The most tiresome complaint you hear from people is that the Net is too static. They want action, they want sizzle and they want surprise. Obviously, they belong to the Java-deprived population. What you need to do is switch on Java in your browser and hit some of the hot spots on the Net.Assuming you have one of the latest browsers, a good place to begin is www.livejam.com. Not so amazingly, this is the product of a Pune-based company called Ruksun Software Technologies Ltd. And it's set to go places. Imagine yourself in a darkly lit dive with some interesting live jazz to pepper the conversation. When you want, you can perhaps pick up the marimba or go at the synth drums to add a couple of drastic notes to The 'A' Train using nothing more than your keyboard. If jazz is not your scene, move to a room featuring rock or heavy metal. No other site in the world - as far as I know - can handle live inputs from musicians who could be located anywhere across the world, let you hear them in real time and chat simultaneously. If only they could also serve some steaming cappuccino.Despite the fact that Live Jam is still under development and doesn't feature all the bells and whistles, it has interesting possibilities. Tausif Malik, who is associated with Live Jam, says that Lucky Ali will be using the site to create his next album even as he does gigs across the world. .preferred-source-banner{ margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}More interestingly, I had a colleague, Sudeep Mukhia, who one day appeared to be serenading a lady online. Sudeep, who spends almost four to five hours a day on the Net, admits that online technologies are getting so strange that they may take the fun out of real life.Some other sites that are bound to capture your imagination: http:liftoff.msfc.nasa.govrealtimejtrack3dJTrack3d.html and http:www.npac.syr.eduprojectsvishumanVisibleHuman.html - the first lets you track the positions of more than 500 satellites in real time. I can't imagine a practical use for something like this, but must confess to having spent several minutes mesmerised by the path that INSAT-1D cuts across space. You can tilt the earth, enlarge it, examine orbits for military, weather and communications satellites right there on your monitor and feel the rush that space scientists must experience from time to time. The other site turns your mouse into an electronic scalpel, letting you examine cross sections of the human body. The key to understanding the power of these sites is the opportunity they provide to interact with people, data, images and ideas in a manner that couldn't have been imagined earlier. Just turn on the power of Java. And if your browser doesn't support Java, upgrade without wasting time.Arun Katiyar is Executive Editor of India Today Group Online. Published By: AtMigration Published On: Oct 5, 1998--- ENDS ---
