Reminder: Virtual meeting, October 15th, 2020!
Hey Everybody, We've got a virtual wlug meeting on Thursday October 15th, 2020! Time: 7pm Date: Oct 15th, 2020 Location: https://meet.jit.si/WlugMA Topic: As usual TBD. I will show off my CNC machine and where I'm at with it, but besides that, I expect the usual level of banter. Hope to see some familiar faces and new ones as well! Later, Tim. -- I am leery of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their constituents as "consumers".
Tim Keller via WLUG <wlug@lists.wlug.org> writes:
Hey Everybody,
We've got a virtual wlug meeting on Thursday October 15th, 2020!
Hey, that's tonight. I almody forgot.
Time: 7pm Date: Oct 15th, 2020 Location: https://meet.jit.si/WlugMA Topic: As usual TBD. I will show off my CNC machine and where I'm at with it, but besides that, I expect the usual level of banter.
The first time WLUG had a jitsi meeting, I searched for it and found a Debian package that I thought I had to install. I dinna wanna. I don't know what the package is for, but somebody on this list said that it should work just to put the link into a browser, so I plan to try it tonight. I'll reoort back to this list. I have never used the camara or microphone on this laptop, I don't know if I have used used sound output, it was long ago and might have been a different machine, Is video chat built into the browser now? What exactly does Zoom or jit.si do then? And what's in that Debian jit.si package? -- Keith
On Thu, Oct 15, 2020 at 05:59:12PM -0400, Keith Wright via WLUG wrote:
I don't know what the package is for, but somebody on this list said that it should work just to put the link into a browser, so I plan to try it tonight. I'll reoort back to this list.
I have never used the camara or microphone on this laptop, I don't know if I have used used sound output, it was long ago and might have been a different machine,
Is video chat built into the browser now?
Yes, video chat is built into all modern browsers. They call it "HTML5" and "WebRTC".
What exactly does Zoom or jit.si do then?
It starts up a WebRTC session over HTTPS to the jit.si server using your microphone and camera to send your video/audio, while the web server jit.si sends the video/audio of all the other participants back to your browser. Each participant appears as a small video window in a "grid" on the web page. So the server acts as a "video router".
And what's in that Debian jit.si package?
I haven't looked at the Debian package, but since the server side of jitsi is open source (the client side is open source if you use Firefox or Chromium or similar to access the server), I'd imagine that the Debian package contains the server code. jit.si the web site runs the open source code from jitsi.org. Anyone can run their own web server for people to connect to for creating their own video conference: https://jitsi.org/what-is-jitsi/
Chuck Anderson via WLUG <wlug@lists.wlug.org> writes:
On Thu, Oct 15, 2020 at 05:59:12PM -0400, Keith Wright via WLUG wrote:
so I plan to try it tonight. I'll report back to this list.
I have never used the camara or microphone on this laptop, I don't know if I have used sound output, it was long ago and might have been a different machine,
Is video chat built into the browser now?
Yes, video chat is built into all modern browsers. They call it "HTML5" and "WebRTC".
Thank you. HTML5 is a good search key. I have a lot of reading to do, but already I learned from wikipedia that
In early November 2011, Adobe announced that it would discontinue development of Flash
I noticed that it seemed to be going away, but thought it was just web site developers getting smarter: "Hey Joe, Why do we make the customers download flash before we tell them about our product?" It's more official than that.
What exactly does Zoom or jit.si do then?
It starts up a WebRTC session over HTTPS to the jit.si server using your microphone and camera to send your video/audio,
As I said, I have never (knowingly) used the camera or microphone on this computer, nor even the speaker/headphones. But I have a few questions: (1) Did you guys see me? I tried to join WLUG meeting last Thu. I never got sound, but I saw some people I recognized, and a picture of myself. I was the guy with the big head. It actually looked bigger than it is, partly because of the firmware in the standard laptop camera which uses AI to zoom in and magnify any slight hint of receding hair, and partly because I was leaning back in a comfy chair with the "Lap"top on my chest. (2) Is the URL https://meet.jit.si/WlugMA still active? Does it work with Microsoft Windows? I am thinking that I could test it out by connecting to WlugMA with my Linux computer while Diane connects with her MS computer. Then we could debug by shouting across the living room. After I quit the WLUG meeting, a poked some menu buttons I had not before and discovered Multimedia ==> PulseAudio Volume Control. By turning that up, I can reliably get sound while playing a *.mp4 with vlc. I tried listening to radio stations (wicn, wbur, wgbh) and it mostly didn't work, but once or twice it did work. I really have no idea why it is sometime but not always. I did notice that when I click (what I take to be) the button to listen to streaming radio over internet it starts looking up all kinds of things I did not ask for (facebook, twitter, chartbeat). I'm wondering if I might have a DNS (named) problem. I have never set up DHCP here, I just assign a static IP address each time I get a new computer. That does not happen often enough to be worth automation. (3) Does HTML5 require DHCP to redirect or forward the data stream? (4) Is there a standard codec or is that something that must be installed to match the whim of the website? -- Keith (Wright) aka Egghead
On Sun, Oct 18, 2020 at 04:57:30PM -0400, Keith Wright wrote:
Chuck Anderson via WLUG <wlug@lists.wlug.org> writes:
"HTML5" and "WebRTC". As I said, I have never (knowingly) used the camera or microphone on this computer, nor even the speaker/headphones. But I have a few questions:
(1) Did you guys see me? I tried to join WLUG meeting last Thu. I never got sound, but I saw some people I recognized, and a picture of myself. I was the guy with the big head. It actually looked bigger than it is, partly because of the firmware in the standard laptop camera which uses AI to zoom in and magnify any slight hint of receding hair, and partly because I was leaning back in a comfy chair with the "Lap"top on my chest.
Yes we saw you. We also saw and replied to your text chat messages.
(2) Is the URL https://meet.jit.si/WlugMA still active? Does it work with Microsoft Windows? I am thinking that I could test it out by connecting to WlugMA with my Linux computer while Diane connects with her MS computer. Then we could debug by shouting across the living room.
I don't know. You could always try creating your own meeting URL. It is free to use.
(3) Does HTML5 require DHCP to redirect or forward the data stream?
No. Your stream worked fine.
(4) Is there a standard codec or is that something that must be installed to match the whim of the website?
You said you saw us but didn't hear us. We saw you but didn't hear you. Then after the meeting you found the volume control and turned it up which allowed other audio applications to be heard. I'm guessing you have all the codecs you need already, and you just needed to have raised the volume. The same Pulseaudio control panel should also have a Microphone volume slider and/or mute button that you may need to turn up or unmute. What Debian version are you running? What web browser and version?
On Sun, Oct 18, 2020 at 04:57:30PM -0400, Keith Wright wrote:
As I said, I have never (knowingly) used the camera or microphone on this computer, nor even the speaker/headphones.
I been messing with it a bit. When trying to listen to WBUR, it seems random, sometimes works, usually not. Websites that tell you how to pronounce words, I can hear them. Program vlc with a *.mp4, I can hear. I don't know how to test the microphone.
(1) Did you guys see me?
Chuck Anderson <cra@alum.wpi.edu> writes:
Yes we saw you. We also saw and replied to your text chat messages.
Sorry, I stumbled into the text chat, but did not see the reply, probably not because anything was wrong, but because I was busy trying to get the sound working and logged in and out repeatedly without looking for text.
(2) Is the URL https://meet.jit.si/WlugMA still active? Does it work with Microsoft Windows?
I don't know.
The URL is still sitting there. Diane logged in with a MS computer and I with my Linux. We could see each other, mostly, but no sound.
(3) Does HTML5 require DHCP to redirect or forward the data stream?
No. Your stream worked fine.
I'm not so sure. I'm starting to suspect the firewall. I have a lot of blocked IP addresses that have accumulated over the years. I don't know what they are nor recall what they did to offend me years ago. On the other hand, when I start jit.si it has a button that says "Join Meeting", when I click it, it pops up another button that says "Join without sound", no other choice, so I choose that. Maybe it can't find the microphone, so it turns off the loudspeaker? But when it starts up it has a message at the bottom that says: "It sounds like your microphone is working". The Multimedia==> Pulseaudio==>Input device has a jumping blue line that reacts to sounds I make, so I know there is a microphone in there somewhere.
What Debian version are you running? What web browser and version?
kwright@fcs22:~$ uname -a Linux fcs22 4.9.0-12-686-pae #1 SMP Debian 4.9.210-1 (2020-01-20) i686 GNU/Linux Help==>About==> Mozilla Firefox Quantum 68.7.0esr (32-bit) Maybe I'll see you next time, but busy websites and video seem to make it overheat even when they sort-of work. I'm a black-and-white Greek subscript kind of guy. If it weren't for the virus I would be happy with TeX, Scheme, and email; I wouldn't be trying to turn my good computer into a bad television. -- Keith
participants (3)
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Chuck Anderson -
Keith Wright -
Tim Keller