Falling asleep at the Photoshop wheel? Bored by using standard commercial applications to make images or animation? 'Vernacular' may be what the doctor ordered. A new software by American artists Beth Coleman and Howard Goldkrand (known for their music collaborative SoundLab), 'Vernacular,' despite it's nominal nod to language, is a highly visual tool for 'associative data processing.' To compose a project, users drag and drop files (my palette included desktop debris -- assorted images and a PDF file) onto 'Vernacular's' main screen, and then associates them with one another with self-styled categories and colors. The coup de foudre -- users can press play to experience a multimedia, personal, 3D animation. The downside of this indie software is that, at least right now, 'Vernacular' runs only on Mac OSX Jaguar. -- Rachel Greene