The Buzz

For those who've ever wanted to play media mogul, a nifty Web app can enable just that. SplashCast, a free service, allows any user to create syndicated “channels” of streaming rich media content. Imagine outfitting your Web site, blog, or social network page with a skinless feed of video, podcasts, music, photos, or text. Click a guide button to access various channels of content, generated by you or others. Intended for average Joe users, SplashCast is purportedly a snap to install. www.splashcast.net.

Interwrite Learning has unveiled Interwrite Workspace, a new K–12 software application intended to complement the company's line of interactive learning tools. Paired with Interwrite's whiteboard, pad, panel, or student response system, Workspace provides teachers with content, including an online lesson library of searchable, state-aligned interactive plans, all created by teachers. On the fun side is Interwrite Sims, a collection of Flash animations of various interactivities, from sorting simple shapes to geographic continents. Workspace comes free with a purchase of Interwrite hardware or as a stand- alone product for $249. www.interwritelearning.com.

Even the most high-minded among us should never be too proud to embrace the truly cute. Heaven knows, we're not. Hence, the Happy-Kid Web Cam. The playful little cyclops, available in purple or green, is completely bendable—just imagine him (her?) sitting, lying prone, or even hanging from your PC monitor. Oh yeah, you can also take pictures with it. Just point the eye and press the button for image capturing or videoconferencing. The USB Happy-Kid is plug and play with a resolution of 640 x 480 and 15 frames per second. It's hard to resist such a cutie, especially at $19. usb.brando.com.hk.

Move over Second Life, there's a new virtual environment in town. IAC Consumer Applications and Portals have launched a virtual space for its 4.7 million Zwinky users. Zwinky avatars are virtual personas that users create as their online alter egos. The new space, Zwinktopia, offers a social community for young teens, with 29 unique locations and dozens of games and activities. Users can shop, chat with friends, participate in events or simply hang out. With its millions of users, IAC claims it's one of the largest virtual worlds at launch. www.zwinky.com.

Whether your style's more R. Crumb than Charles Schultz, there's a potential comic artist inside all of us. So it seems, judging by the popularity of Comeeko, a free Web-based program for creating comic strips out of your own photos. Just select a comic layout, upload your pics, and add background colors, borders, and the all-important speech bubbles. Then there's a whole slew of other “fun stuff,” from tattoos and hats to chest hair (who knew there were so many different kinds?). That's Priya at left, daughter of SLJ Contributing Editor Etta Thornton-Verma, who doesn't need any enhancement at all. www.comeeko.com.

Now, those publishing books on their own can choose from a collection of high-quality images to illustrate and enhance their titles. In a unique licensing scheme, self-publishing service Lulu.com has partnered with Getty Images to allow users access to portions of Getty's visual content library. All images are available under a flexible royalty-free licensing model. So every time an item containing a licensed image is sold at Lulu.com, the image fee is included in the selling price and collected from the buyer. The deal gives budding authors a crack at the high-quality repository previously available only to big corporations and publishers. www.lulu.com.

Ever up on all things tech, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) has launched a page on social networking tool Ning. The YALSA Student Interest Group is intended to enhance networking among librarians just embarking on their careers, in addition to the New Members Round Table and NEXGEN listservs, according to the site. yalsasig.ning.com.

Since its creation in 1779, “Amazing Grace” has become one of the best loved hymns in America. A new Web site, created by the Library of Congress, documents the song's fascinating history, including its more than 3,000 published recordings. See the first printing of “Amazing Grace” by Englishman John Newton, a former slave trader turned pastor who worked to abolish slavery. Hear interpretations by a Baptist choir, Sam Cooke, a college marching band, Elvis, and alt-rock band the Lemonheads. memory.loc.gov/cocoon/ihas/html/grace/grace-home.html.

We'd all like for kids to be able to ditch those heavy backpacks that plague so many young shoulders these days. On the drawing board: SchoolPack. It's a touch screen/tablet that kids can scribble or write on as well as a regular LCD for textbooks and graphics. The design, still under development by Prashant Chandra, features a separate hard drive for each subject, with space for both the text and the student's notes. Now that's a satchel fit for the digital age.