From PC World:
“Google opened up its Gmail Web mail service to a wider scope of users this week by randomly offering, for the first time, accounts to some visitors of the main Google.com page.
Until Monday, to get a Gmail account, a user had to be invited to the service by either Google or an existing Gmail user.”
I know Gmail invitations are everywhere now, but I still have a bunch if anyone wants one. Just email me and let me know.