When WMP says it's connecting, then says "ready" without having played anything, it means it didn't make the connection to the server. And unless the link is actually broken, it means that there's something in your configuration that's blocking the connection.
Like many video websites, we have our content ebmedded directly into a web page, and hosted on a separate server whose location is hidden by JavaScript. This doesn't present a problem for most people, but with the wrong combination of circumstances, your connection to our video may be blocked.
Because the embedded content is protected by JavaScript, your browser must have JavaScript enabled in order to view the video. But if you didn't, you'd know because the video window would never pop up in the first place. So judging by your description, this isn't your problem.
The fact that we host our video on a separate server can cause hang-ups for some, so you might want to explore that. Certain browsers, firewall software, or even ISP's can be configured to block embedded content when the source of the content is on a different website/server than the web page containing it. Look for options in your browser or firewall that relate to this, and switch the option off.
Another possible pothole is DirectX, the technology required by Microsoft in order to play WindowsMedia. It's usually just fine when you play WM files from within Internet Explorer, but other browsers may not work. Either they simply don't support the technology, or it's been deliberately disabled for security reasons.
Firefox is one browser that is known not to support DirectX by default. So if you're using Firefox in its default configuration and trying to play our Windows Media clips, it's not going to work. This leaves you with three choices: (1) Use Internet Explorer to view the Windows Media clips, (2) Stick with Firefox, but watch the Quicktime clips instead -- which are frankly better, anway, or (3) Go to the Mozilla website and download the DirectX Plug-In for Firefox, which will allow you to play WindowsMedia from within Firefox.
Note that Mozilla claims that installing DirectX support for Firefox opens up your computer to certain security vulnerabilities. This may be true, but it's no more vulnerable than using Internet Explorer, which already supports it. So options (1) and (3) are equally secure (or not secure, depending on your point of view).
I hope this helps.
Regards,
Jonathan Atkinson
www.ballroomdancers.com
