Your Technology

By Bill Syken

RUNNING EMPTY Worried about toting a potentially incendiary jug of extra fuel in your trunk? Your answer may be Spare Tank. It's a gasoline derivative much less combustible than ordinary gas, thus less likely to explode. Still, it packs enough punch, when mixed with residual fuel in your tank, to get you to the next station. Cost: a high-octane $24.99 a gallon.

YOU'RE E-VITED If you think it's a drag to send out invitations by snail mail, consider a new website called evite.com All you need to do is fill out one of the site's prepared invitations and, with a click, send it off. It keeps track of acceptances, lets invitees make comments, even offers a place to pick, say, chicken or beef for dinner. There's a benefit for recipients too. They can peek at the R.S.V.P. list--and decide after casing the names on the acceptances whether it's a bash they would really like to attend.

UNCENSORED The Internet has hardly been obscenity free. But in the past, using what George Carlin once called the "seven dirty words" in a domain name was taboo. No more. Now that domain registry is no longer a monopoly, some registrars are apparently winking at four-letter words. Indeed, one of those new custodians of Web domains, Net Wizards, claims that those former no-nos "account for 75% of our business." Blanketyblank.com

--By Bill Syken