[sw-l] An important new tool for people to SignWrite long distance

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
September 10, 2004

Dear SW List, Kevin Clark, Stuart Thiessen, and Roger Downey:
Thank you for the excellent message below, Roger. Recently, two Deaf
co-workers, Kevin Clark and Stuart Thiessen, encouraged me to get a
D-Link video phone (or perhaps another kind) so that I could present
SignWriting face to face with students, for example, in Kevin's
classes, using Sign Language, while explaining SignWriting. So I was
already planning to do this. Last week, Kevin wrote to me asking when
he could schedule our video-conference with his students?.....I hadn't
gotten the equipment yet! So Rodney, you wrote just at the right
moment...I hope to write by Monday with a decision...What a wonderful
world we live in!! I think teaching SignWriting directly through
video-conferencing is going to be our future...a way to teach around
the world without leaving our homes...I am on a Macintosh, and I know
that Apple has some equipment as well...for example, perhaps the iSight
Camera might go well with videoconferencing?....so I hope by Monday to
have a decision on which equipment to buy...Meanwhile, Rodney, I
visited your site briefly and I look forward to studying it
further...It looks good....Many thanks everyone, and have a great
weekend -  Val ;-)


--------------------------

rdowney14 at cox.net wrote:
> Subject: An important new tool for people to SignWrite long distance

> My name is Roger Downey.  I am the Vice-President of Media Relations
> for FaceToFaceMeeting.com - an internet video-conferencing company
> based in Paradise Valley, Arizona.  I am not a salesman for the
> company, but in a moment I'm going to sound like one.  Let me begin by
> saying that I know you have left your mark on society by developing
> SignWriting.  The Internet has now come of age to allow people to use
> your invention to communicate long distances.
>  
> Six months ago, Peter Moriarty - the founder and president of the
> company - began offering a way for people to see and speak to others
> long distance via their home or WIFI computers, using the public
> Internet.  This system is FaceToFaceMeeting.com, which is also the
> name of the website.
>  
> Of course, there have been earlier attempts to video-conference on
> the Internet, but FaceToFaceMeeting.com is uniquely different. 
> Instead of a small picture that moves in a herky-jerky
> way, FaceToFaceMeeting.com really let's you see the person to whom you
> are talking in full-motion video and synchronized audio in picture
> sizes that range from 3 inches by 3 inches to full screen, with other
> sizes in between.  Personally, I prefer the 4-inches by 4-inches video
> window size.  In that way, I can accomodate five others on my 19-inch
> monitor.  The picture is near TV quality. 
>   
> You can video-conference one on one or with up to nine other people,
> whose video windows are stacked "Hollywood Squares" style on your
> monitor.  It is like looking through a window at the other person(or
> persons) who may be hundreds or thousands of miles away. 
> FaceToFaceMeeting.com has business clients already using the system in
> Malasia, Japan and China with the same excellent picture quality as if
> they were simply down the block.  But there is a consumer version of
> the software as well.
>  
> The difference between the business and consumer versions is the
> ability to share PowerPoint Presentations, Excel spreadsheets, Word
> documents (any Microsoft application).  The consumer version of
> FaceToFaceMeeting.com does not come with that feature. 
>  
> I am not hearing impaired, so I can only imagine what this could mean
> for people who are.  Instead of communicating through an intermediary
> on the telephone, now a person can SignWrite to another over the
> Internet, as if he or she were in the same room.  And since September
> 1st, people without hearing can also use text to communicate with
> people at the other end.  (see this story on the Dallas Morning News
> website 
>   http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?
> ACCT=danews.story&STORY=/www/story/09-01-2004/
> 0002241975&EDATE=WED+Sep+01+2004,+07:18+AM )
>  
> I am confident that you and others in your organization would
> enjoy FaceToFaceMeeting.com.  With a laptop and the internet link now
> available in most hotel rooms, you could say in touch with family,
> friends and business associates when you travel.  Or, you could go
> wireless with your laptop in a "hot spot" like those at most Starbucks
> and airports. 
>   
> The beauty of FaceToFaceMeeting.com, besides the high quality of video
> and audio, is its relatively low cost.  For starters, you do need a
> computer and a broadband internet connection, cable, DSL, ISDN, etc. 
> Webcams cost between $80 and $100.  These Webcams are so light and
> small, they easily fit into a laptop case or backpack.  For people who
> do use speech, a good microphone costs less than $15.  And finally, a
> subscription to FaceToFaceMeeting.com runs $29.99 a month PERIOD -
> nothing more.  Less than a dollar a day - whether you make one,
> ten-second FaceToFaceMeeting call or keep the connection going  24
> hours a day. Once you have installed the camera on your computer and
> downloaded and installed the FaceToFaceMeeting.com software, you can
> begin using it immediately.  In fact, we let people try the service
> for 15 days for free, with no obligation.
>  
> I could go on, but I don't want to waste your time.  At your leisure,
> visit our website, www.facetofacemeeting.com to get more information.
>  
> If you have any questions, please feel free to email them to me.  But
> I really hope you save them for your first FaceToFaceMeeting call...
>  to me.
> My FTFM username is roger.downey at facetofacemeeting.com .  It's the
> Internet version of a telephone number.  If you would like to chat
> with the President of FaceToFaceMeeting.com, give him a call.  Peter
> Moriarty can be reached at peter.moriarty at facetofacemeeting.com .
>  
> With kindest personal regards,
>  
> Roger Downey
> Vice-President, Media Relations
> FaceToFaceMeeting.com
> It's the Next Best Thing to Being There
> FTFM username: roger.downey at facetofacemeeting.com
> email:  rdowney14 at cox.net
>
>