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Robotics and Engineering

Please read the following before proceeding to the broadcast!

CLICK HERE TO TEST YOUR MEDIA

This web broadcast is intended to display multiple tools to help you visualize, hear the archived broadcast. Since there are so many items that must be loaded it may take a few minutes for everything to come up correctly on your screen especially if you have a dial-up connection. If you have DSL or Cable you may experience a faster display of the content.

It is recommended that you set your screen resolution to at least 1024 X 768 or larger. The way that the broadcast page is set up requires for you to have extra viewable area on your screen. To do this in Windows, right click on the desktop, go to properties and click on the settings tab. There you will see a metering bar that you can move back and forth to the desired resolution size. Select 1024 X 768 or higher. If you have it set any lower you could experience difficulties in viewing the tools within the page correctly. If you have problems with your settings you may get technical help by utilizing the contact info at the end of this page. You may also move the lines within the page to make one window bigger or smaller than the others. You can play with it and customize it to your liking.

It is also recommended that you update your browser and your media players before proceeding to the broadcasts. Windows users can go to the start menu and initiate a "Windows Update" and that will help in keeping your browser current.

Java is heavily used this year for this course. Please make sure you have the latest java runtime environment installed on your computer. Failure to be up to date or have java working properly with your browser could result in not being able to participate in the course effectively. You should go here http://www.sun.com to download and install the latest java runtime environment. If you have java installed already it is a good idea to try to update it in the java console. If Java is not working properly you should uninstall all instances of Java and re-install the most current version.

Entrance Page

The page you will be directed to when you click on a lecture link will be the entrance page. This page will provide you with the opportunity to customize your display. You will be required to answer some basic questions. The first question will ask what Media Player you would like to view the broadcast in. Some work better for others so you may want to experiment with the two types to see which one you may like better. The last item on the page is an option to turn the transcript off. Depending on how well it works for you and how important it is, you can make the decision to turn it off. You may change any of these items any time during the broadcast for any of these preferences. You may return to the entrance page at any time by clicking on the "change layout" link in the links window. Once you have made your selections you will then be taken to a page that has the following....

Below is the layout of the screen that you will be entering. You can click on a region to get more info on that region.

Once you enter the Web display page, items will start to load. The items and useful tips are below and correspond to the numbered items above.

1. The Audio and Video Window

" This is where you will see and hear the designated speaker for the class or build. You may also see any video that they intend to show you.
" You will have two choices in how you would like to view the web video. One will be through Real Player and the other will be with Windows Media Player. Whichever one you have on your system or prefer to use over the other is the best choice. If one fails to load for some reason you can try the other by changing the layout within the links window.
" With this layout your browser may not have the proper plug-in to display the content inside the window on the page. If this happens you may click on the link at the top of the window that says either Windows Media or Real Media and it will open a Player separately from the page

If you don't have a player or would like to upgrade for maximum performance you can go to the following links to download the player of your choice
Windows Media	Click to go to download page
Real Media	Click to go to download page

2. The Transcript Window.

" This is a feature that we have made available primarily for those that are hearing impaired. It is also there for whoever might be having difficulty understanding the speaker.
" This item will start to connect to the provider of this service and a window may open asking if you would like to download the plug-in. You may click yes and the plug-in will be installed and will automatically start once the web broadcast has begun.
This item may not automatically load for Mac users, and sometimes causes the browser to freeze. If this occurs you can turn this option off in the entrance page to the lecture by either clicking on the lecture link on this page or by changing the layout in the links window.

3. The Link Window

This window will have three main links within it.
The first link will take you back to the entrance page where you selected your preferences for the lecture and is labeled "Change Layout". This is where you can change the media player, and turn off the transcript if it is a live event.
The second link is where you can download the actual Microsoft Power Point Presentation for the lecture. You will need Power Point on your computer for this option. You can download the power point presentation by right clicking on the link and selecting "save target as" which will start the download process. Doing this will enable you to see more detail within the slides.
All links after that are related to videos or other slide presentations.
The final link will bring you back to this page.

4. The Power Point Window

This is the window where you will be able to view the Power Point Presentation. It will be in web format so it will be easily displayed and you will not need Power Point on your computer to display the information.
When the presentation first loads it will show the first slide of the presentation. The controls at the bottom allow you to switch between slides. This frame is controlled through a java applet so if you have a problem with java you may not be able to see it. If you have PowerPoint on your computer you can download the presentation on the links window.

5. The Chat Window

The chat window is blank. It was only active during the live broadcast.

For Further Assistance
E-mail
Course Project Manager	Terry Grant
Web Archive Engineer	Drew Price
Course Educator	David Culp

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Curator: Drew Price
NASA Official: Mark Leon
Last Updated: November 22, 2009
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