Hello, my name is Shawn. This is where I put things. This site has been active since 2002. A lot has changed since then but basically I'm still writing ridiculous articles about ridiculous things. You can also look at my As anyone using Gmail knows, the selection of ads on the right can sometimes be comical. But the one I just got was a bit disturbing. It was in an e-mail from my father. The ad read:
We’re sorry your dad died
Come create a memorial in his name Ensure he is Remembered Forever
Jesus! There’s something about this ad that just really got me. That there is a company optimizing their ads in hopes of them appearing in death-related e-mails is creepy but not surprising. But I started to wonder, what if this ad appeared in a real e-mail about someone’s death? Wouldn’t I be mortified to see that ad? Is there any chance in a million years I’d be like “Oh cool, let me click this,” while I’m crying my eyes out? And in an e-mail that was not about death, it just came of startlingly inappropriate.