From: blockedofcourse@foo.invalid   
      
   I am increasingly amused -- to the point of dismay! -- about how   
   little common sense is noted in "answers" provided by tools.   
      
   Search engines, of course, are notoriously bad at allowing for   
   criteria refinement -- the more terms you add (increasing specificity),   
   the more results you get!   
      
   But, it seems to be creeping into more "solutions" -- where the   
   algorithm chosen simply doesn't exhibit common sense.   
      
   E.g., specifying "Penny's" [sic] in the GS gives me a location   
   some 1000+ miles from here!  Does the GPS (which could have been   
   observing ALL of my travels for the past decade -- never leaving   
   the city limits in that vehicle!) think I *suddenly* am interested   
   in a cross-country trek?  Wouldn't a more likely scenario be that   
   something is wrong with the criteria I've specified (or, its   
   interpretation of it)?   
      
   "I find no destinations within a 25 mile radius.  Would you like to   
   expand your search criteria?  Or, change the destination sought?"   
   (instead of trying to dick with a device while driving)   
      
   [You *do* know that it is "THE Home Depot" and not "Home Depot"]   
      
   SWMBO went looking for a woman's garment.  73,000 hits (at a brick   
   and mortar).  Really?  Do you even HAVE 70,000 items in stock???   
      
   So, instead of using the 6 words that THEIR web page had used to   
   describe the item -- or, the 10 digit number that was embedded in   
   the URL as a likely "item number" -- she should say, what:  "garment"?   
      
   Just because a machine is performing the task, doesn't mean it shouldn't   
   be "thinking about" the results it is providing ("How is providing   
   70,000 hits going to improve the shopping experience for this POTENTIAL   
   customer?  Maybe I should interact with them and ask for more guidance   
   instead of just throwing page after page at them and hoping they find   
   SOMETHING before closing the browser or moving off to Amazon, Costco...")   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)