tldr; I will be streaming on Twitch next Monday (25th of March) at 8:30 Melbourne time (GMT+11), configuring Azure Kubernetes AKS to use RBAC.
For a long while, I’ve been thinking about streaming live development to Twitch or YouTube. Having spent some time behind the microphone while making DotNetArabi podcast, I can say there is a satisfiying feeling in producing content in a media format through which you can connect with the audience.
Why not just offline video?
I could just record an offline video and host it on YouTube, and it’s definitely a valuable medium. The problem with educational videos, specifically, is that it is a one-way communication channel, and without the entertainment factor, unlike movies, these videos can be daunting, imprisoning, and hard to follow.
The magic of live streaming
But with live streaming magic happens; it adds additional dimensions that make it more appealing:
- It’s LIVE! It’s happening NOW, and this means couple of things: it implicitly has the anticipation factor; things are still happening and it might take interesting turns, just like live sports. In addition to that, by sharing the time span during which the event is happening, the audience gets the feeling of involvement and “I was there when it happened”, even if the audience didn’t directly interact with the broadcaster.
- It’s real and revealing: When I was doing my homework preparing for this, I talked to my colleague Thomas Koster, and when I asked him about what could interest him in live streaming, his answer was:
…it’s probably more the real time nature of it that appeals – to see somebody’s thought processes in action, as long as the broadcaster doesn’t waste too much time going around in circles.For example, watching somebody figure out a puzzle solution in the game The Witness in real time is much more interesting and valuable than watching a rehearsed, prepared performance of only the final solution.This is the ultimate stage for a developer broadcaster; it requires a lot of bravery and experience. I’d love to be able to do this soon, but it’s really the 3rd reason below that drew me to streaming.
- It’s two-way communication: the interactive communication between the broadcaster and the audience brings the video to life. It provides timely opportunity to get the best out of this communication, whether it was by the audience correcting the broadcaster, or the broadcaster being available for immediate inquiries.
Specifically for this last reason, I became interested in live streaming; I want this relation with my audience; to have a collaborative experience where value is coming from everyone and going in all directions.
So, I am doing my first stream!
I have been following Jeff Fritz @csharpfritz and Suz Hinton @noopkat and greatly inspired by their amazing work! Also @geoffreyhuntley have started his journey and gave me the last nudge to jump into this space. I’ve learned a lot from Suz’s post “Lessons from my first year of live coding on Twitch“, and recently Jeff’s “Live Streaming Setup – 2019 Edition” (don’t let it scare you, you don’t have to do it all!).
My next stream will be about Role Based Access Control (RBAC) in Azure Kubernetes AKS, I will walk you through RBAC, OAuth2 Device Flow, and how this works within Azure AKS, with hands-on live deployments and configuration.
What is my goal, and what is not?
What I am trying to achieve here is two-way communication through the session I have with my audience, that’s it.
Am I going to do this constantly now?
Actually, I don’t know! To me this is an experiment; I might keep doing it, or this might be my first AND LAST stream, let’s see what the future brings. 🙂
Awesome Idea!!
Thanks a lot Ahmed, looking forward to see you then 🙂