Sunshine on your shoulder to make you happy
Winter is fully upon us. Whether you have Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) or Winter Blues, the milder version of the disorder, you are probably yearning for the warmth of the sun and the hypothalamus boosts it triggers.
The Litebook Elite is a portable device that contains 24 LEDS that mimic sunlight minus the dangerous UV radiation.
(Credit:
Litebook)
As the Gadgeteer (who suffers through Indiana winters) points out, many of us get to work and arrive home in the dark, leaving no opportunity for what little natural light is available during the winter day.
The Litebook Elite for $30 is intended to remedy those winter blahs or even jet lag. Litebook Elite claims that 30 days of use will help your body balance "the hormone of darkness" (melatonin) and boost production of the neurotransmitter serotonin. You plug in and position the Litebook so that it shines on your face, about 20 inches away, allowing those happy-inducing rays to sink in.
The light can be set to turn itself off after 15, 30, 45 or 60 minutes and has a rechargeable lithium ion battery that offers up to 2 hours of "sunshine." It comes with an AC adapter, its own travel bag and interchangeable plugs making it usable in the U.K., Australia and Europe, as well as in the U.S.
Julie Strietelmeier, the Gadgeteer who wrote a review on the Litebook Elite, is conducting her own test trial of the device.
In a software-driven world, it's easy to forget about the nuts and bolts. Whether it's cars, robots, personal gadgetry or industrial machines, Candace Lombardi examines the moving parts that keep our world rotating. A journalist who divides her time between the United States and the United Kingdom, Lombardi has written about technology for the sites of The New York Times, CNET, USA Today, MSN, ZDNet, Silicon.com, and GameSpot. E-mail her at candacelombardi@gmail.com. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not a current employee of CNET. 
