Columns: Arun Katiyar

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That's what the Internet always wanted you to be. To get a feel of what it is like to be a "player" visit digital.yahoo.com (note: no www) and discover how the Net is being sonified. To get a taste of the new tech, visit www.davidbowie.com, home of David Bowie, a hard-rocking legend -- remember Ziggy Stardust? -- who recently released an album on the Internet. Says Thomas Dolby Robertson (www.beatnik.com), the man behind Beatnik, the technology that is turning people into active participants in the creation of music: "I've been experimenting with things like this for a long time, and what really excites me about this area, and the Bowie thing in particular, is the ability to get fans involved in a new way -- to let them move from consumption to real participation." Dolby, some may recollect, is the man behind the hit She blinded me with science. Somehow, seems appropriate that he should be the person who can make it possible for you to jam with Moby, Luscious Jackson and Queen Latifah.

Beatnik, which is a small and painless download, actually allows the user to remix music the way he wants. It's quite exciting when you discover that you can be your own dj using simple-to-figure-out icons and pointers. Click on an icon and add a heavy bass line to the already booming drum, click on another icon and add the fuzz guitar, until finally you have the sound the way you want it.

Once you've downloaded the beatnik player, be sure to visit www.bongdern.com/KTL where the technology is at its powerful best: visitors get to answer an interactive quiz about the war in Iraq which uses the "newspeak of warmongers and despots". Depending on the answer you provide, a commentary is overlaid on a hip-hop music track. Next stop: www.spottedantelope.com/demos/groov/ where your computer keyboard is turned into a musical instrument. If you find an Indian site that is sonified, don't forget to mail me. I'd love to see how well we are doing on the edge of technology.

Channel V has a site that can produce pretty remarkable reactions. From "My kinda' hang out" to "Who wants to hang out everything?", it has sections like "Dil da maamala" and "Chakkar chowk", and you may not want to hang out here if you are not below 19. The site at www.vindia.com gives the impression that college kids have low IQs and irresponsible attitudes. "Which," says Rajesh Kalra, who runs the Delhi-based Net Consult, "isn't the case. Kids don't talk like that." Guys here are looking to line maro and patao the babes. For the velha (idle) there's an interactive quiz which tells you if you are a wild, passionate or frigid lover.

The site has plenty of music news -- Don Henley takes Paramount to court, David Bowie releases album on the Internet and so on -- postings from people who want to sell desktops and fire extinguishers, novels and CDs, BMWs (really?) and postcards. The site design is "cool and happening" and with an attitude. Can you say the same about the content? One wonders.

While many debate the nature of the Net -- is it good, or bad? -- the man known as the father of the Internet, UCLA professor Leonard Klei-nrock, 65, says it was created more as a technological challenge than an ethical one. A point to ponder ...

To witness the technological prowess of the Internet, visit www.kmgi.com. KPMG is a company that believes that webmercials should give you a taste of TV and be interactive. The site is of special interest to advertisers who may want to explore and exploit the Net. Webmercials are dynamic animations with voiceovers and effects and can be accessed by any modern pc. A pointer to the direction the Net is headed toward (see main story).

Here's a tip that will come in handy for beauty, health, culinary advice and home remedies: visit the site www.tip-off.com to get all kinds of questions answered. How long can you keep your make-up? (Three months to two years) Is papaya good during pregnancy? (Yes) How do you remove the smell of onions? (Dry mustard will remove onion odours from your hands or the cutting board. Rub in, then rinse).

The site is clean, easy to navigate and provides crisp answers. A tip from the site to start you off: To test the purity of vanaspati or to remove the presence of adulterating starch in ghee or butter, take a teaspoon of the item, add a pinch of sugar and 5 ml of hydrochloric acid. This will become rose red if the fat is not pure.

The first data packet travelled over the Net on October 20, 1969. That means the Net is about to be 30 plus. Iday Associates, a bunch of guys from across the world, is preparing for the event. Their site at www.iday.hypermart.net takes a look at how it's being celebrated worldwide and gives you a chance to sign the world's biggest greeting card. "We're creating what will become the world's largest online birthday card," Douglas Campbell, an Iday initiator, says in a press release. Wonder who will get the card? And how long it will take to download.

Arun Katiyar is Chief Operating Officer of India Today Group Online. His e-mail address is akatiyar@lmindia.com