Considering that most people’s exposure to electronic music first comes through videogames, it’s no surprise that micromusic.net, the world’s most active chip and 8-bit music portal, just celebrated its sixth anniversary. Hackers and modders, gamers and musicians meet to chat, post tunes and events and trade bits of software in this vibrant community. Numbering 13,400 members, the site has regional microHQs in L.A., N.Y.C., London, Newcastle, Stockholm, Brussels, Paris, Berlin, Basel, Zurich, Melbourne, Enschede and Tokyo which throw events, run workshops and broadcast radio shows. The benevolent eyes of carl, wanga, ne?mo, and lektrogirl oversee the eye-poppingly colorful interface, which has close to 500 tracks available in its up/download section. lektrogirl stresses the whole site is a “mega group effort,” built on the open-source idea that exchange and giving are profitable for all. Coding suggestions get written back into the site and many users go further by creating tools to help them make the music, converting C64s into 303s and coding trackers for Gameboys. (Microbuilder.com is available for enthusiasts wanting to start their own community.) Those stuck in slowtime can order the Music for Joggers CD, which contains tracks from site members as well as wanga-designed micro-k K-Swiss shoes.