CLICK & DOUBLE CLICK: RAVING ABOUT PLUGGING INTO SHOCKWAVE SOFTWARE (COLUMN 81)

Some of the coolest things found on the Internet use a plug-in called Shockwave.

It gives Web pages animation, sounds, interactive online games and streaming movies not possible with a Web browser alone.

Macromedia, the company that developed Shockwave, has put up a Web site to promote, demonstrate and test new ways to use the technology.

Peggy: We're going to take a look at some of the fun things Shockwave makes possible. Surfing with me today is Dennis O'Shields. The site can be found at

shockrave.macromedia.com

Dennis: They have a three-step process to ensure that you enjoy the site. First, you must download all the plug-ins. When you go there, only one thing is required. That is Shockwave. But they recommend RealPlayer 5.0. They have links to both places to get this.

Peggy: And, you must have Windows 95 for the new Shockwave stuff. I guess I'm going to have to break down and get Windows 95 soon at home. Luckily we have a new machine at work. It has everything.

Dennis: The next step is verify. It looks at your machine to see if you have all the things they recommend. If you don't, you get a red light. If you do, you get a green light. We have four green lights.

Peggy: Let's go.

Dennis: Oops, here's a contest. We better enter. OK. Back to the real thing. Let's click enter.

Peggy: We have a whole bunch of choices, including games, toons, music, talk and new. Games are on top. Let's look at those first.

Dennis: Wow. They have a whole bunch of games. They are broken into categories. Let's try the toys.

Peggy: Here's "Barfy the Dog." Feed the dog items you find on the street. This is actually a Disney game. Hey, you can play "Pong" while it's loading.

Dennis: That's cool. I just like this. Hey wait! Now there are two balls. That's not fair. Click on object to feed Barfy. See the shoe. Eat the shoe. See the can. Eat the can.

Peggy: He won't eat the fire hydrant, but each time he eats something he gets bigger. Eventually, Barfy gets full. Then you learn why Barfy is named Barfy. All those objects come back up.

Dennis: This game is kind of warped, but it's kind of fun. Back at Shockrave, we can enter our rating of the game to help determine next week's Top 10.

Peggy: Let's look at a game in arcade. We could choose "Asteroids," "Lucky 13," "Lucy in Space with Diamonds." Let's try Lucy. You travel through space on the trusty school bus, Lucy.

Dennis: You have to watch out for space cops and car parts. Hey, I caught all the diamonds on the first trip, but on the second trip I was busted. You don't get guns to blow anybody up.

Peggy: You are busted if you hit the space cops. Here's a puzzle that combines charades and rebus puzzles. It says you can have up to 20 people play at the same time. It takes place in a chat room shared with Talk City Players.

Dennis: We could have joined in at anytime, but by the time we figured out the first word, the puzzle was solved. I feel like an idiot.

Peggy: After several rounds, we decided these kids were way too smart for their own good. OK. I confess. We never even made a guess. Games aren't the only thing using Shockwave. You can also hear toons.

Dennis: These are really, really cool. They do have "Southpark." They also have animated Peanuts, Dilbert, and some new ones I've never heard of before. We'll go to Peanuts. Snoopy is always good.

Peggy: You have choices of titles, and most have two format choices, Flash and RealPlayer. Flash is another name for streaming Shockwave. While it loads, you get to read the credits.

Dennis: We watched "Snoopy Steals the Show." Snoopy kills me. Here's Dilbert. Dilbert is cool.

Peggy: We also took a look at music offerings. One choice was "Checkered Blast." You control the music and an array of gyrating fruits, flowers and checkerboard with the click of the mouse.

Dennis: It's giving me a headache and starting to make my eyeballs hurt.

Peggy: Maybe we should stop. While these plug-ins make surfing lots of fun, the companies are constantly updating the software. That means you may have to get new plug-ins every couple of weeks or so.

Dennis: What's your favorite Shockwave site on the Internet? E-mail us at click@semissourian.com

See you in Cyberspace.

Peggy Scott and Dennis O'Shields are members of the Southeast Missourian online staff.