Autogenerated Degeneration

I have Gmail. My window has a plethora of links when I check my mail.

"What are these links?
Gmail uses a completely automated process to provide useful information and relevant ads in the sidebar of your Gmail account pages." -from the Gmail Help window.

I started paying attention to the links, in relation to the content of my messages, and sometimes its pretty hard to figure out what the connection was and usually good for a chuckle or two.

Links from an auto generated email notifying me that I had a new comment to my blog, which happened to be about driving slowly in my new hybrid:
Horse Ringtones - Horse.ToneTunes4u.com - Get Horse ringtones. Complimentary
Your Parenting Style - Are you a Perfect Mom or a Slacker Mom? Take the Fun Quiz Today!www.AreYouASlackerMom.com
Timber Frame Horse Barns - Quality & affordable barn designs Engineered specific to your sitewww.rodeobarns.com
Horse Drawn Vehicles - Family founded and operated business since 1974www.buggy.com
Play Howrse - Breed your virtual horse, manage your equestrian center!www.howrse.com

Links from a conversation between Crystal and I where she sent me the link to her blog, and I responded saying I had read and enjoyed them.
Coffee Exposed - www.coffeefool.com - A shocking secret coffee co's don't want
The Impossible Quiz - This (almost) impossible quiz will test your intellect & your patienceQuizRocket.com/impossible-quiz
Oh No - I'm Emo - Are You Emo?Take the fun Quiz!TheEmoQuiz.com
Funny-Offensive T Shirts - Great T Shirts. Mean Wild and Rude Small - 4XL Available Mens/Womenswww.DeathRowTshirts.com
Today's Horoscopes - Find Out What Your Future Holds! You Must Choose Red or Blue.MorpheusKnows.com

Didn't Gmail say "RELEVANT?"

Links from a message from Sean with the link and his password to a site that shows sitcoms, (no conversation, just the link, his username and password):
Coffee Exposed - www.coffeefool.com - A shocking secret coffee co's don't want
Attention Mothers - -Are you a Perfect Mom or a Slacker Mom? Take the Fun Quiz Today!www.AreYouASlackerMom.com
Cinderella Cheese Cake Co - Philly Style Gourmet Cheese Cakes Shipped Anywhere in the U.S.Awww.cinderellacheesecakecoinc.com
Blue Cheese Stuffed Olive - Imported from Spain and stuffed with Wisconsin Blue Cheesewww.olive-bar.com
Prepare to be Shocked - Millions have already taken this amazing test. What's your RealAge?www.RealAge.com
Baby Names - Find Unique, Popular, Bibical, Family & Celebrity Baby Names.bestbabynames.com

Wow, its hard to even begin figuring those out...

In all fairness, the links are frequently pretty close, like when Paul sent me an article on the Civic hybrid, the links were for hybrids or Civics, or things that made sense. I correspond with some classmates, and we share templates sometimes, and those links actually look 'relevant' and helpful. I might even use them. And some of them are almost spooky, like when Crystal sent pics of a dinner we had with Gabe in a restaurant:
Kashi® Official Site - www.Kashi.com - The Healthy Option That Tastes Great
Are you Johnny Depp? - It's Scary Accurate To See What Celebrity You Are. Find Out Now!www.CelebrityOrJoe.com
Free Oreo Cakesters - Get Your Free Oreo Cakesters Here. Free Oreo Cakesters On Us!NabiscoWorld.com
Topless Sandals - Free Shipping - Order Now & Save You'll love the comfort & freedom!www.OriginalToplessSandals.com
Teen Pics - Meet & Socialize With Teens. See Pics. 100% Free!Teen.PerfSpot.com
Low Rise Thongs - Compare Low rise thongs and other Thongswww.Ave99.com/Thongs

I know, doesn't seem spooky at the outset, but Crystal eats Kashi a lot, if not every day, and there was nothing I could pin down in her two short sentence message that would cause that connection. And low rise thongs? Relevant to "{pics} from the last dinner I had with GABE--that place was great by the way, we'll have to make plans to go back." ???

I'm going to play a game with Gmail in the very near future, and send a variety of messages to my gmail account from my work email. I'll include words like "naked", "missing money", "undercover", "dog and pony", "size 17", "alien friends", etc. and see what links are autogenerated as relevant. Should be good for a laugh.

www.peace.com