Wednesday, April 1, 2009

No foolin'

Today is April Fool's Day, my least favorite day of the entire year.

What is it about today that makes otherwise sane human beings think they are justified in acting like thoughtless idiots?

Silliness is one thing: Google released its CADIE "Artificial Intelligence" program at 11:59:59 last night. It's a program that, among other things, promises to read and respond to emails on your behalf. The first example of how Google AutoPilot works is that when you receive one of those Nigerian pyramid scam emails, it replies by helpfully providing your bank account information, social security number, and your mother's maiden name. Cute.

It's the "practical joker" that ruins this day...the "friend" who has a co-worker call you, pretending to be someone from your credit card company, informing you of thousands of dollars in unauthorized charges that have hit your account. Yeah, that's real funny.

Ugh...a perfect day to unplug the phone and stay in bed, if you ask me.

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