Google Make We Dumb?

Me no think so.

|

Google wants my health records

Google will not get my health records.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Google's online filing cabinet for medical records opened to the public Monday, giving users instant electronic access to their health histories while reigniting privacy concerns.

Called Google Health, the service lets users link information from a handful of pharmacies and care providers, including Quest Diagnostics labs. Google plans to add more.

The company already has a slightly uncomfortable amount of control over my personal information and speech, given my voluntary use of programs like Gmail, Google calendar, and Blogger.

Seeing highly - and creepily - targeted adds appear at the top of my Gmail inbox based on the content of my e-mails is enough to give me pause.

|

Presidential Forum Slated for NOLA

In September at the MORIAL Convention Center:

Google, the dominant Web search engine, and YouTube, the online video platform, are proposing the forum with the major party presidential candidates be held Sept. 18 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, just after the parties complete their conventions in late August and early September. It would be eight days before the first scheduled presidential commission debate in Oxford, Miss.

The announcement, made today on Google's Web site, did not reveal whether any of the candidates -- presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona, or Democratic candidates Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois or Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York -- have agreed to participate.

This sounds great. I hope to submit a Youtube question of me standing in a Perlis polo in front of the former house of the Chinese spies here in my neighborhood, asking the candidates what they plan to do about China's rising military and diplomatic threat, specifically excluding discussion of economic policy, which the Democrats always seem to devolve into.

And I hope to attend the forum at the Convention Center, of course.

It's also interesting to hear Mayor Nagin take such a positive spin on web technologies for democratization and political involvement:


Isn't that what bloggers do?

|

"it would be premature for us to comment at this time"

So sayeth the current Google Chat status line of my friend who works at Google...

...about this landmark offer...

...that's probably got people shaking as if experiencing one of these.

|

Coming to a Youtube Video Near You

A glistening new tool for the toolbox.

|