How to...

How to watch Ananova's Bulletins

You can download the Basic version at http://www.real.com/player/index.html for free. Don't be fooled by the adverts for the one you have to pay for - follow the links to the Basic version which is free.

Choose the minimum requirements for the quickest download time. To watch Ananova's bulletins you don't need to choose any of the extra features offered.

How can I 'interact' with Ananova's bulletins?

In the bulletins you will be given choices about which stories you want to hear. You can choose between Regular, Light, Sporty or Quirky.

• Choose Regular for the most traditional type of news stories such as court cases, earthquakes, politics and war.
• Choose Light for a lighter kind of news which features showbiz stories.
• Choose Sporty for all your sports stories.
• Choose Quirky for the kind of bizarre stories you might e-mail to your friends.

Just click on the screen to select the news you want. Ananova will talk you through the options.

Can you see the bulletins?

Press the button below. (Choose 'Open this file from its current location.')

1. Did you hear Ananova? Yes/No

Press the button below.

2. Did you see and hear Ananova? Yes/No

3a. I could see Ananova, but not hear anything. Yes
3b. I could neither see nor hear Ananova. Yes

5. I can't hear anything!
Can you hear sound/music from your computer usually?

a) no/not sure, but I get beeps.
Check if you have a sound card and speakers (or headphones). The headphones should not be plugged into the CD drive unit

b) I have a sound card and speakers, and have heard audio in the past, but I can't now.
Is volume muted on your system?

c) Yes - I usually can.
Is RealPlayer the default player for .rm files? Choose: settings>control panel>folder options>filetypes. Scroll to the '.rm' extension. If the file is not already associated with RealPlayer click 'change' to select the correct player.

Is volume muted in RealPlayer? the bottom corner of your RealPlayer should look like this:

But NOT like this:

6. It is possible you do not have a valid install of RealPlayer (go to top).

7. I've played the test file, but I can't see Ananova's bulletins.
Are you logging on at work? Check with your IT support/administrator to see if you can receive "rtsp" protocol. You may be behind a firewall which is blocking it.

8. I can see Ananova's bulletins, but they are erratic or randomly freeze.
Are you watching the bulletins on "high" resolution? It is important that you select a resolution compatible with your data connection.

9. How do I manually configure Netscape 6 to work with RealPlayer 8 for Windows (also applicable to lower/older versions)?

Netscape 6 does not ship with any predefined helper applications (i.e., mime types). You must manually configure Netscape 6 to recognize RealMedia files (.ra, .rm, .rv, .ram, .rpm).

After you manually configure Netscape, RealPlayer will start and play the file when you click a RealMedia link on a web page.

To manually configure Netscape 6 to recognise RealMedia files:

i) Start Netscape 6.
ii) Click the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
iii) Select the "Helper Applications" category.
iv) Click New Type.

In the New Type dialog box, enter the following:

Description of type: RealPlayer File
File extension: .ra, .rm, .ram
MIME type: audio/x-pn-realaudio

v) Click Choose and locate Realplay.exe (by default, C:\Program Files\Real\RealPlayer\realplay.exe).
vi) Click OK.

Repeat steps iv-vi for each of the following file types:

Description of Type: RealAudio File
Extension: .ra, .ram
MIME Type: audio/vnd.rn-realaudio

Description of Type: RealVideo File
Extension: .rv
MIME Type: video/vnd.rn-realvideo

Description of Type: RealMedia File
Extension: .rm
MIME Type: application/vnd.rn-realmedia

Description of Type: RealAudio File
Extension: .rpm
MIME Type: audio/x-pn-realaudio-plugin

vii) Click OK. (to close the Preferences window)
viii) Close Netscape and restart Windows.
ix) Start Netscape.
x) Click the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
xi) Select the "Helper Applications" category.
xii) Click "audio/x-pn-realaudio" in the File types window.
xiii) Click Edit.
xiv) Click to clear the "Ask me before opening downloaded files of this type" check box.
xv) Click OK.

Repeat steps xii through to xv for each of the file types below:

audio/vnd.rn-realaudio (RealAudio File)
video/vnd.rn-realvideo (RealVideo File)
application/vnd.rn-realmedia (RealMedia File)
audio/x-pn-realaudio-plugin (RealAudio File)

xvi) Click OK. (to close the Preferences window)

Other problems

I watch Ananova but then it stops without warning (sometimes my internet connection stops too).
Do you have call waiting on the phone line you are using for the Internet? If you do - you should disable it for Internet calls as it can stop your connection.

Ananova freezes or is very jumpy.
The data rate you are achieving is probably not as high as it should be. Or the problem may be your ISP or phone provider - if it is a busy time of day, you may be sharing the connection with many people. Check back at a less busy time.

I have Quicktime - why can't I use this?
Because Quicktime is not supported

I closed the bulletin and it started again from the beginning! Can Ananova remember where I stopped watching?
Ananova is streamed live to you. If you disconnect the bulletin, the bulletin will be streamed from the start. If you have waited a few minutes the stories will probably have changed anyway!

Why can't I save a bulletin to play later?
Sorry, the bulletins are not licensed to be saved.

I heard a story earlier, now it's gone! I'd like to show the story to someone else.
Ananova is updated continuously. The top news story 20 minutes ago may well have changed. If you can remember keywords from the story - type them into Ananova's search engine to find the text version of the story.

Why aren't there links from the bulletins to the text story?
Good idea! Watch this space.