there's a new mac app called "pyro" available here:
>   http://www.karppinen.fi/pyro/

as it says on the site, pyro
>   demonstrates a new breed of applications
>   we call site-specific browsers—apps that are
>   about making a browser-based application
>   better with client-side technology while
>   keeping the user interface intact.

pyro works with "campfire", a web-based chat service.

this kind of application -- one that runs on the users
own machines, but connects them with the web -- is
how many e-book viewers of the future will be oriented.

-bowerbird