We're So Screwed

I needed an address for "Nepenthe," a restaurant in Big Sur where I meet my friend John once or twice a month for drinks and dinner.

So I type "Nepenthe" into Google, and here's what I get.

You have no reason to recognize the pictures, but I certainly did. They are all of  John and me, or ones we have taken, and which we posted to Picasa, Google's photo-sharing service. 

So just to be clear: I typed "Nepenthe" into Google, and f'ing Google figured out it was me running the search, and therefore anything attached to me--like my Picasa pictures--that were associated with Nepenthe should be displayed in the search results.

Shit.

Do we really want Google/Facebook/Microsoft/Twitter making those connections?

Oh, never mind, how silly of me. It doesn't matter what we want. 

I guess we can take solace from the fact that Google et al are not only using technology like this for the purpose of selling us more valuable stuff, but are also providing all the information about us to the government. Making us safe, you know, from terrorists.

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