June 2009 - change - Mailing Lists

Fwd: [SeattleTech] Ruby on Rails June 13th Code Camp Help Needed
by Sunil Garg 05 Jun '09

05 Jun '09

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: James Dailey MEC <jdailey(a)microenergycredits.com> Date: Fri, Jun 5, 2009 at 7:44 AM Subject: [SeattleTech] Ruby on Rails June 13th Code Camp Help Needed To: organize(a)seattletechstartups.com Cc: Dave Hill <dave(a)microenergycredits.com> Hi - We're looking for a few good *RUBY on RAILS* software devs or UI designers. I'm CTO and co-founder of MicroEnergy Credits, a Seattle based tech startup. MicroEnergy Credits is sponsoring a one-day code-camp on June 13th to build out and enhance its technology platform. We are a bootstrapping social venture and your payoff as a participant is free food and drink, learning new ruby skills with other developers, participating in an powerful model to solve energy poverty, and having some fun. (you can also put it on your resume) If you have the right skills, having built at least a few Ruby on Rails projects recently, and are interested, please contact me for details. jdailey(a)microenergycredits.com <jdailey(a)microenergycredits.com> MicroEnergy Credits (*www.microenergycredits.com*<http://www.microenergycredits.com/>) is a social enterprise which links microfinance institutions to the carbon markets when they lend for clean energy. MEC sells the carbon credits earned by replacing dirty fuels like kerosene, wood, coal and dung on the voluntary carbon markets and passes the carbon revenues along to its partner institutions. The institutions can then use the revenues to offset their costs of running the clean energy program or can pass the savings along to the client in the form of reduced interest rates, free battery replacements or other benefits. In 2008, MEC won the Global Social Venture Business Plan Competition for its innovative business model which makes accessing the carbon markets easy for MFIs. By way of background, previously I created and lead the MIFOS project (open source banking for microfinance) and I have worked extensively in developing countries for "last-mile" transactional information systems impacting poverty and health. Our management team is located in Seattle with partners organizations in several countries. For more information, check out our blog at http://microenergycredits.blogspot.com/.<http://microenergycredits.blogspot.com/> Regards, -- James Dailey MicroEnergy Credits skype: jdailey _______________________________________________ Seattle Tech Startup mailing list Organize(a)seattletechstartups.com Unsubscribe or manage here: http://seattletechstartups.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/organize

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RA Position - Web applications development for the Clinical Informatics Research Group
by Jan Flowers 04 Jun '09

04 Jun '09

The Clinical Informatics Research Group is listing one or more RA positions for the summer quarter. The primary purpose of this position is to contribute technical expertise to research projects in the University of Washington Schools of Nursing, Medicine, and Public Health and Community Medicine, through development and implementation of web applications for the Clinical Informatics Research Group. This position will be responsible for developing, installing, and maintaining various Web software components and integrating them into projects such as a clinical assessment application using in-house electronic survey software. These components are generally cross-platform and include software development frameworks, databases (design and implementation), Web applications, Web servers, end-user query and reporting services, and communications libraries. The complexities of the position are driven by the goal of the group to create new and innovative research grade computing systems, and apply them to novel domains in clinical medicine and population health. The members of our team work closely, with complementary skills. Each project involves integrating technical and domain information in novel ways, and resourcefully developing new methods and approaches to problem solving. Required Qualifications: Requires knowledge of Web/Internet standards, hardware and software technologies, preferably in LAMP, but can include Java. Experience in application design and development. Experience with relational database technology, using MySQL, MS SQL Server, or equivalent. Experience in web development using PHP, Java, Perl, or equivalent. Experience using Unix/Linux operating systems, including Apache. Demonstrated ability to resolve technical problems in an independent manner. Proven ability to quickly learn and apply new technologies. Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Preferred Qualifications: Experience with PHP web frameworks (e.g. CakePHP). Experience with Javascript, XML, and/or AJAX. Familiarity with SVN or other version control repository software. Familiarity with healthcare delivery or clinical information systems. Experience with administration of Unix/Linux operating systems. Application Procedure: Brief letter/e-mail describing your interest and experience Monthly Salary: Standard UW (Listed at http://www.grad.washington.edu/fellow/salaryschedule.htm Benefits: GAIP Insurance and Tuition except about $230/quarter at 20 hours per week and employed 5 out of 6 half-month pay periods/quarter. No benefits if less. See www.grad.washington.edu/fellow/gssa.htm<http://www.grad.washington.edu/fellow/gssa.htm> Please reply to: Jan Flowers jflow2(a)u.washington.edu Technology Program Manager Clinical Informatics Research Group (CIRG) Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Systems (BNHS) University of Washington https://www.cirg.washington.edu/ http://www.son.washington.edu/departments/bnhs/

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Today at noon: Walter Curioso
by Natalie Linnell 04 Jun '09

04 Jun '09

Hi everyone, At the Change meeting this week, Walter Curioso from Biomedical and Health Informatics will be giving a talk entitled mHealth: The opportunity of mobile technologies to support HIV adherence in Peru at noon in CSE 303. Please the description below. Before the meeting, from 11:20-12:00 in CSE 303, the ICTD reading group will discuss "ICTD State of the Union: Where have we Reached and Where are we Headed." Joyojeet Pal, one of the authors, will be at the discussion. http://www.cs.washington.edu/education/courses/590f/09sp/ictd09/ ---------------------------- Speaker: Walter H. Curioso, MD, MPH PhD student. Biomedical and Health Informatics, School of Medicine, University of Washington; Research Professor, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Peru "mHealth: The opportunity of mobile technologies to support HIV adherence in Peru" There is a mounting interest in the field of mHealth - the provision of health-related services via mobile communications. mHealth projects are operating in a wide variety of developing countries and providing demonstrable impacts. Documented results - in both the developed and developing world - reveal that mobile technology improves the efficiency of healthcare delivery. Due to its nascent stage, mHealth presents a tremendous opportunity to create a global facilitation body, enabling maximum innovation and impact on global health. In this talk, Dr. Curioso will describe and present initial results of Cell-POS, a mHealth project that is currently being conducted in Peru. Innovative approaches using information technologies such as cell phones are needed to increase adherence to antiretroviral treatment for people with HIV/AIDS. Cell-POS, funded by the NIH grant R01TW007896, will develop and evaluate a computer-based intervention using cell phones to enhance adherence to antiretroviral therapy and support of HIV transmission risk-reduction among adult HIV- positive patients in Peru. The specific aims of Cell-POS are to: 1) Conduct formative research to assess culturally-specific behavioral messages to be included in the computer-based system; 2) Develop and test an interactive computer-based system using cell phones to enhance adherence to antiretroviral treatment and to deliver HIV transmission risk reduction messages; 3) Evaluate the impact of the system on antiretroviral adherence and sexual risk behaviors. Walter H. Curioso is a research professor at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru. Dr. Curioso received his MD from Cayetano University, his MPH from the University of Washington, and he is currently a PhD student in the Department of Biomedical and Health Informatics at the University of Washington. He is developing a medical informatics and global health curriculum at Cayetano University. His research focus is on how to use technology, especially mobile health, to promote global health in developing countries. His latest projects, in collaboration with UW faculty, involve using cell phones to support HIV antiretroviral adherence, using personal digital assistants to assess sexual risk and antiretroviral medication adherence among HIV patients in Lima, and using cell phones and the Internet to develop a real-time surveillance system for adverse events. He has written more than 75 articles in health informatics and information technology, evidence-based medicine, public health in developing countries, and clinical medicine. Dr. Curioso can be reached at: wcurioso(a)u.washington.edu and his personal website is available at: http://faculty.washington.edu/wcurioso/ _______________________________________________ change mailing list change(a)change.washington.edu http://changemm.cs.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/change _______________________________________________ change mailing list change(a)change.washington.edu http://changemm.cs.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/change

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This week: Walter Curioso
by Natalie Linnell 03 Jun '09

03 Jun '09

Hi everyone, At the Change meeting this week, Walter Curioso from Biomedical and Health Informatics will be giving a talk entitled mHealth: The opportunity of mobile technologies to support HIV adherence in Peru at noon in CSE 303. Please the description below. Before the meeting, from 11:20-12:00 in CSE 303, the ICTD reading group will discuss "ICTD State of the Union: Where have we Reached and Where are we Headed." Joyojeet Pal, one of the authors, will be at the discussion. http://www.cs.washington.edu/education/courses/590f/09sp/ictd09/ ---------------------------- Speaker: Walter H. Curioso, MD, MPH PhD student. Biomedical and Health Informatics, School of Medicine, University of Washington; Research Professor, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Peru "mHealth: The opportunity of mobile technologies to support HIV adherence in Peru" There is a mounting interest in the field of mHealth - the provision of health-related services via mobile communications. mHealth projects are operating in a wide variety of developing countries and providing demonstrable impacts. Documented results - in both the developed and developing world - reveal that mobile technology improves the efficiency of healthcare delivery. Due to its nascent stage, mHealth presents a tremendous opportunity to create a global facilitation body, enabling maximum innovation and impact on global health. In this talk, Dr. Curioso will describe and present initial results of Cell-POS, a mHealth project that is currently being conducted in Peru. Innovative approaches using information technologies such as cell phones are needed to increase adherence to antiretroviral treatment for people with HIV/AIDS. Cell-POS, funded by the NIH grant R01TW007896, will develop and evaluate a computer-based intervention using cell phones to enhance adherence to antiretroviral therapy and support of HIV transmission risk-reduction among adult HIV- positive patients in Peru. The specific aims of Cell-POS are to: 1) Conduct formative research to assess culturally-specific behavioral messages to be included in the computer-based system; 2) Develop and test an interactive computer-based system using cell phones to enhance adherence to antiretroviral treatment and to deliver HIV transmission risk reduction messages; 3) Evaluate the impact of the system on antiretroviral adherence and sexual risk behaviors. Walter H. Curioso is a research professor at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru. Dr. Curioso received his MD from Cayetano University, his MPH from the University of Washington, and he is currently a PhD student in the Department of Biomedical and Health Informatics at the University of Washington. He is developing a medical informatics and global health curriculum at Cayetano University. His research focus is on how to use technology, especially mobile health, to promote global health in developing countries. His latest projects, in collaboration with UW faculty, involve using cell phones to support HIV antiretroviral adherence, using personal digital assistants to assess sexual risk and antiretroviral medication adherence among HIV patients in Lima, and using cell phones and the Internet to develop a real-time surveillance system for adverse events. He has written more than 75 articles in health informatics and information technology, evidence-based medicine, public health in developing countries, and clinical medicine. Dr. Curioso can be reached at: wcurioso(a)u.washington.edu and his personal website is available at: http://faculty.washington.edu/wcurioso/ _______________________________________________ change mailing list change(a)change.washington.edu http://changemm.cs.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/change

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This week: Walter Curioso
by Natalie Linnell 02 Jun '09

02 Jun '09

Hi everyone, At the Change meeting this week, Walter Curioso from Biomedical and Health Informatics will be giving a talk entitled mHealth: The opportunity of mobile technologies to support HIV adherence in Peru at noon in CSE 303. Please the description below. Before the meeting, from 11:20-12:00 in CSE 303, the ICTD reading group will discuss "ICTD State of the Union: Where have we Reached and Where are we Headed." Joyojeet Pal, one of the authors, will be at the discussion. ---------------------------- Speaker: Walter H. Curioso, MD, MPH PhD student. Biomedical and Health Informatics, School of Medicine, University of Washington; Research Professor, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Peru "mHealth: The opportunity of mobile technologies to support HIV adherence in Peru" There is a mounting interest in the field of mHealth - the provision of health-related services via mobile communications. mHealth projects are operating in a wide variety of developing countries and providing demonstrable impacts. Documented results - in both the developed and developing world - reveal that mobile technology improves the efficiency of healthcare delivery. Due to its nascent stage, mHealth presents a tremendous opportunity to create a global facilitation body, enabling maximum innovation and impact on global health. In this talk, Dr. Curioso will describe and present initial results of Cell-POS, a mHealth project that is currently being conducted in Peru. Innovative approaches using information technologies such as cell phones are needed to increase adherence to antiretroviral treatment for people with HIV/AIDS. Cell-POS, funded by the NIH grant R01TW007896, will develop and evaluate a computer-based intervention using cell phones to enhance adherence to antiretroviral therapy and support of HIV transmission risk-reduction among adult HIV- positive patients in Peru. The specific aims of Cell-POS are to: 1) Conduct formative research to assess culturally-specific behavioral messages to be included in the computer-based system; 2) Develop and test an interactive computer-based system using cell phones to enhance adherence to antiretroviral treatment and to deliver HIV transmission risk reduction messages; 3) Evaluate the impact of the system on antiretroviral adherence and sexual risk behaviors. Walter H. Curioso is a research professor at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru. Dr. Curioso received his MD from Cayetano University, his MPH from the University of Washington, and he is currently a PhD student in the Department of Biomedical and Health Informatics at the University of Washington. He is developing a medical informatics and global health curriculum at Cayetano University. His research focus is on how to use technology, especially mobile health, to promote global health in developing countries. His latest projects, in collaboration with UW faculty, involve using cell phones to support HIV antiretroviral adherence, using personal digital assistants to assess sexual risk and antiretroviral medication adherence among HIV patients in Lima, and using cell phones and the Internet to develop a real-time surveillance system for adverse events. He has written more than 75 articles in health informatics and information technology, evidence-based medicine, public health in developing countries, and clinical medicine. Dr. Curioso can be reached at: wcurioso(a)u.washington.edu and his personal website is available at: http://faculty.washington.edu/wcurioso/

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CSE 477 Project Demos, Wednesday, June 3, 3:30 - 5:20 pm
by Richard Anderson 02 Jun '09

02 Jun '09

CSE 477 Capstone Presentations This year, the CSE 477 capstone course focused on technologies for low resource environments. Four teams worked on projects related to improving agriculture and education in the developing world. The final presentations and demo session will take place 3:30-5:30 pm, Wednesday, June 3, in CSE 691. For more information, please contact Richard Anderson, Anderson(a)cs.washington.edu Projects: Low-cost digital controller for managing recharging of Lead-Acid batteries The goal of the project is to design a low-cost digital controller that can manage the recharging of batteries by multiple types of sources, while providing "clean", efficient power to other devices. The primary use of this device is for areas with little to no consistent electrical power where Lead-Acid type car batteries are used at temporary sources of power. An example application would be in video based education where a television and DVD is set up to allow a facilitator to present educational content. The device will be able to use a Car Battery to power a range of Audio, Video, or other equipment, giving the user information on how much time the load can be powered. DG Navigator Digital Green (DG) is a research project started by Microsoft Research India that uses facilitated video instruction to teach and encourage sustainable farming practices in rural India. The DG Navigator is a "smart" remote control that assists the facilitator who is showing the video by providing prompts synchronized with the DVD and recording basic data about the show. The DG Navigator is a custom device that replaces the DVD remote control. The device has 12 dedicated buttons to control the DVD player, an SD card reader/writer, an LCD screen, and a vibrating motor to alert the facilitator when a message is on the LCD. During the video screening, questions are written to the LCD screen prompting the facilitator to pause the video and interact with the audience. The device records every button press and writes this data to a log file on the SD card. This log file allows the researchers to track which videos have been played and when the videos were paused by the facilitator to interact with the audience. Multilearn MultiLearn builds upon prior research in shared computing by using multiple numeric keypads as input devices for educational games and dividing a single computer screen into sections corresponding to each student. This setup, individual USB keypads and corresponding split screen display provides equal access to the technology, allows students to access personalized and adaptively calibrated content, and lets students simultaneously participate at their own skill level. http://change.washington.edu/projects/multilearn Automated Community Radio Much of the developing world is plagued by poverty and a lack of infrastructure which acts to perpetuate the poverty by restricting the peoples' ability to trade. Most farmers have no means of advertisement for their goods on a macroscopic level, and hence they must advertise via word of mouth. This generally restricts trading to a local level. To this end we have devised an automated community radio system utilizing radios, cellphones, and a laptop. The content of this station comes from users who call via cell phones. Users interact with a touch-tone interface to place advertisements to a specific cell phone which connects with the laptop via bluetooth connectivity. The laptop stores the messages and uses a queuing algorithm to create a radio stream. This stream is sent to the FM transmitter, the amplifier circuit, and is then finally broadcasted. There is an administrative touch-tone interface as well to support added features such as immediate emergency broadcasts. A graphical user interface has been developed to allow the administrator to setup a prioritized category system and play schedule for increased functionality.

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CFP: 3rd Workshop on Networked Systems for Developing Regions (NSDR '09) - Deadline JUNE 15
by Tapan Parikh 02 Jun '09

02 Jun '09

CALL FOR PAPERS _______________ 3rd Workshop on Networked Systems for Developing Regions (NSDR) To be held with the 22nd ACM Symposium on Operating Systems Principles (SOSP) Please distribute widely Big Sky Resort, Big Sky, Montana Sunday, October 11th, 2009 http://www.dritte.org/nsdr09 ** Important Dates ** Submission Deadline: June 15 Notification: August 5 Camera-ready: September 5 Workshop: October 11 ** Background ** Following on two successful workshops hosted with ACM SIGCOMM in 2007 and 2008, the 3rd Workshop on Networked Systems for Developing Regions (NSDR '09) will provide a venue for researchers to present ideas and results concerning the design, implementation and evaluation of new computing and communications technologies serving developing regions. The decreasing cost and increasing access to information and communication technologies (e.g., mobile phones) are rapidly enabling access to new services and markets for previously disconnected populations. However, due to a variety of factors, including cost, literacy, education, and organizational capacity, conventional approaches to technology design and implementation are often not relevant. Moreover, empirical evidence for the impact of such technologies is largely anecdotal, beyond a few well-known and well-cited examples. Addressing this requires engagement of several disciplines, including but not limited to economics, sociology, anthropology, and political science, and expertise in a variety of application areas - including government, health, finance and agriculture. NSDR focuses on addressing significant technical challenges (e.g., communication infrastructure in rural areas, novel caching techniques for challenged networks, security issues arising in such contexts), and on the deployment and evaluation of novel technologies or applications that address a specific need (e.g. providing remote financial services or health care). ** Papers ** We encourage submission of position papers or the results of preliminary work describing interesting, original, previously unpublished ideas or results pertaining to the design, implementation and/or evaluation of networks and systems for developing regions. Accepted papers will: - propose new research directions; - target a specific application; - inform design and/or deployment; - or generate lively debate at the workshop. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to: - Low-cost wireless connectivity - Intermittent systems - Power-efficient systems - Low-cost computing devices - Mobile systems and applications - Adapting content and applications for local languages - User interfaces for low-literacy populations - Design and evaluation of applications for public health, microfinance, agriculture, e-governance, education, monitoring, disaster management, etc. ** Submission ** Submissions must follow formatting guidelines and be submitted according to instructions at http://www.dritte.org/nsdr09/submit.html. Submissions that deviate from these guidelines will be rejected without consideration. Reviews will be SINGLE-BLIND: authors' names and affiliations should be included in the submission. Authors of accepted papers are expected to present their papers at the workshop. Submissions must be original work not under review at any other workshop, conference or journal. ** Program Committee ** Vivek Pai, Princeton (co-chair) Tapan Parikh, UC Berkeley (co-chair) Muneeb Ali, Princeton John Bennett, Colorado Gaetano Borriello, U. Washington Eric Brewer, UC Berkeley Ravi Jain, Google S. Keshav, Waterloo KyoungSoo Park, Pittsburgh Bhaskaran Raman, IIT-Mumbai Umar Saif, LUMS Lakshmi Subramanian, NYU Bill Thies, MSR India Kentaro Toyama, MSR India

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It is all about adding an 's'
by Karine Barzilai-Nahon 31 May '09

31 May '09

I wrote a post that summarize my experience in the UN commission for science and technologies for development. Thought it would interest this list. http://ekarine.org/2009/05/cstd-summary/ Best Karine ------------- http://twitter.com/karineb http://eKarine.org

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