DIGITAL L.A. : JUKEBOX USES POWER OF INTERNET TO DELIVER MORE MUSIC.

Byline: David Bloom 

Among the cooler gizmos I've seen at recent conventions and conferences was Ecast's sleek update of the jukebox concept for the Internet age. Not only does it accept credit cards as well as coins (the mob will be very disappointed), its touchscreen and curvy, brushed-aluminum look put it positively past postmodern.

And because it has Net connectibility, it downloads the latest music from the Internet and stores it on a hard drive. You can use the touchscreen to play all kinds of trivia and other games on a pay-per-play basis.

And you can even buy the CD or game if you like it, putting the money down right then, and have it shipped to your home. Pretty cool. Go to Ecast's site at www.ecastinc.com.

For a more affordable jukebox alternative (the Ecast is really designed for restaurants and bars), check out Escient's computer-based, 200-disc DVD changer that plugs into the high-speed Firewire port on a Macintosh G3.

With the C200, you can play DVD movies, DVD-ROMs, compact discs and CD-ROMs on your computer, with everything managed from the Mac's desktop. Want to watch a movie? Drag the DVD's icon onto your desktop, and it starts to play.

Serious media freaks (this is targeted for graphics shops and home-office workers) can even daisy-chain up to 63 of the changers together, then share them over a network. And it all costs $1,500, a pretty good price for all the power and Mac ease of use. Go to www.escient.com for more information.

A dungeon to die for

HotGames.com (at www.hotgames.com) has some useful tips for folks looking to build better levels for games such as Quake, Half-Life and the new System Shock 2 (the actual story is at www.hotgames.com/features/1999/990820.htm). They've also included useful new level-editor programs for Quake and Half-Life to help ease the creative process.

Among the tips: Variety is the spice of level design. Use different colors to differentiate similar-looking areas so players don't get lost, or put a few side corridors and small rooms off large areas, to allow ``campers'' to lurk for others. And no more Gothic castles as backdrop. How about turning your virtual bedroom into a war zone? Or some other unique space, as long as it's not Yet Another Castle. And throw in some water elements, if you can, for another change of pace.

Capture the Flag and Team Fortress options add a lot of complexity compared to the usual empty-headed death-match stuff but require well-thought-out design. With Capture the Flag, design a level that has a central area for fighting and multiple paths through it to get to each flag.

And while there's a temptation to make really complex and difficult-to-reach spaces, remember that it's about having fun, not figuring some arcane and impossible corner of the level.

Take a cue from gaming companies and have some pals who haven't seen the level play-test it before you release it to the world.

On the Case

Case Logic Inc., which specializes in making all kinds of storage and carrying cases for computer media, music and other kinds of software, has come out with a nifty series of storage binders for DVDs.

The DVA-10 is an elegant, if somewhat pricey black leather, zippered, small notebook with special binders that have a clear, long flap on one side to hold the DVD's sheet of chapter and title information - and a specially lined pocket on the back for the disc itself. Some DVD packaging, such as that for ``American History X,'' doesn't allow you to remove the chapter information, but otherwise it's a graceful and stylish way to carry around a batch of movies.

The 10-binder album costs about $25, the 20-binder about $30. You can easily add more of the binders if you need.

Case Logic also has come out with a wall-mountable, stackable case - the DVT-14 - that will hold either 34 CDs or 14 DVDs. The case costs about $7.

With 5.8 million DVD discs sold already, Case Logic officials said it was time to come out with something to hold them all. Go to the company's Web site at www.caselogic.com for more information.

Mark your calendar

Mother's Day. Father's Day. National Techies Day? Doesn't quite roll off the tongue, but folks at CNET, techies.com, FedEx, Compaq and others are trying to drum up support to note the contributions of our favorite geeks.

``This national event ... is intended not only to recognize the important contributions tech professionals make to all of our lives, but to bring attention to the pressing need for educational programs that interest young people in seeking tech jobs and offer them the specialized training they need to prepare for tech careers,'' wrote CNET CEO Halsey Minor in an e-mail.

Set aside Oct. 5 to get in touch with your inner geek. In the meantime, they've set up a Web site at www.techiesday.org, where you can find activity packs to get your company and city involved.

DTV Summit. The Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association joins with Digital Hollywood to spotlight digital television and other future entertainment Sept. 27-30 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills. Go to www.cema.org or www.digitalhollywood.com. for more information.

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Photo: Escient Inc.'s 200-disc DVD changer for Power Macintosh G3 computers gives users access to more than a terabyte of information.