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Best Viewed -- guidelines to getting the best from this site -- |
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This Web site tries to push the limits of technology as much as possible while at the same time trying to keep a reasonably wide audience - a delicate balance. No, a cheesy computer will not be happy trying to view this Web site. A cheesy computer and/or a lousy Internet connection will choke on graphics, music, JavaScript, and other cool stuff delivered on this site. So, while the site won't make ridiculous and unreasonable demands on your system, there are some basic system requirements for ensuring a good experience.
If you're a PC user, this could be a Pentium machine running at 133MHz or faster.
Running a Web site within Netscape Navigator can often chew up a lot of your computer's RAM, especially if the site pours on copious volumes of graphics, audio, and JavaScript. Be sure to have at least 32Mb of RAM in your computer, preferably more. And if you're running Navigator on a Mac, be sure to assign a healthy chunk of RAM to the browser.
28.8 is recommended, 33.6K or 56K (K56-Flex, for example) is preferred. If you have ISDN, ADSL, or T1 access, don't gloat! Just enjoy.
This is one area where you don't need anything special. You don't need a fancy soundcard, you just need to have one. If you're a PC user, any old CreativeLabs SoundBlaster 16 or compatible will do.
Several of the areas on this site are "sonified". That is, they are enhanced with music or audio. There are even some experiences offered on this site that are primarily audio-based. To get the max from the music and audio component of this site, be sure to have some decent speakers. You're even better off if you can wire your computer's audio output into your stereo system and then crank it up.
Naturally, you're going to get the most out of the graphics and artworks on this site if you're not viewing the site through a 13" eyeglass. Bigger is better, in this instance. 15" is OK, but a 17" monitor is recommended. Anything bigger and you'll make me jealous.
This Web site is best viewed with Netscape Navigator 4.x (or higher) or Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.x (or higher). The site was designed for Netscape Navigator, but was also tested on Internet Explorer for compatibility. I can't help confessing to a certain bias towards Navigator, however. The site has not been tested on any other browsers (such as Opera or the AOL browser), nor has the site been tested on set-top boxes (such as WebTV).
For the most part, all authoring has been done in such a way that the core functionality is compatible with Navigator 4.x and Internet Explorer 4.x, and any use of the features of the newer browser versions only enhances the pages but should not break the experience for users of older browsers. It's scalable, in other words.
In order to view this site properly, you absolutely MUST have JavaScript enabled in your browser. This site makes extensive use of JavaScript. Not only is JavaScript used to enhance the interactivity, but JavaScript is in some case essential for the proper functioning of certain areas of the site. For instance, the Artworks, Profundity, Poetry & Prose, Short Stories, and Songs & Music sections all rely on a navigation system that is built from JavaScript. In addition, many of the cooler experiences offered on the Web site (such as the Perpetual Mood Machine) are also designed with JavaScript and will simply not work if you have disabled JavaScript in your browser.
This site has been designed with a high resolution monitor setting in mind. Preferably, you should "maximise" your browser window so that it takes up the full screen. The site looks best at 1024 x 768, but will scale well between 800 x 600 and 1152 x 864. At higher resolutions, the Web site may become unstable and your computer may start becoming sentient. And under no circumstances should you expect to get good results on a 640 x 480 monitor setting. Sheeeesh!!!