E-prescribing cuts medical errors, employee consortium research shows
E-prescribing significantly reduces medication errors, according to data released Monday from the Southeast Michigan e-prescribing Initiative, a coalition involving General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., Chrysler LLC, the United Auto Workers, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan, Health Alliance Plan, Henry Ford Medical Group, Medco Health Solutions Inc. and CVS Caremark Corp. The analysis is the first to look at the overall results of the SEMI program that has generated nearly 6.2 million prescriptions using e-prescribing technology since its launch in February 2005. Today there are nearly 2,500 physician participants writing more than 282,000 e-prescriptions each month. The findings show that e-prescribing substantially improved patient safety by alerting physicians of risks related to drug interactions and other potential medication problems and resulted in a significant number of prescription changes that prevented possible adverse events. More.
New UM system aims to cut out illegal file-sharing by students
The University of Michigan will launch a new educational service to help students avoid unintentionally infringing copyright law. When Be Aware You're Uploading (BAYU) notices peer-to-peer uploading, it will send an e-mail with a link to educational information and university resources to the person associated with that computer. BAYU also will help users avoid accidentally exposing themselves to computer viruses and violations of their privacy through P2P uploading. More.
Economic developers tout almost $2.3 billion in investments
Southeast Michigan's economic developers say they brought 68 projects to the region in the first half of 2007, resulting in a $2.28 billion investment -- and the creation of 4,017 jobs, with 5,433 more retained. A complete version of the report from the Economic Development Coalition of Southeast Michigan is available at www.detroitrenaissance.com. The coalition says it plans to issue the report twice a year from now on. More.
West Michigan movie podcast gets a sponsor
Cole's Quality Foods has become the featured sponsor of the Big Screen Movie Review Podcast produced weekly by Celebration Cinema. The Big Screen Movie Review is a weekly podcast hosted by Ron VanTimmeren and radio personality Ramona, offering the latest insight on hot new releases and sneak previews for upcoming movies. Celebration Cinema owns and operates movie theaters and Grand Rapids, Lansing, Muskegon, Kalamazoo/Portage, Benton Harbor, and Mount Pleasant. More.
Biotech stock watch service available now on Amazon
The Farmington Hills-based biotech stock information provider BiotechWatch LLC said Monday that access to its BiotechWatch Premium and TrialView databases is now available on Amazon.com. By purchasing access to the BiotechWatch databases, the Amazon customer can search for upcoming FDA decisions, clinical trial results, biotech trends, new biotech companies, cutting edge research, drug development in specific disease areas and potential biotech company acquisition targets. The company's two services are priced at $49 or $79 a week. More.
System lets your thumbs read the e-mail -- while you drive
Mouhamad A. Naboulsi has now spent a decade crusading for technology that allows drivers to read e-mails, talk on a phone and even cruise the Web while keeping both hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.
Naboulsi is a fixture on the local entrepreneurial scene -- as is the display booth of his Applied Computer Technologies Inc. A lot of his ideas are slowly appearing on production automobiles. But he says it's been a decade of futility with the automakers. He's now looking for funding to turn his technology into a $250 aftermarket kit. After all, he says, other than two small switches on the steering wheel, the system is mostly software.
His technology uses those two switches to confirm to the software that the driver has both hands on the road. The switches involved couldn't be simpler -- grip the switch housing along the wheel to confirm you're driving, and then two thumbs up on a simple rocker switch for "yes," two thumbs down for "no." The system cycles through e-mail, browser, phone -- and eventually other applications. And the whole system shuts down when even one hand comes off the wheel.
The system also features a plug-in dock for any phone, PDA or iPod.
The software offers a configurator for each driver involved that includes everything from height to weight to age to driving record. It also has sensors that can tell how fast the car is going, brake status and rollover status -- even stuff like heater settings, cupholder status and heart rate (through sensors in the switch units). All that information allows the system to completely customize the driver experience, giving each driver information exactly where they need the most help -- and not give them trouble with too much information when they're distracted.
The system also allows parents to input information on teen drivers that can result in limitations. Law enforcement for convicted drunk drivers, ditto. And the system can be configured to measure blood alcohol concentration through sensors in the steering wheel.
All this information is input on a PC and downloaded onto a cell phone. From there it is uploaded to the car. That way the car's interface is customized to the driver. And not just the driver's own car -- any car that has Naboulsi's system installed can be so customized.Why is that important? Naboulsi gives an example: Let's say you're a Chevy driver, but you go on a business trip and all the airport is renting is Fords. You don't know how to control the heater on a Ford. Or the radio. Or the seats. And you don't know what that strange warning noise is. Naboulsi's dream is to let you have all those familiar Chevy controls and sounds -- in a Ford.
"The people at BMW flip when I tell them I want to be able to put a Mazda human-machine interface into their car," Naboulsi said. "But that's what the customer wants. And it also reduces the cognitive load on the driver."
Naboulsi insists he can make the system as an aftermarket add-on for about $250.
The system contains technology that reads the text portions of e-mail and Web sites, and it's all controlled with the thumb switches.
Naboulsi's career in the auto industry dates back to a Ford assembly line in the 1970s. Night classes at Wayne County Community College, Henry Ford Community College and Wayne State University got him off the line and into quality engineering. He worked for Mazda from 1987 to 1993, then went to Indonesia for a year, following that up with two years at Ford in quality consulting. He's been pushing Applikompt, as the company is called in shorthand, since 1997.
"I'm in permanent fundraising mode, which means personal poverty," he says with a grin. "I've had to sacrifice a lot. I upgraded from West Bloomfield to Hamtramck."
Note: For information on how you can sponsor content in the Blue Box, contact Dan Keelan at (248) 455-7380 or dkeelan@cbs.com.
ArvinMeritor rolling out high-tech auto parts
ArvinMeritor Inc. in Troy is introducing a variety of variable-rate suspension components capable of adjusting to road conditions quickly, AutoTech Daily reported Monday. The company's new Active AirSpring system has an internal air bladder and can adjust both air volume and pressure. The compact design provides continuously variable spring rate adjustment. ArvinMeritor says that the system can change the spring rate by a factor of three in less than 100 milliseconds, providing low-frequency active body control for improved ride, handling and stability. The company also is introducing an active roll control stabilizer bar. More.
Web 2.0 technology allows the smallest businesses to reach the world If you are a business owner or freelancer and you have passion for what you do, you can begin reaching a global audience for your products or services this week. That might seem like a bold claim. But Chicago-based consultant, business owner and blogger Laurel Delaney, president of GlobeTrade.com, says the newest Internet technology makes it possible (and inexpensive) for just about anyone to get started creating a "buzz" on the Web. Read the story from WWJ Newsradio 950's The Daily Dash e-newsletter, which on Tuesdays concentrates on small business.
Two new clients for Central Data
Farmington Hills-based Central Data Systems Monday announced the addition of two new clients -- Scott Industrial Systems, based in Dayton, Ohio with locations throughout the Midwest, and Babson Fluid Power of Huron, Ohio. Both companies will implement SX.enterprise, a distribution supply chain management solution developed by Infor Global Solutions and marketed, implemented, and supported by Central Data Systems. More.
Matt's Favorites
Just in case you were wondering, 'Where the heck's my weekly Lawrence Technological University Leader and Innovator?' Well, the university experienced another computer network problem Monday -- just a little hiccup this time, thank goodness, but it was enough to blow finalizing this week's winner past our deadline. It'll run on Wednesday instead. Elsewhere: why not a presidential debate on science? Also, cool video of a lunar lander challenge gone wrong. And in actual spaceflight the shuttle crew gets a bonus day.
THE WORLD IN TECH
The end of Whois?
Anyone who works in the Web knows about Whois, a group of searchable databases that can help you figure out who may be behind a Web site. The Associated Press reports that privacy advocates are proposing scrapping the system entirely because they can't agree with the people who use the system on how to give domain name owners more options when they register - such as designating third-party agents. Privacy advocates say individuals shouldn't have to reveal personal information simply to have a Web site. The so-called "sunset" proposal is expected to come up Wednesday before a committee of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, a key Internet oversight agency. More.
'YouTube alternative' Hulu.com to launch Monday
NBC and Fox are set to launch an advertising-supported online video site that hosts programming from varied entertainment companies in a bid to seize viewers from Google Inc.'s YouTube, the broadcasters said. A test version of the site, Hulu.com, goes online Monday, with plans to premiere a final version in a few months, company officials said. The site, developed by News Corp. and NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co., offers free viewing of full-length films and TV episodes, supported by advertising. It will host programming from the two networks, as well as TV shows and films from Sony Corp. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. The shows will also be available on distribution partner sites such as AOL, MSN, MySpace, Yahoo and Comcast. It will also provide viewers with tools that let them embed full episodes on their own blogs, Web sites or personal profile pages. More. But the snark at Slashdot.org was that the site didn't have many YouTube-challenging features.
Apartments may get cable competition
Federal regulators plan to throw out exclusive cable television service contracts with apartment buildings and open up competition to phone companies, according to a published report. The new rule, which could significantly lower cable prices for millions of subscribers who live in apartments, is expected to be approved Wednesday by the Federal Communications Commission, The New York Times reported Monday, citing an interview with the agency's chairman. Under FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's proposal, cable companies, such as Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable Inc., would no longer have exclusive deals with apartment buildings and other multiunit dwellings to provide cable TV to building residents, who usually have no other choice for such services.The new rule could benefit other video providers, including telecommunications companies Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc. FCC spokesman David Fiske said the issue will be discussed at the agency's meeting on Wednesday, but would not provide other details. More.
Internet pioneer Cerf has five books to write
After leaving the helm of the Internet's key oversight agency, Vint Cerf plans to stay busy as an executive, advocate and author. Five books are in various stages of completion, and Cerf said he would "deliberately sequester some of the time" freed up by stepping down from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. He estimates he has spent 25 percent to 40 percent of his time on ICANN business. Cerf's chief duties will remain with Google Inc., where he has been "chief Internet evangelist" since 2005. Cerf also remains honorary chairman of the IPv6 Forum, advocating a next-generation numbering system to accommodate the ever-growing armies of Internet-ready gadgets, and assists NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on extending the Internet's reach into outer space. But Cerf says he looks forward to making progress on the books, on various topics reflecting his diverse range of interests. Only one will be about the Internet, which he helped develop as co-inventor of its fundamental communications protocols in the 1970s. More.
Stocks: Oracle, Google lift tech stocks higher at the close
Bellwether technology stocks closed the day with broad gains Monday after Oracle Corp. backed out from its attempt to acquire BEA Systems Inc., saying that BEA is demanding too much to make a deal feasible. Oracle had offered $17 a share, or $6.7 billion for BEA in early October. However, BEA last week said it felt Oracle's bid was too low, and offered to sell itself for $21 a share to anyone willing to come up with the $8.2 billion that such a bid would require. Oracle's withdrawal sets up a potential proxy battle at BEA between the company and investor Carl Icahn, who owns 15 percent of BEA's stock. Overall, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index ($COMPQ) rose 13 points or 0.5 percent to end the day at 2,817. The Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) rose 3.79 points or 0.6 percent, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index ($SOX) rose 6.63 points or 1.5 percent. The Amex Pharmaceutical Index (DRG) rose 0.4 percent while the Amex Biotechnology Index (BTK) fell 0.3 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) rose 63.6 points, or nearly 0.5 percent, to 13,870.3, with 23 of its 30 components finishing ahead. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index ($SPX) gained 5.70 points, nearly 0.4 percent, to 1,540.98.
All contents copyright 2007 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS Radio & Eye logo trademarked and copyright 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. Written and edited by Matt Roush, Technology Editor, WWJ Newsradio 950, Detroit. GLITR contains material from the Associated Press, Reuters and MarketWatch.com, used by permission. For coverage comments or news tips, e-mail Matt Roush at mnroush@cbs.com or call (248) 455-7380. For marketing and advertising queries, contact Dan Keelan at dkeelan@cbs.com or (248) 455-7252. To subscribe, e-mail Lisa Thorn, at lthorn@cbs.com.
LEGAL NOTICE: This email may be considered an advertising or promotional message. If you no longer wish to receive commercial email from this station, please reply to this email by sending a reply email by clicking on the "reply" button at the top of this page or by sending an e-mail to Lisa Thorn, circulation coordinator, at lthorn@cbs.com. Insert this message into the e-mail: "Please remove me from your commercial email list." Or you can change your subscriber profile: Click here to unsubscribe or change your subscriber profile
You must use this method to notify GLITR and WWJ of your opt-out request, as we cannot guarantee that other methods of notification will be effective. Please be aware that we may continue to contact you via email for administrative or informational purposes, including follow-up messages regarding contests you have entered or other transactions you have undertaken. By law, such messages are not considered to be commercial e-mail.
Note: The Great Lakes IT Report is sent in HTML format only. Please make sure you have given us permission to send you an HTML message. If you have any questions, drop an e-mail to Lisa Thorn or Matt Roush.
E-Mail Story
Print Story
Mouhamad A. Naboulsi has now spent a decade crusading for technology that allows drivers to read e-mails, talk on a phone and even cruise the Web while keeping both hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.
