As many know Google has come out with a free e-mail service called Gmail. Gmail offers 1 GB of free storage space (that's almost 500 times as much as competitors!), but in exchange displays ads on the side of your mailbox which are picked based on keywords scanned in your e-mail. Many people are up in arms over this, saying that it's an invasion of their privacy, though they don't seem to realize that services like AOL, Yahoo! and Hotmail do the same thing, and that all the scanning will be done by computers. Most outraged people seem to think there will be a guy in a small room smoking cigarettes all day going through their e-mail. Not so. And also, Gmail isn't even available yet, and is still in the testing stages. I however was lucky enough to become one of thousands who get to test it (you can e-mail me at bergwithfries@gmail.com and I'll tell you what ads pop up in relation to your e-mail). My testing spawned this conversation:

Me: So I have Gmail now.
Abigail: You know, they're reading all your messages.
Me: Good thing I use Yahoo! to send all my intel to the CIA.
Abigail: Of course. You have to kill me now, don't you?
Me: Mmm. Sadly, yes.
Abigail: It's okay. Occupational hazard. I understand. (pause) That is to say, I'm a counter-spy.
Me: Who do you work for?
Abigail: I work for French Guyana.
Me: The French Guyana? Nice. How's their dental plan?
Abigail: Not so great. But I accrue vacation days like you wouldn't believe.
Me: Shit.