Through the years computer makers have gradually increased the default screen resolution for new computer models they've sold. It used to be that 640x480 (the amount of viewable pixels across and down on your monitor) was the standard that manufacturers would pre-set their systems to. To many that now seems like ancient history, but you can still walk into a county agency and watch workers with their monitors set to that resolution. Yeah, really.

After that, for a timethe majority of displays were pre-set at an 800x600 aspect ratio, but that has long ago become the minority as displays are now defaulted to much higher numbers. 1024x768 pixels seems to be the lower end about this time, and we've chosen to design our site to those specs, with no provision to resize it automatically. What this translates to is that screens set to anything 800x600 or below will not see the bottom 10% of the site. (Executive Decision #245 -- bring it up with Phil if there's a problem.)

But fear not. There's great hope.

For the uninitiated, changing your monitor's resolution from one setting to another is real easy, even for the technically timid. There are a number of ways to accomplish this on a PC, but here's one.

Minimize all open programs until you can see your desktop. Then right click anywhere on a blank spot (your wallpaper, most likely) and choose 'Properties' from the pop-up menu. This will take you to the Display Properties for your monitor.

Good. You are so almost there.

Now, from the tabs along the top, choose the one farthest right (Settings). There's a slider in the box labeled Screen Resolution. That's the setting you need to adjust. Anything higher than 800x600 is fine and will allow you to see all of our site without anything cut off below.

May we suggest you keep this new setting, as you'll enjoy
more of what the world has to offer...but it's up to you. Trust us, it all looks miniscule at first, but your eyes and mind (physical limitations aside) will normally adjust within a reasonable time.

Of course now that you know how to switch screen resolution yourself, you can switch back and forth with ease. You might want to spend a day pretending it's 1985 and you just made the jump from DOS to Windows cause you read something about multi-tasking. It's kind of like walking and chewing gum at the same time, but on a higher level.

"Whoa, ain't this computer stuff cool? I think I'll try my hand at WordStar, or maybe even Lotus 1-2-3...!"

Slow down there, partner. One step at a time.