Astro 101 Lectures as new forum?

[RJN]

I gave an astronomy class in the fall of 2008 that was recorded. The lectures are currently available on iTunes. I am considering posting each lecture of this class as a new Topic to a new Forum on The Asterisk. This would give people who might not have time or access to take an introductory astronomy class an additional means to do so. There may be some technical issues. Any thoughts on this pro or con?

- RJN

[geckzilla]

This morning I was just thinking about how there were never any astronomy classes offered at any schools I have attended and wondering if there was something like this on the internet. What a coincidence.

Does this mean you're going to offer them for free or just showing us the link to the iTunes store? Is it video or just audio? I've never used iTunes before.

[RJN]

Free. Video, audio and powerpoint online. - RJN

[geckzilla]

Would you be opposed to putting the video on Vimeo? It doesn't have a video length limit, unlike YouTube where you could only post a 10 minute video and the streaming flash video format is a lot more accessible to people. With the basic account you can upload up to 500 MB a week which sounds like it'd be fine for what you want to do. We could setup a vimeo BBcode and you could embed the video right in the thread, even.

[RJN]

Vimeo sounds great! I had previously emailed my U. to see if they can use their U. status to get around the 10 min limit, as other U's have done. So far no response. BTW I have no idea how to upload videos to Vimeo. Right now they are all in MP4 format. Come to think of it, sadly, I'm not even sure how to upload them to the Asterisk! (But I can ask a computer person here.) - RJN

[geckzilla]

Just create your account and login with it and there's a giant "Upload a video" button that you can't miss.

Testing vimeo tag:

[RJN]

FYI I have been working on this today. My current goal (which has become more modest by the hour) is to transfer the MP4 and PPT files to the Asterisk computer disk and then just link to them in a sample post. My hope is that many people can play MP4 files with software already loaded on to their computer. Once that is done, I will look into VIMEO type flash-oriented movie sites that would make playing the lectures even easier. - RJN

[RJN]

OK, here goes a preliminary test trial. To download the first lecture, click on its title which is
A Grand Tour of the Universe.

The powerpoint file used during the lecture is
here.

[rstevenson]

Both files downloaded just fine.

If the lecture video was twice the size, there'd be no need for the slides as a separate file. That video is very small -- only 3" wide on my screen. Is it supposed to be larger?

Rob

[bystander]

Rob

Press Ctrl-3 to fit the image to your screen size, or Ctrl-2 just to double its size. Ctrl-F will make it full screen, but you may lose the proper aspect ratio and peripheral controls, besides which Ctrl-3 makes the text a little fuzzy.

[rstevenson]

[ I use Mac OS X ]

I changed the app which would, by default, open mp4 files, and this time it opened about 50% larger by default, and I'm also able to apply keyboard shortcuts (similar to your suggestions above.) It seems odd that two different apps would show the vid in two different default sizes, but then there are many odd things happening in computers.

Rob