New Technology of Interest.
The wonders of search engine such as Google and Yahoo have always amazed me. In opening my new account with Yahoo in order to open an account in Flickr, one of the options included my agreement to allow Yahoo to make use of the details of the websites visited for their research.
I happened to read an article this week on the early warning signs of the next pandemic flu; it was suggested that Google would be able to give an early indication of the pandemic outbreak by tracking the number of searches on relevant key words such as 'flu', 'cold', 'influenza' and other words related to flu. People suffering from symptoms of flu or those who suspect that they may be coming in with flu will google 'flu' to get information on the web. The number of searches will provide an early indication that a possible outbreak is on the way, and the various locations of the cases. The production of flu vaccine will get a head start and such vaccine can be sent to the outbreak spots for immediate use.
It is not fool-proof of course, and it could end up as just another normal outbreak of the common cold during the winter months. Further, in order to produce the correct vaccine, we need to identify the particular flu strain (H5N1 or other less virulent strains?). But with the next flu pandemic, time is crucial in containing the outbreak, and it is always better to err on the safe side.
So, of course I agreed to allow Yahoo to use the information on the websites that I do visit; my little contribution to save mankind.
Flyskyair
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