Flu Trends

There's been a few cases going around our office the last couple weeks. Luckily I'm smarter than the average bear and got my flu vaccine weeks ago.

Like many Googlers, we're fascinated by trends in online search queries. Whether you're interested in U.S. elections, today's hot trends, or each year's Zeitgeist, patterns in Google search queries can be very informative. Last year, a small team of software engineers began to explore if we could go beyond simple trends and accurately model real-world phenomena using patterns in search queries. After meeting with the public health gurus on Google.org's Predict and Prevent team, we decided to focus on outbreaks of infectious disease, which are responsible for millions of deaths around the world each year. You've probably heard of one such disease: influenza, commonly known as "the flu," which is responsible for up to 500,000 deaths worldwide each year. If you or your kids have ever caught the flu, you know just how awful it can be.

Our team found that certain aggregated search queries tend to be very common during flu season each year. We compared these aggregated queries against data provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and we found that there's a very close relationship between the frequency of these search queries and the number of people who are experiencing flu-like symptoms each week. As a result, if we tally each day's flu-related search queries, we can estimate how many people have a flu-like illness. Based on this discovery, we have launched Google Flu Trends, where you can find up-to-date influenza-related activity estimates for each of the 50 states in the U.S. [Google Blog]

GOOGLE FLU TRENDS

Random I know but it came up when I did a Google Image search for "Google"

High Speed Rail in California

Saw this article on Wired about the approval of bonds for construction of a high speed rail line in California.

Before the final ballots had even been tallied, high-speed rail advocates in California were getting down to work, laying the foundation for a bullet train that will link San Francisco and Los Angeles as early as 2020.

Voters on Tuesday approved the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act, more commonly known as Proposition 1A, by a margin of 52 percent to 47 percent. The law authorizes the Legislature to issue almost $10 billion in bonds to fund the first phase of an 800-mile high speed rail link between Northern and Southern California. Advocates of high-speed rail hailed the victory as a watershed for high-speed rail in America.

It begins almost immediately. Quentin Kopp, chair of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, told Wired.com the agency will deliver a revised business plan by the end of this week and then begin a comprehensive engineering plan. "We're going to need to do things like dig tunnels through mountains and navigate the Pacheco Pass," he explains. "This is intricate engineering, and it's a crucial part of the project."

Kopp says that the state will also spend $3 to $4 billion this fiscal year buying right-of-way land for the project.

The Authority plans a network that will stretch from Sacramento to San Francisco and on to Los Angeles and San Diego via Fresno, Bakersfield, and other cities in the Central Valley. Trains would use the same wheel-on-rail technology found in France, Spain, Korea and China and reach speeds of more than 200 mph.

Proponents say the project is essential for a state choking on jammed highways and crowded airports, and predict that a well-planned north-south rail link could draw over 115 million riders a year by 2030. Gov. Schwarzenegger, one of the initiative's biggest advocates, argued high-speed rail will not only solve California's infamous gridlock, it will give the Golden State an economic competitive advantage.

The Los Angeles Times endorsed the measure, heralding it as the dawn of a more transit-friendly environment. "We think voters should give in to the measure's gleaming promise, because it's in their long-term interest," the paper wrote. The San Francisco Chronicle also got on board, calling Prop 1A "an ambitious vision that is well-tailored to the state's transportation and environmental needs." [WIRED]

Mr. President

Barack Obama's Victory Speech


John McCain's Concession Speech


World Reactions


Head over to Oldest Living for some more on the election

VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!

Time to perform your civil duty. Record voter turnout is expected in California today.

A record 13.6 million California voters are expected to cast ballots in today's election, a 78.9 percent turnout that would be the largest in more than three decades, a new Field Poll predicted.

The presidential race between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain is attracting most of the attention, but a dozen statewide ballot measures, topped by a proposed ban on same-sex marriage, also are boosting turnout.

"That's over a million more voters than we had in 2004, which was the previous record," said Mark DiCamillo, the poll's director. "This is representative democracy in action."

Throughout California, nearly 3.8 million of the state's registered 17.3 million voters had cast ballots by mail or at early voting sites as of Friday. That's a 22 percent turnout, and hundreds of thousands of early ballots are still to be counted. About 53 percent of this year's votes are expected to be cast at the polls today. [SFGate]

Huffington Post Election Coverage

CNN has some pretty solid election coverage to track your races.

Go HERE.

Voting Problems?

If You Don't Care About Politics, Vote Because You Are Addicted to Caffeine

If you care enough to vote, we care enough to give you a free cup of coffee.

Come into any participating Starbucks on Nov. 4th, tell us you voted, and we'll proudly give you a tall cup of brewed coffee on us.

Its our way of saying, thanks for doing your part.

Limit one per person. Good while supplies last. Void where prohibited by law.

© 2008 Starbucks Coffee Company

********UPDATE********
The song in the song is called, "Trillium Glance" by Michael Montes, for those that are asking.

Obama All Over

With his 30 minute national TV ad last night and almost double the amount of ads running across the country, presidential candidate Barack Obama is everywhere it seems.

Barack Obama's 30-minute campaign commercial Wednesday night was not merely a tactical decision to carpet-bomb millions of Americans in pursuit of a few thousand undecided voters who can dictate the outcome of the presidential campaign.

Aired on seven network and cable stations, the ad served as a national get-out-the-vote organizing tool for Obama operatives. It offered even the swiftest channel-flipper the chance to see Obama looking presidential, helping to condition voters to that possibility. And once again it proved to John McCain, and everyone else, how Obama's deep pool of campaign cash has allowed him to rewrite the rules of presidential campaigning. [SFGate]

Obama's campaign truly has rewritten the rules on how to campaign for president. He has embraced YouTube and his channel has videos going up everyday. According to Nielsen Media Research an estimated 33.6 million viewers watched Obama's half hour commercial last night. He has done a particularly good job in targeting a younger audience, the video game ads probably helped with that. AdAge even named Barack Obama the Marketer of the Year.

You Can Vote However You Like

Election day is approaching and the online media coverage is being even more intense. Half or more of the top viral videos all related to the election. Here are some interesting videos I've come across.

You Can Vote However You Like (T.I. Election Parody)


If that doesn't make sense to you, check out the T.I. video below. You really should go on iTunes and look at the popular songs.


There's also another 5 Friends PSA. While Jonah Hill & Sarah Silverman provided the comic relief in the last PSA, it's Sacha Baron Cohen and his character Borat who save this one.

Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Snoop Dogg, Harrison Ford, Julia Roberts, Ben Stiller, Will Smith, Steven Spielberg, Justin Timberlake, along with Sacha Baron Cohen as Borat, Zach Braff, Colin Farrell, Neil Patrick Harris, Scarlett Johansson, Shia LeBeouf, Tobey Maguire, Ryan Reynolds, and Jason Segal, are featured in a second of a series of public service announcements to encourage American youth to vote.

The non-partisan PSAs, produced by DiCaprios Appian Way, were created to engage and inspire young people to vote and participate in the upcoming election. So get some friends and go vote! [HuffingtonPost]

5 More Friends (Uncensored)


5 More Friends

You can see the other 5 Friends PSA HERE

Will Ferrell Returns to SNL

Last night's Saturday Night Live election special featured Will Ferrell returning to play George W. Bush as he gives his endorsement for McCain/Palin. As you can probably guess Tina Fey was also there to play Sarah Palin and Darrell Hammond played John McCain.

Ferrell reprised his famed impression of the president on the live "Weekend Update" special Thursday to give an "impromptu" evening address to the nation. He spoke about the election between John McCain and Barack Obama — both candidates, he said, that are "heavily patriotized" and "display much characterization."

He then gave his endorsement to McCain and Palin, something that they apparently didn't want. Ferrell said he was unaware that his approval ratings were low because he had several months ago declared the Oval Office a "bummer free zone." [AP]

Related Links:
Tina Fey Plays Sarah Palin....again
Ohhhh Sarah
SNL Debuts with host Michael Phelps

Joe (Sam) the Plumber

By now I bet you have heard of "Joe the Plumber" who was referenced numerous times by Senator John McCain during the third and final presidential debate Wednesday night. Since McCain even decided to declare "Joe the Plumber" the winner of the debate, I figured I might as well post the video and some more info about this whole thing.

A couple of things about Joe the Plumber, the icon of the authentic working-class voter who was declared the "winner" of the final presidential debate.

His first name isn't really Joe. It's Samuel.

He's not really a plumber - at least, not a licensed one.

He's concerned about increased taxes - but hasn't paid his own income taxes.

And he's not exactly just a guy from Ohio.

He's lived in Arizona ... and Alaska. [SFGate]

Original Joe the Plumber Video


McCain Ad


Obama Mentions Joe

Palin As President

Ever wonder what it would be like if Sarah Palin ended up in the White House? Well you don't have to wonder anymore, you can simply check out PalinasPresident.com and see what it would be like. You should also go over to Digital Two-Footed Tackles and check out his thoughts on the site, since I stole the link from him. Below is a screenshot of the site.

Emo for Obama

This really serves no point but I thought it was funny. I guess if you are an emo kid you can print this out and make a cool button out of it, or you can buy it here.

5 Friends

There's a new viral video making its way around the web. It's a celebrity filled PSA urging people to register to vote. The video itself is a bit lengthy which may limit its appeal as a viral video but the uncensored version offers a few laughs.

Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Aniston, Jamie Foxx, Usher, Halle Berry, Forest Whitaker, Sarah Silverman, Dustin Hoffman and Jonah Hill are just a few of the celebrities who are urging Americans to get out there and vote in a new public-service video entitled "5 Friends."

The spot does not single out a candidate but features the stars urging people repeatedly to register and vote (and encourage five friends or more to do the same). In some states, the voter-registration deadline is October 4, while other states allow people to register at the polls. [mtvU]

Censored Version

Uncensored Version (Warning: Some Profanity)

There's a few pretty cool maps if you putz around on the URL the video gives.

Google Maps - Vote

Google Maps - 2008 Election

Various Other Election Maps

Sports & Politics

I know, I know, two political related posts in a row but just happened to notice this on ESPN.com and thought it was very interesting. It's an article about who in the sports world has donated to either John McCain or Barack Obama. There is also an interesting article interviewing both candidates on sports-related questions.


Pro sports figures more invested in this presidential campaign

Answers from the presidential candidates to sports-related questions

Sports figures not inclined to talk about their politics

Keeping Ameirca Strong

Ok, before anyone thinks I'm choosing sides, I want to let you know that I would definitely post this video regardless of political party involved.

I just find it funny that if you are that passionate about politics, passionate enough to go to a national convention, you would think you would know how to spell America or would possibly proofread your sign.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.