Not long ago, Google started protecting it’s GMail users by not letting them send drunk emails with Mail Goggles.  They’re back to protect the public once again with a new tool that lets you track flu outbreaks across the country and in your state.  It works by indexing how often searches for flu symptoms originate from different areas of the U.S.  Flu Trends also shows you a historical graph so you can see where and when outbreaks have occurred in the past.  Another handy window lets you put in your zip code for a list of flu clinics in your area.  That reminds me, I need to get my flu shot.

This is a pretty interesting way to use massive amounts of search data in a beneficial way.  I can’t wait till someone figures out how to use it to track which stocks we should buy or sell.  Maybe it’s already out there?   Im sure someone much smarter than me already had this idea. Damnit, another great Dem Jones invention comes a day late.