Cyber Spy Keeps Eye Out For Cheaters

Where there’s a need, there’s a business opportunity, and 25-year-old Elizabeth Field saw a need, or at least a desire, to hunt down cyber-cheating spouses or sweeties.

More than a third of respondents to a woman.com poll said “hot chat” in cyberspace amounts to an affair. Upon seeing that, Field launched a service that, for a $100 flat fee, will hunt down your cheating partner in cyberspace.

In the five months since she launched www.infidelitybusters.com, Field has had both male and female clients. She lures the unsuspecting flirter to a chat room and when they accept her invitation for hot talk, she prints out a transcript and sends it to the client.

So far, Fields still has her day job working in the finance department of her dad’s car dealership. (From November Wired)

* Be careful out there: Number of people treated in hospital emergency rooms each year for injuries related to holiday decorations: 8,100. (From November/December Health)

* Less whining, please: A widely circulated report based on research at the University of Chicago says when wives go to work, their husband’s health suffers.

A survey of 2,867 married couples showed a husband’s odds of being in excellent or good health dropped by 25 percent three years after his wife went to work full time.

Apparently working wives have been hammered unfairly by this report. The survey is based on a question asking the husbands to rate their own health.

A subsequent study of these men found that, in reality, they were just as healthy as before their wives went to work. In fact, they were suffering no ill effects other than a perception they didn’t feel as good. (From November/December Health)

* What are they thinking? In a survey of 528 male and female drivers, 42 percent said they would pick up a hitchhiker wearing a beer logo T-shirt, but just 19 percent would pick up a hitchhiker wearing Ivy League college apparel. Drivers were least likely to pick up a hitchhiker wearing Brown University apparel, according to the survey by online marketer FreeRide.com. (From the Philadelphia Inquirer)

* Pass me a leg: You’ve heard stories about cannibalism, but where do you start? According to Stuff magazine, 56 percent of people surveyed said that if they had to resort to cannibalism, they would eat a leg first. (From the Philadelphia Inquirer)

* Quote of the week: “In a way, friendships are harder than marriage. When you’re married to someone, you’re likely to go through changes together, and proximity helps you to work through many of those changes. With a friend, there’s a lot more separation and autonomy, so you can really diverge in ways that are difficult to overcome.” essayist Barbara Ehrenreich (From November O)