I have one Gmail invite left, friends - and it's open for bidding. Post in the comments why you deserve it.

Thanks very much!

Oh, I forgot to put down why I deserve it. OK, I deserve it because I was the first to respond.

Sorry, Third Man - weak.

;)

I deserve it because when I'm Supreme Global Dictator, I will establish a Ministry of Taunting the French. This ministry will chiefly tinker with information ministry broadcasts in the former republic of France as follows;

They will elsewhere be engaged;

And most importantly - when I'm Supreme global Dictator, I will remember whether I got the Gmail invite.

'cause i ain't french?

Ok, Doug. That's pretty sharp.

Any other attempts?

Yeah, I'll have a go.

What is Gmail?

Google's proposed free e-mail service. It's in a closed beta stage right now, and signups are invite-only. Having a Gmail account right now is sort of an e-penis enhancement for geeks (and Lord knows, it wouldn't hurt me). The idea is mostly that if you get in now, you won't have to be "kewld00d23491293991@gmail.com" when it goes public, you can just be "cooldude@gmail.com". Plus you have something other people just can't have yet. More info here.

I deserve this because I didn't even know I had an e-penis, so it probably could use some enhancement. Plus I'm not likely to rub it in anyones face.

But I think that's about all you can really do with an e-penis.

Ok Since I really have no use for an e-penis (my computer has e-zits and wears horn rim glasses), you should give it to Doug.
Doug sounds like he has someone in mind to use it on even! Plus his post has bullet points (those are scary hard to set up).

Doug - you'll have to send me a real email.

Because I have come upon secret documents proving that Michael Moore (born 1954) is French (real name 'Michel') and that Chiraq (born 1932) is his biological father (Jacques lived for a time in the 50s in the States, remember?)...and Dom de Villepin (born 1953 in Morocco) and bin Laden (born 1957 in SodOff Arabia) are Moore's half-brothers...and, oh, what's this? Wait, I have to translate...Oh, NO! Proof! I have proof! Ha! I can also prove that John Kerry (born 1938) is the half-brother of...you'll never beLIEVE it!...yes, of CHIRAQ! John, Jack, Jean, Jacques...ha!

It all makes sense now...the Palme d'Or at Cannes for Moore thanks to papa, Howard Dean bizarrely losing it (was he drugged by a Kerry mole in the Dean campaign?) which left the way clear for, of course, Kerry! Hmmm...keh ree...kee ree...qui rit? qui rit! Don't you see? HE WHO LAUGHS!!! Qui rit! He is laughing at us, but not for long...now I have proof.

My friends, there is more, MUCH more...If you give me your last invite for Gmail...I will reveal ALL.

Uh oh, the address request is premature - that looks like solid competition. I'm dying to know which third reich luminary de Villepin is the illigitimate son of... and we haven't heard back from Andy yet.

But at any rate, Mike, I can't send you e-mail (I can't find an address for you), and cringe at the thought of spambots getting their claws on my "regular" account. Yourdaddyjt@hotmail.com is an account that I have access to though. Actually, now that I think about it I should probably start using it as a spam-catcher.

Doug - surf to my blog and look hard.

Better yet. Click my name. You can figure it out.

But..you *do* have some competition here.

Anyone for a e-penis contest?

Doug - surf to my blog and look hard

Look hard? Not the best choice of words when you're talking about ane-penis now, is it?

Val - you'll get my next invite. Doug worked too hard for this one.

;)

Is there any correlation between the Gmail betas and the “public service ads by google” banner on top of web site? (Serious question).

I'd bet they're based on the same ad targetting algorithm, or at least that the one for Gmail is a derivative of the one for the banner ads.

Nah - it's a separate entity - I just stuck google ads up there.

BTW, feel free to click on ALL the ads. Over and over again, after clearing cookies, of course.

So far, my only real complain with a web-based client is that there's no standard way to make mailto: links work with one. I found a Gmail browser plugin for Firefox, but it's not quite right. Ah well, maybe Google will release something akin to the IE toolbar for Mozilla browsers that'll integrate Gmail access...

And on the subject of Firefox plugins, Andy and Stef might be interested to know that I stumbled across a BugMeNot plugin also. Logins are just a right-click away once it's installed. Yummy. And Andy, there's at least one translation plugin...