PLUGGED IN : NEWS BYTES.

CELLULAR STRETCH: Taking a huge step into the competative Los Angeles cellular phone market, Nextel Communications Inc. today expanded its enhanced digital network into Southern California. The company plans to charge customers by seconds of usage and drop all national roaming costs. (Most cellular companies round up charges to the next minute.) The firm also cut the price of its newest phone-and-battery package by nearly 50 percent, from $399 down to $199. The enhanced network runs from the Mexican border north to Santa Barbara and east to Riverside County. For more information, call 800-NEXTEL9.

NOT QUITE PC SAVVY: It's easy to assume that most people know how to - at the very least - turn on a computer. Not so, according to a recent survey by RHI Consulting. The Menlo Park-based group asked 300 information technology professionals to talk about the strangest requests they've been asked. Some responses:

``Can a diskette get a virus if you drop it on the floor?''``I need to install the Mac OS on my IBM PC. Please help ASAP.''``Can you help me set up my car so I can use my laptop while I drive?''``I can't seem to fit a third disk in my disk drive.''``How come when I pressed the `help' button earlier, you didn't stop by?''

WEB LINKS

JAZZING UP JAVA: Thanks to pop star Thomas Dolby, Java just learned how to sing. Last week, Dolby's production company, Headspace, announced that Sun Microsystems has licensed his Internet music technology, an interactive engine called Beatnik. It allows music to be integrated with Java on a higher-quality level while still keeping the files small. Information on the system can be found at http://www.headspace.com/beatnik.

MORE COMMON CENTS: It's no joke. The Motley Fool is now on the Web (http://www.fool.com). The site, which went up April 1, offers a bounty of investment information and education. Curious financial types - both experts and newbies - can learn something from the daily investment stories, company research and expansive message boards. Staff members hope the public will use these boards, which cover topics as diverse as discount brokers and ``My Dumbest Investment,'' to share opinions about individual stocks, investment approaches and personal finance.

RANDOM ACCESS

PICTURE PERFECT: For those tired of giving champagne flutes and toaster ovens, try software. Frame-It provides users with an easy-to-use way to design and print photo albums, scrapbook pages, photo cards and envelopes. The software, retailing for $69.99, is available through most computer stores or by calling 800-936-4298.