Mobile Health Apps That Share

A set of tools for building cell-phone apps that collect health-related information aims to change the way health information is stored, shared, and used.

The Open mHealth project, developed at UCLA and UCSF, provides technology for  health apps that transmit a variety of data to the project's central data warehouse. This data can include information entered by users and also such things as smart-phone GPS- and accelerometer-tracking information. One pilot project, for instance, is studying the diet, stress, movement, and exercise patterns of overweight new mothers. Users have control over what data is captured and get to choose with whom it is shared. Hospitals, health-care providers, and startup companies could design additional apps to draw on the data.

Mobile phones are increasingly used to track illness and promote wellness, but for the most part, this occurs by way of a patchwork of incompatible applications doing different jobs, says Deborah Estrin, professor of computer science, director of the Center for Embedded Networked Sensing at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a researcher on Open mHealth. "Right now, most of the mobile health applications send data back to a proprietary website which could sell the information back to you or to others."

Estrin says sharing mobile health data could help advance medical research: "When people share components of the infrastructure, there is more rapid innovation than when people are working separately to reinvent the wheel."

She gives the example of inviting patients prescribed antidepressants to take part in a research study via a phone app. This would track side effects and levels of depression and activity, and send the information to a physician to review before forwarding it to the study. If only one out of every 250 U.S. patients for whom antidepressants have been prescribed took part, the study would still include more than 100,000 subjects.

The Open mHealth project has already launched five apps and related pilot studies.The one for overweight new mothers collects GPS and accelerometer data from their smart phones, together with information users enter about their diet and stress levels. "We actually redesigned this app after we heard from some of the new moms," says Estrin. "We added a stress button on the phone?when a participant is feeling stressed, she taps the button and it registers her time and location."

To protect users' privacy, the Open mHealth project developed a feature called the personal data vault, which holds the data being collected and analyzed. The user can choose to delete things from the data vault or set filters so the phone does not monitor behavior during certain times of the day.

It should be possible for health-care organizations to use the Open mHealth infrastructure and add functions on top of it to analyze the data and send it out to third parties, such as a clinician, says Dr. Michael Swiernik, director of medical informatics at the University of California, Los Angeles, who also works on the project. Swiernik says that ultimately such data might be integrated into users' electronic medical records.

According to some experts, the project may prove easier to implement outside the United States. "The success of Open mHealth hinges on its ability to integrate with other software and hardware such as point-of-care devices and a back-end electronic medical record," says Leo Anthony Celi, a physician and researcher at MIT who is creating open-source mobile medical protocols for developing countries. "In the U.S., a vast majority of this software and hardware is proprietary." 

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Genes Controlled with Light

Using a protein from the human retina, researchers in Switzerland have developed a method to control the expression of target genes with light. The scientists say the technology could be employed in the near term to boost the production of biological drugs, such as those for cancer, by enabling precise control over protein production. In the long term, cells engineered to carry the light-sensitive switch could be implanted into patients to produce a missing hormone, such as insulin, on demand.

Martin Fussenegger and collaborators at the Swiss Federal Institute for Technology engineered cells to carry the gene for a light-sensitive protein from the human retina, called melanopsin, which triggers a surge in calcium inside the cell when exposed to light. That calcium surge activates a second component, a protein that can be linked to any gene of interest. Shining light on the cells triggers the calcium, which activates the protein, thereby turning on the target gene. According to experiments in cultured cells, the timing and intensity of light controls both the amount and timing of the gene produced.

Researchers demonstrated the technology by implanting light-controlled cells into diabetic mice and using light to manipulate the animals' insulin levels. When the cells were implanted just beneath the skin, exposure to blue light triggered insulin production. In a second experiment, researchers encapsulated the cells in a porous material and implanted them more deeply into the body, along with a fiber-optic cable to deliver light when needed. Both methods were able to control the animals' blood sugar. The research was published today in the journal Science.

The Swiss research is the latest effort to control increasingly complex biological functions with light. Most of the research has focused on brain cells, and activating and silencing them through light-sensitive channels?a rapidly growing field known as optogenetics. But a handful of researchers are fusing optogenetics techniques with synthetic biology, an offshoot of molecular biology that attempts to engineer cells to perform useful functions. "There's a growing interest in using light as a trigger for different biological pathways," says James Collins, a biological engineer at Boston University. Light, unlike most chemical triggers, can be delivered "in a very localized way," says Collins.

In addition to insulin, the technology can potentially deliver other types of therapeutic proteins, such as human growth hormone, Fusseneger says. Currently, these proteins are produced by engineered cells growing in a bioreactor, he says, and then delivered by injection or another method. "But now you could produce it in the patient and get the dosing right not by injection but by applying light."

In fact, Fussenegger says, one of the near-term applications for the research is in biopharmaceutical manufacturing, the production of therapeutic proteins in bioreactors. Many such proteins are toxic to the cells in which they are grown, impeding production. But if protein production could be precisely controlled with light, researchers could grow the cells first and then activate production of the protein, tuning production on and off as needed to maintain the health of the cells.

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The Old Republic: All I Want is the Cutscenes

The Old Republic: All I Want is the Cutscenes

Posted on 13th Jun 2011 at 07:29 by Clive Webster with 22 comments

The latest trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic has been released and it?s freaking awesome. This follows previous cut-scene and video releases that have been similarly impressive, engaging and enjoyable. However, with the game looking a bit duff, I?m wondering if Electronic Arts, Bioware and LucasArts could be persuaded into releasing a cut-scene-only version? I?d happily pay to watch a short film made from them.



If you?re not sure what I?m on about, have a look at the Star Wars: The Old Republic intro cinematic (watch it in fullscreen mode) above, then the other trailers (not the gameplay videos) and come back.

See what I mean? They?re much more reminiscent of the original trilogy than the rubbish prequel films. There?s a focus on people that you readily recognise and empathise with overcoming obstacles; the classic setup for injecting drama and interest into a scene or story. Furthermore, there?s absolutely no mention of trade disputes, midi-sodding-chlorians or annoying lizard-rabbits.

In fact, some of the intros' cinematic characters are really close to those of Episodes IV to VI. There?s a dependable droid that happily receives rushed instructions, and it?s on a ship with dingy, circular corridors and laser-cannon pods. Then there?s the pilot of this ship ? he?s instantly introduced as a likeable yet roguish smuggler, and his attire hardly suggests otherwise. He even seems to steal Han?s dialogue: his is the fastest ship in the fleet, even though it might not look like much. All we need is a co-pilot with a shaving phobia and we?re done.

But who cares if Bioware is borrowing heavily from the source material to produce something this fun? Arguably, the mistake that George Lucas made with his prequels was refusing to follow his own conventions. We wanted a bit more of the same please, not some confused reinterpretation of the Universe we?d spent the last however many years discussing in detail.

So when the ?trader? ship blasts through the Imperial turbo laser, rushes through its guts, and then hits its hyperdrive, we?re cheering on the crew. When the Jedi master Force-pulls the second lightsaber to him, we?re given a moment to consider the great duel that?s about to ensue.

Even the cutting and pacing between the personal fight between Jedi and Sith and the action on the not-Millenium Falcon is so reminiscent of The Empire Strikes Back that it can?t fail to make Star Wars fans happy. The trailer even conveys emotion brilliantly ? Malcus exudes rage as he stalks towards the Jedi master and bats away his defence, while you can read the thoughts of his Padawan perfectly well after his death.

So please, can we just have the cinematics to watch, and leave the MMO to WoW deserters? Please?

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Study: Internet trolls are drunk with power

You've undoubtedly heard the old Lord Acton quote, "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Apparently, it doesn't really matter how that power is derived, and Internet trolls are drunk with it -- "it" being the power of anonymity. According to a study by the Northwestern University, anonymity affects the judgment of people similarly to alcohol intoxication and excessive power.

"Although these pathways appear to be unrelated on the surface, they all lead to disinhibited states through a common psychological and neurological mechanism," said Jacob Hirsh of the university's Kellogg School of Management. Dr. Hirsh's colleague, Professor Adam Galinsky, said the loss of inhibition causes "significant behavioral consequences" -- though, that's not necessarily good or bad in itself.

When a person is operating behind a mask such as the Internet, they're more likely to make decisions that align with their true motives or character -- be that heroism or hedonism. "This is why intoxicated individuals can be aggressive in one instant and altruistic in another," said Hirsh, and it could help explain why people tend to express such extreme views when they get behind a keyboard.

People often feel there are no repercussions for their actions online because they're not visually confronted with another person. Dr. Darryl Cross, a psychologist at Crossways Consulting, believes the anonymity of the Internet encourages split personalities. He noted that people have two personas: one driven by raw animal instinct, and another that's more conservative. The former kicks in online.

"What you've got [online] is people who are prepared to let their instinctual personality out rather than really taking a second perspective, looking at it in a different way, and then saying the second thing that comes into their mind instead of the first." Naturally, this occurs more frequently when you have an open system like ours that encourages "guest" posters, versus strictly registered commenters.

"Anything that requires personal responsibility has got to be a plus," Cross said. "Once they have to register and they're held accountable, then that's really going to be a major step forward." Worried that you're a troll? Cross suggests that you establish a method to determine the demeanor of your comment. For instance, consider what your grandparents might say about your post before submitting it.

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Source: http://www.techspot.com/news/44394-study-internet-trolls-are-drunk-with-power.html

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Mozilla: Firefox 4 won't get security updates, just get Firefox 5

Mozilla isn't planning on releasing regular security updates for Firefox 4 (unless there's a really critical hole discovered). Instead, the non-profit organization wants its users to simply move to Firefox 5. This isn't a bad thing, but it is a bit confusing for Firefox users who are used to security-specific updates.

Firefox 4, the browser Mozilla shipped in March 2011, has reached End Of Life (EOL) status for vulnerability patches. Although the move may come as a surprise to Firefox users, Mozilla's developers have been toying with the idea to stop supporting Firefox 4 with security updates for weeks. Asa Dotzler, Mozilla's director of community development, recently summarized the situation in a post on the mozilla.dev.planning mailing list:

That being said, there already has been a 4.0.x release and there may be another if a critical security issue arises that requires a "chemspill" unplanned emergency fix. But that would be an *unplanned* emergency release and not a planned one. The planned security update for Firefox 4 is Firefox 5.

This means Firefox 4.0.1, released in April 2011 to fix eight flaws, will be the one and only security update for Firefox 4. Again, this could change if a very serious vulnerability is discovered, but right now it looks like Mozilla is going to simply working hard to push its users to the next major version of Firefox, even if all they want is a security patch.

This shift in security strategy stems from a bigger change as Mozilla switches to a rapid release development cycle that means new versions come more frequently. The company has promised to push out a new stable build every six weeks. Firefox 6 is thus slated for an August release. It remains to be seen if this new system can help Firefox regain its lost market share, but Mozilla hopes it helps its browser's security.

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Android Marches on East Africa

A sudden surge in smart-phone adoption in Kenya has been joined by a huge wave of application development efforts, with goals ranging from connecting citizens with health information to delivering organic-farming advice.

Smart phones surged in popularity in February after Safaricom, Kenya's dominant telecom, began offering the cheapest smart phone yet on the market?an Android model called Ideos from the Chinese maker Huawei, which has been making inroads in the developing world. In Kenya, the price, approximately $80, was low enough to win more than 350,000 buyers to date.

Kenya's telecom industry estimates that as a result, the country's Internet usage, which is nearly all mobile-based, will grow more than eightfold from September 2010 to September 2011. "In one year's time, I think Android is going to have a big effect here," says Erik Hersman, cofounder of Ushahidi, the mobile crisis and event mapping platform that grew out of reporting on the chaotic aftermath of a Kenyan election in 2008.

Over the past year, Hersman has been developing iHub, an organization devoted to bringing together innovators and investors in Nairobi. Earlier this month, a mobile-app event arranged by iHub fielded 100 entrants and 25 finalists for a $25,000 prize for best mobile app. The winner, Medkenya, developed by two entrepreneurs, offers health advice and connects patients with doctors. Its developers have also formed a partnership with the Kenyan health ministry, with a goal of making health-care information affordable and accessible to Kenyans.

In recent years, Kenya has spawned two wildly successful mobile platforms. One is Ushahidi, which has since been adopted around the world. Another is M-Pesa, a mobile banking platform offered by Safaricom itself. More than 14 million Kenyans now use M-Pesa to make transactions via their mobile phones.

"There many more 'firsts' to come on the heels of M-Pesa and Ushahidi," says Juliana Rotich, Ushahidi's executive director. "The arc of innovation in mobile tech is getting long and interesting."

Some other popular apps are in e-commerce, education, and agriculture. In the last group, one organization riding the smart-phone wave is Biovision, a Swiss nonprofit that educates farmers in East Africa about organic farming techniques. Biovision is developing an Android app for its 200 extension field workers in Kenya and other East African countries. (The smart phones will replace One Laptop per Child machines, which the organization found too bulky and lacking in needed features, such as cameras and location technology.)

As with other efforts, the Biovision Android app will augment existing text-message-based projects. Biovision now has, for example, a text-message system for fielding farmers' questions about crop and livestock management.

"The mobile phone is starting to solve many problems in Kenya," says Christoph Hess, who is developing the Biovision app. "We believe the accessibility of these services should and will be improved, and our Android app is a first step. In the short run, we don't expect Kenyan farmers to have Android, but as the price comes down, that might be possible." Another emerging agricultural app is MFarm, which disseminates current market prices of crops.

Some apps are extensions of the M-Pesa mobile payment system. PesaPal, for instance, helps consumers keep track of payments; KopoKopo lets businesses accept mobile payments. Because Kenyans are already accustomed to using mobile phones to make transactions, the most useful apps are expected to scale up easily. "The real competitive advantage that Kenya has is in the payment space," says Hersman. "There are all these people doing stuff in the money space, because of MPesa. When you mix that with the natural entrepreneurial culture in Kenya, you start to see some exciting and innovative tech startups forming."

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Gaming 28 - Revisiting the Village

Gaming 27 - The PlayStation Ryvita

When Jimmy Fallon met Sean Parker. Watch the interview.

It?s not often you get a geek and a comedian sitting opposite each other to talk about tech, but the exact thing happened at the NExTWORK conference when Jimmy Fallon sat down with Sean Parker to gain an insight into his life.

The pair talk about Justin Timberlake, hacking, the rise and fall of Napster and even Spotify, the music service that Parker wishes Napster could have been.

Commenting on Apple?s iCloud, Turntable.fm, Facebook?s dominance and where Myspace went wrong, Parker actually admits to ?trolling on Myspace all day long for girls, trying to get laid.?

It has a humorous tone, making the 45 minute interview a must watch.

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Source: http://thenextweb.com/media/2011/06/23/when-jimmy-fallon-met-sean-parker-watch-the-full-interview/

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Android Marches on East Africa

A sudden surge in smart-phone adoption in Kenya has been joined by  a huge wave of application development efforts, with goals ranging from connecting citizens with health information to delivering organic-farming advice.

Smart phones surged in popularity in February after Safaricom, Kenya's dominant telecom, began offering the cheapest smart phone yet on the market?an Android model called Ideos from the Chinese maker Huawei, which has been making inroads in the developing world. In Kenya, the price, approximately $80, was low enough to win more than 350,000 buyers to date.

Kenya's telecom industry estimates that as a result, the country's Internet usage, which is nearly all mobile-based, will grow more than eightfold from September 2010 to September 2011. "In one year's time, I think Android is going to have a big effect here," says Erik Hersman, co-founder of Ushahidi, the mobile crisis and event mapping platform that grew out of reporting on the chaotic aftermath of a Kenyan election in 2008.

Over the past year, Hersman has been developing iHub, an organization devoted to bringing together innovators and investors in Nairobi. Earlier this month, a mobile-app event arranged by iHub fielded 100 entrants and 25 finalists for a $25,000 prize for best mobile app. The winner, Medkenya, developed by two entrepreneurs, offers health advice and connects patients with doctors. Its developers have also formed a partnership with the Kenyan health ministry, with a goal of making health-care information affordable and accessible to Kenyans.

In recent years, Kenya has spawned two wildly successful mobile platforms. One is Ushahidi, which has since been adopted around the world. Another is M-Pesa, a mobile banking platform offered by Safaricom itself. More than 14 million Kenyans now use M-Pesa to make transactions via their mobile phones.

"There many more 'firsts' to come on the heels of M-Pesa and Ushahidi," says Juliana Rotich, Ushahidi's executive director. "The arc of innovation in mobile tech is getting long and interesting."

Some other popular apps are in e-commerce, education, and agriculture. In the last group, one organization riding the smart-phone wave is Biovision, a Swiss nonprofit that educates farmers in East Africa about organic farming techniques. Biovision is developing an Android app for its 200 extension field workers in Kenya and other East African countries. (The smart phones will replace One Laptop per Child machines, which the organization found too bulky and lacking in needed features, such as cameras and location technology.)

As with other efforts, the Biovision Android app will augment existing text-message-based projects. Biovision now has, for example, a text-message system for fielding farmers' questions about crop and livestock management.

"The mobile phone is starting to solve many problems in Kenya," says Christoph Hess, who is developing the Biovision app. "We believe the accessibility of these services should and will be improved, and our Android app is a first step. In the short run, we don't expect Kenyan farmers to have Android, but as the price comes down, that might be possible." Another emerging agricultural app is MFarm, which disseminates current market prices of crops.

Some apps are extensions of the M-Pesa mobile payment system. PesaPal, for instance, helps consumers keep track of payments; KopoKopo lets businesses accept mobile payments. Because Kenyans are already accustomed to using mobile phones to make transactions, the most useful apps are expected to scale up easily. "The real competitive advantage that Kenya has is in the payment space," says Hersman. "There are all these people doing stuff in the money space, because of MPesa. When you mix that with the natural entrepreneurial culture in Kenya, you start to see some exciting and innovative tech startups forming."

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