The Menlo Briefs from Menlo Innovations. Visit us online at MenloInnovations.com.

Ride the Wave - Today the iPhone is being released amongst much ooooo-ing and aaaaah-ing, but is it really The Next Big Thing? Not if you believe this article by Paul Farhi. According to his article innovation comes in 30-cycles and right now we just aren't in one of those "radical waves." He believes the iPhone is great but shouldn't be confused with revolutionary technology because all of the basic technologies that the iPhone incorporates were invented before 1975.

No Thing Left Behind - Each year approximately 3,000-5,000 sponges are left inside surgical patients. This causes severe complications, including sepsis, unnecessary X-rays, need for repeat surgeries, and even death. Until now there there hasn't been an effective means of ensuring that all sponges have been removed, short of nurses hand counting hundreds of soiled sponges. All that may soon change now that the FDA has cleared the world's first RFID sponge counting system. The ClearCount SmartSponge system allows nurses to simultaneously count and differentiate between different types of sponges using RFID tags. ClearCount expects to have the new sponges available commercially by the end of the year.

Robots Help Build Relationships - A team of researchers at the University of Hertfordshire have developed a number of robots and humanoids that can help autistic children cope and form relationships. The €3.22 million project is investigating the use of robotic toys to enable children with disabilities to develop social skills by encouraging children with disabilities to discover a range of play skills, from solitary to social and cooperative play and provide opportunities for other children and carergivers/teachers or parents to “join” in.

Wanna Look at Some Dirty Pictures? - Artist Scott Wade sees the world a little differently than everyone else around him. Living on a mile and a half of dirt road, it didn't take long for Scott to turn dirty cars into dirty car art! Now we're not talking about your plain ole "WASH ME" graffiti or run of the mill smiley face here, his gallery includes the Mona Lisa, Albert Einstein, landscapes, seascapes... Check it out!

We're Passionate About What We Do - "Good communication should be as stimulating as a strong cup of coffee and just as hard to sleep after." (Ann Morrow Lindberg said that and we agree!) Menlo is filled with passionate, enthusiastic people who only love one thing more than the work they do: sharing that passion with others. We love public speaking and are thrilled to have the opportunity to share inspiring messages focused on business success. Look here for our current speaking engagements and a list of some topics that we've spoken about in the past. Call us today at (734)665-1847 to book your next event.

Ooh! Bendy! - The race for thinner displays for TVs, cell phones, and other gadgets may have just taken a leap forward. Sony has developed a film-thin display capable of displaying video while bending like paper. "In the future, it could get wrapped around a lamppost or a person's wrist, even worn as clothing," said Sony spokesman Chisato Kitsukawa. "Perhaps it can be put up like wallpaper."

It's Addicting, But is it an Addiction? - While occasional use of video games is harmless and may even help with some disorders like autism, doctors say in extreme cases it can interfere with day-to-day necessities like working, showering or even eating. Still this month experts opposed creating a "video game addiction" designation. They said more study is needed before excessive use of video and online games -- a problem that affects about 10 percent of players -- could be considered a mental illness.

Life in the Funny Papers - A friend of mine has a quote in the signature of her e-mails that always strikes a bittersweet chord with me: Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, 'Where have I gone wrong?' Then a voice says to me, 'This is going to take more than one night.' Charles Schulz wasn't talking about the IT Industry when he wrote it, but he might as well have been. Nearly all companies have failed investments in software initiatives--many in the six and seven figure range! The good news is that the leading causes of these failures can be avoided by applying Menlo's High-Tech Anthropology^® practice. Join us for the next FREE 90-minute presentation on July 19th to learn how our approach creates the right software for the right application.

I Thought This Only Happened in Hollywood -Three Fircrest, WA families share a very scary problem: a stalker is remotely controlling their cell phones. In an ordeal that almost defies belief, these families receive death threats and phone calls that would chill the heart of most any Hollywood writer. The police have had no luck trying to catch the perpetrators. Meanwhile the family has resorted to taping over the cameras on their phones and removing the batteries when not in use to stop the calls.

A Step Forward for Amputees - A new robotic devices that mimics the human ankle could give amputees more natural, energy-efficient gaits. The Active Ankle-Foot Prosthesis has sensors, springs and a motor that work together to mimic how the human ankle stores and releases energy as a person walks. Typically an amputee expends 20 to 30 percent more metabolic energy as compared to able-bodied folks. With this new device an amputee could walk with 20 percent less metabolic energy than conventional prostheses. They are expected to start commercializing their foot-ankle system next year.

Come See It For Yourself! - Come take a FREE tour of Menlo Innovations and witness technical innovation and business collaboration right before your eyes! All tours depart exclusively from our location in Historic Kerrytown® in Ann Arbor, Michigan. New tour dates have just been added! Join us JULY 18th at noon or AUGUST 30th at 5:00 p.m. Click the bright red ticket to register today!

Thank Goodness Someone is Fighting Them Off! - Imagine my morning surprise when I saw the headline: FBI to fight Zombie hordes. Eep! Okay, we're not talking about the undead but rather computers that have been compromised (by opening an attachment on an e-mail message containing a virus or by visiting a booby-trapped webpage) and are unknowingly being used to send SPAM. The FBI has been trying to tackle networks of zombie computers as part of an initiative it has dubbed "Operation Bot Roast." This operation recently passed a significant milestone as it racked up more than one million individually identifiable computers known to be part of one bot net or another.