Internet Tutorial - Advanced

The Internet is fast becoming an all-in-one in-home entertainment centre. Without leaving your computer you can play a game, listen to some music, watch some videos, even overseas television channels.

There are many different kinds of games you can play over the Internet. Simple ones you can play straight from your browser (see Yahoo), ones that run on your browser with the help of a plug-in, and others you need to download software to play first.

The most popular form of online gaming is where you play your favourite CD-ROM game live over the Internet, with a mate across town or someone you’ve never met on the other side of the world!

To do this you will need the game installed on your PC, a fast modem…and a flat rate Internet access account would also be a good idea!

For more information, read the booklet that came with your game, or visit the manufacturer’s web site – for example, Microsoft have a great games site.

Whatever type of music you are into, you’ll find it on the Net.

With a cool plug-in called RealPlayer you can turn your PC into a virtual radio, and " tune in" to radio stations all over the world or channels specialising in your kind of music. All you’ll need is a sound card and a pair of speakers.

Some web sites also let you use RealPlayer to view video as well as audio – from music clips to live TV stations like Fox News. The images aren’t very high quality – yet – but it’s getting better all the time.

Once you’ve listened or watched to a music or video clip using RealPlayer you have to go to the site again to see it - you can’t save it to your computer.

If you want to keep music for listening to offline, you’ll want to check out the revolutionary new MP3 format.

MP3s are near-CD-quality audio which once downloaded, can be played at any time on your PC through a free player like WinAmp which are widely available on the Internet (The latest version of RealPlayer will play MP3 files too).

Check out www.mp3.com for more information.

Some video clips will also be available in Apple’s QuickTime format. QuickTime also requires a plug-in – most computers will already have a version of QuickTime installed but you may need the latest version. Check out QuickTime for more information.