Machiavellianism

We have just become aware of the disease called Machiavellianism. People have it from birth so no matter how they are raised, they will still have social problems. It is a third of what psychologist call the "dark triad" of mental illness; and it shares this triad with narcissism and psychopathy. People who have this illness look at the entire world in terms of reward and risk hence their lives are focused on duplicity. They lie and cheat not for protection of self but for heightening their own reward, and they do not care who they hurt in the process. It is a very difficult to share a life with a person inflicted with this disease and it is very hard to treat. The only hope is that the person who has it, through feedback from the people in their lives, realizes it is wrong and is willing to go through intense psychotherapy.

As Tour de France wraps up today, it was a good race to watch. Schleck vs. Contador days of thick fog, aerial shots of catles and gorgeous French countryside.

Web Crumbs

We discovered how AOL is doing what it is doing and it is called "web crumbs". This is a new web marketing technique worse than cookies, as they can not be deleted. These markers are very new and hopefully will be deemed illegal by our government. They actually use aspect of virus programming to make themselves un-deletable once on your computer. They are embedded in web sites so you will not know they are there but when activated will lead you to specific web sites.

Maybe it is because we are old but we are wondering what is happening to the world.. Everyone is chasing a dollar so hard that they are giving up all sense of morality.

AOL 9.5 Warning

Do not download the AOL 9.5. AOL programmers have used virus technology to develop desktop icons that are not deletable! This has been reported to Associated Press so hopefully people will be warned my many avenues.

Shutter Island

Shutter Island is the best movie we have seen in a long time. DiCaprio should win an Oscar along with Martin Scorsese and Robert Richardson. Must see but be prepared for greatness. At the end, we sat speechless. Could have heard a pin drop. Then at the end of the credits, we discussed the film for an hour.

Trail of the Twister

Another Nancy Drew game has been released! We hope to finish it this month. It is packed with puzzles, some of which are new and some of which are hard, even at the Junior Detective level. Who will be the person sabotaging the storm chasers' equipment? Hah - we will have to wait and see!