[chunksmediocrites]

The former well-worn story of consumer data mining from days of yore: a major airline decided to send thank-you cards to flyers, as in "Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds for flying to vacation destination X!"- the only problem being that some of those duo-vacations didn't actually include the supposed Mrs. Reynolds, but rather another lady friend. Making for some awkward conversations with the real Mrs. Reynolds and angry calls to the airlines, who promptly stopped sending out thank-you notes.

As to the OP: I'm mostly the same name or a slight variation, though in hindsight it is a little long and probably irritating to type. I use one different handle to comment on articles by Megan McArdle because I'm embarrassed to be there I think, and I decided to try something shorter.

What I've noticed lately is surfing for info has become harder as more sites are behind "free registration" or requirements to log in via Facebook or other social media, after which there are more than a few steps to remove oneself from getting constant email updates, your every use of their site posted to your Facebook account, and other intrusive bullshit just so you can see what someone replied on Answer.com or the like.