This post originated from an RSS feed registered with Java Buzz by Weiqi Gao. Original Post: The Amazon.com Spam Inference Engine Feed Title: Weiqi Gao's Weblog Feed URL: http://www.weiqigao.com/blog/rss.xml Feed Description: Sharing My Experience... Latest Java Buzz Posts Latest Java Buzz Posts by Weiqi Gao Latest Posts From Weiqi Gao's Weblog

Have I told you I love Amazon.com spams? They keep on getting more and more creative and suggesting books in areas I have not the faintest interest in buying:

Back in the old days, when they told me people who bought a HP LaserJet 1100 ink cartridge also bought ink cartridges for the Canon C-120, I can at least see the logic in their inference.

But how could they jump from network programming to system on silicon is beyond me.

My guess would be Joe, who developed the inference engine, left Amazon.com. And he did not tell his colleagues in Bangalore that they are not supposed to crank the "stretch.imagination" parameter up to beyond 1:

• 0 is lame
• 1 is reasonable
• 2 is hilarious
• 3 is universal

You just wait. One of these days they are going to crank that number up to 3, and the internet will be filled with Amazon spams for forty years:

foreach (book1 in the catalog,
         book2 in the catalog,
         dummy in customer)
where (dummy bought book1) {
  sendEmail(to: dummy,
            youBought: book1,
            youWillLove: book2);
}