>>
>>> I would like to be able to test 1 or more of these online within a few
>>> days among us. I would prefer all of John, Me, Kurt, Bill, and Dave. I
>>> think John is the key here since he does not really have home internet.
>>>
>>
>> If John doesn't have home broadband, how would he consume a streaming
>> video meeting from home?
>> 4G tablet OTA?
>> I don't expect anything beyond text chat and audio will work well over
>> dialup, iffy on ADSL  !
>> Self-isolation w/o broadband is not going to be pleasant!
>>
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>
>
> --
> John Abreau / Executive Director, Boston Linux & Unix
> Email: abreauj at gmail.com / WWW http://www.abreau.net / PGP-Key-ID
> 0x920063C6
> PGP-Key-Fingerprint A5AD 6BE1 FEFE 8E4F 5C23  C2D0 E885 E17C 9200 63C6
>
>

-- 
John Abreau / Executive Director, Boston Linux & Unix
Email: abreauj at gmail.com / WWW http://www.abreau.net / PGP-Key-ID 0x920063C6
PGP-Key-Fingerprint A5AD 6BE1 FEFE 8E4F 5C23  C2D0 E885 E17C 9200 63C6
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