Over the week, I have become one hell of a popular guy. And once you read this, my ratings are
going to soar through the roof. The reason for this is www.friskit.com.
It’s easily one of my most forwarded URLs. I have sent it to everyone in my address book, posted it
to newsgroups and mailing lists and, for good measure, shared it with my chat buddies.
Still in beta, Friskit is an amazing new way to source and listen to music on the Web. Actually a
search engine, it scours the net for music of your choice and instantly streams it to your desktop.
The interface is remarkably simple. Type in the name of the artiste or band. And, within minutes,
the music begins to happen. The Doors got me 28 songs; Nirvana fetched 290; Michael Jackson 20;
Backstreet Boys 295; Britney Spears 110; Bob Marley 65. (tip: you need to spell the name
correctly to get anything at all)
You can also listen by genre -- the range is mind-bogglingly huge -- or by choosing one of the
pre-mixed selections, which include everything from Top Pop/Rock and Best of the ‘80s, to
Pyschedelia and Grand Piano.
The pop-up menu displays the site from which the music is being streamed, a ‘buy’ link, and a set
of music controls allowing you to rewind, skip, pause, adjust the volume etc.
You can choose from one of three qualities of music: any, FM quality, CD quality (tip: don’t get
ambitious, stick to ‘any’, and you won’t be disappointed).
The best thing about Friskit is that -- if you have Real Player installed on your computer -- you don’t
need to download anything. This leaves your hard-disk free of unnecessary clutter.
I type in Bangles and, before I know it, Walk Like An Egyptian begins to play...
As the singer croons about old paintings on tombs, my mind begins to wander among the pharaohs
and mummies. As if on cue, my browser window loads a superb virtual tour ‘Unwrapped: The
Mysterious World Of Mummies’ (http://tlc.discovery.com/tlcpages/mummies/time1.html), courtesy
Discovery.com.
"Somewhere beyond the veil is an afterworld into which we are all born again, whole. Mummies,
ancient and modern, are the real world remnants-- what’s left behind in this world -- of the immortal
time travellers who have gone before us," with these eloquent words the full power of multimedia is
unleashed on your PC, as the site takes you on a fascinating journey to discover how the dead are
living.
Get a peek at Chinchorro Mummies of Chile, Tarim Mummies of China, Royal Egyptian Mummies,
Chachapoyas Mummies of Peru, Victorian Mummies, Lenin’s Mummy, Mummies in the Movies,
Frozen Mummies, Mummies in Space, and even Mummies of the future.
The multimedia version -- which is simply mind-blowing -- has four different story levels Finding,
Unravelling, Making and Listening to Mummies. Use the help key to navigate through the story.
If you really want to enjoy the ride, though, you will need a broadband connection and your plug-ins
(Flash and RealPlayer) in place. Anything less, and the wait can be really frustrating. But, in the
end, it’s worth it.
After such a close brush with the dead, I need some comic relief. I turn to Noise of India
(www.noiseofindia.com). An Indian clone of Onion (www.onion.com), the site is funny, irreverent,
and spares no one. Take a look at some of the stories featured: Noise of India buys a DD
copyrighted expression ‘The situation is tense, but under control’ for an undisclosed sum; Sangh
Parivar releases Red Hat-like OS called Khaki Knicker Linux; Israel Withdraws from West Bank,
spends it all on Gaza Strip; Veerappan Kidnapped; and, the best of them, a cybersquatting battle
between Chhota Shakeel and Chhota Rajan. Both of them are apparently worried about the number
of hits scored by the other.
If you want to bookmark any of these sites, try LinkDragon (www.linkdragon.com). A fast and
simple way to manage your favourite sites, LinkDragon comes with a Windows Explorer style
interface, and is compatible with older versions of browsers. It also features a handy set of tools that
allow you to import your existing bookmarks, export bookmarks to a HTML file and add new
bookmarks with a single click.
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