In Brief: Jan. 8, 2001

I.M. HAPPY One sure sign that you have an instant-messaging problem is that you've gone online to buy AOL's new Mobile Communicator ($329.95, plus $19.95 a month). That's quite a lot of money to plunk down just to be able to catch your e-mail and eye your buddy list anywhere. O.K., O.K., we admit it: this device is so easy to use (and painfully addictive) that we might need to seek help soon.

PORN FREE A word of caution to rocket scientists who still think it's cool to e-mail nudie pics to the guys at work: watch out for PORNSweeper. This menacingly named software scans image files on company servers, looking for such clues as a suspicious abundance of pink pixels. It even measures the ratio of skin color to other colors to estimate how much clothing the image contains. The software, which developer Content Technologies markets to corporate technology departments, also includes "face detection," so close-ups won't be mistaken for pinups. Still, you may want to refrain from sending baby pictures to the office.

BRAINY BIRD Chirpy-Chi ($25) is Tiger Electronics' latest attempt to build the perfect robotic animal toy, and it's safe to say it's getting closer. When called to action, the toy sings (up to 40 songs) and begs for its ear-of-corn toy, which it "eats" with jabbing movements and excited warbles. Though a successor to Furby and Poo-Chi, this plastic, squawking, nonspecific bird doesn't exhibit the same annoyingly earnest cuteness. Even more important: Chirpy-Chi goes to sleep in a hurry and doesn't wake up at every little sound.

--By Wilson Rothman