[nikos59]

Hi all

The Vanderbilt is not played in Euro-friendly hours,
so I have had to rely to the "raw logs" of BBO
which I then tidy up to excise commentary(*)
thanks to a program given to me by an esteemed
Vugraph project member.

The snag is that always something is getting lost
in the raw logs, i.e. some files are perhaps
overwritten; for instance, I am almost sure
that Segment 1 of Match 2 (Kamil-Eisenberg)
of Quarterfinals was transmitted because I
caught a glimpse of it (then I had to leave)
but there is no trace in the logs.

Also, the files that do exist seem to have
too many "missing data" in several boards;
I initially thought that the "non-broadcast"
room was missing but it seems the pattern
is different and it is too early here for me
to try and analyze the pattern

Anyway, the address is (and will be):
http://www.sarantakos.com/bridge/vugraph/2...2005-vandy.html

I will need is your help because I will not be
able to follow the event myself. For instance,
you can send me any missing files, such as
the QF segment mentioned above.

TIA
Nikos Sarantakos

(*) Why I excise commentary? First of all, commentary makes
files heavier, sometimes close to 200K and even in this age
of superfast connections there are some dialup users out there.
Moreover, commentary is sometimes irrelevant
to the match being played! For instance, the 3rd segment
of Match2 of Vandy Quarterfinals contains commentary
of the French Junior Trials (in French) and a recent
Moscow tournament (in Russian and English)!

[Walddk]

We had several problems in the beginning. One experienced operator and three very inexperienced ditto (2 of which were in invisible closed rooms). This caused confusion. A major problem in QF segment 1A was that both visible rooms had the same wording on the green banner. The result is the same every time that happens: We lose one of them.

That was recitified by the time we got to segment 1B, but then another unfortunate thing occured. In the Lynch v Schneider match the banner was not changed from 1Q. We have the broadcasts saved, right enough, but it will take some effort to figure out which segment is which.

Hopefully all this has been sorted out before the semi-finals Friday.

Do we not tell the organisers about this in advance you may ask. We send a technical manual to all organisers. There is not much more we can do. We can't control if people read it. We also send them our standard guidelines. Let me quote an important part of a thorough letter:

"The most critical factor in determining the success of these broadcasts is the quality of the operators. It is vital that these people become familiar with the software before the actual broadcast takes place. The software is easy to learn and it is subsequently easy to use, but operators should spend at least a couple of hours practising before the actual event".

Roland

[nikos59]

Roland,

Please don't get me wrong (you probably don't, but
this is a safety play) -what I wrote was not at all
an indictment of your work which is magnificent, merely
an appeal to BBO members to help me fill in the missing
data. I appreciate immensely your efforts.

Nikos

[Walddk]

I did not interpret it as criticism, Nikos. I merely wanted to explain how things like these happen. And thanks for your kind words.

Roland