Facebook Working on Face Recognition Technology

It seems that Facebook really will be... well Facebook.

The company that has seemingly taken over the world for those not interested in the ins & outs of hard core tech communication, has decided to increase the efficiency of members "tagging" themselves & each other in photos posted on the popular website.  The idea that came about originally, was that users can easily upload photos into their online albums.  They can then "tag" these photos indicating who is in them so that friends & others can see the photos.  This also encourages these users to "tag" others in their online albums as well.  This, of course, increases the social activity on the site and adds to the sense of community.

The problem comes because this is a fairly arduous process if you have lots of photos.

To make the whole thing easier, Facebook software will now automatically identify & select faces in photo and all the user has to do is answer the Facebook question "Whose face is this?"  It works in a very similar way that my Canon pocket digital camera works as well as most digital cameras on the market today.

With more and more users spending more and more time on Facebook, the company has indicated there are other changes on the way that will continue to increase user efficiency.  That's going to be good news to a lot of folks and it's also smart if Facebook wants to continue to be the number one site on the Internet.  Ease of use is huge if you want to continue to grow your user base and also to not lose existing users do to frustration.

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What can the Cloud do for You?

We keep hearing about it... The Cloud, like it's some new and bold idea.  Actually it's a fairly old idea as technology goes, but it's a good one and I think it is really starting to come of age.  The idea goes back as far as the computer network.  Back in the day, when networks were first created, data could be stored on a server and then accessed from any workstation on the network.  It's a great idea.  Store the data centrally and then use it from any machine that has access to the server.

The Cloud is that philosophy with the twist of putting the server on the Internet.  Thus the Internet becomes the network and the server can be accessed with any computer that has an Internet connection.

The simplest form of this for a lot of people is email.  If you have a yahoo or gmail account for your email, that's cloud computing.  Your messages are stored on the company's servers and you get your email anytime you're on line.  Obviously this can greatly simplify your life since you don't have to keep email software running or worry about backing up your account.  All of that is taken care of for you by professionals.  Online banking?  Same thing.  Point your browser to the bank website enter your username and password, and you have full access to the data you need with no backing up or anything else on your end.

We're finally getting to the point where this is really a reliable way to run a huge part of your life.  For me, my contacts and articles are backed up and available to me through a variety of sites.  Should I suffer a crash on my primary machine I still have access to my data from any computer with Internet access until I can get the primary machine restored and back online.

There are several sites and services that will allow you to do this and this list is by no way meant to be inclusive.  I currently use MobileMe (from Apple), Google Docs, SugarSync, and Glide Desktop.  Each of these services allows limited amounts of storage and even the ability to edit the documents you store directly from the website.

The convenience of The Cloud cannot be overstated.  Here's a great example of what you can easily accomplish with little intervention other than installing some software.  On my Mac I have a program called "Spanning Sync" installed.  Whenever I make a change to my calendar or my contacts on my Mac, Spanning Sync recognizes the change and then sends that info to my iGoogle account.  This means new/changed appointments or contacts are quickly updated in The Cloud which allows my schedule to be updated and viewable; usually in a matter of seconds.  Then let's take this one step further.  Last summer when I purchased my Palm Pre, one of the choices during setup was to use info from my iGoogle account.  One the phone was activated by Sprint all I had to do was put in my Google username and password.  Within a few minutes my complete calendar and contact list was downloaded and in my phone with no effort at all on my part.  Of course, changing something on my phone means it will change on Google and Spanning Sync will catch that and make the necessary changes on my Mac... and all of this normally happens in the background without me even thinking about it.

And, of course, the "without me even thinking about it" is the way it's supposed to be right?  I mean, for me a lot of this is the Holy Grail of technology.  When I can have things in my life happen that make things easier for me and keep me organized with minimal effort on my part.  The Cloud is really one of those game changers that I love and I'm embracing it more and more.  In addition to my normal blogging on all things tech, I'm going to be making some more detailed posts over the summer on some specific cloud based applications that I use and love.

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AdDent, Inc Calset Makes Composite Placement a Breeze

The folks at AdDent make some really incredible products.  They are what I like to refer to as "better mousetrap" products where they take an idea and improve on it so much you simply can't do without it.

 

The Calset is one of those devices. It consists of a base that is plugged into a standard AC outlet.  The base gently warms in about 10 minutes.  On top of the base, you can place several different modules that hold different materials.  The one pictured above, is warming compules pre-loaded into dispenser guns.  However, there are also modules to hold individual compules, composite syringes, anesthetic cartridges, a veneer tray to organize and warm bonded veneers, and soon there will be an instrument warmer as well.

 

The composite suffers no ill effects from being warmed and is actually much easier to place as even the stiffest consistencies flow easily when gently warmed.  This means better adaptation, easier placement, and faster procedures for the patient.  Using the Calset is an everyday part of our restorative routine and makes our lives, and the lives of our patients, much easier.  This is one of those products I just couldn't do without!  It is highlly recommended!!!

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DentalEZ Everlight Test Begins on Monday

As regular readers know, I'm a huge fan of LED's. The death knell of incandescent bulbs has sounded and at some time in the not too distant future, they will join the ranks of 8-tracks and VHS as technologies that were state of the art, but passed by with better options.

When I built the new facility in 2008, I was already looking forward to mobile LED's mounted on my Orascoptic 4.8 TTL surgical telescopes. I've since combined them with the Discovery LED that has 7000 foot candles of brightness. Because of that, I chose not to equip the operatories that mainly work out of with overhead track lights as the Discovery, at 7000 foot candles, is much brighter than a track light.

However, I did own 3 track lights in the old office and it seemed a waste to just throw them away. So I moved them and had them installed in our 3 hygiene operatories. My thought process being that not all of our hygienists use auxiliary lighting and would benefit from the track lights.

Now starting Monday, super hygineist Nikki will begin using the Everlight from DentalEZ. I know that no matter how hard I evangelize about a light on the end of your nose, many practitioners will be more comfortable with a track light. Nikki was using a very old Pelton & Crane unit, but will now be working under the blazing light of 12 high power LED's. The unit was installed on Friday and I'm really excited to see the difference between the old yellowish incandescent bulb and the new bright white LED's.

The Everlight is green, using 70% less energy than halogen lights and is economical since the lights last 6 times longer. This new evolution of a standard piece of dental equipment is one of those things that really gets me excited to evaluate. I'll be reporting back on our experiences.

Here is the lowdown from DentalEZ:

DentalEZ is the first in the U.S. to design an operating light with 100% true direct LED technology. EverLight enables you to work with more precise, direct light without the need for reflectors or fans. Plus, it’s cool, quiet, and environmentally friendly.
• Natural daylight illumination provides clearer oral cavity visibility
• 9 color/intensity settings to meet all your operative needs, including color matching
• Consumes 70% less energy than halogens; lowers bills
• Lasts 10 times longer than halogens
• Available in six mounting options
• Revolutionary, affordable LED technology

Proper lighting is only as good as its positioning. The optimal position of EverLight for a supine patient is directly above the patient’s mouth for mandibular and maxillary. Whenever possible, the light should be in the patient’s mid-saggital plane directly above or slightly behind the patient’s oral cavity. A good guide for proper lighting is to keep the light and eye lines within 15º degrees of each other. For lower anterior lingual the best access is slightly behind.(1) Improper lighting contributes to 25% of fatigue. Proper lighting, on the other hand, can increase production by as much as 20%. Correctly positioned operatory lighting minimizes shadows and maximizes effectiveness.

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Still Loving my Tivo... Especially with iTivo

You can rave all you want over the DVR that your cable company rents to you, but for my money I'd much rather have a Tivo. Not all DVR's are created equal and Tivo, IMO, is the best of the best. There are lots of reasons for this, but let me give you one quick example of how Tivo can make your life easier and even help educate my dental office staff. Oh, and this is a great tech story to boot!

It seems that Wednesday morning, my preferred social network tracking program, Tweetdeck, popped up with a Tweet from someone I follow. The tweet was from the folks at Trimara. They make a nice oral cancer screening device that has been on the market about 16 months. The tweet stated that their product, the Identafi 3000 Ultra, would be featured on Dr. Oz that afternoon.

Obviously, this is a big deal. We need more publicity about the ravages of oral cancer. Increasing public awareness is a great first step. More of these terrible cancers would be detected if more people visited the dentist on a regular basis. However, the other reason this caught my eye is because I own an Identafi 3000 Ultra and use it regularly. I anticipated that patients would see the segment and have questions since they know I'm a cutting edge guy.

The problem was, how to see the episode so that the whole team is prepared to answer questions. We needed to see the show to be as prepared and informed as possible.

This is where Tivo comes in. I went to the Tivo website and logged in. Once into my personal Tivo account, I sent a message to my Tivo telling it to record that day's Dr. Oz show. My Tivo is connected to my home network and the Internet via a USB Wifi adapter and within 30 minutes I received an email from my Tivo saying it had received my record request and that it would record the Dr. Oz show. Sweet!

OK, so now I have the show, but how can I get the staff to see it? There is more than one way to do that, but I chose one of the simplest methods. There is a free program called iTivo that is written for the Mac. The iTivo program is a free download and allows my Mac to access my Tivo over my home network. Once I'm logged into the Tivo, I can download the shows which are converted to mpeg4 video which can be played on any computer and lots of media players like iPods. So the program was downloaded, put on a jump drive, and will be shown to the staff tomorrow morning at or organizational meeting that we have daily to make sure our day runs like a well oiled machine.

Just one more example of staying on the cutting edge by good use of technology. To put it bluntly, Tivo Rocks!

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EverLight Evaluation Coming Soon

Technology permeates everything we do in modern dentistry. From composite chemistry, to handpieces (like ProDrive), to lighting. As regular readers know, I'm a huge fan of portable LED operator's lights that attach to your surgical telescopes.

Now, even the lowly dental overhead track light is getting a high tech makeover. LED's are changing the world we live in and not just in dentistry. In the not too distant future, I'll be evaluating the EverLight from DentalEZ which is an LED track light system. For those of you who use and appreciate good lighting from a track light, this evaluation should be of interest to you. LED's have incredibly long lives (50k-100k hours) which means the track light itself may wear out before the lights themselves do.

We'll be testing it out and putting it through its paces while reporting about it here, so check back regularly.

Here are the details from DentalEZ:

See all your procedures in a true light.

Operatory lights made with 100% true LED technology, only from DentalEZ®.

DentalEZ is the first in the U.S. to design an operating light with 100% true direct LED technology. EverLight enables you to work with more precise, direct light without the need for reflectors or fans. Plus, it’s cool, quiet, and environmentally friendly.

• Natural daylight illumination provides clearer oral cavity visibility
• 9 color/intensity settings to meet all your operative needs, including color matching
• Consumes 70% less energy than halogens; lowers bills
• Lasts 10 times longer than halogens
• Available in six mounting options
• Revolutionary, affordable LED technology

Proper lighting is only as good as its positioning. The optimal position of EverLight for a supine patient is directly above the patient’s mouth for mandibular and maxillary. Whenever possible, the light should be in the patient’s mid-saggital plane directly above or slightly behind the patient’s oral cavity. A good guide for proper lighting is to keep the light and eye lines within 15º degrees of each other. For lower anterior lingual the best access is slightly behind.(1) Improper lighting contributes to 25% of fatigue. Proper lighting, on the other hand, can increase production by as much as 20%. Correctly positioned operatory lighting minimizes shadows and maximizes effectiveness.

1 Denise C. Murphy, DrPH, COHN, Ergonomics And The Dental Care Worker (Washington, DC: American Public Health Association, 1998) p. 301.

• 3 Kelvin Color temperatures, 3 Lux intensity settings

• 12 Philips luminated LEDs maximize light output resulting in brighter, more efficient LED








• Available in 6 mounting configurations, including chair mounted shown here













• Focused light pattern provides proper color corrective light for all procedures

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YouMail App for My Palm Pre... or Why I Love My Blog

Yesterday's post was about the new YouMail app for the Blackberry. In that post I mentioned that I would love to have that functionality for my Palm Pre, but that it wasn't available yet.

Well a reader was nice enough to let me know about YouView, a 3rd party app for the Palm Pre that gives me a fully functional visual voicemail program that completely integrates my YouMail account with my Pre.

All I had to do was download the file, pay the $3.99 fee to activate, and enter my account info. All of the voicemails, folders, contacts... everything I have in my YouMail account on the web was available on my phone in a few seconds. I can now see who called, listen to voicemails in any order, delete with a swipe of my finger, transfer from my inbox to a folder, and call the person back... just to name a few.

Here are some highlights:

• Completely visual - see who called, from where, and even their picture.
  
  
• You can still dial in like before (if you feel the need!).
  
  
• Return the phone call with a simple tap of your finger.
  
  
• Flag voicemails that need followed up so you don’t forget.
  
  
• Save time – Play messages in any order! Tap to play or swipe to delete.
  
  
• Organize – Stay organized by placing voicemails into folders.
  
  
• Voice-To-Text Transcriptions - Know if a message truly is urgent in situations when you can't simply dial or answer your phone. Read and respond to voicemail messages while in a meeting, class, movie or other busy setting.
  
  
• Custom Greetings - Easily have different greetings for your sweetie, your friends, your co-workers and your boss. Choose from a library of free greetings or upload any sound file as a greeting.
  
  
• Share voicemails with family, friends, or colleagues via text or email.
  
  
• Automatically hang up on unwanted callers before they can leave a voicemail.
  
  
• Easily let a pesky ex or telemarketers think your number is no longer in service.
  
  
• Effortlessly sync your YouMail contacts with your phones contact list using Palm’s Synergy technology.

If you'd like to download YouView, click here!

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YouMail Releases New Version for Blackberry

YouMail could very well change the way you interact with your voicemail. From translations to text, text message notices of voicemail, the ability to save and forward messages via e-mail all make YouMail a critical part of my high tech life.

Now if you're a Blackberry user, YouMail is even better. I'm bummed that such an update isn't yet available for my Palm Pre, but I can dream. Here is the buzz:

YouMail Is Much Smarter

YouMail can now detect new voicemail WITHOUT needing TXT alerts or “polling”, leading to better battery life and no hassle with TXTs. Instead, YouMail reliably detects e-mail alerts going to your phone - just go to application settings, turn off “TXT alerts” and “polling”, and turn on e-mail alerts.

YouMail can now make sounds, flash the LED, and vibrate for new voicemails, just like you can for TXT, MMS, and E-mail messages. Check out your profile settings (may be called Sounds) and you'll find a new YouMail option– we’re now completely integrated with the BlackBerry’s built-in Notification service.

YouMail now gives you more greeting control: you can control what YouMail does with “unknown callers”, “blocked callers”, and “smart greetings”.

YouMail lets you try out our voice-to-text transcriptions with a single click from the application

YouMail Looks Much Better

We’ve made dates much easier to read – “today”, “yesterday”, “Mon 2/1”, etc.., and made it easy to see new messages by displaying the caller name in BOLD.

We’ve completely redesigned the screen that plays messages – which should make them easier to play and read.

YouMail Connects Better And Boots Faster

We’ve reworked YouMail to handle network problems much more efficiently, which will especially impact those of you with spotty coverage or unreliable WiFi connections. There is now much less data traffic, more efficient and less frequent authentication, and smarter connection attempts.

We now ensure that voicemail audio files on SD-cards when the phone boots up - so you can now upgrade YouMail without worrying about old voicemails having to all be downloaded again.

We now handled some relatively rare cases that caused problems downloading voicemails. Some Blackberry phones redirected our audio requests through other services – and this now just works. Other Blackberry servers only allow small files to be transferred – if you have this problem, just go to “Storage “ and choose the “chunk audio” option).

YouMail Has Better Troubleshooting

We now provide user-friendly information about the network and authentication status of the application – easily accessible from the about screen.

We’ve made it effortless for you to tell us if there’s problem – just click the “Send Log” button on the About screen, and it’ll create an e-mail telling us exactly what’s happened with your application. Just add a brief note about what you were doing, and we’ll be able to quickly diagnose any issue.

Enjoy – and don’t hesitate to give us feedback! We’re already hard at work on the next version.

Remember, you can download it now at: http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/724.

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