Codee Software Inc. announced the release of version 2.0 of its QR code platform and the opening of the Codee App Store.

The Codee App Store features easy to use QR code applications designed to help consumers use QR codes in their daily lives. Customers can purchase a relatively inexpensive QR code application which comes with a QR code unique to the consumer and the application. The applications are designed to be very easy to configure and use by the average person. As an example Codees’ Contact My Parents application allows a parent to configure a QR code such that when it is scanned it dials the parents cell phone, or sends an SMS text message to the parent. Parents can attach the printed QR code to lunch boxes, books, clothing, or other items. The application can be reconfigured at any time to change the phone number or other parameters without the need to reprint and redeploy the QR code itself.

All Codee applications include the ability to download print ready images of its App Store QR codes. The images can be printed by the consumer or taken to an office supply store for printing. Alternatively, and for a nominal fee, Codee will mail high quality vinyl or paper stickers preprinted with the application QR code to the consumer. Other applications include QR codes to direct mobile users to Facebook, YouTube, various blogging sites, or twitter feeds.

The company’s new version 2.0 platform will dramatically accelerate its ability to publish new applications. The company believes that simple to use, focused, consumer applications for QR codes will drive adoption of the mobile technology.

CEO Fred Covely made this comment: “We think QR codes have the potential to bring real value to consumers and businesses alike. It is probable that there are thousands of applications based on QR codes or similar technologies yet to be created that will fundamentally change the way people interact with their environment. The V2.0 application and the Codee App Store are both strong steps in that direction.”

The Codee App Store features a ‘try before you buy’ feature for most of its products that allows consumers to configure and use a QR code before purchasing. Consumers can download the QR code with Codee provided artwork, or use undecorated QR codes as needed. The Codee platform features a consistent architecture for building and deploying applications including generation of QR codes, printing, scan tracking, and geolocation.

In additon version 2.0 of the Codee platform features an upgraded mobile presentation system that delivers state of the art mobile screens for all of the new applications. People scanning the Codee QR codes see polished mobile screens that load quickly and are easy to use. CTO John Motyl said this: “Whether its QR codes, NFC, or image recognition that starts the process, you need a good mobile experience to keep users coming back. Our new 2.0 mobile platform delivers just that”.

The company is betting that continued consumer education and the availability of low cost QR code applications will open the doors to new and innovative ways to use Smartphones.

Source:http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/02/17/prweb9202579.DTL

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions turned to computer software to combat application fraud this past fall when it began using Turnitin for Admissions to check application essays for plagiarism. Those admitted through restrictive early action to the Class of 2016 were the first to have their applications submitted to the database, which is already being used by approximately 100 colleges and universities around the country.

“It’s really the few that attempt to get away with this sort of thing [plagiarism] that should be forewarned that it’s not in their best interest,” Director of Undergraduate Admissions Bob Patterson said. “It’s our expectation they’re going to be honest and open and transparent in their application, and when they sign off that everything is their work, that has to have meaning.”

Patterson said that while his office has not been made aware of any instances of plagiarism from applicants in past years, it was “concerned there could be.”

He added that the University decided to utilize the software because of reports in the media about higher levels of plagiarism in applications.

“If we do see that there is plagiarism in an application, we will definitely reach out to the student and ask for the student’s input, and then we would make decisions from there,” he said.

The software compares submitted admissions documents with its extensive database of “Internet content, subscription content and previously submitted documents to create a comprehensive Similarity Report,” according to the Turnitin for Admissions website.

This Similarity Report recognizes both word-for-word and paraphrased text matches, which are then highlighted and linked back to the corresponding documents in the database. The Report also gives the option of building an internal database for all of the institution’s applications, as well as the option of participating and submitting content to the central Turnitin for Admissions database.

Stanford is one of only a dozen universities using Turnitin for undergraduate programs. Most admission offices currently use the software to assess graduate school applications.

Anna De Cheke Qualls, director of graduate affairs and admissions at Johns Hopkins University, said that her office began using the software in Sept. 2011. According to Qualls, the software is important because the University requires applicants to give complete disclosure in their applications. If applicants don’t exercise that full disclosure, they are rejected, she said.

“Our faculty have a greater ability to focus on applications, not authentication,” Qualls said. “We try to safeguard our institution and our departments from making an inappropriate decision.”

The graduate admissions office at Johns Hopkins gives the software to various departments, which can then individually decide how they wish to use it. Qualls said that while her office has heard of anecdotal instances of the software’s use, including text matches in applications, the office needs more data about how the plagiarism-checking software is being used in individual departments to determine its functionality.

Andrew Ainslie, senior associate dean at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, said that while faculty members have used the software in classrooms for many years at the graduate school, it has only recently been made available for admissions use.

“Initially we used it to see what sorts of results it would get for us,” Ainslie said. “It seemed like a great source of information about people who are plagiarizing, and it is able to verify the plagiarism.”

Ainslie noted that the software links to places from where plagiarism is detected, such as when the application shares a quote with another document on the Internet.

“It seems like a very useful tool to ensure that the people we allow into the program are the right kind of people…It is a pretty major offense to pass off someone’s intellectual property as your own,” Ainslie said.

“We think it is important that students are honest in their applications,” Patterson said. “We just want to make sure we are doing everything that we can.”

Source:http://www.stanforddaily.com/2012/02/13/change-office-of-undergraduate-admissions-uses-software-to-check-for-plagiarism/

As you learned from MobiHealthNews this week, MIM Software received a second FDA 510(k) clearance for its MobileMIM radiology app. In this case, the Food and Drug Administration approved MobileMIM radiology app for viewing x-rays and ultrasound images for diagnostic purposes. The federal agency also cleared the iPhone and iPad app for reviewing and approving of radiation therapy plans.

“Adding the additional modalities frees this up as a general radiology tool,” MIM Software CTO Mark Cain says in an interview with MobiHealthNews. “We’re finally seeing a general acceptance of mobile tools,” Cain reports. “It’s been a slow process.”

Mobile devices can be “sub-optimal” for viewing detailed images, Cain says. This is particularly true for the iPhone’s screen, which is tiny when compared with a fixed radiology workstation. “It’s more time-consuming to read an image on one of these devices.”

For this reason, the Cleveland-based company is marketing Mobile MIM as a convenience, not as a substitute for a traditional radiology setup. “It’s like a police officer having a gun,” Cain explains. “You would hope you wouldn’t have to use this, but what do you do when you can’t get to a workstation?”

Cain continues, “You can get that second opinion when it used to be very difficult to get.”

The app also can come in handy for low-resource hospitals that can’t afford to keep a radiologists on site around the clock and that don’t want to contract for teleradiology services. “There are many interesting use cases that can come out of this,” Cain says.

Initially, MobileMIM was intended for remote diagnosis. “I think that our original intention as a reference tool for radiologists, I think that is going to finally start to expand,” according to Cain.

The MIM CTO recalls hearing about a surgeon who called a radiologist wanting to review images before operating, looking to ensure he was performing the right procedure. “That was one use we didn’t even think about,” Cain says.

Cain also says he read a story about a surgeon who was struggling with a particular case, so the doctor took the patient’s images home on his mobile device over a weekend to take another look when the mood struck. The surgeon was able to discover a safer, more effective way to operate, Cain reports.

With this clearance, Mobile MIM has no applications pending before the FDA, Cain says.

The way the rules are written, do not expect Mobile MIM—or other companies that turn phones and tablets into medical image readers—to develop versions for Android or any other non-Apple platform. “We hear that question all the time: Why don’t you have an Android app?” Cain says. The answer is rather simple.

Depending on the intended use, the FDA may treat each type of device as a unique product, requiring its own review and clearance. In this case, the display is a critical feature of the product, Cain says. Android is an open-source operating system that runs on dozens if not hundreds of different products from multiple manufacturers, each with differing display characteristics—and there are multiple versions of Android, too. It would be prohibitively expensive to seek FDA approval on all the popular Android devices, according to Cain.

MIM only needed clearance for its software on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, Cain explains. Even though there are several models of each, most run the new iOS 5. “Apple makes it fairly simple,” he says.

Source:http://mobihealthnews.com/15457/mim-software-app-is-a-backup-to-fixed-workstations/