QUICK CONTACT PICKUP

  If you're a user of Microsoft Outlook, SalesForce, NetSuite, Agendas or Palm Desktop, you're going to love this. It's GetAnagram.com.

   The software takes anyone's name, address and other contact information that you get off the Web or an e-mail and slots that into the proper fields in those programs. To use it, you simply highlight the contact's information and then hit the control and C keys together, twice.

   You can do the same thing to capture appointments. Highlight the information and the double control-C will put it into your calendar. The cost is $30 for the Outlook and Palm versions of the software, and it's free to try for 45 days.

 VOKI DOKEY

    In the television business they call the people who read you the news "talking heads." It's very descriptive. Now you can have your own talking head -- an animated cartoon that can be posted to your Web site or added to your e-mail. You can also post these to social networking and blogging sites.

   The talking heads at Voki.com come in several styles: Toon, Animals, Japanese Anime, Edgy and Classic. The Voki software is free for individuals and nonprofits. If you're a business user, head over to SitePal.com, which is like Voki but with more choices, and costs $10 a month. You can even submit your own photo and they'll make it talk.

 TOO MANY CELL PHONES

   Another day, another cell phone. Sometimes, two or three. We have seven now, and they all have different connections for recharging. Apparently these companies never talk to each other.

   This reminds us of the early days of desktop computing.  There were two dozen companies, and some had fun names, like Kentucky Fried Computers and NBI, which stood for "Nothing But Initials."  The humor has pretty much gone out of the business. We don't get any fried chicken cell phones, but there are other things:

POKER ON THE PHONE

   We tried out The World Series of Poker, No-Limit Texas Hold-Em on an LG cell phone. We could play against well-known professionals pictured at a card table. The game came from Glu Mobile. You can get it on most late-model phones; cost varies from $3 to $7, depending on the service carrier.

   Unfortunately, while the players may be professional, the makers of the game are not. Because if everyone at the table "checks," which means "pass" in poker talk, the cell phone game then allows the first person who checked to step in again and bet. You can't do that in real poker; if everybody checks, betting can only start again after the next card is turned up.

T-MOBILE TO GO

   The new T-Mobile HotSpot phone makes unlimited, free Wi-Fi calls when you're near a T-Mobile HotSpot in the United States, and becomes a regular cell phone when you're not. T-Mobile is the Internet service used by many cafes and coffee shops that advertise free Wi-Fi hookups. Sit with your coffee and cake, and browse the Web or call your uncle Max.

   You can create your own hot spot at home by using a wireless router. If you don't have one, T-Mobile offers a Linksys router for $50, and a $50 rebate makes it free. You can have your home or office number assigned to the T-Mobile phone, and it then becomes your regular phone. You can then dump your old land-line phone and its monthly bill, and many people have.

   Here's a trick: The T-Mobile service only knows where you started your call, not where you go. If you start your call at a T-Mobile HotSpot, then go off in your car, all your minutes are still free. Joy started a call at Starbucks and was still talking to Bob from inside the public library, many blocks away. When she hung up that call, she lost her Wi-Fi connection, and the phone was a regular cell phone again, but a few blocks later, when she called Bob again, the phone found a new T-Mobile HotSpot and automatically reconnected to that network.

   T-Mobile isn't as cheap as making Skype, Google Talk and other Internet calls, if you call internationally. Wi-Fi calls to countries outside the United States won't count against your minutes, but you will be charged international long-distance rates. For now, the HotSpot phone doesn't work at international HotSpot locations.

   The Web site for this is TheOnlyPhoneYouNeed.com. This is where you buy the T-Mobile phones for $50 and sign up for the "basic plus" T-Mobile service for $30 a month. If you're already a T-Mobile customer, the HotSpot service costs an additional $10 a month. Rates for businesses or heavy use are listed on the Web site.

 INTERNUTS

 ·  Video.AOL.com is a new AOL service that delivers videos. In fact, it has 20 million of them, and the e-mail giant has already started drawing 8 million visitors a month. Check out the video of 1,500 prisoners in the Philippines doing a take on Michael Jackson's "Thriller" dance routine. We guess you could call it "The Thrilla From Manila."

 ·  Lumosity.com  has three online games designed to improve your memory and reasoning powers. If you've had enough crossword puzzles and Sudoku puzzles for the moment, you can have some fun with these new games. The bad news is the site wants you to sign up for $80 a year. But there is a free trial.

 ·  ConfidentialityWizard.com  creates nondisclosure agreements that match the specifications you outline by answering its questionnaire. Cost is $99 for as many as you want. (Our favorite nondisclosure agreement goes like this: If you don't tell us about it, we can't disclose it.)