What is Broadband Grant?
The Grant broadband Web site was funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities as an introduction to the world of Ulysses S. Grant and an exemplar of interactive television. To make television interactive, linear video programming -- the kind you see on TV -- is combined with interactive information you can click on and choose, like Web resources.
In Broadband Grant, viewers can make their own choices about what parts of Grant's story to explore, follow their own interests through the material, and participate through polls, a game, and interactive labs. Broadband Grant was built especially for middle-school kids, though others may enjoy it too.
Broadband Grant includes video excerpts from the presidential biography of Ulysses S. Grant that premiered on PBS' American Experience in May 2002. Excerpts include the Battle of Shiloh re-creation; the "final battle" sequence, where Grant races against time to write his memoirs; the White House dinner party segment; and plenty of interviews with historians and other experts.
Broadband Grant also presents original video segments: a tour of Shiloh National Battlefield with the National Park Service and a class of 8th graders from Michie, Tennessee; the firing of a Civil War rifle; and interviews with the Grant production team.
All the video segments come together with other informational elements in an interactive QuickTime environment. The site has 3 interactive sections: In His Shoes, Behind the Scenes, and You're the General. In each section, visitors will find hands-on opportunities to explore Grant's story. We hope you enjoy stepping into Grant's shoes on the frontier and on a Civil War battlefield, and going behind the scenes of the television production.
What are the technical requirements?
To see Broadband Grant you will need a high-speed, persistent (not dial-up) connection to the Web, one that's always on and available (some people have this at work via T1, LAN, or other Ethernet connections; some have this at home via cable modems or DSL). You will also need the free QuickTime 5.0.2 plug-in (see below).
Here are specifics:
1. System Requirements
An Intel Pentium II 600 or better, running Windows 98 or later, with 32 MB of RAM available to your Web browser. Windows operating systems allocate the maximum available amount of RAM automatically.
-OR-
A Mac G3 500 or better, running MacOS 8.6 or later (9.2.2 or Mac OS X 10.1.3 recommended), with 32 MB of RAM available (and allocated to your browser if you are running "Classic" MacOS). Do the following to allocate RAM manually to your browser application:
i. Click once on your browser application's icon to highlight it.
ii. Select Get Info from the File menu and choose Memory from the sub-menu. Set the Minimum Size to 32000 K and set the Preferred Size as high as possible above that.
iii. If you are unsure about how much RAM you have available to allocate, check About this Computer under the Apple Menu to see how much RAM is allocated and how much is free.
For more information on allocating RAM on "Classic" Mac Operating Systems, see:
http://kbase.info.apple.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/
kbase.woa/5/wa/query?type=id&val=KC.56042
2. Browser and Connection Requirements
Your browser must be Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 (or later), or Netscape Navigator 4.7 (or later). You also need Apple's QuickTime, version 5.0.2 or later.
To download the Apple QuickTime plug-in free of charge, go to:
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/
In addition, your computer needs to have a high-speed (broadband) connection to the Internet via ethernet, cable modem, or DSL.
3. The text-friendly low-bandwidth version requires:
Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 (or later), or Netscape Navigator 4 (or later).
The text-friendly low-bandwidth version includes all the text and many images available on the rich-media version, but displays the information in regular Web pages.
You may experience better results if you quit other applications while viewing Broadband Grant.
If I don't have a high-speed Web connection, what can I do?
You can still get a lot out of the site. Much of the information -- the program transcript, timeline, people & events entries, gallery, teacher's guide -- is presented on regular Web pages. The three broadband sections -- In His Shoes, You're the General, and Behind the Scenes -- are available in text-only versions, as well. Access them through the "Broadband Grant" link on the left-side navigation bar or the home page. American Experience is committed to providing as broad accessibility to our Web sites as possible.
How do I get the free QuickTime software?
You can download the QuickTime plug-in (a "plug-in" is a piece of software), free of charge, from Apple Computer. It takes just a few minutes to download and install it. From then on, it will open automatically whenever you access QuickTime movies, wherever you are on the Web. QuickTime software is available for Windows 95/98/NT/ME/2000/XP operating systems and for Macintosh OS versions 7.5.5 and higher.
Download QuickTime
The video window opens and the QuickTime logo appears, but the video never plays.
Your Web browser software (Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, Opera, or the like) probably needs more memory in order to play the video. Quit the browser and quit other applications you may have open, then open the Web browser again. If you work in an operating system that allows manual memory allocation, you can also increase the memory allocated to your Web browser.
The feature window opens and the Windows Media Player logo appears, but the video never plays.
Your computer system is configured to try to play QuickTime files in Windows Media Player instead of in QuickTime. Windows Media Player will not be able to play the Broadband Grant QuickTime movie files. Reinstall QuickTime; we recommend downloading a fresh copy of the current version using the links above.
Where can I get more help?
Visit Apple's QuickTime site for more information about QuickTime software and its capabilities. The AppleCare site can offer configuration and troubleshooting tips for the Mac OS.
I have a comment about Broadband Grant.
Please send us an e-mail from any of the feedback forms on the site. A Feedback link appears on the bottom of every page, including the home page. We are not able to respond to every letter personally, but we read them all, and we are happy to receive your suggestions, comments, critiques, compliments, and corrections.
