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Re: educational uses of nature sounds

Subject: Re: educational uses of nature sounds
From: Marty Michener <>
Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2003 21:16:12 -0500
At 05:30 PM 11/29/2003 -0500, you wrote:
>As far as mac OS, the installers for OSX install the Acrobat reader
>automatically. And they also have as part of the install, the program
>"Preview", which can handle pdf's among all it can do. So you don't have
>to worry much about macs. I don't know the story on Windows, but I think
>at least the most recent ones may have the reader too. More and more
>software manufacturers use pdf's to supply documentation.
>
>I don't know on the legality of supplying it, probably best to ask adobe.
>
>Walt
>

Walt is right about the OSX preview reading PDF files, BUT it doesn't get
all the links at all, that the real Adobe Reader will do, internal to the
dPDF document or external to the frog sound files.  I tried it tonight, and=

found neither the linked table of contents, nor the sound links for the
frog species worked.  Mac users will thus want to activate the Adobe
Acrobat Reader 5.0 or 6.0 for such a mixed media work.

On playing the sound links - currently I am trying WAV files, since on a CD=

space is not a problem - both Windows XP and Mac OSX do the same thing:

the click on the sound link activated a window that warns that file may
contain dangerous macros and such to the OS and "do you really want to open=

this file?"

I say: what rubbish!  WAV files can contain no viruses to either of these
systems. Further, the computer user has presumably set the application to
play the sound file type ("extension") well in advance of this CD being
inserted, and, practically by definition, this accepted application cannot=

do damage to the OS or the discs.  This obnoxious precaution might have
some bearing for BAT, EXE, COM, DOC or script files on the insecure Windows=

system, and I don't know what files for OSX, but I am sure it is
fewer.  But known sound file types to be played by an accepted accessory
utility???

The popup window asks [ ] don't show this window again. . . which you
dutifully check the first time it pops up, hoping it will just PLAY the
bloody sound and leave you to read the book.  Now here is the result:

On ONE XP computer, I have Cool Pro set as the WAV player; on the other the=

default Windows Media player.
In both cases, after being told never to appear again, and being clicked
into the background, behind the PDF Reader, both XP machines do what a user=

might really want - they play whichever frog sound for the last link
clicked, then stop.  The links are thus press to talk as the designed hoped=
.

However, on the Mac OSX, the sound player continued to repeat the current
sound clip ad nauseum - an adjustment I am not qualified to make, (nor
could ever figure out, with all the unlabeled keys and buttons on every
window), so I just got used to hours of green frog or wood frog sound,
until the next link was pressed.  I am sure this is resettable somewhere. .=

. But every time a new sound link was clicked, the Mac would swithc to the=

sound player  window, obscuring the book itself.

Anyway, the watch word for Mac OSX users is: open the Adobe product, and do=

not rely on the previewer if you want any of the links to work.

I will post here when a short sample from the book is available - soon -
more proofing to do.  Thanks to all.

my best regards,

Marty Michener
Hollis, NH    http://www.EnjoyBirds.com

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