It Knows

Remember that '70s fad, mood rings? Well, get ready for mood software. No, your computer doesn't turn crimson when you're mad. But Elizabeth Charnock, CEO of Troba Inc., says her software program lets Web stores divine shoppers' moods by tracking their behavior. Users who constantly hit the back button, for example, are confused by bad site design. They show up on a computer simulation of an e-merchant's site as icons wandering in circles. Bored customers--people who leave the site quickly--check their watches, while the angry simply explode. The idea: fix flaws that stop shoppers.

After a slow start, Troba is attracting clients. ''I thought: 'If this does what they say it does, it's worth its weight in gold,''' says Carmine Villani, chief information officer at McKesson HBOC Inc. (MCK) Not surprisingly, McKesson's after just one customer mood...acquisitive.

By Jeanette Brown

Grocery Police

When you next whip out your supermarket discount card to save 50 cents on hot dogs, beware: The store may put that information online to sell you tofu.

So hopes Watertown (Mass.) startup SmartMouth Technologies. The key is capturing consumers' purchasing data from supermarkets, then giving shoppers nutrition report cards while suggesting healthy alternatives. Low-fat graham crackers instead of Oreos, for example. And a dose of self-loathing on the side, please!

SmartMouth's supermarket clients ship data on purchases to the startup (deleting shopper-identifying data other than club-card numbers). Cardholders visit SmartMouth.com and enter their number to be critiqued. Stores are hoping you'll buy the tofu, since nutritious food is more expensive. As Pink Floyd put it: If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding.

By Cynthia Flash

TABLE: Whither the Valley Wannabes?

All over America, elected officials vowed to build the ''next Silicon Valley.'' What region has had the stuff to stand up to the tough 2000 market? We looked at jobs, venture investment, and stocks in some of the most visible wannabe tech havens. The skinny:

                              VENTURE
                 TECH       INVESTMENT                       DOT-COM

              JOB GROWTH       4Q'00      STOCK PRICES       LAYOFFS

CITY          1999-2000*     vs. 1Q'00   1/1/00-12/31/00  JUNE-DEC. 2000

Austin           5.3%         -62.8%            NA**           339

Boston           2.7%         -37.8%         -21.8%          1,480

Dallas           1.9%          66.0%***       -1.6%            186

Seattle          9.0%         -22.8%           0.0%          2,558

Washington D.C.  5.9%         -11.2%         -10.7%             85

Silicon Valley   2.0%         -21.2%         -16.8%          2,624

TABLE: Sometimes What Goes Up Doesn't Come Down

Despite a now fast-building glut of dot-com executives out of jobs and the fact that many Net stocks have lost more than 90% of their valuations, the pay of Web startup leaders hasn't fallen. A new study shows salaries and stock packages at venture capital-backed technology companies are bigger than ever.

FIRST HALF 2000:

                               STOCK AWARDED AS
                                % OF OVERALL
                   PAY         COMPANY SHARES

CEO             $225,000            5.6%
Vice-President  $177,500            1.7%
Director        $122,500            0.4%

                               STOCK AWARDED AS
                                % OF OVERALL
                  PAY          COMPANY SHARES

CEO             $240,000           10.9%
Vice-President  $180,000           1.8%
Director        $132,500           0.6%

Holy Portal

Blessed are the wired, for they shall inherit the Web. Or so hopes Fellowship church of Grapevine, Tex. The Baptist church has rechristened itself FellowshipChurch.com and this month will launch a Web portal featuring sports scores, weather, and stock quotes. For those who consider shopping a religious experience, it'll sell books, sermon transcripts, CDs, and more. Just no stock picks from The Man Upstairs.

The 12,000-member church says the Web can reach nonbelievers. ''If Christ were here in the flesh today, he would say, 'Go online,''' Pastor Ed Young says. ''Churches have been dinosaurs for too long.''

FellowshipChurch.com isn't a Net newbie. It has used Webcasts to flash baptisms and Christmas and Easter services around the world. Its new incarnation might even be welcomed by downtrodden dot-coms. Prayer may be their only shot at salvation.

By Lori Hawkins

Hello, Mr. Chips

Jeremy Selwyn wants to know: What are the best--and the most revolting--of the 10,000 commercial snacks on earth? His quest began during editing stints at a Massachusetts newspaper. First it was local Wachusett ripple potato chips, but soon it was onward to the hard stuff: ketchup chips.

This trail of crumbs led to Taquitos.net, where Selwyn and friends have created a Web site for reviews on 300 snacks so far. When available, links on six-month-old Taquitos.net send you to manufacturers' sites to buy such yummies as papadum garlic masala lentil chips (smell like paint, shaped like communion wafers), Korean cuttlefish snacks (look like Bugles, taste like fish), or Britain's finest: Walkers Pickled Onion Monster Munch (''gross'').

What's the best thing Selwyn & Co. have eaten? He votes for Tim's cascade-style potato chips, jalapeno flavored. The most disgusting specimen is a cassava snack from Brazil that looks like packing peanuts. ''I took a bite and couldn't go on,'' Selwyn groans. And imagine: There are 9,700 left to try.

By Darnell Little