Who has the power to look through walls? To hear the faintest gurgle, even below ground? To find hidden objects in a flash? No, not Superman. It's the modern-day tradesman—the carpenter, the plumber, the builder.

Although the trades traditionally have been sweaty, low-tech jobs, today's tradesman can use sophisticated locating technology that lets him throw away his stud finder and leave the backhoe in the garage. Electronic tools are letting workers diagnose problems better and make fixes faster.

A pass through the local Yellow Pages shows that many plumbers now hawk video-examination services. The plumber snakes a tiny video camera, attached to a long cable, into subterranean pipes, letting him see just what's obstructing the line—whether it be a tree root or a misplaced child's toy. The images produced by these cameras are detailed enough that it's possible to inspect the condition of pipe walls, to allow for preventative maintenance. Wendell Brown, training instructor at plumbers' Local 130, says the view is so good, in fact, that it's possible to read the writing off a piece of paper inside a pipe.

When a pipe does have to be fixed, or replaced, a small transmitter fixed to the camera can be turned on. The plumber then uses a receiver to guide him to the spot on the ground directly above the camera—the receiver beeps louder as he gets closer and indicates when he's in exactly the right spot. With the press of a button, the receiver will also calculate the pipe's depth. Bingo: The plumber knows just where to dig and how deep to go.

That knowledge, of course, saves plenty of time, and "time is money for everybody," says Fred Pond, senior vice president of marketing at Ridge Tool. Similarly, carpenters and construction teams have been using X-ray machines and other devices to look inside walls and locate anything metal—conduit, rebar, wiring. "We can see what's behind the wall before we tear it apart," says Gary Schreiber, vice president of Power Construction.

Magnetic impulses guide Hilti International's Ferroscan, which Power uses to determine where steel reinforcing and post-tension rods are, as well as their size and depth within concrete structures. Ferroscan users simply run a small wand over the area they're interested in, generating an image on a small screen. Being able to see concealed metal objects means crews avoid the dangers of drilling through things—such as pipes and electrical wiring. "We have had zero incidents of incomplete or inaccurate information with respect to what is inside a wall since we have been using the Ferroscan," Schreiber says.

When dealing with troubles that are more difficult to spot, like leaks, hearing becomes critical. "A lot is based on acoustics," according to Tim Rennick, training supervisor at American Leak Detection.

The company's technicians place sensitive microphones on the ground to hear the distinctive spraying sounds that leaks make, Rennick says. American Leak Detection's technicians also sometimes use what it calls a digital leak processor. Two sensors, placed on either side of a break, listen to the noise in a pipe. If the break's sound takes a tenth of a second to reach the left sensor and two-tenths of a second to reach the one on the right end, the processor not only knows that the leak is closer to the left edge but can calculate the precise location.

Electronic tools aren't mandatory in the building trades yet—as they are, for instance, in auto repair, given that cars have become so heavily computerized. And such tools aren't cheap. A plumber's video camera with locator, for example, can cost about $8,000. But, because of the steady march of technology, which provides more power at less cost every year, electronic tools are well on their way to making tradesmen far more productive.

Some think the digital revolution can produce a whole new approach to building. Rusty Haggard, an editor with Construction Industry Institute, says big builders are implementing the sort of 24-hour clock that some Fortune 500 companies use on large projects. Designers in India might work on a plan during one 12-hour stretch, while a crew in Texas sleeps. Then, as the Indian team heads off to bed, the Texans download the design and keep working. Haggard sees electronic simulation as the wave of the future. Simulation allows customers to see a detailed, virtual version of their buildings long before any concrete is poured. "You can walk through a plant before it's been built," Haggard says "and change the design." He adds: "We're coming out of the 13th century."

ELVIS SIGHTED AT SUPERMARKET

Say goodbye to those surrealistic minutes spent reading tabloid headlines in supermarket "express lines." A new scanning system that lets shoppers handle their own checkout chores gets you out the door almost as fast as you can say, "Paper or plastic?"

The U-Scan Express, from Optimal Robotics, packs about as much hardware as Robby the Robot, including: a bar-code scanner/scale, a touchscreen monitor, an overhead video camera, a debit/credit terminal, bill/coin acceptors and dispensers, and a receipt printer. The prototype fell from a Martian spaceship. Just kidding. The U-Scan Express checkout counters—typically four per store—are all managed by a single personal computer, through which you can also communicate with Princess Di. How can supermarket tabs print such silly stuff?

Anyway, a monitor lets a real-life supervisor oversee the checkout process at all the store's automated counters—among other things, to verify the age of a person purchasing alcohol or tobacco. U-Scan was designed to replace express checkout lines, which account for about half of all grocery purchases, says Henry Karp, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Optimal Robotics.

U-Scan has been installed in some 120 stores in 19 U.S. states and tends to draw ATM users. Senior citizens use the system in surprising numbers, Karp says, probably because they like the feel of control. Over all, Karp estimates that 25% to 35% of shoppers use U-Scan at participating supermarkets.

U-Scan's success has been driven largely by the strange disappearance of a whole category of employees in the U.S. Masses of teen-age grocery clerks may have been abducted by extraterrestrials. Who really knows? But Karp has another explanation: "Most kids would rather work for Blockbuster Video than a supermarket."

For more information: www.pscnet.com/uscanspe.htm.

BIG MOTHER IS WATCHING

Revenge of the non-nerds: While many parents remain convinced that only a kid can program a VCR, technology is now redressing the power balance by letting them keep an electronic eye on their offspring at school. Two services, WatchMeGrow and ParentSoft, provide Mom and Dad with real-time opportunities to watch their children in the classroom and keep up with their grades.

WatchMeGrow, formerly called WatchMe, provides live, "continuous-feed snapshots" from schools, says Bruce Loften, the company's president. Parents go to the WatchMeGrow Web site, where they have password-protected access to cameras with different views of a child's school or day-care-center room, plus play and eating areas. The service is being used at 50 locations in 13 states, Loften says. Depending on the amount that a school or child-care center pays WatchMeGrow, parents pay either $9.95 or $19.95 a month for the service.

ParentSoft, combined with a related product, NetSoft, provides 24-hour phone and Internet access to your young scholar's grades, attendance record, homework assignments, scheduled activities, and teacher comments.

ParentSoft is being used by 330 schools, about 90% of which are on the West Coast, says James Weldon, president of SchoolSoft, the company that offers ParentSoft. He says SchoolSoft is just starting a nationwide rollout of the product.

Parents of private-school children pay $30 a year for ParentSoft. Their public-school counterparts get the service included in their real-estate tax bill. The school's cost depends on its enrollment. The average is around $595 a month, mostly for on-site support and training. The software itself is provided free, Weldon says, along with a server.

SchoolSoft says about 95% of ParentSoft users are in private schools. "Private schools are early adopters," Weldon says. But he expects public-school business to pick up in the next year or so.

For more information: www.watch-me.com; www.schoolsoft.net.

THE BIG HAND IS ON AUSTRALIA...

In September, Casio plans to bring to market what it is billing as the first wristwatch with a built-in Global Positioning System. For the uninitiated, GPS is a technology that makes it possible to determine your position anywhere on the globe through a link to 27 satellites developed by the U.S. government. Casio is targeting the watch at outdoor sports enthusiasts, including mountain climbers, hikers, fishermen, and anyone else involved in activities where position data are important, if not vital.

As quickly as four seconds after someone triggers the watch's GPS operation, current latitude and longitude appear on the display. The watch can even issue marching orders. Provide a destination, and the watch graphically indicates the direction and the distance to your destination from your current location. The data can be updated along the way, to give an idea of remaining distance and the correct direction. By taking continuous readings, users can also determine their current bearing and speed, and calculate estimated time of arrival.

GPS readings can be stored in memory and can be recalled to retrace the route that was traveled. In other words, you don't have to leave a trail of breadcrumbs to see how you find your way home.

Even the mundane time function is better: The GPS watch is automatically adjusted based on radio signals broadcast from the satellites.

The retail price will be $500.

For more information: www.casio.com.

WHAT'S ONLY SKIN DEEP?

Stealing a line from Cole Porter, patients taking daily medications may someday be able to croon: "I've got you under my skin."

John Santini, Michael Cima, and Robert Langer, MIT researchers, have developed a dime-size microchip that can be implanted subcutaneously and programmed for the delivery of precise dosages. The prototype chip has 34 reservoirs, each the size of a pinprick and capable of delivering chemicals in solid, liquid, or gel form. Apply a small voltage to a given reservoir, and a thin gold cap dissolves, releasing the drug. The researchers say it should be possible to make a device that is self-contained. This would involve fitting the chip with a small battery and a microprocessor, triggered by remote control or activated by an on-chip biosensor.

While reminiscent of actor Lee Majors's "bionic man," the costs involved are considerably less than $6 million. The researchers have been making their chips in a lab for about $20. They say the price could drop to a few dollars, or even less.

Good candidates for such a delivery system are hormones, steroids, pain medications, and chemotherapeutics, Santini says. He explains that these are strong medications effective in small doses, enabling supplies of several months to be fit on a microchip.

Confident their "pharmacy on a chip" can work in the commercial world, the three researchers have formed a company called MicroChips and are talking to drug and consumer-products companies. They are thinking about nonmedical uses because dispensing of drugs will involve a lengthy approval process by the Food and Drug Administration, Santini says. This means that the chip may get its first uses in cosmetic applications. For example, a chip might release different scents based on the wearer's mood. A biosensor on the chip might convey information about the salinity of the skin, say, to the microprocessor, which would release a fragrance. Who knows, maybe information technology will finally conquer B.O.

For more information: web.mit.edu.

'CAR 54, WHERE ARE YOU?'

Why does technology keep imitating cheesy old TV shows? In the latest "episode" of this, a product called Clarion AutoPC now lets you converse with your automobile—just like the hero of "Knight Rider" did with artificially intelligent KITT the car.

Clarion Corp. of America says its product is the first to let people use their voices to control car audio, various computing functions, navigation, and wireless communications. The unit, driven by the Microsoft Windows CE operating system, looks very much like a car radio and fits into a standard dashboard. It includes an AM/FM stereo, CD audio player, CD-ROM drive, address book, and the capacity to take voice memos.

In this case, talk isn't cheap. It costs $1,299 for the basic unit, which allows for simple voice commands to find out what time it is, make your musical choices, and record a memo. The device answers with a 200-word vocabulary.

Options cost as much as $900 more. They include a cradle for your cell phone ($300), a map data package for your geographic region ($170), a Global Positioning System receiver ($250), and a wireless receiver ($170). In other words, it'll take a total of almost $2,200 for you to make phone calls, get turn-by-turn directions, retrieve e-mail, get pager alerts, receive local traffic updates (within two minutes of real time), and get reports on news, sports, and stock-market activity.

Clarion is launching the product through its nationwide network of retail electronics-product dealers. It's also talking to some car manufacturers about offering the AutoPC as an option or even a standard feature for some cars, according to Stephan Roth, senior marketing manager for Clarion. Actually, folding its price into the sticker shock of new cars might be a good way to hide the cost.

"Car, make a note of that."

For more information: www.autopc.com.

JUST THE FAX, MA'AM

"The paperless office," technology consultant Amy Wohl once declared, "is about as likely as the paperless bathroom." But a Menlo Park, Calif., company is doing its bit to save trees by giving away a service that delivers faxes via e-mail.

Efax.com allows you to register for its free fax service on its Web site. There, the company provides the necessary software, called the Efax Microviewer, which can be downloaded in minutes.

After you register, Efax provides a phone number that works just like a fax number. Senders don't know they aren't sending to a fax machine. When you get a fax, it simply shows up with the rest of your e-mail. The e-mail notes the number of pages in the fax, the phone number where it originated, and the time it was received. Like all faxes, those sent via Efax can include text and graphics.

So, what's in it for Efax? The situation is a little like that for Netscape's original free browser. The service is a loss leader. Efax is rolling out "Premium Services," offering an array of new capabilities for which subscribers will have to pay. The company also derives revenue from advertising on its Web site and on the envelope that appears for a few seconds when you first open your fax.

Efax is clearly aimed at those who travel a lot, own a small business, or work at home—in other words, those who may not have a dedicated line for the fax and have to fumble with phone jacks. Based on the experiences of one new customer, Efax seems likely to make such hassles a thing of the past.

If you must, of course, you can still print your faxes on paper.

For more information: www.efax.com.