ServePath Blog

ServePath’s UpStream Networks (USN) was recently highlighted in Sound & Communication’s April 21st, 2008 issue in an article titled “Faith Streams - Where AV and IT meet in the HOW segment” by Shonan Noronha. Houses of Worship (HOWs) are becoming more technologically advanced in their methods of communicating their messages to their communities at large.

This article discusses a few examples of technology strategies undertaken by HOWs to increase the breadth and depth of their reach. The article leads with the following summary of the technology evolution:

“New streaming media technology and content delivery networks are enabling Houses of Worship to expand their outreach through online live and on-demand services. Video production, capture and editing systems, signal encoders and servers, and networks for hosting websites and streaming media are all part of the mix.”

The entire article is available for download (PDF) here.

Used with permission of Testa Communications from the April 2008 issue of Sound & Communications magazine. For more information, go to www.soundandcommunications.com.

Once again it is time for SF New Tech, a ServePath sponsored meetup in San Francisco. The theme of this event is “Wine, Women and a Whole Lot More.” As always, the event is at Mighty (119 Utah Street @ 15th) from 6:30pm to 11:00 pm PT. Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door.

The format remains the tried and true 5 Minute Live Demos, 60-Second Soapbox, Q&A, food, drink and lots of socializing with other geeks and techies.

Come and drop by the ServePath / GoGrid table and we will give you “free servers” on ServePath’s latest and hottest platform, GoGrid.

The schedule of events are:

6:30 pm - Doors open
6:30 -7:30 pm - Schmooze
7:30 - 9:00 pm - Demos
9:00 - 11:00 pm Schmooze

Demos at this week’s meetup are:

Nirvino
Christian Schroeder, Founder
Nirvino is a free, website and mobile wine resource that aggregates wine critic reviews into a single score. Users can quickly find or confirm great bottles of wine when they are on the go as well as receive food pairing tips specific to that wine. http://nirvino.com

Zivity
Cameo Wood, Product Manager
Zivity is a community-powered showcase of female beauty. http://zivity.com

Razz
Jeff Malkin, Co-Founder
Razz is creating and leading a new category in photo enhancement called “audio-enriched photos.” Users can mash well-known pop-culture audio clips and user-recorded voice with their favorite photos. With simple-to-use creation and consumption tools, Razz aims to be the YouTube of Talking Photos. http://razz.com

MyMeemz/Skollar
Alex Trolley, CEO / Founder
Skollar is a Web 2.0 tool that collates web documents, tagging and annotating both text and images in key idea context for research. http://www.mymeemz.com

Ribbit
Chuck Freeman, Director of Developer Platform
Ribbit offers an open platform for developing phone, voice and VOIP-based applications, making it easy for Web developers to integrate voice as an object into social, CRM, and 2.0 applications. http://ribbit.com

Hope to see many of you there!

Did that get your attention? I hope so. Here are the high-level steps:

1. Sign up for an UpStream Networks (USN) plan
2. Download Windows Media Encoder 9 (WME9) from Microsoft and connect a Digital Video Camera, WebCam or similar device
3. Enter in your USN account information into WME9 and start streaming live (or pre-recorded content)

That’s it!

Here are the details of each step, for those of you who are extremely detail-oriented or want a guide on how to do this.

Step One - Signing up for UpStream Networks

1. Visit the UpStream Networks site.
2. Decide on the type of live streaming service you want (Windows Media or Flash Video). USN also offers pre-recording streaming. For these instructions I’m following the Windows Live Media streaming path.
3. Use the “Easy set-up wizard” to determine the proper plan for you.
   
   
4. After selecting your plan, click ORDER and fill out the initial “Personal Information” page (after selecting the plan)
   
5. Fill out the “Billing Information”
   
6. Review your order summary on the “Order Overview” page.
   
7. Receiver your “Order Confirmation”
   
8. Once you get your order confirmation via email (a few days later), you simply log into your account with your credentials.
   
9. Your Active Media Files shows you your account information.
   
10. Once you do some streaming, you can also view statistics for that stream.
    

Now that you have a USN account, you need to configure your device and computer for streaming.

Step Two- Setting up your computer

1. First, ensure that you have the following:
   • Computer with a Windows Operating System
   • A video camera that is compatible with your computer and Windows Media Encoder
   • An Internet connection that is 20% greater than the quality of video in kbps
   • Your Upstream Networks account
   • Windows Media Encoder 9 (see below)
2. Get the Windows Media Encoder9 (WME9) from Microsoft (sorry, Windows only instructions here). There are a few versions. Make your selection here.
3. Install WME9 and ensure that your video device works with it

Step Three - Set your USN account up within WME9

1. Launch Windows Media Encoder 9
2. New Session wizard

From the New Session Wizard, click “Broadcast a live event”.

Click the “OK” Button.


3. Device Options

To stream Video and/or Audio, check the appropriate boxes and select the relevant source device(s). In the example below, a “Creative Live! Cam IM Pro” device is used.

Then click the “Next” button.


4. Broadcast Method

Select “Push to a Windows Media Server (the connection is initiated by the encoder)”.

Then click the “Next” button.


5. Server and Publishing Point

Enter the information received from UpStream Networks.

Server name: live.upstreamnetworks.com
Publishing point: #####-#####

Then click the “Next” button.


6. Encoding Options

Select the Video, Audio and Bit rate options for the Live stream.

Recommendation: Bit rate should be less than your upstream Internet connection.

Then click the “Next” button.


7. Archive File (Optional)

If you want to save a copy of the outbound stream for later use, click the appropriate checkbox and provide a location to store the output.

Then click the “Next” button.


8. Include Video Files (Optional)

If you want to include other pre-recorded videos for inclusion within the stream click “Yes” and follow the instructions. Otherwise, select “No”.

Then click the “Next” button.


9. Display Information (Optional)

Enter (optionally) any information that you want to have displayed during the Live event.

Then click the “Next” button.


10. Settings Review

Review the settings that you have entered. If the items look incorrect, use the “Back” button to go to the settings that need to be corrected.

Then click the “Finish” button.


11. Broadcast Password

When prompted, enter the Broadcast Password for your UpStream Networks account.

User name: [provided by UpStream Networks]
Password: [provided by UpStream Networks]

Then click the “OK” button.


12. Start Encoding

Once your stream has connected to UpStream Networks, click the “Start Encoding” button to enable the Live Stream.

Yes, that is a live stream (snapshot) from my cube!

You are now broadcasting LIVE on the Internet. I realize that this was not exactly 3 steps, but the process can take just a few minutes once you have your USN account. If anyone has a “best practices” for doing this on a Mac (not using Windows through VMware or Parallels), leave a comment!

Yesterday we inaugurated with co-host Orrick a new event in San Francisco called StartUp SF. The idea behind StartUp SF is to bring together like-minded technologists, entrepreneurs, startups, Web 2.0 companies and others to engage, learn and network. The “special mix” of socializing, company demo tables and a guest speaker proved to be the perfect environment for this to take place. All proceeds from the event are donated to charity. For this event, $400 will be donated to Habitat for Humanity.

The 100+ audience not only received invaluable information on how to “kick-start their startup,” they also received the Orrick Emerging Start-Up Kit CD-ROM (containing important legal tools and document templates to help any business) as well as a $100 coupon towards GoGrid.

Speaker & Demos

After about an hour of socializing, meets-and-greets and mini-demos (by Triggit, Askpedia and MotivePath…and GoGrid, of course), attendees listened to and participated in a through-provoking and information presentation by Jonathan Cobb (CTO and Founder of Kiptronic - a long-time ServePath customer). The presentation, “Genesis of a Startup…from concept to company,” covered a wide range of important topics that anyone thinking about starting a company should consider, including:

• Early Validation (pitch, customers, risks)
• The Basics (capital, agreements, timing, records)
• Validation (milestones, customers, research)
• Core Team (people, network, skillset, compensation)
• Fund Raising (tight ship & stay hungry)
• Term Sheet (valuation, plan B)

The full presentation is available for download here.

The Audience and Photos

We took a few photos last night. They are located on the ServePath Flickr photostream. A few highlights…

John Keagy (CEO/ServePath)

Michael Sheehan (Tech. Evangelist/ServePath) Pete Cashmore (CEO/Mashable)

View from the Orrick balcony

Daniel Lieberman (CEO/bitpusher) & Robert Ficcaglia (Founder/MotivePath)

Jonathan’s presentation

In the future, we also hope to begin doing live videocasts of the event as well as make these videos available for viewing later.

More information about StartUp SF

StartUp SF will continue every other month, with the next one planned for June. Speaking topics will be geared towards different tools, techniques, methodologies and strategies to help start-ups and emerging companies grow successfully. Companies or individuals who would like to speak, be media sponsors or host a demo table are encouraged to fill out the Contact form on the StartUp SF site.