Who Is Sick? New Site Lets You Find Out Before It’s You
April 17th, 2007 (6:00am) Judi Sohn 5 Comments
Uh oh. You’re getting that scratchy feeling in the back of your throat. Allergies? Common cold? Or could it be something worse that’s going around? Better figure it out before you promise to meet that deadline next week. “Calling in sick” is a luxury that a web worker can rarely afford. Wouldn’t you like to know about that bug that everyone seems to be coming down with before it hits you? That could tell you whether you should be toughing this one out or heading to the doctor’s office for stronger-than-over-the-counter help. There are countless sites that provide education on what to do when you’re sick, or how to prevent certain illnesses. But what about those annoying illnesses that you’re going to get simply because you’re in the same space as someone who is sick?
WhoIsSick is a new web application that uses Google Maps to plot local user-reported health data into what looks like Trivial Pursuit icons. Plug in your zip code and see what symptoms other uses have reported in your area. In addition to searching by location, you can filter your results further by specific symptoms, time since sickness report and even the age or gender of the person.
As the site relies on user data, it will only be successful if it can catch on and folks think of heading there before they hit the pillow. It doesn’t make a difference to me right now that 7 neighbors are reporting that they too have a bit of a sore throat and a runny nose. But if there were 500 in my zip code with similar symptoms, I’d be stocking up on the Purel and vitamins. The site isn’t designed to track serious illnesses. Rather it’s meant to give you a bit of a heads up for more routine colds, flus and stomach bugs so you can wash your hands extra carefully for a few days, “bloody stool or urine” filter notwithstanding.
What do you think? Useful new site or hypochondriac central?
5 Comments Post your own comment
Anneke says: April 17th, 2007 7:50am
Hi Judy,
I was unable to locate an email address for you so posted my email as a comment:
This Spring the ‘net community is buzzing about the
soon-to-be-released new book Imaginary Futures, by Dr. Richard
Barbrook, University of Westminster lecturer and author. In his newest
literary work, Barbrook traces the political history of the Internet
and puts forth a call to action for the cyber-connected to take the
world’s most powerful political tool into their own hands to make a
better future.
Early crtical reviews are describing it as a radical, well-researched
look at ‘net politics and we invite you to consider reviewing or
mentioning the new book in your coverage. Please visit
http://www.imaginaryfutures.net to read excerpts from the book and find out
more about book launch activities.
You are also invited to attend Richard’s press preview and book launch
party in London, 16 May. And, get tovknow Richard more:
On YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cqy962V_7k
And on MySpace:
http://www.myspace.com/richardbarbrook
We welcome your attention to this important new work of literature and
look forward to your feedback.
Kindly,
–
Anneke van den Brink
Imaginary Futures PR Assistant
http://www.imaginaryfutures.net
Email: anneke@imaginaryfutures.net
Mobile: (+44) 07711238173
Imaginary Futures: From Thinking Machine to the Global Village
By Dr. Richard Barbrook
Available May 2007 From Pluto Press: http://www.plutobooks.com
nomadicalloy says: April 17th, 2007 7:55am
first comment. this is really cool site. I am going to use it.
Matt says: April 17th, 2007 11:54am
Looks like flesh eating bacteria is rampant in my zip.
Aziz says: April 19th, 2007 3:43pm
I have checked http://www.whoissick.org and I found it really a must done idea. For me I may have that my region Alexandria,Egypt does not have any maps in any mapping site, Also I’m sure that people in my region 99% wont be interested in this so I think it must be accomplished by the government of each country
Mahmoud Abdelaziz
master_mahmoud@hotmal.com
http://zprogramming.blogspot.com/
Pali Madra says: May 15th, 2007 3:21am
An interesting idea and a great example how mashups can be something more than just fun!