Ringtone Media Studio 3 has a little bit of everything, although (as the name implies) the primary attraction is building your own musical alerts without having to pay someone else a couple of bucks for each new one.

Using sample files included with Ringtone Media Studio, the software lets you construct simple or complex MIDI music by adding and subtracting instruments and changing tempos.

You can also sample your own CDs or MP3 music, snip out the best part, and set that to be your ring du jour.

But wait a minute: How do you get that tone... to the phone?

Ringtone Media Studio 3 has an elegant solution for that; an online "locker" where you can upload your creations from the PC. You'll get a text message on your phone with instructions on how to download the file to your handset.

Ringtone Media Studio 3 also hleps you create images that can be used as background screens on your mobile phone along with a "video studio" that reformats clips to a tidy pocket size format.

The software is claimed to work with almost a thousand different mobile phones. It is available for Windows computers only, priced at $30.

• LINK: Ringtone Media Studio 3

I can remember a time when you could add to your music collection by plugging a cassette recorder into a radio and taping your favorite tunes off the air.

You could still do that, I guess, bt since it's the 21st century, I'd suggest using Radiotracker.

I test a lot of software, but Radiotracker is so drop-dead simple to use, I was astonished.

In its most basic mode, you just select your favorite genre of music and then tell Radiotracker how many online radio stations you'd like it to "listen" to (simultaneously). Click "start autorip" and your work is done.

Radiotracker connects with streaming radio stations around the world and starts clipping out songs at a breathtaking pace. It fades each track up at the start and fades it down at the end.

Then it magically saves each song individually with title and artist attached to the filename.

Let it run overnight and — depending on the genre, the number of stations you're listening to and your available bandwidth — you could have hundreds of new songs in your library.

If your musical desires are more specific, just ask Radiotracker to scan for the artists or titles you want, and the software will monitor 16,000 Web-based radio stations to grant your request.

The Radiotracker software, for Windows only, is just $25; that's less the price of a couple of CDs. It's worth it just to see it in action!

• LINK: Radiotracker Platinum

If you're been wondering: "How can I watch my favorite YouTube clips on the big screen TV in the living room?" Sandisk has an answer.

They've come up with a clever product called TakeTV. It looks like an oversized USB memory stick that plugs into your computer.

TakeTV has the ability to copy many types of online video clips to its internal memory (available in two capacities: 4 gigabyte for $100 and 8 gigabyte for $150). After removing it from the computer, take TakeTV to your TV and pop it in the tiny docking station, which has standard audio and video cables that connect to just about any television.

The TakeTV package even includes a small remote control to orchestrate your clip viewing from the comfort of a sofa.

I haven't seen TakeTV in action myself; its operation was described to me by Jim Barry, the knowledgable spokesman for the Consumer Electronics Association. While I am sure that it works as advertised, you should be aware that there are very few online video clips that are created with big screen TV watching in mind.

So while TakeTV is capable of recording and playing back very good quality video, you probably won't see it with most online content.

This device is an interim bridge between the TV and Internet worlds, but this gap is already being addressed (to some extent or another) by other gizmos that link your TV directly to the Internet — Apple TV, for instance.

To get a taste for real TV content that's already online, I recently connected a PC to my flat screen HDTV set in the living room and wired the Internet connection to my broadband cable router. I've been astonished at how many network TV programs are available for streaming and at how good the picture quality is, even on a large screen.

For instance, Hulu lets you view full episodes of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" the day after they originally air. There are commercials (and you can't scan through them), but the ad breaks typically last less than 30 seconds.

You can watch a half-hour program in about 22 minutes! The service itself is free.

The Hulu player has also added a button to let users with faster connections get a higher-quality picture — not quite high definition, but still quite comparable with what I see on satellite or cable.

I'm even more impressed with Joost (also free), which has a fantastic full-screen player. It has been fun watching the entire collection of "The Dana Carvey Show," rarely seen since its brief and controversial run on ABC in 1996. The shows have a lot of edgy humor and provided most Americans with their first look at cast members Stephen Colbert and Steve Carell.

Many big screen TVs have a VGA video input; all you need is a cable to plug in most notebook or desktop computers. It's a blast to be able to see your computer on TV, but it's even more fun to watch TV via your computer.

This is the future.

Watch Computer Corner every week on News 8 Midday at noon Wednesdays, or online any time.

E-mail askwalt@wfaa.com