Cyanide & Happiness

Cyanide & Happiness is a webcomic written and illustrated by Rob DenBleyker, Kris Wilson, Dave McElfatrick and formerly Matt Melvin. It is published on their website explosm.net. It was created on December 9, 2004, and started running daily on January 26, 2005. It has appeared on social networking sites such as Myspace, Quora, LiveJournal, and Facebook, where, in April 2006, it had generated more than a million visits per week. The comic's authors attribute its success to its often controversial nature, and the series is noted for its dark humor and sometimes surrealistic approach. Cyanide & Happiness characters were used in the television advertisements for Orange Mobile's Orange Wednesdays.

Conception

Cyanide & Happiness began as a small series of comics drawn by Kris Wilson at the age of sixteen. Wilson was at home with strep throat and had doodled some stick figure comics. On his DeviantArt profile page, he notes that he "created Cyanide & Happiness in 2004 because I can't help but draw stupid looking characters to spew out my stupid ideas." He showcased his comics on his Comicaze website, and then on Sticksuicide.com, "a website devoted to animations and games graphically depicting the violent deaths of stick figures", which was founded by Rob DenBleyker in 2004.

Happiness

Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being defined by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. A variety of biological, psychological, religious and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources. Various research groups, including positive psychology, are employing the scientific method to research questions about what "happiness" is, and how it might be attained.

The United Nations declared 20 March the International Day of Happiness to recognise the relevance of happiness and well-being as universal goals.

Definition

Philosophers and religious thinkers often define happiness in terms of living a good life, or flourishing, rather than simply as an emotion. Happiness in this sense was used to translate the Greek Eudaimonia, and is still used in virtue ethics. There has been a transition over time from emphasis on the happiness of virtue to the virtue of happiness.

A widely discussed political value expressed in the United States Declaration of Independence of 1776, written by Thomas Jefferson, is the universal right to "the pursuit of happiness."

Cyanide

A cyanide is any chemical compound that contains monovalent combining group CN. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom.

In inorganic cyanides, such as sodium cyanide and potassium cyanide this group is present as the negatively charged polyatomic cyanide ion (CN⁻); these compounds, which are regarded as salts of hydrocyanic acid, are highly toxic. The cyanide ion is isoelectronic with carbon monoxide and with molecular nitrogen.

Organic cyanides are usually called nitriles; in these, the CN group is linked by a covalent bond to a carbon-containing group, such as methyl (CH₃) in methyl cyanide (acetonitrile). Because they do not release cyanide ions, nitriles are generally less toxic, or in the case of insoluble polymers such as acrylic fiber, essentially nontoxic unless burned.

Hydrocyanic acid, also known as hydrogen cyanide, or HCN, is a highly volatile liquid used to prepare acrylonitrile, which is used in the production of acrylic fibers, synthetic rubber, and plastics. Cyanides are employed in a number of chemical processes, including fumigation, case hardening of iron and steel, electroplating, and the concentration of ores. In nature, substances yielding cyanide are present in certain seeds, such as the pit of the cherry and the seeds of apples.

Kris Wilson

Kris Wilson may refer to:

See also