Sights and Sounds

ONE OF THE most impressive elements you can put on your site is music and video. It's not really that difficult, and is a good way of adding a little something special to your site.

49. Make some noise
It's easy to get sounds from your hi-fi onto the Web. Just connect your source to the audio input or LINE IN socket at the back of your PC, then launch Sound Recorder. Check that the volume control Preferences are set to Recording, and hit the red button!

50. I want my MP3
The default WAV sound format in windows creates files that are to bulky for easy downloading. Instead, cut them down to size with the aid of a MP3 converter like MusicMatch or WinLAMA+.

51. MIDI hi-fi
We're not all that partial to tinny soundtracks, but they're sometimes worth having. Take a look through the archives at midiworld.com and see if there's one you can embed into your pages.

52. Be your own DJ
By signing up with live365.com you can upload your MP3 playlists to create a streaming soundtrack that can be launched by clicking a button on your site.

53. Become a ShoutCaster
If you're lucky enough to have a broadband link to the Net, set up a ShoutCast server and link to it from your site. Do this and every MP3 you play on WinAmp will be streamed to the world.

54. Service with a smile
If your ISP or Web host provides it, the basic RealServer offers another way to provide streaming audio to accompany your site.

54B. Background noise
For subtle (or unsubtle) background effects, create an audio loop that runs when your page is loaded. Create your track in an sound program like CoolEdit, save it in QuickTime format, and use the EMBED tag to add it to your page. To see a successful example of embedded background music see Gangsta

55. Open a window on the world
A Webcam is a simple way to add a personale presence to your site. You don't even have to be online all the time - download Webcam32 to automate updates whenever you're logged in.

56. Make it Real
If you want to stake your claim to be the next Hitchcock, or just show off those home movies, download the free RealProducer: it offers one of the best formats for sending video over the web. Click here to give three months of RealOne Rhapsody and ten free burns for only $24.99