Medical symptoms? What might they mean?

Medical information is one of the most popular search topics on the Internet.

Besides searching for specific diseases and treatments, you can also use symptom-search tools. You begin by searching for a symptom or group of symptoms. A series of menus helps you refine your search and hone in on diagnostic possibilities.


Here are some websites:

Healthline.com recently launched a Symptom Search tool that directs you to peer-reviewed articles based on the symptoms you specify. Select symptoms based on a checklist or by typing them into a search box.

Webmd.com's Symptom Checker offers a more visual interface in which you begin by clicking on an area of a body diagram. The process ends with an overview of symptoms, causes and treatment of one or more conditions that are associated with these symptoms.


Mayo Clinic has a checklist-based Symptom checker. As you navigate through the menus, you may also see a sidebar telling you when to seek immediate medical attention.
http://mayoclinic.com/health/symptom-checker/DS00671


All of the above websites state that their services are not to be
considered medical diagnoses of your condition.

Nevertheless, they're quite helpful for learning more about symptoms, and for asking better questions if you do visit your doctor.


-- Pauline Wallin, Ph.D.
teachmeinternet.com

Fun 1-minute science news

Got a minute? Each day Scientific American's "60-Second Science" presents a 1-minute audio summary of a new finding from the world of science.

Aimed at the general public, the news stories are presented in plain English, often with a humorous twist. I'm amazed at how much they can pack into 60-seconds in such an informative and entertaining way.

Recent stories include some potential benefits of coffee and cigarettes; whether "new car" smell is a health threat; and the discouraging results from research on dieting.

You can listen online or subscribe to the podcast:
http://www.sciam.com/podcast/

-- Pauline Wallin, Ph.D.
http://teachmeinternet.com

Mac Users - Google Desktop is finally here!

Since I'm not the most organized person, I rely a lot on the search functions of my computer.

When Apple came out with the Tiger operating system, they touted Spotlight as the perfect product for people like me. Just type a keyword and it finds that keyword not only in the file name, but also if it's buried within a file anywhere on your computer.

It didn't take long to realize that Spotlight had serious limitations. It was sluggish. It could not exclude words or phrases from a given search. Thus, if I wanted to find all instances of my first name without my last name, Spotlight could not do it. Nor could it handle searches for phrases within quotes.

Enter Google Desktop for Mac. I downloaded and installed the application, which immediately began to index every file on my hard drive and two external backup drives. This took about 12 hours, during which time I had trouble using my computer for other functions because it was really slowed down by Google Desktop's indexing process.

Downloader's remorse was looming, but I resisted the urge to abort the process. And I was glad I did.

Compared with Spotlight, Google Desktop is lighting fast in opening and in identifying files containing my keywords. I can use my favorite Google search operators, such as putting quotation marks around phrases so that Google Desktop finds that exact sequence of words; or placing a minus sign in front of words I want to exclude. All of this is done within the familiar Google layout in my Firefox browser. Except instead of searching the web, I'm searching the contents of my computer.

Since this product is still in beta, there are a few kinks to be worked out. But if you can't wait, give Google Desktop a try.

A bit of advice: Install it before you go to sleep, in order to minimize being inconvenienced by computer slowdown while Google Desktop is building the index of files on your computer.

Get Google Desktop for Mac here

And if you're a Windows user you can download the Windows version here.

-- Pauline Wallin, Ph.D. http;//teachmeinternet.com

New website: Teachmeinternet.com

Welcome to the teachmeinternet blog.

Please visit my brand new website, TeachMeInternet.com.

Go take a look - you'll find tips on how to make the most of your Internet searches, online productivity tools, links to valuable resources and more.


A little about me:

My day job is psychologist/consultant/speaker/coach/author. In all of these capacities I'm constantly doing research to stay current in my field, and to expand my knowledge.

I've spent thousands of hours navigating the Internet, finding answers to questions, and getting good deals.

Along the way, I've discovered shortcuts, tools and little-known techniques that not only save time, but also hone in on exactly what I'm looking for. And I've been teaching others how to do the same.

I need your help:

For the past 10 years I've taught Internet Skills, first in front of live audiences and recently via conference-call classes.

And now I'm putting together a series of home study courses, and would appreciate your help:

In order to make the courses most relevant to learners like you, I'm asking for input on what you most want to know about the Internet.

As a token of my appreciation, you'll receive my eBook, Top 10 Internet Search Tools (2007). Did you know that Google is not always the best choice for your search? In many cases there are better alternatives.

What do you most want to learn about the Internet? Click here to give me your answer, and to claim your free copy of Top 10 Internet Search Tools.