Microsoft Office on the Web

Just in case last week's NY Times article Revamped Microsoft Office Will Be Free On the Web slipped by you. According to the article, the latest version, talked about for a really long time, will include the usual Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint, but this version will be available online for free allowing users to store documents on the Web. It is scheduled to be available in June of this year.

Users of the new version of Office will be able to share and work on the same documents and presentations over the Internet rather than e-mailing files back and forth to each other.

'Poking' Facebook User Led To An Arrest

Via Telegraph.co.uk, a woman was arrested for 'poking' a Facebook user.

Police deemed that 36-year-old Shannon Jackson violated a protection order – similar to a restraining order – by using the site's feature to attract the attention of another user.

The order previously obtained by the woman who received the poke banned Jackson from "telephoning, contacting or otherwise communicating with the petitioner".

We blogged about using Facebook to fire an employee, court papers being served by Facebook, court order served over Twitter, and now we write about a violation of a restraining order by using one of the Facebook applications to virtually poke another user. Any thoughts anyone?

America's National Parks

The Recreation and Tourism page of the USA.gov Web site has been updated by a new link National Parks: America's Best Idea Today.

For nearly 100 years, this best idea has been nurtured by the National Park Service. Over time, the number of national parks has increased and our mission has become more complex as the range of services we offer has grown beyond parks to meet the needs of thousands of towns and cities across the country. Filmmaker – and Honorary National Park Ranger – Ken Burns tells the story of the national parks and the people who helped create them in his new PBS film The National Parks: America's Best Idea.

Thoughts or comments?

Free Web-based Microsoft Office 2010

To follow up on our previous post featuring the free web-based Microsoft Office 2010, here is a YouTube demo video previewing the Office web application in Windows Live.

Microsoft Free Web Based Version of Office 2010

Via ReadWrite Enterprise, Steven Walling wrote an article titled Microsoft Previews Free Web-based Version of Office 2010 where he reviews the free web-based Microsoft office. Starting on September 17, Microsoft has made a limited preview of Word, Excel and PowerPoint available and "has officially said that a more widely-available beta of Web Apps will arrive this fall."

Click the title of the article (above) to access the full article that includes screenshots and short summaries by the author. Can Microsoft compete with already existing services such are Google Documents, Zoho, or ThinkFree? Any thoughts?

Federal Register On HeinOnline is Updated Daily

Via HeinOnline Weblog, in a post titled HeinOnline's Federal Register Coverage Is Now Updated Daily it is featured that federal register is daily updated.

Regular users of HeinOnline's Federal Register Library already know that with coverage starting in 1936, HeinOnline has the most comprehensive coverage of the Federal Register available online. Now, HeinOnline's coverage is updated daily with the most current Federal Register content available!

Starting at the end of July HeinOnline began updating the Federal Register on a daily basis. This means that you are now able to access yesterday’s Federal Register today! This current content is completely browseable, full-text searchable, and image-based, just like all other content in HeinOnline.

Thoughts? Comments?

New International Free and Open Source SoftwareLaw Review

A new International Free and Open Source Software Law Review launched on July 13, 2009. Access the very first volume (July 2009) in pdf format.

Andrew Katz of the new International Free and Open Source Software Law Review says, "OK, so it's not going to appear in airport bookstalls any time soon, but we think that the launch of the Review is a pretty big step forward for openness, and a sign that (1) free and open source software is moving into the mainstream; and (2) even lawyers can adopt a collaborative model and create something both free as in freedom, and as in beer."[boingboing]

The site describes this law review as:

The International Free and Open Source Software Law Review (IFOSS L. Rev.) is a collaborative legal publication aiming to increase knowledge and understanding among lawyers about Free and Open Source Software issues. Topics covered include copyright, licence implementation, license interpretation, software patents, open standards, case law and statutory changes.

Read more about the International Free and Open Source Software Law Review.