We are in the digital generation. That doesn't preclude the old fashioned resources, concepts, and tools, lets keep what needs keeping, upgrade what's needed and adapt tools and assist each other and use them joyfully . Thanks for your opencoded style ideas full of heart felt assistance and cheerful help, it is appreciated. I hope this thread mutually inspires.

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Edward F Sutton

This is a call for open code inclusion style sharing to use and create tools for soul winning.

Open code inclusion style sharing is simply discussing things openly and allowing anyone intrested to help adapt the tools and information for general & local use.

"Jason P & Karen of the CD" come on in Ya'll & lets start cooking. How could we invent a portable small video/audio player for CD's thats easily content managable (no Bible Studies rolling together before the presenter wants them to) and easy for anyone to manage and operate and afford and or locally build ?

Karen's thing with real player CD's has really got wheels turning & what I saw on Laymen Ministries International Video about India with their Video CD Players (different than USA format & handheld & easy to operate) has got wheels turning.

The goal, do it cheap as far as cost, upscale as far as quality and durability .

Be able to use currently available CD's to burn content on to at 30+ frames/second rate & easy quick hook to anyones TV/laptop/PC in their home/office and any Churches presentation system WITHOUT A LAPTOP. They would be too big, too expensive, too hard to use, too attractive, to steal, no local mass production capabilities.

Something reproducable in any part of the USA & Canada. We would share it with all the big ministries too so we could all "just get on with it".

If it was seen to be better to be copywritten/patented ETC we could grant exceptions to copywrites/patents or licences of use to such institutions and local SDA Churches & local SDA soulwinners. Keep it SDA but spread it everywhere within SDA evangelism work.

What do you think?

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Edward F Sutton

[This message has been edited by Edward F Sutton (edited December 31, 2000).]

Sounds great, Ed!!!!

Count me in. I love all this techno, computer stuff. I even built my own computer from scratch!!... well using ready-made components of course. I don't go into doing plastic or metal fabrication

Using a search engine, such as AltaVista, do a search on PC 104 ... which is embedded systems components that can be used to put a complete OS on or just a CE OS ... might be something we can use.

I have a friend techie who I can ask for help with how to be able to run this thru the TV.
From what he has already said, it is quite complex. I'm sure the Lord can point us, though, in the right direction where it can be price -less... pun intended In other words, cheap!!

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Look up!!! He's coming!

How about we engineer from the finished product backward. 30+ frames/sec HDTV - DVD level quality video/audio output.

Time limit of 15-30 Min's Bible information segments in multimedia format per Bible lesson.

back lit large print fonts & icons simple hand controls on the unit plus full wireless control (non line of sight-low wattage transmition controls in micro transmission control mode.)

Micro transmission control mode would be(digital siginal not analog) in a home or church where you used the wireless control feature on a very low power setting so not to mess with FCC rules and the neighbours fridge. Would have between 50-300 feet of thin digital cable if desired due to need for shielding control siginal in a very electrified enviornment.

There would be a variable reostat signal modulator on both the control and broadcast siginal modes. From micro settings to maybe hit galexy 5 transponder or plug into a vhf/uhf - or short wave system or am/fm system and spam the airwaves or potentially communicate between workers at a distance.

This extra stuff might have to be in a backpack huh . Talk about loading up your nearest TV tower & Joe Crews-en um all on the spot. FCC phone cops johnny on the spot. Ouch.

Back to business:

File sizes per Bible study and through put of multi media content would determine the media to use. One Bible study per CD or one 5gig+ (or higher)DVD disk with several or all on it. Or an A/V hard drive built into a hot swapable kit from CDW or Megahaus or Dirt Cheap Drives, ECT.

1. So how about the first step in the discussion be broadcast quality, time limit per lesson, file size of lessons, number of lessons per one storage media (what ever type decided on).

I would like the Bible worker to be able to give a crisp clear distortion free 30+ frames/sec picture ranging from 4"x4" to 30'x30' for large audience viewing. This would not be a light box - projector type unit. It would hook up to a TV or monitor or projector via shielded wires with filters to keep the truckers off the video siginal.

An audio siginal running through the buildings sound system also, and cigarette pack size recivers with ear phones (we used those at Bearfork SDA Church in Mobile {Mow - beal} Alabama. They are commercially available. Don't know input signal needs AM, FM, ETC .

I may just be a newbie @ the technical stuff but the wheels turn. I'll go check out PC 104.

PS. If the A/V output siginal could imitate a VCR or DVD A/V output siginal, just hook the cables to a TV & you are in business .

What about the DVD player style insides in a different housing with the afore mentioned controls ?

Since this is going to go into secular technical discussions I think I will ask Daryl to create a Tech Tools Forum & put this in there. That way Evangelism Forum can still be used on Sabbath.

This will go under Evangelistic tech tools.

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Edward F Sutton

[This message has been edited by Edward F Sutton (edited January 01, 2001).]

Wow, Ed!!

I'M IMPRESSED!!!

If you call yourself a techno newbie, then I must be a cave woman I didn't understand one-tenth of the terms you used.

Why would you want to put these studies onto DVD or CD disks?? Why not just run them straight from the hdd?? With a good ghosting program, I would think it would be less expensive to just copy everything from one hdd to another new one and stick it in the machine for each buyer.

However, I'm sure you are thinking of things I don't even know about... but this will be fun learning

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Look up!!! He's coming!

[This message has been edited by karen (edited January 02, 2001).]

He is over my head in all of this also. I am only a software user not a programmer.

_________________________
It is more blessed to give
than to receive. (Acts 20:35)

Daryl

I am just postulating @ the upper limits of my blarney. I couldn't program out of a wet paper bag with an open loop.

How many folks could play a hotswappable hard drive built into a kit verses a DVD disk, if we simply copied it & handed it to them - or a CD done the same way with only one or two lessons full of slide show graphics and text on it ?

I am thinking of a bigger picture of techno evangelism "grassroots" or "gurilla" style outreach as well as one on one & cottage meetings via tech tools.

What about putting "Teasers" on a CD & giving it out wide spread (according to your resource base - "hip pocket bank or pocketbook bank/checkbook".

Teasers being things that grab attention to the Bible studies as well as repaginated SOP books or chapters used as teasers to build a client base for Bible study groups.

Building a local Church group of Techno Bible instructors & send them CD's or DVD's. Yes use the Materials on HDD but don't be limited to that. Plus research "squirting" the data to other online SDA's -where ever on the globe & network.

Karen for example - tryout Laymen Ministry International's website & think about the English & Non English language posibilities as well as local possabilities. A reverse squirt of Indian languages & graphics & data from Pastor shadrak & others to reach Indian nationals here in their own language.
http://www.lmn.org/ is their URL - tell them Ed Sutton from Zanesville refered you.

They are working in India, China, Nepal, Albania, Phillipines, here in USA & have worked in Russia & Baltic states.

What if once we get this developed we spread it among committed SDA english & multi language speaking young people globally. We can reach lots of SDA Churches & organizations online.

We need more dedicated SDA technical people in this thread to listen to what we want to do & help with the brain storming sessions & we better set directions for the technical ways of building our product & using it. I will ask Pastor Shadrak or some of his people from India to join us if I can locate him via online. Also Jason P & Cathy's son.

Bye for now my neurons are smoking.
Too much wheels turning & not enough coolant/lube.

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Edward F Sutton

[This message has been edited by Edward F Sutton (edited January 02, 2001).]

Two or more formates sounds good
1. ghosted hard drive dedicated player.

2. American Format-CD(not invented yet-using CD's playable on all PC's).

3. DVD video players using standard DVD disks.

I wonder where LMN Int. buys their CD Video players & if that mfg. already sells them in NTSC format ? Germany maybe ?

Pick up a few copies & back issues of Videographer & same gendre magazines, might even be online. Check out Videography online & never trust my spelling it's phonetic. I ve never built, just read and sound good. however at the sleep lab we do use digital dedicated systems. If we could just get back to a Unix based OS on a small Novel Intranet or network.

speaking of that - could we use a Unix or Unix based OS for the players to minimize crashes ??????? I don't want to fumble with a "Dr Watson" in a crowed cottage meeting do you ?

Bye for now
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Edward F Sutton

[This message has been edited by Edward F Sutton (edited January 02, 2001).]

Bro Ed!!

This is gonna blow your mind... I already know Jeff @ LMN... since '85!! I did alot of the computer input in the Albanian language of their boxcar of literature that eventually ended up in Albania. And no, I don't speak the language.
___________

I digress.... (you are a GOOD example to me )

You are right... DVD's and CD's will be much better... lots more possibilities.

Are you wanting to build these machines from scratch -- component wise?? Design our own, based on what we want?? Or see if there is anything already that could be adapted??

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Look up!!! He's coming!

[This message has been edited by karen (edited January 03, 2001).]

Bro Ed,

Blarney???? You sure had me fooled

Linux would be a good system to use. I tried it a year ago, but there were not enough applications that I use ported to it yet for me to really get excited about it.

There are several small versions now that sound like they would be perfect for this project. However, my one complaint about Linux is the long time it takes to boot... about the same as Windows NT or longer... which is another reason I couldn't get excited about it. However, it is alot more stable.

But I just happen to know some Unix programmers who might be able to help us cut that boot-up time down some, or even re-write the whole thing to our specs.

And I can't stand that Dr Watson either, whoever he thinks he is

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Look up!!! He's coming!

[This message has been edited by karen (edited January 03, 2001).]