The Menlo Briefs

That's One Heckuva Band Aid! - UK startup Toumaz Technology is bringing band-aids into the 21st century with a new technology that can remotely monitor patients. The solution involves a custom mini-chip designed to relay data from sensors such as electrocardiogram, a three-axis accelerometer, blood glucose, ph-level and blood pressure monitors. The chip will be in production this summer. [more]

Paging Dr. Wii - Who says playing video games rots your brains? According to a very small, very preliminary study, it turns out that certain games on the Wii help medical residents improve their fine motor skills, which in turn affects their performance on a surgery simulator. [more]

Ten Cool Jobs You Didn't Know You Wanted - What's in the perfect job? Money matters, but it isn't the only measure of an awe-inspiring career. Creative opportunities, healthy interaction, a good challenge from time to time, and other intangible rewards all count, too. Check out this list of ten jobs you didn't even know you wanted. (Just between you and me, we always knew that Interaction Design was cool!) [more]

Brain in a Box - Debbie Gomez-Trost has multiple sclerosis, a progressive disease of the nervous system that disrupts communication between the brain and body. It reached a point where even walking became a buden when she developed "foot drop," a condition where she could no longer flex her ankle to walk normally. Then in the summer 2006, Gomez-Trost received a glimmer of hope in the form of a new device called the WalkAide that helps with footdrop. [more]

Netflix is Jammin' -

Jammin' postal equipment, that is. According to a new audit, the edges of Netflix envelopes jam mail-sorting equipment, costing the Postal Service $41.9 million in the last two years for manual processing. The Inspector General contends that 70 percent of Netflix's envelopes are handled manually because a "floppy leading edge" on the red mailers tends to jam equipment during automated processing. [more]

The Human Google - Imagine remembering everything about your life. Would it be a boon or a curse? Well ask Wisconsin resident Brad Williams. His extensive memory allows him to recall almost any news event and anything he has experienced, including specific dates and even the weather. [more]

Oops! You Didn't Need That, Did You? - In a flub of monumental proportions, Charter Communications officials believe a software error during routine maintenance caused the company to irrevocably delete the contents of 14,000 customer e-mail accounts. [more]

~~Eureka!~~ Hold On, I've Almost Got It... - A New York Times article spells out what most of us probably already knew: real innovation takes lots of time and hard work to come to fruition. The article looks at the origins of new ideas, and attempts to dispel the myth that 'Eureka' moments create change. [more]

Weep No More - Genetically modified fruits and vegetables are a source of great debate, but here's an idea I can easily get behind: tearless onions. By "silencing" the gene responsible for the chemical reaction that causes tears, Dr. Colin Eady says his research team has been unable to induce tearing by crushing their model tearless onions. "By shutting down the lachrymatory factor synthase gene, we have stopped valuable sulphur compounds being converted to the tearing agent, and instead made them available for redirection into compounds, some of which are known for their flavour and health properties." You said a mouthful, doc. [more]

Life in the Looking Glass - Sometimes when I look at our industry I start feeling like Alice when she fell through the looking glass. Nearly all companies have failed investments in software initiatives -- many in the six and seven figure range -- and yet they insist on acting as if nothing's wrong! Curiouser and curiouser, indeed! 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 February 21st to learn how our approach creates the right software for the right application.

We Named This One "Chippy" - Professor Jonathan Dordick has created a chip that may soon replace rats and other animals in testing labs around the world. The chip looks like a standard microscope slide, but it holds hundreds of tiny white dots loaded with human cell cultures and enzymes. It's designed to mimic human reactions to potentially toxic chemical compounds, which could negate the need for many laboratory animals. [more]

Necessity is the ~~Mother~~ Daughter of Invention - In Nigeria a 5-year-old girl took it upon herself to troubleshoot and repair the broken XOs (i.e. the One Laptop Per Child laptops) of her classmates. A teacher encouraged her, and the class subsequently set up a "Laptop Hospital," where the kids learn to repair their own hardware. [more]