New Media Picks Of The Week: Sharewood Picnic 62

Photo credit: Ircrockett

1. Ajax/Flash-based web application that lets you create, share and access presentations online
2. Jabber client program that allows free PC to PC calls using the VoIP system over the Jabber network
3. Web-based word processor that can read and write Microsoft Word and other standard document formats
4. Social text messaging service launched by Odeo that displays your status to a group of people that you choose
5. Start up your own collective weblog in a social network environment
6. Instant messenger that allows you to communicate with MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, AIM and other IM clients at the same time
7. Create and manage photo galleries and portfolios, and share online artworks, photos and videos
8. Search engine helps you find similiar articles in the Web based on people's tags/bookmarks on del.icio.us
9. Social mobile networking technology that enables you to create or join groups of people you want to keep in touch with
10. Create your personal wiki in seconds and personalize it with several styles
11. Build up your own online news page and automatically get all the articles that you are interested in
12. Upload and share videos with anyone with an email address
13. Listen to articles from IHT.com on your computer or mp3 player

Here is another edition of Sharewood Picnic, the weekly collection of the most interesting new media tools and resources discovered by Robin Good and his team during their online explorations.

Here are the new media tools and services that we have selected this week for you:

1. Empressr
   
   
   
   Empressr is an Ajax/Flash-based web application that lets you create, share and access presentations online. Empressr enables you to incorporate rich media features, like streaming video and animation, to create and share the most dynamic presentations possible. At the moment you can create and save up to five presentations. Currently, it is not possible to download/export/view presentations in any other application. Empressr is free to use.
   
   http://www.empressr.com/





2. Jabbin
   
   Jabbin is an open source Jabber client program that allows free PC to PC calls using the VoIP system over the Jabber network. Jabbin also provides instant messaging functions. You can configure Jabbin to connect to the Google Talk service. Jabbin id currently available for Windows and Linux (Mac version is in development). Free download.
   http://www.jabbin.com/it/





3. ajaxWrite
   
   ajaxWrite is a web-based word processor that can read and write Microsoft Word and other standard document formats. ajaxWrite also handles all the popular document formats so it's easy to share your files and collaborate with your co-workers and friends. Once finished with your document, you can easily save your work right to your hard drive. ajaxWrite works from a Firefox web browser on any operating system and on any device. Free to use.
   http://www.ajaxlaunch.com/ajaxwrite/





4. twttr
   
   twttr is a social text messaging service launched by Odeo that displays your status to a group of people that you choose. By sending a text message to a short code, you can indicate your location information, your mood information or whatever and share it with people who are on your social-mob. twttr works best from your cell phone when you are out, but you can check it on the web too. Those in Canada will not be able to send SMS to twttr's short code (which is 40404). Instead, after they sign-up and receive your password, they can send updates to the number 415-283-8611. twttr does not require installation and is free to use.
   http://twttr.com/





5. CommonGate
   
   CommonGate is a service that allows you to start up your own collective weblog in a social network environment. Alternatively, you can just run around posting on other collective blogs. Everyone creates an account, then you start being social by joining all the existing gates. Free to use.
   http://commongate.com/





6. Oyco
   
   Oyco is an instant messenger that allows you to communicate with MSN, Yahoo!, ICQ, AIM and Oyco IM users all at the same time. Oyco Messenger includes your personalized Oyco VoIP Dialer with over 30 minutes of free calling to any phone in North America and other countries around the world free as a new trial user. Make calls from any computer to any phone in the world - for pennies. PC to PC calls are always free. You can buy Oyco for one month at $ 4.95 and for a year at $58.00. Check out Oyco Shop to buy credit for SMS and VoIP calls. Free 30-days trial.
   http://www.oyco.com/





7. Woomp
   
   Woomp is a service that enables you to create and manage photo galleries and portfolios, and share online artworks, photos and videos. Every user has a personal homepage like http://www.woomp.com/username, 100MB of storage limit and support for .flv file. Woomp Has a customizable template and allows you to edit it and integrate it with your own blog or web site. Free to use.
   http://woomp.com/





8. Similicious
   
   Similicious is a mashup of del.icio.us and easyutil.com that helps you find relevant web sites based on people's tags/bookmarks on del.icio.us, using the engine from Easyutil. If you find an interesting article you can paste it in Similicious' search field and find all the articles and posts across the Web that are related to it. Similicious is free to use.
   http://similicio.us/





9. Dodgeball
   
   Dodgeball is a social mobile networking technology (now part of Google) that enables you to create or join groups of people you want to keep in touch with. You can find venues locations and broadcast messages to your friends and also get notified when the people you like are within 10 blocks from where you are located. Once you register and you join a group you simply need to send an SMS to 36343 and the system will forward it to your friends. Dodgeball is currently available in 22 US cities. Free to use.
   http://www.dodgeball.com/





10. TiddlySpot
    
    TiddlySpot is a service that enables you to create your personal wiki in seconds and personalize it with several styles. Your wiki is fully self-contained and runs entirely within your browser and you can update it online and offline. At the moment, TiddlySpot does not support images upload and RSS feeds. Anyone can look at at your TiddlyWiki (although they have to know the URL to get to it), but only people who know your upload password can actually edit it. No installation required. Free to use.
    http://tiddlyspot.com/





11. Gixo
    
    Gixo is a news service that allows you to create your own online news page and automatically get all the articles that you are interested in. Gixo does that by comparing the content of all the articles you have read to all of the day's current articles. Gixo will then select specific articles that match your interests, even if they are not "top headlines". Gixo also gives you much more control over the layout. You can change the number of columns, change the text size, hide images, etc. Free to use.
    http://gixo.com/





12. Fliqz
    
    Fliqz is a web site that allows you to upload and share videos with anyone with an email address. Recipients don't need register with Fliqz to view videos, meaning that a simple e-mail link will have family and friends watching in no time. Fliqz also offers superior organizing and cataloguing capabilities, all geared toward the long-term storage and preservation of irreplaceable videos.
    Free to use.
    http://www.fliqz.com/FliqzWebPublic/





13. AudioNews
    
    AudioNews is a personalized service provided to International Herald Tribune readers by ReadSpeaker, a provider of Web speech-enabling services. Articles are converted into audio so you can listen to them on your computer, your mp3 player or your mp3 phone. Articles are read by the latest text-to-speech technologies using professional readers whose recordings are converted into language dictionaries. AudioNews is a completely free service.
    http://audionews.iht.com/