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Google Can Predict the Flu
An anonymous reader mentions Google Flu Trends, a newly unveiled initiative of Google.org, Google's philanthropic arm. The claim is that this Web service, which aggregates search data to track outbreaks of influenza, can spot disease trends up to 2 weeks before Centers for Disease Control data can. The NYTimes writeup begins: "What if Google knew before anyone else that a fast-spreading flu outbreak was putting you at heightened risk of getting sick? And what if it could alert you, your doctor and your local public health officials before the muscle aches and chills kicked in? That, in essence, is the promise of Google Flu Trends, a new Web tool ... unveiled on Tuesday, right at the start of flu season in the US. Google Flu Trends is based on the simple idea that people who are feeling sick will tend to turn to the Web for information, typing things like 'flu symptoms; or 'muscle aches' into Google. The service tracks such queries and charts their ebb and flow, broken down by regions and states."
If you've received a flu shot in the past 6 years the only thing you got was a chance at a bad immune reaction and a concoction of mercury, detergent and some other nasty compounds.
That's blatantly untrue. The flu strain predictions have been fairly good in the last few years, with the exception of 2003-2004 when it was only marginally protective for one of the more common strains. Even that year, it was largely protective for most strains. Get your damn flu shot and protect the rest of us. For reference:
wikipedia
I am a geek attorney, but not your geek attorney unless you've already retained me. This is not legal advice.
Umm...
You're TOTALLY wrong. WHO-recommended flu vaccines are very effective. See here for an example: http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/ccdr-rmtc/06vol32/acs-07/index.html
And: "...the only thing you got was a chance at a bad immune reaction and a concoction of mercury, detergent and some other nasty compounds..." is just a stock anti-vaccination quackery.
Well, if you RTFA, you'll see that Google's method applied to the past four years very closely mathches trend data collected by physicians in coordination with the CDC. The proof is in the pudding.
You obviously haven't heard much about The 1918 Flu Pandemic
If you've received a flu shot in the past 6 years the only thing you got was a chance at a bad immune reaction and a concoction of mercury, detergent and some other nasty compounds.
Thimerosal (mercury) is only used in multi-dose vials. Although these are legal in the US, they are in practice not used here. The chances you received any thimerosal in your flu shot if you got in the US is almost nil.
I do agree with the OP that two years of the last decade the WHO predicted which strains would be dominant in the US incorrectly and thus the shot didn't immunize the recipient properly against the strains they would actually face.
http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
what's Russian for "Oh sh*t we're all gonna die!" anyway?
According to Google, it's this. It translates from Russian back into English as this, which reads as "Well crap, we all will die!" I'd paste it here, but we all know how Slashcode mangles any foreign languages or special symbols.
Oh, and I have no idea how I know this, but Russian for Brraaaaiiiiins is "Maaaassssgiiiiiiii".
So really, if Russian zombies ever invade, some poor sap is just going to think it's a hobo saying "Musky" and they get bit.
Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
....Penicillin is an anti-biotic. Not going to do a thing against the flu. About the only development that has helped us fight the flu is vaccination. And maybe a small bit of improvement in personal hygiene.