Check out GE CEO Immelt pimping his product below:

Courtesy VentureBeat

GE also announced a new system that promises to provide doctors with quicker access to up-to-date medical information; let’s make the PR snippet earn its keep, shall we?

Real-time clinical data and treatment options to doctors — right at a patient’s side: Developed using three decades of clinical information from the Intermountain Healthcare system of hospitals, it provides doctors faster access to current research. For example, a doctor who is making patient rounds can pull up lab results as needed rather than go to each patient’s records. While checking on one patient, alerts are signaled when a particular reading is out of normal range — and behind the buttons is a flood of information on each patient, including case histories and best care recommendations. Driven by technology that enables collaborations with leading medical institutions, including Intermountain Healthcare and Mayo Clinic, the solution enables even the smallest and most remote healthcare clinics to evaluate their current approach to patient care against constantly evolving standards.

Source

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As you can see, the machine will insist on turning itself off even after as the user repeatedly pushes the switch back to “on”. Why is this the most useless gadget ever? Simply because it uses up energy without providing a foundation for any productive activity whatsoever. You probably think that criterion applies to all of your most-hated gadgets, but here’s a machine that makes the concept literal.

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“We might have offered too many models because of our competitive engineering culture,” Mr. Shih said, adding that the company won’t repeat this mistake. This year, Asustek plans to release three new versions.

Aside from competitiveness, another reason cited for this rapid pace of release makes sense: Asus realized that customers weren’t really going for the original Eee’s relatively miniscule keyboard and lack of hard drive.

In any case, the WSJ story relates a classic tale. A small company strikes gold with a big innovation, then struggles to keep up as competitors with more clout start establishing themselves within the same market (Can anyone say “Internet Explorer”?). But Asus won’t go down fighting, and if Jonney Shih and co. continue displaying the inventiveness that led to the Eee, I don’t think Asus’ future in the market they created looks bad.

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As Technograph reports:

Cayetano, at a press conference Friday, said that if any IT expert can establish that the system to be used in the 2010 polls is not secure from fraud and tampering, “Comelec should cancel the contract, save the P11 billion and sue for damages the contractor in the event of such successful hacking.”

He said he would rather revert to the manual counting of votes if the computerized system would lead to wholesale cheating.

The senator does not seem to realize that even the most well-designed system will have flaws that someone will eventually discover—especially if they have such a massive incentive to do so.

Why would the senator insist on canceling the system’s implementation if (actually when) an exploit is found? Wouldn’t it make more sense to collect the data on any holes discovered, plug them, and thus maximize the $2 million reward’s impact?

It seems Mr. Cayetano’s paranoia about automating elections in the Philippines is clouding his judgment. What do you think, dear readers?

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So what do you think of the above? Personally, I don’t think the scanner actually played the Imperial March from Star Wars. My “proof”? Watch the beginning of the sequence again: the scanner moves consistently, yet the “note” changes to accommodate the melody.

Although I do think some modding was done to make the scanner assembly follow a routine. And the planning and hard work that made that necessary—even though ultimately useless—deserves some credit.

(PS: If you’re wondering what the Imperial March is, let me first pity you, then ask you to watch Star Wars)

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How knowing someone’s location will help curb the spread of AIDs isn’t clear, unless you use that information to maintain constant surveillance, in which is very wrong. It’s easy to understand Manangsang’s reasons for pushing this program, but before we know it people could be implanted with RFID chips simply because they suffer from the common cold.

In other words, once the Indonesian province of Papua gets its way, what’s to stop the rest of the country implementing this program? With an increasingly generic set of criteria at that? And of course, who will watch the watchers and prevent abuse? Since this controversial issue has a lot to do with technology, let’s seek the advice of techie-deity Jean Luc Picard:

True isn’t it? Once the ball gets rolling…

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Check out these iPhone-themed cupcakes, which recently won some cupcake decorating contest. A little rough on the edges, but you can be forgiving when pastries are involved. Besides, they look so yummy, it’s to imagine competitors wishing they could eat Apple’s “significant” competition away. (laughingsquid.com)

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Goldsmiths, of the University of London, has developed a software system that translates sound into radiating concentric circles on a screen. The Lumisonic theoretically allows the deaf to “see” sounds and hopefully react and interact with them, and controls how it presents the circles based on the pitch of the input audio.

Dr. Mick Grierson explains:

“If I make a sound and lower the pitch, the rings contract,” said Dr Mick Grierson, from Goldsmiths, University of London, who developed the system.

Lumisonic can respond to computer-generated noises or those from a microphone.

To be real, converting sounds into visual stimuli isn’t exactly new. The real news is that some Scot percussionist named Evelyn Glennie can create a good beat—despite being deaf since she was young. According to various sources, that fact is nearly secondary, thanks to apparent musical ability.

Maybe researchers should concentrate on trying to understand her ability to create and feel sound, without really hearing it, and package it for other deaf people to learn? It would be more practical if deaf people can learn to feel sound, without the help of gadgets. Disclaimer: We’re not deaf, so we may have no frickin’ idea of what we’re writing about.

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But wait, wasn’t Minority Report’s slick 3D interface (which the above is very reminiscent of) listed as one of the Top 10 Movie Usability bloopers by expert Jakob Nielsen? His point was that “it’s very tiring to keep your arms in the air while using a computer”. And, as this post gets typed out, it’s easy to see that the keyboard is still the fastest way to do things. (dvice.com)

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