Eric's just set me up with a beta version of Gmail (Thanks!). Looks neat, but I haven't really used it enough to see how much it has to offer. Its interesting features might come in handy if I use this account to send out resumes. That way, I can easily keep track of where my applications are going. Gmail allows each user 1G of storage space -- but in return, I would be allowing Google to scan my messages and then post relevant ads based on keywords in my message.
A Senator in California is not too keen about Gmail. "We think it's an absolute invasion of privacy." Doesn't really matter to me. As long as the ads don't come in pop-up form -- and Google advertising NEVER does. They sit neatly in a column down the right-hand side, so if I don't want to look at them, I don't have to. Can you imagine if a company like Doubleclick came up with a similar service? I'd be too busy closing pop-ups and pop-overs and pop-unders and squinting under flashy banners to get any emailing done.
Google did not pay me to write this. My last entry was just so negative! I figured that ending with something positive might help me sleep better tonight.