Tech Talk Follow Up

[champted]

In post #22 on August 29, I asked:

Q 1. Would it be possible to have an audio-only stream for low- or moderate-bandwidth users next time?

Q 2. If I attempt to view the archived Tech Talk when it comes out, will it be a stream only, or will it be available in some downloadable form that I can play locally, presumably without the problems with streaming? (Needless to say, I prefer the latter. I can download big files overnight, and play them off-line later.)

I have not yet received an answer to either question. The remainder of the post contains background information for both questions.

[kennethjorgensen]

If I attempt to view the archived Tech Talk when it comes out, will it be a stream only, or will it be available in some downloadable form that I can play locally, presumably without the problems with streaming? (Needless to say, I prefer the latter. I can download big files overnight, and play them off-line later.)

Although I personally would not suffer from this problem I do agree it would be useful for many people. The problem is not only with people who have low bandwidth but also with people whos connection go through several countries ie the connection is fine within their own country but slows down massively on sites outside and further away.

If for some reason the provider of the video clip can only provide it as a stream then another way around it would be to provide the stream in a format that the Real Player supports such as Flash because the Real Player has the nice option to download video clips.

Its an option I often use so I can watch these while I am travelling etc but it would also serve those whos connection might struggle to cope with a stream.

[WelchTC]

In post #22 on August 29, I asked:



I have not yet received an answer to either question. The remainder of the post contains background information for both questions.

I don't think that we have made any decisions as to what we will do in the future for streaming but we will definitely take your comments into consideration. Our intent is to include as many people as we can cost effectively do our tech talks.

Tom

[hutchinsbb]

I'm not sure if I whole-heartedly agree...

The LDS Account login is not in any way tied to the login here on the Forums. It is a login only to the vBulletin software hosting this site. I don't think the intention is to narrow the scope of these forums to only members of the Church with record numbers and confirmation dates (and who know how to get those data items).

So I can't say anything for CDOL or CES, since I don't have a login...Although I did notice that the things you could do with LDS Account included an Art Competition, beta.lds.org (which by the way isn't resolving for me), and accessing CES. Perhaps the CES login is what did it for you, lajackson...?

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I am the product manager for LDS Account and appreciate your questions/discussion. LDS Account as a service is still in its infancy. Currently there are only a handful of public applications/sites that use LDS Account (CES Student registration in Logan, UT and St. George institutes, an application for Temple and Stake presidencies, and LDS Art.) Familysearch.org, LDS.org stake and ward websites, and several other large sites/applications are currently in the process of moving over to LDS Account. When this happens customers with a user name and password to these other sites will be migrated to an LDS Account.

As an FYI, i believe the beta.lds.org site is currently only available to those with access to the internal Church network.

Ben

[betteridgejl-p40]

Can we get SSL enabled on tech.lds.org at least for the wiki and SVN?

https://tech.lds.org/svn/
https://tech.lds.org/wiki/

I am uncomfortable submitting my LDS Account credentials in the clear over plain HTTP. Especially since so many Church apps are going to start using LDS Account.

[WelchTC]

Can we get SSL enabled on tech.lds.org at least for the wiki and SVN?

https://tech.lds.org/svn/
https://tech.lds.org/wiki/

I am uncomfortable submitting my LDS Account credentials in the clear over plain HTTP. Especially since so many Church apps are going to start using LDS Account.

Yes, we are working on it.

Tom

[kennethjorgensen]

You asked for feedback on the broadcasted Tech Talk. Here is my feedback:

I appreciated Joel’s open and honest approach especially on issues such as a Linux/Windows/.NET/Java and many others.

I can also understand why Joel didn’t elaborate on other issues such as “MLS via the net” or LUWS for outside North America but a little more explanation of “why not now” is always helpful. If language was only issue then all English speaking countries could be enabled but since there might be legal issues regarding privacy laws stopping immediate rollout then I believe people can understand and appreciate “why not now”.

The Tech Talk has now set the tone for what will happen in the nearest future and where the focus will be (HT/VT Reporting) in relation to us in the “community”. That was good to hear so we don’t think too much outside the planned scope.

I enjoyed getting a brief insight into what else the church is looking at and what will or may come in the future. E-Learning has interesting potential and more would be welcome.

I also enjoyed the Q&A session to get a feel for what others might have of questions and feel is important to ask about.

The bright moment of the Tech Talk was Joel’s reaction to the rumour the church was buying Facebook because like him I must admit I too laughed when I read it.

Future Tech Talks could include:

1. Overall introduction by Joel
2. Community Projects Presentation by Tom (update and future)
3. Internal Team/Project Presentation

On point 3 I could envisage presentations from the various teams under Joel about the technology projects they are involved with from church video broadcasts to lds.org, to familysearch.org and various IT systems as well as future ideas and technologies being explored. If explained in the right way I trust we can all, as professional IT people, appreciate that any future ideas might not come forth but from a technology point of view it would be interesting to hear about them as well as the experience gained. I personally like the “LifeBrowser” done in Adobe Flex so could be interesting to hear more from those involved and what pro’s and con’s found with the technology.

And last, for future Tech Talk events it would be nice to see the downloadable version on the following working day of the event so people in other time-zones can watch it nearer to the real event. It makes it much easier to participate in the immediate discussions in the tech forum.

[mkmurray]

And last, for future Tech Talk events it would be nice to see the downloadable version on the following working day of the event so people in other time-zones can watch it nearer to the real event. It makes it much easier to participate in the immediate discussions in the tech forum.

The wait time could possibly be reduced as the Church gets used to doing these Tech Talks; however, you have to remember that the ICS Deparment isn't the one who recorded or even streamed the broadcast. It was the A/V Deparment. Then when they are done with it, it has to be reviewed by the Church's legal group (the Coorelation Department) for approval.

[daddy-o-p40]

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I am the product manager for LDS Account and appreciate your questions/discussion. LDS Account as a service is still in its infancy. .... When this happens customers with a user name and password to these other sites will be migrated to an LDS Account. ...

Ben

Ben, Thanks for the reply.

If the Church continues using userids for logins many will have conflicting userids. For example, user johndoe on the stake and ward websites would conflict with john doe on family search, etc..

The simple remedy is to switch to logins based on email addresses.

Is the Church sticking to userids? If so, how will the conflicts be resolved? If not, will it be email addresses for login ids?

What's the scoop?

[lajackson]

If the Church continues using userids for logins many will have conflicting userids.
The simple remedy is to switch to logins based on email addresses.

The challenge there, of course, is that e-mail addresses change.