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FeaturesJuly 15, 1997

Cybertip: The Southeast Missourian's special report on the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's Qualities of Life is now online. You can find the stories and graphics under the Escape to Cape icon on the front page of www.semissourian.com The Internet is not just for the eyes, it's for the ears as well. RealAudio, Shockwave Flash and a number of other programs are bringing the sounds of the world to your desktop...

JONI ADAMS AND DARREN MCGAHA

Cybertip: The Southeast Missourian's special report on the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's Qualities of Life is now online. You can find the stories and graphics under the Escape to Cape icon on the front page of www.semissourian.com

The Internet is not just for the eyes, it's for the ears as well. RealAudio, Shockwave Flash and a number of other programs are bringing the sounds of the world to your desktop.

Of course, before you begin, you must make sure these programs are downloaded and installed on your computer. You can find them free at www.shareware.com or www.download.com

As a word of warning, a faster modem certainly helps if you plan to use audio or video programs over the Internet. Audio is available for a 14.4 modem, but that's really the bare bones. We'd recommend at least a 28.8 or 33.6 modem to really appreciate these sights and sounds without long download times.

This week, Darren McGaha has returned for another surfing extravaganza. Darren is a member of the SEMissourian.com online staff. You know, he's one of those tech guys. He's filling in for Peggy Scott, who's on maternity leave for a few more weeks.

Darren: We're using RealAudio Player 4.0. Let's start our trek at a site that specializes in live concerts.

www.liveconcerts.com

Joni: There are a number of concert choices in the lobby, including Banco de Gaia and Belinda Carlisle, and an archive of concerts including Cheap Trick and David Bowie.

Darren: Let's check out Belinda Carlisle, since I haven't heard of Banco.

Joni: Darren, that's my line. You're much younger.

Darren: You can choose what speed you want, from 14.4 to ISDN line. Cool. Who needs a radio?

Joni: This is a foot-tapping surfing session. It's streaming audio, which means you can listen without waiting for the long download. There's a total of 43 minutes of her concert online.

Darren: At some sites, you can download the whole song, but it takes up a lot of space on your hard drive.

Joni: RealAudio and RealPlayer also come in handy when you want to hear and see the latest news. Let's check it out

www.foxnews.com/video

Darren: You see a small version of what's being broadcast live on Fox News. You can keep it running in the background while you surf around. We checked it out. In fact, it's a couple seconds ahead of what's coming across the cable station.

Joni: You can also see the video clips from a number of the day's top news stories. Let's check out the clip on O.J.'s house as it goes up for auction. Poor O.J., the bank took his house for a mere $2.3 million.

Darren: When we clicked on the video camera, it automatically closed out Fox News and started playing the new video clip. This clip is just over 1 minute. The faster the modem speed, the clearer the video. It also depends on the time of day. If you're trying to access it at the same time as a lot of other people, the picture will jump more.

Joni: If you don't know where to go, check out the RealAudio site. They will provide links to sites that use the technology.

www.realaudio.com

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Darren: One choice off the RealAudio home is National Public Radio. Let's check out All Things Considered, that's my favorite.

www.real.com/contentp/npr

.html

Joni: You can listen to the entire program or it's sectioned off into the stories of the day. It also tells you the length of each clip.

Darren: You can also listen to the Morning Edition, Talk of the Nation, Science Friday or browse through their archives.

Joni: Another good site to find video and audio is Timecast.

www.timecast.com

Darren: Let's check out Warner Brothers TV. We're going to watch the World Song from the Animaniacs. They're faboo.

Joni: Catchy, Darren.

What was my first clue you liked these animated maniacs? Perhaps it was your Pinky and The Brain cap?

Darren: You can also watch clips from the Rosie show, Evita, and Babylon 5.

Joni: Timecast offers literally hundreds of choices under the categories of live guide, audio guide, video guide and daily briefing. The latter offers you a choice of headlines from ABC, C/NET, FoxNews and MSNBC.

Darren: The live guide links you to concerts, sports and other events. There are a number of radio stations you can listen to online. You can find a lot of major and minor league ball games that aren't broadcast locally.

Joni: The video sites are categorized under music, news, film/TV, sports and business. But don't invite a crowd for viewing. These video screens are about 3-by-2 inches when you download. You can magnify it but it looks awful.

Darren: Let's check out the Smothers Brothers Uncensored. Some episodes that didn't pass the critics years ago can now be found on the Internet. This is better than channel surfing.

Joni: OK, so some of it is pretty tasteless. Still, the Smothers Brothers probably wouldn't have as much trouble with today's censors.

Darren: In addition to sites in the United States, you can view video from all over the world, including the BBC TV. We checked out the Ferrari Challenge.

Joni: What's your favorite video or audio site on the Internet? E-mail us at click@semissourian.com

See you in Cyberspace.

Joni Adams and Darren McGaha are members of the SEMissourian.com online staff.

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