If your problem is covered in the list below, select the problem description and try the suggestion given. If not, or if it doesn't help, please send a description of your problem. (If you've tried that and EMAIL is what is failing, see the first item in the list below.)
The most common cause of this problem is that your browser
does not know your email address. This can be corrected by
setting it up in the appropriate options section of your browser.
See the browser's documentation for doing this. If it still
fails, send email by other means to: Support@WorldSmiths.org,
describing your problem and requesting assistance.
Back to menu.
If nothing at all is happening, double-check to make sure you are following the instructions of the person presenting the slides in MU-School with respect to the projector port and channel they are using. You must aim your browser to http://lanning.org:[port]/[channel] where "port" will be some number such as 7781, and "channel" will be some designation such as "ch2" that is set up by the presenter of the slides. The port number is fixed for each projector and is displayed in the description of the conference room in which it is located (typing "look", or just "l" in any room will give you the room description.) If the channel name is omitted, you will be connected to the projector's "default" channel. To see what channels are in use on a projector, use channel "index" for that projector and port. (This is a good test to see if you are able to get anything from the projector.)
If your browser ordinarily shows you GIF, JPEG, and other images but you see only text or garbage from the projector, the most likely problem is that you are not using a browser with the most advanced current features. The projector is implemented on the bleeding edge of web technology, and at this time the only browsers we are aware of which can support it are the most current versions of Netscape(@). Just which version this is depends on what type of computer you're using. We suggest you obtain the most recent version and try again. (Note: We don't reccomend or endorse, particular commercial products. As we become aware of other browsers which can handle this technology we will list them here.)
If this is not the problem, you may need to check the options
section of your browser to be sure that you have selected
autoloading of inline images, and that you have selected the
right helper application settings for images of type gif, jpg,
etc. See the browser documentation for details of how to do this.
Back to menu.
If you do not get a telnet window, or get an error message from your browser when you attempt to enter MU-School, the most likely cause is that you do not have a telnet helper-application specified in your browser, or that you do not have a telnet facility on your system. Check to be sure that your SLIP or PPP package provides a telnet application, and specify this to your browser as the telnet helper-application. See your browser documentation for details on doing this.
A second possibility is that your telnet window is appearing
behind your browser window and is hidden by it. Try moving the
browser window or making it smaller to check on this. Once you
show at least a small part of either window you can move back and
forth between them easily with your mouse.
Back to menu.
This probably means that you have a problem with line-length
or line-wrap. (Read the sign in the Entrance Hall in MU-School.)
The fix is to type "@linelength [number]" after
you have arrived in MU-School, where "number" is the
number of characters you want on a line before line-wrap occurs.
If you are having trouble even seeing how to get in, type
"guest" at the first telnet screen and then @linelength
[number] as soon as the screen changes. If the problem is still
not resolved, you may have a non-standard telnet application or
it may be set up in a non-standard way.
Back to menu.
The most likely cause it that your telnet window is occupying
the full screen and covering your browser window. This is
particularly likely on a PC if your telnet application is a DOS
application rather than a Windows application. Some SLIP or PPP
packages provide both types. Make sure that you are specifying a
windows-based telnet application to your browser and that your
window sizes are set so that you can see enough of both the
telnet window and the browser window at the same time to let you
move between them with your mouse.
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We assume that if you asked that you know what you're doing in
the world of MUDS and you have a client and know how to use it.
Great! Just aim it at hrdy.actlab.utexas.edu 9000.
Back to menu.
First of all, there is a help system available in the
environment itself which you can access by typing help
when you are anywhere in MU-School. Also type read sign
when you get to the Arrival Hall. The intelligent robot agent Madborg
in the main office can give some guidance, such as how to get to
various rooms.
In general, try an English-language statement of what you want to
do, such as go west, or look at xxx,
or say "Hello everyone, or take xxx
or drop xxx, etc. Many of these commands can be
abbreviated; for example, look at xxx can be
abbreviated to just l xxx, and go west
can be just west, or even w, so
long as it unambiguously defines an exit name. (The exits to each
room are listed at the bottom of the room's description.)
The most common useful abbreviations are 1) A quotation mark "
instead of say ( so that typing "hello,
Fred is equivalent to typing say "Hello,
Fred), and 2) A colon : in place of
"emote" (so that typing :smiles
is equivalent to typing emote smiles, and causes
people to see "Henry smiles" if you
are Henry.
As a general rule of thumb, statements that cause everyday
actions in the environment have the form verb
direct-object preposition indirect-object, as in
"throw ball to Harry", although any of these elements
may be missing. On the other hand, commands that are not part of
ordinary actions in an environment are typically preceded with @.
For example, to set your gender so that the world can use
pronouns appropriately for you, you would type @gender
[choice].
Back to menu.
Probably you need to set some variables to personalize the way
the environment interacts with you. For example, if you have not
set a gender on yourself it will say something like "e comes
into the room." but if you typed "@gender female"
it would then say "She comes into the room." There are
a great many variables that can be used to fine-tune all aspects
of your interaction with the environment, but most of these are
not permitted for guest characters. If you would like a character
that you can set up on a permanent basis to reflect your
preferences and to inhabit every time you visit, see the next
section.
Back to menu.
If you would like a character that you can set up on a
permanent basis to reflect your preferences and to inhabit every
time you visit, use MU-School's internal mail system (see help
mail) and send your request to Archwizard.
Include your regular email address so that your character and a
password can be sent to you. Also give the preferred name for
your character, and an alternate in case it is already in use. A
statement of what use you intend to make of your permanent
character is requested.
Back to menu.
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