Collaborating

This page is an informal guide to resources for collaborating with others online. An emphasis is placed on software that is reliable, easy and quick to set up. Obviously, security features are necessary sometimes, but this page does not focus overly on this aspect.

Collaborating online

Audio and video communication

Vidyo

CERN has decided to purchase and maintain the Vidyo video conferencing service in support of its research program including the LHC experiments. EVO will be phased out. Specifically, EVO will be maintained through 2012 in order to have a backup communications platform during transition.

More information about Vidyo can be found at the CERN Vidyo website.

Download

Vidyo is available for the Linux, Mac OS and Windows platforms here.

Registration

• Go to the CERN e-groups Vidyo-users page.

• From the "Members" tab (which you should be on, having followed the link above), select "Add member". Enter your CERN details and select "Add new member".

• Shortly after registration, you should receive an e-mail confirming that your registration to the CERN Vidyo service is active.

Usage

Connect to the Vidyo web portal.

Telephone gateways

There are telephone gateways available for Vidyo:

• CERN, Switzerland: +41 22 533 0322
• Tokyo, Japan: +81 345 790 501
• US: +1 866 577 7460
• London, United Kingdom: +44 203 051 0622
• Prague, Czech Republic: +420 228 880 755
• Madrid, Spain: +34 911 233 708

VidyoMobile

VidyoMobile is available for the Android and iOS platforms.

VidyoMobile for Android

Download

VidyoMobile for Android is available for download via links here.

Usage

Upon running the program, one is prompted for a portal, a username and a passcode. The username and passcode correspond to your CERN account username and passcode while the portal is yet to be entered.

VidyoMobile for iOS

VidyoMobile for iOS is available for download here.

More information

Echo cancellation

Here is a video demonstrating testing of the Vidyo echo cancellation algorithm.

Skype™

An obvious initial option is Skype™ which offers decent audio and video communications between up to ten persons. The downsides are that it is proprietary and that it requires both installation and registration/log in.

EVO

EVO is the preferred communications software of the ATLAS collaboration. It offers audio, video and other (screen sharing) facilities, so it is quite versatile. The downside is that it requires registration/log in. It requires JAVA on the machine running it, but only a quick download is required to run it. There's no extensive installation required. It works sometimes.

EVO will not run while logged into the same account on multiple computers. The latest computer to attempt to log into the already logged-into account is the instance that will continue to successfully run. The older instance will cease to run.

Adding "Buddies"

In the lower left corner of the main EVO window, one can search for names. One can add people to one's "Buddies" list in this manner.

Adding a community (e.g., the ATLAS community)

In the top menu bar of the main EVO window, select "Search". Then, select "Search Communities". A list of EVO communities should then be loaded and displayed in a new window. The "ATLAS" community is located in the "High Energy Physics" EVO community group. Select the ATLAS community and add it to your "Subscribed Communities". Select "OK". On the EVO home page, you should now see the ATLAS community displayed as a tab next to the "Universe" community tab.

Telephone Bridge

It is straightforward to connect to an EVO meeting using a telephone (what is this?). Follow the following instructions:

http://evo.caltech.edu/evoGate/Documentation/extclient/telephone/telephone.html

Be sure to dial the right number! Here's the list:

http://evo.caltech.edu/evoGate/Documentation/telephone.jsp

Examples: CERN telephone number: 0041 (0)22 76 71400, UK telephone number: 0044 (0)161 306 6802

Skype™ EVO Gateway

It is straightforward to connect to an EVO meeting using Skype™. Follow the following instructions:

http://evo.caltech.edu/evoGate/Documentation/extclient/skype/skype.html

Google+

A Google+ hangout offers audio and video communication. It requires no major installation (perhaps a browser extension might be required depending on the browser accessing it). A downside is that registration is required (i.e., a Gmail account is required).

Quick instructions

• Go to a Google+ profile page. https://plus.google.com/
• On the right, under the "Hangouts" heading, click the green "Start a hangout" button.
• A new window should pop up, in which audio and video (from a webcam) are interfaced.
• Enter/paste Gmail addresses directly into the "Who do you want to hang out with?" entry field as necessary.
• Click the green "Hangout" button.
• A URL is sent to all those added to the hangout.

Collaborating on some code

PrimaryPad

PrimaryPad offers a very simple and easy way for people to look at and edit the one page of code online. Line numbers appear by the code and different text highlighting is attributed to each user.

Quick instructions

• Go to http://primarypad.com/.
• Click "Create new Pad".
• Circulate the URL in the browser's address bar.

Collaborating using scribbles

Scriblink

Scriblink offers a very simple and easy way for people to look at and write on the same virtual whiteboard. Obviously, a tablet computer, a Wacom tablet or something similar is preferred for interfacing with this whiteboard.

Quick instructions

• Go to http://www.scriblink.com/.
• Under the "Invite Others" heading, click "Get URL" to view the URL for the whiteboard used.
• Circulate the URL.

Collaborating in the same place

Collaborating on some code

USB hub

Set up one computer (preferably with a big screen). Connect a USB hub to it. Connect two USB keyboards to the hub and connect two mice to the hub.

Collaborating online or in the same place

Collaborating on code pieces or a large amount of code

Subversion

This is a good way for multiple people to work on a large amount of code.

Dropbox

This is a good way for multiple people to work on code pieces or a large amount of code. A shared Dropbox directory can be set up easily. Changes to files are automatically synchronised. Wherever a conflict is detected (i.e., when two people are working on the same piece of code), both versions of the code are saved and users are alerted to the conflict. Then, the files can be manually merged. Additionally, a record is kept of all changes made. If a file is accidentally deleted, it can be retrieved easily from the online Dropbox interface.

-- WilliamBreadenMadden - 2011-08-23