Planet Mad

Today's just been made better by a delivery from my credit card's favourite online shop. By now, they've built up a pretty good picture of the sort of stuff I like (chilled funky jazzy CDs, coupled with an unusual and eclectic taste in books) and the times at which I purchase them (late at night, often after a drink or two). Based on that information, they make (generally) good recommendations, some of which I buy, but many of which I already own.

Today's parcel will have upset all that: a script of Terry Pratchett's Wyrd Sisters, a video of Rex the Runt, a CD called Sounds from the Verve Hi-Fi compiled by the Thievery Corporation, a CD of Round the Horne and a copy of The City of God against the Pagans by St Augustine. How could any recommendation system predict anything meaningful based on that jumble? Apart, that is, from that epic, well-known bestseller Become A Jazz-Listening Theologian With A Penchant For Clever Animated Plasticene And Old Radio Shows In Just TEN Days...