Archive for the 'Technology' Category
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August 31st, 2009
Biotech Industry Goes Hollywood
District 9 is a fantastic science fiction movie set in an alternative future where a group of alien refugees have settled in South Africa. Unlike most alien invasion films, the aliens in District 9 are treated as outcasts, put into concentration camps, and experimented on by corporations hoping to mine their weapons technology for financial gain.
Science and technology play a big part in the film, and while scientists and corporations are clearly the antagonists, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) has launched an interesting blog that focuses on the real-life science behind film. District9facts.com offers some loose blog posts, answers questions about the film, and attempts to connect the science of D-9 to the promise of the biotechnology industry.
BIO also maintains a similar site with the same focus for the Eleventh Hour TV show: eleventhhourfacts.com.
Even though scientists and corporations are usually cast as “the baddies” in science fiction movies, it’s interesting to see biotech industry groups leveraging their popularity to promise the promise of science. The EleventhHourFacts.com site provides a scientific fact guide for every episode—providing real-life information on topics ranging from cloning to biosafety to fashion-induced violence.
The biotech and pharmaceutical industries face a number of complex public relations problems. While very few industries hold as much promise for our future, general public fear, perceived corporate greed, and the nefarious nature of new science lead to them being portrayed as bad guys (in movies and in real-life). I think it’s interesting and smart for industry groups to look to Hollywood as a new platform to get the real messages out there in an engaging and light-hearted way.
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August 11th, 2009
Survey of Mobile Applications for Physicians and Medical Professionals
Current research indicates that nearly 70% of physicians use a PDA or smartphone.
Check out this quick presentation on mobile applications developed by the team at RDVO:
Mobile Applications For Physicians
View more presentations from Ben Zipkin.
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August 5th, 2009
Johnson & Johnson’s BlackBag – iPhone Physician Resource
Johnson & Johnson’s ‘BlackBag’ iPhone tool for physicians has been downloaded nearly 24,000 times since launching two months ago. That seems like a remarkable number, but it’s not too surprising when recent research indicates that 64% of physicians are using some sort of SmartPhone to stay connected.
BlackBag provides healthcare professionals with customizable news streams and access to articles organized around practice types. The information appears to be unbranded. Video content and podcasts are readily accessible through the application.
Healthcare communications professionals struggle with tactics and strategies to communicate with the medical community. Could smartphones and PDAs be the brave new world?
Click here to download BlackBag from iTunes.
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August 1st, 2009
More on Mac Tablet for Healthcare
Nice article from softwareadvice.com. The ”iTablet”maybe be the ultimate device for EMRs.
