sick

Close the airports! The disease is spreading...

Pandemic for iOS is a faithful recreation of the popular Web-based game where the object is to play as a villain and infect our entire planet with an evolving disease. The game is obviously quite morbid, but it's also extremely addictive as you start with one infected person in a random location and try to spread a disease to every corner of the globe. You can choose from three skill levels at the beginning of the game, with the easiest setting for quick sessions allowing for more experimentation, and the hardest setting making it a real challenge to even … Read more

The chair that stops you from vomiting in flight

I was just at the wedding of one of New York's finest unsung comedians.

Her father is a recently retired US Airways pilot. He explained to me that he was instructed never to use words like "turbulence" or "thunderstorm," as these tend to frighten people to the degree that they might reach for the air sickness bags.

Perhaps you are one of those who is prone to having your food make an unexpected return to your throat when the plane begins to bump, grind, and sway out of control. Well, perhaps the Barany chair might … Read more

Your resource for tracking the swine flu

H1N1 influenza, better known as the swine flu, is guaranteed to make an impact across the U.S. and the rest of the world in the coming months. But knowing what to expect, and how to determine if H1N1 is impacting where you live, should be the first step in your evaluation of the swine flu.

And that's where this roundup comes in. Listed below, you will find several resources that will help you not only track the swine flu, but probably help you learn a little something about it as well.

Find out about that swine flu

Centers for Disease Control -- The Centers for Disease Control has some of the best information on the swine flu of any site in this roundup. Everything from its causes to its symptoms are available.

Information on the swine flu from the CDC is the best I've seen on the Web. The site offers basic information for those who want an overview. It quickly digs deep into treating family members afflicted with swine flu, why a vaccination might be useful, who the flu is most likely to affect, and more. It also produces videos and podcasts. Overall, I liked the CDC's presentation on the swine flu. It's extremely informative.

FluTracker -- Rhiza Lab's FluTracker app is one of the best ways to track the swine flu on the Web.

When you get to the site, you'll see several colored circles around a map of the world. The color of each circle denotes the severity of the outbreak in a given location. Inside those circles are numbers, giving you a tally of confirmed outbreaks in a particular country. Perhaps most importantly, the site allows you to zoom in to see how many outbreaks have affected your area. You can even see how many deaths have occurred. If you're looking for in-depth but easily understandable tracking of the swine flu, FluTracker is your best bet.… Read more

Facebooking while out sick gets employee fired

Updated at 5:08 p.m. PDT with quotes from former Nationale Suisse employee.

CNET previously reported that Facebook users risk having a lower GPA. Now, according to Reuters and other sources, using the social-networking site could have another unpleasant side effect: getting you fired. At least that's what happened to a Swiss insurance worker who lost her job after surfing Facebook while out sick, her employer said Friday.

The unnamed woman said she had to be away from her monitor lying in the dark, but was then seen to be active on Facebook. Insurance company Nationale Suisse said … Read more

SickCity to predict next pandemic via Twitter?

Twitter has been great for tracking things like earthquakes, forest fires, and other natural disasters, but what about human health? SickCity, a new Twitter mashup is doing just that, by tracking people's tweets about being sick, having sore throats, and other physical maladies (like zombification). The tool lets you track these occurrences both by city and each specific ailment. And the stats go back to the last 31 days, which can show you if a certain type of sickness is trending.

Google rolled out something similar for flu trends back in November of last year, however that's based … Read more

The 404 156: Where we animate Scaley McGrabAss

Our guest today is Stone Newman from Go!Animate, enter The 404 animation contest, Spore porn, pay per sick note, GTA copycat killings, geeks as better lovers, and TV shows on the big screen.

Stone Newman drops by the studio today to tell us about an awesome Web site that allows you to create your own custom Flash animation without all the tech nonsense! Go!Animate is all about simplicity. You can choose from a variety of locations and a ton of different characters, or even upload a picture of your own! Very cool, I can't imagine how many … Read more

Where 'ANARCHY IN THE U.K.!'

EPISODE 96

Rory Reid from CNET.co.uk joins us to talk all things tech. iPhones won't help you get laid in the U.S. or the U.K., Speed Racer looks like an abomination and Randall's stuffy nose ruins the show.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Combo TV-microwave to feed addiction

Talk about evolution. A decade ago the iconic appliance of digital age was the Internet toaster; now say hello to the microwave TV.

Thankfully, no one seems to be viewing this latest invention as the ultimate device in technological convergence--quite the opposite, actually. But that hasn't stopped Holland Electro Wave TV from debuting its Frankenstein creation at the IFA trade show in Berlin. The concept is rather silly, if you ask us: The "Wave," according to Gizmag, is basically a microwave oven with an LCD built into the door.

Not only does it cost about $680, which … Read more

A four hour flu at the Wall Street Journal?

Every morning reporters from across the country file into work at their local office of the Wall Street Journal and begin the task of tracking leads, writing copy, and sorting through the plethora of press releases that came in the night before. This morning was a different story. According to a recent post on Poynter, the news staff at the Journal took part in a sick-out in protest over recent contract disputes and the threat of Dow Jones being sold to the highest bidder.

It's unclear whether the strike will have any impact at the journal, and it seems … Read more