Browser Compatability
This site is designed to work in all modern browsers. In older browsers the design will suffer, but the pages should remain usable and navigable.
| OS | Browser |
|---|---|
| Window XP (Service Pack 3) | Mozilla Firefox, versions 2 & 3 |
| Window XP (Service Pack 3) | Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE), versions 4, 5, 6 & 7 |
| Window XP (Service Pack 3) | Google Chrome |
| Window XP (Service Pack 3) | Safari 3 |
| Window XP (Service Pack 3) | Netscape 4 |
| OS X (Tiger) | Apple Safari, versions 2 & 3 |
| OS X (Tiger) | Mozilla Firefox, versions 2 & 3 |
More browsers will be added to this table as further testing is completed.
If you find a bug in the site that prevents you from using it in the way you would like, please contact me and I'll do my best to get it rectified.
Enabling Javascript
Javascript is a scripting language built into nearly every web browser. However, for various reasons, some people (for example Government employees and some web developers) do not have Javascript enabled.
If you are one of these people, you can rest assured that, by having Javascript switched off, you are not missing out on anything important on this site.
This site uses very little Javascript, and what is there is simply to enhance usability or to make things look a little better.
| OS | Web browser | Browser Menu Instructions |
|---|---|---|
| Windows XP | Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE), versions 5 & 6 |
|
| Windows XP/Vista | Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE), version 7 |
|
| Windows XP/Vista | Mozilla Firefox, versions 2 & 3 |
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| Mac OS X | Mozilla Firefox, versions 2 & 3 |
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| Mac OS X | Apple Safari, versions 2 & 3 |
|
Printing Pages
Site pages are designed to be printable and kind to your printer.
For this reason, printed pages will look very different to pages viewed onscreen - navigation menus, background colours and non-core information are all removed, with the aim of keeping the printed content as relevant as possible.
Most web browsers have a Print function built-in.
| OS | Web browser | Browser Menu Instructions |
|---|---|---|
| Windows XP | Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE), versions 5, 6 & 7 |
|
| Windows XP/Vista | Mozilla Firefox, versions 2 & 3 |
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| Mac OS X | Mozilla Firefox, versions 2 & 3 |
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| Mac OS X | Apple Safari, versions 2 & 3 |
|
Playing MP3 Audio Files
All downloadable audio on this site is in the compressed MP3 format.
What are MP3s?
MP3 is a term synonymous with illegal music sharing, but it is also a good format for legitimate audio downloads.
MP3 is short for MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3, which is a digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression.
Compressed audio will never sound as good the original file, but even in these days of broadband internet connections, compression is necessary to keep download sizes small, and file download times short.
If you would like to hear my music, but have a dial-up connection and find the file sizes too big to consider downloading, please contact me and I'll see if I can sort you out with a smaller version.
MP3 Quality (Bitrate)
MP3 downloads on this site are compressed using a variety of bitrates, ranging from VBR-0 and 320kbps, which are both very good quality, down to 80kbps for a mono radio recording.
In general, I'll always use the highest bitrate available, to ensure that my music downloads sound as similar as possible to the original source.
MP3 Players
Most computer-based music players (eg Winamp), and many portable audio devices (eg iPods) support MP3 files. Some newer CD players also support MP3 audio.
For Windows users, I recommend downloading either of the free versions of Winamp Media Player:
Mac users probably already have the iTunes Music Store MP3 player, but, if not, they can download it here:
Converting MP3 to WAV
Once downloaded, MP3 files can also be decoded to the uncompressed WAV format, so that they can be written to a CD that will play on any CD player. Please consult your MP3 player's help file, or contact me if you need help doing this.
CD Audio
CD is short for Compact Disc. Unless otherwise stated, CDs are of the replicated variety, and are able to be played back on any CD player or computer.
RSS
Keep up with the latest news, without even visiting the site.
What is RSS?
'RSS' stands for Really Simple Syndication. It is a well-adopted standard which allows site authors (like me) to let site users (like you) know when this site's content has been updated.
Currently, panoramica.co.nz has two RSS feeds, one for the News section and one for the Brief Updates. When a new item is added, an RSS update goes out to anyone who is subscribed to that feed.
This update contains the title and content of the item. The content might include links to pages on this site (eg new music), or links to other sites (eg for information on upcoming gigs).
Because the entire item is included in the RSS update, there is no need to regularly return to the site just to check whether anything has changed. Instead you can simply wait to be notified of an RSS update, and then you can decide whether anything contained within that particular update warrants a return visit to the site.
It might sound like RSS is a good way to stop people from ever visiting the site! - but really it is just a timesaver for busy users, who only want to have to return to the site when it's going to be worth their while to do so.
How to use RSS
In order to use RSS, you'll need an RSS reader. There are dozens of RSS readers available, some which you install on your computer, others which you log in to online.
Some popular web-based (online) readers are Google Reader and Bloglines. Web-based readers give you the freedom to check your RSS feeds from any computer.
For Firefox users there also is the Wizz RSS add-on, and, for Mac users, the RSS-Reader dashboard widget.
Subscribe to the RSS feeds
Subscribe to the News RSS feed.
Subscribe to the Twitter RSS feed.
What is Twitter?
"Twitter is a free service that lets you keep in touch with people through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?"
Twitter is quickly gaining popularity as an informal way to stay in touch.
As a Twitter user, I post 'tweets' about what I'm up to. Tweets are short messages of up to 140 characters, so unlike blog posts there's not much room for waffle!
A tweet can be about anything, for example how I'm feeling, what I'm listening to, what I'm recording, impromptu gigs in the park etc...
Following Panoramica's tweets could be a great way to get to know me better :)
Four ways to follow Panoramica on Twitter:
Visit the News & Updates page.