CDC

Safe House: Zombie-proof and stylish to boot

It was just over a year ago that the CDC told the public how to prepare for a zombie apocalypse, tongue firmly in cheek.

Today, it ain't so funny. Following the stunning case in Miami, Fla., of a drug-addled man eating another man's face, there have been reports of horrifying cannibalistic crimes in Texas and Maryland.

Naturally, there's a Google map of these and other incidents foretelling zombie doomsday.

Ridiculous? Yes. But even the CDC weighed in on it, with spokesman David Daigle reassuring everyone that there's really no such thing as zombies.

Oh but there are more things in heaven and earth, CDC, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. … Read more

Microfluidic chip to quickly diagnose the flu

During the H1N1 flu pandemic of 2009, which spread across more than 200 countries and killed more than 18,000 people, it became clear that flu diagnosis was often taking too long and resulting in frequent false negatives.

Today, researchers from Boston University, Harvard, and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center are reporting in the journal PLoS ONE that they have built a microfluidic chip that rivals in accuracy the gold-standard diagnostic test known as RT-PCR but is faster, cheaper, and disposable.

For their four-year study, which involved 146 patients with flu-like symptoms and was funded by the National Institutes … Read more

The 404 824: Where we're spinning our way to the top (podcast)

Where would you go if all your neighbors turned into New Balance-wearing, speed-walking zombies? The CDC (unaffiliated with apocalyptic preacher Harold Camping) has some tips on how to survive the zombie apocalypse in a manual released on its Web site yesterday that uses the undead as a metaphor for disaster preparation. On today's show, we're also getting shallow and pedantic about Meredith Baker's newly appointed position as the senior vice president of governmental affairs for Comcast-NBC Universal, a merger that she oversaw as an FCC commissioner, and we're also chatting about a woman who was reportedly kicked off Amtrak for talking on the phone for 16 hours!

The 404 Digest for Episode 824

CDC advises on disaster prep the only way Americans understand: with zombies! FCC commissioner leaves for Comcast-NBC Universal Woman kicked off Amtrak for talking on the phone for 16 hours!

Episode 824 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Over half of late-20s crowd own cell phones only

Fifty-one percent of 25- to 29-year-olds live in households that have kicked the landline habit, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That is the first time that wireless-only households have surpassed landline households among any age group, according to the CDC's report released yesterday. The report, which surveyed 17,619 households over the six months that ended in June, also showed a 2 point rise of cell-phone-only households among late-twentysomethings compared with the previous six months.

Looking at other age groups, around 40 percent of people 18 to 24 and 30 to … Read more

CDC: One in four U.S. homes ditch landlines

Nearly 25 percent of all U.S. households have eliminated landlines in favor of mobile phones, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed in a recent study.

According to the CDC, during the last half of 2009, 24.5 percent of all U.S. households had at least one mobile phone and no landline telephones, representing a 1.8 percent increase compared to the first half of 2009. And approximately 15 percent of U.S. homes had a landline but received the vast majority of calls on their mobile lines.

The CDC collects phone usage data, and corresponding … Read more

Fake CDC vaccine e-mail leads to malware

Updated 5:10 p.m. PST with information about later versions of the e-mail campaign directing to a landing page with hidden code that uses an Adobe exploit to try to download malware onto the system.

You can ignore that e-mail that looks like it comes from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about creating a profile for an H1N1 vaccination program. It's a malware scam, according to security provider AppRiver.

The fake alert informs recipients that as part of a "State Vaccination H1N1 Program" they need to create a profile on the CDC … Read more

Why I worry that landlines are endangered

What I'm about to say may make me seem like a Luddite or curmudgeon, but I'm disturbed by the news that an increasing number of Americans are reachable only by wireless phones.

A new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that more than 20 percent of American homes have only cell phones and another 14.5 percent of homes received all or almost all calls via cell phones even though they had a landline. The CDC says that it's the largest six-month increase in reliance on cell phones since it started the survey … Read more

CDC using Twitter for swine flu information

Just in case you're not getting enough up-to-the-minute news about swine flu, you can log in to Twitter to get updates from the government's Centers for Disease Control.

The CDC is using Twitter to spread the word on how not to spread or get swine flu. The CDC has several Twitter accounts including @CDCemergency, which is posting new recommendations, bulletins on confirmed cases, and information on antiviral drugs and other ways to deal with or prevent the disease.

The Associated Press reports that there have been more than 1,600 reported cases and the number of suspected deaths … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 851: Boxcar Jack is looking for you at HoboBook.com!

Social networking finally reaches its most underserved niche: the hobos. Look for Tom to officially join the Hobo Nation any day now. In other news of the day, Caroline McCarthy joins us for a rollicking discussion of The Washington Post's war on spam, and Molly most likely gets herself fired from CBS and kicked off TWiT in one fell swoop. So, learn to love Caroline. She might be sticking around.

Listen now: Download today's podcast Episode 851

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 makes date with U.S.: Black Friday for $799.99 http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/12/sony-ericsson-xperia-x1-makes-date-with-us-black-friday-for-79/… Read more

Work stress? You're not alone, CDC says

If you could push a button to lose weight, would you do it? Sure you would. That's why diet and nutrition crazes are so popular.

If you could take a pill and improve some part of your physique or become smarter, would you take it? Of course. That's why we see so many ads on TV and the Internet for that kind of crap.

What? Too smart to believe a pill can really do those things? That's cool. How about signing up at the local health or fitness club. Or buying self-help books. We're joining clubs … Read more