Tattva-viveka
Swami Calls Resume from Costa Rica
Prema-bhakti - June 27, 2008 1:06 am
Dandavats. Jai Sri Guru and Gauranga.
On Sunday, June 29, 2008 Swami B.V. Tripurari will be answering questions on his weekly “Swami Call" from Madhuvan in Costa Rica.
Swami will begin speaking promptly at 11:30 am (Eastern Standard Time). Participants are urged to start calling in at 11:15 am. The number to call is 1-605-990-0400 after you get connected, you will then be prompted to enter an access code. The code is 761074 followed by the “#” key. Every time a person joins the conference a chime will be heard. At that time Karnamrita and/or Arcanasiddhi will greet you and you can let them know if you have a question for Swami.
We would like to thank Karnamrita and Arcanasiddhi Prabhus for their continued effort in providing this wonderful opportunity for sadhu sanga.
Please let me know if I can be of any further service.
Your servant,
Prema-bhakti
Madan Gopal Das - June 27, 2008 1:25 am
This is awesome!!!
Does the CR crew have a webcam? Any chance of having the swami call via something like ustream? It's free web broadcasting and people watching can type questions in via a chat dialog box. I've seen it work pretty well.
Prema-bhakti - June 27, 2008 2:09 am
Guru Maharaja mentioned he'll be on Skype.
Vrindaranya Dasi - June 27, 2008 2:16 am
We tried to set up ustream for Guru Maharaja, but his built-in webcam isn't recognized. Has anyone been able to use ustream with the built-in iSight camera on a Mac? We don't have a video camera here.
Syamasundara - June 27, 2008 4:23 am
Yes, iSight works great with iChat or Skype, and you can have conferences on both. Not quite sure about the max number of participants, though.
This week I'm working even on Sunday grrrr
Zvonimir Tosic - June 27, 2008 5:51 am
Yes, iSight works great with iChat or Skype, and you can have conferences on both. Not quite sure about the max number of participants, though.
Skype for Mac and Skype for Linux support hosting of ten participant conference calls. New Windows version supports up to 25. In practice, when you start a conference call, the conference call tab will state the maximum number of participants it will support.
However, some time ago Skype introduced audio Skypecasts, which support up to 100 participants and it's .. free. 
Please check it out; anyone can setup a Skypecast in minutes and anyone in the world can join it anytime.
IDEA
With this in place, maybe there's no need for phone conferences at all. So many people can join Skypecasts by using Skype, which is a free, cross platform communication tool. An interesting idea to think about.
What do you think?
Syamasundara - June 27, 2008 6:00 am
Video Video Video Video!!
Bijaya Kumara Das - June 27, 2008 8:02 am
Skype for Mac and Skype for Linux support hosting of ten participant conference calls. New Windows version supports up to 25. In practice, when you start a conference call, the conference call tab will state the maximum number of participants it will support.
However, some time ago Skype introduced audio Skypecasts, which support up to 100 participants and it's .. free.
Please check it out; anyone can setup a Skypecast in minutes and anyone in the world can join it anytime.
IDEA
With this in place, maybe there's no need for phone conferences at all. So many people can join Skypecasts by using Skype, which is a free, cross platform communication tool. An interesting idea to think about.
What do you think?
sounds great I will be either on the phone or the computer which ever Guru Maharaja would like
I just tried by clicking on the above check it out and it took me to LaQuintaInns web page
Bijaya Kumara Das - June 27, 2008 9:13 am
I am up and running on Skype.
Look forward to hearing from you all.
my skype name is Bijaya.Kumara.das.Brian.D.Grover
Madan Gopal Das - June 27, 2008 3:19 pm
I found this on the ustream site:
MAC USERS: Does Ustream.tv work with iSight for Mac?
Yes, however Adobe Flash does not default to your iSight camera. To change to your iSight, pick USB Video Class Video from the drop down box that says Video Sources in the Ustream Broadcaster Console.
You can also adjust it through Flash. On the local stream monitor box hold down CTRL and click. Select Settings and click the webcam icon. Under the Camera section select USB Video Class Video. Click Close. You should now see your stream on the local server monitor.
Also, here is a link to a mac forum which says pretty much the same.link
Madan Gopal Das - June 27, 2008 3:31 pm
I would still vote for ustream if you can get it going. The advantage is that it is a one-way output which means you won't have others interrupting or background noise, etc. GM can get the questions via the chat text box. I guess it is a little less personal from GM's end because it is not so much of a "conference", but everyone is still in touch via chat rather than live sound. You be the judge whether that is an advantage or not. We can all see/hear him, and we can all READ each other/ask questions...
Prema-bhakti - June 27, 2008 3:33 pm
I think calling in at the moment is more reliable than Skype for everyone else in the sense it may drop off or have a delay. Eventually Guru Maharja will use a more reliable way to call in from CR.
Syama Gopala Dasa - June 27, 2008 6:05 pm
I think you can actually do both but haven't tested it.
Meaning you can call in to the conference call through skype and have that phone conference call be part of a skypecast/skype conference call.
Prema-bhakti - June 27, 2008 7:59 pm
Well someone is going to have to digest all this and come up with a solution for future calls, most likely Vrndaranya and Guru Maharaja. Syama Gopala maybe you can also work on this with them. For now, I don't think Arcana and Karnam are set up for a change just yet.
Of course, I think it would be great to switch over if more people can join in the future.
Zvonimir Tosic - June 27, 2008 10:11 pm
I think you can actually do both but haven't tested it.Meaning you can call in to the conference call through skype and have that phone conference call be part of a skypecast/skype conference call.
Perhaps it won't be a bad idea to start a dedicated Skypecast, so it can be active at all times.
Because Skype works just anywhere, devotees may join in and see who's there and talk together if they'd like. It's similar to the Tattva-viveka forum idea, where you can see who's online, but now you're suddenly able to directly talk to the participants. It gives them one more way of expression; an audio forum.
But of course, Swami's Conference can be arranged at any specific time.
Sorry for bringing forth some new ideas.
Vrindaranya Dasi - June 28, 2008 1:40 am
Dandavats,
Guru Maharaja said that he wants to keep the Sunday call as it is for now; however, he is open to trying out the video broadcast if someone wants to organize it. He decided that he doesn't like the idea of people typing in questions though; he would rather that everyone hear each other's voice.
Ys,
Vrindaranya
Prema-bhakti - June 28, 2008 1:43 am
Thanks Vrindaranya.
Bijaya Kumara Das - June 29, 2008 1:40 am
Dandavats,
Guru Maharaja said that he wants to keep the Sunday call as it is for now; however, he is open to trying out the video broadcast if someone wants to organize it. He decided that he doesn't like the idea of people typing in questions though; he would rather that everyone hear each other's voice.
Ys,
Vrindaranya
That is nice.
If we use skype though i believe anyone can interrupt and talk and it is public so that there may be a bit of difficulty in control of who is interacting.
Syamasundara - June 29, 2008 2:14 am
Oh, I'm sure that if you endeavor not to interrupt and speak whatever is on your mind, everybody will follow your example... 
