Interactive Global Health Exhibition

The National Library of Medicine (www.nlm.nih.gov), the world’s largest medical library and a component of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), has opened an interactive exhibition, “Against the Odds: Making a Difference in Global Health” on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. By harnessing the best of 21st century technology, engaging text and graphics, and interesting objects, “Against the Odds” focuses on how individuals and communities, in collaboration with scientists, advocates, governments and international organizations, have made and are making a difference in the health of people around the globe.

“The National Library of Medicine has long been more of an international library than a national one,” observed NLM Director Dr. Donald A.B. Lindberg. “Most of the scientific articles we index are written outside the US and almost half of the MEDLINE (www.pubmed.gov) inquiries we receive are from outside this country. We have many formal partnerships with other nations, too, to provide training and to facilitate interlibrary loan.”

“The fact that the Internet has made our vast holdings accessible to people around the globe certainly helps in the fight against the complex and widespread health challenges facing the world today,” he continued. “Against the Odds captures many of the successes in world health policy, such as the eradication of smallpox, and cautions us about potential pitfalls, like the kind of discrimination that can take place when people don’t understand the facts about the transmission of HIV/AIDS.”

The complete opening program for the exhibition may be viewed at http://videocast.nih.gov/. The exhibition is supported by excellent online resources and activities and may also be toured virtually through http://apps.nlm.nih.gov/againsttheodds//index.cfm.

Intel Strategy Draws Competitors

Intel will now be battling new competitors in addition to known adversaries, such as AMD and IBM, making the next few years a challenge for the silicon giant, reports In-Stat. Due to anticipated slower growth and lower pricing in the PC market, Intel’s key base since the 1980s, Intel is looking to new markets for growth opportunities.

“Intel’s CEO, Paul Otellini, identified ultra-mobile PCs (UMPCs)/Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs), emerging markets PCs as key targets (allegedly worth $10 billion each), and consumer electronics, giving the competition ample warning to prepare for Intel’s onslaught,” said Jim McGregor, In-Stat Principal Analyst. “Intel’s expansion into emerging form factors, such as MIDs, with low-power products expands its list of competitors, particularly those in the ARM processor camp.”

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

*AMD will shadow Intel’s move into emerging form factors with accelerated processing units (APU).

*IBM will continue pushing the POWER processor architecture for servers and consumer electronics, but In-Stat believes it may exit the semiconductor business within a decade due to high fab costs, competition and changing business models.

*ARM suppliers and VIA will compete with Intel for MID/UMPC, what In-Stat refers to as Ultra Mobile Devices (UMDs), design wins.

*Intel will maintain its leadership position in computing, but faces competition and difficulty overcoming other barriers in consumer electronics.

Texting Improves Relationships

A survey on family texting habits revealed that text messaging has broadened the lines of communication for many parents and teens, with over half of those reporting it has actually improved their relationship. The survey, commissioned by Samsung Mobile, was conducted by Kelton Research and included 300 American teens ages 13 – 19 and 500 American parents with children ages 13 – 19.

Teens are text messaging far more than their parents; however, the survey suggests that teens are also passing their text know-how on to mom and dad.

*The teens in the survey sent on average 455 text messages each month and received 467 – that’s roughly 15 text messages sent and 16 messages received each day.

*On average, parents sent 84 text messages each month and received 96.

*Almost six in ten moms and dads who text, said their kids helped them become better texters.

As parents join the world of texting, the survey suggests that more parent-teen communication is being conducted by text. Nearly seven in ten American parents communicate with their kids by text message. Nearly six in ten teens, ages 13 – 19, report that they communicate more often with their parents since they began text messaging.

Not only are more and more parents and teens communicating through text, but for many, text messaging has actually played a role in improving their relationship. More than half of teens who text message think the relationship with their parents has improved because of text messaging. And more than half of parents who text with their teens agree that they communicate more often with their kids now than they did before they began text messaging and that text messaging has actually improved their relationship.

“Finding a way to communicate with teenagers can be difficult for many parents,” said Bill Ogle, chief marketing officer for Samsung Telecommunications America. “What this survey shows is that communicating with teens the same way they communicate with each other, by text messaging, may be a great way for some parents to improve the lines of communication. And with more than a billion text messages now being sent each day, I think we will see this new trend in parent-teen communication continue to grow.”

Web 2.0 Business Development

While many equate Web 2.0 with funny videos on YouTube, high school students tossing up a MySpace page, or friends and colleagues sharing information on Facebook, there is a lot of strategic business-to-business development going on by software developers, according to the 2008 Web 2.0 Development Report just released by Evans Data Corp.

Developers are working on Web 2.0 software for business applications in several areas, including three that stand out in the survey:

*Interface design – 40 percent of interfaces for Web 2.0 applications are “mixed” web-rich clients that include AJAX for fast downloads of pages that include live feeds of data (gadgets) and other dynamic components found in Web 2.0 applications.

*Gadgets and widgets (portable web parts) — an overwhelming majority of respondents are using gadgets/widgets from Google, Microsoft, Yahoo! and others to deploy fast, lightweight business applications and services.

*Social networking — over half (56 percent) of the developers in scientific and technical fields see social networking as a communications and collaboration medium, and OEMs and systems integrators see benefits in product delivery. Showing a slower adoption rate, over half of other markets currently have no plans to use social networking at this time.

“Businesses are starting to realize the strengths of Web 2.0 in terms of fast deployment of rich Internet applications, use of open source technologies, as well as some of the communications benefits it can provide to employees and customers,” said John Andrews, president and CEO of Evans Data Corp. “While developers are the ‘early adopters’ of the technology, the demand for Web 2.0 talent is only getting hotter. It’s an indication that the business market will continue to grow quite rapidly.”