You've Got Crush-Mail.

Once upon a time, having a crush on someone meant suffering pangs of suspense, not to mention sweaty palms, dread, and, if you ever had the nerve to confront the object of your desire, sheer panic. Now you can avoid all that with Ecrush, (www.ecrush.com), a free Web site designed to help you find out painlessly if the person you like returns the feeling.

It works like this: You sign on confidentially, and enter the name and e-mail address of the person you would like to date. Ecrush takes it from there. The San Francisco-based service sends an e-mail to your crush, informs the person that an unnamed someone is interested, and urges him or her to enter the names of their own objects of affection.

If the computer finds a match--your crush lists you--both parties are informed. What happens next is up to you. If there's no match, it may not be bliss, but you've been spared public humiliation. We'll take that any day.