MeBeam plugin - Miranda IM

ghazan · #1 15 Nov 2007, 2:55 PM

This new plugin allows all Miranda users to take the advantage of new videochat solution provided by the MeBeam company. Now any Miranda user can send the videochat invitation to anybody else, cause MeBeam allowed us to do that.

MyBeam videochats are:
- cross-platform;
- cross-service (you can use any protocol supported by Miranda to send an invitation);
- capable to carry a videoconference between 15 people;
- nothing else should be installed on the client side, despite the Flash plugin for your browser.

To invite a people to a chat, open the contact's popup menu and choose 'Start MeBeam video chat'. That's all. Enjoy.

Unicode version: http://postman.ru/~ghazan/files/mebeamW.zip
ANSI version: http://postman.ru/~ghazan/files/mebeam.zip

Drugwash · #2 15 Nov 2007, 5:38 PM

Just a quick clarification before I actually try it: is the Adobe Flash plug-in required for this, or not? I didn't quite understand it...
Reason I ask is, I keep the Flash disabled on my machine (using Nir Sofer's TurnFlash), because it just eats up resources.

Moreover, what's the difference between this plug-in here and MirandaComm2, apart from the latter being brought to a halt for unknown reasons?

Thanks for any answer.

-pv- · #3 15 Nov 2007, 6:18 PM

other thing what about audio? is the audio broadcasted too? Is webcam necessary? because I have none and if it supports audio it would be great.

Further more I would like to see some more details on this. How does it work? They are mentioning jabber on the blog so does it mean they would like to bridge it with google's approach?
Guessing from the size of the plugin what it does is that it only opens respective page at mebean.com with the chat in it.

Edit: ok I have just figured it all out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drugwash

Just a quick clarification before I actually try it: is the Adobe Flash plug-in required for this, or not? I didn't quite understand it...

Miranda just opens webpage with the chat so if your browser can't handle flash you will see nothing.
I would clarify the whole description of this plugin: it's a wrapper for the mebeam.com service.

Drugwash · #4 15 Nov 2007, 11:44 PM

Thank you -pv- , I have already figured it out myself.

omniwolf · #5 16 Nov 2007, 1:51 AM

why is this plugin stickied? are we getting donations from mebeam or something?

andrewabc · #6 16 Nov 2007, 2:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by omniwolf

why is this plugin stickied? are we getting donations from mebeam or something?

I have no idea why it is sticked, but even weirder is that it is in plugin messageboard. I would think of it more of a protocol.

omniwolf · #7 16 Nov 2007, 6:11 AM

well its definitely not a protocol.. its a plugin that spawns a webpage.

YtseJam · #8 16 Nov 2007, 8:54 AM

Maybe it's a sticky because it provides a real solution to one of Miranda's major lacking in comparision to other IMs - video and audio chats.

Untill there'll be a better solution (meaning no dependence on a 3rd party), this should get its 15 minutes of fame, IMO, and have users notice it.

imon9 · #9 17 Nov 2007, 6:18 AM

it's been almost a year since i converted to linux and stop using miranda..but i wanna tell the miranda community that mebeam is a great solution...

for those asking the question about:
(1) it need flash
(2) i think up to now, it need a webcam to be able to use it BUT u can install a fake webcam driver for the purpose (eg sliptcam, manycam ....google it, both freeware)
(3) it support voice chat only if u have both install fake webcam driver ^^^
(4) so far the mebeam advantage against mirandacomm and other solution is the video streaming quality is absolutely stunning...try it to see how fluid its motion and picture quality (i cant say the same for voice though, still lag a bit due to mebeam not yet set up server for Europe. they only have America, Japan and australia server, if i am not mistaken
(5) bandwitdh usage is not skyhigh but broadband is generally a good idea to have for reasonable videochat.

i have been following mebeam development since few years back...i have to say, i comes a long way. i agree that it depends on 3rd party (mebeam) server to work, but seriously, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ and most other protocol depends on 3rd party company server..so i guess the only question is how reliable is the server and how long are they gonna let us use the service for free. knowing mebeam developer, i would say, he is cool with it.

for extra note, mebeam is previously called wigiwigi and during its development before transforming what mebeam is today, it used to be standalone exe with pure P2P (without need of central server).

the reason for the central server is to ease the connection between 2 parties without knowing their IP and connection setting. Mebeam server try to overcome all NAT related connection problem, so connection can be automatic without changing firewall rules.

try it.... no harm done waht-so-ever, rite?

Drugwash · #10 17 Nov 2007, 8:45 AM

There's one minor problem: considering I got a very slow computer, opening both Miranda and the browser leaves me with very little free system resources. Add Flash to this and you get the picture.

If that Flash window would've been standalone just like MirandaComm2 is, it would've saved me the resources 'eaten' by the browser.

And then again, I wouldn't be able to use MeBeam in Miranda and at the same time, use the browser with Flash disabled, if I wanted/had to. It's either one or the other. So, unfortunately, for me it's not an acceptable solution.

Finally, P2P connection in MirandaComm2 is much better for LAN-partners video communications.