Geek-N-Out

I seem to be finding myself making more and more unusual file conversions as of late.  This particular one had to do with a recorded distance education presentation.

It was originally recorded and streamed using Microsoft Media Server which packages its streaming data in a .asf format. These files play fine using Windows Media Player but pose a little bit of a challenge when the instructor wishes to upload the video for later viewing.  We chose KSUtube for the sharing program which uses a version of Adobe Flash server.  This is really nice because it has a file size limit of 1 GB over YouTube’s 100 meg.  Unfortunately, files in .asf format are not on the menu and recommended techniques did not work so I had to hunt down a conversion program.

I finally came across Total Movie Converter.  This is a free download or purchase for $30.  I didn’t read into it much, just downloaded, ran and converted.  The first conversion was to a .avi file which failed to play back.  The second attempt was to a .wmv which did play back but had extremely low quality results.  I was able to get a hold of an original copy but was still in the .asf format and the conversion quality was the same.  The woman speaking looked to be in the witness protection program.

Update: So I was working with a group of students a few days ago and they were looking to put together a site using Weebly.  Weebly worked well enough for the webquest that I created but they were having some serious issues with videos.  Choosing Weebly for that task has proven really worthwhile even though the actual quality of the program isn’t all that amazing.  I can appreciate having software that the non-technical user can use but I fear that the idea of having an easy solution will fade as the users develop and start demanding more complicated functionality.

I had originally starting testing out wordpress last spring but never really took the time to switch over to it. After weighing the pros/cons I decided that the direct upload feature justified using it. A blog is a relatively simple tool and to the common user one works just as well as another so long as the interface has an acceptable degree of comfort.  The wordpress interface meets that acceptability, has enhanced visual layouts and provides the ability to upload any type of data.  I will keep my old blog at rrpirates.blogspot.com for the time being since I’ve amassed a fair amount of information on the site.  It is possible that wordpress will not meet my needs as hosted through godaddy resulting in a host switch to one of my personal servers.  We shall see.

Let’s consider some of the pros/cons:

Blogger.com Pros

• free
• no maintenance / updates
• ties into gmail
• phone/text auto updates

vs. Wordpress:

• Nicer layout
• uploading of files directly to hosted space
• No file type limitations
• Avoids Blogger.com Spam

Here’s an update: Wordpress.com allows you to create your own accounts.  I’ll have to make up a sample one and see if it works as well as the one that I’m running.  My initial suspcion is that I’ll have to deal with some sort of add issue and will be unable to use FTP or customize/upload themes without restriction.