records

Electronic records hold the potential to improve medical care by flagging problems such as drugs that shouldn't be combined, but a study by Stanford and Harvard medical school researchers has concluded that so far they haven't improved the quality of outpatient health care.

The researchers studied a database of 1.8 billion doctor visits in 2003 and 2004 and examined performance on 17 indicators of quality. The results were mediocre, according to Stanford.

"In essence, we found little difference in the quality of care being provided by physicians with electronic health record systems, compared to those without … Read more

Microsoft said Monday that's it's revamped its IPTV software, now called MediaRoom. In a feature published Monday on CNET News.com, I've already gone into some depth about what the new software offers and what it means for the telco TV market.

But I also wanted to point out an important feature the new software doesn't offer: multiroom DVR. This service would be a dream come true for me. Even though I've got three TVs in my tiny apartment in New York City, my roommate and I still fight over the TV in the living … Read more

ARLINGTON, Va.--A T-Mobile executive on Thursday said there's no need for Congress to pass new laws prescribing requirements governing how mobile phone carriers handle their subscribers' personal information.

Criminal penalties for scammers--such as those contained in a bill signed by President Bush earlier this year--are great, but further regulations are unnecessary and unwise, said Kathleen Ham, T-Mobile's director of federal regulatory affairs.

"I think we have every incentive to want to protect the privacy of our customers," she said during a panel discussion at the annual Pike & Fischer Broadband Summit here.

In the … Read more

Editor's note: CallRec was tested on a Treo 650.

Pros: Records independently of app, tracks remaining storage, two recording input options, multiple ways to share Cons: No trigger hot key, two-second lapse with phone call recording

At a baseball game last summer, my friend recorded the incessant howls of a boisterous seatmate with his smart phone, replaying it in my ear with tinny imperfection. Too bad he didn't have a Palm device with CallRec tucked onto his memory card to forever capture the fan's clamorous "woo-woooos" with lifelike clarity.

CallRec is a midsize piece of commercial software (207KB on-phone storage; $30) that makes clear recordings of your notes-to-self and phone calls, and has enough options for tweaking the recording quality to cut out most background noise. The clean, understandable interface provides screen-touch buttons to start, stop, and replay recordings, though you can also initiate and end sessions by pressing the Treo's side button. CallRec names recordings with a time stamp, but it's easy to rename files, and to organize them by file name or duration. … Read more

You'd think that once you hit the summit of Mount Everest you might be able to count on at least a few incommunicado moments. Not these days.

British climber Rod Baber set a world record Monday for the highest-ever land-based mobile phone call and text message, according to Motorola, which is sponsoring his climb. He called from 29,035 feet at 5:37 a.m. local time using his Motorizr Z8.

Baber, who set out for Kathmandu on March 30 with a global team of climbers, made his first call to a special voice mail account. "It's … Read more

While cruising around SonyStyle looking for some clue as to whether the NW-A800 might be prepping for a stateside launch, I came across the ICD-U50. What struck me about this device is that it was listed under MP3 players with a 256MB capacity, and I thought "what the...Sony is still selling 256MB MP3 players...and for $99.95!" But then I realized that the ICD-U50 is actually a multifunctional digital voice recorder, and a stylish one at that. I mean, we don't get a lot of standalone voice recorders around here, but I can say with … Read more

If you've ever spent any time on your sofa wishing you could take it wherever you wanted to go, you might want to talk to Marek Turowsk.

On Sunday, Turowsk set a new world record for "fastest furniture," according to The Sun, a British publication.

The Sun reported that Turowsk hit 92 mph, breaking the previous record of 87 mph for high-speed couches, which was set in 1998 by engineer Ed China.

And no, he didn't set the record by dropping the couch off a building. This was pure horizontal acceleration.

Lest you think this is … Read more

It's time once again for negotiations to begin between Apple and the record labels, but things are a little more interesting on this go-round because of Apple's recent deal with EMI.

For years, record companies have been trying to get Apple CEO Steve Jobs to raise the price of individual songs sold through the iTunes Store, but Jobs has stuck fast to the 99-cent fee, The Associated Press reports. Last month, however, that stance changed with plans to make versions of songs from EMI's artists available for $1.29.

The catch? Those songs have to be free … Read more

It's not exactly news that interest group lobbying affects lawmaking, but MapLight.org is showing us how by doing the math down to dollar figures. The non-profit MapLight.org had one of the least ostentatious booths in the Web 2.0 Expo hall, but brought an incredibly informative, practical service regarding the influence of money on California politics.

It's a mashup of voting records pulled from the Official California Legislative Information Web site (up to the 2003-2004 session right now, with 2005-2006 on the way), and campaign contributions kept by the Institute on Money in State Politics.

The … Read more