As 2007 comes to a close, I would like to thank you for your readership. Just over one year ago, I launched two websites, Highlight HEALTH and the Highlight HEALTH Web Directory. Here at Highlight HEALTH, my goal was to write about biomedical research I found interesting and to make it easier for people to understand research findings, empowering them to have more productive discussions with their physicians and to make informed decisions about healthcare. The Highlight HEALTH Web Directory is my endeavor to catalog and make available health-related websites I find to be informative and useful. More recently, I’ve also started writing about Web 2.0 in Health, Fitness and Medicine, and plan to publish a series of review articles on a number of health-focused social networks.

This past month, I started the Highlight HEALTH Network, an aggregation of content from both sites to allow readers to keep up with the latest articles on Highlight HEALTH and the newest additions to the Highlight HEALTH Web Directory, all from a single source.

Here are the most popular articles for 2007 (top 20 based on the number of page views/number of days posted):

1. The Highlight HEALTH Network RSS Dashboard Widget
2. Smoking Cessation Timeline: What Happens When You Quit
3. Dichloroacetate Not Ready for Therapeutic Use
4. The Highlight HEALTH Network
5. New Common Cold Virus Variant Deadly
6. Common Therapy for Prostate Cancer May Promote Metastasis
7. Overweight Kids and TV: An Advertising Epidemic
8. Saline Nasal Irrigation More Effective than Spray for Chronic Sinus Symptoms
9. Pediatric Grand Rounds 2.8
10. The Genetics of Panic Disorder
11. Smoking Duration vs. Intensity and the Impact on Lung Cancer Risk
12. Social Networks and Health - The Research and the Reviews
13. Quercetin
14. American Obesity Rate Levels Off
15. Biodegradable Polymers for Drug and Gene Delivery
16. Individual Genetics, Coffee Consumption, BRCA1 and Breast Cancer
17. The Flu, Your Health and the Importance of Vaccination
18. SCHIP Funding and Fiscal Irresponsibility
19. DNA Amplification by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
20. Sinus Congestion

Thank you and Best of Health in the coming year!

To celebrate the one-year anniversary of Highlight HEALTH, I’m pleased to announce the release of the Highlight HEALTH Network RSS Dashboard Widget, which provides one-click access to the latest posts on the Highlight HEALTH Network. The widget is designed for use on the Apple Dashboard.

Highlight HEALTH Network RSS widget screenshots

The front of the widget, showing the latest articles on Highlight HEALTH and the newest additions to the Highlight HEALTH Web Directory:

The search bar at the top of the widget allows you to search the Highlight HEALTH Network. Search results open in your browser. The scalebar at the bottom of the widget allows you to show the full feed, a reduced amount of content or titles only.

The back of the widget, showing additional information on the feeds currently aggregated on the Highlight HEALTH Network:

Widget installation

To install the Highlight HEALTH Network RSS widget, download the zip file. If you’re using the Safari browser, it should automatically unzip it and start the installation. A small window will open, asking “Do you want to install the widget ‘HighlightHEALTH’ and open it in the Dashboard?”. Simply click install and you’re done.

If you’ve downloaded the zip file and nothing’s happened, double-click the file “HighlightHEALTH.zip” to unzip, then double-click the widget to install.

The Highlight HEALTH Network uses a full-text feed, formatted in RSS 2.0. While developing the widget, I was surprised to find that Apple Dashboard widgets displaying RSS 2.0-formated feeds don’t allow you to drag the scrollbar or scalebar. You have to click on the scrollbar or scalebar in order to scroll or scale the content. In my tests, scrolling also worked using the scroll ball of an Apple Mighty Mouse or the trackpad of a MacBook Pro laptop (tested on Mac OS X 10.4.11 “Tiger” and 10.5 “Leopard”).

UPDATE: April 20th, 2008

Version 2.0 of the widget now aggregates content from Highlight HEALTH 2.0. The download links above have been updated. Enjoy!

UPDATE: April 16th, 2009

Version 2.1 of the widget is now available. The download links above have been updated.