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Peeve Farm
Breeding peeves for show, not just to keep as pets 
  Blog \Blôg\, n. [Jrg, fr. Jrg. "Web-log".
     See {Blogger, BlogSpot, LiveJournal}.]
     A stream-of-consciousness Web journal, containing
     links, commentary, and pointless drivel.

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Wednesday, March 13, 2002
14:10 - QuickTime Screaming Server
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/products/qtss

 (top) link
I've been fiddling with the Quicktime Streaming Server today; aside from a few nasty surprises (like the fact that MP3 streams don't downsample-- they have to be encoded separately at a low bitrate in order to stream properly over an earthly Internet link), it's pretty darn cool. The playlist editor, for example, has got to be the studliest piece of JavaScript programming I've ever seen. It's all done in a Web browser interface (so it can run on all kinds of different platforms), and yet they don't let the limitations of client-side Web programming prevent them from doing the kind of UI design they're known for doing:


You get two columns; on the left is your available media folder (with subfolders), and on the right is the playlist you're editing. How do you choose files from the left listing to insert into the right? Well, you click on the file(s) and drag.

No, no-- how do you do it in the web interface?

I told you. You click and drag.


Let me tell you, as someone who knows how horrific JavaScript programming can be, this is ballsy stuff. And it works in just about every browser, too. I don't think I've ever seen anything like this-- it's certainly the first time I've ever seen a desktop UI metaphor as simple to use and difficult to program implemented in a Web interface. It could well be a first. Go Apple.

Meanwhile, Network Computing Magazine compares QT Streaming Server 4 to the RealNetworks and Windows Media servers; while Apple's is free (and serves MPEG-4 natively), Real's is expensive as hell if you go beyond the free 25 users-- the price points quickly ramp to $2000, $4000, and beyond. But at least it serves good-quality media, according to the review. Windows Media Services, much to my glee, fares much more poorly than both the others:

Microsoft Media Services' images scored dead last in four of our five quality tests. Unless you're an all-Microsoft shop, you can do better. Then again, it is free if you're already using Windows 2000 Server. And if you're using anything else, you can't have it anyway, since Windows Media Services isn't available as a standalone product.

Ahhh. That's (downsampled) music to my ears.
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© Brian Tiemann