sadness

'Tis the season to be jolly. And a lot of us are during the holidays, if statistical analyses of our tweets provide sufficient measure.

But overall happiness appears to be on a gradual decline since 2009, according to a University of Vermont analysis of some 46 billion words tweeted by 63 million users since 2009.

The team compared a wide range of words and phrases--including hahaha and lol--to "happiness scores" of the 10,000 most common English words. Words such as happy and laughter appear at the top of the 1-to-9 scale, while terrorist gets 1.30.

Not … Read more

If it's the end of the year, that must mean it's awards season. And in the world of Web culture, there's one site that hopes to have the final word on the best of the year's offerings.

That would be Urlesque, an AOL site that is becoming a must-visit for those interested in the latest and greatest Internet memes. In 2008, the site launched the Urlies, its first Web culture awards, and now, it is in the middle of collecting readers' votes for the best of 2010.

As you might expect, there are plenty of cat … Read more

We know it's not Halloween, but we here at MP3 Insider figured you could use a little horror in your life anyway. OK, so maybe it's a slow news week in MP3 player land, but that just happens to be the perfect excuse to rant about all the terrible choices portable audio device manufacturers have made over the years. But first, Donald and Jasmine eviscerate the awful packaging ensconcing the equally questionable earbuds from newcomer Ankit--trust us, if you've never watched the video before, it's worth it this time. Then, take a trip with us down memory lane that starts with the worst-ever MP3 player reviewed by CNET, and ends with a pair of unfortunate sneakers that never made it to market.

Subscribe in iTunes audio |  Subscribe in iTunes video | Subscribe in RSS audio |  Subscribe in RSS video… Read more

Some call it seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Others just call it the winter blues. But whatever you call it, if you happen to be one of the millions of poor schmucks who live in colder northern states, you may be aware that you're hitting the peak gloomy season, and it's not particularly fun.

One way to combat SAD is simply to get outside and absorb as much sunlight as you can during the daylight hours. However, sometimes it's just flat out too cold outside or that little thing called a job--if you're lucky enough to have one--keeps you in the office cave.

That's where something called light therapy comes in, and several companies sell small light boxes to combat the winter blues. The product I've been testing out in my windowless office in New York is called the GoLite Blu, which is made by Apollo Health but has the Philips brand on it (Philips Respironics bought Apollo in 2007).

The GoLite has been out for a while and uses something called Bluewave technology. Philips describes the glow the GoLite produces as a low-intensity blue light (470nm), but it's actually quite intense at the brightest setting. You're not supposed to look directly at the device, but instead shine it more at the side of your face for about 15-30 minutes a day (you can adjust the timer as well as the intensity of the light).

According to Philips, "using the right wavelength of light, you can trigger your active hormones naturally, boosting your mood and overcoming those down feelings, whatever the season."… Read more

If you're wondering just how long you can expect Klipsch's Image S4 earphones to last with normal wear and tear, the answer is 7 months, 27 days, 4 hours, 13 minutes, and 9 seconds (OK, maybe I am making up the minutes and seconds). Here's how it went down: I was power walking to pick up lunch when a rogue arm (my right one, to be exact) flew into the cable, yanking the right earpiece out of my ear. When I stuck it back in, nada. The 'bud was dead and wouldn't produce a sound.

Upon … Read more

In a bittersweet conclusion, a missing skier in the Swiss Alps was rescued with the help of Twitter and an iPhone, but it appears that his fellow skiing companion was found deceased after the two were separated from the rest of their group.

Tracking Twitter search for the term "verbier" (the region of the Alps where the two went missing) has brought much of the news together.

Blogger Robin Blandford of ByteSurgery.com rounded up some of the messages: one member of the ski trip Twittered that two members of the group were missing, and another posted a … Read more

And you thought your dark, cramped, dusty workspace was depressing. Have a look at the winners of the Wired News Saddest-Cubicle Contest, and get ready to appreciate your own scrappy little cube anew.

After all, it doesn't get too much worse than David Gunnells' cubicle (or does it?). The first-place winner of the contest, an IT guy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, spends his days in a windowless conference room, his desk hemmed in by heavily used filing cabinets. He sits near a poorly ventilated bathroom and shares a wall with a parking garage. His mother-in-law was … Read more

Do you eat ice cream when you're sad? I sure do. When I saw that my nasty co-worker Tim Moynihan had pitted the Beer-Launching Fridge against Keepon the Dancing Robot in his artificial intelligence showdown, I got totally emo because I had no idea who to vote for. Then I bought myself a pint of Phish Food and ate it for breakfast with a side of Kleenex, sunny side down.

But technology is always making our lives easier, and here's a gadget that can help me figure out just how much self-pity eating I'll need to do … Read more

The solar-powered hat fan taught us how to survive the summer heat, but what about the winter doldrums? Enter the "Feel Bright Light" from Hollywood Gadgets. A set of LED bulbs affixed underneath the brim of a visor bathe your face in happy light to help ward off seasonal affective disorder, for a mere $200. Our take: We'd rather stay in a permanent funk.