Google Apps

Cities Moving from Microsoft Office to Google Apps - Windows Software News Story: "The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously earlier this week to outsource its e-mail system to Google Inc., according to an article in the Los Angeles Times. The contract is worth $7.25 million and covers 30,000 employees.

In June, Washington, D.C. made a similar decision, signing a contract worth almost $500,000 for its 38,000 municipal employees to use Google's e-mail, spreadsheet and word- processing programs, giving them an Internet-based alternative to Microsoft Corp.'s Office software, installed on computers, according to Bloomberg."

Google Wave

danieltenner.com — What problems does Google Wave solve?:
"There are countless pundits and other tech gurus describing Google Wave as a disappointment, lately. Most of that seems to come from the fact that nobody seems to get what Wave is for. So they compare it to social media.

Is Wave the next Twitter? Nope. Is it the next Facebook? Nope. Is it going to replace Instant Messengers? Possibly, in some circumstances, but not any time soon. . . . . ."

Usenet

What is a Usenet Newsgroup? - Groups Help: "Usenet is an online bulletin board system that began at Duke University in 1979. Usenet users can post messages to newsgroups that can be read (and replied to) by anyone who has access to the system through a newsreader. Over the years, the number of newsgroups has reached thousands, hosted all over the world and covering every conceivable topic.

Google Groups Beta contains the world's most comprehensive archive of Usenet postings, dating back to 1981. Google Groups Beta eliminates the need for a newsreader and lets you search this archive the same way that you would search on the web. You can also use Google Groups Beta to post your own comments to an existing Usenet newsgroup."