[Wikipedia-l] Please test sound clips.

[Brion VIBBER]

lcrocker at nupedia.com wrote:
> I'd like to flesh out the policies on sounds, so I'd appreciate it if
> a few of you could test things out a bit.  I cleaned up all the
> [[Simon and Garfunkel]] articles and added a few samples (since I have
> a good S&G collection to use).  Let me know how easy or hard it is to
> set up your browser to hear them,

On my present system (Windows 2000; Mozilla 1.1b; Winamp w/ Ogg plugin) 
I had to manually configure my browser to launch Winamp (or else save 
the file to disk, then launch it from explorer).

 > whether or not they sound reasonably
> good,

They sound great as little sample clips go. Not like the reduced 
sample-rate, mono crap you get on so many sites that are actually trying 
to sell you music...

 > and whether or not they take too long to download.  I can adjust
> recommended encoder usage, recommended bitrates, etc., based on your
> feedback.

I would seriously recommend mentioning the file size (hence mental 
estimate of download time for dial-up folks) and the fact that the 
sample is in Ogg Vorbis format (hence a link to appropriate software).

Non-techheads who don't know what an "ogg" is and may not yet have 
appropriate software installed aren't going to be enthused at the 
mystery file that nothing will play.

-- brion vibber (brion @ pobox.com)