Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Delays... and Knowledge Panels

Life sometimes intervenes.  

Sigh. 

This week's answer is a bit delayed because I'm living with a bit of sinusitis, which is basically an infection of the sinuses (which has the side-effect of making it tough to think through the writing process).  

Naturally, I did the query for: 

     [ sinusitis ] 

and found the following Knowledge Panel on the right side of the SERP. (Remember that you can click on this image to see the full-size pic.)   



You see a Knowledge Panel (KP) whenever Google has a collection of high-quality information on that topic.  Notice where I've added the red arrows.  People often miss the symptoms and treatments tabs in the KP (near the top).  

People also often miss the downloadable PDF (see the lower red arrow).  That's a summary that shows all of the information on one handy sheet.  

And from that I see that I can expect the sinusitis problem to be "Short-term: resolves within days to weeks."  

KPs are also created when the query refers to a well-known entity that's a part of the Knowledge Graph (KG).  If you do a query that ends up returning a well-known person, place, or thing, you might well see a KP on that topic with facts that are linked to the entity (with high confidence).  For instance, you could do a search for a well-known person like this: 

     [ Charles Ranlett Flint ] 


As with the medical KP, there are other elements of the KP that are worth noticing.  For instance, all of the field names--like Born:  Died:  Education: are also clickable, and will do a query about that exact topic (e.g., [ Charles Ranlett Flint born ] which will tell you when he was born).  

The blue links--e.g., Thomaston, ME or Washington, D.C. are clickable as well, allowing you to follow your lateral thinking ideas as you like.  

I'll answer last week's Challenge by the end of this week.  I hope I'll be feeling better by then... and able to think properly.  

We'll be back on our usual schedule by next week.  

Search on! 

10 comments:

  1. speedy recovery Dan, at least you're not at altitude on the 26th floor - more sinus pressure… remember Dr. Google sometimes has misguided patients and is immune to malpractice…
    guidelines on "thinking properly" would be appreciated…;-)
    IBM/CEO KP/KG… in the tower too
    Larry & Eric are there
    pics - a power gathering
    sour grapes, crying/drowning emoji

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  2. Hello Dr. Russell

    Sinusitis is awful. I hope you get well soon and thanks for the tips and tricks. I didn't know about downloadable PDF.

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  3. Replies
    1. Thanks, everyone. I wish my sinuses were with me, as opposed to merely being pressurized!

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    2. Hello Dr. Russell! Hope you feeling much better and with perfect health.

      I was reading History of Concrete (in Spanish and that made me remember some Challenges like this one. And I am sure Dr. Russell have talked about Pantheon (haven't found it yet. Tried searching "oculus" "Rome" among others )
      What's the significance of where I'm standing?

      Then searched [Rome Pantheon 1900 years] and found The Physics Of Ancient Roman Architecture


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  4. Dan - daily use of this product has been a game changer for me: http://shop.neilmed.com/Products/Sinus-Rinse

    And watching this video from U of M shows the right way to do it and how to make your own saline mix. I use distilled water. Get better!

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  5. Using the Neil Med sinus rinse daily has been a game changer for me! Here is a University of Michigan video on how to use it. I always use distilled water. Get well!

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=62vm1Mb0T38

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  6. contacted an acquaintance and through a circuitous route an early morning shamanistic sinus relief practice was preformed…
    no doubt, you will be better in a couple of days… or you won't — such things are often a mystery and subject to vagaries
    and the unknown.
    Oddly, (and thankfully), there is still no "app" for such things.
    Hopefully you won't attempt to fly until it is cleared up - being in a pressurized tube can bring complications
    and agonies that can be avoided by staying on terra firma (discomfort • x) e.g., the inclusion of the ears in the pain party – not fun at all.
    7:20, this a.m.

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