Many of the documents on the site have been specifically formatted for printing and we invite you to print anything that you may find useful in your work. If you want to print a particular page, you can save time by directly clicking the print icon on the right navigation bar for a printer-friendly page.
Although this site is designed to be graphically appealing, you may view the site with graphics turned off or with a non-graphical browser such as Lynx. We also have included a text-only version which is a replica of the entire site without any graphics.
RealAudio and RealVideo streams are encoded to play over a simple dial-up connection with enhanced play if viewed over a T1 line or LAN. The faster your connection, the better the quality will be. While most Real media on this site will work with older versions of RealPlayer, some high-end streams require RealPlayer G2 or greater.
We recommend downloading the latest version of RealPlayer. Be sure to check out RealNetworks' Technical Support FAQs for more information. If you have problems accessing a RealPlayer video stream, make sure your firewall is configured to receive Real Media by clicking here.
Two of the most common reasons for this problem are:
If you only get this error message sporadically, the problem may be a result of heavy network traffic. However, if the problem persists, it is likely that your modem speed and/or your Internet service provider's (ISP) connection speed are not adequate to handle the streamed media signal. You may also see this error message if the software "driver" for your sound card needs updating. Depending on the reason, you may need to contact your ISP or you may have to download your sound card's latest software driver.
The high bandwidth requirement for viewing a video, in conjunction with a slow internet connection (e.g. 56k modems) can result in unclear or lagging images. If this is the case, we recommend that you close all non essential applications. Unfortunately, there is not much more that can be done when the connection is slow.
This can happen when there is either a lot of internet congestion or your connection bandwidth is not adequate. Our suggestion would be for you to try back later to see if the cause is internet congestion. In Windows, you can check your connection speed by clicking on the modem icon in your system tray (lower right hand part of your screen) while you're connected. If it's lower than 40K, you'll have problems viewing the video. Another option would be to try disconnecting and connecting again, or contacting your Internet Service Provider (ISP) for help.
The Flash Player is a free plug-in provided by Macromedia that allows you to view .swf files. These files are usually highly animated pages or movies created using Macromedia's Flash software. The sizes of files created this way are very small compared to the traditional methods of generating web animation. Our site uses a lot of Flash animations, demonstrations, learning aids and interactions. To enhance your learning experience, please note that you will find it worth the few minutes it takes to download the free player, as they are usually more fun and interactive than their traditional HTML counterparts. With the player, you can view all of the best animation and entertainment that our site has to offer.
To experience all the effects, you'll need the Shockwave Flash plug-in, a free application that enhances your browser and makes this site interactive. If you can't see anything when you click on an animation, go to the Macromedia Flash Player Download Center and follow their downloading directions. The download will take a minute or two over a 56k modem and can be used as soon as download is complete. The player only needs to be installed once.
Alternately, you can click on "Normal Version" whenever you get to a Flash page