Webware

Correction at 4:13 p.m. PDT Thursday: Roni Zeiger's last name was misspelled in an earlier version of this post.

Google is attempting to find out how much of a role Internet searches play in the self-diagnosis process.

The company plans later Wednesday to start rolling out a subtle question at the bottom of pages with search results for a few common ailments, such as "Did you search because you or someone you know may have an ear infection?" That question will only appear for a very small number of users who search for terms such as "ear infection," but it will help Google start to understand how many people are searching on such terms looking for treatment remedies or options as opposed to doing research, said Dr. Roni Zeiger, a product manager for Google Health.

Understanding how many people are searching on Google for help diagnosing their health could improve future search results, the company thinks.

(Credit: Google)

In a way, this is an extension of the work Google has done tracking the flu with Google Flu Trends. The company noticed that search activity related to the flu tends to rise about two weeks before a similar rise is reported to the Centers for Disease Control by doctors, but years of data on flu patterns validates those trends, Zeiger said. Similar data does not exist for more common health issues.

Google is not exactly sure what it wants to do with that data, or how much useful data will be produced by the experiment. Ultimately, however, everything at Google goes back into the search process, so it's possible that the data could be used to offer searchers more options, such as "Did you mean to search for treatment options for X?" at the top of the search page.

This is a temporary project: Google plans to gather data for several weeks, starting Wednesday afternoon.

Just in case you're not getting enough up-to-the-minute news about swine flu, you can log in to Twitter to get updates from the government's Centers for Disease Control.

The CDC is using Twitter to spread the word on how not to spread or get swine flu. The CDC has several Twitter accounts including @CDCemergency, which is posting new recommendations, bulletins on confirmed cases, and information on antiviral drugs and other ways to deal with or prevent the disease.

The Associated Press reports that there have been more than 1,600 reported cases and the number of suspected deaths has reached 149 in Mexico. At 1 p.m. Eastern Monday, the CDC reported 40 confirmed cases in the United States: California (7), Kansas (2), New York City (28), Ohio (1), and Texas (2). One person has been hospitalized, but there have been no deaths.

Another Twitter account, @CDC-eHealth, is updated less often but has some good advice including this link to a CDC site where you can send family and friends a "handwashing eCard."

You can also search Twitter for "swine flu" where you'll find a lot of tweets, but use caution before taking advice from sources that you have no particular reason to trust.

And there is indeed plenty of discussion about the disease. Nielsen Online released data that shows that the volume of conversations about swine flu "have already exceeded nearly 10 to 1 those surrounding the salmonella and peanut butter scares from earlier this winter."

Of course all general news organizations have information including our own CBSNews.com which has an excellent and relatively reassuring video from "CBS Evening News" M.D. Dr. John LaPook. (CNET News is published by CBS Interactive, a unit of CBS.)

WebMD.com has a swine flu FAQ and as Don Reisinger pointed out in a Webware post about online resources for tracking swine flu, Google has a map that tracks locations of cases around the world.

From my own experience, using the Web to get health information can be quite useful but it can also lead to unnecessary panic. It's a great way to get general information, prevention tips, and information on how to handle a known condition, but be cautious when using it to try to diagnose yourself. When you do online research about symptoms, you are likely to find a wide variation of causes from the benign to deadly. Yes, a cough can be a symptom of lung cancer, but it can also be from a common cold. If I do suspect something is wrong, I usually go to a doctor, not a URL. If you do go online for health information be sure it's a reputable site like WebMD, one of the state or federal government sites (including healthfinder.gov), or a site run by a respected health care provider.

Updated to include link to number of cases and links to Nielsen Online data.

Teens in Tech, a blogging network that's written by young adults, announced Friday that it has acquired Youth Bloggers Network for an undisclosed sum. According to a post on the Youth Bloggers Network blog, both companies "decided that by joining forces, our projects could help each other vastly." Going forward, the combined company wants to create unique Wordpress themes, e-books, coupons, and a variety of community features "to slowly transform Youth Bloggers Network into a social network for young and teen bloggers."

Kardia Health Systems, a company that was formed to commercialize the Echocardiography Information Management System from the Mayo Clinic, will launch an online reporting system for vascular laboratories this weekend. The Web-based platform will allow doctors to communicate with patients and other practitioners over the Web detailing a patient's vascular information and past procedures. The company claims users will be able to focus more on patient services by deploying the platform.

GetJar, an independent mobile app store, announced Friday that it has topped 400 million mobile app downloads since its launch in 2004. Over the past month alone, it has witnessed a 200 percent increase in downloads over the same period in 2008. The company claims that based on its download figures, its app store's popularity is second only to the Apple App Store. GetJar's store provides apps for over 1,300 different handsets.

ConnectedVentures, owner of online comedy site CollegeHumor, has acquired sports satire site SportsPickle, the company announced Thursday. The terms of the deal were not disclosed and there is currently no word on whether SportsPickle will remain a separate entity or be rolled into CollegeHumor.

Spring is almost here, and soon we'll be showing the world much more than just our heads and hands. That means it's time to get up off the couch and start doing whatever we can to get our bods ready for summer. Need advice on that? These sites can help.

Gyminee
If you're looking for a way to track your workouts and get some dietary advice, Gyminee is a great place to start.

In a matter of seconds, you'll be able to join Gyminee and start creating a workout regimen that will help you lose weight, tone your muscles, or gain strength. And you won't need to do it alone. With the help of Gyminee, you can find exercises and create a regimen from pre-configured workout routines based on your goals. Gyminee does a fine job of helping you do whatever you want.

Creating a custom workout in Gyminee is simple.

(Credit: Don Reisinger/CNET)

Gyminee's tracking tools are very good. Once you sign up, you can put your weight, resting heart rate, and measurements into the system to see where you stand today. As long as you keep inputting that information on a regular basis, it will show you a detailed graph providing your progress over the term of your workout. That's easily my favorite feature because it's a great motivation tool that helps me see just how far I've come since I started exercising.

While Gyminee does a fine job with workouts and tracking, I was disappointed with its dietary advice. It does provide a detailed analysis of required calorie, fat, and protein intake to get you to your goal weight, but it doesn't do much more. It doesn't tell you what to eat and how to do it. It doesn't tell you when you should be eating. It basically tells you that you need to have a certain number of calories every day and leaves it at that. For a full-featured health improvement site, that's weak.

Gyminee boasts extra features like a forum so you can discuss health considerations, and you can make friends with others and track their progress. If you want, you can also set challenges and see how close you are to achieving those goals. Gyminee offers good features and it's worth using even though it doesn't have enough dietary information.

Updated March 5 at 10 a.m. to clarify link policy, and at 12:20 p.m. to address privacy concerns.

Google Health has introduced a new feature that lets people share their online health records with designated doctors, friends, and family members.

Google said the move is in response to people's concerns that caregivers and loved ones might not be up-to-date on all the details of a patient's health situation, especially in the event of an emergency.

Google Health now lets people share medical information online with caregivers and loved ones.

(Credit: Google)

Sameer Samat, director of product management at Google, explained his personal impetus behind the new feature in a company blog post on Wednesday:

Just a few years ago, my father suffered a minor heart attack and was sent to the ER. I arrived on the scene in a panic, and was asked what medications he was taking. To my surprise, I had no clue. If my father had a Google Health account, and had shared his profile with me, I would have been up-to-date on his current medications.

Along with the sharing feature, Google added a graphing feature that lets people enter lab results and visually track trends in their medical test results, such as their cholesterol levels.

Google Health also lets people create graphs to track trends in their medical test results.

(Credit: Google)

Recognizing the sensitive nature of sharing health records, Google said it has built in several security measures to preserve privacy. Users choose who can view their histories, and the link to the patient's profile will work only in connection with those people's e-mail addresses--meaning the link won't work if it is forwarded to a third party. Users can also decide what information they want to share, and those allowed to view the profile will not have the ability to edit the data. Users will also be able to see exactly who has reviewed the profile.

However, one security measure that is a bit confusing is a feature that restricts the usability lifespan of the e-mailed link to only 30 days. Unless the user is diligent about regularly sending links to loved ones, this protection could negate the feature's value in the event of an emergency. While this was initially interpreted by some to refer to a continuous process of sending e-mail links to partners, it apparently applies only to the initial invitation.

Google also announced a feature that lets users print wallet- and letter-size hard copies of their profile, including medications, allergies, conditions, and treatments. But the value of these printouts may be questionable if they are not updated regularly.

Users concerned with privacy should also note that Google Health isn't regulated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, a federal law designed to protect patients' privacy. Google also admits that some employees will have access to users' records.

"Within Google, only the people who are operating and improving Google Health have access to user information, and they are bound by strict policies to not disclose this information to others, either within Google or to the outside world," Google said in a help page.

Google Health, which is dedicated to the digitization of health records, launched in May 2007. Microsoft has also planned a medical records service called HealthVault. President Obama, meanwhile, has made it clear that he plans to make digital health records part of his health care reform agenda.

I am, sadly, well-acquainted with medical research sites. (I broke my back years ago, and am still dealing with the recovery.) But while everyone knows WebMD and probably uses the site to find out about medical conditions, you might be surprised to know there are a slew of sites that offer similar service, providing outstanding medical information. I've found these sites to be good resources.

HealthiNation
While some sites deliver articles of medical information, HealthiNation uses videos to inform you about what a condition is all about.

Overall, HealthiNation is designed quite well and its easy to search for videos. The site doesn't boast articles like those you'll find on sites like WebMD, but its videos are extremely informative and I found that when I searched for simple issues like "back pain," the clips were just as useful as when I searched for more complex topics like diabetes.

HealthiNation's videos are split into general health, men's health, women's health, and "true life stories," which detail how one person faced medical conditions in their lives. Each section features information that's worth perusing through, regardless of the topic.

The videos on HealthiNation were outstanding. Each is clearly defined and once you fire them up, you'll be presented with a wealth of knowledge by health care professionals. But because HealthiNation relies on videos, the scope of its medical coverage isn't nearly as great as I would have liked and it only covers general topics. A specific condition, such as spondylolysis, isn't included on the site, though it is on competing services, like WebMD. Realizing that, it's best to use HealthiNation when you want information on general health topics.

Livestrong

The first thing that will strike you about Livestrong is its almost unbearable design. It's yellow, black, and cluttered. It's a mess.

That said, the site is rich in features and its search tool is outstanding. Instead of trying to find information on the home page, immediately enter your query into the search box and you'll be brought to a results page featuring information on a wide array of topics. From back pain to diabetes, the site not only features videos like HealthNation, which are narrated by health care professionals, but it also boasts informative articles on all the topics. I was impressed by how much information the site actually has on any given topic.

But much like HealthiNation, Livestrong doesn't support obscure ailments and I was a little disappointed that in the entire discussion on back pain, the site failed to address individual issues that might affect different areas of the spine. Regardless, Livestrong is a unique destination that makes using it every day worthwhile if you want to be healthier.

Medpedia
The Medpedia Project is a joint effort on the part of Harvard Medical School, Stanford School of Medicine, Berkeley School of Public Health, and other global health organizations that hope the site will change "how the world will assemble, maintain, critique and access medical knowledge." It delivers.

The site features a repository of up-to-date medical information, contributed and maintained by health professionals from around the world. The site also boasts a professional network and directory for visitors to find health professionals and organizations, a communities of interest section where medical experts and patients can share conditions and treatments, and a growing knowledge base featuring information on health issues ranging from back pain to diabetes.

I was generally impressed by the level of detail Medpedia offered. The site's knowledge base is a wiki that allows you to search for specific ailments or ask general questions that might already have been answered by the community of doctors. At first glance, the idea that a health site is a Wiki may turn some off, but to ensure all the information on the site is accurate, Medpedia only allows physicians and those with a Ph.D. to edit the articles, and only once their credentials are certified. That cuts down on the number of erroneous bits of information that crop up on the site and, in my opinion, makes the site more reliable than a resource like Wikipedia, which anyone can modify.

When I entered "back pain" into the site's search field, I was brought to a results page that not only featured a Wiki containing general information about the ailment and links to other, related Medpedia Wikis, but also a series of answers provided by doctors to questions asked by the site's users. And although some weren't directly targeted at my query, I could have easily asked my own set of questions, which would have been answered directly by a medical professional.

I should note, though, that Medpedia is still in beta and was launched Tuesday. Because of that, the site doesn't offer every conceivable health topic and a few obscure conditions are still missing. But more Wiki pages are being added each day and the community of doctors and patients is growing. It might not be WebMD yet, but it's off to a good start. Read more on Medpedia.

WebMD

My biggest complaint with WebMD has nothing to do with its information and everything to do with its design: it's ugly. I was happy to see that the site features a prominent search box at the top of the page, but its home page is cluttered with blogs, articles, and other information that I ignore because there's simply too much information packed into a small page.

The real value of WebMD is seen in its search. From something simple like "back pain" to something complex like "spondylolysis," the site has it all. I was impressed by the wealth of information WebMD provides and its simple articles actually provided me with more information that the videos on HealthiNation or the articles on Livestrong. It was outstanding.

Beyond its information service, WebMD's drug finder is an outstanding tool that helps you learn all about a particular prescription medicine you're using. It comes in handy when you need to find out if you're experiencing sickness or a side effect from a medication and it's an ideal tool when you want to determine if a generic brand of a particular drug is suitable in place of the name brand. It's easily one of my favorite tools and one that shouldn't be overlooked when you're using WebMD.

WebMD is a great service that will provide you with all the health information you're looking for in as little time as possible. And although its design is downright awful and it should be addressed, its articles make up for that lackluster design and make it the best health research service in this roundup.

Wellsphere
Wellsphere is a nice health research site that aims at making you healthier through education. It works--the site's articles deliver basic information like symptoms and treatment, and its prevention information is the best on the market.

Wellsphere looks like a simple site when you surf to the home page, but once you dig deeper and start searching for medical conditions, you'll be shocked to find that it's actually a complex site featuring basic information on an ailment, question and answers between doctors and patients, news, pictures, videos, and a communities tab that allows you to compare notes with other users.

Although Wellsphere doesn't offer as many articles as WebMD, the site and its writers, which are health experts from Stanford and other prominent institutions around the U.S., provide a good amount of information. From the simple overview to the ability to ask a specific question to the "health maven," the site's possibilities are endless.

On a simple search like back pain, I was astonished at the level of detail Wellsphere provided. Not only did it provide articles detailing back pain and how to address it, but I was able to ask questions which were answered promptly by a professional and its videos were outstanding, providing more information than comparable clips on HealthiNation.

Wellsphere is an outstanding service. Although it doesn't have the same coverage as WebMD, it's just as informative and its "health maven" tool is outstanding. If you don't want to deal with the clutter and ugliness of WebMD, check out Wellsphere. I think you'll like it.

It's going to get easier for Google to keep tabs on your health.

The ubiquitous tech conglomerate has signed on to a new software product created by IBM with help from the Continua Health Alliance, an organization that promotes interoperability of medical devices. It'll take data from personal health monitoring devices, like blood sugar meters for diabetics, and share that directly with the patient in question's Google Health file (and the patient's physician, if he or she uses Google Health as well).

Other personal health record (PHR) services will also be able to use the IBM software, which was built partially on open-source standards.

"Our partnership with IBM will help both providers and users gain access to their device data in a highly simplified and automated fashion," Google Health director Sameer Samat said in a release. "IBM has taken an important step in providing software that enables device manufacturers and hospitals to easily upload recorded data into a PHR platform, such as Google Health."

Google Health, dedicated to the digitization of health records, launched in May. Microsoft has also planned a medical records service called HealthVault. President Barack Obama, meanwhile, has made it clear that he plans to make digital health records part of his health care reform agenda.

Google has brought seven new languages to its Google Translate service. According to the company, Albanian, Estonian, Galician, Hungarian, Maltese, Thai, and Turkish have been added. The company also announced that its English dictionary has been improved to "include synonyms, antonyms, pronunciations, detailed definitions, and examples from Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary." All its new features are available now.

User Centric, a company that researches user experiences, announced Monday that it has concluded its usability study of Google Health and Microsoft HealthVault. According to its findings, which took opinions from 30 participants who were asked to complete seven basic tasks on each site, users preferred Google Health over Microsoft HealthVault, even though both services were plagued with flaws. Participants claim Google Health is more usable thanks to better navigation and simpler data entry. Microsoft HealthVault received low marks from participants due to its overabundant use of medical terms the participants didn't understand.

TVtrip, a company that provides video reviews of hotels around the world, has secured approximately $9 million in venture funding, the company said Monday. Balderton Capital and Partech International led the round. The company, which claims it has over 9,800 video reviews on its site, will use the funding to expand its presence online.

Travel company, Travelzoo, acquired the Fly.com domain for $1.8 million The company is using the domain to launch a new travel itinerary search that it claims, will offer better travel options than it has in the past. The search is free and available now.

The OpenID Foundation announced Wednesday that it has added PayPal as a corporate member of the board. Andrew Nash, PayPal's senior director of information risk management, joins the board, which is populated by representatives from Google, IBM, and Microsoft, among others. According to Nash, PayPal elected to become part of the OpenID board because "open standards-based user-centric identity is clearly becoming an increasingly important part of the evolving web infrastructure" and his company believes it can add to OpenID's desire to bring more security to the Web.

HealthCentral, a site that provides a collection of condition-specific consumer health information, announced that it has acquired Wellsphere, a health technology company, that aims at informing the public on specific health issues. According to the company, the acquisition will create a combined entity that has 10 million unique visitors per month and creates "the largest organic aggregation of online health and wellness communities." The exact terms of the deal were not disclosed.

CoveritLive, a company that offers a free hosted live blogging platform, announced that it has received $1.2 million in funding from Flagstone Capital to help it increase its customer base and improve its business model. According to the company, Flagstone Capital's commitment will provide support to the company until it can break even.

Bemba Media, a company that offered a bookmarklet that allowed users to bookmark pages across the Web and share them with others, announced Wednesday that it will shut down on February 8. According to a post on the company's site, the company's founders were forced to shutter their business "because the amount of Bemba users is not growing fast enough to pay" its expenses.

Radar, a photo-sharing site that allows users to upload pictures and connect with others, has launched an iPhone app. Users can take pictures with their iPhone camera and immediately upload those to their Radar page. That page can be kept public or private and other users can comment on pictures or send private messages to each other. The tool features basic editing tools for those who want to fix photos and a statistics page to see how many people have looked at the pictures. The app is free and available now in the iPhone App Store.