I have been invited to Gmail! w00t! 1 GB of space baby!
The layout seems to be very simple and I like it. Simplicity with a extraterrestrial free space is good. And just to show off, here is what Google sent me:
First off, welcome. And thanks for agreeing to help us test Gmail. By now you probably know the key ways in which Gmail differs from traditional webmail services. Searching instead of filing. A free gigabyte of storage. Messages displayed in context as conversations. So what else is new?
Gmail has many other special features that will become apparent as you use your account. You’ll find answers to most of your questions in our searchable help section, which includes a Getting Started guide. You’ll find information there on such topics as:
How to use address auto-complete
Setting up filters for incoming mail
Using advanced search options
You may also have noticed some text ads or related links to the right of this message. They’re placed there in the same way that ads are placed alongside Google search results and, through our AdSense program, on content pages across the web. The matching of ads to content in your Gmail messages is performed entirely by computers; never by people. Because the ads and links are matched to information that is of interest to you, we hope you’ll find them relevant and useful.
You’re one of the very first people to use Gmail. Your input will help determine how it evolves, so we encourage you to send your feedback, suggestions and questions to us. But mostly, we hope you’ll enjoy experimenting with Google’s approach to email.
Speedy Delivery,
The Gmail Team
Of course, there is a talk that Gmail violates privacy by scanning the private mail in order to display ads. But for the time being, the opportunity cost is low for me. I am willing to sacrifice a bit of privacy for one of my favorite firms. It’s Google for God’s sake. Who hates Google?
Maybe Yahoo! and MSN but hey, almost all of us hate MSN, don’t we?
And Earth Day is two more days. Do your bit for Mother Earth by reading the mail below!
Dear Mohd Hafiz, This Thursday, April 22, is Earth Day, and I have some great
news! Thanks to the incredible support from more than 850 online
donors, we have set a one-week online fundraising record for
Environmental Defense. We are now over $150,000 toward our June
1 goal of $725,000.
This is tremendous first week, and we thank everyone who joined
the 51 Club. Your commitment to Environmental Defense Action
Fund and our work to pass the McCain-Lieberman global warming
bill has gotten our campaign off to a terrific start!
If you have not yet joined the 51 Club with a minimum donation
of $51, don’t wait any longer! If you have already joined,
please consider a second or a third gift now —
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/n11Lsyp1SaI_/
Your support is critical if we are to win the 51 votes necessary
to pass the McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act in the
Senate.
The odds are against us. Passing the most comprehensive and
practical global warming proposal ever offered in Congress will
be tough. Frankly, the opposition from special interest
lobbyists remains strong. It is precisely because
McCain-Lieberman takes such an important step toward reducing
pollution that the big polluters and many oil, energy and auto
companies are spending millions to stop it.
ExxonMobil is one such company. The extent of ExxonMobil’s
cynical public relations campaign came to light in a recent PBS
report on NOW with Bill Moyers, which reported that the company
has funneled millions of dollars to organizations that raise
doubts about global warming. Their basic strategy was laid out
in a confidential memo that blatantly spelled out their
disinformation tactics. The memo, titled “A Global Climate
Science Communications Action Plan,” reads: “Victory will be
achieved when uncertainties in climate science become part of
the conventional wisdom.”
Let us be clear: any type of “victory” ExxonMobil will claim in
pulling the wool over the public’s eyes will be short-lived.
There is scientific consensus about the dangers of global
warming, and corporate interests should not sway you from this
fact. We are up against some mighty foes, and the stakes are too
high to back down. This is why we are asking for your help
again.
So, this Earth Week, act now and join the 51 Club today with a
minimum donation of $51. Together, we can counter the special
interests and win this critical vote —
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/n11Lsyp1SaI_/
Sincerely,
Ben Smith
Manager of Online Activism
Environmental Defense Action Fund
PS: Thanks to the over 260,000 people who have signed our online
Emissions Petition supporting the McCain-Lieberman bill. Thanks
also to the hundreds of people who have mailed and faxed in
print petitions, which continue flooding into our mailroom every
day.
Fifty one bucks?
What can I say? Die Grunen: ekologisch, sozial, basisdemokratisch, gewaltfrei.
Anything for a noble cause.
One more thing, today in the Michigan Daily, Jess Piskor has written one of the best pieces the paper has ever published this semester:
The leaders of this worldwide revolutionary message are without doubt Electronic Arts, Chevrolet and Nike. Their slogans, taken together clearly spell out what needs to happen: “Challenge everything.” “Start a Revolution” – “Just do it.”
Kudos. Finally, after a lot of crap, somebody actually tries to reinstitute glory to the Daily editorial board.
p/s – Monaco is on fire.
