“You know an odd feeling? Sitting on the toilet eating a chocolate candy bar” George Carlin

When was the last time you ate a sandwich in a bathroom or more specifically on the toilet? I haven’t either (fine one time but I was hungry) but I bet you eat at the computer. Is that a yes? Well it would be better to eat off of the toilet. It seems our keyboards are far grosser than imagined. They contain a whole myriad of bacteria and viruses, yum. An English company, called Which did a study for Geek.Com, found that keyboards are five times dirtier than the toilets. They have bacteria like Staph which can cause skin infection and food poisoning. Alright so you are sufficiently grossed out and you’re looking at the keyboard like it’s a horrible monster so what now? Well several things actually. First ThinkGeek carries a product called Cyber Clean, which is putty specifically designed to clean your keyboard and mouse. It seems to do a great job cleaning and states that it kills 99.99% of bacteria plus it can get into the crevices. There are also plenty of websites with instruction as well. DO NOT USE WATER! It seems obvious but people will do strange things. Lysol, The company known for cleaning bacteria, makes wipes that do a nice job. No matter what you choose unplug the keyboard before starting. I always like to start with the simple flipping the keyboard over and tapping it from the back. You’ll be amazed at the amount of crumbs and other neat things that fall out. So before you reach into the bag of chips at your computer think twice.
Don't forget the mouse! YICK!

"I prefer to distinguish ADD as attention abundance disorder. Everything is just so interesting . . . remarkably at the same time.” Frank Coppola

Several years ago I was diagnosed ADHD. Most of my students will not come surprised. For the most part I think I knew it before I was diagnosed. Many of my thoughts are trying to understand my brain and why I think the way I do and what I can do to mitigate the strangeness of my thoughts. The reason I bring this up is to highlight a site. Now I should take the time to say there are plenty of medical websites out there devoted to one particular problem or another but this one of course was close to my heart or is it brain? Anyway I was watching PBS and I caught the tail end of a documentary on the condition. I thought it was decent and both funny and kind of corny but I decided to follow it up and find more about it. The website that the documentary is tied to is totallyadd.com. The moment I went on the site it appealed to me. I stole their summary and listed it below:

“Check out are videos about ADHD treatment, the diagnosis, tools targeting the ADD symptoms dealing with feelings and more.”

You can watch clips from the documentary or take their virtual test. They do have an exclaimer saying that you should always check with a trained therapist for a real diagnosis. What I liked most about the test was the in depth descriptions that really allow you to understand the condition. They have links, discussions, and rants. Lastly I should say this does not excuse my behavior or others but it can help to both understand it and to deal with it. If you know someone with the condition you may want to recommend it to them. Many people say they are ADD but it could be something else. This may help to clarify the issue.
Before I let you go I wanted to say I hate calling it a condition. I find for certain jobs it can be a real strength and not a hindrance. As a teacher I am filled with lots of energy and can concentrate on many students easily. Sometimes being different is a real plus as well as being a pain in the neck.

"Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper." Adelle Davis

It’s a funny thing that when I think of the Internet I think of sites and stuff to do that is elsewhere in the world. It seems everything is created in California but of course this is not true. Even in our small towns people are doing amazingly helpful things on the net. I happened to be at the doctors recently and noticed something called MYPhotoDiet. I spoke to the Doctor and he explained that people have a tough time thinking out healthy food choices for themselves and their kids. So to help they created MYPhotoDiet which is a pictorial view of what a good diet should consist of. I am a visual person and find I am always after cookbooks with pictures. I explained to the doctor that I had a tech blog and I would like to look into it but I try to recommend stuff that is free or low cost so he gave me the codes for the Myphotodiet kid’s lunch’s program. He said that any of the readers are welcome to use the code. I checked it out and it simple to get into and use. For the kid’s program it shows 30 days of meals and gives the nutritional breakdown for each one. It looks decent. All the diets are in PDF format and can be downloaded to your computer or you can look at it online. The other diets like the one for diabetes or heart healthy ones range from 10.95 to 19.95. Give the free one a try and if it works for you try the others

To gain access click login and type in HEALTHY in the username and the KIDS in the password. Make sure it is all in capital letters.

One last thing I was happy to see my Doctor had his own blog and is staying up with technology. Check it out here.

“I like trying [to get pregnant]. I'm not so sure about childbirth.” George Eliot Pseudonym of Mary Ann Evans

For this next post you will have to forgive my ignorance a bit. I know the basics about pregnancy from two major sources textbooks and TV. From the fist I have the biology and from the second I have the rest. So my understanding of what a contraction is and the fact that it must be timed is hazy at best. Please commenter’s I am happy to remain ignorant. To help out with timing a contraction one father created a site called contraction master. It is simplicity itself. Once you get to the timer screen you just have to push the spacebar when the contraction begins and another when it ends. It will then record all the needed info and give you the frequency. It is just as simple as that. The creator explains it far better than I do. Now if this seems strange to bring a computer into the process think of this. We now are becoming more and more tied to are machines so why not have them help at what I assume would be a rather tense moment? I know this is not for everyone so saying give it a try would be dumb but I can say I hope this helps.

“Anatomy is destiny.” Sigmund Freud

Man o Mandibula! I unfortunately never took anatomy and physiology in school but I have always had an interest in understanding the body and its workings. VisibleBody is a site that can help that understanding and investigation. It shows a human body and allows you to peel away layers to see circulation or digestive systems. Now I have seen pictures of this stuff the first time I picked up a Britannica and was fascinated by the plastic transparent pages. This however goes further allowing you to come at any organ or part from any direction including inside itself. It has the ability to pull away all unnecessary bits and focus on just what is needed. The only downfall is that you must use Internet Explorer and the initial startup is a wee bit slow. However if this is an area of study for you or a class that you teach this really is awesome. Give it a try.

“I just hate health food” Julia Child

The purpose of the blog has always been to show how useful the computer and the Internet can be in our normal lives. The are some sites that will help us work faster or better, more efficient, but what about our bodies? Eat Better America is a nice site that tries to help with the issue of nutrition. It is a great site with lots of info. The recipes seem to be straight forward and look delicious. I might try some tonight. They also have targeted fitness routines depending on what you are looking for. I chose to get the beat on the heart as they put it so they steered me towards foods that will help my heart. It had examples along with pictures for all of them. I really like the you are what you eat section. As they put it nutritional information should not be as dry as Melba Toast. Give it a try.

“Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.” Twain

The other day I tried to look up some medical information on Google. The search returned with a little bit of everything. Some of it pertinent and some completely useless. I instead tried a different type of search engine called Healia. It is devoted to health and medical searches. According to their information about themselves, they have the ability to sift out the best information that you are looking for. When I did my searches I did find much more relevant and useful info. I don't know if I believe all their press. However I personally will bookmark it and use it as another tool to get my searches done. As usual I recommend that you give it a try!

Note: No matter what you find print it out or write it down and check with your doctor before following any of the information you find.

Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you walk into an open sewer and die.

Yesterday I posted a useful site for living healthy on into the future so today I give you something useless but entertaining. Death Clock has been helping people plan their futures for years. Use this to know when to book your last vacation. Give it a try!

If you live to be one hundred, you've got it made. Very few people die past that age. Burns

Have you decided that you eventually want to be featured on Good Morning America when you are 100? Well then you need a plan to get you through. You should try the Living To 100 Life Expectancy Calculator. It is brought to you by the founder and director of the New England Centenarian Study, the largest study of centenarians and their families in the world. Stick around a while and give it a try!