General Questions
• I'm looking on your Web site for a story that was in The Tribune or Press Journal and I don't see it. What am I doing wrong?
• Can I find previously published stories on your Web site?
• Do you have story archives online?
• How do I make TCPalm.com the default home page on my browser?
• The right side of TCPalm.com gets "chopped-off" on my monitor. How can I view the entire page?
• How timely is TCPalm.com? Why do I sometimes get outdated information?
• I bookmarked a page within TCPalm.com and now it doesn't work. Why?
• I have trouble accessing The Wire from TCPalm.com. Why is this?
• Why can't I access Internet Usenet newsgroups or use E-mail?

Technical Questions
• What browsers do you support?
• How do I send E-mail with my browser?
• I use AOL. What can I do to improve my browsing experience?
• What are the minimum hardware and software requirements to use TCPalm.com?
• What is a "cache?" How much RAM should I allocate to my cache?
• How do I clear my cache?
• What can I do to improve the speed with which I access TCPalm.com?
• How do I use TCPalm.com'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?
• I use a Macintosh (TM): Which browser will give me the best access?
• What are "cookies" and how do I disable them?
• You don't answer my E-mail. Why is this?
• I have trouble viewing the crossword puzzle. What do I do?

I'm looking on your Web site for a story that was in The Tribune or the Press Journal and I don't see it. What am I doing wrong?
TCPalm.com is not a complete electronic version of The Tribune's or Vero Press Journal's print edition. The Web site represents a free comprehensive sampling of the print editions of The News, The Tribune, the Press Journal, the Jupiter Courier, and the Sebastian Sun. Not every story from the print edition is posted.

Can I find previously published stories on your Web site?
Web-posted news stories remain on TCPalm.com for the entire day of publication, then are replaced with the next day's news. The Web site does keep certain features online for a longer period. Most articles are available in the Archives section where you can search for and access them.

Do you have story archives online?
Using TCPalm.com's Archives link you can search our electronic database and access articles from the Stuart News/Port St. Lucie News, Jupiter Courier, Vero Beach Press Journal,Sebastian Sun, 50 Plus Lifestyles and Treasure Coast Business Journal. Searching is free and shows the date of publication, the headline and the first few paragraphs of a story. To view the complete story to read, print or save to your computer you will have to set up an account.

I have trouble accessing The Wire from TCPalm.com's Web site. Why is this?
The Wire is a service offered by The Associated Press and can be accessed only through a member newspaper's Web page. The AP builds into their link from TCPalm.com's Web page a series of passwords and other protective devices, called "cookies," to assure that you are indeed accessing The Wire through our Web page. If you are not using a current browser, it may not be able to accept cookies. You also may have disabled your browser's ability to handle cookies under the browser's "Options" menu. And, if your browser is not capable of viewing frames, you will get a message from The Wire that you must have a frames-capable browser to view The Wire. Also, on big news days, we have found that the heavy volume of traffic on the AP server causes periodic problems in accessing The Wire. It may work if you try again later. You can send comments and questions about The Wire directly to AP at feedback@thewire.ap.org

How do I make TCPalm.com the default home page on my browser?
If your browser is Microsoft Internet Explorer 5+, go to the TCPalm.com home page and select "Tools" and "Internet Options" from the toolbar at the top of the screen. Click on the tab labeled "General" and go to the "Home Page" section. You can either enter the TCPalm.com URL (http://www.TCPalm.com/) in the dialog box, or select the "Use Current" button. Click "OK." The next time you start Internet Explorer or click the "Home" button on the toolbar, you'll go directly to TCPalm.com!

If your browser is Netscape Communicator 4.76+, go to http://www.TCPalm.com/. While on this page, select "Edit" and "Preferences" from the toolbar at the top of the screen. In the "Navigator" section, type http://www.TCPalm.com/ into the "Location" field, or select the "Use Current Page" button. The next time you start Netscape Communicator or click the "Home" button on the toolbar, you'll go directly to TCPalm.com!

If your browser is Netscape Navigator 4.76+, select "Options" and "General Preferences" from the toolbar at the top of the screen. Select the tab labeled "Appearance" and enter "http://www.TCPalm.com/" in the "Start With:" dialog box. Make sure to select the "Home Page Location" radio button and click "OK." The next time you start Netscape or click the "Home" button on the toolbar, you'll go directly to TCPalm.com!

How timely is TCPalm.com? Why do I sometimes get outdated information?
Most of TCPalm.com 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 Internet Explorer, select "Every time you start Internet Explorer" under "Check for newer versions of stored pages" in the Temporary Internet Files settings. Please note that this may affect your navigation speed.

Note: If none of these suggestions is effective, your Internet access provider 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.

I bookmarked a page within TCPalm.com 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.

If the page you bookmarked was a news, sports or feature article, column, editorial, etc., it may no longer be freely available on TCPalm.com. Generally, articles are available for about 30 days. After that period, you can find them in our archives.

TCPalm.com is organized into sections. We recommend that you bookmark as high up in the desired section's hierarchy as you can. This will help ensure that your bookmark always works.

The right side of TCPalm.com gets "chopped-off" on my monitor. How can I view the entire page?
The new TCPalm.com is designed to be viewed on a monitor capable of at least 800x600 pixel resolution. Today's monitors support a wide variety of resolutions. Put simply, the larger the resolution numbers, the more "real estate" your screen can display. TCPalm.com looks best at 800x600 or 1024x968. 640x480 is considered an outdated option and is no longer supported.

There are three standard PC resolutions: VGA, Super VGA, and XGA. Each resolution lets you see a different amount of graphical information on your screen. By increasing your screen resolution to at least 800x600 pixels, you'll be able to see more on your desktop and avoid some scrolling and switching back and forth between windows.

Windows 95, 98, 2000 and NT Operating Systems:
• Click the "Start" button at the lower left corner of your screen.
• Select "Settings," then "Control Panel."
• Double-click the "Display" icon and select the "Settings" tab.
• In the Desktop Area, slide the control to the left or right to decrease or increase your screen resolution.
• Click the "Test" or "Apply" button.

Macintosh Operating System:
• Select the "Apple" menu.
• Select the "Control Panels" menu, then select "Monitors and Sounds."
• Choose your preferred resolution by selecting a screen size.

What browsers do you support?
TCPalm.com takes advantage of the latest in browser technology, so for the best experience, we recommend upgrading your browser as new versions of your browser become available.

TCPalm.com uses tables, frames, animated GIFs, Java, and many HTML 3.0 extensions, as well as HTML forms for things like contests, polls, and surveys. We use both GIF files and JPEGs for in-line images. We also use audio and video clips from time to time.

Thus, if your browser does not support aligned imbedded tables, forms, or external viewers, you will not be able to fully enjoy the features and design TCPalm.com has to offer. For best results, we recommend that you use a version 4.0 or higher of Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Some people use Netscape Navigator as their browser of choice. However, because older versions of Netscape browsers disregard WWW Consortium standards, certain pages on TCPalm.com are best viewed in Internet Explorer. We often find that 90% of problems viewers have are caused by 1) outdated browser versions or 2) Netscape Navigator.

I use AOL. What can I do to improve my browsing experience?
While AOL generally provides an acceptable browsing experience, you may notice that page graphics sometimes appear blurry or smudged. This is due to a "feature" of AOL that dramatically compresses graphics to allow them to display more quickly on your screen. Unfortunately, this is often at the expense of image quality.
To improve the look of the site while browsing in AOL, you need to make a change in the built-in AOL browser's preferences settings.
When you go to the Web in AOL, click on "prefs". For Mac and Windows 3.1, uncheck the compressed graphics option. For Windows 95, click on the Web Graphics tab, then uncheck the compressed graphics option. Then click the button to clear the browser's cache and reload our site.For best viewing of photographs, your monitor should be set to display at least 256 colors.

What are the minimum hardware and software requirements to use TCPalm.com?
For the best experience using our service, we recommend at least the following:
PC: 486dx or higher computer; 28.8 bps modem; Windows 3.1 (TM) or Windows for Workgroups 3.11 (TM); 8 MB RAM; Internet Explorer (TM) browser (for full functionality and best graphic presentation).
Macintosh (TM): 68030 processor; 28.8 bps modem; 8 MB RAM; Internet Explorer (TM) browser
Please note, any external viewers you use may require additional hardware or software.

Why can't I access Internet Usenet newsgroups or use E-mail?
Having access to the Web does not guarantee the use of Internet newsgroups or E-mail. Newsgroups and E-mail require two additional servers, a news server (NNTP) and mail server (SMTP), respectively.
If you are having trouble connecting to newsgroups or are unable to send E-mail from within your browser, you may need to alter your browser preferences. Enter the name of your NNTP and SMTP servers as well as any other information your browser requires, such as your E-mail address, in the appropriate fields (Found by clicking on "View" then "Options" then "Programs" in Internet Explorer. For Netscape, click on "Communicator" then "Messenger Mailbox"). If you don't know the name of your news or mail servers, contact your system administrator or Internet access provider.

What is a "cache?"
How much RAM should I allocate to my 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.

How do I clear my cache?
By following the steps below you can clear your memory cache on Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator:

Internet Explorer 5+
1. Select "Tools" then "Internet Options". Click on the "General" tab to get to "Temporary Internet Files"
2. Under "Temporary Internet Files", click on "Delete Files."
3. Click on "OK" and you're done!

Netscape Navigator 4.76+
1. Select "Edit" then "Preferences."
2. Go to the "Navigator" category.
3. Click on "Clear History", and hit "OK".
4. Go to the "Advanced" category and click on "Cache."
5. Click on "Clear Memory Cache," and click "OK."
6. Click on "Clear Disk Cache," and click "OK."
7. Click on "OK", and you're done!

What can I do to improve the speed with which I access TCPalm.com?
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. (Some browsers--such as Netscape 1.1 or above--allow you to defer image loading until after the text has displayed. While this doesn't improve overall speed, it does offer the text while images download.) 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 Internet Explorer 5+, go to "Tools," "Internet Options." Click "Settings" under Temporary Internet Files, select "Every time you start Internet Explorer" under "Check for newer versions of stored pages," and click "OK."

• If using Netscape 4.76+, go to "Edit," "Preferences." In the "Advanced" category, select "Cache." Select "Once per session" under "Document in cache is compared to document on network."

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.

How do I use TCPalm.com's audio and video clips?
TCPalm.com publishes audio and video files in the following formats:

• Audio: WAV (TM) (.wav) and RealAudio (TM) (.ra)

• Video: Video for Windows (TM) (.avi), QuickTime (TM) (.mov), and RealMedia (TM) (.rm)

Your Web browser may support some or none of these file types. (The Prodigy browser, for example, has built-in support for WAV files.) 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 NBA 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.

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 support automatically. 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" or "Preferences" area of your browser. Please note, not all Web browsers support the use of external viewers.

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. Additional players can be found at ftp://ftp.monash.edu.au/pub/win3/sounds/.

• 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.apple.com/quicktime/download/.

• RealMedia: The RealPayer can be downloaded at http://www.real.com/player/index.html

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 SoundApp supports .wav files and can be found at http://mac.tucows.com/preview/206360.html.

• QuickTime: The Macintosh operating system includes a QuickTime movie player.

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 may be caused by dozens of things, here are a few simple things you can try when troubleshooting. These tips apply to Netscape and Internet Explorer users only.

The first thing you should do is confirm that you have your printer properly installed. If you can print from other applications, then you can assume that your printer is properly installed.

The second thing that you need to do is click on File/Page Setup. This will bring you to the browser's printing options menu.

With the Internet Explorer browser, 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."
If you are using Netscape Navigator, make sure that you have the "black text" option selected. Click "OK" and resume efforts to print.

I use a Macintosh (TM); which browser will give me access to all of the features on TCPalm.com?
Microsoft has released a version of their Internet Explorer browser that brings JAVA support and advanced table/layout capabilities to the Macintosh platform. This new version can be downloaded from Microsoft.

What are "cookies" and how do I disable them?
A cookie is a short sequence of letters and numbers installed on your hard drive that helps us create a more interesting service by allowing us to keep track of the pages that you have visited. We keep this information confidential and do not share it with sponsors. You may disable cookies if you like, though many of the best web applications depend on cookies and therefore disabling them may make your web browsing experience less enjoyable. If you would like to disable cookies from all web sites, take the following steps:

If your browser is Microsoft Internet Explorer 5+: Select "Tools" and then "Internet Options" from the tool bar at the top of the browser. Select the tab labeled "Advanced" and click the check box next to "Prompt before accepting 'Cookies'." Click "OK."

If your browser is Netscape Navigator 4.76+: Select "Edit" and then "Preferences" from the tool bar at the top of the browser. Select the tab labeled "Advanced" and click the check box next to "Warn me before accepting a cookie." Click "OK."

You don't answer my E-mail. Why is this?
We try to respond promptly to all E-mail received, but we can't do that if we cannot tell who sent it. You should make sure your browser or E-mail application is correctly configured with your accurate E-mail address before sending your E-mail message. With most browsers and applications you do this under the "Options" menu.

How do I send E-mail with my browser?
Having access to the Web does not guarantee the use of Internet E-mail. E-mail requires an additional mail (SMTP) server. If you are unable to send E-mail from within your browser, you may need to alter your browser preferences.

I have trouble viewing the crossword puzzle. What do I do?
The crossword puzzle we provide is Java based. This may cause problems if your browser is not Java enabled. Click here to get help on browser configuration.