Technical Help
General Technical Questions
- I'm having technical difficulties—can you help?
- When I print pages the text doesn't show up.
How do I print pages with dark backgrounds and light text?
- Q: How do I download MP3 audio or M4V video
files?
Browser Plugins and Other Software
- Adobe Acrobat: Using/Getting the software
Where can I find Acrobat files on the NOVA
Web site?
- QuickTime & QTVR:
How do I get the free QuickTime software?
What is a QuickTime VR?
How can I best view the QTVRs?
How are QuickTime VRs photographed?
Is there a higher-resolution (better) version of
the QuickTime movie or QTVR available?
The Windows Media Player logo appears when I try to
play a QuickTime movie, but the movie never plays. What is going on?
Where can I find QuickTime on the NOVA Web
site?
- RealAudio/RealVideo: Using/Getting the
software
Where can I find RealAudio/RealVideo on the
NOVA Web site?
- Windows Media: Using/Getting the software
Where can I find Windows Media on the NOVA Web
site?
- Shockwave: Using/Getting the software
Where can I find Shockwave on the NOVA Web
site?
- Flash: Using/Getting the software
Where can I find Flash on the NOVA Web site?
- Java: Using/Getting the software
Where can I find Java on the NOVA Web site?
- Chime: Using/Getting the software
Where can I find Chime on the NOVA Web site?
- Google Maps: Browser Requirements
Where can I find Google Maps on the NOVA
Web site?
Q: I'm having technical difficulties—can you help?
A: Every Web browser is different, and we may not have the
solution to each problem, but please see the tips below if you are having
difficulties with particular software such as QuickTime or Shockwave. If
the tips below do not answer your question and you continue to experience
problems, please let us know via the
feedback form.
On the NOVA Web site, we have two goals (among others) that
occasionally conflict: first, to make our resources available to as many
people as possible, and second, to make those resources as informative and
entertaining as possible. While we always keep the first goal in mind, the
second goal means that on occasion we make use of new and exciting
Internet technology that will not always be usable with all browsers at
all times. This page provides a listing of some of the various
technologies we're using, links to any required free software, and
information as to the best way to take advantage of the technologies.
Please let us
know if you're having consistent problems with one of these formats.
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Q: How do I print pages from your Web site?
A: Most browsers don't print page background colors or page
background images, with the result that printing pages with dark
background colors and light text generates unusable printed pages with
light or white text on a white background.
Look for a "To Print" link in the small text links at the bottom of the
page in question. Clicking on this link generates a new copy of the same
page, identical in every respect, except that the background color is the
default grey, and the text and link colors are set to the default black
and dark colors. Print this version of the page instead.
f you don't see the "Printable Page" link at the bottom of the page in
question, you can generate a printable page by doing the following:
- Select and copy the following URL:
http://www.pbs.org/cgi-bin/wgbh/printable.pl
(or write it down)
- Go to the page you want to print.
- Under your browser's File menu, select Open Location or
Open or Open Page and either paste the above URL into the
dialog box window or type it in, and click on the Open button.
- The resulting page is the printable version of the original page.
Alternatively, you can go to the page you want to print, type or paste
the above URL into the Location line at the top of your browser window,
and type return.
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Q: How do I download MP3 audio or M4V video files?
Windows
IE: right-click the link and select "Save target as..."
Firefox/Netscape/Mozilla: right-click a the link and select "Save
link target as..."
Macintosh
IE: click and hold or control-click the link and select "Download
Link to Disk"
Firefox/Netscape/Mozilla: click and hold or command-click the link
and select "Save link as..."
Safari: control-click the link and select "Download Linked File
As..."
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Adobe Acrobat file format
Get the
Acrobat Reader software
NOVA is making the NOVA Teacher's Guide available on the Web in the Adobe
Acrobat file format. Using the free
Acrobat
Reader software, available for Macintosh, Windows, and UNIX platforms,
you can read and print the pages on your printer in a manner that
accurately reproduces the printed Teacher's Guide, including fonts,
pictures, and illustrations, and reproduces them much more accurately than
standard HTML Web pages can.
Adobe Acrobat on the NOVA Web site
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QuickTime and QuickTime VR
Get the free
QuickTime software
Tell me more about getting the free QuickTime software
What is a QuickTime VR?
How can I best view the QTVRs?
How are QuickTime VRs photographed?
Is there a higher-resolution (better) version of the
QuickTime movie or QTVR available?
Where can I find QuickTime on the NOVA Web
site?
Q: How do I get the free QuickTime software?
A: If you don't already have the QuickTime plug-in (a "plug-in"
is a piece of software), you can
download it, free of
charge, from Apple Computer. It takes just a few minutes to download
it onto your hard disk and install it. From then on, it will open
automatically whenever you access QuickTime movies or QuickTime VRs (often
shown as "QTVR"), wherever you are on the Web. QuickTime software is
available for Windows OS and for Macintosh OS.
Q: What is a QuickTime VR?
A: QuickTime VR (for "Virtual Reality") is one of the most
striking technologies on the World Wide Web today. If you don't already
have the QuickTime software on your system, it is worth every second of
the few minutes it takes to
download it onto
your hard disk and install it. What's more, it's free.
QuickTime images give you an extraordinary sense of being there, on
location where the photographs that were used to build the VR were taken.
With panoramic VRs, you get the sense that you're standing in a certain
spot and spinning 360° on your heels, gaining a full-round view of
whatever scene is pictured. With object VRs, the object photographed is
the centerpoint, and you "walk" around it, just as if you were actually
doing so in reality.
Q: How can I best view the QTVRs?
- Click and hold down the mouse button to "grab" the image. Then slide
the mouse left or right, up or down to move the image.
- Another way to move the image is to bring your cursor to either edge
of the picture. The hand will change to an arrow. Click and hold down
the mouse button to move the image.
- To zoom in, use the Shift key. To zoom out, use the Control key. (On
Macintoshes using earlier versions of the QuickTime Software, the
'option' key zooms in and the 'control' key zooms out.)
- If you want to zoom in on a specific part of the picture, center
that part and then zoom. You might have to zoom a little and then go up
or down to center it.
- If the QTVR has links to other QTVR files or Web pages embedded in
it, your cursor will change to a "hand" when passing over clickable
links.
Q: How are QuickTime VRs photographed?
A: In theory, to shoot 360° panoramic VRs, you place your camera
on a tripod and turn and shoot to capture a full 360° worth of pictures;
you then use special software to "stitch" the photos together into the
full-round VR.
In practice, it's a bit more complicated than that. You have to make
sure the camera is level and the optical center of the lens is directly
over the centerpoint of the tripod. That ensures a smooth-flowing VR. You
also have to make sure that there are as few moving objects, such as
people, near the edges of your photos; they can complicate the stitching
process. And depending on the focal length of the lens you're using, you
must take a set number of pictures a set number of degrees apart from one
another. With a 15 mm lens, for instance, you need only shoot 12 photos to
complete the 360° with a 24 mm lens, you have to take 18 shots, and so on.
Special VR tripod heads are available to ease VR shooting.
Object VRs are more time-consuming. For one thing, rather than just a
single position as in standard VRs, you have multiple positions, because
you have to photograph the object from multiple angles, all the way around
it. And you have to keep a set distance from an imaginary vertical line
down the center of the object, and keep that line perfectly vertical—all
to ensure that in the final VR the object doesn't "jump" all over the
place. (It's like maintaining the same pitch, roll, and yaw for every
shot.)
Q: Is there a higher-resolution (better) version of the QuickTime
movie or QTVR available?
A: Some of our more recent QuickTime additions to the site (Submarines,
Secrets and Spies: See Inside a Submarine or
To the Moon:
Explore the Moon) make use of Quicktime's auto bandwidth detection to
allow the web server to send you the QTVR file most appropriate for your
internet connection speed. Check your QuickTime Settings control panel to
see what connection speed your QuickTime software currently expects. If
you are connecting at 28.8 or 33.6 and would like to receive the
higher-resolution version of the QTVR files, open the QuickTime Settings
control panel and change the connection speed to at least 56K Modem/ISDN.
The files won't arrive any faster, but you will be sent the larger,
higher-resolution versions.
Q: The Windows Media Player logo appears when I try to play a
QuickTime movie, but the movie never plays. What is going on?
A: Your computer system is configured to try to play QuickTime
files in Windows Media Player instead of in QuickTime. Windows Media
Player will be unable to play most (if not all) QuickTime movies found on
the NOVA Web site. Reinstall QuickTime; we recommend downloading a fresh
copy of the current version using the links above.
QuickTime and QTVR on the NOVA Web site
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RealAudio/RealVideo
Get the RealPlayer software
The RealMedia streaming file format allows you to listen to sound files or
see video files over the net without having to wait for the whole file to
download. You have to wait only a few seconds while a little bit of audio
(or video) file information is "buffered" to account for lapses in network
speed, and then the file begins to play, with no more waiting, even for a
file of 45 minutes or more in length. RealAudio or RealVideo requires the
RealPlayer plugin, available for free
download from Progressive Networks.
RealAudio/RealVideo on the NOVA Web site
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Windows Media Player
Get the Windows Media Player software
The Windows Media file format allows you to listen to sound files,
watch video clips, and view multimedia presentations. Windows Media
requires the
Windows Media Player, available for free download from Microsoft.
Windows Media on the NOVA Web site
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Shockwave
Get the Shockwave software
The Shockwave player allow you to experience interactive multimedia,
including audio, video, animations, puzzles and the like, through your Web
browser. It allows us to, among other things, provide "online
experiments," or to provide audio that starts to play when you arrive at a
Web page, rather than after a long download wait.
Shockwave on the NOVA Web site
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Flash
Get the Flash
software
The Flash player allows you to experience interactive multimedia,
including audio, video, animations, puzzles and the like, through your Web
browser.
Flash on the NOVA Web site
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Java
Java applets allow you to experience interactive multimedia, including
audio, video, animations, puzzles and the like, through your Web browser.
It allows us to provide "online experiments" among other things. The Java
applets on the NOVA site require that your browser be able to play Java
1.1 applets.
Requirements for Macintosh OS 9:
- Macintosh OS Runtime for
Java: You must have the MRJ installed. Many Macintoshes have it
preinstalled; do a "Find File" on "MRJ" to see if it is installed on
your computer. If you don't have it, download and install a (free) copy
of the latest version from Apple.
- Internet Explorer: The Macintosh OS Runtime for Java works
with Internet Explorer 3.x and higher. The browser in AOL 4.0 or later
will also work. Macintosh Netscape Communicator 4.x and Navigator 4.x
users will not be able to run the applets. According to the
Apple Java page (January 2000):
"Current versions of Netscape Communicator and
Navigator up to and including 4.5 use their own internal Java virtual
machine and cannot be configured to use MRJ. Apple and Netscape are
working together to develop a future version of Netscape's browser
that will use MRJ."
- Browser Preferences: Java must be set to use the Virtual
Machine provided by the Macintosh OS Runtime for Java ("Apple MRJ") and
the checkbox for "Enable Java" must be checked.
Requirements for Mac OSX, Windows, Unix, Solaris, and
most other operating systems:
- Internet Explorer 4.0 or later, or Netscape Navigator 4.06 or later.
The browser in AOL 4.0 or later will also work.
- Browser Preferences/Options: the checkbox for "Enable Java"
must be checked.
Java on the NOVA Web site
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Chime
Get
the Chime software
The Chime plugin allows you to view molecular structures, displaying
the molecules as manipulable 3D images or 3D stereo pairs, as
space-filling or ball-and-stick models. For more information on the plugin
and Chime, see the
MDL Chime
Support Site.
Click and drag the molecule to rotate it. PC users - click right button
in window for options. Mac users - click and hold mouse button for
options. Zoom in or out by holding down the shift key and the left mouse
button (PC) or shift key and mouse button (Mac) and moving up and down.
Chime on the NOVA Web site
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Google Maps
If you are unable to view Google Map-based features, check the
list of browsers supported by Google maps and make sure you're using a
supported browser.
For other help with Google Maps, please see the Google Local
Help Topics.
Google Maps on the NOVA Web site
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QuickTime and the QuickTime Logo are trademarks of
Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. The Get
QuickTime Badge is a trademark of Apple Computer Inc., used with
permission. Other trademarks are the properties of their respective
holders.
