Don't Cry for Me, Seattle Pee-Eye

You know that Real Age test? Maybe not, if you're under 30 and don't give a rat's ass. But plenty of older folk take the damn thing, which ends with a promise to shave years off your age if you join RealAge.com. After all, the spokesman, Dr. Mehmet Oz, is on Oprah, for Christ sake. Well, it turns out (according to an article in the NYTimes), that RealAge.com sells your private information to pharma marketers, who then try to sell you shit that promises to make you feel younger. And who owns RealAge.com? Hearst Magazines, that's who. They bought the site for $60 to $70 million in 2007, according to the Times. And, yeah, they also own O, the Oprah Magazine. So let's stop shedding tears for the local fish-wrapper, shall we? The suits know perfectly well how to play the internet game, and whatever they're doing over at seattlepi.com isn't some half-assed online experiment. These guys are pros.