The Life Sciences in New York State

Yahoo Mail complaint

When composing an email with Yahoo Mail, you have a tiny window to use. Over half of the space to the right of this window is wide open and empty. No ads. No functionality. Nothing.

Why?

Project Origami

If they match this with a wireless keyboard, then this might be a very interesting tool for road warriors. No mention is made of the battery life.

MySA.com

Microsoft Corp. finally took the wraps off its mysterious Project Origami on Thursday, unveiling a computer that's about the size of a large paperback book but runs a full version of the Windows XP operating system.

The ultracompact, wireless-enabled PC is everything a full computer or laptop is, minus the keyboard. Weighing about 2 1/2 pounds, the 1-inch thick device sports a 7-inch touch-sensitive screen that responds to a stylus or the tap of a finger.

Search is primitive

Fred's correct. Search is definitely primitive. One feature I would like to see is better handling of results sorted by date. Many sites have today's date and time on them, but the content may be from 2002. Sorting results chronologically brings those pages to the top, which is useless. The latest information should be on the top of the list.

One thing I don't do is try different engines for different types of searches. I default to Google purely out of habit. Perhaps I should revisit that habit.

A VC: In Search of a Better Algorithm

Because as great an experience as searching the Internet is on Yahoo!, Google, Microsoft, or Ask, Internet search is still a very primitive technology. Rarely is the first result of a search the best result for my needs, regardless of what engine I use.

Resume? What resume?

I've blogged about this before, that is, setting up web sites with rich content instead of a boring resume. Resumes re-imagined! I quote, with a hat tip to Seth Godin:

This is my not-so-subtle attempt to get the best advertising gig out there. You probably get thousands of boring resumes and cover letters every year... but it takes passion + know-how (and a free weekend) to do a website.

I graduate college in May 2006 with a Marketing degree, sixteen awards for my work + three years of real-world experience, including managing my own regional marketing plan. I'm ready to something remarkable with you. Read the testimonials from people I've worked with (and even lived with) over to the right. Then take a look at my accomplishments. While you're at it, how about a sneak peak at the resume?

Cool stuff

Small Times

With CardioMEMS' sensor, however, a doctor merely has to move a handheld antenna over the patient's abdomen to determine whether there is any pressure on the sensor, which has been implanted into the aneurysm sac during the same procedure in which the stent was placed in the body.

PK/PD Simulation Speeds Decision Making

Interesting blend of simulations, preclinical, and clinical data in order to make smart go/no go development decisions.

Best Practices

The results showed that the new drug was unlikely to outperform its main competitor; Pfizer discontinued development. The modeling project supported a more confident decision without investment in additional trials and allowed team members to re-deploy to other programs. It provided an enduring, evolving knowledge repository to support future development projects. DMX enabled team members to evaluate complex product tradeoffs and ask targeted what-if questions in real time.

POTS?

Someone used the acronym POTS in a Skype chat today. Thanks to Wikipedia, I did not make a fool of myself...

Plain old telephone service - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Medicine.Google.com

Interesting perspective on the use of Google to find medical literature. Quote:

Giustini sees medical students at UBC finding information faster with Google Scholar, Google's new search service for academic and peer-reviewed literature, than with medical journal indexes like PubMed or Medline. "We're moving away from some of the traditional 'gold standard' tools," according to Giustini, who writes a blog on Google Scholar.

The press release is here: Health-IT World

Mr. Giustini's Google Scholar blog is here.

I tend to stick with PubMed because it's what I've used for years. I'm familiar with the interface, and I can click through to order the paper. However, he raises an excellent point:

In a telephone interview with Health-IT World,
Giustini also talks about how physicians and others looking for
scholarly research increasingly are turning to online social networks
such as wikis. At the same time, numerous medical journals are embracing the notion of free, open access to peer-reviewed papers.

"We need something to pull all of these elements together," the medical librarian says, "a single access point for searching."

An overarching search engine for medical research
also can help small, upstart journals "subvert hierarchies" that favor
established titles, Giustini says. "What if you are an open-access
journal with no impact factor?" he asks. "How do doctors find you?"

He's right. In an era where anyone can publish anything, even something peer-reviewed, there is an increasing need for a search methodology that pulls from literally everywhere.

Alternative to a laptop

Someone just told me about these devices. They are "computers" running Palm OS, but with a full size keyboard. These are positioned as alternatives to laptops. I used to have a detachable keyboard for my Sony Clie, and I used it for writing memos and lengthy emails. However, the PDA used to fall right out of the keyboard bracket. This device has a fully integrated screen and full-size keyboard. Plus, they're inexpensive. Some of them even have WiFi capability.

This would be a perfect alternative to a laptop if you commute on a train or bus, or to take with you to the library (remember libraries?!).

Interesting...

AlphaSmart Products

Stick with the oldies that work

Somebody once told me never to update/upgrade your software unless the update contains critical new features that you can't live without, or the update solves a problem that you are having.

Well, I did not follow that advice, and am now paying the price. I updated FireFox to the latest version, and now I'm having all sorts of problems. My icons don't work, for example. When I click on the icon, FireFox is listed in the Task Manager, but there is no browser window. If I close it from the Task Manager, then restart it, then FireFox works. Also, my TypePad pop ups don't work, e.g., for picking multiple categories. I suppose I can uninstall and reinstall FireFox, but then I would lose all the cool (19 of them) Extensions that I have. Who wants to re-download and re-install all that? Not me...

I'm posting this with Explorer, meaning that I have two different browsers on right now.

That's silly.

Last week, I upgraded my BIOS because IBM told me to. But, the computer crashed during the installation, requiring a call to IBM Customer Service. They walked me through the process for setting my BIOS back to the older (functional) version. Kudos for being very nice and patient with me on a Saturday afternoon.

With great hesitation, I updated Skype this morning...no problems noted so far.

Rant over...back to work...