If you read a book that feels as though it was written by a robot, nowadays, chances are that your hunch is exactly right. I learned from this column by Improbable Research editor Marc Abrahams that a prof called Philip M Parker has patented a device to author and market books. Thousands of them. At an unbeatable price of 12 p per title (although the customer eventually pays a lot more for the book).

If you don't believe me, do an amazon search.

Right now there are more than 85,000 search results, and the best-selling title is:

The 2007 Import and Export Market for Household Refrigerators in Czech Republic

No joke.