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A public experiment designed to send waves of smiles across the country hopes to banish the washed-out summertime bluesThousands of people are being sought to grin their way through next week as part of an ambitious attempt to lift the nation's spirits.Volunteers will be asked to try out one of several strategies designed to make themselves more cheerful in the hope that their new-found glee spreads to those around them.The five-day-long experiment is thought to be the first to investigate whether some techniques for boosting jollity are better than others. 'If someone is cheerful, they tend to cheer up those around them,' said Professor Richard Wiseman, a psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire. 'If we can get enough people, perhaps we cheer up the whole UK. It's a mad idea, but it's worth a go,' he said.Wiseman is hoping to recruit at least 5,000 people to take part in the experiment which begins on Monday. After completing an online happiness survey, participants will be sho

Two elderly people from Massachusetts were killed Thursday when they became trapped inside a car after a violent wreck in Rhode Island. Police say the two-car wreck happened around 3:50 p.m. in the...

A public experiment designed to send waves of smiles across the country hopes to banish the washed-out summertime bluesThousands of people are being sought to grin their way through next week as part of an ambitious attempt to lift the nation's spirits.Volunteers will be asked to try out one of several strategies designed to make themselves more cheerful in the hope that their new-found glee spreads to those around them.The five-day experiment is thought to be the first to investigate whether some techniques for boosting jollity are better than others. 'If someone is cheerful, they tend to cheer up those around them,' said Professor Richard Wiseman, a psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire. 'If we can get enough people, perhaps we cheer up the whole UK. It's a mad idea, but it's worth a go,' he said.Wiseman is hoping to recruit at least 5,000 people to take part in the experiment, which begins on Monday. After completing an online happiness survey, participants will be shown o

Adam Wrzeski notes a piece up at Create Digital Music by musician Kim Cascone (artist's bio) on switching from Apple to Linux for audio production: 'The [Apple] computer functioned as both sound design studio and stage instrument. I worked this way for ten years, faithfully following the upgrade path set forth by Apple and the various developers of the software I used. Continually upgrading required a substantial financial commitment on my part. ... I loaded up my Dell with all a selection of Linux audio applications and brought it with me on tour as an emergency backup to my tottering PowerBook. The Mini 9 could play back four tracks of 24-bit/96 kHz audio with effects — not bad for a netbook. The solution to my financial constraint became clear, and I bought a refurbished Dell Studio 15, installed Ubuntu on it, and set it up for sound production and business administration. The total cost was around $600 for the laptop plus a donation to a software developer — a far cry f

I'm excited and torn over the rumors swirling around the fabled Apple tablet device. Excited because Apple may finally be nearing the release of a new, next-generation product. Torn because I'm having a hard time figuring out if I could personally find enough value in such a device to actually buy it.

(Telecompaper) Serious damage has been caused to the 15,000-km undersea SAT-3 cable, which has resulted in major disruption to West African internet access and services, the BBC reports. Several countries, including Benin, Togo, Niger and Nigeria, have all been hit hard. The cable itself runs between europe (Portugal and Spain) to South Africa, via West Africa. Ladi Okuneye, chief marketing officer of Nigerian operator Suburban Telecom, noted that SAT-3 is currently the only fibre-optic cable serving West Africa. South African operator Telkom, one of the shareholders of SAT-3, has not said what caused the problems but said it was aware of 'a cable fault on the Benin branch that is being investigated'. Nigeria has been badly hit because around 70 percent of its bandwidth is routed through neighbouring Benin. The network, run by Suburban Telecom, was set up to bypass Nigeria's national operator Nitel, which runs the SAT-3 branch cable which lands in Nigeria. The SAT-3 consortium is in th

The mountains of garbage that have accumulated in public places around Toronto over the past month will start to disappear on Friday as the city moves to end the strike by municipal employees and clean up the streets.

The Black Hat security conference wrapped up today in Las Vegas. For those who couldn't attend, here are a few of the stories that came out of it. - As always, the Black Hat security conference has put our collective eyes on the latest research. This time around, attendees walk away from the conference with a fresh set of concerns about everything from the smart grid to the X.509 authentication scheme. The event wraps up today, as its sister ...

Ashton Kutcher knows the secret to happiness, and it's Demi Moore. 'The real trick is putting yourself around people you admire,' he says in the latest issue of Parade magazine (on newsstands Sunday). 'That's why I married my wife. I locked in the brightest light in the room.' His nearly four-year marriage to the 46-year-old actress is as strong as ever, thanks to a pact they made when they first... Join Us on Facebook and Twitter for even more up to the minute celebrity news and photos!

Dude looks like a lady! Jon Gosselin joked around with photographers Thursday outside his $1.1 million home in Wernersville, Pa., throwing on one of his estranged wife Kate's hats as he chatted on his cell phone. See what Kate Gosselin looked like as a kid Earlier in the day, with the TLC reality cameras rolling, he helped his daughters make tin can phones. See what celebs look like with... Join Us on Facebook and Twitter for even more up to the minute celebrity news and photos!