chinahaizhu.com

I prefer, though, the blind taste test of search, BlindSearch, created by Microsoft employee Michael Kordahi. You enter your query and it gives you three panes of search results, from Google, Bing, and Yahoo, but in a random order and with nothing telling you which is which. You find out what’s what once you tell it which result set you like best. How scientific. I ran it several times and found Google to be my preferred engine, although Bing was close behind. (Thanks, SFGate.)

Can’t decide which search engine to use? Use several. At once. After I covered Google’s “Caffeine” beta search engine I got a link, in the story’s comments, to a clever hack that puts old Google and new Google results side by side, so you can use both: CompareGoogle. Useful? Not really. But kind of entertaining if you’re a search geek.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Rafe Needleman/CNET)

Other side-by-side search mashups include YahoogleSearch (Google vs. Yahoo); Twingine (also Google vs. Yahoo); Bing-vs-Google (guess); Blackdog’s Google-Bing (Google vs. Bing in multiple languages); and BingTweets (Bing plus Twitter Search);

There are also several services that grab results from multiple engines in the background and present them in one collated list. Examples include Dogpile, which I used to use when Google didn’t give me what I wanted, and Clusty. See also our overview of metasearch engines.

Tell BlindSearch which results you like and then it will tell you where they came from. (Screenshot edited: ads removed.)

Through landscaping and a series of five green roofs, the university has managed to “double the amount of green space that previously existed on the 5.6-acre site,” according to CMU. Professors and students using the buildings will actually be able to breathe in the fresh air created by that surrounding green foliage because the Gates-Hillman complex has over 310 windows, “most of which can be opened.”

I’m referring to any room with a noisy ventilation system, windows that don’t open, and dim fluorescents overhead. You know the one. It was either so sweltering that you ended up wearing shorts in January, or kept so cold for the sake of the servers that you wore a scarf and fingerless gloves year-round.

Well, that universal rite of passage for computer lovers seems to be over for Carnegie Mellon University students thanks to a $20 million gift from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a $10 million gift from the Henry L. Hillman Foundation, and several other donors.

Rendering of an aerial view of the completed Gates-Hillman Complex.

The green roofs are each equipped with heat exchange system to limit energy loss in the ventilation system. They will also collect rainwater and snow melt (gray water) that will be directed to the building’s toilets.

Both buildings have individual thermostats for each room that can be manually controlled, and are additionally linked with motion sensors to detect when they are empty so they can adjust accordingly.

Please raise your hand if you’ve spent a lot of time in a basement environment while attempting to master one computer-related art or another.

While it’s not officially open, professors and students have already moved in. Photos of the building have also appeared on The Tartan, CMU’s student newspaper.

The Gates Center for Computer Science and the Hillman Center for Future-Generation Technologies will officially open on September 22. The linked buildings will house research space, offices, conference rooms, laboratories, an auditorium, and classrooms for CMU’s School of Computer Science.

“I was truly captivated also by the many cuts and atria in the building (a couple having complex series of stairways reminiscent of Hogwarts). There is even an ‘impluvium’ that will allow weather–including rain and snow–to enter into the building, all the way to the central ‘collaborative commons’ area,” Peter Lee, head of the Computer Science Department and future Office Director at DARPA, described in his blog.

Update 7:22 a.m. PDT: Photos were added to this story since it was originally published.

(Credit:
Carnegie Mellon University)

In announcing the scheduled September 22 opening ceremony at which Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates will speak, CMU also released updated information on the Green attributes of the Gates-Hillman complex.

(Credit:
Carnegie Mellon University)

Inside the atrium of the Gates Center.

As you would expect, there’s some nostalgia for the old facilities. Mark Stehlik, professor and assistant dean for undergraduate education at the School of Computer Science, had his dim, overcrowded office memorialized with a Gigapan snapshot, according to Lee.

The nine-story Gates Center has seven atria, and roughly 21,000 square feet of interior glass to insure plenty of natural light throughout the building.

(Credit:
Carnegie Mellon University)

The Gates Center for Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University.

Under the agreement, Cisco will launch a cash tender offer to buy all the outstanding shares of Tandberg for 153.5 Norwegian kroner ($26.45) per share, which comes to a total price of approximately $3 billion. The offer represents a 25 percent premium to the three-month average closing price for Tandberg stock. The proposal has already been unanimously recommended by Tandberg’s board.

Cisco announced Thursday that it will offer $3 billion in cash to acquire Tandberg, a global supplier of video communications equipment.

Once the deal is done, Tandberg CEO Fredrik Halvorsen will lead the new TelePresence Technology Group, reporting to Marthin de Beer, senior vice president of Cisco’s Emerging Technologies Group. Cisco said that Tandberg’s 1,500 employees will be “extremely important” in fostering growth and innovation for Cisco’s video team.

Subject to the usual regulatory scrutiny, Cisco expects the deal to close during the first half of 2010.

Through its latest acquisition offer, Cisco Systems is hoping to grab a bigger slice of the growing video communications market.

Based in Oslo, Norway, and in New York, Tandberg provides video networking hardware and software to a wide range of companies looking for teleconferencing and telepresence systems. Tandberg’s products range from low-cost desktop tools to high-end conferencing systems.

“Cisco and Tandberg have remarkably similar cultures and a shared vision to change the way the world works through collaboration and video communications technologies,” Cisco CEO John Chambers said in a statement. “Collaboration is a $34 billion market and is growing rapidly–enabled by networked Web 2.0 technologies.”

But as video becomes increasingly important to enterprise customers, the network giant wants to carve off a greater piece of the multibillion teleconferencing market by integrating Tandberg’s technology with its own.

Cisco has already wet its feet in the worlds of video and telepresence. Two of Cisco’s many acquisitions in the last several years–Scientific-Atlanta and Arroyo–furthered the company’s grasp of this segment.

After almost five days of traveling to the moon, Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped down on the lunar surface as millions watched. It was a spectacular event that is still remembered fondly by those who experienced it.

This year, NASA held several commemorative events. Numerous television shows were produced to remember the events. For the first time in a while, the United States was once again engaged in the lunar landing. And they watched Walter Cronkite, speechless, smiling, as Armstrong took his first steps.

Back in the 1960s, when Walter Cronkite was on the air almost every night, giving Americans updates on the NASA space program, people both young and old huddled around their televisions waiting to hear when (or if) we would get to the moon. Americans cared about space. They were interested. And they wanted to know as much as possible about it.

The moon is quite a sight.

The early days of July
July started out on a high note. NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which launched back in June, snapped its first pictures of the lunar landscape. Its primary mission is to analyze lunar terrain to find a suitable landing spot for future manned missions to the moon. It will also be used to create a detailed lunar atlas.

July has been quite a month for space lovers. From the launch of the Endeavour space shuttle and the anniversary of the first moon landing to the death of Walter Cronkite, the “Most Trusted Man in America” and a self-professed student of space exploration, we have seen our fair share of ups and downs this month.

Space really is the next frontier. And although we haven’t seen missions on the same scale as the moon landing in quite some time, the possibilities are endless. Maybe all the events we’ve experienced this month will help us remember that.

(Credit:
NASA)

Correction, 12:50 p.m. PDT: This story initially misstated the day of the week that the Endeavour is expected to return to Earth.

And as the economy and health care continue to weigh heavily on our minds, it’s space that has slowly made its way back to dinner tables across the United States.

The return of space?
July has been a busy month for space lovers. It has seen its share of good and bad, but in the end, it has brought space back into the public discourse. People are more interested. There are more news stories on space exploration. And in some way, I believe that people are getting more excited about the possibilities space offers.

The Most Trusted Man in America.

The 40th anniversary
But perhaps one of the most significant events of July was the 40th anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s famous first steps on the lunar surface.

The delayed launch
As July wore on, the Endeavour space shuttle sat on the launch pad. NASA’s first five attempts to launch the shuttle were foiled by bad weather. But on the sixth try, the shuttle, now a month behind schedule due to a hydrogen leak and the weather, finally launched.

Every night, millions of Americans sat at the dinner table, listening to Cronkite’s chronicling of space exploration and goals for the future. They watched as he followed each launch. And they smiled with him as Armstrong etched his name in history.

And yet, just as those of us who still support space exploits thought it would only get worse, July brought on what I believe is the most discussion and enthusiasm about space that we’ve seen in a long time. And maybe (just maybe), it might return to its former place of glory.

After inspecting the launch, NASA found that the shuttle had experienced some foam loss. It eventually found that the damage to the shuttle wasn’t significant, and there shouldn’t be any issues when Endeavour attempts to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere Friday.

Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite died on July 17. Although he’s remembered for his trustworthiness, he’s also remembered as the country’s steward during the 1960s, at the same time that NASA’s space program got off the ground.

But after the moon landing in 1969, interest in NASA’s space exploration started to fade. In recent years, some have spent more time calling on the federal government to shutter NASA rather than fund it. In 1969, such a suggestion seemed unfathomable.

The mission
While in space, Endeavour’s every move was captured by thousands of media outlets around the world. A Japanese science platform was attached to the ISS. Spare parts from the shuttle were added to the space station. Astronauts even replaced solar-array batteries. Needless to say, it was a busy mission. And the world was watching.

Forty years ago, Apollo 11 launched from Earth on a mission to land on the moon. After a few missteps and embarrassments in the early 1960s, NASA finally made some progress toward fulfilling President Kennedy’s desire to get a man to the moon by the end of the decade. By July 1969, the United States was ready, and the world was watching to see if it was possible.

The view from the moon.

The impact
But July’s space month doesn’t end there. Just last week, astronomers studied an asteroid impact zone on Jupiter. It was originally discovered by an amateur astronomer who was doing some star gazing. The impact zone was eventually captured by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Until his death, Cronkite was a strong proponent of space exploration. He believed in it. He thought it was the next frontier.

Check out Don’s Facebook profile, Twitter stream, and FriendFeed.

(Credit:
CBS News)

(Credit:
NASA)

Let’s recap how it happened.

After the flip maneuver, Sturckow flew Discovery in an arc up to a point about 400 feet directly in front of the station. From there, he manually guided the spaceplane in for docking.

Discovery’s approach to the space station was the first ever conducted using the shuttle’s big primary reaction control system maneuvering thrusters, which generate 870 pounds of thrust when ignited. Shuttle commanders normally rely on six small 24-pound-thrust vernier jets–two in the nose and four in the shuttle’s aft–to precisely control the final rendezvous sequence.

“Station and Houston, from Discovery, capture confirmed,” astronaut Patrick Forrester radioed from the shuttle.

Trailing the station by 9.2 miles, Sturckow and Ford fired the shuttle’s left orbital maneuvering system rocket at 5:26 p.m. to begin the final phase of the rendezvous.

Approaching from directly in front of the laboratory complex as both spacecraft sailed 220 miles above the central Atlantic Ocean at 5 miles per second, the shuttle’s payload bay docking port engaged its counterpart on the front end of the station’s Harmony module at 7:54 p.m. CDT, about 10 minutes ahead of schedule.

JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, Houston–Shuttle commander Frederick “C.J.” Sturckow, forced by a leaky steering jet to use Discovery’s big maneuvering thrusters instead of preferred fine-control vernier engines, deftly guided the spaceplane to a flawless docking with the International Space Station Sunday night to cap a two-day rendezvous.

The shuttle Discovery, docked to the International Space Station.

Shuttle astronauts routinely train for dockings using an alternate digital autopilot mode, but Sturckow was the first to fly such a “no-vernier” approach in practice.

Three spacewalks are planned, overnight Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, to replace a 1,800-pound ammonia coolant system tank, to retrieve external experiments, deploy a spare parts mounting mechanism and to install wiring needed for a new module scheduled for launch next year.

(Credit:
NASA TV)

(Credit:
NASA TV)

But one of Discovery’s two forward vernier jets failed after launch overnight Friday, forcing flight controllers to close a manifold that isolated both forward thrusters. As a result, Sturckow had to complete the rendezvous using the larger primary jets instead.

Shuttle commander Frederick Sturckow, wearing a familiar red baseball cap, leads his crew aboard the International Space Station.

“Space shuttle Discovery, arriving,” station commander Gennady Padalka said, ringing the ship’s bell in the Harmony module.

Over the next 90-minute orbit, the docking mechanisms locked the two craft firmly together and leak checks were carried out to confirm a tight seal before hatch opening later in the evening.

Padalka and his five station crewmates warmly embraced their seven shuttle colleagues before gathering for a safety briefing and getting down to work.

The space shuttle completes a back-flip maneuver crossing the coast of New Zealand.

“Hey Pat, before the hatches get opened there and we have a hard time finding C.J., the orbit one shift wanted to pass along what a great job he did on this first ever vern-failed docking,” astronaut Chris Ferguson radioed from mission control. “Did a fantastic job. And you’ll be happy to know it occurred on the 25th anniversary of the maiden flight of Discovery. So would you pass that along to him for us?”

(Credit:
NASA TV)

As it pitched around at a sedate three quarters of a degree per second, station commander Gennady Padalka and Michael Barratt, using digital cameras equipped with 400-mm and 800-mm lenses, photographed the shuttle’s heat shield to help engineers assess its health before re-entry.

The primary goals of the mission are to deliver 7.5 tons of science equipment, life support gear, and supplies. Nicole Stott, who hitched a ride to the station aboard Discovery, will replace astronaut Timothy Kopra, who plans to return to Earth aboard the shuttle in Stott’s place after 57 days in space.

Before Discovery’s arrival, the 83 percent complete space station massed 699,010 pounds. At docking, the combined spacecraft massed nearly a million pounds.

UPDATED at 10:10 p.m. CDT: Adding hatch opening; quotes; correcting times of rocket firing and pitch-around maneuver.

“OK, Houston, we appreciate those words and thanks for the great support and the great calls by the ground today, a couple of key saves were made,” replied Sturckow, the first astronaut to make four trips to the space station. “So thank you very much.”

A few minutes later, at 9:33 p.m., hatches were opened and Sturckow, wearing a bright red baseball cap, led his crew into the space station.

At 7:03 p.m., with the shuttle positioned about 600 feet directly below the station, Sturckow used the primary jets to kick off a slow nine-minute back-flip maneuver to expose the shuttle’s belly to the space station.

Unions, shareholder groups, and others have begun pressuring a number of large companies for greater say in how the companies pay their workers and executives. Microsoft said it worked with a number of its shareholders in developing its approach, including several entities that had submitted proposals related to this issue, such as Walden Asset Management, Calvert Investments, and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters.

Microsoft’s board on Friday voted to give shareholders more say in how the software maker pays its executives.

“We believe that establishing an advisory vote on compensation is a significant step in providing shareholders a voice on this important issue,” Calvert Group sustainability analyst Aditi Mohapatra said in a statement.

The board of directors approved a plan that calls for a vote on the company’s executive compensation every three years. However, under the board’s plan, the vote will be advisory in nature.

“Given the interest in executive pay, we think it makes sense to encourage more dialogue with our shareholders on our compensation approach,” Microsoft general counsel and board secretary Brad Smith said in a statement.

In 2008, Apple shareholders approved a non-binding resolution asking the board to give them greater input on executive compensation matters.

The first of the advisory measures is set to be a part of this year’s shareholder meeting, which takes place November 19.

In theory, of course, shareholders could propose such votes more often, or submit other measures related to executive pay.

For more technical details on the house, see this photo gallery.

Student teams, who have spent up to two years preparing, will disassemble their buildings and put them back together on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in less than three weeks. The homes, which will be open to the public, will compete over 10 days on design, market viability, and other technical aspects.

The winners of the 2007 competition were Germany’s Technische Universitat Darmstadt, which produced a home said to cost more than $1 million to make. By contrast, the Boston team’s budget has been about $200,000. Its goal is to produce a home that could be sold for about that much as well, although it would likely have fewer solar panels at that price.

MEDFORD, Mass.–To build a home powered entirely by the sun, students here drew inspiration from Boston neighborhoods rather than the futuristic lifestyle of “The Jetsons.”

But the home will have high-tech touches and modern conveniences. It’s wired with Ethernet and will have a simple energy-monitoring display for the residents using technology developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, according to students.

Community living

The building design was done with an eye toward densely populated communities, rather than only for people who can afford to buy land to live “off the grid,” students said. The back porch and front deck both have privacy screens, a feature that would allow for many similar buildings to be placed closely together.

“We want to show people on the National Mall that they can do this now, not get excited about something that they can have in five or 10 years,” said Matt Thoms, the project director for engineering and photovoltaics at the Curio House and a Tufts student. Other students said they wanted to avoid “gimmicks” that would be built only for the competition.

Teams will also be judged on how much excess electricity they generate. The overall energy load of the Boston house will probably be about a third of a typical home the same size, as it will be well-insulated (lowering the heating and cooling system load) and it will use energy-efficient appliances and LED (light-emitting diode) lighting.

College students from Tufts University and the Boston Architectural College on Thursday cut the ribbon for the opening of the Curio House, a building that will run entirely on solar energy. It’s the New England region’s entry into the Solar Decathlon, a U.S. Department of Energy-run event where 20 teams compete for the best solar-home designs.

That’s far more than a house this size–800 square feet–would need if it were connected to the grid. But competitors need to operate for 10 days while at the Mall, performing a number of jobs, such as doing 10 loads of laundry and hosting a “movie night” where they show off their in-home entertainment system. Batteries will store energy in case it’s cloudy or for night-time use.

A no-fuss solar-powered building

While most of the building materials can be bought at a Home Depot, the solar panels powering the house are top of the line. There are 28 SunPower photovoltaic panels able to produce 6.4 kilowatts of electricity and five solar thermal panels which will provide hot water and heating.

To keep costs down, the building uses almost entirely off-the-shelf products available in building-supply stores. The construction techniques, too, are meant to be relatively straight-forward, using a modular and simple design, students said.

In focusing on affordability, the Boston team has already tackled one of the trickier problems of green building adoption. The Curio House may even see people living in it someday: the team has lined up a buyer for the home at a “green community” housing development planned in Cape Cod.

The one-story home itself is small at 800 square feet, meant for a couple or a couple with a young child. Residents will also need to “manage” the home’s climate to a certain degree as well: south-facing outdoor blinds need to be adjusted to let in sunlight for lighting and heating. The outdoor blinds, along with a planned pull-down bed, are meant to maximize the indoor living space.

The competition starts on October 9 in Washington, D.C., when students will start assembling their buildings to prepare for the judges, the media, and public viewings. Although it’s not part of the requirements, the Boston team thought about the energy that’s needed to put the Curio House together. Instead of hiring a heavy-duty and very polluting crane, the entire house can be assembled with people and forklifts.

The site is coming out of beta now and it has a few new features designed for people who don’t feel their cars are disposable items. “Car awareness is different today,” founder Trevor Traina says. He quotes a statistic: 82 percent of people now intend to keep their cars longer than they did before the recession hit. So DriverSide’s mission–”teaching people to maintain and own cars”–seems to be right for the time.

As the site leaves beta, it’s getting a few new features. There’s a diagnostic utility: you answer a series of questions and it will give you a diagnosis as well as a list of repair shops nearby, with reviews from DriverSide users (integration with Yelp’s reviews may come in the future). As before, you can get a price estimate on DriverSide if you know exactly what work you need.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Rafe Needleman/CNET)

A year ago, I covered DriverSide, then in beta, a site designed to help people own cars–not buy new ones or fetishize the ones they can’t afford. Since then, with the crisis in the U.S. economy, the automobile market has changed dramatically, making the boring utility of DriverSide likely even more attractive than it was when it launched.

DriverSide makes money from referrals and leads (to repair shops and auto parts stores) as well as from advertising. The site will also contract with repair chains to give them co-branded versions of the site. This could be a good way for dealers and shops to stay engaged with their customers, and that’s important for the auto dealers. As new car sales slow, it’s going to be their repair arms that keep them in business.

The biggest challenge for DriverSide is that it’s just not very sexy, nor is it a site that most users will visit frequently. People who have used the site in the past (I’m one), and who could take advantage of it when they have an issue with their car may simply forget it’s there when it could be of the most help to them.

DriverSide's mechanics answer user questions.

Sadly, the feature I want–the ability to just hold an iPhone up to a car making a strange noise to get a diagnosis–has yet to be developed. However, I did recommend that Traina call the team over audio recognition company Melodis, so maybe we’ll get that eventually.

DriverSide also now employs its own panel of mechanics to answer questions from users. I found this feature more useful than the rather broad diagnostic utility, since in the questions I read, the mechanics seemed not only to know cars but know what particular repairs should cost. It’s nice to take a car into a shop with that information.

Some clever features, like the service’s new specific Twitter feeds for ownership news related to the top 50 cars its users own, could help users to remember the site when they need it. And if Traina can keep DriverSide front of mind when it’s needed, it could capture enough of what Traina says is the $34 billion annual “ownership” market for the car industry–for service, parts, insurance, and so on. It’s a good model for the times.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Rafe Needleman/CNET)

DriverSide isn't quite the WebMD of car sites, but its diagnostic tool does give you a sense of what's likely wrong with your car.

Partovi on downloads: “Everybody in our business is talking to the major labels almost continuously (about downloads), and for good reason. The licensing landscape has evolved a lot, and it continues to evolve. If and when a deal is available that can offer an even better experience to our users at reasonable costs to us, we’ll always be interested. I can’t discuss any specific negotiations, product ideas, or rumors.”

Updated at 10 p.m. to correct spelling of iLike CEO Ali Partovi’s name.

As the ad-supported music sites cast about for ways to generate revenue, some of them are turning to selling downloads. This means they hope they can entice iTunes users, which represents the vast majority of the digital music market, away from Apple.

The new store will debut as a beta version and will feature songs from at least three of the four top major recording companies, according to the sources. On Tuesday, iLike changed the name of its Facebook app to “Music.”

This is a strange time for ad-supported music services, and iLike’s foray into downloads comes as skepticism about the business model is higher than ever. Earlier this year, Ruckus shut its doors and Imeem, which is also testing a download store, faced a financial crisis before securing a round of funding and better licensing terms from the big recording companies.

A CNET examination of SpiralFrog, the first ad-supported download site, which went out of business in March, indicates that advertisers just aren’t willing to pay these sites premium rates. Music listeners, as it turns out, don’t want to stare at ads when they’re listening to songs.

“What’s our secret? It’s simple: we’re not trying to help consumers get unlimited music without paying for it. Instead, we’re focused on music discovery: we deliver all the other things that music consumers love without risking a lawsuit or paying high royalties. Besides sampling music, people use iLike to get concert notifications, recommend new bands to friends, see video messages or tweets from their favorite artists–all of which has built iLike an audience of more than 120 million uniques per month across all our apps and widgets while maintaining very low costs.”

Others have tried this tact, including Microsoft, MTV, and Wal-Mart and all have ended up either scurrying away or scratching out a living by servicing a niche market. By all appearances, Apple continues to be an unstoppable force in music.

Facebook most’s popular music application comes from iLike, and soon the company will try to turn that social-networking cachet into song sales.

Seattle-based iLike, a social music service, is expected to launch a music download store in coming days, perhaps as soon as Thursday, according to two sources with knowledge of the deal. Last month, CNET News reported that iLike was in talks with the top four recording companies about securing licenses for downloads.

iLike CEO Ali Partovi was not immediately available to comment.

Partovi on the ad-supported model: “I think the jury is out as to whether ad-supported music consumption will work. However, I think it’s important to remember that there’s much more to music. At iLike, we’ve built a self-sustaining ad-supported business (positive cash flow over the past 8-month period), and that’s with only one full-time ad sales person.”

Nonetheless, Partovi impresses me as someone who’s not afraid of a fight. Last week, I interviewed him via e-mail and while we didn’t agree on many of the questions surrounding the ad-supported model, there’s no doubt in my mind he thinks he has it figured out.

The LeapFrog Group: If you’re worried about which hospital you should be attending for medical treatments, The LeapFrog Group is the place to go.

RateMDs: If you’re familiar with RateMyProfessors, a service that allows college students to grade their teachers, you will be right at home with RateMDs.

Although that does take away from The LeapFrog Group’s effectiveness, I did find that the better-performing hospitals want everyone to know how well they’re doing, so they will report on their successes. For that reason, The LeapFrog Group is worth trying out.

DocBoard features a search tool called DocFinder. When inputting a query, you have the option of searching through the sites listed below the search box. There are a couple dozen state physician board sites listed. If you’re looking for doctors somewhere else, you’ll find links to the right of DocFinder, sending you to state pages you can’t search directly on the site. Since I live in New York, I had to go to my state’s respective physician’s page to learn about doctors in my area.

When you get to the site, you’ll need to input your state, ZIP code, or hospital to start. From there, the site returns a listing of all the hospitals in your area. But where it provides the most value is in the ratings of different hospital functions. The site displays ratings on a respective hospital’s ability to prevent medical errors, staff intensive-care units, manage serious injuries, and much more. It determines its ratings from data it receives from hospitals, though, so you might find several facilities listed with a “declined to respond” note.

When you start using RateMDs, you’ll need to search by state. From there, you can narrow your search by city, the doctor’s specialty, rating, and more. When I searched for doctors in New York, I was quite pleased by what I found. There were several doctors with dozens of reviews from patients who both liked and disliked the physician. RateMDs impressed me even more when I searched in suburban areas. Once again, the site delivered several useful reviews. And thanks to a nice design, you shouldn’t have any trouble creating your own reviews.

ZocDoc looks like a simple site where you can learn more about a doctor. But once you dig a little deeper, you’ll find that you can also schedule appointments on the site. It asks you why you want to be seen, how you expect to pay, and which company covers your insurance. It’s a neat function.

My top three

WebMD: WebMD is best known for its information on ailments, but the site has a nice physician directory that can also be helpful.

When you first get to Vitals, you’ll need to decide if you want to research doctors or find one that’s best suited to your preferences. If you choose the former, you’ll need to input a doctor’s name and which state they practice medicine in. The site then provides you with a lot of great information, including which hospitals they frequent, where they graduated from medical school, and more. If the doctor was reviewed, you can see that review on their individual page.

DocBoard: DocBoard might feature one of the worst designs in this roundup, but I found it extremely helpful for those looking to learn more about doctors in their area.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

(Credit:
Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

1. Vitals: Combining reviews and research, Vitals is the place to go if you want to find a good doctor.

With such a huge directory of doctors, it would have been nice if user reviews accompanied them. But since they don’t, WebMD’s service should be considered an alternative to more capable tools, or a starting point in your search.

As with any user-review site, some comments on RateMDs are inexplicably harsh, but for the most part, I think you’ll be happy with what you find.

2. RateMDs: With such a huge database of doctor reviews, you’ll want to try out RateMDs.

The LeapFrog Group helps you compare hospital safety.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

DocFinder gives you useful information on several doctors.

ZocDoc helps you find available appointments.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

RateMDs features just about anyone you're looking for.

But if you live in a state that did make its physician information available to DocBoard, I think you’ll like what you find. The site will deliver information on where a doctor graduated medical school, whether or not she’s still certified to practice medicine, and more. It’s an extremely informative site.

ZocDoc: If ZocDoc was like every other service in this roundup, it wouldn’t have been included in the listing because so far, the site is only available to New York City-based users. But its concept is so unique that it’s worth taking a look at it and watching how it evolves.

Vitals helps you find doctors in your area.

I really liked Vitals. It’s easily the most useful site in this roundup.

Vitals first asks you to input which doctor specialty you’re looking for. From there, simply input a ZIP code, choose a distance you’re willing to travel, and Vitals will deliver all the doctors in the specified area that match your query. I searched for doctors in both big cities and small towns. In both cases, the sheer number of results the site returned was impressive.

As the health care debate rages on, we’re still left wondering which doctor is best for what we need. Asking friends is a good way to find out about personal experiences, but one person’s opinion might not be enough to go on. For those instances, you need some help from a Web site or two.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

WebMD’s physician directory requires you to input where you want to search for physicians. You also need to input whatever specialty you might need. Once complete, WebMD lists one of the most comprehensive physician directories of any site in this roundup. When I searched for general practitioners in my suburban area, the site listed more than 300 doctors. Each listing features information on the doctor’s gender, office location, education, and more.

3. DocBoard: By providing state board information, DocBoard is a handy tool to consult when you pick a doctor.

Find your next doctor

(Credit:
Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

Vitals: Vitals combines the best of the ratings sites with the better doctor-research resources, making it the most useful site in this roundup.

So far, ZocDoc is extremely small. Unless you live in New York City, you won’t have any reason to use the site. That said, the company says it does plan to roll out the service in more cities going forward. In order to do that, of course, it will need to partner with physician offices, so that will likely take some time. But I think it’s a neat idea that’s worth checking out if you happen to be in the area it serves.

WebMD lets you find doctors in several disciplines.

I’ve compiled a helpful list of services that will help you research doctors, and with any luck, pick a good one. Let’s take a look.