doctor

Study: Doctors choosing iPhone over BlackBerry

In 2006, Spyglass Consulting Group released a report, Trends in Mobile Communications, finding that 59 percent of physicians interviewed were using smartphones. Today, according to the firm's latest report, that figure has jumped to 94 percent.

"Physician smartphone adoption is occurring more rapidly than with members of the general public," said Gregg Malkary, managing director at Spyglass. Moreover, Malkary added, "Physicians are showing a clear preference [almost double] for using the Apple iPhone (44 percent) over the RIM BlackBerry (25 percent)."

A note of caution: the study's sample size is small. The "Point … Read more

The 404 593: Where we're living the hypnagogic dream with The Sleep Doctor (podcast)

The Sleep Doctor, Dr. Michael Breus, is back and we're ready to bombard him with our pressing questions about sleep apnea, lucid dreaming, snoring, sleep positions, sleep talking, morning breath, sleep aids, night terrors, bruxism, and more!

We kick off the discussion with the good doctor about the dangers of using a laptop or an iPad just before going to bed. Dr. Breus tells us those devices emit light similar to what you'd see on a computer or television screen, which can disrupt the body's ability to secrete melatonin, thus preventing a good night's sleep.

He … Read more

Are your doc's hands clean? App tracks the answer

Studies on hand-washing adherence are often nauseating. A lot of people seem to rarely wash their hands, even after leaving a bathroom. Several recent studies on hand hygiene in hospital settings find a hand hygiene adherence rate of around 40 percent among health care workers. To tap my vast vocabulary: yuck.

Let's see if a new iPhone and iPod Touch app makes a difference. Called the iScrub Lite 1.5, the free app released on the iTunes Store on Wednesday enables medical professionals to enter data on hand hygiene compliance, which has typically been accomplished via old-fashioned clipboards and note cards.

"The long-term goal of our research is to understand hand hygiene behavior and use the feedback to help improve rates," says Philip Polgreen, an assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Iowa, where the app was developed. "This app can help standardize and streamline how observations are recorded."

In a nutshell, the app enables anyone who cares to monitor hand hygiene to record observational data, e-mail it as an Excel spreadsheet, follow World Health Organization compliance models, and customize data collection to reflect various locations, job roles, and notes.… Read more

The 404 574: Where we're wasting away in Margaritaville (podcast)

Our third host, Jeff Bakalar, doesn't get sick very often, but when it pains, it roars. The last two days have been rough (no offense to Wilson), but we can all breathe easier now that his 10 arms are back running the engineering board just in time for Cinco de Mayo! Unfortunately, we ran out of margarita mix awhile ago, but will you settle for a Jimmy Buffet reference with an extra-funny episode of The 404 Podcast on the side? It's all we got!

My iPhone mysteriously broke last weekend and I thought I was doomed to suffer this ultra-budget Samsung flip phone for the next few months until Wilson referred me to New York's own iPhone repair specialist, Dr. Brendan (not a certified doctor).

Yesterday I took my phone to the clinic (Brendan's apartment) and left fifteen minutes later with a brand new display! Best 75 bones I've ever spent, if you don't count that place where I put that thing that time. Dr. Brendan fixes all sorts of Apple products and we plan to have him and his partner on the show in the near future, but in the meantime check out his Facebook page and tell him The 404 sent you!

Nerds across the world love to celebrate International Free Comic Day, but a greedy thief in Australia dipped his fingers in the wrong honeypot last Saturday. Forty-five-year old store owner Michael Baulderstone spotted a man trying to steal a collector's X-Men comic from his store that was worth $160; luckily, he was wearing a Spiderman costume to celebrate the event and cornered the criminal while signaling to two Jedi Knights (also shopping for comics) to guard the door with their lightsabers until the police arrived.

Silly Padawans: colored plastic flashlights are for kids...and air traffic controllers. Anyway, if the perp had any common sense he would've just shouted a George Lucas sighting at the Popeye's Chicken next door and made his escape.

There are a few more stories to cover on the show today including a Catholic Church turning to Facebook to recruit new priests and a collection of Calls From the Public from last week--who doesn't love leftovers?

EPISODE 574 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video

Plug-and-play hospitals inflate in Haiti

You've probably heard something about Doctors Without Borders (also known as the Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF) lately, given their involvement in Haiti. Here, we see the organization set up what they call "plug and play" hospitals--self-sustained, inflatable medical facilities.

The whole 41 metric ton setup allows 9 tents housing 100 beds to be delivered by air, an inflatable facility that operates nearly autonomously from Haiti's devastated infrastructure. Everything from generators to sterilization equipment comes along with the tents.

BoingBoing has an excellent interview with members of the MSF regarding these deployed facilities that I'd … Read more

Monitor your battery and battle it out in the air: iPhone apps of the week

If you've been following the latest Mac news, you already know that Apple is having a special event later this month. Most people believe that we will finally see the long-awaited Apple tablet--a multitouch device that's rumored to fall between the form factor of the iPod Touch and Apple's smallest MacBook laptops. Complete with touch-screen capabilities and rumored compatibility with iPhone apps, the new Apple tablet could be the mobile device a lot of people have been waiting for. Rick Broida wrote a post today saying iPhone OS 4.0 is imminent and it looks like he … Read more

Buzz Out Loud Podcast 1144: What's Google really doing in China?

Due to some Gmail attacks, Google has said it will remove its filters and possibly pull out of China altogether. There's definitely a lot more going on behind the scenes of this than we know, but we try to get to the heart of the matter as the nation of China negotiates with the nation of Google. We also discuss Facebook's requirement that you scan your hard drive to reactivate a hacked account, and we look forward to Martians coming this year. Yay for Martians!

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) … Read more

Virus buffer

BufferZone Pro for Vista is security software that functions as its own environment. You can surf the Internet through the program's interface and be protected from threats like viruses and malware.

BufferZone Pro for Vista has an attractive and easy-to-navigate interface with a lot of good features to help enhance your computer's security. You have the option to monitor activity on computer peripherals such as CD-ROM drives, flash drives, and USB hard disks, which is a nice benefit. The program comes with its own Firewall and it also has an Event Log that you can check to see … Read more

Automotive sci-fi vs. reality, or, where's my flying car?

Science-fiction movies show us many futuristic cars we wish we could drive. People still demand flying cars, promised to us decades ago by the Jetsons cartoon series. Science-fiction fan site IO9.com posted an article comparing driving as depicted in various movies and television series with today's reality.

The article covers all of our favorites: Batman, James Bond, Knight Rider, Doctor Who, and finds real-life equivalents. It even takes on the flying car and includes clips from Top Gear.

Check out Your Future Automotive Awesomeness: Fiction vs. Reality for a fun Friday read.

Doctors told to say no to Facebook come-ons

An increasing number of people are meeting the loves of their lives, or at least of their months, on Facebook.

However, a consequence of this might be that an increasing number of people think they will encounter love's intrepid arrow by socially networking. It seems, indeed, that some might be making advances toward their psychologists. Or even their proctologists.

The U.K.'s Medical Defense Union, an organization whose goal is to "defend the professional reputations of our members when their clinical performance is called into question," is concerned that some of its members resort to politeness … Read more