Latest tech ailment: Mouse rage syndrome

We all know that feeling of frustration when a Web page is painfully slow to load, an ad pops up that we can't make go away, or the site we're looking for is unavailable. Sometimes our heart rate speeds up and we vent by clicking away at (or bashing) our mouse, as if it's the problem. (I personally am apt to let out a loud sigh or even a grunt.)

Now, thanks to researchers at the U.K.-based Social Issues Research Centre, we have an official name for this ailment affecting cardio functions and the immune and nervous systems: mouse rage syndrome. And we also have a root cause: badly designed and hosted Web sites, according to an Information Week story published last week.

Some are hoping the study will ultimately lead to better site design, sans confusing layouts, excessive pop-ups, unnecessary advertising and other annoyances. Others, however, are just waiting for the liability claims and wonder whether a syndrome is an inevitable offshoot of life's every tech irritation (a la , Wii elbow and ).

Blog community response:

"If more studies confirm these findings, which will probably seem obvious to anyone who spends a lot of time online, maybe more Web designers will get the message that their poor designs are not just killing the business. They could be killing people--really."
--Performance Matters

"I guess Web 2.0 isn't a standard everywhere yet...I wonder when we'll have the first liability lawsuit against a Webmaster in the U.S.?"
--art2blog

"Now, did we really need a study to show that the Internet, just like everything else in the world, can from time to time be a source of extreme frustration?"
--Techdirt