I have the encoder up and running, and things are working fairly well. What I did learn is that Windows Media Player for Mac doesn't support WME9 content, and neither does Windows 95 and some earlier versions of Windows 98. Older players may work, but it's best to upgrade to Windows Media Player 9. Which means some of my users will have to upgrade the player to view the content, and some won't be able to see it at all.

Sigh. What I'd really like to do is build an alternative server that we keep in-house running Quicktime Streaming Server for Mac users and others who use Quicktime, and, more importantly, to provide an alternative to Microsoft. Also I'd like to provide an alternative version of the stream that will work with the older players, budget permitting.

Today I will be switching over the internal webcast equipment to a brand-new machine with a new version of the software we use to encode the oral arguments -- Windows Media Encoder 9. The old P3, in use for nearly three years and equipped with an Osprey 1000 video card (no longer manufactured), finally went south during last month's webcast from Summersville. It performed well in various conditions over the years, with several trips in and out of my car for remote sessions outside of Charleston.

Lesson learned? Keep a spare video card, or even better, a whole spare encoder on hand for these emergencies. When it comes to live-only webcasting, you've only got one chance to get it right.

I'm new to WME9, but from first glance I think we'll be able to take advantage of some of the new features. I'll be moving the details of this narrative of the revamping process over to the court webcasting page of this weblog.