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Using an encoder to stream live audio from your computer to a server somewhere on the Internet should be a transparent process. Having the connection run without disconnecting to the point where you forget there's an encoder running is the ideal scenario for streaming audio. When we started streaming The Chris Pirillo Show live at the end of 2004, we were using Windows Media Encoder, the free encoder from Microsoft. WME does a stand-up job of converting audio and video to Windows Media formats, but when it comes to reliably maintaining a connection, there are a few important features missing. The folks over at Spacial Audio solve this problem with SimpleCast, an awesome encoder app with support for streaming Windows Media audio, MP3, OGG, and mp3PRO audio content. As far as I know, it's the only app that can stream all four file types simultaneously at multiple bitrates, which makes it a clear winner all by itself. The reason I'm using SimpleCast to encode our live broadcast of The Chris Pirillo Show is fault tolerance. Relying on network connections from consumer ISPs when we broadcast means relying on faulty service, because there's no enterprise level guarantee of network uptime. SimpleCast picks up the slack by reconnecting the stream if there's a network error breaking the connection between the streaming server and the encoder, which means listeners aren't left wondering what happened to the show. SimpleCast is compatible with Windows Media Streaming Services, Shoutcast, IceCast, P2P Streamer and Live365. Depending on what you're streaming, the software automatically injects album art and file information about your audio as well. Depending on the server you stream to, you can also get live stats back to know how many listeners are tuned in. If you do any amount of live audio streaming for a business, church or just as a hobby from your basement, the $60 you spend on SimpleCast will be among the best purchases you make for your audio tool set all year. [Windows 2k/XP $59.95]

When you create a WMV movie using Windows Movie Maker, Windows Media Encoder or any of the dozens of video editing apps supporting WMV, you have a number of options for sharing your video. The widest audience is obviously online. Windows Movie Maker includes a rather deceptive Save to the Web option, which really means, "save to Web if you have an account with Neptune Mediashare." You don't need to use Neptune or the Save to the Web option to in Windows Movie Maker to share your videos online.

There are two primary ways to share a WMV file online: direct download or streaming playback. A third option would be to offer the video as an RSS subscription, which is loosely related to direct downloads and gets covered in another article. When you offer a direct download, users click on a link to the video file and either view the video in their desktop Windows Media Player or save it to their hard drive. To stream a Windows Media video file, you need to embed the Windows Media Player in the page where you post the video. This requires some specific HTML code included in the page or blog post where the video is linked.

Microsoft attempts to make the Windows Media experience painless for users by automatically handling certain interactions with video files. For instance, if you click on a Web link connected to a WMV or WMA file in a Web browser, Windows Media Player automatically launches, starts buffering the file, and attempts to stream it. As a server administrator, this feature can create a frustrating experience for users.

PMC Movies, my site with videos for portable movies, offers a number of 300-500MB meant for people to download and take with them. When someone finds a movie they want to download, the natural reaction is to click the download link and expect the Save As dialog box. If the movies are stored on a Windows 2003 Server, with the default IIS configuration, the user never sees the Save As dialog. Instead, Windows Media Player opens on the user's desktop and begins playing the file. The hack from the user perspective is to right-click and save target as, which potentially confuses and frustrates users.

Microsoft provides a way to override this "stream now" behavior at the server side using a custom HTTP Header in IIS. To add the custom header, launch Internet Information Services Manager and expand your Web sites to reveal the folder where multimedia content is stored. Right-click this folder and choose Properties. Click the HTTP Headers tab, followed by the Add button.

For the Custom header name type: Content-disposition
For the Custom header value type: attachment

Click OK, click Apply, click OK.

Visit one of the Web pages linking to your content download and test the links. You should be presented with the Save As dialog.

There is a catch to this solution. By setting the Content-disposition for the entire folder, your server will pop the Save As dialog box for any file called by a Web browser, including Web pages. There are two ways to solve this problem: only store media files in the folder where you modify the Content-disposition or set the attribute on-the-fly using code.