If you are having ANY Problems viewing the web pages I offer my apologies

The web site is optimized for use with Internet Explorer (IE) Version 5 (and later) as the standard user web browser. I do this because IE is the most robust and universal browser available and to try to build the web site to work perfectly on all available browsers would limit it's functionality and appearance as well as make upkeep an undue burden.

If you do not have an up-to-date version of Internet Explorer you may obtain it from Microsoft ... FREE:

Another popular browser is Netscape Navigator. Earlier versions of this product will not display colors properly. For the latest Version ... FREE!

Even with the latest version of Netscape, however, there are things that you will miss on the web site. There are features that simply will not show up. An example is the music that many of our viewers have said they like.

This web site is best viewed at a screen size of 1024 X 768. My "Hit Counter" records a variety of facts about the visitors to this site. (Nothing personal) One thing I have learned is that 40% of the visitors, as of 4/19/03, use a screen resolution of 800 X 600.

I tried that and found that although it makes things a lot larger, including text, it prevents the entire width of the web page from being visible. This requires a lot of side to side scrolling and in some cases may even obscure important parts of the page. I checked a number of web sites and found it to be the same.

First of all a little tutorial about screen resolution. ...
A computer screen is "painted" by a series of dots called pixels". If the resolution is set to 800 X 600, your screen will display 800 pixels across the width of the screen and 600 pixels from top to bottom. You will have 480,000 pixels of information on the screen.

If it is set to 1024 X 768, you can see that many more pixels will be displayed in both directions giving a total of 786,432 pixels of information, over 60% more than the smaller. At this resolution there is no need for side to side scrolling making it much more convenient to view the average web page.

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Changing the resolution of your display is a simple task in Windows:

Right click on any part of the display that doesn't contain an active program or icon. A dialog box* will pop up.
Select "Properties"
The "Display Properties" dialog box will pop up. Select the "Settings" tab.
Drag the "Screen Area" pointer until it shows 1024 X 768 (or larger if you wish).
Click "Apply" then "OK" and then "Yes" to accept the change. (You can always go back and change it back if you don't like it)

During step 5 the screen will go black for a few moments. That is normal so don't worry.

As with much in life, screen area is a compromise based on personal preference. I prefer the convenience of seeing more 'stuff' on the screen than seeing less 'stuff', larger.

This not only applies to viewing web pages but to computer work in general. I find it more convenient to see an entire document or graphic than be forced to scroll left or right.

A larger resolution also facilitates 'multi tasking' when two or more applications are open at one time and parts of each can be seen simultaneously. I do a lot of that, especially when working on a web page but also when doing internet research and many other things.

* "Dialog Box" A pop up or drop down 'window' that provides a place for you to talk to your computer.