AVR-Chat

snipped stuff about Google's 'Gmail' and needing an invitation, etc.

I'm curious whether 'Gmail' has anything that sets it apart from, let's 
say, 'Hotmail'.  I've had a couple of Hotmail accounts over the years 
that I practically _never_ use, and then I guess they end up expiring or 
something.  I only use one in rare instances when I want to communicate 
with someone but feel that there might be some significant chance of 
getting severely spammed.  Otherwise, I just use my regular email 
address that my ISP has included as part of my monthly connection fee, 
and with the filter that Netscape 7 provides, I get practically no spam 
at all.  The only significant spam nuisance that I am forced to contend 
with is the crap that those assholes put on newsgroups.  Does anyone 
know of a filter that will work for newsgroups?  And what makes Gmail 
distinctive?

Thanks.

Bill Velek