Amazon now thinks it knows who I am and what I want. It sends me emails about Harry Potter books, Blu-Ray discs and cookbooks. Also European history and art.
But nobody, not even my husband, knows what book I want right now. Yes, I went back to the hardware store and bought the Spain book today while Jim was at the barber shop. I haven’t cracked it open yet. Lest you haven’t read earlier posts there’s a PBS series on Spain with Mario Batali and Gwyneth Paltrow. I checked out an episode at 2 a.m. yesterday and it was with Mark Bittman, Gwyneth Paltrow and Claudia, who is also very pretty and seems to speak fluent Espanol.
This is tough to say as my husband is a software maven, but robots, excuse me, computers, can’t always pre-determine human behavior. That’s why we have humans. Sorry, honey. After years of my cooking, he actually said that a robot could do what I do. Does that robot know how much thyme and energy went into that last dish?
Thyme and Energy may be my my blogosphere in the new year. Look for it. Cook and physicist, me and Jim. Signed, Not A Robot
Cooking with Dee 
Interesting post. When I first read about this technology years ago, I was fascinated by the notion that computers could match up people by what they had revealed about their tastes. The “if you like this, you’ll probably like that” equation does work for most people after they have purchased a certain number of books, DVDs, or whatever.
Where it seems to fall apart is when there are too many “data points” for a person, usually meaning the person’s tastes are eclectic (it doesn’t work for me anymore — like you, my reading is all over the place). The Amazon computer might have data on 10,000 people who’ve bought 20 of the same books you have. But those 10,000 people might have a more narrow range or read fewer books, and it sounds like you have a broad range and read a lot. And that’s where the software fails — too many outliers. Ask your software-maven husband about programming for outliers. It ain’t easy!
As for robots cooking, that’s ridiculous — except for people who always follow recipes precisely. And what’s the fun in that? Good cooking is an art, not a science.
Love the blog, by the way.
What would he know? He, as Anonymous Goat (because I named his family’s first goats Eleanor and Rosa) doesn’t even know what a DVD is! After all, he only writes systems that run stock and commodities trading systems… and thinks a computer can cook his dinner.
Ah, I love him dearly. You take care and enjoy the holidays. Thanks for your positive comments on the blog – it’s been fun! The Outlier
Know any good first-person shooter games for the PS3? Not for me, of course. I’ve had the second red controller for over a year and it’s still in the original packaging. Gimme Top Chef instead. Dee