FAQs

Questions

1. I need flash, how do I get it?


2. I need Windows Media Player, how do I get it?


3. What is high speed internet?


4. Is The Energy News on TV?


5. Are the videos featured on The Energy News available on satellite?


6. How do I get The Energy News on my TV?


7. Is it safe to pay for The Energy News over the internet?


8. What are the System Requirements for my computer to access The Energy News?


9. Can I download videos from The Energy News to watch on my computer later?


10. Why is the video skipping?


11. Can I access The Energy News at home and at work?


12. Why does my video appear squished when I try to view it in double size?


13. Why are my pages filled with a lot of blank space?


14. What can I do in dashboard?


15. How do I use the equipment manager in dashboard?


16. How do I customize the sidebar?

Answers

1. I need flash, how do I get it?
   Click on the following link and follow the on screen instructions to install Macromedia Flash on your web browser. Download Flash Player
   
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2. I need Windows Media Player, how do I get it?
   If you are running the Windows operating system, you should already have Windows Media Player installed. If for some reason, it is not working properly, try clicking on the following link to visit Microsoft's website and download the latest non-beta Windows Media Player version that your operating system will support. www.windowsmediaplayer.com
   
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3. What is high speed internet?
   High speed internet is required to watch video online at TheEnergyNews.com. It is a connection that is always on that you do not need to dial in to. However, not all high speed internet packages are sufficient to watch video on TheEnergyNews.com. Many internet providers offer a "lite" internet package which is only a few times faster than dialup. This package is not fast enough to watch video on TheEnergyNews.com.

   To test the speed of your high speed internet connection, click on the following link: http://www.bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/. Fill in the appropriate information, then click on the 'Start' button in the middle of the page. After this test completes, a bold number will appear at the top of the new page. Make note of this number and click on the above link again to run the test two more times to get a good idea of the consistency of your internet connection. At The Energy News, our live streams transfer at a rate of just under 300kbps, and the rest of our video content is transferred at a rate of 600kbps. If the lowest number you got from the above link is close to 600kbps, you will be having trouble accessing our site properly and should contact your internet service provider to resolve this issue and/or upgrade your internet package to one that supports at least a download speed of 1.5Mbps (1.5 megabits per second).
   
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4. Is The Energy News on TV?
   Unfortunately, The Energy News will not be broadcast on a television station and will only be viewable online. However, you can setup your television as a computer monitor. See "How do I get The Energy News on my TV" below, for more information.
   
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5. Are the videos featured on The Energy News available on satellite?
   Unfortunately, at this time, The Energy News can only be accessed via the internet at http://www.theenergynews.com
   
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6. How do I get The Energy News on my TV?
   1. CHECK FOR VIDEO CARD WITH RCA OR S-VIDEO OR COMPONENT OUTPUT Look at the back of your computer for a blue port with three rows of small holes that you plug your monitor into. This is the video card. If you find two of these ports, look at the one that is lengthwise as opposed to vertical. Beside this blue port you should see either a black circular port with four or more small holes or a yellow RCA port (one large hole). Some video cards even have component video adapters (a seperate red, green, and blue plug), which will give you the highest quality signal and should be used if your TV is an HDTV (discussed later). If all you have is the blue port, you will need to take your computer into a computer parts retailer so that their technicians can take a look at your computer and quote you on the cost of upgrading your system.

   2. CHECK FOR TV WITH RCA OR S-VIDEO OR COMPONENT INPUT On your TV you should have either a yellow RCA jack, a black s-video jack, or the red/green/blue component jacks. Find the highest quality common jack between your computer and television. The highest being component, second being s-video, and last RCA. If your video card has an s-video jack, an s-video to RCA converter should have come bundled with your video card. Otherwise, you can purchase a converter from your local computer parts / television retailer.

   3. CHECK FOR HIGH DEF TV OR LOW DEF TV If your TV has the HDTV logo on the bezel, you will be able to display a much higher resolution and higher quality image from your computer (720p recommended unless you are certain it is 1080p capable). If you do not see this logo on your TV, you will be using "standard definition" resolution. Make a note of this as you will be using this information later when you are setting up the computer to display on your TV.

   4. AUDIO Most TV's and home theatre systems will accept RCA for audio. You will need to purchase a "mini stereo to RCA Y-cable". If your computer is a longer distance from your TV than this cable is long, we recommend that you purchase a mini stereo extension cable as opposed to two RCA extension cables to save money.

   5. GET CABLES FROM RETAILER With your computer turned on and booted into windows, insert appropriate cables. You will need to insert the audio cable into the GREEN mini stereo jack on the back of your PC.

   6. SOFTWARE SETTINGS Refer to your video card's instruction manual on how to setup your TV as a monitor for your computer.
   
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7. Is it safe to pay for The Energy News over the internet?
   To verify that the connection you are using is secure when making an online payment, look in the bottom right corner of the internet browser window for a 'golden lock' icon. This icon means that your connection is secure and the information you are submitting will be kept secret. The Energy News does NOT store customer's credit card information as it is sent directly to our payment gateway, Moneris, which is a company you already trust with your information when you shop in malls and grocery stores around the world.
   
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8. What are the System Requirements for my computer to access The Energy News?
   Windows 2000/XP/Vista
   High speed internet connection
   Macromedia Flash
   Windows Media Player
   
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9. Can I download videos from The Energy News to watch on my computer later?
   In order to protect our content, we do not allow downloads of our videos. Perhaps in the future, if demand is high enough, we will offer downloads.
   
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10. Why is the video skipping?
    This is generally not an issue with our service, but rather your internet connection and/or system. To test the speed of your internet connection, please click on the following link: http://www.bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/. Fill in the appropriate information and click on the 'Start' button in the middle of the page. After this test completes, a bold number will appear at the top of the new page. Make note of this number and click on the above link again to run the test two more times to get a good idea of the consistency of your internet connection. At The Energy News, our live streams transfer at a rate of just under 300kbps, and the rest of our video content is transferred at a rate of 600kbps. If the lowest number you got from the above link is close to 600kbps, you will be having trouble accessing our site properly and should contact your internet service provider to resolve this issue. If your bandwidth is significantly greater than 600kbps (800kbps+) then your system may not have enough processing power to watch the video smoothly. If you are running Windows XP or Vista, follow the next section (1) to help diagnose whether your system does not have enough processing power to watch The Energy News. If you are not running Windows XP or Vista, skip the next section and proceed to (2).

    (1) Windows XP and Vista machines only: While you are viewing the video that is skipping on your system, press and hold the CTRL key on your keyboard, then press and hold ALT, finally press and hold DEL. You should have all three keys pressed simultaneously at this point and you should now see a 'Task Manager' window pop up. Click on the 'Performance' tab. If the 'CPU Usage' graph is around 100%, then you do not have sufficient system resources to play back this video properly. If this is the case and you meet or exceed the "System Requirements" listed above, there is most likely a virus, spyware, or too many programs running on your computer while trying to watch The Energy News. If you only have Internet Explorer open, take your computer into a repair shop for diagnosis and service.

    (2) Windows 98/ME/2000 machines: Ensure that you have all other programs closed before trying to view a The Energy News video. If you do not have other programs running and you meet or exceed the "System Requirements" listed above, there is most likely a virus, spyware, or operating system glitch in your system. Take your computer into a repair shop for diagnosis and service.
    
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11. Can I access The Energy News at home and at work?
    With the permission of your employer, you can access The Energy News at work as well as home. In fact you can access The Energy News anywhere there is a high speed internet connection. Remember though that only one computer can be logged into your The Energy News account at any given time, preventing you from having both your home and office computers logged into The Energy News at the same time.
    
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12. Why does my video appear squished when I try to view it in double size?
    There is a known issue when trying to resize video while using Windows Media Player 11 paired with the Firefox web browser. Microsoft has not yet published a solution for this bug, however it will appear here as soon as we are aware that the problem has been fixed. In the meantime, you may view our video in double size if you use Internet Explorer 6 or 7, or if you downgrade to Windows Media Player 10.
    
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13. Why are my pages filled with a lot of blank space?
    As a member of TheEnergyNews.com you have the ability to customize the sidebar. There are no restrictions to the number of 'widgets' you can add, but on some pages the content will not match the size of the sidebar. The will cause the page to display with a lot of blank space. To resolve this you can reduce the number of 'widgets' you have on your sidebar or undersand that on some pages there will be more blank space than content.
    
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14. What can I do in the dashboard?
    In the dashboard, you can update your personal information. You can change username, your password and monitor your postings in the Equipment Trader.
    
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15. How do I use the equipment manager in the dashboard?
    Step 1: Go to the Equipment Trader and click on the link under 'equipment listing' to access to the page that you can 'post' the listing to.
    
    Step 2: Complete this form for your equipment information. Note: Everything with a red asterisks (*) is required.
    
    Step 3: You can upload an image if you wish. Image restrictions will only allow '*.jpg', '*.png' and '*.gif' with a 400kb image size maximum. If the image is not satisfactory, the listing will not be approved. The user can upload a new image for approval or have none at all.
    
    Step 4: Upon the form submission it has to go through an approval process. Each time the photo is changed on the listing, the posting will have to go through the approval process. A TheEnergyNews.com admin will approve the posting based on information provided and appropriate image. Once a listing has been approved the yellow exclamation mark will become a green checkmark and your listing will now appear on the Equipment Trader. Note: You can only have five postings at a time.
    
    

    Show me an image example.

    
    
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16. How do I customize the sidebar?
    The sidebar can be customized with widgets. In order to customize sidebar, you can access it by clicking the picture "Customize your Sidebar" in the Dashboard or sidebar.
    
    You simply pick up your favoriate widget, and drag it to the sidebar on your right.

    Sample

    
    
    You can reorder widgets to which ever order you like in sidebar on your right.

    Sample

    
    
    You can drag it back onto the space below, if you do not want a widget on your sidebar anymore.

    Sample

    
    
    You have to click "Save Changes" at the top of the sidebar to save your changes and make them viewable on every page.

    Sample

    
    
    
    

    
    
    
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