It's no news that today's US healthcare industry is one of the most complex and dynamic business environments the world has ever known.  Most businesses struggle with the notion of competitive pricing... but those in healthcare face struggles that pale in comparison to pricing concerns most all other businesses face.   For example, healthcare providers must look at numerous complex criteria to determine how much to charge for any given procedure.  Criteria such as limits and caps imposed by insurance providers such as Medicare, market conditions, determination of medical necessity, regulation , and the rising cost of services themselves make the simple question of "How Much Will it Cost To..." very challenging. The issue of pricing is further exacerbated by the necessity of healthcare providers to do revenue forecasting when looking to the future, and do historical analysis when looking to where they've been.  The complexity of these problems has given birth to new industry of companies that serve the healthcare providers to meet this demand. One of these companies is a company called Accuro Healthcare Solutions in Dallas, Texas. In order to meet the needs of their customer base, a significant amount of value was obtained through the strategic use of IT. Accuro leverages IT extensively to solve these problems by maintaining a vast data repository which comprises data provided by numerous data providers that source costs, billing rules, billing data, and more (of course this data has been cleaned of any personally unidentifiable information according the HIPPA guidelines) to Accuro in order for them to compute accurate aggregated cost estimates.  This data is housed in more than 1000 Microsoft SQL Server instances housing more than 13 terabytes of information.  Given this volume, the magnitude of data they process daily is extraordinary. In order for Accuro's technical team to provide their customers with all the tools they need to do cost estimates, they needed to provide a highly complex serious of search and query screens for their end users to interact with.  The technical requirements of providing this solution was significant in terms of the time that it took to integrate new search fields on the data entry screens and to create the back-end logic to process the result.  This technical requirement often lead them to prolonged delays in implementation. With the introduction of Visual Studio 2008, we included a new technology called Language Integrated Query.  This technology provided Accuro with new and vastly improved technology to address this issue and dramatically improved their time to market.  At the end of development, they discovered that they were actually able to meet customer needs 500 percent faster by simply leveraging this new technology. A full case study detailing the scenario can be found at: https://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/casestudy.aspx?casestudyid=4000001462

One of our partners, RJS Software, is doing a training session in Dallas.  The session teaches AS/400 / RPG developers how to program in .NET and use the VS tools.   The focus is on using .NET to extend and modernize their AS/400 applications.  However, once they are familiar with the tools and capabilities it is common for them to start building new apps on the .NET platform. Here is the URL for the training course: http://www.rjssoft.com/news/.net-for-iseries-training-overview

  Thanks to Dan Bartels for turning me on to Newsbreak.  Wow... a full featured RSS reader that works right on my phone!  Too cool! Newsbreak is from IlliumSoft ,which from my perspective is THE PREMIER third party Windows Mobile development house.  How I neglected to list eWallet and ListPro on my last 5 kick ass list I can't imagine.  I consider eWallet and ListPro part of my base Windows Mobile image and they are always the first apps I install when upgrading.   

Okay, I bit the bullet and upgraded my cell phone to an Audiovox SMT 5600.   I have to say that I’m quite pleased with the improvements over what I was using before.  Reception is much better, the smaller size is more pleasant to deal with, and the device performs quite nicely.  On all fronts, the human interface was well thought-out and implemented.  It’s by far and away the nicest cell phone I’ve ever owned or used.   Here’s a list of add-ons that really put the icing on the cake:   Pocket Stars – Can you say the entire night sky, automatically calculated by your current latitude and longitude?   Fizz Traveler – A boatload of useful travel utilities coupled with a nice sun clock.  Very well done.   PokerOne – An extremely well done poker game.  Easy to play and the house can be quite aggressive.   Cubis – A “Tetris” style block game.  Great sound, graphics and playability.   Pocket Streets and Trips – A buddy of mine has this running with a Bluetooth powered GPS.  A definite must have!    

  PAG has released EntLib.  You can get it here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnpag2/html/entlib.asp  

  This is good news.  It’d be great to actually be able to buy one!  My wife and I bought a Toyota Prius a couple of months back and we’ve been delighted with it so far. However, it’d be great to actually move beyond a hybrid when moving away from fossil fuel based personal transportation. Japan Today - News - Honda to lease fuel cell vehicles to U.S. individuals - Japan's Leading International News Network

  Perhaps I’m just a weenie, but I’m a sucker for these “how big a geek are you?” online quizzes.  I think there’re some interesting things to take away from many of the results.  For example, I scored 209 on the following quiz.  What I found interesting in this particular quiz was the fact that nearly 50% of the people that took it also scored in the “Digital Ace” category. This supports my belief that people are a lot more tech savvy than many of the industry marketeers would have us think (or at least the makers of this quiz). I’m of the mind that new products need to take user sophistication into consideration when spec’ing their new project out rather than catering to the lowest common denominator. Yes, indeed there are a lot of newbees, but there’re also a heck of a lot of sophisticated users out there as well.  Let’s make sure that they’re not left out in the cold… .appnwk_digital_iq_110703 { width:430px;font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 70%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 140%;} .hednwk_digital_iq_110703 { font-weight: bold;text-transform:uppercase; } .decknwk_digital_iq_110703 { font-weight: bold;color:#666;padding:4px 0px 4px 0px; } .boxnwk_digital_iq_110703 { font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 70%; font-weight: normal; line-height: 140%;;border:0px; ;font-size: 100%; } .subhednwk_digital_iq_110703 { font-size: 14px; font-weight:bold; } .headlinenwk_digital_iq_110703 { font-weight: bold;;}   What was your score?   * 142745 responses Below 5013% 50-7917% 80-10924% 110+45% Not a scientifically valid survey. Click to learn more. Online quiz: What's your Digital IQ?

  Just rented Ghost in the Shell II at the local video store.  Wow - this production is impressive.  I've never seen animation done at this level. I'm flat out blown away...   

  Wow - the Cassini mission to Saturn has gone well.  Tonight, the Huygens probe is going to be released.  Descent through Titan's atmosphere is set to occur January 14th. I wonder what we'll discover!

  I don't entirely agree with Paul: http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/mcx_xbox_review.asp  

  I've had a few comments regarding my awarding Windows Media Center Edition a “+” on price in my previous post.   Here’s my rationale:   I fundamentally challenge the idea that an MCE box needs to be used as a stand alone system.  I use my MCE system constantly as my main desktop PC.  I do absolutely everything that I did when I was running vanilla Windows XP Professional.   IOW - Don’t spend $2K on a dedicated MCE system – spend $2K on a system that can be used as your main system under your desk and image it with MCE.  Then, spend another $60 on an X-Box Extender.  Also, I’m using $2K as rather arbitrary number.  Current street prices on hardware muscular enough to run MCE are likely to be a lot cheaper.  See the MCE 2005 hardware page for more info.   In terms of MCE specific costs, you can get OEM MCE 2005 online for around $150.  Add a Haupauge 250 for another $140 (if you don’t already have one), then add $30 for an MCE remote.  Total: $320, add the $60 X-Box MCE Extender and you’re looking at $380.   Note that you also have Media Center services in two rooms of your house.  With TiVo, you pay per TiVo subscription charges.  You also have to pay for tweaks to get more storage. In terms of quality, I flat out disagree that MCE's image quality is one iota worse than TiVo's.  I've owned high-end Sony XBR and Wega systems for years - image quality is a main concern of mine.  My 42" Wega yields indiscernible differences between the two.

Ok, I’ve got my new MCE box up and running and connected to my living room via my X-Box Media Center Extender.   General impressions:   My wife and I purchased an 80 hour TiVo Series 2 a number of months back for $299 at our local Fry’s electronics.  I had been hungering for a DVR for quite some time, yet I was unable to justify a 2K family investment in a dedicated MCE box for the living room.  I have to admit, the TiVo has performed spectacularly.  It literally changed the way we dealt with TV, making the whole experience convenient, personal, and in many ways outright fun.   Still, the experience was not without its downsides.  For one, TiVo didn’t support WMA which made nearly our entire encoded music library useless for listening to in the living room.  It also didn’t support 802.11g and even had issues when connecting to my 802.11g WAP when it was running in hybrid 802.11b and g mode.  This necessitated borrowing a dedicated 802.11b WAP strictly for use with the TiVo – ouch!  Even after borrowing the WAP, the bandwidth at 802.11b was marginal.  Photo slideshows would hang occasionally and MP3 playback was quite choppy.  I eventually fixed this problem by running a dedicated CAT5 line to my living room and going with a wired connection.   When Santa Wife green-lighted a hardware upgrade to my home machine for Christmas, I decided to build it as an MCE 2005 box from the start.  So far, I’ve been extremely pleased with the results.   Here’re some things that are important to know:   Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 is fundamentally Windows XP Professional edition PLUS media center benefits.  This means that your computer functions exactly as it always has.  For example, I run IE, Visual Studio 2003 and Whidbey, Outlook and Office and my other apps exactly as I have in the past.  The difference is when I’m feeling like watching or recording some TV or viewing a DVD, I can fire up the “Media Center” application from the “Start” menu and PRESTO! – I have a rich Media Center environment.  In essence, the MCE experience is just an app with some additional hardware, and software plumbing behind the scenes.   It’s important to note that it’s not an all or nothing experience.  Nor is it strictly a 10’ viewing experience.  Yes, all the demos of MCE show it being used from 10’ away in full screen mode – but did you know it works perfectly well in non full screen window?  It does!  The MCE UI shrinks down and provides you with all the functionality without all the dedicated screen space.   Additionally, if you have a multi-monitor setup, you can drag the MCE window to your second monitor and have both the MCE environment and classic Windows environment co-exist seamlessly.  Today I was coding on my main monitor while watching a recorded Star Trek on my second monitor.  Geek heaven! ;-)   Your X-Box is a GREAT Media Center Extender!  Yes, your X-Box!  For around $60 you can use your MCE box located in your home office on your fancy living room TV.   Now, after I’ve had a fair amount of experience in both systems, I’d like to offer up some thoughts on the strong and weak points of both:   Feature MCE TiVo Notes Remote Control - + TiVo’s remote control is excellent.  It’s ergonomic and well laid out.  The MCE remote is kinda clunky by comparison. Music Playback + - No WMA support in TiVo.  Windows Media Player play list support in MCE is great!  Support for visualizations is also really cool. Pictures + - The usability of the image viewing application in MCE is much better.  Also being able to create CDs or DVDs from the interface is cool. Video Guide - (+) + TiVo’s guide is more refined and easier to use.  The MCE’s lack of “Favorite Channel” definitions results in users having to scroll through more data than they’d really like to.  Also, the “Categories” search should include an “All Categories” section.  I’d also much prefer to search by time and/or channel.  On the other hand, MCE has a fantastic “Movies” option which includes rich and full featured browsing of movies which even include a cool title thumbnail. Auto Recording/ User Ratings - + TiVo has the edge here. Radio + - MSN Radio plus is cool and works seamlessly. Camcorder / Non DVR recording viewing + - TiVO doesn’t include the ability to view your non TiVo based recordings such as your home movies. Caller ID + - MCE supports displaying caller ID as the phone rings. Cost + - TiVo has a monthly charge per device - MCE doesn’t. Repurpose of data + - Recording on MCE can be viewed in Windows Media Player and burned and transferred to other media seamlessly. Expandability + - TiVo hardware hacks/tweaks are legendary.  But come on, what is more expandable and tweakable than your PC!  Tossing in a larger hard drive is a complete no-brainer!      

  Well, I decided to burn some unused vacation time and do a little relaxing through the holidays this year. My wife, Yoshi, proved to be the most awesome incredible Santa ever!  She even came early! My long time interest in assembling a high quality replacement box that I could deck out as a Windows Media Center machine at home was finally realized. Here’s what she got me: Dual proc Opteron board… I decided on the Tyan Tiger K8W. Opteron 246 1 Sony double layer DVD burner 1 200 GB 7200 Hitachi HD 2 Western Digital 10,000 RPM Raptor drives for RAID 0 (striped) 2 GB Corsair XMS Low Latency PC-3200 RAM Antec Sonata quiet case Windows Media Center OEM remote control Wow!  It took the better part of the night the day before yesterday putting it all together.   The Tyan board caused me a little grief due to the physical layout of the board.  Most of the connectors for the case electronics (i.e. the power switch) were located at a difficult area of the board to access with the Antec case.  The case also included a 3 pin power LED connector where the board wanted a 2 pin.  It was also difficult to get the heat sink mount to properly mate with the supplied Opteron heatsink and fan.  After a bit of careful struggling I was finally able to get it to go, but I would’ve liked to have the process go a lot smoother. Once I got everything assembled, I installed Windows Media Center 2005 and began getting the media center stuff up and running. I had a Haupauge WinTV – PVR 250 that I transferred over from my old machine that I installed an updated the drivers on my new box.  I was initially thwarted by the lack on DVD decoder software, but a quick trip to Intervideo site and a download of WinDVD fixed things.  For those of you who are putting together MCE boxes – don’t forget the DVD decoder software! Wow, have I been really impressed by the MCE experience!  The MCE team did a great job of putting all my important media in front of me in a slick, easy to use UI.                

  Nanotechnology fascinates me.  What other technology in the course of human evolution can even touch its potential?   How invigorating it is to be alive and see it unfolding before our eyes…   "In a demonstration that holds promise for future advances in nanotechnology, California Institute of Technology computer scientists have succeeded in building a DNA crystal that computes as it grows. As the computation proceeds, it creates a triangular fractal pattern in the DNA crystal. This is the first time that a computation has been embedded in the growth of any crystal, and the first time that computation has been used to create a complex microscopic pattern. And, the researchers say, it is one step in the dream of nanoscientists to master construction techniques at the molecular level." http://www.physorg.com/news2258.html

  I've had a few comments asking what tool I use to edit JPEG metadata.  The answer is: Picture It! Library which was included in my MSN Premium subscription.  The metadata is stored in the EXIF portion of the image data and travels along with the image as it moves from place to place.