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Frequently Asked Questions
We want you to enjoy your visit to NASCAR Online, so we've provided answers to some of our service's frequently asked questions.
How timely is NASCAR Online? Why do I sometimes get outdated information?
Why is the lead callout text overwritting the headlines?
What is a "cache?" How much RAM should I allocate to cache?
Why aren't the images from Garage Cam updating?
Why aren't all the images in my photo galleries showing up?
Why is there a lot of blue space to the right of the screen?
What browsers do you support?
What are the minimum hardware and software requirements to use your service?
What can I do to improve the speed with which I access NASCAR Online?
I bookmarked to a page within your service and now it doesn't work. Why?
How do I use NASCAR Online's audio and video clips?
What is an external viewer or "helper application" and how do I use one?
I am having trouble printing with Netscape/Internet Explorer, what can I do?
What browsers do you support?
NASCAR Online uses many of the advanced features of HTML. Our video clips and daily audio feeds require the use of external applications to listen to the live audio and view videos. Therefore, to best experience NASCAR Online, you must use a browser that supports tables, forms, Java, and external viewers. We recommend that you download and use the most recent releases of Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer.
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Why is there text overwritting?
NASCAR Online uses Dynamic html to toggle through the top series of NASCAR. To do this we had to allocate a specific area for this content to fill. We chose this space using both the global font and the browser font settings at medium. If you have those fonts set to large, or larger, you may be experiencing text overlapping. To change your browser font setting:
Netscape: Go to view Decrease Font.
IE: Go to File -- View -- Text Size. Here you will be able to choose your font settings
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How timely is NASCAR Online? Why do I sometimes get outdated information?
NASCAR Online is continuously updated.
If you are receiving outdated information, try any or all of the following:
- Click Reload
- Empty your cache. This will force your browser to retrieve the most recent version of that document from its source on the network. In general, the cache is found under your browser's Preferences or Options menu. When given the option, clear both the memory and the disk caches.
- Increase your browser's document verification frequency. For example, if you are using Netscape, select Verify Documents Every Time in Cache and Network Preferences. Please note that this may affect your navigation speed.
Note: If none of these suggestions is effective, your Internet access provider (such as AOL) may be caching documents on its own server. In this case, you may not receive an updated document until the next time your Internet provider clears its cache. Documents that have not been accessed since the last time the cache was emptied will be current. You can call or email your Internet access provider to suggest that they increase the frequency with which it updates its cache.
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Why aren't he images from Garage Cam updating?
Your browser may be caching the images and not showing the latest available picture. To get the latest image, try right-clicking on the Garage Cam window and select reload or refresh while holding down the shift key. This should ensure you've got the most up-to-date image. Also, you can go to preferences/options and set your browser to check for newer versions of stored pages on every visit to the page.
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Why aren't all the images in my photo galleries showing up?
The minute you click on a photo gallery, a process begins to preload all the images that you will see. If you click through the gallery before the photos have loaded, the process stops, and the photos appear to not have loaded. The amount of time depends greatly on your connection rate. If your photos do not appear, simply right click within the gallery and select reload. the process will restart and the photos will begin to load again.
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Why is there a lot of blue space to the right of the screen?
NASCAR Online is desiged at a 600 by 800 browser width in mind. This is to accomotate users with monitors with lower resolutions.
What is a "cache?" How much RAM should I allocate to cache?
The cache is your browser's temporary storage system; it is designed to speed performance and reduce network traffic. When you request a page, your browser checks to see if it is already present in your cache. If not, the page is retrieved from the source and then stored in your cache. The next time you request that page, your browser retrieves it from your cache rather than fetching it again off the network. If the page has been updated in the interim, you will not receive the new page unless you click the reload button. When your cache is full, new documents requested will replace those documents that have least recently been used.
There are two types of caches: the disk cache and the memory cache. Both store information retrieved from the network--to your hard drive and RAM, respectively. When you shut down, your disk cache is preserved; your memory cache is not. Because documents are more quickly retrieved from your memory cache, you may be tempted to make it quite large. However, for performance reasons, the number of kilobytes allocated to your memory cache should not exceed 25 percent of your total RAM.
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What are the minimum hardware and software requirements to use your service?
For the best experience using our service, we recommend at least the following:
PC: 486dx or higher computer; 28.8+k bps modem; Windows 3.1(TM) or Windows for Workgroups 3.11 (TM); 8 MB RAM; Netscape Navigator (TM) / Microsoft Internet Explorer (TM) browser (for full functionality and best graphic resentation).
Macintosh: 68030 processor; 28.8+k bps modem; 8 MB RAM; Netscape Navigator (TM)
Please note, any external viewers you use may require additional hardware or software.
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What can I do to improve the speed with which I access NASCAR Online?
The following suggestions may help to enhance the performance of our service:
- Check your modem to ensure it is at least 28.8bps, our minimum requirement.
- Turn your graphics off--an option most browsers provide. This will significantly reduce the
download time of graphics-rich pages by displaying only their text. Generally, you will find that we try to minimize the size of our graphics to reduce download time.
- Clear your disk and memory caches. Also, check your memory cache setting to ensure it's no greater than 25 percent of your computer's total RAM.
- Close any applications you are not using to increase the amount of RAM available to your browser.
- Decrease your browser's verification frequency. If using Netscape, for example, set your cache preferences to verify one time per session, as opposed to every time you retrieve a page.
Note: Your Internet access provider may pass through many nodes before it is able to contact
the servers. Unfortunately, as the number of nodes increases, your page retrieval rate will suffer incrementally.
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I bookmarked to a page within your service and now it doesn't work. Why?
The page you bookmarked may have moved. Our service is always growing and improving. That means that while we work very hard to maintain consistency in the basic structure, there are times when the address to a particular page must change. Also, some pages are seasonally driven and might change or be removed when the season ends.
NASCAR Online is organized into sections. We recommend that you bookmark as high up in the desired section's hierarchy as you can. This will help insure that your bookmark always works.
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How do I use NASCAR Online's audio and video clips?
NASCAR Online publishes audio and video files in the following formats:
Audio: WAV (TM) (.wav) and RealAudio (TM) (.ra)
Video: Video for Windows (TM) (.avi) and QuickTime (TM) (.mov)
Your Web browser may support some or none of these file types. Generally, you will need to use an external viewer in order to play these files. The list below, organized by operating system, should help you to locate the appropriate applications.
Please note, the NASCAR neither endorses nor provides technical support for any of these viewers. You must abide by the licensing provisions of each application and seek technical assistance from the software source. In addition, please be aware that most of the applications you download will be in a compressed file format.
Windows
RealAudio: RealAudio files can only be played with the RealAudio player. To download the
player, go to http://www.realaudio.com/.
WAV: The Windows operating system includes two WAV file players -- mplayer.exe and soundrec.exe.
Video for Windows: The native Windows application, Media Player TM (mplayer.exe), supports the .avi file format. This player should be located in your local Windows directory.
QuickTime: Applications for playing QuickTime movies on the PC can be found at http://www-dsed.llnl.gov/documents/tests/qt.html
and
http://www.astro.nwu.edu/lentz/mac/qt/.
The software found at these locations will not run under Windows NT.
Macintosh (TM)
RealAudio: RealAudio files can only be played with the RealAudio player. To download the player, go to http://www.realaudio.com/.
WAV: Freeware SoundAppT 1.5.1 supports .wav files and can be found at
http://wwwhost.ots.utexas.edu/mac/pub-
mac-sound.html#soundapp-151.
QuickTime: The Macintosh operating system includes a QuickTime movie player.
More players can be found at http://www-dsed.llnl.gov/documents/tests/qt.html and at http://www.astro.nwu.edu/lentz/mac/qt.
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What is an external viewer or "helper application" and how do I use one?
"Viewer" and "helper application" are terms to describe an auxiliary application used to support MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension) types or file formats which your Web browser does not. For example, most Web browsers are not equipped to play sound files. Therefore, you must tell or "configure" your browser to launch a second piece of software which can play a sound file when you download one.
The way in which you specify a viewer for each given file format varies across browsers. Generally, these assignments are made in the "Options" area of your browser. Please note, not all Web browsers support the use of external viewers -- the NetCruiser (TM) Browser, for example, does not.
For detailed information that is specific to the Netscape Navigator check this page, http://help.netscape.com/faqs.html
For detailed information on the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser select this link, http://www.microsoft.com/iesupport/.
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I am having trouble printing with Netscape/Internet Explorer, what can I do?
To a large degree your printing problems are not something that you can remedy through your browser. While printing problems could be caused by dozens of things, here are a few simple things you can try when troubleshooting. These tips are provided for Netscape and Internet Explorer users only.
The first thing you need to confirm is that you have your printer properly installed. If you can print from other applications then we will assume that your printer is properly installed.
The second thing that you need to to do is click on FILE|PAGE SETUP.
This will bring you to the browser printing options menu.
On the Netscape Navigator make sure that you have the "Black text" option SELECTED. Click OK. And resume efforts to print.
With the Internet Explorer confirm that you have the PORTRAIT option selected. Additionally, make sure that you have the proper PAPER SIZE selected. If you are unsure about paper size, select AUTO.
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