GIVE THAT GRAY MATTER A WORKOUT

Work a grind? The day-to-day minutia of the job starting to turn that once brilliant mind of yours into mush?Well, don't let it happen.

Exercise that out-of-shape gray matter.

Mind Gym: Simon & Schuster Interactive, 486DX-66 or higher, Windows 3.1/95/98, 8MB of RAM (16MB recommended for Windows 95/98), 4X CD-ROM. www.ssinteractive.com

Keeping the creative spark going can be tough under the burdens of work, raising a family, paying taxes, etc.

If you're feeling flat, Simon & Schuster offers a mental workout to make your mind nimble once again.

Mind Gym starts out in the changing room.

There, users undergo a series of amusing and thought-provoking exercises designed to create a personality assessment.

Once completed, users can save their work so that the changing room process doesn't have to be repeated.

Of course, you can redo the session (I can't be that boring and straight-laced, can I?)

Mind Gym then offers three areas to explore and expand your mind.

The Game Room is just that, a place to challenge yourself with brief games designed to develop quick-thinking, mathematics, word and memory skills.

In the Spy Simulator, users hide spy gadgets in everyday objects.

Then, enemy agents appear and users must quickly retrieve the gadget needed to eliminate them.

For math fans, the Big Kahuna Burger can be a real challenge.

Players build a burger of a certain calorie count by adding ingredients and applying condiments.

Each condiment is a different function: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

This proves trickier than in sounds in that each ingredient must be followed by a condiment.

And, you've only got 30 seconds.

Gridlock is a version of Hangman in which users select letters to complete phrases.

Mind Gym's other two areas offer similar exercises, but with a different focus.

Users will maneuver through mazes, work drop-and-divert puzzles and more.

The activities in the Pool of Ideas are designed to boost creative thinking.

In the Think Tank, users will work on making their ideas a reality.

If you're feeling a little stale, Mind Gym's offbeat humor and mental gymnastics will help.

Maybe this program should be on every PC in the office.

It's more stimulating than a coffee break.

Gizmos 98: Play Inc. ($49.95), www.play.com

Windows 98 surely is a big improvement over prior versions, but it's not perfect.

With Gizmos 98, Play Inc. offers a suite of utilities to fill the gaps in Windows' offerings.

Users can install all or some of the programs, which fall in four areas. All the features are in the Gizmos 98 launch pad, which can be minimized or turned off.

With Performer 98, users can attach photos to e-mail or create their own video shows, complete with photos, sound effects and narration.

Performer 98 will prove particularly useful for business presentations.

Performer 98 takes a slide show-style program and applies video and sound effects for a truly professional look.

Picture management also includes Picture Explorer, which finds all pictures on a hard drive and displays them on one screen.

There also is the ability to use photos to create personalized calendars.

Among the desktop accessories are a CD player and four calculators designed for scientific or business purposes.

Also featured are atomic clocks, which can be automatically synchronized via the Internet.

On the security side, the Shredder allows users to permanently dispose of files, while the Vault provides for password protection of sensitive files.

Gizmos 98 isn't all work and no play.

The entertainment side includes attractive screen savers, desktop themes, six 3-D card games and a picture puzzler.

The video cube offers a variety of backgrounds upon which a cube, comprised of photos you pick, spins.

With Gizmos 98, life with Windows gets a whole lot better. Upgrade advice

A new study by the ZD Testing and Analysis Group reports that adding RAM will provide a bigger performance boost for most PC owners over upgrading the processor.

Usually this also means a lower cost, too.

For more information on the testing, check out the Web site at www.rammatters.com/proof.

After Nov. 1, the site also should have a RAM calculator to help PC users determine how much RAM their PC needs.