OCT should take a time out

The Office of Cable Television just can't help itself from using better technology.   Most times, this is good.   But when so many organizations require tech staffers (who often in nonprofits are contractors) to download and install software, an unannounced change in the way that City Council hearings can be viewed is a no-no.   At a minimum, OCT should have put an announcement about the pending change on the Web site's home page and included what the change was and when it would be implemented.

So after my mini-rant, what is the change?   There are actually three.   The first one is that users must use Microsoft Silverlight to watch live streaming content.   OCT correctly notes that the Silverlight plug-in works with Windows, Mac and Linux.   For Firefox users, no fear; you can use Silverlight in your favorite browser!   Second, users can now listen only (no video) to live streams.   And third, you can live stream on your IPhone.

One final note:   There is no mention of the change and Silverlight requirement on the City Council Web site; you can link to vids from there, too.