Thursday, June 23, 2011

Making Money With Options

This is an open letter from an Auburn Alumn who asked me if i could provide a venue to react to Stanley McClover and his accusations on HBO regarding Auburn Football and illegal benefits.

If you're not up to date on Mr. McClover check out this story in the New York Times.

"In response to Stanley McClover's outburst of ignorance on HBO February 25th, some may think he did future athletes a favor by coming clean about the alleged transgressions at Auburn.

However, the truth of the matter is that McClover was a student athlete given an opportunity get an education and also an opportunity to play professional sports. McGlover was granted the opportunities that so many dream about, although injuries cut short his dream of becoming an NFL star.

Please don't forget that Auburn was the catalyst for McClover making it to the NFL. As a student athlete, a school is not responsible for what happens once you leave the university. He should be grateful that he even had the chance to reach his goals that so many minorities don't even have the chance to receive.

If he was indeed receiving special benefits that were against NCAA rules, why wait years after he received them to blast the university that gave you an education, and most importantly, an OPPORTUNITY?

I am not saying that benefits are not received at colleges and universities across the country or that Auburn is 100% innocent. I think the recent developments at Ohio State and USC make it clear that change is needed. I didn't take any benefits while I was at Auburn, and to the best of my knowledge, Auburn has run a clean program by SEC standards.

Auburn gave McGlover a head start in life, and all he can do is try to tear down the institution that did nothing but try to better him as a human being.

Here it is several years later, and he's trying to do what? Regardless of what's been said and done, once Stanley McClover is gone and Auburn is still going to be here.

Stanley McClover, you tell me what is your legacy? He says he wanted to help underprivileged kids from being taken advantage of by big time college football to help his non-profit organization.

In reality, what I think is that you have heightened the scrutiny of college sports to the point where kids who don't have many options have less opportunity because of your selfishness.

He said he didn't take any money from HBO, but I beg to differ; we all know that Alabama is a football state and football is king. I know he took 15K from a University of Alabama booster to do the interview. What is more shameless that an Auburn man taking money from Alabama booster to snitch to the whole world?

Stanley, I know you personally so while you are blaming other people about your problems, should we investigate your dealings with LSU? You took 10k from LSU directly and still didn't go to LSU. If you want to air out dirty laundry we can do that all day.

McClover took another 15K from HBO as well to even do the interview. He also took money from Michigan State and Ohio State, so it seems to me that the only constant in his story is that he always has his hand out looking for handouts. This seriously jeopardizes his credibility as far as dragging Auburn's name through the mud.

Therefore, he is still doing wrong and is the type of person that will do anything to get ahead in life. Furthermore, he said you wanted to go to Ohio State because they were a good institution and a better school, but look where they are now. I suggest McClover leaves Auburn alone and figure out what he wants to do with his life because he had his opportunity and he wasted it."

Sincerely, concerned Auburn Alumni

I posted this letter because someone I know wanted to tell what he knew about the dealings of Stanley McClover.

Holllywood Clayborne

For more checkout 6Magazine

Facebook users in Europe will soon have the opportunity to earn Facebook Credits by completing hard offers through the offer walls of social games. Facebook today announced partnerships with SupersonicAds from the United Kingdom and Deal United from Germany to let European users buy magazine subscriptions, online movie rentals, and more to earn Facebook’s virtual currency.

Facebook will only allow Credits to be distributed through offers by approved providers once the July 1st deadline passes and all games to switch to Credits as their payment method. Therefore, attaining approved offers coverage in Europe through these deals is important so developers can still monetize users in the region who won’t pay for Credits directly.

Currently, game developers often work with offer providers like SupersonicAds and Deal United to give users their proprietary premium in-game currency in exchange for making purchases — sometimes known as completing hard offers. Direct response advertisers aggregated by the offer providers earn money from the purchases, and pay out to the game developers for bringing them customers and to cover the cost of the currency.

However, at the beginning of March, Facebook announced that after the migration to Credits, only approved offer providers can dispense hard Credits offers, and the only approved provider at the time was the Mountain View, CA-based TrialPay. Facebook promised more providers would be approved before the July 1st forced migration, and now it’s made good on that promise by blessing SupersonicAds and Deal United. A Facebook spokesperson tells us that “both of these companies will provide offers for Europe, extending the current offers product outside of the United States.”

[Update: To be clear, the approvals of SupersonicAds and Deal United mean those companies will contribute offer inventory they've aggregated from advertisers into Facebook's existing official offer wall, which it runs in partnership with TrialPay. Developers won't have to do anything new to get SupersonicAds or Deal United offers to appear in the offer walls of their games. They won't have to set up any additional offer walls, and users will see offers from these providers blended into the offer mix.]

SupersonicAds co-founder Gil Shoham told us his company has more than 1000 advertisers lined up to work with developers and 5000 live offers that will become available to users through the Facebook Credits partnership. “We have the ability to tap into many offers per country, and provide full localization and translation of offers and landing pages. Our goal is to make sure all users across europe can find relevant offers.”

Facebook tapped SupersonicAds as the only European launch partner for its Credits soft offers program, which allows users to earn Credits for watching video ads while playing games or browsing Facebook.com. Shoham says the program has been a success so far, and that the company has served commercials from Disney, Intel, Sony, Lionsgate, and Warner Bros to Facebook users.

Having both launched on Facebook years ago, today’s move by Facebook is validation for both companies that has been a long time coming. It appears that TrialPay will still have a Credits hard offer monopoly in the lucrative American market, though, as competitors such as Tapjoy and Super Rewards have yet to be approved.

Facebook has been making other preparations to ease both developers and users onto Credits. Yesterday it announced alternative payout options for 13 countries, which will help international developers receive their money from Facebook for the Credits spent on their games. Facebook also began giving away small amounts of Credits to get users accustomed to keeping a balance and spending them, with 1 free Credit being distributed to Ravenswood Fair players.

Approving enough providers for both the hard and soft offers programs will be crucial to injecting enough Facebook Credits into the ecosystem so that developers don’t take a big hit to monetization by migrating to Credits. If Facebook doesn’t establish robust enough Credits offer walls, users who previously spent proprietary virtual currency they earned through the multitude of independent offer providers won’t have adequate choices of ways to earn, and could cease to monetize if they don’t switch to buying currency (although as we’ve noted before, many do tend to start with offers and go direct anyway).

While most virtual goods revenue comes from direct purchases, a dip in revenues for Facebook game developers could cause a backlash leading them to turn to other platforms such as iOS or Android, hurting Facebook’s Credits business. The company still has work to do, though, in adding more offers options in Asia, and additional competitors in North America.

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Friday, June 17, 2011

Making Money Advertising

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Friday, April 22, 2011

Alt Attribute & Search engine optimization

SEO Optimization images has become more and more essential in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for websites. The ALT attribute is really a critical step that is sometimes forgotten. This is often a lost chance of better rankings.

In Google's webmaster guidelines, they advise the use of alternative text for the images on your web site:

Images:. Use the alt attribute to provide descriptive text. In addition, we recommend using a human-readable caption and descriptive text around the image.

Why would they ask us to achieve that? The answer is easy, really; search engines have a similar problem as blind users. They can't begin to see the images.

Many webmasters and inexperienced or unethical SEOs abuse the use of this attribute, attempting to stuff it with keywords, hoping to achieve a particular keyword density, which isn't as relevant for rankings now since it was previously.

On the other hand, high keyword density can, on some search engines, trigger spam filters, which may create a penalty for your site's ranking. Even without such a penalty, your site's rankings will not take advantage of this plan.
This process also puts persons who use screen readers in a greater disadvantage. Screen readers are software-based tools that actually read aloud the contents of what's displayed on the screen. In browsing the net, the alt attributes of images are read aloud as well.

Imagine listening to a paragraph of text which is followed by repetitions of many keywords. The page would be not even close to accessible, and, to put it bluntly, would be found quite annoying.
What exactly is an Alt attribute?

An ALT attribute shouldn't be used as a description or perhaps a label to have an image, though lots of people utilize it for the reason that fashion. Although it may appear natural to assume that alternate text is really a label or a description, it is not!

What used within an image's alt attribute ought to be its text equivalent and convey the same information or serve exactly the same purpose that the image would.

The goal would be to provide the same functional information that the visual user would see. The alt attribute text should function as a "stand in" in the event that the image is not available. Think about this: Should you replace the look with the text, would most users get the same basic information, and wouldn't it create the same response?
A few examples:

Some SEO Optimization Tips

If a search button is a magnifier or binoculars its alt text ought to be 'search' or 'find' not 'magnifying glass' or 'binoculars'.

If an image is meant to convey the literal contents of the image, a description is appropriate.

If it's meant to convey data, then that data is what's appropriate.

If it is meant to convey using a function, then the function is what ought to be used.

Some Alt Attribute Guidelines:

Always add alt attributes to images. Alt is mandatory for accessibility as well as for valid XHTML.

For images that play merely a decorative role in the page, use an empty alt (i.e. alt="") or a CSS background image so that reading browsers do not bother users by uttering things like "spacer image".

Remember that it's the function from the image we're attempting to convey. For example; any button images shouldn't range from the word "button" within the alt text. They ought to emphasize the action performed by the button.

Alt text ought to be based on context. The same image inside a different context may require drastically different alt text.

Try to flow alt text with the rest of the text because that is the way it will be read with adaptive technologies like screen readers. Someone hearing your page should hardly remember that a graphic image can there be.
Please remember that utilizing an alt attribute for each image is needed to meet the minimum WAI requirements, which are used as the benchmark for accessibility laws in UK and also the rest of Europe. Also, they are required to meet "Section 508" accessibility requirements in america.

It is important to categorize non-text content into three levels:

Eye-Candy
Mood-Setting
Content and Function

I. Eye-Candy

Eye-Candy are things that serve no purpose apart from to make a site visually appealing/attractive and (oftentimes) satisfy the marketing departments. There isn't any content value (though there might be value to a sighted user).

Never alt-ify eye-candy unless there's something there that will boost the usability of the site for somebody using a non-visual user agent. Use a null alt attribute or background images in CSS for eye-candy.

II. Mood-Setting

This is the middle layer of graphics which might actually set the atmosphere or set happens so to speak. These graphics aren't direct content and could not be considered essential, but they are important in that they help frame what is going on.

Attempt to alt-ify the second group as makes sense and it is relevant. There might be instances when doing this might be annoying or detrimental with other users. Then try to avoid it.

For example; Alt text that's identical to adjacent text is unnecessary, as well as an irritant to screen reader users. I recommend alt="" or background CSS images in such instances. But sometimes, it's important to understand this content inside for those users.

Usually this will depend on context. Exactly the same image inside a different context may require drastically different alt text. Obviously, content ought to always be fully available. How you use this case is a judgment call.

III. Content and Function

This is when the look is the actual content. Always alt-ify content and functional images. Title and long description attributes can also be in order.
The reason many authors can't figure out why their alt text isn't working is that they don't know why the pictures are there. You have to figured out precisely what function an image serves. Consider what it is about the image that's important to the page's intended audience.

Every graphic has a reason for standing on that page: since it either enhances the theme/ mood/ atmosphere or it is critical to what the page is attempting to explain. Knowing what the look is for makes alt text easier to write. And exercise writing them definitely helps.
A way to look into the usefulness of alternative text would be to imagine reading the page over the telephone to someone. An amount you say when encountering a particular image to make the page understandable to the listener?

Besides the alt attribute you have a couple more tools available for images.
First, in level of descriptiveness title is in between alt and longdesc. It adds useful information and may add flavor. The title attribute is optionally rendered through the user agent. Remember they are invisible and never shown as a "tooltip" when focus is received through the keyboard. (A lot for device independence). So make use of the title attribute only for advisory information.
Second, the longdesc attribute points to the Link to a complete description of the image. When the information contained in a picture is important towards the concept of the page (i.e. some important content would be lost if the image was removed), a longer description than the "alt" attribute can reasonably display ought to be used. It may provide for rich, expressive documentation of the visual image.

It ought to be used when alt and title are insufficient to embody the visual qualities of the image. As Clark [1] states, "A longdesc is really a long description of the image...The goal is by using any period of description necessary to impart the details of the graphic.

It wouldn't be remiss to hope that the long description conjures a picture - the image - within the mind's eye, an analogy that holds true even for that totally blind."

Even though alt attribute is mandatory for web accessibility as well as for valid (X)HTML, not every images need alternative text, long descriptions, or titles.

Oftentimes, you're best just choosing your gut instinct -- if it's not necessary to incorporate it, and if you don't possess a strong urge to do it, don't add that longdesc.

However, if it's necessary for the whole page to work, then you have to add the alt text (or title or longdesc).

What's necessary and what's not depends a lot on the function of the image and its context about the page.

The same image may need alt text (or title or longdesc) in one spot, although not in another. If an image provides simply no content or functional information alt="" or background CSS images may be appropriate to use. However, if the image provides content or adds functional information an alt will be required and maybe even a long description will be in order. Oftentimes this kind of thing is really a judgement call.

Image Seo optimization Tips

Listed below are key stages in optimizing images:

Select a logical file name that reinforces the keywords. You should use hyphens within the file name to isolate the keyword, but avoid to exceeding two hyphens. Avoid using underscores as a word separator, such as "brilliant-diamonds.jpg";

Label the file extension. For example, when the image search engine sees a ".jpg" (JPEG) file extension, it's likely to assume that the file is really a photo, and when it sees a ".gif" (GIF) file extension, it's likely to assume that it is graphic;

Ensure that the written text at the image that is highly relevant to that image.
Again, do not lose an excellent chance to help your website with your images in search engines. Use these steps to rank better on all the engines and drive increased traffic for your site TODAY.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Search Engine Optimization

Manufacturers of retails goods need to leverage their Facebook presences to manage product recalls more cost effectively.

Some companies like Johnson & Johnson are starting so see the damage product recalls are costing in the modern age of fast information sharing — the company estimates over $900 million in lost sales and related expenditures last year. The brand is just one example are one of many companies that have undergone recalls in the last year and are still working to regain customers’ trust.

Cautionary tale

Kraft experienced a big debacle last year of moldy kids’ juices — and the problem is still continuing — so the creation of a Facebook tab to help manage the issues started out as very proactive. Alas, the tab moved to the very back of the page within days.

Moms were upset and consumers visiting the Facebook page for moldy juice information (many times referred there by a friend) thought the the tab appeared was missing rather than moved. Kraft learned the hard way that moms and other concerned parties wound up going elsewhere for information. They Googled the issue and stumbled across any pages mentioning it — including the brand-damaging image shown to the right.

Then other moms who were upset looked for information on Facebook and found groups like “I wont buy CAPRI sun till it comes in a clear juice package!!” Such groups had only a couple hundred members and no centralized, authoritative source of information, but instead had lots of unverified information further fueling hatred of the company. Perhaps Kraft should have created a page just for recalls or even just the juice recall, and that would have preserved the brand’s integrity on the site.

Three questions

Here are three important questions for product managers to think about amid recalls:

In case the anecdote above hasn’t sold you on why a product recall is best managed on Facebook, below are three reasons.

Facebook is free

Besides a staff or the intelligence behind outbound communications, social media in general is free. Companies have brand pages that were no cost to setup. Tabs are free to setup. Interested consumers generally like products they use. Put together is a stage and microphone, what is your corporation saying? Read 44% of Fortune 50 Brands Show Facebook Icons.

Leverage your fans

If fans and consumers are going to spread seemingly harmful information to keep their friends safe, companies should be the initiator of the dialogue. There could be encouragement to share recall information or even incentives like discounts. Some companies even have Facebook commerce pages for shopping, support for recalls and exchanges could be easily integrated.

Communicate with customers

While silence tends to be seen as the best policy in a real-time updated world, silence immediately is seen as guilt and even worse so, the holding back of information from consumers. Quick updates, even if on Facebook pages is a way to engage and even remind fans as to why they are following you. Even if the news is the most positive to share, consumers would be reminded why they choose to connect themselves with you.

Consumers understand mistakes happen and are happy to get involved. Facebook offers many ways to share information with others and track how conversations travel — that provides one of the best ways to manage a recall.

Ellie Cachette is the Founder of ConsumerBell.

Manufacturers of retails goods need to leverage their Facebook presences to manage product recalls more cost effectively.

Cautionary tale

Three questions

Here are three important questions for product managers to think about amid recalls:

In case the anecdote above hasn’t sold you on why a product recall is best managed on Facebook, below are three reasons.

Facebook is free

Leverage your fans

Communicate with customers

Ellie Cachette is the Founder of ConsumerBell.

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Thursday, April 14, 2011

Bench Craft Company on the art of cheap

Charlie Sheen’s use of technology and web 2.0 has earned him big dollars and a ‘winning’ formula for his own personal brand.

The Two And A Half Men star has greatly benefited from his own ability to embrace the internet, exploring all the marketing tools available to him. From breaking a twitter record, to hosting his own internet show on Ustream, the actor has done what few in Hollywood have ever achieved. Parody videos created by fans and websites dedicated to his one-liners are giving the actor non-stop free promotion and this in turn has created an audience of marketers for Charlie Sheen.

His infamous ABC interview gave birth to many of the viral video spoofs we have seen of his ‘radical’ behavior, which in turn, has fueled his twitter fan growth, and other media interview requests. With so many people discussing and sharing his antics, his own brand of controversy has been implanted onto the web, and has helped him sell tickets for his tour dates.

On top of that, Sheen’s regular updates with his fans on twitter provide a direct relationship and route to market. Sure that sounds a little cold, but he does have a following he can reach out to about his products.

Looking at what he did this week, Sheen took the next step in his own web fueled marketing campaign by making a self-parody video. This clever twist gave yet another viral hit to his name, as bloggers and social media re-posted and discussed how outrageous it was to see him spoof himself.

With many dates left on Charlie Sheen’s tour, the actor has a non-stop ‘Bi-Winning’ 24/7 marketing campaign, and other celebrities in the entertainment industry should learn from his online success.

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Sources: Phil Jackson, Los Angeles Lakers fined $75,000 each

Lakers coach Phil Jackson has been fined $75,000 for making unauthorized comments about collective bargaining, sources said Thursday.

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ABC News Exclusive: Pat Tillman's Mom Wants General Stanley ...

ABC News' Jake Tapper reports: President Obama named retired General Stanley McChrystal to co-chair a White House commission on military families this week, but according to perhaps the most prominent military family of the last decade, ...

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Wii 2 to be revealed at E3 – report News - Wii - Page 1 ...

Read our Wii news of Wii 2 to be revealed at E3 – report.

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Video calls were a mainstay of classic sci-fi films, and even today there’s something almost magical about seeing your friends and family on the screen of a portable device. Video calling has been around for some time, but it’s only really in the past year or so that its got more attention among regular users. That’s thanks in no small part to Apple and FaceTime, as found on the iPhone 4, iPad 2 and other gadgets from the company’s range. Read on as we give FaceTime the full SlashGear 101 treatment!

So Apple invented video calling, right?

No, not at all, though they did do a lot to make it easier to use – just as long as you have the right hardware. Video calling is actually a part of the 3G standard, which – if the carrier and whatever phone you’re using supports it, which isn’t the case in the US – has been available since around 2003. Unfortunately a combination of high pricing, poor understanding by users, mediocre quality and patchy reliability meant this form of video calling has never really taken off.

Apple’s FaceTime takes advantage of the company’s tight control over the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and MacBook software, which has allowed it to polish the video calling experience to the point where everyday use is possible. Now FaceTime is available to anybody at the touch of an on-screen button.

Do I need an Apple phone to use FaceTime?

Not necessarily a phone, but definitely something with the Apple logo. FaceTime was first supported on the iPhone 4, which was Apple’s first mobile device with a front-facing camera (i.e. one that looks at the user, rather than out the back of the handset). The latest iPod touch and iPad 2 both have front-facing cameras and FaceTime support as well, and Apple has released a FaceTime app for its Mac and MacBook computers so they can join in the fun as well. FaceTime comes free on the mobile devices and the very latest Macs, and is a $0.99 download from the Mac App Store for earlier Mac owners.

Okay, so how do I use it?

It’s pretty simple, just as Apple was aiming for. On the iPhone you make a voice call in the normal way and then tap the FaceTime button on-screen to switch to video. On the iPod touch and iPad 2, you start a video call in the FaceTime app. You’ll need an Apple account in order to make and receive calls, since that’s used as the “phone number” for devices other than the iPhone 4.

Currently, FaceTime video calls can only be made when you have a WiFi connection, not when you’re using the mobile network for data. That’s a limitation Apple has put in place itself, though the company has said it is working on removing it in the future.

I’m not into Apple, can I video call with something else?

You certainly can, though the process gets a bit trickier. Various apps are available for Android and other mobile phone platforms which promise video calls, sometimes over not only WiFi but the 3G mobile networks too. That means you can make video calls when away from your home network or a WiFi hotspot, as long as your signal is strong enough.

Skype, Fring and Qik are all among the companies offering video calling apps, though their effectiveness often varies on a phone-by-phone basis. Not all phones have front-facing cameras, either, though they’re becoming more common on the latest handsets. A future SlashGear 1010 feature will look at the best video calling apps if FaceTime isn’t your thing.

Apple has said it plans to open up FaceTime to other manufacturers, so that non-Apple phones can make and receive calls too, but so far there’s no sign of that actually happening.

More information at Apple’s FaceTime page.

So Apple invented video calling, right?

Do I need an Apple phone to use FaceTime?

Okay, so how do I use it?

I’m not into Apple, can I video call with something else?

Apple has said it plans to open up FaceTime to other manufacturers, so that non-Apple phones can make and receive calls too, but so far there’s no sign of that actually happening.

More information at Apple’s FaceTime page.

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It’s not such a wonderful time to be a doctor, patient, hospital, health plan or pharma company, but judging by the quality and quantity of entries received for this edition of the HWR, it’s a wonderful time to be a wonk.

A couple weeks ago CMS released draft rules for Accountable Care Organizations. Several bloggers weighed in on that development:

Mark McClellan and Elliott Fisher at Health Affairs provide some historical context and argue that “those who care deeply about health care reform all have a common interest in the success of ACOs as a way of avoiding more classic fee-for-service payment cuts to providers.”

On a more downbeat note, The Road to Health concludes, “Dr. Berwick and his colleagues at CMS appear to have taken the ACO concept and made it into a financial program that only delusional practice administrators, or physician organizations bent on financial self-destruction, could love.”

The Healthcare IT Guy expects ACOs to be “far more lucrative and disruptive than Meaningful Use and likely to yield more patient quality improvements.”

GE Healthcare puts the emphasis on ACO change management challenges: “Healthcare executives and management teams are left to focus on preparing their organizations for a cultural shift of seismic proportions.”

HealthBlawg reviews the proposed rules and produces 8 takeaways. #2: “This is the Frankenstein regulation: A Medicare beneficiary must sit on the board of the ACO, CMS must approve all marketing materials before they are used.”

In the midst of the battle over funding the 2011 budget, House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan came out with a plan to radically restructure Medicare and Medicaid starting in 2012:

The Apothecary likes much of what he sees and thinks the proposal may force Democrats to devise a credible plan of their own

John C. Goodman’s Health Policy Blog contrasts PPACA and the Ryan plan. “Obviously, the path we are on leads to an impossible place. So the only question is whether we are going to get off the current path in a planned, orderly way or whether we are going to let unplanned chaos do the trick.”

Wright on Health is less impressed and wonders, “if Rep. Ryan is so adamant about reducing the deficit, why is he cutting taxes for the wealthy and cutting programs for the poor and the elderly?”

Managed Care Matters is decidedly unswayed. “If you were looking for real solutions to the health cost problem, you’re going to be sorely disappointed… Unfortunately, he’s fallen into the same trap his Democratic colleagues did with their version of health reform – the Ryan plan does little to address costs.”

The Incidental Economist takes issue with Ryan’s plan to convert Medicaid to block grants and cut spending. “Should Medicaid be cut back, more people will be uninsured. Contrary to what some wish you to believe, those who become uninsured will suffer worse health outcomes”

As if the ACO rules and Ryan plan weren’t enough, there’s more on Medicare in the blogosphere:

The Covert Rationing Blog –always good for a lighthearted pick me up– “asserts that we are one giant step closer to the day when it will become illegal for all Americans to spend their own money on their own healthcare.”

Dr. Liberty discusses CMS’s deliberations on whether to pay for Provenge, a pricey prostate drug. “Decisions are made on the basis of politics, and the drive is to cover everything, leading to higher costs.”

Amid all the federal policy blogging, there’s still some room for technology talk:

Healthcare Talent Transformation has had it with Health Net’s repeated goof up’s leading to loss of confidential data. Although it may seem like there’s not much the average person can do, the blog argues, “You can make an impact on the security of your sensitive data by conducting due diligence when it comes to your insurance provider.”

The Healthcare Blog offers a video collage of the new Kaiser Permanente Center for Total Health. “The Center is a pretty fascinating place–part tech and idea showcase and part meeting room. Certainly no other health care organization that I’m aware of has spent so much on a place designed to stimulate the imagination and enhance conversation–under the nose of the folks on Capitol Hill.”

Meaningful HIT News features a podcast with mHealth Initiative’s Peter Waegemann, who’s shifted over from EMRs to ride the mobile wave

Healthcare Economist delves into new papers that, “examined how to develop accurate algorithms to account for cancer stage in studies using claims data.”

It was encouraging to receive a couple submissions about journalism:

Disease Care Management Blog asks, “Is the kerfuffle over National Public Radio (NPR) the long delayed comeuppance for liberal bias run amok, or a narrow-minded attack on the inconvenient truths from journalistic excellence?” The blog reaches into the world of medicine and discusses of “framing” and its impact on patient decision making to provide an answer

HealthNews ReviewBlog cites, “daily evidence of the need for improvement in health care journalism – especially when we see examples like hype of a tiny, preliminary study of strawberries for esophageal cancer.”

We always have room in the Health Wonk Review for some posts on medical ethics:

Nuts for Healthcare looks at the pharma industry and concludes, “Doctors need to take a more definitive stand against the specter of industry influence. A good target? Industry sponsorship of continuing medical education.”

Health Care Renewal is concerned that so-called government run programs are more private than we think. “The majority of Medicaid has been out-sourced to private health care insurance companies… We need to have some real discussions about the rise of corporatism in US health care, in other aspects of US society and around the world.”

And finally, a few odds and ends

Workers’ Comp Insider provides resources for employers concerned about radiation exposure

Colorado Health Insurance Insider chronicles the decline of bipartisanship in the creation of a health insurance exchange for that state. “Healthcare reform has become such a polarized topic that it’s difficult for lawmakers to have any stance other than for it or against it. Even though the health insurance exchanges would be marketplaces that sell private health insurance, the word ‘exchange’ has been thrown around so much during the reform debates that many opponents of the PPACA see it as synonymous with ‘ObamaCare.’”

Last week I went to a health care direct to consumer marketing conference to see former TimeWarner CEO Jerry Levin interviewed by OrganizedWisdom CEO Steve Krein. I also shared my thoughts in the video clip below

Thanks for reading the Health Wonk Review! The Incidental Economist hosts the next edition.

If the players win the fans lose. I see it as if the players win, the price continues to climb out of control, making ever seeing a game life at the stadium impossible to justify with the economy the way it is. Although I don't believe the owners care about lowering prices to allow the medium income family, but at least the need to raise prices isn't there. Direct TV has climbed to over $300 to watch your favorite teams. So, why they argue about the 9 billion we give them a year, we have to set back and wait to see how there going to pay for all this by emptying our pockets, while we thank them for agreeing on the terms.

Read more at the San Francisco Examiner: http://www.sfexaminer.com/sports/nfl/2011/03/theres-nothing-normal-about-these-nfl-labor-talks#ixzz1JWifUR00
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Daily Kos: Fox News ties suicide to Obama speech

But with the other option being to talk about the Republican plan to abolish Medicare, apparently politicizing this young man's death looked a whole lot better to Fox News. Pathetic. (h/t Balloon Juice) ...

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Google News Blog: New Google News for Opera Mini

While the Google News team has been hard at work redesigning our service for smartphones, we've also been thinking about our milllions of users around the world who access the web not from a smartphone, but from a feature phone, ...

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Thursday, April 21, 2011

Cautionary tale

Three questions

Facebook is free

Leverage your fans

Communicate with customers

Cautionary tale

Three questions

Facebook is free

Leverage your fans

Communicate with customers

Thursday, April 14, 2011

So Apple invented video calling, right?

Do I need an Apple phone to use FaceTime?

Okay, so how do I use it?

I’m not into Apple, can I video call with something else?

So Apple invented video calling, right?

Do I need an Apple phone to use FaceTime?

Okay, so how do I use it?

I’m not into Apple, can I video call with something else?