Lloyd - Yes, two weeks on DSL and I'm getting arrogant!!Allan What would be the technology required at the recieval end? I have a fairly old computer - what minimum capacity (cpu, memory, and modem line speed) would we need to do this - it sure sounds a good idea. Lloyd Charles
Streamng audio and video are well supported now my the main browsers. Streaming video means that your computer can just process what you are seeing, you do not have to download EVERYTHING to see a ANYTHING. Most machines, even modem machines will support this. Better, though, I would think is that if Hugh were giving a class, it would be easier for one to find a system in one's neighborhood that would support the link rather than to have to travel to Indianapolis or Australia to attend a class in person.
Back to the point: hardware demands will not be extreme. Maybe even audio w.b. enough, in which case, the requirements would be even less.
The major point would be that we should do this in an associative fashion, knowing the expenses of doing the class and sharing those expenses. No one to make a profit, no one to contribute too much. If Hugh needs $2000 to talk for two days, that would be our nut, sliced by the number of people who are interested in subscribing, $100 each for 20 people, $2 each for 1000 people, and so on. If this could be done audio (maybe audio with an on-line portfolio), it w.b. VERY easy to do.
I think the iterations - - the question and answer periods in real time - are what make a class like this, so I'm advocating a real time class. Just the same, the lectures could be archived, also, and return royalties to the presenters on a per-use basis. If we get into stuff like that, there will also have to be some tech overhead. However, I'm in on volunteering to set the first one up real time pro-bono.
So, this is what I'm saying: more people world-wide can learn leading edge insights into biodynamics and the teachers can earn fair income in the process.
I am an advocate of sharing information so that we can all learn together but I am very concerned that people like Hugh Lovel and Glen Atkinson give up a lot of their personal wealth (i.e. time with their personal income producing projects) to teach the rest of us face-to-face. Here is a chance to touch more farms, have less non-productive time, and to make some income to offset the time and energy expended.
Am I on the right track here?
It just dawned on me, Lloyd, that if one gives up the iteration, or if one off-loads the iteration to sessions on BD Now! or a private discussion group, this could be done easier and work on more home machines if it was CD-ROM-based and not a real time broadcast. Similar to the Elaine Ingham disks. (I don;'t really like this idea, myself.)
Later
