can you read a cat?

yes, i know we've seen this before

Quick! What's this cat feeling? Is it anticipation? Wonder? Panic, pleasure, rage? Contempt? (Since this is Elizabeth, it might very well be that last one.) What would you say if I told you that your answer would help provide data for a British university's research into "positive uses of online social media"?

If your answer is, like mine, "No way. That sounds way too fun," then let me point you over to tagPuss. See a kitty, pick an emotion, tag it with the round paw button, and see what other people said (the most popular response, I gather, being the largest font). This nifty yet helpful diversion comes courtesy of The Lincoln Social Computing Research Group (LiSC) at the University of Lincoln. They're hoping to gather information on how people interpret cats' emotions.

I imagine the purpose is similar to another research project they undertook, in which a group attempted to pick out what exactly makes human/dog interaction so enjoyable in order to bring more of that pleasantness to the human/computer experience. Seriously. It's on this page. Now that's food for thought, isn't it? If my computer was cute, fluffy, and made nice noises when I used it, would that make my working life better?

And for Pete's sake, what's up with that cat?