From the Computers Are Awesome/Creepy file, Discovery News is reporting on a website tracking infectious diseases offline.

Every hour, HealthMap, an infectious disease-tracking Web site, culls through news Web sites, public health list servs, the World Health Organization’s online pages, and other Web sites in six different languages to pinpoint outbreaks of disease that real-world doctors can then act on.

So far the program identifies about 95 percent of all disease outbreaks, sometimes days before the World Health Organization or the Centers of Disease Control announce them.

The system is designed to look at words in context, so that a plague of locusts is distinguished from good old fashioned plague. The company is receiving funding from Google, which apparently wasn’t content to map streets. Someday, they may be able to pair a blurry photo of your neighbor’s house with a warning about when he gets the clap.

As you might have noticed, I have a MySpace page. I’m not a big fan of webcam whores, adult dating spam and illiterate teenagers, but it’s convenient for keeping in contact with some old friends. I occasionally even meet someone new who I might like to make an Internet friend, and MySpace is good for that too.

A few dozen people have elected to connect to me on MySpace, and I wanted to let them know that I’d moved my web-spewings here from Ask LBB. Unfortunately, MySpace has decided that I’m a dirty, baby-eating spammer, and it keeps blocking links when I try to post them.

I tried sending a bulletin, and it replaced my link with a link to a page warning about phishing and viruses. Plan B was a blog post, which resulted in the same electronic gelding.

Why can’t I communicate my news with these people who have chosen - wisely or not - to connect to me? I managed to send a customer support email (without profanity, for once), but so far I haven’t heard back. Further bulletins as events warrant.

Please join me in welcoming a new author to the Suburban Panic! bomb shelter. Scooter Grant is a friend, law school colleague and veteran blogger. Nobody knows exactly what sinister plans are percolating in her brain*, but we’re excited to have her participating in this project.

*my money is on “army of atomic monkeys.”

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah opened an interfaith conference with a call for greater communication and cooperation between major religions. “We all believe in one God,” the Muslim monarch said. “We are meeting here today to say that religions should be a means to iron out differences and not to lead to disputes.” (I guess a billion Hindus couldn’t wrangle a single invitation to the party?)

The whole thing was organized in Madrid, Spain by the Muslim World League, based on an original concept by Abdullah himself. But wait. If it was King Abdullah’s idea, why not hold it in Saudi Arabia? He’s mind-bogglingly wealthy, and he runs the whole country. Why not host the conference in Riyadh, instead of diverting all those sweet tourist dollars to Spain?

Because it’s illegal to practice anything but Islam in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia bans the practice of any non-Islamic religion within its borders. It’s hard to see how anyone can take seriously this plea for greater tolerance between religions, when the man making it is the head of a country that criminalizes the faiths of the people he’s speaking to. It’s like Megatron wandering into the U.N. and asking  everybody to stop giving the Autobots such a hard time.

Sean Tevis is running for State Representative in Kansas, 21st century style. His campaign website explains why he’s running, and talks about what he needs to do to win. It doesn’t sound remarkable, but he does it with an XKCD homage. If I lived in Kansas, he’d be my candidate.

EDIT: The second link is currently getting traffic from Pharyngula, so it’ll still be loading when the sun devours the inner planets.

The misuse of common phrases is something of a pet peeve. I had a friend in high school who, when choosing between two equally attractive alternatives, used to say that it was “six and a half dozen of the other.” I managed to graduate without punching him in the neck, but only because he had a car.

Lately, I’ve notice a lot of people using the phrase “flying under the radar screen.” They take a perfectly good metaphor, jam an unnecessary word up its snout, and render it nonsensical.

“Flying under the radar” works as a metaphor because of the way radar works. Radar systems emit radio or microwave radiation, and use the reflected waves to detect objects. Below a certain elevation, natural and artificial structures prevent the waves from getting to and from the radar. A savvy (and skilled) pilot can fly close enough to the ground that the radar signal can’t get from the emitter to the plane and back to the detector. Thus, “flying under the radar” is an effective way of saying that someone was operating undetected.

On the other hand, “flying under the radar SCREEN” doesn’t mean the same thing. Under the radar screen is a plastic or metal console, a lot of electronics and (probably) the legs of the person monitoring the radar signal. If you’ve flown under the radar screen, you’ve just crashed through the control tower, most likely killing yourself and anyone in the building. Does that sound like “undetected” to you?

Careful use of language allows you to make your point in a colorful and interesting way. Messing up a simple metaphor makes you sound stupid, and puts you on the list for a serious neck-punching. Unless you’re willing to drive me to the beach.

I managed to update my WordPress install, with far less mucking about than I anticipated. Sometimes, things go better than expected. Praise astronauts.

Sometime this evening, I’ll be installing the newest WordPress build, version 2.6. I’m nobody’s IT professional, so expect the site to be down for a bit, and some kinks to work out once everything is in place.

A group of activists has successfully challenged regulations passed by the New South Wales government, imposing a $5,500 fine for “annoying” Catholics attending World Youth Day celebrations in Sydney. They argued that the laws infringed on their civil liberties, and three judges of a federal panel agreed with them.

Members of the NoToPope coalition plan to use their newly restored freedom to express their opposition to the church’s medieval stances on contraception and abortion. They’ll try to engage the attendees by handing out condoms, stickers and leaflets.

Friend (and fellow slogger through law school) Glomar has canceled her hypothetical subscription to the New Yorker over their recent cover. They’re currently trying to hash out the difference between satire and ham-handed racism at her Livejournal.