Andrew Sparrow offers several utilities for Yahoo! Messenger. We tried Yahoo! Voice Alert and HackText (both free). Both run as separate applications alongside Yahoo! Messenger.

If you have the proper Microsoft text-to-speech implements installed, Yahoo! Voice Alert (Yahoo!) tells you out loud when buddies sign on or off and says their names. Unfortunately, on Sparrow's site some of the links to the necessary speech downloads don't work. You'll need to find MSagent.exe, spchapi.exe, spchcpl.exe, and language packs (like tv-enua.exe for American English or lhttseng.exe for British English).

HackText (Yahoo!) performs several nonessential functions. You select a mode—BaSiC, $iMpL3 Ch@nG3, or ü|\|R£@d@ß1£—each of which transforms your typing into hip, script-kiddie–looking text. Unfortunately, you have to copy and paste the text to be altered, which is less than hip. You can also choose "ASCII art," which copies ASCII art accurately into an IM window. To copy such art, you have to select a fixed-width font. But if you have emoticons enabled and the ASCII art contains, for example, the characters :), you'll end up with a smiley in the picture.