Google Apps are web-based, free tools that anyone can use to do pretty much anything.

There is Blogger, the premier blogging service.

A Full featured Calendar.

Word Processing and Spreadsheet tools.

Of course, the famous Gmail mail service.

And of course Instant Messaging.

That's just the tip of the iceberg.   There are a slew of other products and even the experimental Google Labs where you can try the latest technology before anyone else (well, anyone else that doesn't know about google labs!).

Finally, as if all of this wasn't good enough, you can get a lot of these services customized for your own domain name using Google Apps for your Domain.  Simply register a domain name, such as "MyTomFoster.com", and then sign up.  You'll have your own personalized gmail service, Calendar, etc.  You can even give away 50 "accounts" to anyone you'd like.  

Some of the additions you can drop into your personalized Google page: