The Rome Report is Up and Running

I wanted to say a few words about the project I am doing in association with the AW group Mediaphiles. It's called The Rome Report and will be a video presentation of AncientWorld news seen from the eyes of different Roman AW members. I will present the news on video for now, but that's only because I'm the only oneat present with access to a video camera and the software tools to make the presentation. My hope is to get many people involved and to see different, and perhaps prettier, faces.

- Got some news you want read over the air? An interesting tidbit from your corner of the empire? I will read it on The Rome Report.

- Got a series of photos of real ancient sites? I can make a video presentation and make it available through the Rome Report interface. I recently made a slideshow presentation of my trip to the Naples museum which will be available on the report next week.

- Got video? If you have a video of ancient stuff and the wherewithal to get it to me, I'll make it available through the interface of the Rome Report.

This will be a way for us to get to know each other better, so I hope you will embrace this idea and give it a chance!

About The Rome Report Interface

The Rome Report uses the latest Flash plug-in (version 8). In my recent poll of visitors to the interface, most had no problem seeing the video and navigating the interface which features scrolling text, graphics and a video screen. Those who could not see it fell into two categories: 1) People who have dialup connections to the Internet and 2) People who do not have the latest plug-in. For those with slow connections, there is no workaround, but you can listen to my podcast Anima Vagula Blandula every week and get the audio news. For those who do not have the plug in (and you should assume that you don't if you don't see the video), all you need to do is go to The Flash Website and navigate through the download area to the flash plug in download page.

All the video in the Rome Report is Flash FLV format. Flash works equally well on PCs and Macs. There is NO QUICKTIME or browser-specific video, though you need to have a plug-in for flash installed on each browser type that you use (Firefox, Opera, IE, etc.). Most of the time, and especially if you do a lot of surfing, it will already be installed from a previous visit to a rich multimedia site.

Where Can You Get The Rome Report?

The Rome Report is available in three places. You can get it hot off the press at the AW group Mediaphiles. That's where I first test the interface to see if things are working well. You don't have to be a member, just click on the link and it should open. You can also get the Rome Report from the main Rome page in the Forum Romanum in the section called Echoes from the Forum . That is its official home where you can leave comments and suggestions as well. Finally, you can get the Rome report delivered directly to the message board at your domus! Since the entire file is a small swf (native flash) file, we can embed the report right into your message board so when you wake up Sunday morning you've got the news right at your domus, as Livia says, free of charge. Just send a message to IClaudius Antonius telling him you'd like to subscribe.

I hope you enjoy the Rome Report. As I learn more about flash and video, it will get better. It's a lot of work, but considering that I'm doing it for AncientWorlds and all my freinds here, it's well worth the time. Please let me know what you think and funnel some news my way. I'm THIRSTY for news!

IClaudius Antonius