also a straight line is not a good fit to the points ($P_{\ge \chi^2}$ suddenly drops below $0.1$). For our $H_0$ determination, $z_{\rm max}=0.17$, $P_{\ge \chi^2}=0.32$, $z_{\rm
eff}=0.09$, and the correction from $H(z_{\rm eff})$ to $H_0$ is a $4\%$ effect. We obtain $H_0=69\pm 12$ km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$.

Our $H_0$ determination is in good agreement with the Hubble Key Project measurement [$h = 0.72 \pm 0.03 \pm 0.0 7$; @Freedman+01], with the valued derived from the joint likelihood analysis of [*WMAP*]{} + 2dFGRS + Lyman-$\alpha$ forest power spectrum [$h =
0.71^{+0.04}_{-0.08}$; @SpergelWMAP03], with gravitational lens time delay determinations [$h = 0.59^{+0.12}_{-0.07} \pm
0.03$; @TreuKoopmans02], and Sunyaev-Zeldovich measurements [$h =
0.60^{+0.04+0.13}_{0.04-0.18}$; @Reese+02]. We emphasize that our method is fully independent from any of the above measurements; it is reassuring that so many different methods yield such a consistent value for $H_0$.

Conclusions
===========

We have obtained tight constraints on the effective value of $w$ using solely the determination of the ages of the oldest Galactic globular clusters and the observed position of the first acoustic peak of the CMB power spectrum. Our constraint on $w$ is in good agreement with that of @SpergelWMAP03, but is subject to different possible systematics and is 