End-user perspective on small office tools & technology

4K & WebRTC: A Tangential Observation

A short while ago Chris Koehncke posed the question, “Is 4K video viable for a WebRTC web application?” He also offered a well-reasoned opinion. While there’s technical support for 4K in browsers, and 4K webcams are starting to appear, in various ways bandwidth remains a constraint. As a purely practical matter, and in the most common use case, he’s perfectly correct.

The folks over at the Red5Pro blog offer a mildly dissenting opinion. They note that for use-cases beyond video conferencing, most especially one-way streams, 4K is quite practical. People stream Netflix at 4K. Heck, I’ve done it myself at least once or twice.

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Dolby Voice From a Distance

In my gig at ZipDX I work with some very interesting people. Barry Slaughter-Olsen is one of those people. Barry is a professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, where he teaches the art of simultaneous interpretation to a new generation of language professionals. He’s also the co-founder of Interpret America, a group dedicated to raising the profile of interpreting. Further, he’s the GM of Multilingual Operations for ZipDX.

All of the above builds upon the fact that he’s a tremendously skilled conference interpreter. He also happens to be a self-professed geek, which is handy in business that, like so many others, is facing an onslaught of new technologies.

Barry Tweets.jpg

The other day Barry posed a question via twitter. In reference to Dolby Voice he asked “is this any better than #HDVoice?” It’s good question, so I did a little digging.

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No Jitter: Still No HDVoice Either!

Here’s yet another case of the telecom punditry failing to live by their own guidance. What’s the common term? “Eating one’s own dog food.”

No Jitter, a UBM property, in support of their Enterprise Connect event, produces a podcast. This time around editor Beth Schultz spoke with Alan Quayle about the coming TADHack Mini Hackathon which will run in Orlando March 25-6, just before Enterprise Connect.

That’s nice. Alan certainly knows his stuff. He’s been a VUC frequent guest in recent years.

NoJitter on Lenovo X-1-Carbon

It’s a pity that the podcast was produced via a plain vanilla PSTN telephone call. Narrowband in the best tradition of Ma Bell, circa 1945.

The failure to tap a new age, HDVoice-capable means of podcast production just feels wrong. Most especially given the widespread emphasis on WebRTC as a key aspect of the new age of telecom creativity.

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Argh! Google’s Neat Ethernet Adapter For Chromecast is Proprietary

You may recall a month ago when I stumbled across Google’s way-cool power supply + Ethernet adapter for  Chromecast. At just $15 I thought it novel and a great way to give Chromecast the reliability of a wired network connection. That it is.

I also thought, hoped even, that it was a relatively standard use of Androids USB-On-The-Go capability. Meaning that I had hoped it would serve an Android tablet just the same as it handled Chromecast, providing power + Ethernet. That’s where I was wrong.

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A Cautionary Tale of Meshes & Networks

ubiquiti amplifi 300pxEveryone wants great Wi-Fi. That much is a given. Our homes occasionally make achieving this difficult, either by way of their sheer size or manner of construction. This is a cautionary tale about a project I undertook around our home, and its unexpected impact on our Wi-Fi.

In recent years wireless mesh networks have become quite fashionable. And why not? Providing reliable coverage in a large home may require multiple wireless access points. Pulling Ethernet cable to each of those locations (yeah, baby!) is beyond all but the most ambitious of DIY homeowners.

For the average Joe installing one central router, then plugging in a couple of more distant wireless repeaters seems so much easier. That’s a Saturday morning chore that might well ingratiate you with the family.

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