Web sites

New site Fitango brokers self-improvement plans

Just in time for New Year's resolution season, a site called Fitango has launched, intending to provide a marketplace where people can buy "plans" from experts who can offer online tutorials in anything from training for a marathon to transitioning to a vegan diet to learning as much Italian as possible one month before traveling to Florence.

It's structured like an app store. Pick an "Actionplan," pay for it (though some are free), and you'll receive instructions, including video and audio, where applicable, over a given span of time. You're invited to … Read more

MSN launches Fitbie, an interactive fitness site

Fitbie, the latest addition to MSN's Lifestyle portfolio of Web sites, has just gone live at fitbie.msn.com, and partners MSN and Rodale say the interactive multimedia Web site will enable people look, feel, and live better by helping users make better diet and fitness choices.

With subpages on how to get fit, lose weight and eat right, as well as personalized plan and goal setting, Fitbie is clearly trying to be to personal health what Mint.com is to personal finance.

Content is culled from several Rodale publications, including Women's Health, Prevention, Runner's World, Bicycling, … Read more

Radiation-shielding garb now includes Belly Band

A few months after launching its RadiaShield maternity clothing line online and in San Francisco, Belly Armor is expanding its line to include the Belly Band, to be worn over or under outfits during pregnancy.

The band, which comes in four colors and one size, is available through the company Web site for $59. The Singapore- and New York-based company describes the latest addition to its product line as follows:

Protect your baby from everyday radiation during your pregnancy, while complementing any outfit. A maternity essential, the flattering Belly Band feels like second skin. Go about your day freely and stylishly with the peace of mind of RadiaShield protection. Wear under or over clothes throughout your pregnancy, with larger side fully covering your belly.

According to the company, RadiaShield fabric is machine washable, soft to the touch, and lighter than the cotton found in most T-shirts. It utilizes an effect known as a Faraday cage, neutralizing incoming radiation in a way similar to a grounding wire neutralizing an electric current.… Read more

Atlas of Birth: Mapping maternal health online

When social scientists at the University of Southampton began to map out global maternal health trends from United Nations and World Health Organization data, they were able to visualize several trends more clearly.

Working with the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood and the University of Aberdeen, the researchers are producing online maps, a book, a short film, and more. They call it The Atlas of Birth project.

The Web site currently features 18 maps on topics ranging from literacy to genital mutilation to abortion; five case studies on women in Ethiopia, Tanzania, Senegal, and Yemen; and statistics on a … Read more

Harvard health expert calls Facebook 'Wild West'

Harvard is finding fault with the brainchild of one of its own. Researchers from Mark Zuckerberg's alma mater, as well as from nearby Brigham and Women's Hospital, find that Facebook's largest communities dedicated to diabetes are littered with promotional comments touting non-FDA approved products.

The research, which is based on findings from the social network's 15 largest communities for diabetes, was published in October in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, which is itself on Facebook. (So are Harvard and Brigham and Women's Hospital.)

The findings aren't all bad. The team did identify "… Read more

For teens today, online ties as strong as family

For those of us who went to high school before the Internet had made its way into most households, back when evenings were more likely to be spent twisting telephone wire around our fingers than typing messages to our friends, having online relationships that are equally important to those that happen in person may sound implausible.

But for teens today, online communities--be they through games, social-networking sites, or other virtual groups--offer "crucial socialization and identification experiences," according to researchers who studied 4,299 people from Spain, Japan, and the U.K. who use the social-networking site Habbo.

Moreover, … Read more

Google Flu Trends: Take with grain of salt

When compared to the Centers for Disease Control's national surveillance of influenza lab tests, data from Google Flu Trends is 25 percent less accurate at estimating rates of lab-confirmed influenza infections, according to a new study out of the University of Washington.

The findings are being reported at the American Thoracic Society 2010 International Conference in New Orleans this week.

Google Flu Trends estimates national rates of flu-like activity by monitoring the popularity of certain Google search queries in real time. This method is precisely the problem, because the influenza virus does not always cause influenza-like illnesses. (The researchers … Read more

Mobile donations to Haiti exceed all in 2009

Since tweets such as "Text HAITI to 90999 to donate $10 to @RedCross relief" went viral Wednesday, more than $8 million has been donated--about double the amount donated to all charities via text messaging throughout all of 2009, a Red Cross spokeswoman tells CNN.

The Red Cross has solicited text message-based giving campaigns in the past, but its biggest peak was when people raised $190,000 via the Text2HELP campaign in the wake of Hurricane Ike in 2008, according to the organization.

And while Red Cross reports that it has already received far more money via larger donations--about $… Read more

Google launches Maps tool for finding flu vaccine

Google on Tuesday announced a new Maps feature to help make it easier to determine the availability of flu vaccine.

According to the company, users can now visit Google's new flu shot Google Maps page to find out if there is any vaccine available in their area. It partnered with "the U.S. Department for Health and Human Services, their Flu.gov collaborators, and the American Lung Association on the flu shot finder," the company wrote in a blog post.

On the flu shot page, users can input their Zip code or town and find all the … Read more