Marratech is installed and in use at SÄS, making us proud to be a contributing factor in helping them reach their environmental goals for 2006 and the future.
]]>Here is a tip.
Marratech's own Manager has two subscriptions. One at Broadvoice ( inexpensive flat rate for USA and Canada) (for the USA and Canada) and one at WX3 here in Sweden.
With just a web interface on my mobile, I log into our Manager and do the following:
1. I press the Dial Out link on the front page.
2. I select a room we created called Phone Booth, select the SIP line with WX3 and dial my mobile number. When it rings, answer.
3. I go back to the Dial Out link. Reselect the room called Phone Booth and select the Broadvoice SIP line. I then dial the number in North America I want to call.
BINGO! Pick up your mobile and you will be talking to the USA for free (apart for a local call charge from WX3) from your mobile in Europe.
With a bit of scripting, this can be made automagically!
What happens is that the Marratech Manager connects both calls for you, making sure that the voice from one call goes into the other and vice versa.
Great way to make cheap international calls when you are on the go.
]]>It is a very prestigious and demanding job Lars has accepted. The Swedish Space Corporation has just agreed with Virgin Galactic to create Spacesport Sweden in Kiruna. This will definitely put Sweden on the map in terms of space travel.
Lars brought a very positive work atmosphere at Marratech, where openness, constructive feedback and a never-quit attitude helped me and others to perform at our highest level, while having fun doing it.
His nomination at SSC is a stamp of approval for Marratech, proving how much we have achieved with so little ressources. Marratech seems like a good launch platform.. pardon the pun! We are sad to see him go, but happy he found such a great job!
My colleague and Marratech Co-founder Magnus Hedberg will be a very capable interim CEO ( iCEO :-) ) for the time being.
Lars, send us a post card from space will you?
Read more at: http://www.news.utoronto.ca/bin6/070109-2851.asp
]]>As you may know, my colleague and Marratech co-founder Peter Parnes also works with the Media Technology group at the Lulea University of Technology.
Mikael Drugge, PhD. has worked together with Peter Parnes at LTU for many years and is now lending us a strong hand at Marratech. Yesterday, Mikael was awarded his PhD. in front of an international jury. You can read his thesis here.
While I could not attend his presentation, the grapevine says that he showed no signs of being nervous and did a very good presentation. Well done!
And on the subject of PhDs, I forgot to mention that our former colleague, Johan Kristiansson also became Johan Kristiansson, PhD. on November 11th under the guidance of Peter Parnes as well. Congratulations Johan!
You can read Johan's thesis here.
I have had the pleasure to work with Johan and am just getting to know Mikael. They are both focused, down to earth hard working people. The kind of people that deserve the PhD. title, while not letting it get to their heads.
In fact, you could say that of a lot of our research "cousins" that are now PhDs.
Good work Peter!
]]>The result is a first prototype integration release. The source code is available on SourceForge and the installation instructions on the moodle web site.
Marratech provided the appropriate server software and technical support. I am happy to report that NITLE needed very little support and did this project by itself for the most part. NITLE used the Marratech API to accomplish the integration.
While it is a prototype, and as such is not ready for prime time, we believe it creates a great base for further work. The source code is under GPL, meaning any adaptations will require you to upload the changes made. We hope that this work will act as a catalyst for further improvements in the plugin.
It was really nice to work with Eric J and Eric H on this and I hope to work with them again!
We like the idea of integration work being open source, as the community can save time and money by improving, adapting and extending what has already been done!
]]> Here is a document sent to me by NITLE to explain the project and future work:Overview of the Project
The goal of the project was to prototype an interface between Moodle and Marratech in the form of a Moodle plug-in and server-side components that would permit Marratech resources to be scheduled and allocated from Moodle. The code communicates from Moodle PHP plugin to Java components (servlets) via HTTP, and the Java code communicates with Marratech via the Java API exposed by the Marratech Manager.
The system developed in the prototype resolves many of the complexities of this issue, including identifying and preventing of conflicts in resource usage (i.e. exceeding the number of licensed seats at any given time), how to integrate with real-world user expectations (for example, configurable “buffer” zones around meeting times to reflect early arrivals and late departures), how to de-allocate resources in the event of unexpected conflicts (i.e. a virtual meeting running over time), logging and activity tracking, and how to invite outsiders (non-Moodle course members) as well as notify and remind users of meeting times. The project also approached these questions with the goal of maintaining Moodle’s approach to user experience.
The code was developed in the summer of 2006 by a group of 10 students from liberal arts colleges that are NITLE participating institutions, and the students were guided by faculty mentors and others. The student development team used the extreme programming methodology to develop the prototype code. The prototype code works in development environments, and is currently undergoing testing before it is used on a production system.
The Future
We hope others see the value of this project and will contribute to it. The current code is only a prototype, and we would be very willing to share our experiences with those who could assist in organizing it into a deployable product.
In reflecting on the prototype, we felt some design features of such a product would be important:
• A pluggable calendar system: the prototype uses the local Moodle calendar, but a more robust system might plug in to other calendar systems. We have noted that many users of Moodle have other calendar systems where Marratech scheduling might also need to appear. We suggest Google Calendar as a potentially valuable initial target for a plug-in, given the robust features, the detailed API access, and strong publication features of Google Calendar.
• The prototype never resolved successfully a protocol for dropped connections to Marratech when reconnecting from Moodle. Such users, for technical reasons, would be counted again for each connection, which could lead to an inaccurate assessment of the seat usage.
• The prototype code requires PHP 5. This is one version above the minimum requirement for Moodle. Rewriting the code to function under PHP4 might be necessary for some production environments
Our forum entries (here) and (here) lists all the new features, but I would like to single out a few for you.
We are taking major strides in helping out customers leverage their H.323 investments. Version 3.5 of the server let's H.323 end points dial into a meeting room. This means you can both dial out from Marratech or dial in from H.323. It just goes to prove our strong commitment and focus on interoperability.
On the client side, the most notable changes are in video and audio. With echo cancellation, we hope to make first time meetings (often without a headset) much more enjoyable. Our improved H.264 video will surely be appreciated as well.
Large scale deployments have been made easier through the ability to deploy preset preferences (just edit the preferences file from the jar file before rolling out) and moderation of all participants can be achieved through a simple click. (Yes, the middle and right mouse buttons have been swapped!)
Last time we had a major release was in January 2006. While we have been working on major consultancy projects, we have also been closing bug after bug and working on this new functionality.
We hope you also think 6.1 and 3.5 are a step in the right direction. We welcome your comments!
At Marratech, most of us can avoid rush hour, we work productively from home and we meet customers from all over the world on our screen.
In fact, taking myself as an example, the use and evolution of our software has had the following consequences:
-1 or 2 trips to Lulea per year instead of more than 10 in 1999
-2 trips to the US per year, instead of earning a Gold Status in 2000 / 2001
-Work from home at least 3 days a week.
Energy wise, this must be very good. Less fossil fuels burned, less congestion on the roads and public transport, etc...
Now if 5 % of the population could do something like this and reduce their energy consumption as I have, imagine the result! The infrastructure is there... only people's behavior needs changing... we are a stubborn species.
All of this rambling is to mention that Svenska Dagbladet mentions Marratech in an article where the environmental impact of Trains vs Planes is discussed in Swedish.
Our CEO, Lars Persson, mentions that 3 out of 4 meetings could be replaced with technology such as our own. And that many green-companies and organizations are finding their way to Marratech... our turnover has doubled during the past year.
]]>Delegates will gather at university "hubs" across the world to view speakers on big screens - 36 are so far expected in Manchester and about 50 in Tallinn, Estonia, as well as groups in up to 15 other venues linked to the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN), from San Diego, California, to Zhejiang in China. But others will also be able to watch proceedings from laptops on their kitchen tables and even interrupt, so long as they have a microphone. This will be made possible through a combination of access-grid technology and video conferencing in the university hubs and Marratech technology for desktops.
Full article follows:
]]> Meeting of young minds in the cities of cyberspace'Times Higher Education Supplement (posted here with permission)
27 October 2006
An e-conference unites postgraduate geographers from around the globe, reports Harriet Swain
Our monthly guide to some of the conferences taking place around the world.
What better venue in which to discuss urban life and locations in today's world than somewhere that transcends both time and place - cyberspace?
This idea will be put to the test next month at a three-day e-conference, Researching Contemporary Cities, organised by postgraduates for postgraduates, with the support of the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN), an international alliance of higher education institutions committed to establishing collaborations.
The conference, which covers aspects of political and economic restructuring in cities from post-Olympic Athens to the regeneration of Cork and Limerick, and from regulation of erotic labour to political legitimacy in post-apartheid South Africa, will take place on successive Thursdays. It kicks off each day at 4pm UK time to fit in with different time zones.
Delegates will gather at university "hubs" across the world to view speakers on big screens - 36 are so far expected in Manchester and about 50 in Tallinn, Estonia, as well as groups in up to 15 other venues linked to the WUN, from San Diego, California, to Zhejiang in China. But others will also be able to watch proceedings from laptops on their kitchen tables and even interrupt, so long as they have a microphone. This will be made possible through a combination of access-grid technology and video conferencing in the university hubs and Marratech technology for desktops.
Speakers will make their papers available online before the conference, delegates will be able to access videos of the conference proceedings after the event and a conference website noticeboard will allow discussions to continue.
Attendance is free but, with no hotel rooms or flights to book, organisers do not know how many participants to expect, although they have asked people to send an e-mail to let them know they intend to drop in.
Ross Jones, one of the conference organisers, says there is an element of trust involved in organising an e-conference, since you cannot simply bundle people out of the room or switch off their microphones if they interrupt once too often. "It could be an issue for the future if e-conferences become more popular," he says. "At the moment, people who know about a conference tend to be those who are interested and wouldn't want to be disruptive."
E-conferences have been around in different forms for a number of years, but underdeveloped technology has generally made them risky events to hold, and relatively basic. With technology improving all the time and concerns about the impact of air travel on climate change moving up the agenda, they are becoming more important features of academic life, according to Dee Gilmore-Steward, WUN manager in Manchester.
They are also particularly suited to postgraduates, says David Pilsbury, WUN chief executive. This is, first, because they are cheap - significant when most university budgets for postgraduate travel are tight or non-existent.
Pilsbury also argues that it is particularly important for postgraduates to become involved in global networks early "when they are developing a sense of themselves in a globalised world".
In addition, e-conferences offer the possibility for postgraduates to
disseminate their ideas and hear the ideas of other young scholars
withoutbeing shouted down by more senior academics. The WUN regularly holds virtual seminars on topics ranging from earth systems to multilingualism in the Middle Ages, but these follow a traditional format of main speaker and questions from students. Feedback suggests what e-delegates really value is hearing questions from their equivalents in different parts of the world.
Pilsbury suggests this democratisation and opening up of academic communities is the result of the growing redundancy of gatekeepers in many fields, thanks to the worldwide web. "Peer-to-peer interaction is part of the 21st-century way of doing things," he says.
He sees postgraduate e-conferences as academic extensions of social networking sites such as UniVillage or MySpace.
This is demonstrated by the origins of the Researching Contemporary Cities conference. The idea came from postgraduates who had returned from a trip to the US and wanted to continue the academic dialogue they had started with peers in American universities.
A follow-up face-to-face event will take place at the Association of American Geographers' annual conference in San Francisco next April, but if November's e-conference is a success the online format is likely to be repeated in other subject disciplines, says Gilmore-Stewart.
The Researching Contemporary Cities postgraduate e-conference takes place on November 2, 9 and 16.
]]>I thought that our blog readers should get a small preview. So here are release notes for you to read and enjoy!
Marratech v6.1 is available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. Marratech v6.1 includes major changes to the voice and video code. Please read the release notes carefully.
Marratech v6.1 will run under Mac OS X v10.3.9 but has undergone very limited testing and is therefore unsupported. There are a number of issues fixed in Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger that improve Marratech performance. No separate download required.
System RequirementsFor the latest minimum requirements, please consult the support section at http://www.marratech.com/
LicenseThe Marratech client software is free to download and use under the conditions set forth in the License found at http://www.marratech.com/eula/eula.html
How to InstallFor step by step information on how to install the Marratech client, please consult the following:
Version 6.0 and 6.1 can coexist in the same meeting room and should not pose any problems.
What's New in 6.1Peter Parnes showed us the Marratech enabled auditoriums and classrooms at the Lulea Technical University.
My jaw just dropped.
I do not know how to best describe it, other than to describe it via bullets.
In the 10 years I have worked with this stuff, I have seen many attempts at building such rooms, always OK, but never lived up to the possibilities of our software. It was always a set of compromises that left a lot to be desired. Less a question of effort and more a question of what was possible technically.
The setup being used beats the best VC enabled rooms to the ground. I have not been this surprised for a long time. The best part is, the system just worked. It was simple to use, it just worked.
I lift my hat very high to everyone (companies, individuals) involved in this. What an accomplishement!
I hope to be able to post pictures and a small video clip in the coming weeks and more details.
Ten years ago, I left Canada for the Lulea University because of how truly ahead this university was in terms of technology adoption, the quality of teaching and the absence of heavy tradition that impedes innovation. Yesterday, it confirmed to me that it still is the case.
]]>I was informed of this project a while back through a reseller and it fell silent... so the silence for once meant a delivery :-)
The details are here. Thank you to the ATutor people for this module... always nice to see a Canadian effort link up to Marratech!
Thanks to the Marratech Manager J2EE API and some specific H.323 video conferencing development work (E.164 and E.164 dial in), Marratech is now being deployed for e-learning across the Glow network, accessible to 800 000 students and teachers in 2008.
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