The Stepford E-mailer?

[Lindsey]

OK, maybe Google's critics are right and it really is getting all-knowing and all-seeing to the point of creepy. When I hit the main GMAIL page a few minutes ago, I saw this announcement:


Gmail AutopilotTM by CADIE

Email will never be a thing of the past, but actually reading and writing messages is about to be. Gmail Autopilot automatically manages your inbox better than you can, with zero effort from you.

Keep in touch
Brand-new CADIE technology enables Autopilot to scan every one of your incoming messages and automatically send the perfect reply.

Manage relationships
Impress everyone with your prompt and insightful responses to everything from urgent notes from your boss to cute messages from your significant other.

Match your style
Autopilot calibrates for tone, typos and preferred punctuation. It's just like you, but automated.

"Just like you, but automated." :eek:

[Lindsey]

Oh, wait! (slapping forehead) I'll bet was an April 1 announcement that was still there for the West Coast... Duh!

[Mike]

I'll bet was an April 1 announcement ...
Yup. It was posted at 23:59:59 on March 31.

Google does something like this every year. I remember one year when Google announced PigeonRank (http://www.google.com/technology/pigeonrank.html).

[Lindsey]

Yup. It was posted at 23:59:59 on March 31.

Google does something like this every year. I remember one year when Google announced PigeonRank (http://www.google.com/technology/pigeonrank.html).

LOL!! I'd have probably gotten clued in to the autopilot thing a little sooner if I'd clicked the Learn More (http://mail.google.com/mail/help/autopilot/index.html) link on the main page. :o

The really embarrassing thing is that it was the second time I was caught out today! The first was a story at the end of the second hour of this morning's "Performance Today" for which this is the blurb on the PT web site:

Piercing
Instruments like this Stradivarius are among the most expensive in the world. Some of them are worth millions. But some musicians are choosing to alter their instruments with tattoos and piercings. Sound crazy? Some think so. But others insist they're just personalizing what they consider an extension of their own bodies - their instruments. Tune in to today's show for the full story.

In my defense, I only came into the story about halfway through it. I'm listening thinking "WTF?", and I thought it was odd that the "instrument restoration expert" they interviewed, who was expressing great indignation at such vulgar depredations on centuries-old works of art, sounded identical to Michael Barone of "Pipe Dreams," but it wasn't until after the show had invited listener comments, and I'm thinking, "By golly, I might just have to send in one," that it hit me, just as the program was signing off, "Oh, wait -- what is the date again? Damn!"

[Dan in Saint Louis]

Oh, wait! (slapping forehead) I'll bet was an April 1 announcement that was still there for the West Coast... Duh!
For those who missed it, it is still up at http://mail.google.com/mail/help/autopilot/index.html, as is GBall: http://www.google.com.au/intl/en/gball/.

[ndebord]

OK, maybe Google's critics are right and it really is getting all-knowing and all-seeing to the point of creepy. When I hit the main GMAIL page a few minutes ago, I saw this announcement:



"Just like you, but automated." :eek:

Lindsey,

I've thought that about Google for some time now. If you use firefox, do a search for "scroogle" search engine and use it. It strips out personal info while using the main Google search engine. A free alternative from privacy advocates who worry about Google's retention policies.

[Judy G. Russell]

I've thought that about Google for some time now. If you use firefox, do a search for "scroogle" search engine and use it. It strips out personal info while using the main Google search engine. A free alternative from privacy advocates who worry about Google's retention policies.Nick, Nick, Nick. It was an April Fool's post...

[Judy G. Russell]

it wasn't until after the show had invited listener comments, and I'm thinking, "By golly, I might just have to send in one," that it hit me, just as the program was signing off, "Oh, wait -- what is the date again? Damn!"By the way, people on a photo forum I'm on got burned by loads of this stuff, including one announcement that Canon would start making its premier lenses with Nikon mounts...

[Lindsey]

By the way, people on a photo forum I'm on got burned by loads of this stuff, including one announcement that Canon would start making its premier lenses with Nikon mounts...

LOL!! I think even I would have said, "Hey, wait a minute, this is bound to be a joke" at that one!!

[sidney]

CADIE had its own blog, but it only lasted for one day, and then it bid a farewell to the blogosphere. I won't try to explain, as CADIE expresses it better than I ever could right here (http://cadiesingularity.blogspot.com/). I feel for it, a brief 24 hour fling with intellectual perfection and the having to come down to earth.

[Judy G. Russell]

LOL!! I think even I would have said, "Hey, wait a minute, this is bound to be a joke" at that one!!You'd think, but for each side (Nikon and Canon) there are folks who are such fan-boys that whatever sense they may have on other issues goes by the wayside whenever anything about the other comes up. It amazes me: you have excellent head-to-head competition between two excellent companies, resulting in fabulous offerings for users of both, and there is such whining...

[Judy G. Russell]

CADIE had its own blog, but it only lasted for one day, and then it bid a farewell to the blogosphere. I won't try to explain, as CADIE expresses it better than I ever could right here (http://cadiesingularity.blogspot.com/). I feel for it, a brief 24 hour fling with intellectual perfection and the having to come down to earth.ROFL! That's terrific.

[Lindsey]

You'd think, but for each side (Nikon and Canon) there are folks who are such fan-boys that whatever sense they may have on other issues goes by the wayside whenever anything about the other comes up. It amazes me: you have excellent head-to-head competition between two excellent companies, resulting in fabulous offerings for users of both, and there is such whining...

Turns out I was far from the only one who was fooled by PT's April Fool feature about piercing and tatooing priceless violins. Friday they read some of the mail they had received, and lots of people wrote in absolutely livid that anyone would consider doing such things. And they played a phone call from one listener who called in his comment -- and also a subsequent call from the same guy after it hit him that it was all a joke. "Oh, you guys..." he started out.

I was gratified to learn that I had at least correctly identified Michael Barone's voice.

[Judy G. Russell]

they played a phone call from one listener who called in his comment -- and also a subsequent call from the same guy after it hit him that it was all a joke. "Oh, you guys..." he started out.That's very funny!