What's unEuropean here?

[mcfnord]

Hi.

I wrote an app: https://jamulus.live

9 browsers worldwide are looking at it right now, but none are in Europe.

I have a theory that Western Europe is so active on Jamulus that finding the server you want is easy. In Germany, people often gather on servers right on the hour. Outside Europe, finding active servers gets more complicated, and additional tooling helps.

That's my theory.

If you are in Europe, can you think of features you'd like to see?

John

[rluc99]

@mcfnord Great app! Really useful (I am based in UK).
I like the way you have added times for people who are waiting. Also your refresh rate looks about right.
I'll have a think about extra features but I think you have it pretty well covered.

[rdica]

@rluc99 Clicking on a username highlights it, and it's remembered. What I don't know is if that action is remembered through browser restarts. It is remembered if page/tab is closed and reopened.
You can click on multiple usernames if desired as well. When they come back on, they'll be highlighted.

[rluc99]

@rdica I see. Yes that works - pretty cool.
The problem is though, that you can only find a name if you've clicked on it already. What if the name isn't there to click on?

[rdica]

If the user isn't on a server, a search didn't return anything. How is that different? You can always use the browsers text search if there's too many users to read through before clicking...

@mcfnord is open to ideas/suggestions, I've shared my thoughts and feedback with him occassionally on jamulus. Perhaps he'll reinstate a search function :)

[rluc99]

"You can always use the browsers text search" - now why didn't I think of that!! :)

[mcfnord]

@rluc99:

Hi.

The search bar has not returned but the Musicians list (down below) may help.

I don't list all occupied servers. If nobody moves for 6 hours, I make the server disappear, because I suspect it's actually silent, with just a parked user or two. I also hide servers that just contain a known probe. My goal is to only show people who are likely to be active, based on the clues I have.

I order servers by distance from the browser user as best I can. Servers with 2+ users are listed first, followed by servers with just one user. The geography list isn't always right because I respect the server's self-described location (Antartica?), and because getting geographic locale from IP address is somewhat unreliable. I use geography as a proxy for latency. Entering your own city into Jamulus and logging in increases the reliability of this feature.

Anyone can click a name, and that name-country match will appear in yellow. But users who log in get auto-tracking (in pink). There's no password, I just rely on your self-identification. I rely on these automated hints, which are based on duration I've spent with each musician on any public server, and then I click names of people who truly stand out. (Try ctrl-click for a secret feature!)

You have noticed that people who aren't on a public server do not appear on the tool. In this sense, all its features are a "live list" and I don't even track details of people who are offline. I track a hash but not a name.

The user count hovers around 20 now at the peak hour each day, and I believe the userbase is very loyal and consistent. I've localized key features to German, Thai, and Chinese.