There's been much talk of 'Web 2.0' of late, and how 'ajax' powered sites will change the way we intereact with web applications. Whether you think this is much ado about nothing or the transition to a new era of dot.boom, (or as I do, somewhere in between), you should check out Writely, a browser-based word processor.

MacOS comes with it built in, and if you've added a third party ssh client it is probably the wonderful iterm. On Windows I've been recommending putty for years, but recently I discovered a credible cross platform alternative, the java-based MindTerm.

Vienna is a very promising new free RSS reader for MacOS... it's small and fast and has two really great features - first, it's pretty simple to re-style the visual appearance of the feeds using html and css. Second and even better is the ability to create what it calls 'smart folders' - these are meta-feeds which are created by parsing the contents of all your feeds and creating a new feed based on a comprehensive set of filters.

If you're on a Mac, Ecto is the way to go, but the PC version of Ecto is not nearly as good as its Mac sibling. Check out Qumana, a free weblog editing client. It supports all the major weblog platforms, has a WYSIWYG editor, and supports image uploading and drag and drop. It also features a somewhat gimmicky 'droppad' that you can drop images, links, and pictures onto to initiate the creation of a new weblog entry, but you can deactivate it if you find it distracting.

Need a free, simple to use cross platform html editor? Check out Nvu. It's based on the old, oft-maligned Netscape Composer, but Linspire has done a ton of work updating the interface, adding features like a site manager, and improving standards compliance. This tool can easily replace Dreamweaver/GoLive in a lot of campus contexts - for simple student website projects, for lab machine installs, and even (depending on your campus web environment) for faculty and staff who have simple html authoring needs.

Does your campus block Instant Messaging for security reasons, or lack access to the messaging client you normally use on its lab machines? Or perhaps you travel frequently and find yourself in an internet cafe or library without access to your IM client. If any of these circumstances apply to you, you may find Meebo useful. Meebo is an ajax-powered, web-based instant messaging platform that supports AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and MSN.

There are a variety of wiki engines available (quite the variety, actually), but over the past year or so Mediawiki has emerged as one of if not the most popular wiki package. This is due in part to the popularity of the wikipedia and its sister projects, and partly due to the strength of their software.

Screen recordings can be a great teaching tool, especially for visual learners. If you've never seen one before, check out jot.com's collection of wiki editing tutorials. You may notice they're created with Camtasia Studio, which is an excellent screen recording authoring package. Unfortunately at $299 it's out of the reach of some budgets. If you're interested in screen recording but can't afford Camtasia Studio, or if you'd prefer to experiment before committing, check out Camstudio or Wink.

The bookmarkshomefirefox extension allows you to turn your default browser page into an organized, aesthetically pleasing presentation of your own bookmarks, including your 'live bookmarks' (ie RSS feeds).

Perhaps you're familiar with Corel's natural media painting application Painter. If you've ever had the desire to play around with it, but can't justify the expense, check out Ambient Design's free Artrage.