Does anybody do Sword Zooms?

[Peter Bleed]

I am wondering if it might be possible - and interesting - to organize sword related chats on something like Zoom. I would love to show some stuff - like Namban tsuba, maybe. I would also happily join in discussions of other topics. Would this work? And if it might, what would we have to do to make happen.

Peter

[b.hennick]

I suggested that our next club meeting should be a zoom meeting. I haven't heard back about that yet.

[PNSSHOGUN]

I would not advise anyone to install or use Zoom, there are plenty of articles outlining the real and serious breaches of security & privacy it enables by installing it.

[Ken-Hawaii]

John, Zoom version 5.0 was released this week, & should auto-install the next time you use it. It supposedly really tightened up the security problems.

 

Peter, perfectly possible to show anything on Zoom, but the resolution that people will see depends, first, on the Web-cam, & second, on the resolution of the user's screen. My camera resolution, for example, is only 1280 X 1024 (1.3 MPixel), while my screen is 3840 X 2048.

 

The human eye has been estimated at 576 megapixels, so you won't perceive much detail. Still it's better than staring at your screen-saver!

[Bugyotsuji]

You have the option to switch off the camera, or even cover the lens with blutack and participate as a disembodied voice. Or you can place any light source where your handsome face does not show.

[paulb]

The Token Society of GB is holding it's first zoom meeting for members on May 5th. I will let you know how it goes (unless it's a disaster in which case I will hide in a very dark corner!!)

[Surfson]

I think it's a great idea, especially for all of our NMB members in locations where there aren't any sword societies/groups.  

[PietroParis]

I participated in two netsuke meetings on Zoom and they worked fine.

 

I will also mention that my former workplace, CERN, is currently trying out Zoom as an alternative to their in-house video-meeting system. I'd say they know a thing or two about the internet...

 

P.S. AFAIK, the main limitation is that free meetings are limited to 40 minutes. To go beyond that, somebody must fork out at least 14 EUR/month (for up to 100 participants).

[w.y.chan]

I'm working from home using Team and like Zoom I'm pretty disappointed with the video quality. I guess most people is just using a webcam and microphone built in to their laptop or via their phone. I have streaming equipment that allows me to hook up multiple professional cameras that is on par with live HD broadcast. I meant to demonstrate it at work but the lockdown put paid to that and my home broadband is slow and nobody is available to fix or upgrade it.

[paulb]

The Token Society committee had a dry run last week which worked pretty well. I think I was using the oldest pc so a microphone and headset and separate webcam worked well for me (also let me fanaticise I was in star trek). I think our first feeling was it was better to illustrate topics with still pictures rather than video but we are still in the experimental stage.

[PNSSHOGUN]

I participated in two netsuke meetings on Zoom and they worked fine.

 

I will also mention that my former workplace, CERN, is currently trying out Zoom as an alternative to their in-house video-meeting system. I'd say they know a thing or two about the internet...

 

P.S. AFAIK, the main limitation is that free meetings are limited to 40 minutes. To go beyond that, somebody must fork out at least 14 EUR/month (for up to 100 participants).

Pietro you would be disturbed to discover how little many large organizations know about internet security. I love the idea of this BTW, beyond the serious security issues for those concerned Zoom also does have quite poor quality but a good amount of features that allow you to setup high res photos. One day it would be amazing to have large meeting with members all over the world, especially those not in a situation to have in person meeting or even access to active Token Societies.

[PietroParis]

Pietro you would be disturbed to discover how little many large organizations know about internet security. I love the idea of this BTW, beyond the serious security issues for those concerned Zoom also does have quite poor quality but a good amount of features that allow you to setup high res photos. One day it would be amazing to have large meeting with members all over the world, especially those not in a situation to have in person meeting or even access to active Token Societies.

 

I was alluding to the well-known story that the WWW was invented there. For what I experienced, CERN has a large and quite active IT department, and they take security much more seriously than all of the other institutes I've worked in (being academic institutes, that is not saying much).

 

This said, I personally would really enjoy a virtual Nihonto meeting, although I would not have anything to "show and tell"...

[Bugyotsuji]

Pietro, you are too modest. Your reputation, and your tsuba, are well known it seems! 

[PietroParis]

Pietro, you are too modest. Your reputation, and your tsuba, are well known it seems! 

 

just because I keep going on and on (and on and on and on...) with posts on the same few, entry-level items. A bit like in netsuke-land if you think about it... 

[Rivkin]

In meetings I much rather see swords than people, and zoom unfortunately does not help with that.

 

Kirill R.

[PietroParis]

I guess the best option is to organize in advance a "show and tell" presentation with good photos, and discuss them live during the meeting. As I wrote above, I've seen it done with netsuke and it worked out quite well.

 

Cheers, Pietro

[b.hennick]

I read today that both messenger and WhatsApp are offering zoom like features.

[Ken-Hawaii]

I just had a telemed conference with one of my doctors, & found out about https://doxy.me

 

Like Zoom, there's a free version, the screen is much better, & doctors use it because it's secure. You can also have groups up to 10, like Zoom, & yoi can use it on any device.

 

Check it out.