Mashups Affect Reporting

Mashups--take it literally. A mashup basically 'mashes up' two or more already-brilliant websites together, creating a true gem guaranteed to become a future newsroom's go-to staple.

Introducing the globe-trotting, multilingual journalist's favorite-- Twitrans. This particular mashup allows Twitter users to translate their tweets into different languages--14 to be exact.

Quite simply, Twitrans gets the job done; you send your non-translated tweet to the good people at Twitrans via Twitter, and then they translate it for you to any language of your choice and send that translated tweet back directly to your account.

From Hindi to Spanish, Twitrans makes for an incredible reporting tool when it comes to wanting to create international traffic.

It's probably one of the least complicated mashups I've personally seen and used so far. The site is partnered up with a translation service that uses actual people to translate your tweets!

So sticklers, rest assured; no more misplaced modifiers or switches in tense that only a run-of-the-mill electronic dictionary would produce for your online sentences.

Another great mashup I was able to come across was Woozor. Also great for the mobile writer, Woozor blends the genes of Google Maps and Weather.com, giving birth to a whole new race of mapping mashups.

What makes Woozor so special is that it can give 10-day weather forecasts in any part of the world the user chooses. The neatly designed webapp is also available in several different languages, adding to its worldwide appeal.

Boasting talents that go beyond a diverse community of visitors, Woozer is definitely a mashup that can be used by anyone with an internet connection, including your local weatherman.

Speaking of boasting talents, Pixelpipe is an awesome mashup perfect for the budding online journalist. Pixelpipe allows its users to upload photos, add video files and MP3s, and of course, publish text. It's almost comparable to what Blogger.com offers.

But the one unique detail that separates Pixelpipe from any personal blogging site is Pixelpipe's ability to span the information you upload over 50 social networks, making it the ultimate mashup for immediate content distribution.

Some of its most popular social networks include Flickr, Picasa, YouTube, Photobucket, Snapfish, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and tons more; all under Pixelpipe's omnipresent umbrella. 

Anyone can sign up for its free software, and you can even access your account and maneuver your content easily on your cell phone. Pixelpipe has everything you need to update breaking news on-the-go, and keep yourself entertained while riding CTA.

Last but not least, Triplify rounds out my top four mashup picks. Online Journalism pupils take note: Triplify will change your life.

Every good journalist knows that when reporting the news, clarity is key. In order to get the facts straight, the very first thing to turn to for the fastest answer possible would be an online search engine. But, which one first?

This is when Triplify comes into play. This soon-to-be cult favorite allows its users to type any word or phrase into its search engine and then view its coordinating search results across Yahoo, MSN, and Google.

It's basically a three-in-one online search engine, and its possibilities are endless. It truly lives up to its tagline: 'Search, Compare, and Sort!'.