That’s right! You can ask them anything … and they’ll answer. Too bad I’m not talking about the now defunct Soviet Intelligence Agency (now that would be cool). The KGB I’m referring to is the Knowledge Generation Bureau – a service that will answer any question you have via text.

I was privileged to get a week-long trial of KGB and the service came in handy a few times. You see, I’m not one that is willing to pay an arm and a leg for an all access web plan on my phone. Heck, I’m just thankful to have a small texting plan. Obviously, the lack of techie goodness on my phone severely limits my options for finding info on the go. Enter a service like KGB.

They specialize in helping those, like me, who only have text or pay as you go internet access on their phones. It works like this: you text a question to 542542 and then one of their Special Agents researches the answers and texts you back.

During the week of my free trial, I asked multiple questions and always received a quick, accurate response (average response time from text to receipt of answer was 4 minutes). My favorite part is that they just don’t give perfunctory answers. Most times the Special Agent would expound on the answer or include some interesting trivia regarding the subject as well.

How does this pertain to Literary Discoveries?

Ever been in a conversation with someone and can’t remember an author’s name? What about a heated discussion about who top the NYT Best Seller’s list last week? KGB can solve even the most difficult literary conundrum, and you just might learn a thing or two along the way.

Best Practices:

According to one of the employees at KGB, here are some helpful tips if you choose to use the service:

Be VERY specific. Your phone isn’t a GPS unit or a guide to who you are, so if you want to know “Where is the nearest such-and-such?” you need to tell the Special Agent where you are. Or if you wanted to know, “How long does it take to get from A to B?” you’d need to specify your mode of transportation. The Special Agents only answer the question you asked, so if you wanted to know how long it took to fly somewhere, but you also wanted a suggestion of airlines, ask something like “How long does it take to fly to Tokyo, Japan from Salt Lake City and which airline can get me there under $1500 roundtrip?” However, it can be really fun to ask KGB subjective questions to see what comes back. One blogger recently wrote that she asked "Should I wear my red dress or my blue dress tonight?" and they replied "Blue. Studies show that the color blue makes you look confident and makes others more comfortable around you."

The Nitty Gritty:

Of course, there’s a fee involved. The service recently increased their pricing from .50 cents per text to .99 cents. A pretty steep price if you just want random trivia facts, but downright cheap if you’re away from the house and in a bind.

Visit them at www.kgb.com to learn more about the service and even see a few of the questions folks are asking.

Become a Special Agent:

Think you’ve got the skills necessary to work for the KGB? Hop on over to the site and see. Just click on the ‘become an agent’ link at the top and they’ll put you through the paces. Qualify and you could be the next Special Agent. (note: I passed everything except the Math portion. Guess I’d better brush up on that.)

Here’s a link to the KGB Challenge: http://beginkgb.com/challenge/ just in case you’d like to see if you have the goods.

What question would you ask the KGB?