Shalom and Search History

I'm watching the DVD version of Rent right now, currently showing the La Vie Boheme scene. I think I like that scene on stage much better.

I just found out that so_severus and I both had the same Hebrew teacher (whom I absolutely adored!!!) while we were in college. I don't know why this excites me so much -- it's been years and I barely remember anything I learned -- but I'm thrilled to remember one of my favorite professors of all time. *hugs to Shalom, wherever he is*

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From the New York Times: Your Life as an Open Book

AOL’s misstep last week in briefly posting some 19 million Internet search queries made by more than 600,000 of its unwitting customers has reminded many Americans that their private searches — for solutions to debt or bunions or loneliness — are not entirely their own.

Also: Web queries offer clues to personal data

This is an interesting issue. How much can we know about a person just from his/her search history? How much of someone's search history actually defines them? Should I be suspected as an illegal immigrant just because I did a series of search about visas and the NY Immigration Coalition and how to live as an illegal alien in the city, all because I was doing research for an article I was writing? There are many sides to every person, and sometimes what constitutes as "evidence" from search histories isn't saying much after all.

I'm just glad that Google is still holding out on giving out its search information.