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Ok to Use Cell Phones at the Hospital

This has been an ongoing scenario for years and most of the wireless connectivity used in hospitals today operate on the same frequencies as many cell phones, good to see a positive on this topic. BD
Hospital Equipment Unaffected By Cell Phone Use, Study Finds: "Technology also can threaten implantable rhythm devices such as pacemakers and defibrillators outside the hospital setting, according to a journal report. The report outlines two cases of retail stores' anti-theft devices causing people's heart devices to malfunction.

The anti-theft devices are commonly placed near store exits and entrances, triggering an alarm if customers leave with merchandise that was not purchased. In two instances in Tennessee, customers with a pacemaker and an implantable cardiac defibrillator experienced adverse reactions after nearing anti-theft devices. "

Calls made on cellular phones have no negative impact on hospital medical devices, dispelling the long-held notion that they are unsafe to use in health care facilities, according to Mayo Clinic researchers. Cell phone bans inconvenience patients and their families who must exit hospitals to place calls, the study's authors say.

» SoundGate,Tablet PC for Musicians


Musicians also getting in touch with tablets...BD

» SoundGate, the computer for musicians GadgetRoad - Daily Gadget News: "What makes SoundGate special is its design, basically a tablet PC, and preloaded software tools that help individual learning, add tutor lessons and live playing. Also SoundGate facilitates creative artists by recording playing sessions, recognizing and transcribing music, prompting sheet music and lyrics."

Using a UMPC Tablet as a Desktop Replacement

Nice image at UMPC Portal showing using a UMPC as a desktop replacement. The device can be both your desktop and mobile device as your lifestyle demands. BD

GPS Coming to a Cab Near You Soon

Interesting story about GPS being used in cabs..the drivers have mixed reaction, but it appears we will have one more screen with GPS and advertisements in the cab...BD

metro
Last year Philadelphia taxi drivers staged a one-day strike over the installation of GPS devices. The system was installed anyway.

Desai said the 1998 strike here was successful: “We were able to get the attention of the City Council to intervene, which is exactly what we’re looking for again.”

R2-D2 Mailboxes Confirm Rumors

Interesting new look for the US Post Office....BD
TheForce.Net - Latest News - R2-D2 Mailboxes Confirm Rumors

The rumors are no more! Feast your eyes on what will soon be popping up at local United States Post Offices!

As reported here earlier, the USPS will be helping Star Wars celebrate its 30th anniversary.

Microsoft Announces HD Photo

Microsoft Announces HD Photo, a New Imaging File Format With Advanced Features for Today’s Digital Photographers: Plug-ins for Adobe Photoshop and HD Photo Device Porting Kit to help speed usage and adoption.
Microsoft expects to release finished plug-ins, which will be free of charge, in approximately 60 days. HD Photo offers compression with up to twice the efficiency of JPEG, with fewer damaging artifacts, resulting in higher-quality images that are one-half the file size. In addition, HD Photo offers increased image fidelity, preserving the entire original image content and enabling higher-quality exposure and color adjustments in the image. This new format offers the ability to decode only the information needed for any resolution or region, or the option to manipulate the image as compressed data.

Bells and whistles - optional for a successful practice

It is not how much technology you have, it is how you use it that matters.
Modern Healthcare Online: "In my own paperless office, I manage patients very efficiently and track outcomes data without a CCHIT-certified EMR. I tried a host of certified EMRs. They were not designed around our workflow and actually impeded patient care by needlessly tying us to the screen when we could be doing more tangible work. Many doctors like me have done tremendous work in our own practices to improve efficiency, reduce patient waiting times, provide cost-effective care, reduce error and also (unlike the VA) provide very secure portable records to patients and doctors. Because of poor-quality products that have flooded the market, many of us have resorted to designing our own software to suit our workflow and our specific needs. The proof of utility of electronic tools is a successful practice and a waiting list of patients who want to come in for consultation. It is not how much technology you have, it is how you use it that matters.

N. Murali, M.D.
Gastroenterology Associates of Orangeburg
Digestive Endoscopy Center
Orangeburg, S.C.

Instant Hospital Room Availability Checking for Emergencies

System allows instant tracking of hospital capacity - Boston.com
PAWTUCKET, R.I. --Emergency workers can instantly track patient capacity in Rhode Island hospitals under a new program that's been in the works since rescue workers scrambled to find places for people injured during The Station nightclub fire.
The system is connected to regional emergency dispatch centers. It will allow rescue workers to bypass time-consuming phone calls to hospitals and instead check the computer to determine where hospital beds are available.

The $200,000 program was funded by the Department of Homeland Security.

The Tablet Kiosk Ultra-Mobile PC

This is another recent video with Gail from Tablet Kiosk going over several possibilities for the UMPC from use as a point of sale instrument in a restaurant to use in the medical fields. It almost makes you put your thinking cap on! The video was created by the Connected Traveler.

Send Google Maps to a BMW

This really has no place on this blog, other than other areas of interest, but the video does a very good job in showing how GPS and a PC can communicate, and save time.

Lipitor Receives FDA Approval For Five New Indications In Patients With Heart Disease

Lipitor Receives FDA Approval For Five New Indications In Patients With Heart Disease: "Pfizer announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Lipitor(R) (atorvastatin calcium) Tablets to reduce the risk of nonfatal heart attacks, fatal and non-fatal strokes, certain types of heart surgery, hospitalization for heart failure, and chest pain in patients with heart disease. Lipitor is the first cholesterol-lowering medication to receive FDA approval for the reduction of the risk of hospitalization for heart failure."

The Solo Practitioner: Postcards From the Edge of Extinction

Good Information from a family practice physician, you may need to log on or create an account to read..from Medscape..BD

The Solo Practitioner: Postcards From the Edge of Extinction: "Blogging is a little different: partly teaching, partly PR, partly venting, under the guise of raising awareness of the issues facing medicine -- specifically solo family practice -- in this day and age.

The opportunity to reach a much wider audience is thrilling and a little scary. It's been 6 months now since this dinosaur crawled back from the edge of the tar pit and took the leap out into the blogosphere, and frankly, it's been a hell of a ride."

Daylight Savings Time -Update for Windows XP

Time is closing in to make sure your PCs are updated for Daylight Savings Time changes. If you have kept up with Windows Update, chances are this has already been updated for you. If you are part of a business network, check with systems administrators for any instructions. If you do not have the latests Windows Updates, view the link below that will allow you to update your Windows XP machine.
Download details: Update for Windows XP (KB931836)
If you use MS Outlook for email, this too will need to be updated for the time change. Again, if you are part of a business network, check with your systems managers for instructions.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=E343A233-B9C8-4652-9DD8-AE0F1AF62568&displaylang=en

The New York Times - Health News & Multimedia

The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia
I remember reading about a year back about the paper closing one of their printing facilities. The newspaper is leading the way with creating a newspaper web presence. You can subscribe online for free and view in a printed format, but recently the newspaper has taken advantage of the new Windows Presentation Foundation technology and the new "READER" format in beta is available for free. When looking at the demo, they really focus on how simple the reader works with tablet pcs as well. Here is a short description of the READER:
What is Times Reader?
Times Reader is a new, downloadable software application that lets Windows XP and Vista users read The New York Times electronically, online or offline, in a paginated format as opposed to scrolling down a Web page. Times Reader lets users retrieve all the latest news and photos (a process that takes about a minute) and read the content offline. It also let’s you check to see how much of the paper you have read and easily navigate to articles of interest that you may have missed.

http://www.nytimes.com/membercenter/faq/timesreader.html#timesreaderqa1

My favorite format is to continue to use RSS Feeds to deliver the daily health news I subscribe too, but the READER is worth checking out. Other newspapers are paying attention and one in Washington has also created their own reader. Newspaper readers may be on the rise. Here is a link to the page with all the RSS Feeds as well as podcasts offered by the Times. They have really done their work in allowing the subscribers to quickly filter and display the news items desired.
http://www.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/index.html