Bhel Puri & Seekh Kabab

From the NY Times today, an article on how Google is getting into the disease prediction business:
"A lot of ailing Americans enter phrases like “flu symptoms” into Google and other search engines before they call their doctors.

That simple act...has given rise to a new early warning system for fast-spreading flu outbreaks, called Google Flu Trends.

Tests of the new Web tool...suggest that it may be able to detect regional outbreaks of the flu a week to 10 days before they are reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In early February, for example, the C.D.C. reported that the flu cases had recently spiked in the mid-Atlantic states. But Google says its search data show a spike in queries about flu symptoms two weeks before that report was released.

To develop the service, Google’s engineers devised a basket of keywords and phrases related to the flu, including thermometer, flu symptoms, muscle aches, chest congestion and many others."

Fascinating stuff, this collective hypochondria of crowds.

I have noticed for over a year now, how Google displays ads for New York businesses when I am on my home PC, and shows California ads when I am on my company VPN. This new development is just a twist on that same concept - using their knowledge of what I search for with their knowledge of where I live, to make the world a better place.

My thought though - why stop there? If Web searches can tell us which sniffling surfer has the flu, then isn't it also possible to use our searches to predict other stuff?

Say for example, Google could tell us which zip codes are the most horny - just cross-reference searches for "sex" or "porn" or [fill your randy search term here] with the geographic location for your IP, to get a map of US where you can find the people most ready for action. It could even be color-coded - from a flashing red for the most libidinous neighborhoods to a pale blue for the cemeteries. A lot of lonesome people would pay good money for that kind of information. Google could differentiate it further - couple the searches with previous searches for "football" or "shopping" to make it gender-specific - figure out the neighborhoods with the most Romeos or the most Lolitas.

So tell me, what fun use of your privacy would you like Google to invade next?

Here's yet another reason to not eat cow and switch to, of all things, kangaroos.

"If Australians ate kangaroo meat rather than beef or lamb, their country's greenhouse gas emissions would drop, an industry group says. The burps and gas from cows and sheep are high in methane; kangaroos produce very little. The Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia estimates that changing the population ratios could reduce emissions by 3 percent. Australia's per capita emissions from agriculture are six times the global average."

Several thoughts occurred to me after reading this story:

First, that this is a odd fact - have you seen how high a kangaroo can jump? I would have thought that they were full of gas. Or at least fuller of gas than a cow. Just think about how high cows can jump.

Next, I want to read more details about this study. This "3 percent" emission reduction number looks suspiciously accurate. Did they follow proper procedures when conducting these experiments? Were the cows, lambs and kangaroos given the same diet? How were the measuring devices attached? Etc. Etc.

Next, here in the US, it is not so easy to find marsupial steak. For people like PS who can, here's a recipe for kangaroo kabab.

Finally, I am thinking what a great tag line this study would be for the kangaroo restaurant industry: "Save the planet - eat more 'Roo's!"