--- Forwarded Message from "Harris, Leslie" <[log in to unmask]> ---

>From: "Harris, Leslie" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: "'Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum'"     <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Problems with Browsers, Sound Files, etc.
>Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 16:11:57 -0400

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Hi, Folks.

This past semester, some Goucher seniors were involved in a course that had
"oral history" as one of its main themes.  As part of a final project, the
students interviewed members of two communities in Baltimore in order to
give a kind of profile of those communities.  They created a Web site as one
of their final projects, which you can find at the following URL:

http://www.goucher.edu/harbel/

The students finished the site by the end of the semester, and they did a
great job.  My task since then has been to make the site a bit more modem-
or low-bandwidth-friendly, since it takes forever to receive any of the
audio content over a modem line.

I've run into a few problems which have been driving me batty, and I've
basically reached an impasse.  I thought it was time to ask for help.    :-)

Here are the problems:

1.  On my computer, I've set up Norton Antivirus to screen files before
they're downloaded.  I noticed that when I link to an MP3 file in Netscape,
it thinks that I'm downloading the file; NAV checks the file out, says the
file is free of viruses, and asks me where on my hard drive I want to save
the file.  That's not how I want the link to work.  Instead, I want Netscape
to recognize the file type from that MP3 extension and launch my favorite
MP3 player.  I have clearly associated an application with the MP3 dot
extension, but NAV seems to be overriding that choice.  This doesn't happen
when I use Netscape on other computers, even when they have NAV installed.
This also doesn't happen using Internet Explorer.  I've even tried
hard-coding into the HREF statement that the type is mpeg/audio, and that
doesn't solve the problem.  I want the site to work even for people who have
NAV on their computer as I do, so here's the question: is there a way to
make sure that Netscape doesn't try to download the file, but instead plays
it as I want?

2.  To make the site more modem-friendly, I have both MP3 and RealAudio
versions of the sound  clips.  I've had a devil of a time getting those
RealAudio clips to play from off-campus, because our firewall is so
restrictive.  I tried using a copy of RealServer that our Webmaster
installed on our server, but the firewall got in the way of that.  Also, I
learned that it's just a beta, test copy of the program, so we can't really
use that until we buy a full copy.   :-)    I changed the links so that
they'll stream via http:, but I haven't been able to test it from outside
our firewall.

Here's question #2: when you click on those RealAudio links on the site, do
the sound clips stream o.k., or do you run into problems?  Have you had
success using RealServer for streaming audio content on your campus, even if
the server is behind your firewall?  Or have you followed the company's
advice and put your RealServer outside the firewall?

I appreciate your help with this.  

Leslie
(who's at his wits end on this one, having run into the same wall again, and
again, and again. . . . or is that the firewall?)     :-)