Making Sure Your Messages Really Voice Your Concerns

What’s next, karaoke on your computer? Maybe.

Midisoft’s Sound Bar is not quite a singing machine, but the new software does add a variety of audio capability to computer communication. It’s a Windows 95-style tool bar that lets users attach voice messages and sounds to local network or Internet e-mail and other communications, as well as control aspects of a PC’s sound, including mute, volume, treble, bass and balance.

The software is easy to install, Midisoft reps say, and graphical, sound-related icons pop up on the side of a desktop screen. Busy executives can respond quickly with voice e-mail messages, or parents can send voice messages to children at college. A Labtec microphone that plugs into the PC’s sound card is included, and the Sound Bar comes bundled with AT&T;’s WorldNet service.

Midisoft Sound Bar ($29.95) also comes with two user licenses, allowing the purchaser to legally give a copy to a friend. Call Midisoft in Bellevue, Wash., (800) 776-6463.

*

Milk Run: Avent baby bottles, manufactured in England and now available extensively in the U.S., have a broad and soft silicone nipple with a natural shape that allows the baby to suckle as at the breast.

According to Avent representatives, the bottle is referred to by nurses and lactation experts as the baby bottle that most closely resembles the action of breast feeding. It has won several British design awards.

As the baby feeds, the anti-vacuum skirt of the nipple allows air to flow into the bottle, replacing the milk at a rate that the baby controls with suckling.

The Avent reusable bottle with a domed cap to keep from spilling ($5) is available in nationwide baby stores or by calling Avent America at (800) 542-8368. The company also has just developed a disposable bottle version.