Freshman Congressman William Keating, a Quincy Democrat, is jumping into the fray of foreign affairs. He is in the process of drafting a bill to prevent American technology companies from selling software that could allow authoritarian governments to monitor their citizens.

“It makes no sense at all that we would allow American companies to sell technology to governments that are using it for the very purposes that our country is constantly condemning. That is simply not what American innovation is all about,” said Keating, Massachusetts’ newest member of Congress in a statement Wednesday. “I believe we are only on the cusp of seeing the negative effects when social media is misused by repressive governments. As we have seen in countries like Bahrain and Iran, these protests are growing and thus, this issue will only continue to be magnified.”

Keating’s statement said that a California company recently sold Egypt “deep packet inspection” technology that could allow it to filter and monitor Internet users. His proposal of requiring “end-use agreements” for such technology comes as the United States government, including the Pentagon, is paying companies to develop technology that allows activists abroad to avoid such detection.

Keating, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, questioned Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg at a hearing last week about how the government is working with companies selling social media technology abroad.

Keating expects to file legislation on the issue in the coming weeks.

Source:http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2011/02/keating_aims_to.html

Getting a second opinion from doctors is just an e-mail away, thanks to a new service that New Mexico Software Inc. launched Feb. 16.

The Albuquerque company, which provides Web-based medical and general business systems software, will offer second-opinion teleradiology interpretation for customers.

The service can be provided to anyone with digital files, said President and CEO Dick Govatski.

“There is a solid market for patients and their families who want a second opinion about their medical issues,” Govatski said in a news release. “Even if just to confirm a condition that was previously diagnosed, patients often want the reassurance that comes with a another professional review of an initial determination.”

NM Software will tap its current online network of specialists who read teleradiology images remotely for the company. Through the company’s XR-Express service, physicians can read X-rays, CT scans, ultra-sounds, EKGs and more from anywhere.

The second-opinion service will be a self-pay system, since most insurance companies do not provide for second-opinion reimbursement, Govatski said.

“We will accept a valid credit card for the service,” he said. “In addition to providing a written opinion and findings, consultation with the reviewing doctors may also be arranged.”

NM Software (OTCBB: NMXC) formed in 1995. It began trading on the Bulletin Board Exchange in 1999.

Source:http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/news/2011/02/16/New-Mexico-Software-opinions-online.html

Thanks to a first-of-its-kind OK by the FDA this month, doctors can use their cell phones to examine imaging scans and even make diagnoses for conditions ranging from heart problems to bleeding in the brain.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials gave clearance on Feb. 4 for a new app that allow results from MRI and similar scans to be shown on Apple iPhones and iPad. As of Monday, doctors have been able to acquire the new application, further igniting the already exploding world of telemedicine.

“You can actually diagnose a disease on a mobile device,” said Dr. Khan Siddiqui, chair of an information technology committee at the American College of Radiology, a national group of 34,000 radiologists and other health care providers. “At the patients’ bedside, they (doctors) can open up the application and not only make a treatment decision but explain to the patient what they can do.”

Produced by MIM Software Inc. in Cleveland, the app comes with restrictions. Doctors can only use it when they’re away from the office and can’t get to their own computers and work stations. It is approved for viewing and making diagnoses from many types of scans including magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography or CT and the nuclear medicine test called positron emission tomography or PET.

But the phone apps aren’t cleared for other forms of imaging, including X-rays.

In Ventura County, news of the cell phone imaging triggered a mix of excitement about the possibilities and skepticism over patient privacy and the reliability of using mobile devices to determine what’s wrong.

At a Starbucks in Camarillo, financial planner Eric Swanson worried about screen resolution. His concerns didn’t dissipate with the news that the FDA ruled the quality good enough for diagnoses.

“I’d have to see one to believe it,” he said, fearful also that his doctor wouldn’t be the only one able to view his medical tests. “As long as there are hackers out there, they can get into anything.”

Doctors worry about patient privacy too in what they call the medical ether of cyberspace, though MIM Software officials offered assurances the images are encrypted and transmitted on tightly secured networks.

Physicians also focus on the ways the technology can improve care.

“I think that’s an amazing advance,” said Dr. Vishva Dev, a Thousand Oaks cardiologist who sees conveying information on mobile devices as a way to save lives. He noted that being able to immediately see a CT scan of a stroke patient can change the way doctors respond to the injury.

“The timing window changes the treatment options,” he said, suggesting waves of new apps are coming. “I think the evolution is rapid and very soon handheld devices accessing imaging and graphics and other data will almost be routine.”

It’s already common to transmit images of spine or brain injuries on the Web, allowing radiology specialists on the other side of the country to examine the images. One difference of the new application that concerns radiologist Dr. Irwin Grossman is the size of the screen, resolution and limits on the amount of information doctors will see at one time.

“I don’t think I’d be giving a final diagnosis and report from my iPad,” said the medical director of Grossman Imaging Centers in Ventura and Oxnard. He suggested the handheld images may be more valuable in offering a way radiologists away from the office can offer instructions to imaging technologists.

Siddiqui predicted the software may be mostly used not by radiologists but by other doctors who will use the high-resolution images to explain a diagnosis to a patient. Often, doctors now resort to scribbling a diagram on a piece of paper at a patient’s bedside.

“It just enables a lot more communication,” he said of the new technology.

Mark Cain, chief technology officer at MIM Software, said the company also is developing an application that will allow patients to access their own imaging scans. He said the reality of the doctors app is that when physicians don’t have access to an MRI, they either bypass it or the patient waits.

Dr. William Goldie, a pediatric neurologist at Ventura County Medical Center in Ventura, said he thinks doctors likely won’t use the images on their mobile devices as the sole basis of treatment. Rather, they’ll see the images as a way to confirm or challenge earlier diagnoses.

The value of technology comes partly from giving doctors a tool that can reduce health care delays for the patient, said Goldie. He worries about privacy and the chance doctors could be tempted to focus more attention on their handheld devices than on the patients.

But he also noted that telemedicine is everywhere, reflected in the national push to embrace electronic medical records and the growing number of websites aimed at helping patients understand their health problems. He pointed too at the software companies lining up to sell new ways of merging medicine and technology.

The changes are necessary, he said. They are also inevitable.

“This is something that is exploding in front of our eyes,” he said.

Source:http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/feb/16/new-software-means-doctors-can-use-cell-phones/

Around 1.32 lakh families in Belgaum district haven’t received their ration cards yet, said Channabasappa Kodli, deputy director of food and civil supplies department at the KDP meeting headed by district in-charge minister Umesh Katti, here on Tuesday.

Kodli said the applications were received before Lok Sabha elections in 2009, but the government had put it off following the election code of conduct. “We have written several letters to the government seeking permission to take action on the applications,” he added.

Katti also objected to the irregularities and mistakes in the ration cards that were distributed. Responding to this, Kodli said the department is developing a new software `Panchatantra’ in order to correct the anomalies prevailing in the old system. The new software will be developed by April, he said.

He said the new system will be made functional at the tahsildar offices at the taluk-level and applications received at Nemmadi Kendras seeking ration cards will also be shifted to the tahsildar offices, he said.

Meanwhile, Umesh Katti instructed DC Ekroop Kaur to file criminal complaints against land grabbers and those who sold government land after getting it sanctioned from local authorities using influence.

MLC Mahantesh Kavatagimath said some persons had sold three acres of government land at Sadalaga town panchayat limits recently, after the TP had `allegedly’ bestowed on them by passing the resolution. Meanwhile, MLA Abhay Patil `alleged’ that there were several such illegal pieces of land in the city corporation and BUDA limits, causing the government to lose approximately Rs 1,000 crore. He said: “I will resign if I am proved wrong.”

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mangalore/New-software-to-correct-ration-card-anomalies/articleshow/7511047.cms

* Certain Events 12 delivers rich event management application for meeting professionals
* Includes Certain Mobile, Certain Email Marketing and Certain SMM to mobilize events, execute world-class email marketing campaigns and consolidate event information and processes across the organization

Certain Software launched Certain Events 12, the richest event management application for meeting professionals. The new version is a direct result of working closely with customers around the world to address the demand for a rich, flexible solution that can handle a variety of events and deliver top business value to everyone in the event ecosystem. Certain’s continued investment in Certain Events demonstrates its commitment to customers and to the global event management market.

Certain Events 12 also connects with Certain Mobile, Certain Email Marketing and Certain Strategic Meetings Management (SMM), a set of complementary solutions to increase the business value of meetings and events.

“As a long-standing customer, Certain has helped us manage numerous Hosted Buyer Programs across several exhibitions globally. We are thrilled to see the company continue to invest in its Events solution to make it more flexible and powerful for our attendees,” said Mandy Torrens at Reed Travel Exhibitions. “The addition of Certain Mobile and Certain SMM is definitely in line with the needs of our events and we are looking forward to utilizing these new capabilities.”

Available this quarter, Certain Events 12 lets organizations consolidate event information and processes with the ability to customize registration, capture transfer requirements, streamline continuing education and reporting and provides a single solution to manage the entire event ecosystem in one system. Meeting professionals can manage a variety of details for any event including speakers, exhibitors, continuing education, hosted buyer programs, travel and housing, table allocation and delivers an unsurpassed experience for event participants through customized, conditional logic via registration sites.

“The conditional logic is an amazing new function. It will assist us to build a streamlined site for our delegates to register on — no more having to build two sites with two separate links,” said Jodi Howell of Travelscene American Express. “The ability to create a new database based on an existing one is also a welcome new feature. We can add more information in the transfers tab, which will assist us with giving our VIP transfer company the greatest amount of information possible.”

Source:http://www.etbmice.com/article.asp?articleid=5348

Numetrics today released the production version of IC Project Analyzer (ICPA), a tool for semiconductor product-development teams that calculates schedule risk of newly planned IC projects and benchmarks performance of completed projects against the industry. ICPA, available as software-as-a-service (SaaS), can be used free of charge by visiting icprojectanalyzer.com.

ICPA is based on the same core technology and world-class database powering Numetrics’ industry-standard, fact-based planning tool suite, NMX-ERP, which top semiconductor and electronics companies use throughout their R&D organizations.

Using IC Project Analyzer, engineering managers input their project’s staffing level plus the key chip design parameters that quantify their design’s complexity. Then, depending on the project’s stage within its lifecycle, the software either benchmarks the execution assumptions of the project’s plan or, if nearing completion, benchmarks how the team performed.

“IC Project Analyzer is a quick and easy way for engineering managers to benchmark their project execution assumptions and team performance,” said Ron Collett, CEO and founder of Numetrics. “It offers a glimpse into the power of our enterprise software—a solution that the world’s top semiconductor companies use to reliably determine the resources needed in order to meet schedule on complex chip design projects.”

“Over 85% of semiconductor design projects slip schedule, which ties up valuable engineering resources and costs companies lost market opportunity,” Mr. Collett said. “Fact-based planning delivers better schedule predictability and improves engineering productivity at a time when product-development teams are being asked to do more with less, he added.”

ICPA is the latest offering from Numetrics designed to help product-development organizations improve their productivity and predictability.

Source:http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110216005406/en/Numetrics-Releases-Free-Software-Tool-Benchmark-IC