Tech Time: Jazz Tech

JAMAICA Jazz and Blues Festival is considered by some to be the premiere music festival in the Caribbean. The multi-day, large scale event employs cutting edge technology form start to finish to ensure a flawless presentation for artistes, sponsors and patrons.

Communication

The Jazz Fest team is geographically disbursed across the western hemisphere, so to keep in touch, the team uses VoIP and video conferencing tools such as Vonage and Skype.

Calls are reinforced in black and white; almost all senior team members boast smart phones (like the iPhone) for on the email and document management. For quick messages, most team members relay on Blackberry Messenger (BBM) and SMS.

Externally, the website was an invaluable tool used to communicate with patrons. Jazz fans logged on to find out everything about ticket prices and outlets, performers, venues, ground transport, accommodation recommendations and more. They also logged into Facebook and similar social networking sites hosted by the Festival organizers for information. Especially for visitors, they turned to website to buy their tickets online and avoid having to stop at the gate.

Venue

Greenfield Stadium, the new home of the Jazz Festival, maintains the ambience of the previous venue while utilizing several innovations designed earlier in the history of the Festival. Each Jazz ticket or arm band boasts a unique bar code which is scanned upon entry at the venue; duplicate tickets are automatically detected and fraudulent ticket holders ejected. The TurnKey developed bar code system can provide the Festival producers with rich data for trend analysis in addition to superior security controls.

Engineers and other experts were consulted to determine the best layout of the venue on the stadium field. Using appealing 3D rendering, doubters can take a virtual tour of the Festival facilities from the website. Switch from birds eye view to a walk through to get a sense of where the stage, skyboxes, bar and bathrooms will be located on the grounds.

In addition to watching the stage directly, you can see the stage from just about anywhere, including inside booths. Stage images are streamed to multiple screens all over the venue.

Finally, if you are an information junkie, pull out your Wifi enabled phone or your portable FM radio to surf the internet or listen to live outside broadcasts from FAME FM while on site.

Talent

Technology had a profound impact on how the international performers were chosen for the talent stage. Many of the acts that aspire to be on the main stage first thrill patrons on the talent stage located near the food court. Technology made the audition process smoother because acts submitted their material over the internet from all over North America. The panel narrowed their selections before hosting live auditions in New York and Miami. Less travel, less expense for all.

Production

The use of technology in staging the Festival is most obvious in the production of the concert itself. Phenomenally crisp audio and eye catching stage set and lighting designs are hallmarks of Turnkey Productions. Without going into the technical details, TurnKey helped pioneer the use of digital consoles across the region. Further, TurnKey uses cutting edge wireless systems (for microphones, ear pieces and more) provided by Shure and eye catching intelligent lighting to compliment the stage performers.



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Tech Time: Streaming Media

In its basic form, streaming media is technology which enables real-time or on-demand access to audio, video and multimedia content via the internet (or an intranet). But in practical terms, streaming media will represent a lifestyle shift in entertainment consumption.

Streaming media is not new, we’ve been able to watch video and listen to music from files stored remotely on our computers for years. The success of streaming was limited by bandwidth concerns and universal standards, both of which have been largely resolved. And the phenomenal success of streaming media sites such as YouTube and Hulu have pushed the demand for both user generated and broadcast quality content.

To enjoy streaming media, you’ll need software or hardware (or both). Popular players include VLC, Quicktime and Windows Media Player; most streaming media software is free. But to migrate content from your computer to your TV using hardware devices such as Apple TV and Xbox or similar devises from Lynksys, Logitech and Netgear. Generally, these gadgets cost between US$150 and US$300.

Or, you may have both the best of both with Boxee. Watch broadcast TV, sports, movies, music videos, user content and a variety of user content thanks to free open source software on your PC or Mac. Listen to radio, podcasts or music. Bounce the content from your computer to your TV with the appropriate cables. Comment and share content with friends over the internet. Take the best of online from your desk and combine it with the best of your home theatre in the comfort of your living room.

You can eliminate the personal computer altogether with the evolution of the Boxee Box, which will compete directly with productions like Apple TV and other media streamers. But if you are inclined to wait, Boxee (and Boxee type media streamers) will come built into new TV’s, converging multiple content sources into the most popular of entertainment devices.

Tech Service ...

(Doing good with technology)

Techies have made history with their massive donations towards Haiti relief through text donations. Locally and internationally, charities have been able to raise millions of dollars in aid through mobile phone technology. Beware of bogus charities.

For Digicel customers, call or text ‘help’ to 162 and $25 is contributed to the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund.

For LIME customers, text ‘haiti’ to 444-HELP or 444-4357

In Tech News ...

(What’s hot, next, big)

Apple has invited media to an announcement event on January 27 and techies are betting that the fabled Mac tablet computer will finally be revealed.

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Tech Time: Working Windows

There is no doubt that release of Windows 7 in the fall of 2009 was a big news story. The previous version of Windows, Vista, was widely panned. Countless problems, compatibility issues and system messages drove Windows users crazy, while security gaps left them vulnerable. Users were ready, not for something new, but something that worked. 7 is stable, smooth and sleek and has become Windows' saviour.

Looks aren’t everything, but they help. So let’s start there. The new task bar does away with the Quick Launch feature and obliterates clutter by pinning programmes using icons that are easy to see and multifunctional. The Show Desktop feature is innovatively integrated into the Task Bar while hover and click features to make windows invisible or minimized as necessary. The programme specific Jump Lists provide control without ever leaving the window you are focused on and the best new feature is the truncated system tray with controlled notifications.

Functionality has been improved in a lot of ways as well. Improved indexing makes for super speedy searches right from the upgraded Windows icon which replaced the traditional Start button. 7 centralizes access to devices and printers into one graphically rich, easy to navigate window. Vista forced users to scramble for updated drivers, 7 forces users to enjoy working peripherals with no headaches or fuss. That ‘it just works’ mantra that Mac users are already familiar with extends to 7’s ability to stream content from the upgraded Windows Media Player using the Play To option to components listed in HomeGroup (such as another PC, remote speaker or specific game consoles).

Speaking of integrated applications like Windows Media Player (which now can play unprotected iTunes files), 7 users may, or may not, miss Windows Mail, Windows Movie Maker and Windows Photo Gallery. If you do miss these applications, download them free at Windows Live.

The coolest new feature is native touch screen support, but such software is nothing without complimentary hardware.

Improvements have extended to security features as well. The dreaded User Account Control (UAC) can now be tweaked with notifications limited to a docked location on the Task Bar rather than with multiple annoying bubbles. Removal of the Auto Play for external drives reduces the likelihood of malware and improved backup and restore features allow for backing up across network drives in some incarnations of 7.

There are six versions of Windows 7 including the most popular Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate. Starter is reserved for netbooks. To run 7 on a 32 bit system, minimum requirements include a 1 GHz processor, 1 GB Ram, 16 GB of hard drive space and DirectX 9.0 compatible graphics card. This means that most PCs currently running Vista can run 7 and all for less than US$200.00.

Other points to note, that are just outside of the scope of this review, are:

· XP Mode option if specialized hardware is available

· Absence of built in Bluetooth

· Improved power management for laptops

To say 7 is less buggy than Vista doesn’t say a lot. 7 is what Vista should have been and a viable alternative to OS X or Linux. The early adopters have had their fun, now it’s time for you to get lucky with Windows 7.

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On email: famefm@rjrgroup.com

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