Beta Testers Needed/Giving away an IPod

Network Foundation Technologies is looking for volunteer beta testers who are willing to try out our peer-to-peer video streaming technology system.

Beta Tests are usually conducted on Monday nights from 8pm until 10pm US Central time. To sign up to be a NFT beta tester, send your email address to wes@nft-tv.com. We will add you to the mailing list and send you a link to download the latest client prior to each test.

Beta testing essentially consists of downloading a peer-to-peer client program and watching Internet-based TV. To keep the hassle on your end to a minimum our beta test system logs the performance of your client during the test, notes any anomalies such as interruptions in your video feed, and then emails the test log to our servers automatically when you exit the program or at the end of the test.

If you would like to see a demo of the NFT-TV product before deciding whether or not you'd like to be a beta tester, you can go to either http://www.sci-fan-tv.com or http://nasa-tv.yi.org to download a player and see a sample broadcast. Note that the video quality of these broadcasts is somewhat limited since they are being streamed at 50 Kbit/sec streams.

The aim of the series of tests that we are hoping you will participate in is to characterize the scalability of the system and its robustness under particular error conditions that we introduce during the tests. Thus, the more people who are willing to sign up and "tune in" to these test broadcasts the better.

also.....


NFT Beta Tester Appreciation Give-Away



Your Chance to Win an Apple IPod Mini!



NFT appreciates its beta testers – especially our loyal beta tests who show up test after test. In an effort to say “thank you” to our beta testers – and to encourage increased attendance at beta tests, NFT will be giving away an Apple IPod Mini on August 31, 2004 to a lucky NFT beta tester. http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore?family=iPodmini



Entry Rules:



(1) A computer capable of running NFT (requires Windows 98 or above, and Windows Media Player Nine) and a high speed Internet connection are required to participate in the NFT beta tests.



(2) During the month of August, NFT will conduct FIVE BETA TESTS. Tests will be held on Monday nights (8/2, 8/9, 8/16, 8/23, 8/30) from 8 pm US Central until 10 pm US Central. A reminder will be sent by email to all registered NFT beta testers several hours before each test. That reminder will include a URL to the latest version of the client, which must be downloaded and run to participate in the test.



(3) Beta testers will receive ONE CHANCE TO WIN THE GRAND PRIZE for EACH beta test they attend. “Attendance” will be counted as having one computer connected to the NFT network running the current beta client for the entire two-hour test. The more beta tests you attend the greater your chance of winning.



(4) Since NFT is a peer-to-peer technology that depends on the ability and willingness of receiving nodes to rebroadcast the stream, beta testers who are “firewall open” on port 1138 will receive a SECOND CHANCE TO WIN THE GRAND PRIZE for EACH beta test they attend. Thus, running without a firewall on port 1138 will increase your changes of winning.



(5) An individual may bring as many computers as he or she wishes to a beta test. Each computer will count as a separate “attendee”. Thus, running two computers at each test can double your changes of winning; three computers can triple your changes of winning, etc.



(6) The prize drawing will be held on August 31 and the winner will be contacted by email using the address supplied in the NFT registration information. It is important that beta testers enter accurate data when registering NFT software on their machines, since this information will be used to contact them in the event they win.



(7) Employees of Network Foundation Technologies and their family members are not eligible to receive the prize – though we do encourage them to attend the beta tests.



To summarize, if a beta tester attends all five tests on a single computer with port 1138 closed, he or she will have five chances to win the grand prize. Beta testers who attend all five tests on a single computer with port 1138 open will have ten changes to win the grand prize. A beta tester who brought 2 computers to each test and was firewall opened on both would have a total of 20 changes to win.


Thanks

Ronald Norman
Associate Software Engineer