HELPFUL HINTS & SUGGESTIONS

Many of you are probably more experienced than we are at navigating the Internet and using browsers to display information in a way that pleases your personal sense of design. But for those of you who are not as practiced, it may surprise you to learn that you probably have as much control over the look of these pages as the designers who create them. Sometimes this is good, and sometimes this is not so good. We go to great lengths to present a well laid out page, but we have to choose fonts and type styles that we believe most users will have on their computers. That's because your browser is the program that chooses the font and type size, not our designers. We sometimes wish we had more control over our presentation, but this is the Internet... wild and untamed and free!

You may, however, wish to set your browser to the same settings we used in preparing this presentation, just to see what we intended. Then, if you think your way is better, you can still play with the layout to your heart's delight.

A Word About Browsers
There are a variety of browsers available, some free for the taking, others for sale by their manufacturers. It is a matter of personal preference which one you choose for yourself. This program will run perfectly well on any HTML 2.0 compliant browser. Note, however, that we have used certain advanced features of Microsoft Internet Explorer to enhance the program when viewed with that browser.

For free browsers available on the Internet, try these sites:

Window Size
First, we suggest you set the width of your window to be just slightly wider than the graphic heading at the top of the page. If the page is too narrow, you miss some of the graphics. If the page is too wide, your browser will reformat the page layout we created and... well, it just won't look as nice.

Type Style and Font Size
In your Preferences - Styles (probably under Options) you may want to set your proportional font to Times, 12 point size. If you choose another font type, the page may not layout the way we intended (but you may not even notice the difference in layout, so it might be just fine). If you choose another font size, the page will almost surely not layout the way we intended, and may even appear somewhat disorganized. But you can always play with styles to achieve a look that pleases you (even though it may not be the look the designers intended).

Graphics, Images, Audio and Video
Standard Internet graphic image formats are either .gif files or .jpg (.jpeg) files. Standard Internet audio files are .aif or .xxx files. Standard Internet video formats are either .mov (QuickTime) files or .mpg (.mpeg) files. Most browsers are pre-set to read these file formats and no further action is required on your part. You should be aware, however, that your browser requires access to certain resources to be able to read these files. If for some reason you do not have these resources, here is a hotlist of graphics viewers, editors, utilities and information to help you track them down.

Graphics and images used in our presentation are gif files or jpeg files. All of the movie clips are QuickTime files. We have chosen not to use mpeg files because they would require you, the user, to have additional hardware or software to decode these files. Since this hardware and software is not yet standard issue on most computers, we felt it unfair of our program to require it. If enough of you tell us that you would like us to provide .jpeg or .mpeg files, we will certainly consider it for our next release.

Downloading Movie Clips
The movie clips in our program are of considerable file size. If they are available, they can be downloaded by clicking on the image of the nominee (See Navigation Hints). Most of these clips contain between 2.5 MB and 4.5 MB of information. If you are connected to the Internet through a high speed link (ISDN, T1, OC3, etc.) the time it takes you to download each clip will probably not be too daunting. If, on the other hand, you are connected by modem... well, that's another story. For example, if you are connected by 28.8 kbps modem, that means you can receive about 3.5 KB of information each second. At that rate, if you are trying to receive 2.5 MB of information, take a look at the math:

Now, 12 minutes is quite a long time to wait for a single file, so some people choose to download these clips while they sleep, or they simply forego this opportunity.

Our Menu Bar
You will notice that on some pages we have included a custom Menu Bar at the top of the page. This Menu Bar is designed to help you jump to the most frequently used pages, or to the pages which will most likely provide you with shortcuts in linking to other pages in this program. It is meant to be used in conjunction with the Back and Forward buttons provided by your browser's Toolbar, along with the Go (Go To) menu compiled by your browser as you explore this site.

Perhaps the most useful button on our Menu Bar is the Table of Contents. This is a text-only list of the key pages in this program and has been designed without graphics to provide the quickest access possible.

Navigation Hints
You have probably already figured out that links to other pages and other files (such as downloadable movie clips) are usually highlighted in a color (such as blue). You have no doubt also noticed that this color changes as you explore the site. The change in color indicates that you have already visited a particular site and helps you to keep track of where you've been.

In our program we have opted not to include a border around our images. If an image is a link, you will notice that your cursor will change form (depending on the browser you are using) any time you are pointing to an area that is linked and clickable.

Contest Hints
First of all, this contest is meant to be fun and provide you with an added dimension of interest when you are watching the Academy Awards Show on March 25th. So please play the game with the spirit in which it was designed... Have Fun!

When you make your selection in a category, note the number of points you are given to play with in the category. You may distribute these points among the nominees in the category in any way you choose. If you are sure you know who the Academy will select in the category, you may choose to enter all your available points next to that nominee. If you want to "hedge your bet" so to speak, you can divide your total to give an equal number of points to every nominee in the category. But you will only score the number of points you have placed with the nominees who actually receive an Oscar.

We have structured the contest form so that you don't have to finish the form in one sitting. All categories that you submit are saved for you so that the next time you log into the contest, your form is pulled up with the categories you have previously submitted already filled in with your previous choices. You may then continue to fill out the balance of the form. You may also change any previous choices and resubmit them (it is very important to re-submit, because unless you do, only the last choice that you actually submit is kept on file).

You may change your form as many times as you like up until 5 p.m. PST on Monday March 25th. At that time, we turn off the submit button and whatever you have on your entry form at that time becomes your official entry. It's the same as dropping the form into the slot at the post office... you can't get it back to change it! (But we do let you pull it up to view it any time you want.)

If you would like to print a copy of your entry, just use the Print command in your browser. The form will be printed with your choices indicated so you can follow along on Oscar night. Good luck!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
As we start getting questions about this site or about the Internet in general, we will post the most frequently asked questions here, along with the answers. You may submit your questions below, or on any page where we have set up a mail-in option for you. In any case, will attempt to answer all questions posed to us, whether or not they make it to this list as a FAQ.

To submit questions or comments, please ask: oscar@guide.com