public void loadOrFail(String fileName) throws IOException
 {
    // set the current picture's file name
   this.fileName = fileName;
   
   // set the extension
   int posDot = fileName.indexOf('.');
   if (posDot >= 0)
     this.extension = fileName.substring(posDot + 1);
   
   // if the current title is null use the file name
   if (title == null)
     title = fileName;
   
   File file = new File(this.fileName);

   if (!file.canRead()) 
   {
     // try adding the media path 
     file = new File(FileChooser.getMediaPath(this.fileName));
     if (!file.canRead())
     {
       throw new IOException(this.fileName +
                             " could not be opened. Check that you specified the path");
     }
   }
   
   bufferedImage = ImageIO.read(file);
 }