Check it out!  On top of the sidebar to the right is my new Google Talk Chatbox, a feature announced by Google today.  When you click it, a window will open and you can talk to me.  Pretty spiffy.  I’m dying to try it out, so give it a click and let’s get our chat on.

Tags: Google,web 2.0
Categories: Public
No Comments »

Recently I’ve spent a disproportionate amount of time in the hospital and other medical facilities, first for pneumonia and then for the birth of my son. This has convinced me of the completely broken state of medical information systems and the need to bring systems for storing and exchanging patient medical data into the 21st century.

Those of you unfortunate enough to see me on a daily basis have had to put up with my scheming and brainstorming–trying to think up a better way to handle medical information electronically. Google apparently beat me to the punch. Help is on the way.  According to this post today on the Google Blog, the Cleveland Clinic is beginning a pilot program using Google’s APIs to securely transmit medial records at a patient’s request. Google is promising to give patients more control over their medical records:

By using the GData protocol already offered in many Google products, and supporting standards-based medical information formats like the Continuity of Care Record (CCR), our health efforts will help you access, store and communicate your health information. Above all, health data will remain yours — private and confidential. Only you have control over when to share it with family members and health providers.

Anyone who has been through the ridiculous ordeal of filling out authorization forms, which must be delivered in person and then faxed to transfer medical records from one provider to another (often for a fee), can appreciate what Google is trying to pull off. Apparently they have a “health team” with at least one engineer working on it. Is there any problem they aren’t solving?

Tags: Google
Categories: Public
No Comments »

The other day I found myself in a familiar situation. I was engaged in a conversation with fellow coworkers and we needed to look up some information on the internet. I was the quickest on the draw and got the typical astonished inquiry, “How do you do that?” My usual quip, “I speak Google’s language,” is more than bravado–it’s a fairly accurate description of what I do.

Do You Really Need to Search?

Before we get into search technique, let me venture to state the obvious: Don’t search for things you don’t need to. A search will never be faster than retrieving a resource directly. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen someone search for a domain name instead of typing it in the address bar. Don’t adapt unproductive cognitive patterns!

Less obvious is that it may actually be faster to retrieve information listed on a site with a good navigation system or a simple url mechanism directly rather than by searching. If you want the latest Microsoft Office service pack, it might be easier just to go to their office page and click on downloads. Knowledge bases often have a quick url for retrieving information. If I see a reference to Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 111868 and I want to look it up, I type http://support.microsoft.com/kb/111868 in my browser. To pull up RFC 1441, I browse out to http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1441.txt. Becoming aware of little shortcuts like this to resources you use often can be key. As you come across sites that are easy to navigate or notice simple url pointers to resources, make a mental note for future searches.

Choosing the Words

Word choice is probably the most difficult concept of searching the internet for beginners. I doubt most of my readers are beginners, but the idea is worth review. Choose a few nouns or adjectives that together form a unique criteria descriptive of what you’re looking for. The main goal here is to be unique. Prefer terms that separate what you want from anything else. This isn’t always easy.

Say, for example, you are thinking of buying a computer from Apple and you want to read some c

Tags: Google
Categories: Public
No Comments »