Google adds new links feature to Gmail

• Gmail users can customize the new Web Clips feature so that it displays links from RSS (Really Simple Syndication) or Atom syndication feeds or to news articles about specific topics, for example.
• "Each clip displays the source from which it was received, how long ago the clip was published, and a link to access the entire story or page containing the clip," according to an explanation of the new feature posted in Gmail's help section (http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answ...).
• Last week, Yahoo Inc. integrated an RSS reader into the new version of its Yahoo Mail Web mail service, which is still in beta and not generally available yet.
• For those uneasy about having the text of their messages scanned, Google clarifies that the automated process is done by computers and not people.
• When Gmail was first launched in April 2004, Google was harshly criticized for its decision to scan the text of messages in order to run relevant ads along with them.
• However, Google, like now, explained that the process was done by computers and has kept the practice to this day.
• Finally, Gmail now lets users view as HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) documents with OpenOffice, Microsoft (Profile, Products, Articles) Corp.
• Office and Adobe Systems (Profile, Products, Articles) Inc. PDF (Portable Document Format) file formats.
• This is convenient for "when you're on a mobile device or you don't want to install some new software just to view a document.
• Or if you just want to see it faster," according to a note on the What's New section of Gmail (http://mail.google.com/mail/help/about_...).
• To open a Gmail account, users must either request the service from Google by sending the company a text message from a mobile phone or be invited via e-mail by an existing Gmail user.