2011 Year List of Links

Here's a list of year end links from my Twitter, Google Reader and Google + feeds that I have been compiling over the past several weeks.

Apps/Games
Macworld's 2011 App Gems Awards http://t.co/rGl3t0tb
Macworld's 2011 App Gems Top games http://t.co/EXb2cgYa
Macworld's 2011 App Gems Top reading apps http://t.co/GJswRUOK
Macworld's 2011 App Gems Top productivity apps http://t.co/Ixz1XGIH
Macworld's 2011 App Gems Hall of fame apps http://t.co/Ruqu6qSf
Macworld's 2011 App Gems Top communication apps http://t.co/U8H3CdTR
Macworld's 2011 App Gems Top photography apps http://t.co/IOk0o253
Macworld's 2011 App Gems Top music apps http://t.co/bqYthx7y
Macworld's 2011 App Gems Top news apps http://t.co/YGHPwEg6
What The Tech 97: Best of 2011 http://t.co/X5acaplb
The 15 Best New Android Apps Of 2011 http://read.bi/uunXsB
Australia's top iPhone apps for 2011  http://bit.ly/rqFKD4
Top 10 iPhone medical apps for 2011 - http://bit.ly/rZPh95
What Are The Most Innovative Mac Apps Of 2011? http://t.co/zJwHSDy7
The Top 20 iPhone and iPad Games Of 2011 - http://bit.ly/txHqO0
The 9 Most Disappointing Games of 2011 - http://bit.ly/sGoc2g
Top 10 Best Social Apps of 2011 http://t.co/VUMSZnFM
The 10 Best Android Games of 2011 http://t.co/VjFt8vKx
Best multiplayer game for 2011 http://t.co/OdLZcBwv

Business/Finance
Barron's: Here Are The Top 10 Stocks For 2012 http://t.co/mEnBiqUJ
12 Big Stories That Will Dominate 2012 http://t.co/zQrp3EkB
10 Coolest Startups of 2011 - http://bit.ly/vVFcCF
Top 10 Financial News Topics Of 2011 - http://onforb.es/uSVe9a
The 10 Craziest Kickstarter Projects of 2011 - http://t.co/FEjKeJl6
Ten Manufacturing Predictions for 2012 by #IDC http://t.co/7HEfK2gV
Biggest Solar Venture Capital Deals of 2011: . http://t.co/Hx7wIwDY
12 Of The Best Products Of 2011 http://t.co/08OJJCCY
mashable: 6 Important Startup Trends that Defined 2011 - http://t.co/JYYtiVcT
GuyKawasaki: Worst CEOs of the year http://t.co/MBYYFSeE
FortuneMagazine: 11 craziest market days of 2011: http://t.co/HveJspU7

Entertainment
The best films of 2011: Philip French's choice http://t.co/EDzjpKiE
Buzzfeed's Top Trending Stories of 2011 http://t.co/mXS8wLco
Newsweek/Daily Beast Writers’ Favorite Books 2011 Fun! My picks pp 6-7 http://t.co/gww9uRWm
Best and Worst Celebrity Technology Moments of 2011. http://t.co/UuHUPtrS
The Guide's best games of 2011 http://t.co/Skd15jlq
Trending Now: 10 Best Kid Videos Of 2011 http://t.co/ceZJ7KLw
Fact & fiction in 2011's sci-fi movies http://t.co/87qCMLTn
Craziest YouTube explainers of 2011 http://t.co/h4UWV8DU
Top 10 Most Pirated TV-Shows of 2011 http://t.co/6LiTFL5e
Best 20 films of the year by @ebertchicago, I've seen less than half! Gotta catch up.http://t.co/t7UKdfWD
Wired's Top 100 Songs of 2011 - http://spoti.fi/vDneTD
2011’s Top Ten Pirated TV Shows http://t.co/I0B14Ynd
Top 15 RecordSetter records from 2011 (videos) http://t.co/HTiBGE9P
Rob Sheffield's 10 Best Albums of 2011: http://t.co/rmLe6tEQ
Here Are YouTube's Most-Watched Commercials Of 2011 http://t.co/mHvRRXY4
Top 5 Most Watched Film Trailers of 2011 http://t.co/pzvF1A9I
United State of Pop 2011 [video] http://t.co/g5ozJ5ME
 mashup of 2011's 25 hottest songs.  - http://t.co/eHdEeyUd

Health
5 Mobile Health trends for 2012: http://t.co/tLMinVMg
WSJHealth: Healing Reads: The Year's Five Best Books http://t.co/Ai6NHgWG
The Most Popular Health Topics of 2011 http://t.co/JfGfGPdn
Presenting the top 10 fitness stories of 2011. http://t.co/5bwAx44H
Top 10 health IT trends of 2011: http://t.co/FkArdQXH
Top 10 trends in healthcare data privacy and security | #GovHIT http://t.co/K1ueJqlD
Big Stories of 2011 in #HealthIT http://t.co/nWZkQJF4
The top fitness stories of 2011. http://t.co/5bwAx44H
The 20 most interesting and/or ridiculous moments in running this year, via RW Daily:http://t.co/i3Ep3XWq


Leadership
Best of thoughtLEADERS 2011: The Awesomest Posts Ever http://t.co/upZbUsfP
Top Leadership Blog Posts - http://bit.ly/s3zzha
The Top 50 Personal Development Blogs of 2011 - http://bit.ly/rGF4Gt


Miscellaneous
Top 40 Protest Signs of the Year http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-40-best-protest-signs-of-2011
Most Popular DIY Projects of 2011 - http://lifehac.kr/rGYDs9
Top 10 of Everything from Time - http://ti.me/tEipHn
GuyKawasaki: Top 25 weirdest stories of 2011 http://t.co/TYsyqqc8
The top 10 brand disasters of 2011—lessons learned: http://t.co/1bt7d1UA
The top 10 best and worst communicators of 2011 http://t.co/tivWFkNG
The 10 Most Innovative Viral Video Ads of 2011 - http://t.co/N7EJ6Ap1
The most disliked cars of 2011 - http://bit.ly/tW2oDf
Most Popular Repurposing Tricks of 2011 - http://lifehac.kr/vFWTrX
National Geographic's 'Photos of 2011' - http://t.co/lYFOnWnB
Unexplained mysteries of 2011 and into 2012 http://t.co/JpJcoXfU
The most influential non-celebrity users of Twitter by @rhodri http://ind.pn/uHVlNm
The Top 15 RecordSetter World Records of 2011 - http://recordsetter.com/bestof2011
The top 10 #adventure stories of 2011: http://t.co/L7h8QYY7
The top 11 scientific twists from 2011 http://t.co/TaeKgxXf
Our Top Ten Photo Books of 2011 http://t.co/uGEu1OkP
The top 10 science stories of 2011: http://t.co/ya1WmN3H
The 8 craziest lawsuits of 2011 http://t.co/1whWSyNS
The Top 10 Adventure Stories of 2011 http://t.co/Hq5bRbAe
The 4 biggest scientific breakthroughs of 2011 http://t.co/piOJzufa
Drudge_Report: 2011 'shattered records' with 12 weather and climate disasters... http://t.co/doJKrJNw
outsidemagazine: The Top 10 Travel Stories of 2011 http://t.co/gAMBt8cy
The best Photography blog posts of 2011":http://t.co/OvGXDTLW
The 7 most newsworthy dogs of 2011 http://t.co/fWJ8BD0K
AJEnglish: In our top 10, the Arab Awakening is comprised of multiple uprisings. http://t.co/sP9F9ItD
GuyKawasaki: 10 standout nerds of 2011 http://t.co/AaSx3jlQ
The Top 5 Of Everything In 2011: A Retrospective On Year In Sports - http://t.co/gB8etaUT

Social Media
2011 will be remembered as a year of incremental upgrades in various social media marketing platforms - http://t.co/S1prkU4Q
30 Brilliant Social Media Marketing Tips from 2011 http://t.co/vlcbT5Q1
The 20 most useful social media tools of 2011: Part three http://t.co/iFkxzBy7
Top 29 Social Media Career Moves of 2011- http://bit.ly/vqpBzt
19 Huge Social Media Moments of 2011 - http://on.mash.to/sonYOd
The worst social media blunders of 2011 and what you can learn from them #theworsthttp://t.co/lZhsm4jC
Twitter had a huge 2011. @veenabisram takes you through 15 major milestones -http://t.co/mjEUDblC
The 13 most powerful tweets of 2011 http://t.co/o8jFtPhN


Technology
Check out the top news stories that shaped the year - http://t.co/ZoYLbOWb
The 90 Best Twitter Accounts Of 2011http://t.co/ZqbK8AYI
5 Biggest Surprises of 2011 http://rww.to/vGcjTI
Top 5 Internet Devices of 2011 - http://rww.to/vdvBo0
15 Top Quotes of 2011 - http://bit.ly/rP4LS4
Tech Stories of 2011 - http://bit.ly/u3JFFW
8 Big Trends That Shaped the Mobile Phone Industry in 2011 http://t.co/ZoTUWx8a
Top Ed-Tech Trends of 2011: The Higher Education Bubble - http://bit.ly/sf6oSQ
25 top network and IT industry news stories of 2011 - http://bit.ly/urcn5y
Walt Mossberg's best gadget picks (video) http://t.co/ohf2L0cI
MSCIONet: IT Outsourcing Year in Review, Rating Our 2011 Predictions http://t.co/IHzctubo
Google - Zeitgeist 2011: Year In Review - http://bit.ly/u8mVmu
GigaOM - 2011 video recap: The year mobile took over the world - http://bit.ly/rN7VnB
CIO's Top Ten Stories of 2011- http://bit.ly/vvLzjV
Most Popular Hive Fives of 2011: 2011 was a great year to get your feedba... http://t.co/H8x6DWbb
10 biggest gadgets of 2011 http://t.co/fIO8sCcb
10 Coolest Notebooks of 2011 - http://bit.ly/sIQGKk
The 20 Most Expensive Domain Names Of 2011 by @shontelaylay http://t.co/WdeBWbKy
10 Funniest GIF Trends of 2011 - http://t.co/82jsfUBJ
Top 10 Feed & RSS Technologies of 2011 http://t.co/bL9wfEjU
 PC Mag's Top 100 Websites of 2011 - http://t.co/np5aY0Pj
The Biggest Web Outages of 2011 http://t.co/UG8rCvYv
10 Biggest ERP Software Failures of 2011 | PCWorld Business Center - http://bit.ly/rPuVX8
Top security incidents of 2011 http://t.co/DYmjDVOi
2011 Car Tech Awards: And the winner is... http://t.co/43b96Wt7
Google's top 10 fastest rising searches in 2011 http://t.co/BFIYCmCg
15 cool energy projects of 2011 http://t.co/P2ceqNT4
What did we learn from the tech biz in 2011? http://cnet.co/szCk85
The Top 25 iPhone and Android App Publishers in 2011 - http://bit.ly/uQGksM
The 9 Oddest Job Interview Questions Asked at Tech Companies in 2011 - http://t.co/LPS5wAou
PCMAG's 10 most popular tablets of 2011 (#1 is NOT the iPad) http://t.co/nAnzaiox
The Most ‘Liked’ Search & Social Posts Of 2011 by @elisabethos http://t.co/QXzGCxdh
Google's top 10 fastest rising searches in 2011 http://t.co/UPGiqCBd
Biggest Tech Disappointments of the Year http://t.co/BD5Xhfy6
The Best of the Lifehacker Show: In 2011, Lifehacker took to video ... http://t.co/9ofgjFkr
TheNextWeb: Tech: Best of 2011 http://t.co/ze2qh2G2
StumbleUpon’s Most Popular Searches and Links of 2011 - http://t.co/ivRgyKTV
10 Telecom Predictions for 2012: http://t.co/1akU8aHZ
MSFTenterprise: 2011's Top IT Stories http://t.co/jYnxpLDK
TheNextWeb: 2011: The 5 Top Memes http://t.co/xoerKH0H
FastCompany: 14 Of The Year's Best Ideas In Interface Design http://t.co/PfkEs5Ng
MSFTenterprise: Top CIO strategy videos of 2011 http://t.co/Hg6Vdld8
ForbesTech: The Best Book of 2011: Why Science Emerged in the West http://t.co/2Npv5pye
ForbesTech: 2011's Five 'Dumbest' Tech Companies: http://t.co/iWednW2X

Favorite Links for 12/23/2011

Sorry for the delay in publishing this week's links but I was caught in the hustle and bustle of the holidays yesterday.

• 95 Questions to Help You Find Meaning and Happiness http://t.co/8FWEJ7JH
• @garyvee: my never seen @cnn interview http://t.co/dKEfsg98
• Smartphone Addiction - How To Get Rid Of It? http://t.co/C1S9edVm
• WSJHealth: Healing Reads: The Year's Five Best Books http://t.co/Ai6NHgWG
• NFL To Stream Super Bowl XLVI To iPhone And iPad http://t.co/ovIQQ2iA
• @garyvee: Sharing is caring -> http://t.co/z5FbTEOx
• @garyvee: Social sites have made the world small -  http://t.co/F3CprKrm
• @garyvee: Stop doing shit you hate for a living -> http://t.co/JHUSGPMd
• @garyvee: can we make a deal in 2012? Lets cheer Making money MORE THAN raising it? http://t.co/p0swfrrH

Next Friday's links will be the best of list that have showed up in my Twitter and Google+.

Favorite Links for 12/16/2011

There were quite a few good links to pass along for this week.

• 13 way to use iMovie in the classroom http://t.co/AlyKGQcp
• Five Easy Ways To Tell If An Organization Is Really Values-Driven - http://t.co/g5pKZbCC
• Five Styles of Gen X Leaders: Which One Are You? - http://t.co/qyeneu9f
• Some times IT, in their effort to control everything, stifles use of tech. - http://t.co/SFQxztaG
• @garyvee: if u watch this you will not to sleep -> http://t.co/wPaJDFrk
• 9 Steps to a Daily Blogging Schedule http://t.co/ekQQo1xp
• Some the Best Wealth Building Books ever written http://t.co/lSDEPYD6
• Stop-motion animation comes to your iPad 2 with Smoovie: http://t.co/wcXNniTE7 Successful Leadership Practices of Today's Top Hospital CIOs: Therefore, CIOs need to work... http://t.co/1ezi6Dbo
• 5 ways to reduce security breaches in #healthcare http://t.co/ZF74JVcZ
• 23 Questions with Legendary Hacker @KevinMitnick on @Hak5: http://t.co/oTV2vCnk

Favorite Links 12/9/2012

Here's this week's favorite links that are from a wide variety of subjects.

• Leadership Reading List: 20 books you might not have read - but should: http://t.co/F6S827LN
• ECIOForum: My Top Six `Top Ten' 2012 prediction lists http://t.co/YOfUIXWY
• CIOsConnect: Citrix: Desktop virtualization makes good security sense http://t.co/DyyDNsla
• Google introduces Google Currents news app [video] http://t.co/4sEsMp5V
• TheLeaderLab: How Can Games Drive Employee Engagement? http://t.co/bsAGWodE

Quote of the week.

• The most successful people see an opportunity in every problem. via@LeadToday

My Favorite Links for 12/2/2011 - An Ode @EricDBrown

For a while now, I have been following Eric Brown via RSS and Twitter (@EricDBrown) for a while now.  One of the things I have always enjoyed from Eric is his weekly publication of links.  Based upon enjoying these links, I have decided to publish my weekly links not only to share but for me to track what I found interesting over time.  Most of these will links will be technical in subject but every once in a while there will be an odd-ball or running related link.

So here's the first week's links.

• A strong BYOD policy should be SOP http://goo.gl/fb/sf3Tp
• The President of CIO magazine shares his Top Ten Tech Predictions for 2012 http://bit.ly/rwtUud 
• iPads in the enterprise: CEO ego is driving adoption: iPads have taken over the boardroom, and corporate CEOs an...http://bit.ly/sLk0PS
• CIO says supporting iPhone and iPad led to 92% reduction in broken devices: After switching to support Apple mo...http://bit.ly/vGDN7k
• Google's latest research digs into how #tablets are used. Interesting takeaway: multitasking is huge http://tabtim.es/7i 

Odd - Ball of the Week

• Who new that "calc" was this powerful.  Get the most out of calculator - calculate fuel economy, lease payments, and mortgage payments http://bit.ly/uqktit

My Visit to Ball State's CICS Program

On November 12th I was invited to speak at Ball State's CICS Placement Seminar for it's graduate students.  The goal of this seminar is to prepare the students for their upcoming entrance into the IT work environment.  It was an honor to share the platform with the individuals listed below and I was amazed that all of our presentations intertwined although we had never talked beforehand.  My talk, titled "After CICS Begins Now", focused on making sure the students are taking time now to think about what they want to do after graduation.  I focused a portion of this presentation on building your career brand via social media.



Beau King of ATT presented on personal Salesmanship
Branden Bute of Ball State presented on Job Mining
Todd Hollowell & Amy Reid presented on Resume Building

Good luck to all the students upon their completion of CICS.

Beyond the EMR: Improving Patient Care - Microsoft Healthcare Briefing

Rich Nero - Healthcare Solutions Group presents Beyond the EMR with a focus on Amalga. Provided below are some high level notes from his presentation

To date, Microsoft has spent 1 Billion on Healthcare Solutions Group.

Microsoft's goal is to fill the gap to provide useful information that is stored in clinical systems and data warehouses, this gap is filled by Microsoft's Amalga solution.

Amalga's goal is to the streamline operations, coordinate care, and engage patients.

5 Areas where Microsoft believes Amalga can provide value:

• Improve Patient Safety & Quality
• Readmissions - solution is Readmission Manager
• Early Warning Score
• Revenue & Cost Optimization
• Compliance Tracking and Reporting
• Coordinating Care Across Providers
• Engaging Patients In Care
• Care Transitions
• Chronic Disease Management

Items in BOLD are their primary focus today and where Microsoft has use cases.

Essentially Amalga is a Business Intelligence solution that Healthcare focused.  Its advantage is that it is a platform versus a bunch of individual solutions.  The challenge they have is that some of their solutions are already built into clinical systems.

Why Enterprise's Should Stay with BlackBerry for Now

In a recent Forbes article, BlackBerry Owners Flock to iPhone 4s in Record Numbers, the author insinuates that this this is the beginning of the end for BlackBerry because of their recent service issues and unclear roadmap.  This may be the case for BlackBerry's consumer market but I challenge that there is a clear cut reason for companies to jump ship to the iPhone.  An enterprise that has a sizeable investment in BlackBerry should consider the following before swapping out their BlackBerry devices for the iphone.

• Primary use of smartphones in your company is still email, calendar, contacts and phones
• No industry or company specific applications that are only available on the iPhone
• Poor support model for iPhone replacement (requires going to the local Apple store)
• Cost of iPhone versus BlackBerry when procuring through major wireless vendors.  In most cases, a BlackBerry device can be procured for next to nothing while an iPhone4 is $99.
• Immaturity of management tools for the iPhone.  Yes, there are MDM solutions for the iPhone but very few of them are to the maturity of the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES).

The debate on whether enterprise companies should migrate away from BlackBerry will continue to get traction if the company doesn't find away to rectify its recent mis-steps.  However, for now I contend that the BlackBerry solution for the companies is a solid for those that already have the investment.

Why I decided to get Apple Certified

For years, I have absolutely despised technical certifications as I have worked with certified professionals that only excelled at reading books and failed in application of their knowledge.  Based upon this I put off working on my Apple certification for my current job.   However, this week I decided to change my mind and obtained my certification as an Apple Certified Associated - 10.7 Lion Integration.  I know this is just an entry level certification from Apple but it is the beginning to become an Apple Certified Technician.

Not to sound cliche after the passing of Steve Jobs, but after listening to his 2005 Stanford speech several times I got motivated to learn something new to move my career forward.  I am hoping this motivation will see me through the next certification level that I hoping to achieve by the end of the year.

Can Microsoft Windows Phone & Nokia Replace BlackBerry in Enterprise?

Introduction
Most of the tech industry is aware that RIM/BlackBerry is losing ground in the sales of smart phones and this includes corporate purchased ones, a sector that they have traditionally dominated.  With the mobile industry ever changing has initiated a lot of IT shop discussion on what the future holds for mobile phones within the corporate enterprise.

Could this be the future?
Recently, the VP of IS Infrastructure at a Midwest Healthcare System posed the scenario discussion below to several colleagues in order to solicit feedback on a project he did for his MBA class.

What would you do if you were in charge of all corporate cellular telephony decisions, and Microsoft came to us within the next year offering:

• Fully encrypted devices
• Device management using the same tools that manage your servers and desktops.
• Devices with more consumer appeal than RIM. (And a broader range of devices, now manufactured by HTC, ZTE and Nokia.)
• Per device license costs significantly lower than RIM.
• Excellent Exchange / Outlook integration.
• Better native cloud storage (whether public or private) integration than even Apple or Android.

The Opportunity is There

Strengths Nokia has wide adoption worldwide. Microsoft dominates Office productivity, corporate email. Microsoft has a strong position in console and PC gaming Microsoft has a portfolio of Internet applications that compete with Google (live, hotmail, bing, messenger)

Opportunities Apple and Google not yet dominant in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. RIM’s declining position in corporate environments.

However History is Against Them Weaknesses Microsoft does not have a strong track record of mobile device hardware development (e.g. Zune, xbox ring of death) Nokia software development has lagged peers.

Threats: North American market dominance and lead of established players Apple and Google. Asian device makers (i.e. ZTE, HTC) challenging Nokia with low-cost Android devices.

So What Strategy Should be Implemented for Microsoft & Nokia to be Successful?

• Challenge RIM in corporate environments via Exchange email and Office apps.
• Leverage Xbox Live gaming
• Embed Microsoft search, email, and messenger.
• Microsoft and Nokia partnership allows each firm to focus on areas of traditional strength, leverage an established partner for non-core competencies.
• Differentiate to avoid segmented competition within Android device maker space.
• Leverage Microsoft’s relationships with developers and development tools to jumpstart app market.
• Partnership provides with Microsoft with credible devices.

The Future will Require Businesses to Pick the least of all evils

The next 24 months will be an interesting time in the mobile phone industry to see if there becomes a clear leader, especially in the enterprise. It is difficult on a daily basis to determine who is more evil… Microsoft, Apple or Google.  It depends upon which poison tastes sweetest to you and what you value most (choice, markets, features, security, privacy, etc).  Most enterprise companies despise Microsoft’s monopolistic practices, but at least they treat companies as a traditional customer. In the case of Google, it seems that the consumer is their product. Yuck!!!  It is difficult to know what to think about Apple in the enterprise and most companies are trying hard to understand this as more of their products make there way into the environment.

Finally...
Maybe the commonality between Windows Phone 7 and Windows 8 will allow Microsoft to become the clear cut leader

Are Chromebooks a Right Fit for a Physician Office?

Introduction
For anyone involved in Healthcare IT they know there is always a need to find a mobile solution that is low cost and is secure.  This is even more evident as the new Healthcare reform becomes a requirement for physician practices.  So the question is whether a minimal device such as a Chromebook can be used in the physician practice. In today's EMR environment most of the vendors are either browser or Citrix based which is where this review will begin.

Background Chromebook

The Chromebook is the OEM version of the Chromium OS Open Source project which was initiated by Google.  From a user perspective, the Chromebook is strictly a browser based laptop that allows access to applications via the Chrome Web Store or ones that are truly browser based.  The Chromebooks are now available from Samsung and Acer.

Most Secure Browser
Earlier this year, the Chrome browser won Pwn2Own (a well known hacker contest) which caught the eye of a lot IT security analysts as the best new secure browser.  One of the kudos to the Chrome development staff is that are continually releasing security and performance updates.  In addition, the Chrome browser is becoming more and more compatible with applications that have been traditionally only usable by Internet Explorer.

Citrix Availability
In the Healthcare industry a lot of EMR and clinical applications have been provided to their users via Citrix for years now.  Recently, Citrix became available for user on the Chromebook which allows access to these applications whether they are hosted on a local or remote Citrix farm.  Unlike most traditional Citrix clients the one for the Chromebook requires that files be setup on the servers providing the access.

Zero Local Storage
One of the most attractive features of the Chromebook from a healthcare data security perspective is the lack of local data storage.  This is a big benefit to the IT support because it rules out the possibility of sensitive patient data being stolen if the laptop  is lost.  However, the downside is that it requires the physician to utilize cloud based services for email and office productivity tools.  One cost saving opportunities for not having local storage is the ability to eliminate encryption software on the laptops which is required in some states.

Relatively Low Cost Device
An OEM notebook can be purchased from $329 - $499 from the vendors mentioned above depending on whether you want a Wifi or 3g model.  Some may dispute the fact that is too much to pay for a laptop that only has a browser installed.  However, there are a lot of cases where EMR and/or consulting companies are convincing physicians need a standard laptop that at the cheapest is around $499 as well.  However, there are hidden costs with a full blown laptops such as licensing, security updates, and supporting staff.

Wrap Up
The Chromebook is a fairly new player in the laptop market and thus dont' have a large installs are not necessarily in place.  The take away should be that physicians should consider the best low cost and secure solutions for their practices as they look into deploying EMRs to meet the healthcare reform law.

Yet Another HP Tablet (TouchPad) is Not Ready for Healthcare

As the tablet wars continue and enterprises try to find an option to replace the iPad has led to the latest review of the HP TouchPad in the the healthcare setting.  The excitement surrounding TouchPad was based upon the OS features and the fact that it was being touted as business productivity tool.

External Hardware
Screen
The TouchPad supports 9.7 inch Diagonal LED Backlit multi-touch display with an XGA (1024 x 768).  While the responsiveness of the screen was better than its predecessor the Sltate, the TouchPad screen is inconsistent in its response to touch which makes for a frustrating experience.  The scrolling through screens was the one consistent item when interacting with the TouchPad.


Internal Hardware
Processor
The TouchPad comes with a 1.2Ghz Snapdragon dual core processor which should be more than enough horsepower for a tablet.  However, when using the tablet to do basic tasks (web surfing, email, twitter, etc) the TouchPad was slow to respond to requests.


Wireless/Cellular Connectivity
The TouchPad comes with a wireless NIC with integrated 802.11 a/b/g/n which should be well excepted by most network administrators as it allows them to better manage the devices access to enterprise resources.  The downside for connectivity is that the device does not come with a cellular card thus it is limiting to those individuals who are rode warriors where wireless isn't always available.


Operating System
The TouchPad is base upon the WebOS which has been revered as the one OS that is a true competitor to iOS.  The multitasking and gestures is by far the best feature of the TouchPad and operates flawlessly during testing.  The one surprising issue with WebOS is the crispness of the graphics of icons and applications.  It has to be assume that this is a short coming of the OS since the video hardware is as good as the original iPad but has a far worse graphical presentation.

Applications
One of the basic requirements for new challengers to the iPad is to ensure that there are enough applications available for the buyer.  The TouchPad is suffering the same fate as other tablet platforms in that there are not a lot of applications in general and very little for the Healthcare market.  What is surprising, is that one of the main mediums for accessing enterprise applications, no matter the industry, is Citrix and there is not a client available for the TouchPad although it was supposed to be available at launch.


Conclusion
While the TouchPad has some nice features and in most cases is better than some Android tablets, it is not ready to be a replacement for the iPad in the Healthcare environment.  

With OS X Lion: Apple Forgets to Consider Enterprise Customers

With OS X Lion:  Apple Forgets to Consider Enterprise Customers  

As was announced by Apple yesterday, Mac OS X Lion will only be available via the Mac App Store when it is released next month.  For enterprise customers, the change away from traditional media poses several challenges to be able to upgrade to the latest version of the operating system.  At first pass the following items will have to be addressed in order to upgrade to Lion:

Corporate iTunes Account

Picture provided by @Apple

Currently there are no means for non-educational institutions to establish a corporate iTunes account that allows for software purchases against credits.  Per the iTunes eula, the iTunes accounts is to be established for personal use.  Even if a company allows for a corporate credit card for iTune purchases this still has it challenges if they allow the staff to install personal items on their devices as iTunes does not allow for multiple accounts on a single device.

Mac App Store Doesn't Provide Download File
Based upon how the Mac App Store currently installs purchased applications there will be no means of downloading a traditional install file (*.dmg) that would allow Lion to be install on other workstations.

Next Steps
Hopefully between now and the release of Lion in July, Apple will take into consideration it's corporate customers and provide an additional means of purchasing Lion that will allow for easier upgrades.

Playbook Not Ready for Healthcare Enterprise Yet

At HIMSS this year I was able to test drive the BlackBerry Playbook and at the time thought it had the potential to be an alternative to the iPad.  The reason for this optimism was due to the form factor, display and multi-tasking while even knowing that the email was done via a bridge solution. 

This that optimism went away after reviewing the Playbook in an actual enterprise environment.  The lack of email was a show stopper as ATT currently is blocking the Bridge application. In addition, there is currently no Citrix client for the device either. When I inquired with a Citrix Rep there was apparent time frame for client to be released.

At this point in time, the Playbook is merely a consumer device that can't play in the enterprise.

A Step Away from Tech and a Step into a Kevin Eikenberry Coaching Session

A few weeks ago I was provided the opportunity to attend a Leadership Development series where Kevin Eikenberry was one of the speakers where he focused on coaching. Actually, Kevin was more of a facilitator of thought versus a traditional speaker. During this short session he was able to get the attendees to compile the following on coaching.

Coaching in 6 Words

• Teaching Others To Achieve Best Results
• Inspire Others to Exceed their abilities
• Empowering others to continually improve themselves
• Inspiring ongoing mutual development (individually/others)
• Challenge and guide toward collective goals
• Communicate, mentor, motivate to achieve greatness
• Bringing out the potential in others
• Motivate others to be their best

Great Coaches Are:

• Role model
• Encouraging
• Great listener
• Spiritual
• Trusting
• Demanding
• Celebration my successes
• Respected
• Energetic
• Reasonable
• Communicate
• Gives feedback
• Realistic
• Pushes the envelop
• Unconditional support
• Patient
• Loyal
• Develops other leaders
• Bold
• Decisive
• Wise
• Successful
• Asks questions
• Integrity
• Compassionate
• Insightful
• Visionary

In addition to the excellent content above on coaching, Kevin provide several memorable quotes which are listed below.

• Developing Others - One Competency of Remarkable Leaders
• Motivation is internal. We choose to make the decision.
• To be world class a coach does not mean you have to be the best at everything.
• People see their weaknesses most of the time versus focussing on their strengths as well. Build upon on your strengths while working on your weaknesses.
• Coach people you believe in. If you don't then you won't be successful.
• Make sure you provide specific positive and negative feedback.
• To be a good coach help others see their potential.

I have been following Kevin on Twitter  (@kevineikenberry) for several years and have always loved the content that he provides on leadership with his feed.  I was completely impressed at his ability to get the group to participate in this coaching session and highly recommend that everyone attend one Kevin's sessions is provided the opportunity.

Windows Phone 7 Not Ready for the Healthcare Enterprise

Recently, I was provided the opportunity to give a Samsung Windows Phone 7(WP7) a test drive. The phone itself felt great to hold and was easy to get setup for initial use. The WP7 user interface is as easy to use and intuitive as the iPhone. Once, I finished giving the consumer side of the phone a test it was time to put on my Healthcare IT hat to see if WP7 would work in the enterprise. For this review, the following areas were reviewed as they are the basic requirements for healthcare.

No Device Encryption
In the majority of cases, mobile healthcare devices are required to be encrypted in order to ensure protection of possible patient data on the device. WP7 lacks any sort of device level encryption and for that matter very few add-on tools to encrypt the phone. This lack of encryption also plagues Android devices but is being addressed by using tools like Good Technology (mailbox encryption client). However, at the time of this review there is no Good client for WP7.

No Citrix Support
Traditionally, a lot of healthcare enterprise applications are connected to via Citrix. Currently, the Receiver Client from Citrix is available for Android, BlackBerry and iOS devices but is not available for WP7. In doing some searching I was unable to determine if or when the Receiver client would be available for WP7.

No VPN Support
Although not required by all persons in healthcare there are instances where VPN is required for access to certain systems. Unlike the iPhone, WP7 does not have any native support or apps for VPN connectivity.

Lack of Enterprise Management
Until recently, there has been a absolutely no enterprise management tools to support WP7.  None of the major vendors that support iOS and Android today provide support for WP7.  The only enterprise support for WP7 is via Microsoft System Center 2012 which is still in beta.

Lack of Healthcare Apps
One of the major attractions of the iOS devices for physicians is the number of "medical" apps that are readily available for those devices.  In doing some some rudimentary searching of the WP7 marketplace it was immediately obvious that it lacked the number of medical apps that iPhone and now Android owners have come accustomed to.  In searching iTunes it was determined that there were over 2000 "medical" related apps as compared to less than 100 for WP7.  If there is more than 100 medical apps than it would be hard to determine that, as the searching in WP7 Marketplace returns results for more than just apps.

Summary
Although, WP7 is a very easy to use mobile platform there is still a long way for it to go before it is a viable alternative to Android and iOS.  For those that had an early iPhone, WP7 is essentially at that same point.  Microsoft has targeted the consumer sector with WP7 but have may forgotten it's business customers that pay millions each year for their software solutions.  Hopefully, with future updates for WP7, Microsoft will add the necessary functionality needed for an enterprise environment and provide a viable alternative to Android and iOS.

How much are Hospitals really using Social Media?

At HIMSS 2011, there was a big emphasis on social media in healthcare.  As an attendee to this conference I utilized the HIMSS social media presencse to stay in touch with daily events.  However, this began me thinking about how much hospitals are actually using social media and which of these tools are actually being used.  With this thought in mind I started collecting information based upon some common "Top Hospital" lists that are published on a yearly basis.

First off, I examined the list of the "Most Wired Hospitals" that was published by Health Forum for the year 2010 and was able to compile the following usage of social media tools.

Next, I reviewed the usage by the "Top Hospitals" as rated by LeapFrog for the year 2010 with the following results.

From these numbers it is obvious that social media tools are being used and especially by the "Top Hospitals" but how does this usage compare to the Top 100 Fortune Companies.  Per a survey conducted by SysComm the Top 100 Fortune Companies have the following usage of social media.

From a comparison perspective, the Top Hospitals are in alignment with the Top 100 Fortune companies when it comes to social media usage.  I suspect we will continue to see both hospitals and companies continue expand their use of social media tools as they figure out how it can help their respective business.

HP Slate Review for Healthcare Fails

Over the past several months, more and more operational areas of the hospital are inquiring about using a tablet/slate type device to help improve work flow for their respective areas.  As part of this inquiry, I have been reviewing devices other than the iPad to see if any of them stack up.  Recently, I was provided an HP Slate 500 to review for use within clinical and back office operations.  This device was initially intriguing as it comes with Windows 7 which would allow for the device to be managed under traditional corporate tools (i.e. SCOM, SCCM).  This intrigue faded very quickly as I began using the device and came to the following conclusions.

External Hardware
Screen
The Slate supports a 8.9" diagonal WSVGA wide-viewing angle touchscreen that allows for interaction with touch or via a stylus.  The responsiveness of the screen when using touch is very slow to respond and is not completely accurate on first touch. This makes for very poor experience when trying to navigate through various applications.

Internal Hardware
Processor
The Slate comes with a 1.8Ghz Atom processor which is completely undersized to support Windows 7.  In using this device for standard productivity tasks the processor gets completely overwhelmed and the performance noticeably suffers.

Memory
In addition to having an inadequate processor, the Slate only supports 2GB of memory.  For anyone, who has ever used Windows 7 should know that this enough memory in order to have an optimal performance experience.

Wireless
The wireless NIC comes with Integrated 802.11b/g/n which should be more than adequate in most situations.  However, after a review by a wireless network administrator, the lack of an "a" radio may be of issue in some Healthcare organizations as they try to balance devices across the different radios.

Absent from the Slate is any cellular wireless connectivity which is a major miss for those that are truly mobile such as outreach physicians.  Granted a USB cellular card could be used but who really wants to carry this with them when they are trying to minimize devices while on the road.

Other Hardware
Some of the nice features of the Slate is that it comes with the following other hardware that is desired by a lot of organizations that are looking at tablet devices:

• USB 2.0 port
• Integrated 3 MP camera which took adequate pictures for documentation purposes
• Integrated VGA web cam which worked well when doing a video conference  with the Cisco client

Software
Operating System
The Slate utilizes Windows 7 Tablet operating system and it's associated features.  Windows 7 tablet is fa fine OS when used on adequate hardware such as Fujitsu Lifebook.  However, it is not suited to run on hardware that is being used in most tablet devices today.

Other Reviews
Just to make sure that I wasn't giving the Slate a fair shake, I provided the device to a clinician and an inventory specialist to round with in order to garner their feedback.  In both instances, they contacted me to come back and pick up the Slate after less than hour of use.  Both of the testers indicated that the performance and responsiveness of the device was not acceptable.