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MIT TechTV FAQ

We've collected the most frequently asked questions here, if you have a question that is not answered by this FAQ? Please contact us via our support form. This page consists of three sections, the General FAQ, The Cross-Posting FAQ, and the Statistics FAQ.

General FAQ

What is MIT Tech TV?

MIT Tech TV is a free video sharing, podcasting, and videoblogging publishing service for the MIT community. If you don't have a blog we'll provide you one, and if you have one already you can use MIT Tech TV to host your video and cross-post them to your blog or web site. There's a MIT Tech TV tour available to walk you through some of our unique features. To get started just sign up.

How do I upload video?

If you already have a video ready to upload (maybe a Quicktime or Windows Media Video file) you can upload it to MIT Tech TV right away. You can get to the upload form anytime by clicking the "Upload" link at the top of every page. If you don't have your video in an uploadable format yet, you can use a tool like iMovie (comes with the Macintosh) or Windows Movie Maker (which comes with Windows) to create a file you can share. Once you've done that, upload it!

Where can people get my video?

When you register with MIT Tech TV you get your own video collection, which is also a video blog. You can find this blog at {yourusername}.techtv.mit.edu. So if your username is "quantum", your video collection (or video blog, depending on how you want to think of it) will be http://quantum.techtv.mit.edu/.

Can I link to my video directly?

Absolutely! Link to it from your MIT Tech TV blog, in an e-mail or wherever. Just click on the "Share" link near your video and you'll get a pop-up window which will let you e-mail links to your video, get links directly to your media files and even get the information necessary to hand-craft your own RSS feeds.

Can I share the video on my blog?

Of course you can. There are three ways you can do this. You can do it with our cross-posting feature, with our "Share This!" feature or with the Media Permalink. Cross-posting lets you automatically post video you upload to MIT Tech TV to your blog, without any extra steps. To get started setup your blog today. If you don't want to use cross-posting you can use our "Share This!" feature which lets you post video to your blog by copying & pasting some HTML or sending it automatically in the background. To use "Share This!" just click the "Share" link on any individual video page. If you're viewing a list of videos mouse over the "+" sign and then click "Share This." The Media Permalink is explained in another answer.

Do you provide syndication feeds like RSS?

Many pages on MIT Tech TV feature badges linking to syndication feeds. We also offer one-click subscriptions for users of My Yahoo! and TV Tonic. Our feeds are valid RSS 2.0 with enhancements including Creative Commons, MediaRSS, iTunes support and geocoding features. In addition to RSS feeds we also offer formats like SMIL, ASX, Atom, SPFX, OPML and JSON. For more information on alternative feed types e-mail {email-to-be-determined}

How can I get help?

You can visit the Community pages for online support or if you don't find an answer there, e-mail {email-to-be-determined} and a real human will answer you within a day or two.

Is this free?

Yes.

Do you have a copyright policy?

We take copyright law extremely seriously. We believe that the only way to build a responsible video sharing community is by respecting the rights of creative people everywhere. For this reason (and because MIT lawyers told us to do it) we've developed a copyright policy to ensure compliance with the Digital Millenium Copyright Act.

What are your terms of use?

Our terms of use are available for your review. By using the MIT Tech TV Web site and services you agree to our terms of use. We'll tell you one thing right now: Our terms don't say that we take ownership of your video. Far from it. By uploading your video you're giving us a right to distribute it until you tell us to stop. That's it.

Why isn't my video showing on my Wordpress blog?

Version 2.0 of the popular Wordpress blogging software has a bug that prevents cross-posted MIT Tech TV videos from showing up properly. To fix this problem please upgrade Wordpress to version 2.0.1. If you're using the Wordpress.com hosted blogging service we strongly recommend that you use our cross-posting feature rather than copy & paste HTML because of Wordpress.com security software.

Do you have any system requirements?

Unfortunately we do. MIT Tech TV is best experienced with a modern Web browser like Firefox, Safari or Internet Explorer 6. Opera and OmniWeb should work, too, but we make no guarantees. You're best off with Mac OS X 10.3, Windows XP, or better, too. Linux support is under investigation. We also recommend that you install some software to help you watch videos.

How do you handle different video formats?

You're welcome to upload your video to us in just about any format you like. That said, we prefer compressed Quicktime and Windows Media videos. Please do not upload uncompressed DV or MPEG-2 video.

Do you offer Flash video?

We most certainly do. Every video you upload is converted to Flash as soon as possible. Videos are converted on a roughly first-come, first-serve basis. Once your video has converted to Flash we will automatically present the Flash version to viewers on MIT Tech TV as a convenience. You can change this behavior (and make us always display the native format first) by setting your Playback Preferences.

Why does video playback skip?

We transcode video to Flash 8 video in response to popular demand from many media makers around campus. This is because Flash 8 video looks much better than Flash 7 video. That said, Flash 8 video takes more computing power to play than Flash 7 video, so it may present some issues on older, slower machines. If you notice that video playback on MIT Tech TV is skipping, you have two options. You can select another video format from the formats dropdown below the video player, or you can check and see if you have lots of other things going on on your computer at the same time you're playing the video. We've found that skipping is worse if you're trying to play multiple videos at the same time or if you launch a large number of programs while watching the video.

Why doesn't my MSWMM file upload or play?

An MSWMM is a project file from Windows Movie Maker that's used to keep track of your audio and video while you're editing it. It's not designed to be shared with other people. In order to upload your movie you have to ask Windows Movie Maker to export it for the Web. There are excellent tutorials on how to do this at Freevlog.

Do you have an API?

We do have a public API, but it isn't very well documented right now. If you'd like to use it anyway please feel free to e-mail {email-to-be-determined} and we'll help you do it. In the mean time, we offer semanticly correct feeds of just about every page on MIT Tech TV in RSS, JSON, OPML and other formats. If we don't offer a format you need please let us know and we'll consider adding it to our list. You will find our evolving API documentation on the MIT Tech TV Wiki. If we provide you with technical support using the API, please consider helping us update the Wiki documentation while we're at it.

Are there other ways to upload video?

There are four ways to upload video to MIT Tech TV. You can use our Web upload form, your cell phone, FTP or our desktop software. Each option is really good. Of all of the options, the Web upload form is the most powerful. The cell phone is the most portable, and both FTP and our desktop software allow you to upload lots of videos at once.

Can I upload video I don't own?

Generally speaking you can't upload any video you don't own. This means that if you didn't create the video (and everything else in it!) you can't upload it to MIT Tech TV or any other site. There are exceptions to this rule, though. If you have clear permission from the original creator of the video you're more than welcome to upload the video to MIT Tech TV. This kind of permission can be given through phone or e-mail or more formally with a Creative Commons license. If you're uploading content that's already licensed under a Creative Commons license please make sure to give the original author credit and to select the same Creative Commons license when you upload it.

Do you change my video after I upload it?

No, at least not now. We do create "derivative works" from your video — by creating a Flash version of your video, for example. At this time we make no modification at all to your original file, though, and we always make your original file available for people to watch. You can even ask us not to show the Flash version of your video (unless people specifically ask for it) if you feel your artistic vision is best served by your own expert video encoding. In the future we may introduce features (which can be turned off) that modify your video in some way after you upload it. We may do this to make sure that people can watch your video as it downloads, or to insert messages from members of the MIT Community.

Is there a limit on the size of the video I can upload?

There is no hard limit on the size of videos you upload, but we do recommend that you keep uploaded videos to 100 MB or less for a number of reasons. Check out the video production tips in the MIT Tech TV Wiki for help in making your videos smaller. We can't guarantee that videos over 100 MB will work well for everybody.

Why do you require me to type weird letters to post a comment, send e-mail or report something as inappropriate?

Like many sites on the Web, MIT Tech TV has had a problem with spammers automatically submitting forms in an effort to promote their products or services. We use a standard technique called a "CAPTCHA" to help tell the difference between humans and spam software in order to combat this problem. You can read more about CAPTCHAs at Wikipedia.

Why does Blogger rejects my post when I try to copy & paste an MIT TechTV video, or the video doesn't play properly?

If you run into problems copying and pasting into Blogger you'll want to change your Blogger editor into "Edit Html" mode (there are two tabs at the top of Blogger's text edit — Edit Html and Compose. Pick Edit Html). You'll then want to publish the post. If Blogger complains about forbidden HTML tags, check the "Ignore HTML errors" box and publish again. Everything should work fine.

Cross-Posting FAQ

What is cross-posting?

Cross-posting is a system supported by MIT Tech TV to make videoblogging easier. In a nutshell, cross-posting allows you to automatically mirror your post on MIT Tech TV to your own blog, to group blogs or to special Web sites like del.icio.us and Flickr.

What systems are supported by MIT Tech TV cross-posting?

We support hosted blogging services like Blogger, WordPress.com and Typepad. We also support installed software including Movable Type and Wordpress. In general we support any system that makes use of the Metaweblog, Blogger, MovableType or Atom APIs. In addition to blogging systems, MIT Tech TV can cross-post to del.icio.us and Flickr. We are also able to mirror videos to the Internet Archive.

How do I set up cross-posting?

Setting up MIT Tech TV cross-posting is easy. If you want to cross-post to a blog just visit our easy blog addition wizard. You can set up Flickr cross-posting with your Flickr preferences and del.icio.us cross-posting with your del.icio.us preferences. Setting up Internet Archive cross-uploading is easy with your Internet Archive preferences.

What are playback styles

When you edit a blog cross-post destination (you can do this from your blog list) you have the option of selecting a playback style. A playback style is a preferred way of presenting your video on your blog or Web page. By default MIT Tech TV uses the "flipper" style, which places a regular image thumbnail in your blog post. When clicked the thumbnail automatically turns into a video player. Other options include the "inline" style, which places a video player directly in your blog, and a "popup" style which opens a new window with your video in it when clicked. You also have the option of choosing the "linked" style, which simply links the viewer to a copy of your video in a blank browser window. When you change your blog's playback style your change will apply to all future posts, but posts that have already been made will retain the old style unless you cross-post them again.

Can I edit a post that has been cross-posted?

Yes, you can edit a post that has already been cross-posted. If you edit the post on MIT Tech TV and check the cross-posting box again it will be updated on your blog within two to five minutes. The only exceptions are cross-posts to Flickr, which cannot be edited, and cross-posts that have been deleted from your remote blog.

How long does cross-posting take?

MIT Tech TV processes cross-posts every few minutes. This means that there could be a delay of up to ten minutes before your post will be copied from MIT TechTV to your remote blog. It usually doesn't take that long, though — most cross-posts process within a minute or two.

How can I check on cross-post status?

You can check on cross-posting status at any time by visiting your Dashboard and clicking on the "Cross-posts" tab in the upper right of the page. Every cross-post will show a status of "Requested," "Pending," "Completed" or "error." If your cross-post is showing "Requested" it should be processed shortly. Pending cross-posts are being processed as you watch, and a "Completed" cross-post has been placed on your remote blog and should be available. If a cross-post is showing an "Error" status it should have a message next to it giving some indication of the problem that was encountered. Sometimes cross-posts show up as having encountered an error even if they worked. Please check your blog to see if this is the case. If not, contact {email-to-be-determined} for assistance.

What is a transient error?

A transient error is usually a temporary one. Sometimes blogging systems have temporary problems. When we see a problem that looks like it's temporary we mark the post as having a "transient error" and try again a few minutes later. Once the post goes through (as most posts marked as having a "transient error" do) the post will still show an error message but the status will show as "Completed." This is normal.

How do I set up cross-posting with NucleusCMS?

When you set up your NucleusCMS blog with MIT Tech TV, you should tell MIT Tech TV that you're using Movable Type. When it asks you for an administration location, put in the location of your XML/RPC endpoint, and when it asks you for your API endpoint put your XML/RPC endpoint in again. Even though NucleusCMS supports the Blogger API, its support is incompatible with MIT Tech TV's Blogger API support. The Movable Type API will work fine, though.

Do you support the Blogger Beta?

We're really happy to support Blogger Beta! When you set up a new blog you can select "Blogger Beta" from the dropdown and everything should work great!

My cross-post is marked as "Completed" but isn't showing up. What now?

Most likely your blogging system is just taking a moment to reflect the new post. This can take up to five or ten minutes with some systems. Give it a few minutes. If your post still isn't showing up, login to your blogging system and check to see if maybe your post has arrived but is marked as a draft. This happens from time time, particularly with systems like Blogger. If your post still isn't showing up, your best bet is to contact {email-to-be-deterimed} and we'll check your issue out as soon as possible.

MovableType isn't returning a list of my blogs, what's wrong?

MovableType installations after version 3.2 use a seperate password for third-party software like MIT Tech TV. Six Apart offers a FAQ entry on this subject that will walk you through setting up an API password.

Statistics FAQ

What kind of statistics does MIT Tech TV offer?

MIT Tech TV offers statistics showing the number of times your video has been viewed, the number of times it's been linked to from the outside world (and where it's been linked from) and what software your viewers are using to watch your video (a Web browser, an aggregator like iTunes, et cetera).

How often are the stats updated?

Statistics on MIT Tech TV are updated every five to fifteen minutes in the background. While we do record every visit as it happens, for performance reasons we collate and organize stats data in the background.

How are statistics captured?

We record a "view" of a video every time a video is requested through its "Media Permalink". The Media Permalink is the URL we offer for videos that includes /file/get. All videos viewed on MIT Tech TV directly and remotely through our copy & paste code, feeds, cross-posting and other distribution mechanisms use the Media Permalink. When linking to your video manually please make sure to use the Media Permalink.

How accurate are MIT Tech TV stats?

We make every effort to ensure that MIT Tech TV statistics are as accurate as possible. With that said, some Web software (for example, the TV Tonic Windows Media Center plug-in) may request a video more than one time, even if it's only being viewed once. Other times people may link directly to the video (bypassing our /file/get URL) and their view may be missed. We regularly review the state of Web software behavior and adjust our statistics software to compensate for them. We believe that our statistics are as fair and accurate as practical.

What does "self-reference" mean?

When viewing your statistics you may notice that certain views are tallied as "self-reference". This means that the viewer of your video came across your video on MIT Tech TV itself, rather than through an outside Web site.