Your Technology

  • SEARCH FOR SONGS ONLINE If you've heard of CD-quality music on the Web but aren't sure where to find it, a new search feature on Lycos ) can get you started. Simply enter the name of a song or music group, then let the search engine scour some 1,000 sites with more than half a million songs stored in the MP3 format. One warning: some songs available online are pirated, and downloading them is illegal.

    TOP SHOPPING SITES What did people shop for online last holiday season? Books, music, software and toys ranked among the most popular choices. But the surprise favorites were online greeting cards from Blue Mountain Arts, which got more than 12 million visitors in December. The hundreds of animated cards are tempting, and so is the price: free.

    Media Metrix December

    Top Five Shopping Sites in millions

    12.3 9.1 5.5 4.7 3.9

    THIS PAGER COULD BE A LIFE SAVER Think pagers are just toys for teens or tools for people on the go? Starting in March, residents of Highland Park, Texas (near Dallas), can carry small pagers meant solely for emergency police assistance. For $20 a month, the pagers, made by Personal Security & Safety Systems (PSSI) in Dallas, will enable owners to push two buttons discreetly that will alert police to their location within 10 ft. Police can then respond within three minutes, as they would to any 911 call. The system works using a network of antennas around the city that detect radio signals emitted by the pagers. PSSI hopes to provide the service to other small cities as well as college campuses and businesses later this year.