Troubles With Downloads and 'Dig This'

Tips and suggestions for enjoying videos and other media online.

Steve Bass

In addition to writing PC World's Home Office column, Steve Bass is the author of "PC Annoyances." Sign up to have Steve Bass's Home Office Newsletter e-mailed to you each week. Comments or questions? Send Steve e-mail.

You know how much I enjoy sprinkling this column with funny images, sites, and videos. From the results of last year's survey, I know that many of you get a kick out of them as well. If you missed the column about that survey, read "Design a Great Online Survey."

But this column also gets sent out as a weekly newsletter, and finding a convenient way for subscribers to get to the "Dig This" videos has been a problem. My sense is that if I'm having the problem, you might also face the same hassles when sending e-mails or newsletters to clients. So I thought you might find it useful to see what I go through--and how I've almost [fingers crossed] resolved the problem.

The "Dig This" Download Conundrum

A reader sent me e-mail that I'll paraphrase: "Steve, overall I like your newsletter but some of those snippets that you provide are horribly frustrating.... You would do a better service to everyone if you would either provide a way to download them or in my opinion not bother.... Even after 5 minutes on DSL I've missed parts of some of them because of all the pauses. This deserves a 'why bother.' Just thought I would let you know."

The problem is complex. The "Dig This" links I provide in both e-mail and Web site versions of this column often lead to videos, some over 2MB. Click this link of a terrific save and the video starts: MPEG file. (Go ahead, try it. I'll wait.)

Newsletter readers may or may not get the same result.

Here's the point: In general, depending on what's behind the a link in e-mail--and how the e-mail program is set up--clicking a link may open a video player, a browser, an image viewer, or even execute a program. (Of course, no one should ever--like, never--click on an executable file in e-mail. Why not? Read "Broken Windows: Will Your PC Ever Be Secure?" for why, and for tips on protecting yourself.)

Dig This: I'm often stymied when I get e-mail from someone in New Zealand and wonder, just exactly what time is it there? Instead of speculating, I turn to TimeTicker, a nifty site with instant access to the time everywhere in the world. (Blonde question: If it's tomorrow in New Zealand, could someone there tell me how the stock market did in the States today?) [With thanks to Tom Lenzo.]

Hey, I'm on Dial-Up!

What I learned from other subscribers is that many folks who get the newsletter prefer downloading "Dig This" files, especially folks on dial-up connections.

OTOH, since you're reading this on the Web site, you shouldn't have any problems. If you click the link, it'll open your player and you can watch the video. Saving the file is easy, too: Just right-click the link and your browser pops up a dialog box that will allow you to save the file to disk; the phrase will be similar to "Save to Disk."

Back to the e-mail problem. The solution came from Max Green, our Downloads guy. "Zip the file," he said, "and then clicking the link in the e-mail will force a download." Smart guy. I'm going to start experimenting with zipping the file for newsletter readers, so that when they click on the link in e-mail, it will automatically download instead of playing.

Of course, this should generate about 3 million e-mails from novices (and my relatives using AOL) who are unclear on what a zipped file is and bewildered by how to unzip it.

So if you're not sure how to handle zipped files, you'll want to read our super-duper downloads FAQ. It describes what zipped files are and recommends a free unzipping tool, as well as other zip-related tools. Alternatively, you can read "Home Office: Download Files the Easy Way," which goes into even more detail about download tricks.

Have an opinion on how I'm handling these video files? I'd love to hear it.

Dig This: If you buy into the myth that woman aren't good drivers, you really need to view this gem. [1.2MB] (You can try the zipped version if you want, too.)

Dig This, Too: Here's actual footage [wink] of the flight I took from a recent trip from Anchorage to Nome. [600KB] (You can try the zipped version if you want, too.)