This is the week of the Wave, Google's answer to Facebook, Twitter, Messenger and other sites we use to communicate with others on the Internet.

Google Wave is browser-based software that attempts to package together all the single functions offered by the other websites. While it is still in the pre-release stage, developers with some technical know-how can currently preview the software as a means of developing applications for the tool.

Lars Rasmussen, Google' software engineering manager and one of the creators of Wave describes the new tool as: "A wave is equal parts conversation and document, where people can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more...In Google Wave you create a wave and add people to it. Everyone on your wave can use richly formatted text, photos, gadgets, and even feeds from other sources on the Web. They can insert a reply or edit the wave directly. It's concurrent rich-text editing, where you see on your screen nearly instantly what your fellow collaborators are typing in your wave."

So in another year (if Google has its wish), expect to stop tweeting, messaging or Facebooking. We will all be waving.

A reader asks: "Life before Vista was so simple when all you had to do was get a Word document and insert a bit of clip art, but now it seems you have to download from a web site. I'm sure I remember you having a column some time back where you mentioned a good web site for this type of thing, and I do try to save your columns on subjects or advice I find interesting, but I recently had an apartment clear out, and I think I may have chucked some useful stuff. So if it isn't any trouble, I would appreciate you giving me that web site again. Unfortunately, I can't be more specific as to when you did the article."

Dear reader: To tell you the truth, I can't remember the article myself but perhaps it is time for an update, since clip art is used to good effect for so many PowerPoint presentations, business cards, and documents. It is good that the reader sent in the question as it led me to visit the Microsoft Office free clip art site and I found it is much improved. Gone are the days of scrappy, amateur-looking graphics everyone used to death.

Microsoft now has a clip art site of "150,000 free images and sounds" organised into different categories. The images are much more sophisticated than those around even five years ago. Since the site is so extensive I would advise using it for the kind of simple job detailed by the reader (she was making a business card for a friend). Microsoft's Clip Art and Media home is at http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/clipart/default.aspx

Of course there are lots of Web services claiming to offer free clip art to visitors, but beware as some of them are spam or hacker sites attempting to hijack your computer by getting you to download or open their malware.

You could also try a stock images site. I use a variety of such sites for my work, a practice which gives me a wider variety of choice, especially as one may be stronger in certain themes than others. We are talking about the micro-payment stock image sites, where you may pay anywhere from 50 cents to $1 or more, depending on the quality and use you specify. For a web project, or a small print drawing, you do not need a very high quality and so can get away with paying very little for unlimited use. Higher quality images will cost more, but not much more.

Some of these sites also offer their own free clip art galleries, so be sure to take full advantage of those services.

Many such sites require a subscription, but the best simply ask you to pay per image. The ones I use are: Dreamstime.com, iStockphoto.com and Fotolia.com. Of the three, Dreamstime offers free clip art galleries as a means of attracting you to their site.

You can also try Wikipedia Commons, the online encyclopaedia's online compilation of images that are copyright free, and therefore free for use. Of course check the terms of use for each image or illustration before chucking it on your document or website. Most images on Commons can be used in anyway seen fit by individuals. A few others require some sort of copyright acknowledgement. You will find many good images on Wikipedia Commons (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page).

Send any comments to elamin.ahmed@gmail.com