The articles give a broadminded and interesting treatment of the theme. The first article discusses the delicate relationship between the biosphere, the economy and the media. Another explains, in fairly comprehensible terms, the significance of research on chaos and fractals for scientists and economists. Further on there's an article on small livestock management for cybernauts. There's also an article on using old keyboards to connect your PC to the outside world. All in all, a good mix of the theoretical and the practical.
The people who run the magazine also have a mail-order service, so they also try to sell you stuff. They have things like the Day Dreamer, described by Dr. Leary as "the LSD flight simulator", which is actually a purple mask thingy which you put over your face and breath into, which causes a disk inside to rotate. 'Strobed natural light on closed eyelids', the blurb says, 'produces photic stimulation, which combines with paced breathing for a wonderfully vivid, kaleidoscopic experience.'. This sounds trippy. Has anyone out there tried it?
There's also more expensive, but very cool, stuff like brain machines (gadgets which flash lights in front of your eyes and play tones in your ears, to induce particular mental states) brainwave analysers, so you can use your Mac as an EEG. They have a wide range of software/multimedia products which you're not likely to find on the High Street (e.g., a program that uses neural nets to predict ovulation) and a good selection of T-shirts.
The only downer with this magazine is that at three-pounds-fifty (about US$5, although the cover price is $3.50, but they have to add 21 per cent tax and transatlantic shipping), it seems a bit pricey for a fourty-eight page black-and-white magazine. It's the sort of magazine people might read in the shop for a bit, but probably wouldn't fork out the cash to buy. But having read most of it and spent some time looking at the clever, readable layout, I would say that the FringeWare Review is a magazine with original ideas and a fairly coherent editorial policy, unlike some of the big expensive-looking glossies, which are often just a mish-mash of ads and market-driven fluff. It's worth the high price.
Antóin Ó Lachtnáin / aolchtnn@tcd.ie