Please note that this is not meant to be a technical document. For that reason, some things are vastly simplified. Our goal is to help solve any problems with the live video and understand why you might be having the problem in the first place.

HISTORY - Live video feeds are also called streaming and most are based on a technology that uses Flash (created by Adobe - the same folks that created PDF format), a special format that uses compression to efficiently send the information to your computer. Several years ago, Microsoft discovered a vulnerability in Flash and for a time removed support for Flash from it's browser. Other browsers also took corrective measures, but many varied in what they did from version to version. This vulnerability has long since been corrected, but many, many people use older software or browsers that still think it is a problem and may block content.

PROBLEMS, SOLUTIONS, and FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

No Limit to the Number of Viewers - We used to use meeting technology (Teamviewer and Go To Meeting) that limited the number of attendees and required that you download a client to view them. We chose this method of streaming as there is no limit to the number of users that can watch our videos at once. We pay for users to be able to watch - the more users, the more we pay. At some point in time we may ask for donations to continue.

Video Delay - There is somewhere between 45 and 120 second delay between what I broadcast and you see. My signal is compressed and sent to a data center near Kansas City. It is then sent through multiple paths to the ISP of the person who is watching, then to your computer. Your computer then decompresses the video locally. 90% of broadcast issues occur at the viewers ISP - so the issues isn't the broadcast, it's the connection.

Easy Fixes - Please REFRESH your browser (use the button at the top or hit the F5 button on your keyboard) when we announce that the broadcast is live. We actually test to see how long it takes the signal to get to most users. When it arrives, we announce it. Some browsers are fussy and need to be completely restarted. You might want to bookmark our page first, then shut the browser down completely and restart it. If that doesn't work, it may be that you have one of the older browsers that blocked Flash (see history above). We recommend Google Chrome for watching our videos, but downloading the latest version of Internet Explorer or Firefox may also help. Finally, you may have inadvertantly blocked Flash on your computer. This issue can be a little harder to find and fix as it is so different for each browser. That is why we recommend that you download a new browser.

Video Stuttering or Connection Loss - Please post this is happening in chat. If you don't post we (and you) will have no way of knowing what the issue is. It is more than likely high traffic or a problem with your ISP - not ours. We monitor our video on an independent system and can frequently catch it. We have cancelled broadcasts when our ISP is having issues, but we can't control what other ISPs do. If you are one of the only ones experiencing the issue, the only solution is to just be patient. You will likely get the full live video, but it will be a greater delay than normal.

But... YouTube works just fine - YouTube is very low resolution and viewers would not be able to see the menus in the software we are using, the lines we draw on quilts, etc. There is a huge difference in the quality and the size or our videos. That quality comes with a need for greater bandwidth.

Sound but no Video - Please try one of the Easy Fixes posted above. This typically fixes the issue.