This is a neat little program. It seems to have more features than Ventrillo. The only difference is that for voice chat you have to "call" someone, or add them to your conference call. But I think that could be worked out. I had less trouble setting it up than I did Ventrillo. Zitch and I had a good chat on Ventrillo this afternoon. Can't wait to see how Skype does. Should be perfect for Shinkai Day, if every one can get it working on their computers.
Ok, let's try to get together in a Skype conference this Saturday. Again, at around noon Central Time.
In the long run, if we do any more Shinkai Days, I'd like to setup a way that people can log in to chat or just publically listen in to the conversation (and be able to replay it, too).
Here's a quick tutorial for setting up Skype on your computer.
1. Get a microphone and earphones for your computer. A headset works better, since it includes both. These can be purchased at any computer store or electronics store.
2. Go to www.skype.com and download the version that supports your operating system (Windows XP/Vista, Mac OS or Linux). The download is free.
3. During the installation, it will ask you to enter a Skype Name, Password and Valid E-mail Address. Make sure your Skype Name includes no spaces.
4. After you log-on, check that the microphone and headphone are set up correctly for Skype. For Windows, go to the Tools menu in Skype, select Options then Audio Settings (or Sound Devices in earlier versions). For Mac OS, from the Skype main menu choose Preferences then select Audio.
5. In your contact list, you will already have a contact called "Skype Test Call" or "Echo123." Either double-click it, or select it and click the Call button. You should hear a ring like on a telephone, then a voice prompting you to test your microphone. Wait for the first beep before speaking into it, then wait for the second beep to hear your voice played back. If the playback is difficult to hear, increase the output volume of your microphone.
6. If everything is set up correctly, then your are ready to use Skype. You can add Contacts to your list from the names given in this thread. From the Contacts menu, choose Add a Contact, enter the Skype Name then click "Search." When the person's name comes up in the window below, select it and click the "Add contact" button.
7. To call one of your contacts, first check the icon next to their name to see if they are online, then simply do what you did with the "Skype Test Call." You may have to wait for them to answer.
8. There is also a Chat feature with Skype. Just click the Chat button, or right click the person's name and from the pop-up menu select "Start Chat..." Again, make sure that they are online.
Yeah, but it's better than Ventrilo's 8 client limit for the public server version. Unfortunately, I'm not getting a very good feel of how many people are interested in joining the voice chat here. Also, it looks like interested people need to be "invited" to the conference, not just be able to dial in.
At least Skype is easy to install and easily supports all of the major operating systems. Teamspeak doesn't seem to have any hardcoded client limits, but it's probably as hard as Ventrilo to support and doesn't have full mac support.
In the long run, I'd like to have something that people can just listen in to the chat to without special software, like some internet radio type stream, while having a client software for those who wish to participate that is relatively simple to install and setup and supports at least Windows and Mac OS X. I'll have to check if there's anything comparable out there.
UPDATE 2: Looks like the Teamspeak 3 SDK Client Library makes it possible to create a plugin that can stream conversations to a Shoutcast server. Teamspeak 3 is looking more and more like what I'll have to use in the future, if they keep to their feature list.
Wow, it would be awesome if we could start-up a Shinkai-related audio stream. Perhaps with news, commentary, etc. Not sure if there would be much to cover, till a new release came out or a new blog. Still, a nice thought.
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