Yes, your computer is spying on you

The next time you make fun of someone who's concerned that their smart device is intrusive, remember this:

 

Click to biggify.

 

That's a screenshot of my computer screen as I was going through my email this morning. See those ads on the right? They're for quick study guides. Wanna know what I was looking at on Amazon yesterday? If you said quick study guides, you get a cookie, and not the type that's tracking your internet usage and reporting it back to God knows who. 

I personally don't care about Google Docs, but my college uses it and it occurred to me that it might be helpful if I learned something about it. I went to Barnes & Noble hoping to find a book on it (even an Idiot's Guide) but couldn't find anything. When I went to Amazon, the quick study guides for Google Docs popped up and I thought that since I'm not trying to become an expert - just navigate it competently - this might be a cheap, easy way to learn the basics, so I put one in my cart. And then didn't think about it again.

The next morning I'm going through my emails and guess what pops up in the ads on the right sidebar? That's right - quick study guides. NOT. CREEPY. AT. ALL.

And by not creepy at all, I mean TOTALLY CREEPY, INTRUSIVE, AND OFFENSIVE. Someone's getting rich selling my information (without my permission) and it's not me.