12/23/1999

By Doug Bedell / The Dallas Morning News

Over the last year, several software packages and Web services have attracted a cultlike following among Internet users. We'd be remiss if we didn't mention some of these products before year-end.

Here's a brief list of some of the innovative programs and helpful Net spots that have raised eyebrows in 1999:

Gurunet

www.gurunet.com

Microsoft has done a lot of talking about integrating the Web into its Windows desktop. But a group of visionaries -- including former Electronic Data Systems head Morton Meyerson and former Apple leader John Sculley -- have backed a product that does the trick.

GuruNet allows you to get Web-based information on any word or phrase selected inside any document on the desktop.

Once installed on an Internet-connected Windows machine with Internet Explorer 4 or higher, you simply point at any word and Alt-click. Up pops a window with reference information, a dictionary, thesaurus or real-time news on the selected word.

The trick can be performed from inside any application, from e-mail to spreadsheets, all without leaving the working program.

GuruNet is available for free download in its beta form. No Mac version has been crafted, but developers promise it's on the way.

Copernic 2000

www.copernic.com

Metasearch tools have been around for a while, but none works as efficiently as this desktop tool.

Copernic searches the top search engines for your key word, then presents the best of the results ranked by relevance. Summaries can be displayed in a browser window with clickable links. Pre-defined search channels allow targeted searches of newsgroups and specialized shopping or news sites.

Better yet, the search results are saved to your hard disk, enabling users to avoid redundant search tasks and to refine previous efforts.

Every aspect of Web searching can be customized, from the number of top hits to the way results are sorted.

Copernic 2000 is available free for Mac and Windows machines. Upgrading to the Plus version brings more features, support and updates.

This program has been ballyhooed from ZDNet to Tucows, where reviewers gave it the coveted 5-Cow rating. Need we say more?

Shields Up

www.grc.com

Programmer Steve Gibson was worried. As a security expert, he realized millions of Internet-connected computers have been improperly set up, leaving them open to attack by malicious hackers. He vowed to help the common man avoid embarrassing and costly losses.

Mr. Gibson developed Shields Up, a free Web-based checker than can explore and recommend fixes for most common security holes. Since setting up the page, more than 600,000 Web users have flocked to the once-obscure site to check vulnerabilities.

Shields Up might amaze users with the breadth of information it can extract from their computers. Once discovered, those security loopholes can be closed by following Mr. Gibson's clear, concise fixes.

Mr. Gibson has provided the world with free, customized security analysis for every machine on the Internet. Shields Up is a great way to avoid problems before serious damage can be inflicted.

Conversa Web 3.0

www.conversa.com

Versions of this program have been awarded top honors for innovation on the desktop at the last two Internet World software trade shows. Conversa Web is Windows-only, and it costs about $40 to download. But the freedom to cruise the Internet using voice commands spoken into your PC microphone has proved addictive to millions of regular users. And if you've got a physical disability or carpal tunnel syndrome, Conversa Web can be a lifesaver.

Users can voice-activate any element on a Web page, including check boxes, radio buttons and drop-down boxes. They can also enter URL addresses and text entries by spelling with a pop-up military alphabet list. A new "Read me the links" feature utilizes Conversa's proprietary text-to-speech technology so that users can listen to the links instead of reading from the screen. Web 3.0 retains Conversa's Saycons -- voice-controlled icons that represent toolbar commands, graphics and other Web page elements.

"With version 3.0 of Conversa Web, you can just lean back in your chair, sip your coffee and talk your way across the Internet," says Barry Smith, senior product manager at Conversa.

"Many of us have gotten so used to being hunched over a keyboard and mouse, we assume that's just the price of navigating the Internet. But as thousands of Conversa customers have already discovered, surfing with your voice is more natural."

A word of caution: This program can be a memory hog. It requires only 24MB of RAM to run but will bog down performance on machines with less than 64MB.

Mytalk

www.mytalk.com

If you can stomach the 10-second voice advertisements it forces down your throat, this service is a real value. Mytalk's Web site assigns you a toll-free number. Dial it up and, after trying to sell you a product, a computer will read your e-mail to you, allow you to send responses and retrieve or send voice mail from anywhere in the world.

Recently, its creators at General Magic added free two-minute long-distance calls to their offerings. It can't get much better than this.

The service's intelligent voice personality listens, responds and follows members' commands. To perform tasks, for example, members can say, "Play it, please," "Send a reply" or "Dial a number." The service responds with comments such as "Got it."

E-mail can't be forwarded to other locations. But you can have the service filter and retrieve e-mail from other accounts you maintain, then pick them up via a browser or the toll-free telephone number.

More than 150,000 people signed up for Mytalk in the first weeks of its life.

Traveling executives and sales representatives have found it invaluable. And the free long-distance feature is now attracting a host of new devotees.

Staff Writer Doug Bedell can be contacted by e-mail at dbedell@dallasnews.com.