The brief instructions given to those that were solicited for help were as follows ...

    We are studying the performance of Internet video played out all
    over the world.  We built a customized video player, called
    RealTracer, that plays streaming Real.com video clips and
    measures their performance.  We need your help to run RealTracer
    from your part of the world.  To help with this study,
    you'll need to download RealTracer and run it on your computer.
    It will take about 5 to 15 minutes of your time.  (The video
    playout will take about 2 hours but you don't need to be present
    while it runs.  Your computer does have to be connected to the
    Internet during this time.  If you can't stay connected during
    this whole time, whatever time you can give will be helpful.)

    RealTracer will in no way cause your computer to crash, install a
    virus, corrupt your hard-drive or in any other way harm your
    computer. All results obtained are for academic use only.

    So, if you are willing to help:
    
    1. Make sure you have RealPlayer installed on your computer.  If
    you do not already have it, download and install RealPlayer 8
    Basic (it's free) from: http://www.real.com/player/index.html

    2.  Download the RealTracer support file.  If you are running
    Windows 95/98, download http://perform.wpi.edu/real-tracer/Aux98.dll.
    If you are running Windows NT/2000, download 
    http://perform.wpi.edu/real-tracer/AuxNT.dll.

    3.  Then download http://perform.wpi.edu/real-tracer/RealTracer.exe.

    4. Double-click on RealTracer.exe.  You're off!

       a. Enter the information about you and your computer and 
          click on the "OK" button.

       b. In the main window, click on the "Play" button.

       c. Watch the video clip.

       d. Click "Yes" to rate the clip.

       e. Supply a rating between 0 and 10.  The next clip will play
          automatically.

       f. Repeat for 3-10 video clips (as many as you'd like).

       g. Let the remaining video clips play out.  It will take
          approximately 2 hours.

    That's it!  The data you provide will help better understand
    Internet video performance.

    We will be collecting data from June 4th - June 15th, 2001.

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