the internet knows my name

okay. thanks to cookies or IP addresses or whatever, when i go to certain websites, the page calls me by name. this is okay when it's a site i use often, when i'm on my own computer. but i have had two odd experiences concerning the internet calling me names. Amusing Anecdote #1: i took a year's worth of PE during one summer a few years ago, mainly because i hate getting myself all sweaty during the middle of the day, and i have an aversion to bathing in front of people. so. during this summer school, we went to the computer lab a couple of times to type stuff up, and since i'm a superstudent (ok, not really), i got done early. so i decided to check my email. typed in the address of my email provider, and the page came up greeting me by my name. how in the world does the internet know it's me? i wondered. i still don't know, but i assume i'd checked my email earlier on that same computer some other day, and it just remembered me. creepy, nonetheless. Anecdote 2: i just followed a link from lileks' site that led to an error screen from expedia (old bookmark). no biggie. but as my eyes followed the cursor up to the "back" button, i came across two words, slightly bolder than the rest of the page: "Welcome, Melville." my name is not melville. i never use expedia. why is the internet calling me melville? because my dad (who isn't named melville either) once used expedia to purchase plane tickets for my uncle. i never knew that uncle wes isn't really uncle wes, but uncle melville. i guess you learn something new every day.