Yeah, you already knew, but I thought I’d remind you, you know, just in case. I’ll be here, ready to share TAM stories (if anyone is interested) and we’ll be discussing skeptical topics, you know, light, easy discussions like the take-over of Skepticism by those troublesome atheists, and such…

By the way, the 2 year anniversary of VDS is coming up in September, so bring your ideas for virtual panel discussions! 

Here’s the link, see you Friday:
http://connectpro30341441.adobeconnect.com/socialgroup20110805/

One of the really great things about using a paid, big-name service like Adobe Connect, is that you get access to the amazing, professional, courteous, quick, and efficient support staff. Hey, don’t laugh, really, it’s great… well, prejudice aside, I have great hopes that I’ll be able to get them to deal with our problems when they arise, really… *ahem*

Honestly though, the service has worked well enough so far, minus a few glitches that seem to keep cropping up:

1. Audio level problems - Unfortunately, each individual in the chat has exclusive control over their own microphone volume. This is a problem because they are the one person in the chat least qualified to tell if their mic volume is good. The result is individuals who don’t know they are blasting everyone out of the conversation, or others who are frustrated because no one is paying attention to what they saying, not knowing that they can’t be heard. There is an automatic audio leveling feature, but unfortunately it isn’t smart enough to deal with that one microphone with constant background noise. It would be nice, as a user, if I could boost or quiet individuals as needed for my own listening enjoyment.
2. Audio Latency - The internet is a busy place and a video chat is only as good as the slowest link in the chain. Since everyone’s video and audio signals have to be shipped to a server somewhere and then back out to each machine, of course there will be a certain amount of delay. Also, this delay should vary depending upon network traffic and network quality. That said, my expectation based upon using other video chat solutions (tokbox, skype, google hang-outs, and many others) is that we have more latency than should be expected, primarily, it doesn’t seem to be proportional to the number of people participating (frequent latency even with a low number of video/audio streams).
3. Missing Links - This one isn’t as common as the two above, but when it happens it is particularly nasty. Sometimes, usually after the video chat has been going for an hour or so, some people will no longer hear others. It’s as confusing to describe as it is to experience. Imagine listening to people react to something you can’t hear, or speaking and being interrupted by someone very rudely, not realizing they can’t tell that you’re speaking. 
4. It just plain doesn’t work - This one is the absolute worst and showed itself to one of our highly anticipated guests a few weeks ago. Certain people, with modern machines, up to date operating systems, modern browsers, good flash versions, high speed internet connections, adobe plugin installed, and who have passed the connect test - once they join the video chat, they just fail. Either there is so much latency that everyone hears them respond a minute later while their video has been frozen that whole time, or they just lock up completely, never to return (well, they usually try to connect again with the same results).

I know this sounds like a terrible service, but honestly this is best we’ve ever had it. Generally when we have a video chat, we manage to spend at least some time in meaningful conversation, and have a very enjoyable time, which is what it’s all about! 

So, what’s the point of this long post? Yeah, I’m getting to it… 

If you are one of the people in the past that has experienced any of the above problems, or if you ever experience a problem like the above (or any other for that matter), this is what I ask of you: Send me your information! WE WANT INFORMATION! *ahem* 

What I mean is that in order to get the best possible service from Adobe, I need to do whatever I can to provide them with as much information as possible about problems we encounter. My difficulty is that much of this information is related to problems I don’t have, I don’t have access to, or I don’t even know about. So, if you have a problem, and think of it (I’ll try and remind everyone repeatedly on the chat), send me the following:

1. Please state the nature of the medical emergency, um problem? When did it happen, for how long? 
2. What are the specifications of the machine you’re using? (Hardware specs, operating system, browser type and version, flash plugin version, and anything about your setup that you think might possibly be relevant)
3. Are you on wifi? If so, what type and what is the quality of your connection?
4. What type of internet connection do you have? Who is your internet service provider?
5. Have you run the connect test? What were the results?
6. If you are a clever hacker like me, do a trace route to one of the adobe servers (use the root domain of the video chat link) and send me the results. (If you don’t know what this is, don’t worry about it)
7. If you can think of ANYTHING remotely relevant (like: I just spilled my gin and tonic on my router and it began to smoke).

Send it all to briandavidgregory-at-gmail.com - got it!? Sweet! Thanks!

Well, actually, if the rapture does begin tomorrow at 6pm, I’m pretty sure I’ll still be here. I confirmed that fact with this easy chart. And in case you’re concerned that there will be widespread auto accidents, electrical failures, and other problems due to people disappearing or being whisked away magically, I’m pretty sure there’s no “Yay! Raptured!” block on that chart …hm. Anyway, If I’m not dead from all the earthquakes and pestilence, then I’ll still be here hosting the regular social group video chat (June 3rd).

NOTE: In case you haven’t noticed, the site has changed a bit. Yeah, I know it’s subtle, but it’s true. Take a moment and look around, if you find anything that’s different, let me know. 

ANOTHER NOTE: ”Earthquakes and Pestilence” is my David Bowie tribute band.