Tag: HEALTH

Dan Kaminsky, famous for discovering a DNS bug that almost "broke the internet," has just released a side project that has nothing to do with security. It's DanKam, an augmented reality app that lets colorblind people get a color-corrected view of the world through an iPhone or Android camera. The app has only been out for a short time, but it's already getting positive feedback from colorblind ...

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Instant Heart Rate, which is a free download from the Android Market, measures your heart rate by using your phone's built-in camera. Don't worry, though: you don't have to strip off and point the camera at your quivering chest or thundering carotid. All you have to do is cover the camera with your finger, make sure you're in a well-lit room (I pointed the camera towards a window), and voila! ...

S.M.A.R.T is an acronym that stands for Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology. It's a nice bit of intelligence that hard drive makers have been including into drive firmware for several years now. In simple terms, it's supposed to let you know that a drive is about to crash before the crash happens. You can then take measures to protect your data or, perhaps, return the drive to the ...

Thanks to a tip from Stuart we learned Google Health is now being integrated into health search results. For instance, if you Google search "hay fever," the top search result is Google Health. The health content is provided by A.D.A.M., an online provider of health content that is physician reviewed for consumers. Taking the number one spot for themselves, Google is making their move to be ...

In a down economy, with health care reform passed but not yet in effect, a lot of Americans need prescription assistance and cheap or free medical help. The Partnership for Prescription Assistance has released a mobile app for iPhone and Blackberry that makes help easier to find. It lets you see which medicines PPA might be able to help you pay for, as well as pointing you to the closest of 10,000 ...

Cough please. No really, cough into your Apple iPhone and you may soon be able to get an instant diagnosis as to what's going on, and if you need to seek a more "traditional" kind of medical attention. A new iPhone application, being developed by a collection of American and Australian scientists of STAR Analytical Services, will allow users to simply cough on their phone (kind of gross, but ...

Forgive us for laughing at a potential pandemic, but this swine flu hysteria is getting a little bit out of hand. Taking proper precautions is one thing, shutting down schools, wearing masks that don't do anything everywhere and banning pork (that isn't contaminated and doesn't spread the disease anyway) is just silly. Ridiculous or not, with all the buzz about H1N1 on TV, Twitter and from ...

We've covered other apps before that are designed to reduce the risk of repetitive stress injuries. EyesRelax offers a number of additional features that make it an excellent download. When it's break time, EyesRelax will display a balloon tip, blank screen, or image. It can also notify you of upcoming breaks via balloons or with a less-than-subtle message box. All the necessary time settings - ...

I love apps that make a very specific task as easy as it ought to be. That's why I love Weightbot, an iPhone/iPod Touch weight tracking app developed by Tapbots. I confess that I used to keep track of my weight in a Numbers document. It wasn't too much trouble, but I didn't look forward to it. With Weightbot, it's so easy that it's almost -- dare I say it? -- fun. I snatched up Weightbot right ...

Earlier this week I had a conversation with CEO of Healthshoppr, Dr. Vijay Goel. The site went into public beta today and the premise begs the question: why hasn't this been done before? Healthshoppr leverages the ability of the internet to connect (and rate) health and wellness providers with people seeking those services. It is billed as "transparent health choices" and I'd say it delivers just ...

Google Trends is a fun way to compare the popularity of search terms, but the technology behind it can also be put to some important uses. Google.org, the nonprofit arm of Google, is using Trends to generate a flu tracker, showing the prevalence of flu outbreaks across America. Flu-related search terms are tracked to estimate when and where the flu happens, with data going back to 2003. The ...

While computer work tends to not be physically risky, that doesn't mean you should assume it's not impacting your health. Carpal tunnel and Computer Vision Syndrome are no laughing matter, and it's important to take steps to avoid them. EyeDefender helps by starting breaks at intervals of your choosing (you choose the length of the break as well). To rest your eyes you can choose either your ...

Google has officially launched a public beta of its new health and medical information service. Google has been privately testing Google Health in partnership with the Cleveland Clinic since February. But now anybody can sign up for the free service. So what exactly is Google Health? It's a one stop for managing your personal medical records, sharing that information with doctors who use the ...

The internet: How can a medium so conceptually full of potential win attract so many people full of utter lose and fail? Wired reports that "griefers" (which is a polite euphemism, I suppose, for a term Weblogs Inc really wouldn't want me to use) lodged an attack on the non-profit Epilepsy Foundation last weekend. Epilepsy is one of those really fun conditions that can vary wildly in seizure type ...