If you need help beyond what is in the help topics below or have questions/comments about a particular part of the course, please send e-mail/mail to the following addresses.
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Mailing Address: |
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Help Topics
- Browser/System Requirements
- Optimal Viewing Tips
- How do I start the course?
- What if I do not hear sound within the course?
- What if I get a blank screen when trying to load the course?
- How do I navigate within the course?
- How do I pause or replay a screen?
- Is there a script of the narration available?
- Known Issues
This course must be viewed using a DHTML-capable browser, such as Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) 4.0 or higher (Windows only) or Netscape's Navigator (NN) 4.x. (Note: Netscape 6.0 is incompatible.) Macromedia's Shockwave/Flash (v. 4.0 or later) plug-in or ActiveX controls (already included in most browsers) are required to run the course. Your browser will inform you if the plug-in is needed. The plug-in can be downloaded from Macromedia's site at http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download. The latest 4.7x version of Netscape Navigator, which includes the plug-in, can be found in the "Software" folder on this CD or downloaded at http://home.netscape.com/download/archive/client_archive47x.html. Additional requirements include: sound capability and speakers, and a minimum of 64MB of RAM (128MB for NT) to run the browser. You will probably find performance of the browser marginal to unacceptable if using a computer slower than a 300MHz Pentium equivalent.
Your browser must be configured to load images and play sounds and must have JavaScript, style sheets, and cookies enabled. You can check these settings in IE by choosing "Tools/Internet Options/Advanced," or in Netscape Navigator by selecting "Preferences" in the Edit menu and clicking the "Advanced" setting.
The additional readings and references linked to from within this course point to files in Adobe's Portable Document Format (pdf). The Adobe Acrobat Reader can be found at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.
This course was designed to be viewed in an 800x600 pixel screen at true color. Little degradation should be seen at the 16-bit or thousands of colors setting. Eight-bit color or 256 color mode should be avoided. Extraneous browser buttons and controls should be minimized to ensure that the entire page fits on your screen without requiring downward scrolling. In NN for 800x600 modes we recommend display of only the navigation and location toolbars with text only preference set for the toolbars. In IE we recommend display of the standard button and address toolbars but none of the explorer bars. In both browsers we recommend display of the status bar.
The course should begin when you insert the CD. If it does not start after several seconds, your computer may have CD auto-start disabled. To start the program, browse the contents of the CD by double-clicking the CD drive in "My Computer;" find and double-click the file "start.htm."
What if I did not hear sound within the course?
Without sound support, you will not be able to successfully complete the course. If your computer is sound capable but you do not hear narration, by all means check the obvious things like the volume being turned up on the speakers, and that no other program is using the sound resources at the same time (music CD).
Macromedia's free Flash (v. 4.0 or later) Plug-in or ActiveX controls are required to view the course. If the plug-in is not installed, the course will not function properly and may result in a lack of sound or a blank screen. The plug-in can be downloaded from Macromedia's site at http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download.
If problems persist, download and install Netscape Navigator, which can be found in the "Software" folder on this CD or downloaded from http://home.netscape.com/download/archive/client_archive47x.html. The appropriate plug-in will be installed by default using this installation.
What if I get a blank screen when trying to load the course?
Macromedia's free Flash (v. 4.0 or later) Plug-in or ActiveX controls are required to view the course. If the plug-in is not installed, the course will not function properly and may result in a lack of sound or a blank screen. The plug-in can be downloaded from Macromedia's site at http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download.
If problems persist, download and install Netscape Navigator, which can be found in the "Software" folder on this CD or downloaded from http://home.netscape.com/download/archive/client_archive47x.html. The appropriate plug-in will be installed by default using this installation.
How do I navigate within the course?
Virtually every page in the course, with few exceptions, contains the graphical user interface element shown below.
The "NEXT" button will take you to the next page, in a serial fashion, throughout an entire lesson. The word "next" will glow once a page's narration is complete to let you know it's OK to proceed. The "BACK" button, takes you through the lesson in reverse order to that of the NEXT button. It doesn't necessarily take you to the page you just came from, like the browser's BACK button does. For example, if you use the "table of contents" feature, discussed below, to skip ahead in a lesson, the GUI's BACK button takes you to the page that is before the one you are on in lesson sequence, not the one you just came from. Clicking the "LESSON MENU," along the left-hand side of your screen, causes a pull-out image to appear such as this one for the DESERT STORM introduction:
The yellow triangle marker along the left side shows your current position in the lesson and you can quickly see the layout of the lesson's major points. By clicking an item, you will be taken there directly. For example, if you have already completed the introduction but want to view the "Coalition Building" section again, you could click that title to jump right to it. Not every page is directly accessible from the table of contents but may be grouped with other pages under a common heading. For instance, the "Air War Begins" section may contain several related pages; clicking on that title may only get you to the first page of the sequence.
The last two conventions worth noting are our links and rollovers. Links open a new window with a reference document, previous lesson page, or an internet link site as its content. By opening a new window, you'll never become lost by following a link. Just close the linked document and you can carry-on from where you were. When you place your cursor over a link, you may get a pop-up box with explanatory information such as a page number to see in a reference. Links are usually underlined or are a pale blue color.
Rollovers indicate the presence of additional text that expands upon the basic course material. When the cursor is placed over a rollover, a pop-up box appears with the supplementary material. Rollovers may be similar in appearance to a link, though graphics may contain "hot spots" that trigger pop-up boxes.
How do I pause or replay a screen?
The controls in the upper right corner of each page will allow you to pause or replay the narration and screen activity while viewing the lessons. When pressed, the PAUSE button will light up to indicate that the screen is paused. Press the PLAY button to resume. Press REPLAY to play the screen again.
Netscape Navigator Window Resize: Resizing a NN window with one of the course's pages displayed will likely result in an off-center display. Click the "Reload" button to reset the page. This is a known bug in NN.
Flash Movies: Flash movies require a relatively fast CPU to play smoothly. Users of low-end machines may experience some sound break-up or flickering during animated sequences. Try closing all programs other than your browser for better performance.
