I'm on a bit of a translation kick these days as I am trying to learn Spanish.  I recently discovered Google chat bots (additional languages) that will auto-translate in Google Chat.  These are out of Google Code Labs.  Almost all of the options are pairs of English and non-English languages.  French-German and Traditional Chinese-Chinese are also supported.

By inviting these bots to a group chat (add them to your contacts first), they listen for a particular language and automatically translate it into another language.  Invite the Spanish-English bot to your chat and everything said in Spanish will be translated into English.  Invite the English-Spanish bot as well and you could have a conversation between English-only and Spanish-only speakers.

Does it work?  The translations are correct most of the time, but the bots get a little buggy,  The bot that is supposed to be translating into your language will often repeat your sentences, altering word order or translating sections.  Also, the chat always lists an extra participant.  In my case 5 participants, when there were only 4 (2 people + 2 bots).  Given this is a free service (a Google 20% project), these are small details.

Overall, the translate bots are useful if you want to have a conversation with someone with whom you don't share fluency in a common language.

Thanks to #PublicHealthNinja Baltica Cabieses for helping test the bots.

Yesterday I received an email from #publichealthninja Camilo Erazo with a social media toolkit for a health and poverty conference taking place in Chile.  Not yet speaking Spanish (I'm working on it), I couldn't follow the program.  The hashtag #saludypobreza was in Spanish as well.

Chrome usually picks up on foreign language content and offers to translate it.  The results from the twitter search for #saludypobreza however were interpreted as English, since I was coming from the US search page.

I found two (now three) solutions using Chrome.

Solution 1:

Install the Google Translate extension.

Go to the Twitter search page for  saludypobreza and press the translate button.

Solution 2:

Or add a translate button for a specific language.

Go to the Twitter search page for saludypobreza and press the translate button.

Solution 3:

As I was writing this I thought of another solution. Go directly to the Twitter search page adding the Spanish language argument.

Thanks to #publichealthninja Cisco Grajales for asking if I had blogged this.  Great idea.  Done.

Do you know of other solutions or apps that translate Twitter feeds for following hashtags or events?

If you're a user of both OSX and Microsoft Outlook 2011 (all 0.0001% of us), you've probably run into the problem of your emails, calendar events, etc. spamming your Finder search results.  You're not alone. This is one of those "It's not a bug.  It's a feature" things.

Problem:

OSX indexes everything in your user folder.  We need all of our Outlook items indexed because Outlook uses the OSX index for searching our email, calendar, etc.  However, Microsoft has placed the Microsoft User Data (I'll call it MUD) folder in Documents.  This by itself is not a bad thing.  It makes it easier to backup Outlook with Time Machine, etc.  We just don't need these items returned when we search for documents, etc.

Searches in Finder generally search everything, including system files.  Spotlight excludes system folders, searching only Desktop, Document, Downloads, Movies, Music, and Pictures, and Public.  

Solution:

This solution came from Office 2011 users responding to Microsoft changing the location of the MUD folder in Office 2011 from its previous location in the Library folder.  The reason we want too move MUD to its original home in Library is because Library is now a hidden folder.  By default, Finder does not display results from hidden folders.  Placing the MUD folder in Library prevents Finder from showing results from that folder while still allowing Outlook to search it.

Step 1 - Follow these instructions [edit: link fixed] from a Yahoo! Answers question about moving the Microsoft User Data folder.

Optional Steps:

These two steps set up convenient default searches with Finder.

Step 2 - In Finder, Preferences, General, New Finder window shows, select <your username> from the drop down selector.

Step 3 - In Finder, Preferences, Advanced, When performing a search, select Search the Current Folder from the drop down selector.

Next time you open a new Finder folder, you'll be ready to do a search all of the locations where you might have files.  The Outlook files will be hidden and Outlook will still be able to search my mail, calendar, etc.

If you are one of the 0.00001% of users who have this problem, did it work for you?  Other solutions?

I really don't need any more reasons to love San Francisco and the Peninsula.  But San Francisco International Airport (SFO) has an attraction few airport share: a museum... several in fact.  SFO Museum curates outstanding exhibits.  The museum spaces are located in the various terminals of SFO.  

The current exhibit in the North Connector Gallery (United - Terminal 3) Television: TV in the Antenna Age walks you through the inception of television (the opiate of the masses, the cathode ray nipple) to the beginning of the cable age.  Skip the moving walkways, get a litle exercise after that 5-hour flight from the East Coast, and enjoy an outstanding exhibit.

Channel surfing in the pre-remote control days was actually preparing our thumbs for gaming.

Ukuleles from the Golden Age of television.

These must have been the TV's Daft Punk had growing up.

M*A*S*H defined a generation.  Glad I was there for this one.

So hot, 70's style!

If you're old enough to remember be up so early on Saturday mornings for cartoons that even the networks weren't awake, this is what you saw - TV test patterns.

This was also what inspired the parachute I flew when I was a skydiving videographer.  Ironically, I purchased from a videographer before I ever started flying video.

Is it just me, or does this old school TV antenna look like Katamari Damashi?

If you're ever at SFO, plan a little extra time to enjoy an outstanding museum experience.

What other airports have unexpected cool attractions?

$14 trillion is a lot of money.  It's a little difficult to comprehend, unless you’ve studied economics or have seen really fancy infographics. 

If the debt is of mythical proportions, it stands to reason that the best way to fight it is with money earning potential of mythical proportions: internet work-at-home scams.

Scott Johnson recently tweeted (joking, of course) about a particularly shady work-at-home scam – a review from a “consumer review” site.  Shady within shady – kind of like being two levels deep in Inception.

Susan, the woman in the “review” (there really should be HTML tags for sarcasm), claimed to be making $6,000 - $7,000 dollars per month working only 10-13 hours per week.  That’s massive earning potential.  How soon we could pay of the national debt if every resident of the United States participated?

Before you say we can’t include infants, let me point out this scam is for online trading, at which we all know babies are quite adept.

Here’s how it would work.

If Susan makes $6,000 - $7,000 per month working 10 - 13 hours per week, that works out to $141.30 per hour.  At that rate the 311 million residents of the United States have a combined earning potential of about $44 billion per hour ($43,945,652,173.91 to be exact).  If we all worked one hour a week, assuming we cut into our Facebook and Lolcats time, as opposed to work, we could earn around $2.3 trillion per year.

It would still take us 6 years to pay off the debt.

$14 trillion is a lot of money.

(to the tune of My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua Hawai`i - Bill Cogswell, Tommy Harrison & Johnny Noble - Copyright 1933, 1961 Miller Music Corp)

Performance at HealthCamp San Diego 2011

Vamp G7 C7 F x2
F
Won't you please give me my data back
G7
After all it belongs to me
C7
It came from my body
F
When you turned my viral load / into a code
A7
I know you're here to help me
D7
And you've got my best interests at heart
G7
but maybe things could go better, if
C7
someone on the / team knew more a/bout me than the / chart
F
It wouldn't be the first time that a patient
G7
Helped to find their cure
C7
People with terminal conditions
B A7
Are quick studies... believe me
D7
I'm called a patient 'cause I am the one here on the table. If our G7
roles were reversed, would you be able
F
To not have access to your own data
G7
After all it belongs to you
C7
Wouldn't you want to be a part
F
of what's happening inside your body
C7
What we're really asking for
F C7 F
is our dignity

(to the tune of My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua Hawai`i - Bill Cogswell, Tommy Harrison & Johnny Noble - Copyright 1933, 1961 Miller Music Corp)

Performance at HealthCamp San Diego 2011

Vamp G7 C7 F x2
F
Won't you please give me my data back
G7
After all it belongs to me
C7
It came from my body
F
When you turned my viral load / into a code
A7
I know you're here to help me
D7
And you've got my best interests at heart
G7
but maybe things could go better, if
C7
someone on the / team knew more a/bout me than the / chart
F
It wouldn't be the first time that a patient
G7
Helped to find their cure
C7
People with terminal conditions
B A7
Are quick studies... believe me
D7
I'm called a patient 'cause I am the one here on the table. If our G7
roles were reversed, would you be able
F
To not have access to your own data
G7
After all it belongs to you
C7
Wouldn't you want to be a part
F
of what's happening inside your body
C7
What we're really asking for
F C7 F
is our dignity

Last Saturday, the Health 2.0 Developer Challenge code-a-thon took place at Georgetown University.

I should state up front that I didn't go to code, participate in any particular project, or to specifically push data related to my work.  My goals were to observe, learn about how government health data can and is being used by individuals and groups looking for innovative solutions to health challenges, promote awareness of open data to which I am connected, and of course, network.  It's not uncommon for me to attend an unconference or similar event and not actually attend any sessions.  I find the hallway meetings to be extremely beneficial.  Events such as this are often when discussions occur which simply wouldn't happen if they had to be organized with the Scheduling Assistant in Outlook.

So now that I have somewhat disqualified myself, here are my impressions of the event.

The words that seem to sum up the event are "exciting mix."  First you have people like me, who spent more time in hallway meetings than in the planned event.  Second, in addition to open development time, there were pre-planned speakers on relevant topics, such as CMS.

There were pre-planned projects as well as those organized that morning.  HHS CTO Todd Park referred to the health sciences researchers in attendance as "free agents," adding his belief that the winning team with be one who engaged them.  After the morning speakers, there was a "free agent" list posted outside the main meeting room door, next to the list of teams and their topics.

Logistically, the event went smoothly.  The internet connection was fast and consistent (it is a major university  after all).  Coffee and other drinks were always available.  There wasn't actually a "lunch time."  After the food arrived, everyone ate at their own pace.  Facilities were excellent (again, it's Georgetown University).  There were a number of classrooms and workspaces available.  Smaller private areas were available, of which I made very productive use.

Two areas in which I see the opportunity to expand the event's impact are virtual participation and digital footprint.  It would have been helpful (even for on-site participants) to have a wiki where information was collected about the teams, their projects, and progress.  At an event focusing on open data, this adds transparency and accountability to the process.  Perhaps there could have been an event reporter who function was to collect this information from the teams and post it on the wiki, freeing the teams, who were already working at a frenzied pace, from this responsibility.

This next comment is not really directed at the Health 2.0 Developer Challenge.  It's the question I always ask.  Where were the communities?  Where were the representatives of the persons and communities for whom these innovative solutions were being created?  There was no lack of experts at the event: physicians, researchers, developers, etc.  These are individuals who know their "customers" well.  There is, however, no substitute for having real citizens, patients, and caregivers participate in the development process.  Also, community health providers would have been a great addition.  They should be "baked in" to these processes.  Bringing communities in and giving them ownership of the process is key to success and positive impact.

I'm sure we'll be hearing more about MAYA and BlueMeter, the first as second place teams.  My personal favorite wasn't the fanciest app and didn't make the data do the craziest trick.  It was Nexercise, an iPhone app that quizzes users on data drawn from health indicators.  Correct answers unlocked discounts from retailers, such as athletic wear or dining.  The team of two (yes, only two!) built a working prototype and demonstrated it.  Watching their presentation, I knew they weren't going to win.  It was too simple compared to the other complex ideas being presented, some of which were presented more as a proof-of-concept, than a vetted system.  The organizers came over to this team after the winners were announced and expressed their admiration for their accomplishment.  This is where I think we need to be a little more DC and a little less VC.  Or at least more like a VC who sees the benefit in funding a small project that accomplishes a single task well.

My final question is the same I ask at every code-a-thon.  How many of these projects and apps will launch, or have a positive impact through other processes?  Apps don't have to launch a start-up to be successful.  After all, the group of developers from the Great American Hack-a-thon who built a Facebook game from Pillbox's data, decided to not launch.  They did however, post all of their code (including wrappers in multiple languages and a Facebook pill ID app) on github.

The end goal isn't apps, it's solutions to challenges that create a positive impact.  That isn't a destination, so much as a direction in which we are all blazing exciting trails, learning and sharing together - researchers, public health agencies, developers, advocates, citizens, and everyone in between.

[2/15/11 edit: information for Nexrcise added]

I was talking with Erin Holve at the Health 2.0 Developer Challenge code-a-thon today about the difficulties in processing the vast amounts of information available in the public health space required to enable effective decision-making.  We pull from data sets such as Data.gov and very soon, HealthData.gov.  Much of the data that forms the foundation of our understanding derives from research. 

At one point Erin said, “researchers are the stewards of evidence.”  My initial reaction was, didn’t she mean “stewards of data?”.  Researchers generate data.  They test hypotheses, run experiments, and collect data.  Then it hit me.  Even when testing hypotheses, research attempts to measure some aspect of reality within a system.  These systems exist, function, and affect our lives regardless of whether or not they are measured or evaluated.  This is not data generated in a vacuum, but rather evidence of reality.

The groups creating applications at the Health2Challenge code-a-thon take the research data public health agencies publish as a measure of reality.  That data is only as good as the methods used to collect, codify, and communicate it.  The responsibility is immense.  I took Erin’s use of the word “steward” to highlight the responsibility inherent in the fact that researchers and by proxy, public health agencies, are not so much publishing data, as they are observing and sharing those observations with the world.  They are presenting the “evidence” of reality.

As “stewards of evidence” researchers are connected to a translational process where their work exists not in a vacuum, but as part of a continuum.  Their work empowers developers and public health agencies to build applications that then empower communities and individuals to solve the challenges they face.  To those who who use our applications, the “evidence” with which they are presented is accepted much the same as we accept research-based health data.

Many of the participants in the Health2Challenge code-a-thon, as well as public health agencies, are creating applications and systems that will solve specific health challenges by “observing” connections in health data.  The tools we are creating will process massive and diverse types of data, identify critical connections, and present communities and individuals with a picture from which they will draw conclusions.  These conclusions will affect policy as well as personal choice.  The tools we create will shape perception and beliefs.

Are we creating tools that accurately reflect connections in the underlying data?

Are we stewards of evidence?

Could airlines add a safe coughing/sneezing demonstration to the pre-flight safety briefing?

On the flight on which I wrote this, the woman directly behind me began coughing as the plane left the gate.  Not a light, clearing one's throat kind of cough. It was a hacking, raking cough. Then, a passenger in the row in front of me coughed. I begin imagining air flow patterns, attempting to map the path of airborne viruses.  I was thinking of a polite way to ask the woman behind me to please cough into her elbow, when she stopped.  Perhaps I should still have asked.

The purpose of these briefings is to prepare passengers for emergencies. I would classify pandemic influenza as an emergency. I would even classify the ability of air travel to spread seasonal flu as a public health situation worthy of attention.  Pre-flight safety briefings are given in the hope that those actions need never be taken.  Safe coughing/sneezing education, however, would target a situation that likely occurs on every flight.

CDC provides guidance to airline flight crews.  The subject of in-flight transmission of influenza has been discussed in the British Medical Journal.

Very few passengers seem to pay attention to the safety briefings these days.  Perhaps changing things up would rekindle our interest.

I recall a CDC presentation on H1N1 pevention information dissemination, retention, and compliance that stated individuals need to hear a message from 5 separate sources for the message to be ingrained.  He is a short list of potential channels for coughing safety messages.

1 - Verbal pre-flight safety briefing.
2 - Demonstration by flight attendants
3 - Instruction stickers on seatback tray tables
4 - Similar illustrations in inflight magazines and shopping catalogs
5 - PSAs during inflight video entertainment
6 - Instruction slides on monitors that display flight/boarding information at airport gates
7 - PSA signs at airports

A single multicultural design depicting safe coughing/sneezing instructions could be used for numbers 3-7. This, as well as video PSAs, would be an outstanding opportunity for a contest or challenge, organized by airlines, airports, or even public health agencies.  CDC already has a set called Cover Your Cough, although a contest or challenge would have the added benefits of increasing public awareness of this issue and empowering citizens as part of the solution.

I understand that the content of pre-flight briefings is mandated by the FAA. Altering that content, as I suggest in numbers 1 and 2, would be a massive endeavor.

While we're working our way through that process, there's no reason airlines and airports couldn't voluntarily implement numbers 3-7.

I'd love feedback on how we might further develop this idea and present it to those in a position to implement it.