Personal Telco University OpenCourseWare
This is a place to plan and document the PTPU OpenCourseWare.
Contents
History
PersonalTelcoUniversity was a program started under DarrinEden's presidential term and had sessions in 2004 and 2005. The goal was to have a series of somewhat-formal classes that could be taken by anyone (for a small tuition fee) and would be taught by PersonalTelco members. Upon the completion of the class, students would be prepared to build wireless networks. Despite meager attendance, the program succeeded in it's overall goal to educate those who wanted to be educated.
What's This?
The PersonalTelcoUniversityOCW (orignally PersonalTelcoUniversityDVD, but changed to OCW since the general feeling is that DVDs suck and the real goal is digital content - it doesn't need to be on a DVD) is an attempt to take everything good about PersonalTelcoUniversity and distill it onto a digital medium so that classes can be seen by anyone, not just those with geographical or chronological proximity. Credit goes to Mr. TomHiggins who birthed the concept. Today, it is the primary project of CalebPhillips in his role of DirectorOfEducation, although, he is only making very slow progress.
Philosophy
Having given some thought to how to approach the project, I've come up with a few rules to follow:
- Have talks at all levels. Nothing is too complex or too simple. However, a given talk should target a specific audience and stick with it.
- Let the speakers direct their own videos. Ideally, we would have videos with all different presentation-styles and approaches.
- Let people talk about whatever they want to talk about (as long as it is related to wireless networking).
- Release (cuts) early and release often. Collect feedback and make changes.
- Keep things low-budget (and possibly campy) without being low-quality. There is a trade-off, be smart about it.
- Try to buy gear that is usable for other projects. Reserve at least half the total budget for distribution.
Schedule
Dates
- none scheduled...
To Do
Immediate ToDo:
CalebPhillips needs to:
- Prepare his talk on Wireless PHY
- (Maybe) Buy/Aquire second Lavalier Mic. and a Portlable Mixer
- Ask more people to teach classes (ask some PSU Profs. and other "local talent")
- Schedule the next shoot.
- Replace the faulty light apparatus
- Martin and Kyle need to:
- Send out their additional materials (screen shots, photos, screen-dumps, etc.)
TomFitz needs to:
- Edit the Basic Wireless Hardware video and get it out there for review
- Edit the Operational Security video and get it out there for review
A process of sorts:
- Pick a Class to Shoot
- Find a teacher, have teacher prepare (maybe have brainstorming session to help them)
- Gather Equipment (Camera, Easel, Headphones, Whiteboard, Diffusion Gels, Lights, Microphone, ...)
Gather People (CalebPhillips, TomFitz, TheTeacher, ...)
- Pick a date
- Show up and film
- When all the filming for a given class is done...Edit
- Show some people the first draft
- More editing in response to feedback
- Publish
- Rinse, Repeat
Classes
An evolving list of classes which may be featured on the DVD. Ordered partially with those we intend to film first on top...
Topic |
Teacher |
Confirmed |
Scheduled |
Filmed |
Edited |
WiFi Hardware Introduction |
yes |
yes |
yes |
no |
|
WiFi Applications |
no |
no |
Rick done, otherwise no |
no |
|
The Physical Layer |
no |
no |
no |
no |
|
About PersonalTelco |
no |
no |
no |
no |
|
TCP/IP Networking |
no |
no |
no |
no |
|
History of Radio |
TomHiggins and/or Marty |
no |
no |
no |
no |
Basic Radio Physics |
no |
no |
no |
no |
|
Site Survey |
no |
no |
no |
no |
|
Introduction to Linux |
no |
no |
no |
no |
|
Installing and Maintaining Debian Linux |
your name here |
no |
no |
no |
no |
Hacking on Consumer Routers - OpenWRT/OpenWGT |
no |
no |
no |
no |
|
Network Maintenance |
your name here |
no |
no |
no |
no |
Operational Security |
Coderman and Kyle |
yes |
yes |
yes |
no |
Antennas |
RickLindahl et al. |
no |
no |
no |
no |
Beg, Borrow, Steal
MIT OpenCourseWare Overlap
MIT OpenCourseWare was a direct inspiration for this project. If at all possible, we would like to make use of thier content instead of overlapping it - no reason to reinvent the wheel, afterall. After looking, it appears that there isn't much overlap. Here are applicable classes, none of which contain audio or video, only (quite detailed) lecture notes:
Class |
Overlaps/Complements |
Media Available |
Overlaps with "TCP/IP Networking" |
Lecture Notes, Problem Sets |
|
Complements "About Personal Telco" |
Lecture Notes, Readings List, Assignments |
|
Complements "802.11 PHY" and "Radio Physics" |
Lecture Notes, Problem Sets |
Other (Probably Free) Video That We Might Re-Use
Talks By Eric Blossom of GNU Radio: http://gnuradio.org/video/
YouTube'd Video of Wireless History (posted by SamChurchill to general): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bi__kIa8Hy4
Other (Unlikely Free) Video That We Might Ask to Use
- PSU CS Lectures taped for Shanghai Students
- ...
Budget
The budget is simple. We have $1000. I want to spend $500 or less on gear, supplies, etc. Then spend the remaining $500 on distribution and promotion.
Income
LinuxFund gave us $1000 for this project.
Expenses
http://www.personaltelco.net/~caleb/receipts/fredmeyer_2007.02.10_ptpu_dv.png http://www.personaltelco.net/~caleb/receipts/thaipk_2007.02.25_ptpu_food.png http://www.personaltelco.net/~caleb/receipts/radioshack_2007.03.15_ptpu_mic.png http://www.personaltelco.net/~caleb/receipts/radioshack_2007.03.15_ptpu_cable.png http://www.personaltelco.net/~caleb/receipts/citzensphoto_2007.03.16_ptpu_lights.png
When |
What |
How Much |
2007-02-10 |
DV Cassettes |
19.99 |
2007-02-25 |
Food on First Day Filming |
24.45 |
2007-03-15 |
Lavalier Mic and Cable |
37.98 |
2007-03-16 |
Lights, Stands, Umbrellas |
258.75 |
Total so far: $341.17