What Your Symptom's Really Mean

Hi All,

WebMD's Symptom Checker is a very useful and interactive tool that might help you diagnose what is really wrong with you when you don't feel well. 

The top of the page has a helpful ribbon of options - which include topics like 'Health A-Z', 'Drugs and Supplements', 'Living Healthy', 'Family and Pregnancy' and 'News and Experts'.  

The real value of the site is the Symptom Checker tool. In order to use it though, users need to fill out some information - which is completely useless since the user can enter false answers to questions like 'Who is the information for?', 'Gender' and 'Age'.  Other options include zip code and your email address. Once you submit the answers you see a screen with a body map. Users can click on the map to zoom in on various parts of the body.

For example, I chose the chest - then a list of chest symptoms appears next to the body map.  I chose a 'cough'.  Whereupon several questions related to the cough are asked.  Questions included 'what brought on the cough?', 'Cough developed after exposure to...', and 'Cough associated with...'.

A list of possible conditions is included on the screen once all the questions are successfully answered.  Whereupon the user can click on any of the possible conditions and will promptly be taken to the WebMD section of the site that discusses that condition.

At the top of the screen a list of the symptoms is included, an overview of the condition is given, what the patient can expect from the condition is also discussed. Furthermore a section of 'how common' the particular condition is? is listed on WebMD. Sections on Treatment, Self Care, Made Worse By, When to See Your Doctor and Questions to Ask Your Doctor is included in the WebMD Symptom Checker.

Readers can skip to the next condition, print the current condition and more. 

WebMD has a Cold and Flu newsletter for readers as well as options to Find a Doctor and Finding the Lowest Drug Prices.

The site is easy to navigate, reputable, current and well organized.  Its a good site to learn more about your present condition/illness or to learn what your present symptoms actually mean!

Regards,
Stu

Combination Post - Lots of Different Ideas Pulled Together

 Hi All,

Today's blog post is about, well, everything.  Aka...its a mish-mosh of sites, ideas and links!!!!

It's so cold outside that my brain feels slow, addled and well, cold.  So, with that said, I'd like to talk about a few links that I've saved in my bookmark folder for just such an emergency - a day where I need to talk about a few interesting links...

From a Yahoo! Travel article back in December 2014, comes this article titled, 'What Every State in the U.S. Is Worst At (Including North Dakota at Tourism)'. 

Homework Helper from Refdesk.com - organized by grade and has an Ask the Expert Section as well as a Quick Reference/Research section, and a Tools For Research section.

Fact Monster - has sections as varies as Almanacs, World and News, US, People, Word Wise, Science, Math and Money, Sports, Cool Stuff, Games and Quizzes, Homework Center and more.

Google Trends - 'In 2014 we searched trillions of times. What does these searches say about us?' Click on this link for a review of the year 2014 in search via Google. This link shows various Google searches and trends...Users can view 'searches', 'people', 'athletes', 'consumer electronics', 'global news', 'Google Doodles of 2014', YouTube Videos and more.

Enjoy the links and the varied topics in the post!

Regards,
Stu

It's Fall - and the Leaves Are Falling

Hi All,

If you didn't notice it, the Fall season is here.  Its starting to get blustery and temperatures are starting to drop at night.  Brrrrr.   And with the Fall season upon us, leaves fall.  Turning all different colors and shades of red, brown, orange, yellow and colors in between its a great time of year for taking walks in parks or near where there are lots of trees.

Click on this link from ILoveNY for the Fall Foliage Report.  And another interesting website for accurate foliage information comes from the Foliage Network.  The site has Pictures, Foliage Reports, Place To Stay, Foliage Spotters and Webcams.  Neat stuff.

In addition, there is a site called Yankee Foliage which also has Fall Foliage Maps, Foliage Drives and more.  Note that the site is a variant of YankeeMagazine.com. 

Finally, the library has a bunch of books on taking nature walks on Long Island.  Click on this link for a list of titles the Farmingdale Public Library has in its collection on the topic of nature walks.

Enjoy the hiking, enjoy the leaves.

Regards,
Stu

Cold Weather Blues

Hi All,

Cold weather seems like it is the norm lately here in Farmingdale - and on Long Island. Click on this link for cold weather facts from the National Safety Council.  They discuss things like dressing warm, frostbite, hypothermia and more.

Another link that might be of interest to cold weather fans is this one from 'The Weather Channel'.  Entitled 'Deep Freeze Recap: Coldest Temperatures of the Century for Some' the article talks about how records have fallen in many cities around the country during this last cold weather snap.

Click on this link to learn how to stay warm without a heater...brought to you by Wikihow. 

From ApartmentTherapy.com comes this entry with the title, '14 Ways to Keep Warm Without Turning on the Temperature or Turning the Heat Up'.

And remember folks, bring those pets indoors during these bone chillingly cold nights.  With temperatures around 10* and wind-chill factors near -10* you need to bring your cat or dog inside ASAP.   Click on this link to learn how to keep your pet warm after you bring him in from the cold. 

Remember to keep your car maintained so that you don't have a dead battery in the morning.  Click here for some advice on how to winterize your car - fyi, its a video.  Click here for another article on winterizing your car...this one is entitled '9 Ways to Winterize Your Car.'


Finally, click on this link from Google Images for lots of pictures of icy cold tundra like conditions.  Hey, some folks like this weather - others not so much...

Enjoy the links and stay warm.

Regards,
Stu

World Records

Hi All,

Ever since I was a kid I wanted to set records. And when I found out I wasn't going to be the biggest, fastest, smartest, youngest, oldest, etc in any particular category (kind of like most people) I was very interested in the Guinness Book of World Records.

As a matter of fact the name of the book is now 'Guinness World Records' not 'Guinness Book of World Records'. Go figure - things change. For a goofy record, click here to see who balanced the most books on his head at any one time.

Click here to find a particular record in a category - basically this is a search box so you can type in term and find a record associated with it. For example, you can search for 'animals', 'books', 'baseball', 'coins', 'richest', 'smallest', etc... you get the idea.

Click here for the official site of GBWR (my acronym for it in this blog entry so I don't have to keep writing it out...). Many of us remember the thick paperback GBWR from our childhood and our teen years...of course we have the very same title in the library. Click here for the link to the card catalog to see if we have the book on the shelf.

I'm getting the feeling that the owners of GBWR are trying to 'brand' the product. Especially with the Guinness World Records Museum and the link to Licensing.

For an external link that is not associated with the GBWR, click here to see the Wikipedia entry for the GBWR. You'll notice that there is a fairly long outline that includes the History, Evolution, Museum, TV Series and the Gamer's Edition of the GBWR.

Hope this is an interesting entry - oh and in honor of one of the coldest, snowiest winters on record in the NYC/Long Island area, click here for the largest snow sculpture/structure ever made. It'll make you appreciate the fact that much of this years' snow has melted.

Regards,

Stu

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Icy Cold...Winter is in the Air...Brrrrr....

Hi All,

With the deep freeze that we've been in over the last few days I'd like to blog about the many ways homeowners can save money this winter. Forthwith a few sites that'll help save you some money during the cold winter months.

You might remember Bob Vila. He was the host of a home repair type show on PBS in the 1980's and early 199's (that long ago?)...well, he's made his mark on the web now. Click here to get an article entitled, '10 Quick Tips to Winterize Your Home'.

A website called, Get Rich Slowly has this to say about saving money this winter...click here for their view on the subject. (using rugs on bare floors, block drafts, install a programmable thermostat, change the furnace filter, and more.

Straight from Ezines.com is this article entitled, 'Top 10 Ways To Save Money On Your Heating Bills This Winter'. This simple list is as easy to follow as it is easy to read and print out.

Finally - and who knew this? - Home Depot has a blog called, 'The Apron Blog'. Click here for a link to the entry from November 18th, 2010 entitled, 'Winter Home Maintenance Tips: A Little Prep Now, Can Save You Money Later On'. The article talks about both interior and exterior home maintenance before the winter kicks in...this is a really helpful article for all you DIY'ers out there!
Hope these sites help keep you warmer during the winter months!
Regards,
Stu

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