Broadband Interactivity Can Improve Operations For Public School Systems

Keeping in touch and staying abreast of information as it becomes available can be extremely important for businesses desiring to stay on the cutting edge and continue to be competitive in the global marketplace. Similarly, information and connectivity can be most helpful within large and small non-profit organizations, allowing its members, volunteers, and largest contributors to view quickly all of the exciting upcoming events and happenings while increasing efficiency and flow of daily operations. Small preschool cooperative organizations, large secondary and primary school systems, colleges, and community organizations of all shapes and sizes are turning to the Internet for valuable connectivity and inter-organizational interactivity.

Many public school systems are finding that the interoffice mailing system with its manila envelopes and endless amounts of paper shuffling is becoming nearly prehistoric, with its slowness of speed, inefficiency, and propensity for creating lost or mishandled information. Instead of grumbling about communicative inadequacies, many are finding the Internet to be boundless and easily adaptive in its application to replace old operations. Now, superintendents, board members, teachers, and even students can speed up communications with the ability to self-broadcast throughout the organization. Applications would include streaming video and live video and audio throughout the schools, allowing for high school students to make morning announcements, broadcast information regarding organizational fundraising, and even have fun by broadcasting creative skits, ideas, and stunts. Schools would be able to take their live video broadcasting between classrooms to a whole new level, using their camera and audio visual equipment in new and exciting ways, allowing for interactivity, not just live feeds. Students would be able to connect to the school’s website from on campus or off, watching proudly as their school wins the homecoming game or finishes first in the local music festival competition. School pride and spirit would soar with the ability to be connected to the student body and all of the exciting goings-on. As with any Internet site, security would be high on the priority and only students, parents, and those officially involved with the schools themselves would be able to enter and benefit from the exciting applications provided. Interactive applications offered could also involve the ability for parents to not only stay up to date on school performances and events, but even chat live with their students’ teachers for parent-teacher meetings that could work around any busy schedule. Chatting and student forums could also be made available for students and faculty, from their own laptop computers and school owned machines alike.

With the capabilities that broadband internet broadcasting can provide, school systems can become more of a community than ever, encouraging students, teachers, and parents to form cohesive bonds through technology that can transcend the school day and its periods.

About the Author: Gregory Demetriades is Chief Executive Officer of Whiteblox, a leading provider of integrated broadband video solutions.

Broadband Used as Multimedia Encyclopedia

Seemingly, the world gets smaller and smaller as each day, new technological advances in internet and computer technology allow us all to be more globally connected than ever imagined. As we do become more connected, the desire and need for information grows exponentially and millions across the globe look to broadband to provide this information in a timely manner. New platforms developed by broadband media companies are allowing the formation of online caches of knowledge and information, with the ability to stream multimedia presentations consisting of video, images, and interactivity for viewers.

Applications for this technology are limitless. Take an online music dictionary for instance. A well-established “brick and mortar” dictionary such as Grove’s would be afforded the ability to capture and inform a larger amount of viewers. Already existing online, Grove’s could further enhance its presentation and reach by allowing for streaming of musical performers, providing listening ability of composers’ most famous works through audio streaming, diagrams of historical inventions (think pianoforte innards), and images of famous compositions displayed instantly. The ability of online dictionaries and encyclopedias to grow and evolve as information and knowledge advances is truly one of their most attractive features. As new research is developed and historical information is uncovered, contributors would have the ability to upload information instantly, allowing the knowledge-hungry viewership quicker access to ideas. Of course, broadband would allow employees of Grove’s or other online encyclopedias and dictionaries the ability to closely monitor the content of their site; allowing them to check facts, sources, etc, and have the ability to edit content as well.

Glossaries and encyclopedias not only provide information, they can even help save lives. An online glossary provided by Florida State University and the non-profit organization Autism Speaks provides parents with streaming information allowing them to more quickly diagnose symptoms of autism in their own children. Autism Speaks online encyclopedia helps millions of parents of children with autism by providing excellent resources of how to better serve and help their children. Video clips, articles, and other tools are available to parents and educators instantaneously on a twenty-four hour basis, allowing not a second to be wasted when it comes to helping special needs children and adults living with autism.

Broadband media applications are ever expanding into all sectors of business, education, and finance. Researchers and developers at companies like global provider Whiteblox are continuously striving to provide the public with new and exciting ways to connect, educate, and invigorate.

About the Author: Gregory Demetriades is Chief Executive Officer of Whiteblox, a leading provider of integrated broadband video solutions.

Choosing a Webcam That Works Best For Your Needs

Whether it will be used for face-to-face meetings with high profile clients a world away, broadcasting of your own special talent on youtube or the like, or simply connecting with family and friends through the power of broadband, a webcam can be an invaluable tool, allowing connectivity unlimited by distances between individuals. While the webcam itself is quite a simple device, there are many different types offering different capabilities that should be considered when purchasing the one that suits your specific needs best.

A webcam is essentially a digital camera that can be connected to your computer through USB or even a firewire port. With USB 1.1 or USB 2.0 activity, images may be compressed and thus altered in order to deal with the speed limitations of USB interfacing, so firewire would be the best choice for those wanting highest quality images. Similarly to a digital camera, webcams are able to capture still images as well as video. The quality of still image capture is measured in megapixels, with higher quality webcams capturing at higher megapixel rates, but because of portability and their diminutive size, most hover around one to two megapixels. For higher megapixel still photo capturing, it is still best to simply grab your digital SLR. The rate at which a webcam captures frames is a more important specification to look for. Provided you are working with a high-speed connection (it would not make much sense to try webcam broadcasting without one), thirty frames per second will be provided by the higher cost cameras, while cheaper models may only provide capturing capability of ten to fifteen frames per second (fps). Of course, the higher number of frames, the more quality the video will look to the audience of your broadcast, however, this can also be affected by the service being used (Yahoo, Skype, etc) and current Internet traffic in your area. Another valuable option to look for in your camera is its ability to support audio transmission; whether it possesses an onboard microphone or not. Video resolution is also a concern, with higher priced cameras usually offering up to 640X480, where cheaper models usually only offer 320X240 (half the size, for those of you mathematically challenged). Low light situations will call for a camera with that capability as well, another preferred option.

As technology continues to advance, our world seemingly grows smaller and smaller. With webcam broadcast capability, your connectivity will be unlimited. Applications for business and other sectors are being expanded through research performed at innovative media companies like Whiteblox. Webcam broadcasting is only at its infancy, with its true potential yet to be exploited.

About the Author: Gregory Demetriades is Chief Executive Officer of Whiteblox, a leading provider of integrated broadband video solutions.

Broadband Streaming for More Effective Teaching

New innovations in technology are motivating new opportunities for learning and teaching within the global marketplace. No longer are teachers and students bound to classrooms or campuses, the Internet is opening doors and breaking down barriers for distance learning like never before. Specialized private instruction such as piano or other instrumental lessons, language, art, and a myriad of others are experiencing a boom of online success. Broadband solution providers, flexing the muscles of their research and development teams, are arriving at new and exciting ways for teachers to teach and students to learn, revolutionizing educative techniques and opportunities in the process.

One-on-one learning has been a mainstay in specialized education since its inception. Having an instructor available who can demonstrate and perform with accuracy the desired skill or talent is an invaluable tool for imitation, practice, and learning. Take a guitar teacher, for example; book learning can only achieve so much for the beginning player. Being able to see and hear a professional instructor, observing proper fingering and technique, can assist the student in achieving his or her goals much quicker than ever before. The instructional guitarist can upload video to his or her site, allowing student viewing, broadcast live sessions via live camera feeds, and interact with students via real-time connections over broadband. These advanced abilities can help a teacher tailor each lesson to each particular student, even if miles separate student from teacher. A student would then be able to view these live sessions again and again, by simply accessing them on their computer’s hard drive or streaming them from their teacher’s site in the future. With this ability to watch lessons repeatedly, the online teaching situation virtually surpasses face-to-face, private learning in many ways. Group lessons are also advantageous in many situations. Imagine an international, far-reaching improvisational acting seminar, with multiple students, playing off each other via personal webcams, though separated by oceans and thousands of miles. With technology provided by companies like Whiteblox, this is an achievable reality, with added features allowing for software providing translation or transcription ability, breaking down language barriers as well.

Broadband media video streaming and live camera technology are only in their infant stages of development. As innovative developers like Whiteblox continue to provide excellent tools, while continually developing and testing new ones, the education sector, both private and public, will be more willing to adapt and evolve methods and practicum to better suit their technology-savvy student bodies.

About the Author: Gregory Demetriades is Chief Executive Officer of Whiteblox, a leading provider of integrated broadband video solutions.

Broadband Media Can Bring New Life to Stodgy Awards Shows With Internet Broadcasting

As award show season approaches, producers, directors, and promoters scramble to get the best hosts, the best acts, and the best content, hoping to attract more viewers than ever before. Their success will directly affect the amount and quality of sponsors they can snag to help pay for the events themselves, with budgets often reaching upward stratospherically into the millions and millions of dollars for a mere several hours on television. Perhaps award shows should broaden their focus to include extra features and abilities that only the Internet and live broadband broadcasting can provide as part of their concerted efforts to attract viewership.

With live Internet broadcasting, award show producers could offer a myriad of exciting interactive features. How many of us remember those funny moments when winners are announced and they are nowhere to be found? Of course, a camera probably can’t and shouldn’t be mounted within the confines of a powder room (for privacy and decency), but the more cameras that are available to internet viewers, being allowed to shuffle between them at will, could offer an interactive and personal experience, allowing for a depth of coverage never before available. The four hour awards shows would not seemingly drag on if you were afforded the ability to switch to camera 8, for example, allowing you the ability to watch your favorite star’s reaction as they won, lost, or ate their soup. The exciting idea would be that each individual viewer could and would have the ability, in a sense, to become both director and viewer of their own, personally experienced award show. Internet viewers would have the ability to skip the boring acceptance speeches of the audio-visual or short animated film winners (boring is, of course relative, for some viewers this might be riveting television) opting to watch instead the goings-on in the backstage lounges setup by corporate and media sponsors. Wouldn’t it be more enjoyable watching your favorite stars “let their hair down” and party backstage amongst their peers after winning or alternately losing their award? Interactivity could be offered by entertainment television with Internet broadcasting, allowing winners of promotions the chance to interview their favorite stars on the red carpet, from the privacy of their home. The possibility of spontaneity could return to live awards shows that have become so terribly scripted and perfectly executed.

Broadband media’s far-reaching abilities are only beginning to be realized, due to the continuing efforts of innovative companies like Whiteblox, that are committed to researching and providing new opportunities to internet users worldwide.

About the Author: Gregory Demetriades is Chief Executive Officer of Whiteblox, a leading provider of integrated broadband video solutions.

Live Concert Applications and Broadband Media Advances

Personal computers are becoming a necessity and an important fixture in more and more homes in the United States and across the globe. As home computer popularity grows, businesses and service providers are extending offers and wares through emails and online advertising. Gone are the days of junk mail, today, junk email and pop-ups are the norm. Along with advertising and sales, the Internet has opened doors for large multimedia events such as sports, concerts, and festivals, to be broadcast live into homes worldwide, reaching millions. New advances in broadband media abilities combined with advances in home computers are allowing interactivity and audience enjoyment and involvement in ways never before imagined by venue owners and concert promoters alike.

Live music shows are becoming more and more extravagant each year. Large fleets of commercial tractor-trailer trucks are now used to transport the millions of dollars of gear necessary to mount a show the size of an act such as the Rolling Stones or the like, and costs of putting on such shows, what with renting a venue, paying a crew, and renting equipment, are definitely on the rise. No matter how large a particular venue might be, there are only so many seats housed within, and only so many tickets available to be sold and bought by fans. What if there was a way to bring the show to fans, fans that would be willing to pay for tickets to view their favorite musicians from their homes? Enter the world of live broadcasting and broadband media. New advances in broadband media are supplying solutions and new avenues to generate ticket sales and heighten audience experience. No longer do “superfans” of groups need journey thousands of miles to see their heroes prance about and play upon the stage. Broadcast media pioneers like Whiteblox can provide Internet viewers with the ability to not only hear their favorite music in pristine, high fidelity audio across bandwidth, they can provide viewers with high resolution visuals as well. With multi-camera ability, viewers are interactively able to pick the camera angle at will, zooming in on their favorite guitarist’s blistering solo, or perhaps checking out the beautiful girl in the front row. The possibilities are endless and the forecasted sales are mind-boggling. Imagine what sort of numbers a reunion of an esteemed act like Led Zeppelin could generate if promoters would broadcast it on the Internet for eagerly awaiting fans? Would broadband be up to that sort of viewership challenge? Providers like Whiteblox would try their best to be up to that challenge.

About the Author: Gregory Demetriades is Chief Executive Officer of Whiteblox, a leading provider of integrated broadband video solutions.

Taking Live Radio to a New Level

Do you have your favorite morning radio program that gets you revved and going each and every day? You know the one, with the disc jockey that is informative and witty, or is yours wild and out of control, one of those “Morning Zoo” types? Radio personalities continue to thrive in many markets due to their charisma, morning-person appeal, and readiness to tackle subjects as varied as the presidential campaigns to the newest Britney Spears snafoo. Radio personalities seem to have enough personality to transcend the two-dimensional medium, so that listeners can almost visualize their facial expressions as they riff on some current topic or perhaps grill a naïve call-in listener who doesn’t really know what they’re getting themselves into. Exciting new innovations in live broadband media broadcasting are allowing today’s DJs more options than ever before, using the Internet as a new and exciting, offshoot medium, filled with seemingly endless possibilities.

Many radio station managers, producers, and programming directors, are excited about the new options that are becoming available due to ever-evolving broadband technologies. Imagine, guy or gal-on-the-street interviews that are actually live and broadcast from the street corner as they are taking place. This might be a nightmare for network censors, but the realism and spontaneity would be present like never before. With multi-camera capability, split screen views could show the DJ as interviewer as well as the Joe or Jane Shmo chosen as interviewee. Online audience listeners now become viewers, and no longer need to imagine what is happening visually for they can now view it in real time on their computer monitor, laptop screen, and even mobile phone. The level of interactivity has been heightened as well. Morning show switchboards are now competing with Internet viewers, chatting with their favorite DJ, some even broadcasting their own image with personal webcam technology. Listeners who have never called in to a radio show in the past will surely feel drawn to participate in the action, due to the personal feel that live-image streaming capability provides.

National and local radio stations are entering the broadband broadcasting market in hopes of keeping their listeners interested and listening, as many believe radio has suffered from the influx of satellite and Internet radio stations. Perhaps the best option for tried and true, radio programming, is to be adaptable and change with budding new innovations made available through the research and development of broadband communications companies like Whiteblox, who have made it their business to improve media and entertainment in new and imaginative ways.

About the Author: Gregory Demetriades is Chief Executive Officer of Whiteblox, a leading provider of integrated broadband video solutions.