Tag: Analysis

INSPIRATIONAL: “health”, “health care”, “health care insurance”, or something else

Published on by reinkefjLeave a comment

http://www.impactlab.net/2014/05/24/3-predictions-by-vinod-khosla-for-the-future-of-health/

May 24th, 2014 at 8:25 am
3 predictions by Vinod Khosla for the future of health

*** begin quote ***

According to a newly released report, he predicts:

1. 80 percent of what doctors do, diagnostics, will be replaced by machines

2. Medicine will become tailor-made for each patient

3. Consumer-driven tech will create better incentives to keep people healthy

*** end quote ***

Amazing predictions.

But the economic engineer will have to drastically change.

Will people be “smart” enough to manage their own health?

Not coming out of Gooferment Skrules!

They can’t balance a checkbook or other simple tasks.

But they are good test takers.

Argh!

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INSPIRATIONAL: Google’s self-driving car

Published on by reinkefjLeave a comment

http://www.impactlab.net/2013/11/28/burkhard-bilger-on-googles-self-driving-car/

November 28th, 2013 at 9:28 am
Burkhard Bilger on Google’s self-driving car

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The reality was so close that he could envision each step: The first cars coming to market in five to ten years. Their numbers few at first—strange beasts on a new continent—relying on sensors to get the lay of the land, mapping territory street by street. Then spreading, multiplying, sharing maps and road conditions, accident alerts and traffic updates; moving in packs, drafting off one another to save fuel, dropping off passengers and picking them up, just as Brin had imagined. For once it didn’t seem like a fantasy. “If you look at my track record, I usually do something for two years and then I want to leave,” Levandowski said. “I’m a first-mile kind of guy—the guy who rushes the beach at Normandy, then lets other people fortify it. But I want to see this through. What we’ve done so far is cool; it’s scientifically interesting; but it hasn’t changed people’s lives.”

*** end quote ***

A long read but well worth the time.

Maybe in my lifetime?

It would be nice to be driven!

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INTERESTING: Pilotless passenger planes?

Published on by reinkefjLeave a comment

http://www.impactlab.net/2013/05/11/pilotless-passenger-planes-ready-for-takeoff/?utm_source=feedly

May 11th, 2013 at 9:30 am
Pilotless passenger planes ready for takeoff
in: Alternative Transportation,Analysis,Robots,Science & Technology News

*** begin quote ***

While everyone seems confident that the technical challenges of such visions can be overcome, there is perhaps one more significant hurdle to overcome – persuading the general public that a plane without a pilot is safe.

On that point, Professor Cummings says the data is increasingly in favour of unmanned systems. “About three years ago UAVs became safer than general aviation, meaning that more general aviation planes are crashing than UAVs, per 100,000 flight hours,” she says. “So UAVs are actually safer than a weekend pilot, flying a small plane.”

That may not be a huge surprise. But what is perhaps more telling is that last year UAVs became safer than highly trained military fighters and bombers. “I knew that was coming, and it’s one of the reasons I jumped into this field and left commercial piloting and military piloting behind,” says Prof Cummings

Yet data may not be enough, she acknowledges. “The reason that you like a pilot in the plane is because ultimately he or she shares the same fate that you do,” she says. “So if the plane is about to go down, you feel better knowing that there is a human in the front seat doing everything that they can to save their own life.”

*** end quote ***

Not for me thanks. Let’s have driverless cars for a while to get a future generation ready for these.

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INTERESTING: Libraries will morph

Published on by reinkefjLeave a comment

http://www.impactlab.net/2013/04/03/top-5-innovations-that-show-libraries-dont-have-to-disappear/

April 3rd, 2013 at 11:22 am
Top 5 innovations that show libraries don’t have to disappear
in: Analysis,People Making a Difference,Science & Technology News

Bookless library

Despite the meaning of the name, library (derived from liber, which is literally a Latin word for “tree bark”), libraries insist that they are actually a hotbed of innovation. And surprisingly they are, to some extent, it’s true. 

Yes, the “browsing” that libraries are constructed around is completely antithetical to how information is browsed on the Internet. But the existential threat posed by the web has driven libraries public and private to rethink how they can provide people with access not simply to dead trees, but to “information.” Here are five of the most interesting examples:

1. The Bookless Library

A judge in Bexar County, Texas made waves when he announced his intention to build a library without any books at all. That’s somewhat of an overstatement; there will be no paperbacks and no hardbacks, but BiblioTech will have a surplus of e-readers, making the text itself accessible to anyone with a library card.

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INTERESTING: 80% of doctors are expendable

Published on by reinkefj1 Comment

http://www.impactlab.net/2012/09/11/technology-will-replace-80-of-doctors-vinod-khosla/

September 11th, 2012 at 1:15 pm
Technology will replace 80% of doctors: Vinod Khosla

*** begin quote ***

Health care must be more data driven and about wellness, not sick care.

Eighty percent of doctors could be replaced by machines.

Khosla assured the audience that being part of the health care system was a burden and disadvantage. To disrupt health care, entrepreneurs do not need to be part of the system or status quo. He cited the example of CEO Jack Dorsey of Square (a wireless payment system allowing anyone to accept credit cards rather than setup a more costly corporate account with Visa / MasterCard) who reflected in a Wired magazine article that the ability to disrupt the electronic payment system which had stymied others for years was because of the 250 employees at Square, only 5 ever worked in that industry.

hosla believed that patients would be better off getting diagnosed by a machine than by doctors. Creating such a system was a simple problem to solve. Google’s development of a driverless smart car was “two orders of magnitude more complex” than providing the right diagnosis. A good machine learning system not only would be cheaper, more accurate and objective, but also effectively replace 80 percent of doctors simply by being better than the average doctor. To do so, the level of machine expertise would need to be in the 80th percentile of doctors’ expertise.

*** and ***

Can we do better in being more reliable, consistent, and creating a system process and design that is comparable to highly reliable organizations and industries? Of course. Can we be more systematic and doing the right things every patient every time on areas where the science is known to level of the molecule? Yes. Care must be incredibly simple to access, extremely convenient and intensely personal.

*** end quote *** 

Well, I am not a fan of America’s current “health care” system. Unless you’re trying to change it to the “socialized medicine” system found in the UK, Canada, and Europe.

I want improvement; not a retro grade or down grade to something worse.

And, of course, I think to the way to that is with less Gooferment and more liberty freedom.

After watching Deep Blue play Jeopardy, it’s seems possible. Doctor House could be a less smelly less crazy diagnostician. I’d have  gladly liked my wife’s case presented to Doctor Deep Blue. It couldn’t have had a worse outcome. 

Then look at all the regulation and costs imposed by that regulation.

The FDA, Medicare / Medicaid, Doctor licensing, Nurse Licensing, Pharmacist Licensing, Pharmacy regulation, Hospital regulation, Insurance regulation, State regulation, Federal regulation, financial regulation, tax code manipulation, Medical education regulation, anti-trust legislation that allows the AMA a monopoly, …  

Did I miss any?

Sigh!

How do we get out of this mess?

Let people make mistakes. Shade tree mechanics. Turn it over to WalMart.

Medicine should be patient driven.

Look at pet care. Competitive. “Cheap”. Easily found. No forms. No real regulation.

Imagine if a Nurse could have her own “practice”. Finding sick people and getting them to the doctor or hospital. Physician’s assistants would be an extension of the system. Everyone says early detection is crucial to good outcomes. Everyone says that rapid care is essential to good outcomes. Everyone says that over use of the ER is driving up costs and wait times. 

Yada, yada, yada …

It could be so much better.

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TECHNOLOGY: Solve those traffic jams … please!

Published on by reinkefjLeave a comment

http://www.impactlab.net/2012/06/04/32-technological-innovations-that-will-change-your-tomorrow/

June 4th, 2012 at 3:20 pm
32 technological innovations that will change your tomorrow

*** begin quote ***

6. The Congestion Killer

Traffic jams can form out of the simplest things. One driver gets too close to another and has to brake, as does the driver behind, as does the driver behind him — pretty soon, the first driver has sent a stop-and-go shock wave down the highway. One driving-simulator study found that nearly half the time one vehicle passed another, the lead vehicle had a faster average speed. All this leads to highway turbulence, which is why many traffic modelers see adaptive cruise control (A.C.C.) — which automatically maintains a set distance behind a car and the vehicle in front of it — as the key to congestion relief. Simulations have found that if some 20 percent of vehicles on a highway were equipped with advanced A.C.C., certain jams could be avoided simply through harmonizing speeds and smoothing driver reactions. One study shows that even a highway that is running at peak capacity has only 4.5 percent of its surface area occupied. More sophisticated adaptive cruse control systems could presumably fit more cars on the road.

When a quarter of the vehicles on a simulated highway had A.C.C., cumulative travel time dropped by 37.5 percent.
In another simulation, giving at least a quarter of the cars A.C.C. cut traffic delays by up to 20 percent.
By 2017, an estimated 6.9 million cars each year will come with A.C.C.

*** end quote ***

INSPIRATIONAL: A dozen differences

Published on by reinkefjLeave a comment

http://www.impactlab.net/2012/01/23/top-12-things-successful-people-do-differently-than-the-rest-of-us/

January 23rd, 2012 at 11:40 amTop 12 things successful people do differently than the rest of us
in: Analysis, Business, People Making a Difference

*** begin quote ***

Over the years I’ve studied the lives of numerous successful people. I’ve read their books, watched their interviews, researched them online, etc. And I’ve learned that most of them were not born into success; they simply did, and continue to do, things that help them realize their full potential. Here are twelve things they do differently that the rest of us can easily emulate.

1. They create and pursue S.M.A.R.T. goals. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely.

2. They take decisive and immediate action.

3. They focus on being productive, not being busy.

4. They make logical, informed decisions.

5. They avoid the trap of trying to make things perfect.

6. They work outside of their comfort zone.

7. They keep things simple.

8. They focus on making small, continuous improvements.

9. They measure and track their progress.

10. They maintain a positive outlook as they learn from their mistakes.

11. They spend time with the right people.

12. They maintain balance in their life.

*** end quote ***

This blows me away. Wish I could be like that. Should print it and put it on my bathroom wall. Right next to the affirmation: “I’m thin at heart.”

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