“I’m in the mood for love,” sang Dean Martin and dozens of others. The path to seduction involves getting the other party in the mood. Author Robert Greene offers helpful advice in his book The Art of Seduction: “Human beings are immensely suggestible; their moods will easily spread to the people around them. In fact…More
Tag Archives: mood
Why music reaches the parts that architecture can’t
Physical spaces are charged with meaning and emotion for most of us — some spaces more than others. But it’s rare to enter a building or encounter spectacular scenery and experience the same intensity of emotion many of us feel on hearing a piece of music, particularly music that fits the mood of the moment,…More
Mood machines
Machines that don’t work invariably put people in a bad mood. But the relationship between machines, mood and failure provides many sources of interest. “Mood machine” is not just an appealing alliteration. Type it into your search engine. There’s something intriguing about a machine that claims to put you in the mood (especially a good…More
The melancholy medium
It’s depressing when spoilsports sully the open and aspirational ethos of the Internet with anxieties and obsessions about cyber wars (CNN). Two weeks ago the Independent.ie reported, “North Korea has blamed South Korea and the United States for cyber attacks that temporarily shut down websites at a time of heightened tensions over the North’s nuclear…More
Your inner child
Older people like to watch children’s television, according to the TV licensing study that came out this week: “Older people found the most enjoyment in children’s television, with 80% of respondents aged 65 and above agreeing children’s shows make them happy.” It’s surprising that older people watch children’s TV, but so is the idea of using happiness as…More
Is the high street ruining the Internet?
Someone asked on BBC’s Question Time this week, “Is the Internet ruining the high street?” as customers abandon retail chains such as HMV, Jessops, and Blockbuster, preferring to buy online. What about the reverse question: Is the high street ruining the Internet? I remember the time before e-commerce when the Internet was a people’s medium…More
The happy medium
Over 40 million Facebook status updates are posted across the world every day. Status updates are simply short messages you post on your Facebook website prompted by a random question such as “What are you doing today?” “What’s going on?” or “How are you feeling?” Your Facebook friends get to read your status updates. Facebook…More
Ambient wit
Film, music and game sales from downloads reached £1bn in 2012 according to a BBC report. Travellers waiting patiently in airport lounges and couples and groups sitting in dulled silence access online news reports. They also stream, download and play movies, tv programmes, and other information content and entertainment on their smartphones, tablets and laptops…More
Bodies in motion
After two weeks of warm up, followed by seventeen days of recovery, came the real olympics, where applause and cheers were offered up for personal life triumphs, rather than for just winning on the track. The ordinary Olympics prepared the way, and put people in the mood for the Power-olympics. The other mood clinchers for…More
Audience disengagement
How to alienate an audience: forget the name of your host, be indiscrete, criticise the Olympics. These were Mitt Romney’s gaffs on his visit to the UK in July (Guardian), and reported as a “gift” to Barack Obama, who claimed in his speech on Thursday that his rival “might not be ready for diplomacy with…More