Download This: Track E-Mail, Read Lips, Consolidate IMs

You could staple your fingers to your PC's keyboard and still feel out of touch. Do you know where the e-mail you sent an hour ago is dawdling now? Do you know what your colleagues on the other side of the country (or world) look like? Do you have so many instant-messaging clients that you don't know who's on which one anymore--let alone what all your passwords are?

Don't fret. This month I've lined up a traceroute program, a video messenger, and a universal instant messenger. Between them, they'll keep your eyes, ears, and data tuned in to what you need to know.

Dude, Where's My Packet?

E-mailed files or messages don't soar like birds; they hop like frogs, touching down on a number of lily pads along the way. Malicious hacking or network troubles can cause snags, slowing down or even stopping your packets. Traceroute programs tell you where your data's gone--and if you understand street addresses better than you understand Internet protocol addresses, VisualRoute might be a good choice.

VisualRoute 8.0 traces your data's path and shows it to you not only in baffling domain names or unlabeled IP addresses (basically just long strings of numbers punctuated with dots), but also on a map of the world. If your packet has pulled to a screeching halt at the site of a natural disaster, then you might want to find another way to deliver your data--such as from an e-mail account with another ISP, or even by sending a hard copy. If you suspect that your computer's being hacked, VisualRoute can help you track the hacker back to their IP address and domain name, giving you the evidence you need to turn the evildoer in to their ISP and probably get the account shut down.

The developer, Visualware, offers a 15-day trial version. If you decide to keep the program, you pay a one-time $50 license fee. One year of upgrades costs an extra $20.

Faster Than the Speed of Sight

Sometimes you hang up the phone or read an e-mail response and wonder how well you and your associate are communicating. Did he really understand when he said he understood? Was she paraphrasing your words, or disagreeing with you? Was that compliment sincere, or was it sarcastic? If only you could see the whites of their eyes, you think.

SightSpeed Video Messenger 2.0 improves on the videoconferencing of the past with reliable audio and low audio-video latency. (Latency is the delay between video and the audio track that's supposed to go with it. High latency can make your conversation look like an old Shaw Brothers kung-fu movie dub.) This video instant-messaging client keeps conversations stable and productive, avoiding the usual video IM irritations of intermittent audio and lagging lip sync.

Anyone with an e-mail address can sign up. No special equipment is required if you just want to click your first buddy, SightSpeed Fish (supplied by the software), to watch an aquarium via a Web browser. Of course, if you want two-way video chat with a higher primate, you'll need a Webcam and a microphone on each end of the broadband connection. If you really want to spell things out, you can open another SightSpeed window to add text chat.

The Video Messenger software is free, and the service is free for 15 days; SightSpeed offers 15 minutes of free usage per day after that. The service runs $5 per month or $50 per year for unlimited video IM. Hey, Mom, look at me!

My Spider-Sense Is Tingling

If your personal hero is a mysterious masked man with amazing arachnoid agility, you'll be pleased to have Spider-Man join the fight against IM clutter. MECA has partnered with Marvel Characters and the recently launched Spider-Man ISP to offer Spider-Man skins for its MECA Messenger universal instant-messaging client. If Spidey alone isn't enough to ensnare you, maybe the practical appeal of five IM services in one place will convince you to try this free software.

MECA Messenger lets you access your existing AOL Instant Messenger, ICQ, MSN Messenger, and Yahoo Instant Messenger accounts as well as the MECA IM network. You can add any of the IM services at any time; MECA Messenger imports your buddy lists and keeps them distinct from one another. You can set global status messages, store passwords, and log on and off of each service as you please. Although 2003 World Class Award winner Trillian provides more services and more features, MECA Messenger offers the major ones in a simpler interface. And doesn't Spidey always save the day?

PC World Senior Associate Editor Andrew Brandt contributed to this story.

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