More News on Mobile Support

Huzzah! Red letter day!

Is that a British reference which doesn't translate? I'm not sure if it is - but I am still traumatized about asking for a biscuit to dip in my tea in the Carolinas, so we'll leave it and move on.

Anyway, in the manner of the very best LOLcats; we can haz eyeFone support!!11one

(For those of you in a hurry, here is the link to the help file about the new site features. For those you who want a bit of entertainment & more information and think my blog post might provide it, read on.)

Yes, we now have support for a wide variety of Flash incapable devices, mobile devices, screen readers, people who just don't want to install Flash, and people with an unnatural attachment to Quicktime. That's a sizable coalition of people, as I'm sure you can imagine.

Until now, we have had to make vaguely comforting noises at these people but not really given them anything useful. And treating people like the average member of Congress treats his constituents has made us feel bad.

But no longer! Make the clicking onto this link and you shall be taken to a place of wonder! Well, actually, a help page. That might be more or less wonderful; YMMV.

The help page tells you everything you need to know, in pretty dry prose. It is fairly long and complex - I'm sorry about that, because I know people on the internet do not want to read (witness my initial link at the top of this article). BUT this is important and complex information, so this is the way it has to be. Grab a biscuit and a tea, and take a few minutes to read it.

But, to summarize; if you have an iThingie made by the inestimable but mercurial Steve Jobs and his fruit-based electronic empire which has a hatred for all things Flash in the manner of Ming the Merciless, you can now watch the site without problems! You can access a Quicktime-player based version of the regular site, and also a Quicktime version of the site which is smaller and simpler than usual for use on iPhones with their small screens.

For those of you with the Blackberry (a bit of humor from my home state, there), the mobile version should work well. Some of the new Blackberry devices have Flash capability, so you can use the regular site on them.

BUT for Flash-capable mobile devices which have small screens, we have a SimpleText version of the site - this will load faster, display better on a small screen, and generally be truly awesome.

I believe the Android / Droid 'phones are Flash-capable, but I haven't verified this. Still, this SimpleText version of the site would be ideal for them. While you are trying this out, learn the amazing factoid that the word "Droid" is copyright Lucasfilm (George Lucas of Star Wars fame) and that Motorola had to get permission to use it. Seriously; check the disclaimer at the end of the ads. Very small writing.

We also recommend this SimpleText, Flash-based version for those people using screen readers. A very nice lady contacted me (this is a tangential reminiscence, skip a bit if you find it dull) asking about the site. She is blind, and so we emailed back and forth a bit trying to determine what was best for her (this was also what happened with the "Tobit" skin for people who have visual impairments (for more information on the "Tobit" skin, click here).) And the end result was the SimpleText version of the site.

Tangent over. Come back now.

Actually, I feel the blog post itself may be drawing to a close; which is probably for the best. Anyway, we have a series of new options on the site. That is the takeaway here. We have support for iThingies, mobile devices, people using screen readers, and people who are completely adverse to graphics. I daresay I could make it render all the text in bright green SYSTEM font on a black background?

Oh, does anyone remember that? END OF LINE

(Linkage to help file)

Mobile & SimpleText versions of the website available

We are pleased (yea, even unto smiling a bit) to offer mobile and SimpleText versions of the RealCatholicTV.com website.

What are these things, you ask?

Well, we describe them a bit here, but the details are fairly simple. The Mobile version of the site is designed to be used on Flash-incapable mobile devices (such as iPhones, iPads and iPongs) - it uses a different video format. It works very well on iThingies, and works to a certain degree on other mobile devices.

(The simple fact of the matter is this; there is no standardization for mobile video - except, you know, Flash which Steve Jobs of Apple dislikes. So ... I can't guarantee anything. Well, I could - but it would be a fib.)

The SimpleText version of the site is intended to be used on Flash-capable mobile devices (I think the Android is Flash-capable) and also by those persons using a screen reader (a piece of software which reads text out loud).

Both of these versions have very few graphics (none, really) and very simple, direct formatting which loads fast and displays well on small screens. So, if you are on a slow connection or a small screen mini-PC or something like that you might like to use the SimpleText version as well; I am sure many people will find many uses for these versions of the site.

So, how do you get them? Simple! Just log in as normal to the site and click the mobile or SimpleText icon in the top right of the screen - the mobile icon looks like a little 'phone and the SimpleText icon is the letters "ST". Once you have selected the version you display, that device should always log you into that version - until you tell it to go to another version.

It's all very simple. Obviously, this software is offered "as is" and we make no promises about it working on every device. In addition, we do not have mobile versions of all the videos - although we are dilligently working on getting that done.

AND! It wouldn't be fair for me to tell you about a mobile thing without reminding you to check your dataplan with your carrier; data rates for mobile 'phones can be VERY expensive!

Additional AND! Don't forget about the RSS feeds we offer, too; these can be very useful for keeping up to date with the News and Vortex - click here for them. I'm sure I mentioned this once or twice before ... ?

Cloning is Immoral & Illegal. And our site recognizes this.

Hey, everyone! Simon Rafe, Senior Platform Architect, here. In order to make like the unshaven hero in old John Wayne movies, I shall be heading a question off at the pass as it were.

The question I think people will be asking is; what has happened with the site? When I go to sign up for an account, I get told my email is already in use? What's that about?

Recently, I became concerned by the number of "clone accounts" on the site - that is, multiple accounts registered to the same email address. This is not much of a problem for free users - because the accounts are free - although it does slow the site down a little bit. But if someone has two premium accounts registered to the same email address ... well, you're paying twice. And no-one wants that.

(Obviously, this doesn't apply to people who are buying a subscription for themselves and one for a friend or family member; this is for people who have subscribed twice for themselves, with a clone account or two.)

So, I changed the site this morning while sitting on the sofa watching that video with the hugging kitty; now you CANNOT create an account with an existing email address. The site won't let you.

What should you do if you try to create an account and you get told this?

Firstly, the site will tell you the name of the account registered to that email address, and give you a link to be reminded of the username and password. Click that link to learn your logon details.

Secondly, if you are wanting to sign in, you should make sure you are using the sign in, not the sign UP (register) link. There is a difference!

Thirdly, if you are attempting to upgrade to premium, you should first sign in to your account and then UPGRADE it, rather than register for a new account.

There are links to do all these things on the page which tells you you have attempted to create a clone account.

You can, of course, contact me in order to, I dunno, learn more, ask more questions, or get more videos of anthropomorphized felines.