Monitor picks

Real simple's tastemakers

A new magazine from the folks at Real Simple, titled Food, serves up everything from tips on shopping smart to chopping smart. Time-saving suggestions abound, including "fake it, don't make it" recipes, as well as advice on gadgets, no-hassle dinner parties, and a periodic table of produce that shows how long fruits and veggies last. Even those who think arugula is a Caribbean island will want to put on an apron.

If you can write it, you can run it. That's the promise of Fly, a computer inside a pen. Need a calculator, a calendar, a digital drumset, or even help with algebra homework? Tap the device and, like magic, the thick pen talks, sings, and even cajoles. A slight learning curve will only be a problem for the adult who can't resist this cool educational tool. The real target is the middle-school teen. (www.liveonthefly.com)

Create your own imitation Jackson Pollock by visiting www.jacksonpollock.org. Once there, your browser screen becomes a blank canvas and your mouse transforms into a virtual paintbrush (right click for a different splotch of color). Refresh the Web page to start over. It's a doodle.

If Martha Stewart is your mother, Rachael Ray is your loud cousin. And now she's putting that raspy voice and bubbly personality to even greater use with a new talk show: The Rachael Ray Show, which goes head-to-head with Stewart in many markets. Time will tell if Rach can gab as well as she grills. Check local listings.

Comedian Bob Newhart's memoir is titled I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This! We beg to differ. In addition to recounting some of his classic gags – including the hysterical routine in which a rookie security guard at the Empire State Building calls his boss about King Kong – Newhart writes about his childhood, marriage, children, and the art of comedy. And all without so much as a stammer.