As technology continues its exponential curve into cyberspace, keeping abreast of developments can be a nightmare. Rest easy as Mixed Media takes you by the hand and tiptoes through the tulip field of sound & vision that is multimedia

Surfing the net

If you have ever opened a letter to be greeted by the accursed phrase; "Congratulations! You have been entered into the Reader's Digest £1,000,000 prize draw...", then you will be only too familiar with the awesome precision of today's marketing strategies.

Before long, huge satellite databases will be orbiting the planet, with the ability to pinpoint every last hapless consumer, plunging us into the realms of a Ben Elton conspiracy...

Back to reality, for a minute at least. The music industry is one that has always relied on mailing lists to contact potential customers about new products. Take, for example, the publicity postcard. As a student, my friend practically wallpapered his entire room with these things. Principia takes this service one step beyond, offering a faster, more direct new music information service on the Internet. It provides users with a metaphoric axe to chop through all the driftwood floating around the 'Net, and get access to some useful information about their favourite bands.

Let us make one thing perfectly clear. Surfing around the Internet is not only for anoraks (and anyway, they waterlog too easily - Ed), it is for anyone who wants to consume vast amounts of information from around forty million people worldwide for a very small price.

As the people most likely to use this service are itinerant students, the best thing about an e-mail address is that it remains the same, wherever you are. Also, nearly all of the Universities and er, places of further education, have e-mail facilities open to students, so it won't be expensive to log on to.

The team behind this refreshing approach to consumerism is captained by Philip Millo, who insists that the Internet is very easy to get stuck into.

"The 'Net initially makes people very nervous, but it shouldn't. We're using the technology in a very natural way - there is no need to re-invent the wheel. It's just a modern form of postal service. We work as a team of two or three people, although there are others who do the administrative and PR stuff."

One such member of this team is a chap by the name of Tom Standage, Principia's technical person, who developed some software specifically for the job. So, is it a sort of electronic version of Smash Hits, or something?

"Essentially, what we provide is information on bands given to us by the record companies, which includes future releases, tour dates and so on. We also provide an interactive questions and answers bulletin board on which users can leave questions, which we can then pass on to the bands to answer. There are also electronic libraries of photographs, and sound samples located in certain addresses that can be downloaded on request."

Principia has already attracted a phenomenal amount of interest. Bands such as Kinky Machine and O'rang are already up for some surfing, with more on the way.

You can contact Principia yourself, if you want to know more, either by e-mail on (Contact Details), or in the more conventional telephone method on (Contact Details).

Take a really bit byte

A special feature on music and the Internet will be broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live's 'Big Byte' on Sunday, 20th November. The programme features an interview with Derek Richards (the chap behind Artec's City Cafe project at the "Now You See It..." festival this summer), and a good rummage around the 'Net, attempting to fathom its increasing popularity, and how this is going to affect the more conventional music services.

In addition to all that insight, Derek will also be creating a GM MIDI sequence live on air, and then posting it onto the Internet for all to pillage and plunder, or even do something sensible with. The Big Byte will keep an eye on any modifications made to the piece in subsequent programmes, thus shaping up to be possibly the world's biggest ever jam session. The programme starts at 12.15pm, so don't miss it, or you'll be sorry.

We've got you surrounded

Apparently, there can never be a replacement for a night out at the cinema. The excitement, the popcorn, and that phenomenal surround sound. Personally, I could manage without the popcorn, craning my neck around the Watusi tribesman in the row in front, or joining a queue that stretches around the building twice. But I would miss the fantastic sound.

Fortunately, technology has advanced so far that you can have Dolby Surround Sound at home. Indeed, there are some 4,800 different film titles on video and laserdisc which, when played with equipment endowed with Dolby encryption software, deliver some whizzy sound. As well as this, both terrestrial and satellite channels now have some programmes broadcast in surround sound. ITV's quirky detective programme Cracker, is one such broadcast that has received the audio enhancement. Other applications where Dolby's surround sound has been used is in music reproduction (AV amplifiers and midi systems), and in computer games.

The most conventional home cinema set up consists of a decoder, a left, right, and two surround speakers that are placed around the viewer so one can become immersed in sound. The newer Pro Logic system has an additional true centre channel output, which is better able to localise onscreen sounds, and also improve stereo separation. This means that you don't have to sit directly in front of the TV to get a proper audio picture anymore, which has to be a good thing.

You can utilise your existing audio/visual set up to incorporate surround sound, so upgrading is possibly not as expensive as you might have thought. Approximately £300 will ensure you a lovely canvas of audio on which your film soundtracks can be painted, although there are cheaper, if a tad inferior, systems. There are vast permutations available, all dependent on how much you want to spend, what you already have, and how much you want to irritate the neighbours. The best thing to do is go to your local dealer and try it out for yourselves.

So now I have my Pro Logic surround sound, some popcorn crackling in the microwave, and It Couldn't Happen Here on video... all I need is a Diet Coke to keep my figure in shape.

3Sixty good buddy

It's no good having all this multimedia paraphernalia if people don't know how to use it. Just one mention of the word 'computer' sends my poor old nan into a confused daze, bless her. Indeed, many manufacturers seem to take it for granted that we all know that you are not supposed to use a CD as a cake slice, but try telling that to her when she's just served up afternoon tea with a six-layer Madeira cake.

Fortunately, for the technologically illiterate (and literate alike) there is a new publication from Voyager that claims to be a guide to interactive media. Chopping through much of the hyperbole surrounding new releases and so on, 3Sixty is a critical review of what's available on CD-ROM, and whether it's worth the polycarbonate it's made of.

Voyager, the people behind the magazine, already have a good deal of knowledge of CD-ROM, having produced a number of titles themselves, so you can probably rely on them to be accurate about most things. The magazine also features news, interviews, readers' feedback, book reviews, larded with editorial quips almost as droll as the mix editor's (Take a pay rise - Ed).

You can get your copy of 3Sixty from Voyager direct at (Contact Details).

Or you can call one of their UK distributors, Softline on (Contact Details) for details.