Google’s philanthropic unit just developed a Flu Trends page. According to their early tests they might be able to report outbreaks up to tens days before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This could help speed up reaction times. Google does it again.
Google Flu Trends is based on the simple idea that people who are feeling sick will probably 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.
Here are three applications that allow you to search visually news, status updates, videos, pictures etc. in cool new ways.
PicLens lets you search for photos and videos in 3-D and in full screen. This web browser add-on makes it way easier to search for things with out paging through a website and its also makes it much more fun. Its like apple’s coverflow to another dimension. Once you download the add-on a blue box in the upper right corner will light up when a page is viewable with PicLens.
Digg labs web applications organize all the news items on Digg visually. With Digg Stack, the stories are bar graphs that get taller given the amount of Diggs, so you can watch stories grow. Digg Swarm creates circles around stories that get bigger as they are dugg. All of these applications can be accessed online or used as a screensaver.
Twittervision and Flickrvision allow you to see what people are seeing and saying in real time around the world. Using google maps or a 3-D map this program shows you exactly where tweets and photos are coming from. It can get addicting. You can view it on a browser or download the screensaver. They also have a local version that only shows what is going on in your specific area. There is no way I know of to see only my friends on the map and have multiple tweets or photos up at a time. I imagine these programs will get cooler and developed as GPS is becoming more common in cell phones.
Want to use graffiti at work? Maybe even on your jobs interestingly old website? Bring out your inner destructor/creator? Check out Atmostphere’s new promotional website for their new CD, “Paint that s*** gold,” which actually lets you do some fun painting stuff right on your browser.
Look what I did mom.
One night the other week I started drawing on the back of old postcards. I want to see more people making art, so I’m just going to put what I’ve created out there in hope others will do the same.
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