Q. Sometimes, right before a computer program crashes, I get a message that says the program can't be closed because it is being 'debugged.' Is the 'debugging' causing the program to crash?

A. The process of debugging an application entails finding and isolating a particular problem or weakness in the program and fixing it. It's not likely that the debugging process is causing your program to crash. Rather, the debugging probably is an attempt to isolate and fix the problem that is causing the crash. Generally, you won't be allowed to close a program when it's being debugged. Either you'll have to wait it out or reboot your computer.

Q. I was watching a video on a local television station and was surprised by how clearly it came in. In fact, the quality was better than what I get on my TV from the networks. When I browsed over to MSNBC.com and watched one of its videos, I could barely make out people's faces. Is the quality on my local station better because I live much closer to it than to MSNBC?

A. While there's a chance that location might be a factor, other factors are more likely to explain the difference.

The first is the number of visitors a site receives. News sites such as MSNBC.com are looked at by millions every day. When too many people access at the same time, the site can become congested. Such an Internet traffic jam can slow the flow of the video stream to your PC, making the picture blurry or jerky. You might try tuning in MSNBC.com at an off-peak time to see if there's any difference in quality.

The quality with which the original video was recorded and then prepared for the Web might be another factor. All video is compressed before it's delivered to the Web. The levels of compression can differ. More compression results in lower-quality video. Also, the video format might have an impact on the quality. Three video standards are popular on the Web. While most users won't see much of a difference between the formats, small ones do exist.