Okay, admittedly I really hope to bag a Scroogled coffee mug if they come back in stock, but the irony of learning this the same day I order my Scroogled shirt is thick.

Windows 8.1's 'Hero' ads -- brought to you by stealthy snooping | Microsoft windows - InfoWorld:

Here's the part Microsoft doesn't tell you -- the part the tech press neglects to mention: Bing Smart Search works by snooping on the searches you perform on your Windows 8.1 computer (there's no Smart Search in Windows 8).  Windows watches as you run local searches. Unless you specifically, explicitly search for Settings or Files, Smart Search bundles up all of your search terms and sends them to Bing, along with whatever tracking information Windows has at hand. (Perhaps your Windows account?) [emphasis mine -mfn]

Whoa! Local as in, "kittens.gif" searches? Certainly I've got that wrong. Right?

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