Surfacing forum posts in search results

Today, we introduced a new search feature that makes it easier for you to find forum posts or discussions related to what you're searching for. This new addition to Google search results applies to sites that tend to have a large number of posts on a specific topic. When several different discussions on a site are relevant to your query, we indent them under the primary result and include the date of each post.<br /><br />So for instance, if you search for [<a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=getting+from+rome+to+florence&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a">getting from rome to florence</a>] you will see, below the third result, a list of relevant discussions on various ways to get between these cities.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZYqYi4xigk/SsQQ1pxb6ZI/AAAAAAAAEqo/o_jp5JX8zQY/s1600-h/search1.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387449568174270866" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZYqYi4xigk/SsQQ1pxb6ZI/AAAAAAAAEqo/o_jp5JX8zQY/s400/search1.png" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 118px;" /></a><br />It's always nice to know what others are saying about the best ways to get around (by boat or train) and how recent those comments are — especially if it's your first time traveling to Italy.<br /><br />We hope this feature gives you a deeper view into the relevant content available on sites throughout the web — even when that content spans multiple pages or discussions.<br />At the same time, the main search results are diverse as always — so if you can't pinpoint a useful comment there's a list of relevant sites there to help.<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Johanna Wright, Director of Product Management and Devin Mullins, Software Engineer<br /></span>

Surfacing forum posts in search results

Today, we introduced a new search feature that makes it easier for you to find forum posts or discussions related to what you're searchi...

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Translate your website with Google: Expand your audience globally

How long would it take to translate all the world's web content into 50 languages? Even if all of the translators in the world worked around the clock, with the current growth rate of content being created online and the sheer amount of data on the web, it would take hundreds of years to make even a small dent.<br /><br />Today, we're happy to announce a new <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate_tools">website translator gadget</a> powered by Google Translate that enables you to make your site's content available in 51 languages. Now, when people visit your page, if their language (as determined by their browser settings) is different than the language of your page, they'll be prompted to automatically translate the page into their own language. If the visitor's language is the same as the language of your page, no translation banner will appear.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZYqYi4xigk/SsPK6chWjQI/AAAAAAAAEqQ/fTx_o3kN58w/s1600-h/t1.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387372684702551298" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZYqYi4xigk/SsPK6chWjQI/AAAAAAAAEqQ/fTx_o3kN58w/s400/t1.png" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 144px;" /></a><br />After clicking the Translate button, the automatic translations are shown directly on your page.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZYqYi4xigk/SsPK6xY-vzI/AAAAAAAAEqY/wgQCsPQ57J4/s1600-h/t2.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387372690304581426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZYqYi4xigk/SsPK6xY-vzI/AAAAAAAAEqY/wgQCsPQ57J4/s400/t2.png" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 144px;" /></a><br />It's easy to install — all you have to do is cut and paste a short snippet into your webpage to increase the global reach of your blog or website.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZYqYi4xigk/SsPK7SNVSRI/AAAAAAAAEqg/h63KUP19yBA/s1600-h/t3.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387372699114096914" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZYqYi4xigk/SsPK7SNVSRI/AAAAAAAAEqg/h63KUP19yBA/s400/t3.png" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 244px;" /></a><br />Automatic translation is convenient and helps people get a quick gist of the page. However, it's not a perfect substitute for the art of professional translation. Today happens to be International Translation Day, and we'd like to take the opportunity to celebrate the contributions of translators all over the world. These translators play an essential role in enabling global communication, and with the rapid growth and ease of access to digital content, the need for them is greater than ever. We hope that professional translators, along with translation tools such as <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/translating-worlds-information-with.html">Google Translator Toolkit</a> and this <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate_tools">Translate gadget</a>, will continue to help make the world's content more accessible to everyone.<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Jeff Chin, Product Manager</span>

Translate your website with Google: Expand your audience globally

How long would it take to translate all the world's web content into 50 languages? Even if all of the translators in the world worked ar...

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Intermune Executive Convicted of Fraud

<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/business/30drug.html">From today's New York Times </a>comes word of an unusual legal case,<br /><blockquote><br /><em>In a verdict that could strike fear into pharmaceutical industry executive suites, the former head of a drug company was convicted of wire fraud Tuesday for issuing what federal prosecutors called a misleading press release that contributed to off-label sales of his company’s drug.<br /></em><br />But the executive, W. Scott Harkonen, the former chief executive of InterMune, was acquitted by the federal jury in San Francisco of a related charge of off-label marketing itself, known as 'misbranding,' the Justice Department said.<br /><br /><em>The case was unusual because off-label marketing cases are often settled with the company paying a fine. It is rare for prosecutors to press charges against individual executives</em>.<br /><br /><em>'Today’s verdict demonstrates that pharmaceutical executives will not be able to hide behind a corporate shield</em> when they promote drugs using false or fraudulent information,' Thomas P. Doyle, a special agent in the Food and Drug Administration’s office of criminal investigations, said in a statement Tuesday.<br /><br />InterMune’s drug, Actimmune, was approved for two rare genetic conditions. But the main sales of the drug, which peaked at $141million in 2003, came from an unapproved use: treating idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a scarring of the lungs that can be fatal.<br /><br />InterMune conducted a large clinical trial testing Actimmune as a treatment for the lung disease. The drug did not achieve the goal of the trial, which was to improve lung function compared with a placebo. But InterMune found that if only the patients in the trial with mild or moderate disease were considered, those who got the drug lived longer than those who received the placebo. The company highlighted the 'survival benefit' in a news release, issued in August 2002. [Editor's note - if the primary study outcome was improvement of lung function, and the only 'positive' result was improvement of survival in one sub-group, that result may have been due to chance alone, due to multiple statistical comparisons. If one does analyses on multiple sub-groups and for multiple endpoints, the likelihood of finding a 'significant' result increases with the number of such analyses done.]<br /><br />Prosecutors said the news release was part of a scheme to induce off-label sales of Actimmune, also known as interferon gamma, which costs about $50,000 a year.<br /><br />[The company's attorney] Mr. Topel said interpretation of the clinical trial results was a matter of debate. 'One position in a scientific dispute has been criminalized — quite an astonishing thing,' Mr. Topel said in an interview.<br /><br />Wire fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Dr. Harkonen, who remains free on bail, has not been sentenced.<br /><br />A medical doctor by training, he was chief executive of InterMune from February 1998 until June 2003.<br /><br /><em>InterMune agreed to pay about $37 million in 2006 to settle charges related to Actimmune marketing</em>. The company, based in Brisbane, Calif., also <em>entered into a five-year corporate integrity agreement</em> with the Department of Health and Human Services.<br /><br />In 2007, <em>a second big trial of Actimmune found that the drug did not prolong lives of patients with pulmonary fibrosis</em>. Sales of the drug have dwindled year by year. [Editor's note - this suggests again that the result in the sub-group from the first trial might have been a false positive due to multiple comparisons.]</blockquote><br />This case is unusual because it involved the prosecution of an individual who appeared to be responsible for the allegedly unlawful conduct. In most cases of unethical or unlawful conduct alleged on the part of health care organizations, at most it is the organization itself that has paid the penalty, usually in the form of a fine, sometimes accompanied by a corporate integrity agreement or deferred prosecution agreement. (See relevant posts <a href="http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/search/label/legal%20settlements">here</a>.)<br /><br />We have argued that such penalties applied to corporations do little to deter bad behavior. A fine can just be a cost of doing business. The cost of the fine may diffuse across the whole organization. For public for-profit corporations, the fine may finally be paid by stockholders (through lower dividends or lower stock appreciation), employees as a group (through lower pay), and customers, clients, or patients (through higher prices). So the penalty may ultimately be spread over a large number of people, hardly any of which were actually responsible for the bad behavior. The few people responsible, who could include people who implemented, directed, or approved the behavior, usually have suffered no consequences. So what is to deter such people from again behaving badly?<br /><br />So this case seems to be a step forward. One may argue whether off-label marketing should be illegal, but it currently is illegal. Corporate leaders who do not like this law ought to strive to change it, not violate it. If the law is to be upheld, when someone within a corporation implements, directs or approved illegal off-label marketing, then that person should suffer the consequences.

Intermune Executive Convicted of Fraud

From today's New York Times comes word of an unusual legal case, In a verdict that could strike fear into pharmaceutical industry execut...

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Surf's up Wednesday: Google Wave update

Starting Wednesday, September 30 we'll be sending out more than 100,000 invitations to preview Google Wave to:<br /><ul><li>Developers who have been active in the <a href="http://code.google.com/apis/wave/">developer preview</a> we started back in June</li><li>The first users who signed up and offered to give feedback on <a href="http://wave.google.com/">wave.google.com</a></li><li>Select business and university customers of <a href="http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/index.html#utm_campaign=wave-ext-pre&utm_source=en-na-us-googleblog-wave-ext-pre&utm_medium=blog">Google Apps</a></li></ul>We'll ask some of these early users to nominate people they know also to receive early invitations — Google Wave is a lot more useful if your friends, family and colleagues have it too. This, of course, will just be the beginning. If all goes well we will soon be inviting many more to try out Google Wave.<br /><br />Some of you have asked what we mean by preview. This just means that Google Wave isn't quite ready for prime time. Not yet, anyway. Since <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_UyVmITiYQ">first unveiling</a> the project back in May, we've focused almost exclusively on scalability, stability, speed and usability. Yet, you will still experience the occasional downtime, a crash every now and then, part of the system being a bit sluggish and some of the user interface being, well, quirky.<br /><br />There are also still key features of Google Wave that we have yet to fully implement. For example, you can't yet remove a participant from a wave or define groups of users, draft mode is still missing and you can't configure the permissions of users on a wave. We'll be rolling out these and other features as soon as they are ready — over the next few months.<br /><br />Despite all this, we believe you will find that Google Wave has the potential for making you more productive when communicating and collaborating. Even when you're just having fun! We use it ourselves everyday for everything from planning pub crawls to sharing photos, managing release processes and debating features to writing design documents. In fact, we collaborated on this very blog post with several colleagues in Google Wave.<br /><br />Speaking of ways you could potentially use Google Wave, we're intrigued by the many detailed ones people have taken the time to describe. To mention just a few: journalist Andy Ihnatko on <a href="http://www.suntimes.com/business/1606282,ihnatko-google-wave-060309.article">producing his Chicago Sun-Times column</a>, filmmaker Jonathan Poritsky on <a href="http://www.candlerblog.com/2009/06/05/google-wave-for-filmmakers-a-concept/">streamlining the movie-making process</a>, scientist Cameron Neylon on <a href="http://blog.openwetware.org/scienceintheopen/2009/06/08/google-wave-in-research-the-slightly-more-sober-view-part-i-papers/">academic papers</a> and <a href="http://blog.openwetware.org/scienceintheopen/2009/06/08/google-wave-in-research-part-ii-the-lab-record/">lab work</a>, Alexander Dreiling and his SAP research team on <a href="http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/wlg/15618%3Fpage%3Dlast%26x-order%3Ddate">collaborative business process modelling</a>, and ZDNet's Dion Hincliffe on a <a href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/Hinchcliffe/?p=400">host of enterprise use cases</a>.<br /><br />The Wave team's most fun day since May? We invited a group of students to come spend a day with us at Google's Sydney office. Among other things, we asked them to collaboratively write stories in Google Wave about an imaginary trip around the world. They had a ball! As did we... <br /><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="400" height="267" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&hl=en_US&feat=flashalbum&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2FOgogster%2Falbumid%2F5386680766808884449%3Falt%3Drss%26kind%3Dphoto%26authkey%3DGv1sRgCMK8n7WI5cKRkQE%26hl%3Den_US" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed><br /><br />Finally, a big shoutout to the thousands of developers who have patiently taken part in our ongoing <a href="http://code.google.com/apis/wave/">developer preview</a>. It has been great fun to see the <a href="http://wave.google.com/help/wave/extensions.html">cool extensions already built or being planned</a> and incredibly instructive to get their help planning the future of our APIs. To get a taste for what some of these creative developers have been working on, and to learn more about the ways we hope to make it even easier for developers to build new extensions, check out this post on our <a href="http://googlewavedev.blogspot.com/2009/09/what-happened-in-wave-sandbox.html">developer blog</a>.<br /><br />Happy waving!<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Lars Rasmussen, Engineering Manager & Stephanie Hannon, Group Product Manager</span>

Surf's up Wednesday: Google Wave update

Starting Wednesday, September 30 we'll be sending out more than 100,000 invitations to preview Google Wave to: Developers who have been ...

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The Kelo Case Redux: Pfizer's "Nice Place" Ends Up Covered with Weeds

Four years ago we posted (<a href="http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2005/07/kelo-case-pfizer-and-conflicts-of.html">here</a>, <a href="http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2005/10/pfizers-fingerprints-on-kelo-case.html">here</a> and <a href="http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2005/09/kelo-revisited-conflicts-of-interest.html">here</a>) about the controversial US Supreme Court decision in the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Kelo</span> case. Most discussion of the case at the time focused on individual property rights vs the power of the government to promote economic development, but the case had an important health care angle.<br /><br />Briefly, the case centered on the taking of private property, including a house owned by Susette <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Kelo</span>, by a not-for-profit organization, the New London (Connecticut) Development Corporation (<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">NLDC</span>) given the power of eminent domain by the New London city government. While the ostensible rationale for the taking was economic development, the action appeared to have been at the behest of Pfizer Inc, the world's largest pharmaceutical company, which had built a research and development facility in the city, and wanted a suitably upscale and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">sanitized</span> environment for its workers.<br /><br />As we <a href="http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2005/07/kelo-case-pfizer-and-conflicts-of.html">previously posted</a>, the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">NLDC's</span> leadership had multiple conflicts of interest that involved ties to Pfizer. One board member was a Pfizer vice-president. The board president was married to another Pfizer vice-president. Pfizer wanted the part of New London that included <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">Kelo's</span> house made more attractive to complement its new research facility. The husband of the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">NLDC</span> president had said, "Pfizer wants a nice place to operate. We don't want to be surrounded by tenements."<br /><br /><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">Kelo's</span> and other property owners' protest of the taking went all the way to the US Supreme Court. As we posted <a href="http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2005/07/kelo-case-pfizer-and-conflicts-of.html">here</a>, the Court decided against the property owners by a 5-4 vote. Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the majority that the city's "determination that the area was sufficiently distressed to justify a program of economic <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">rejuvenation</span> is entitled to our deference. The city has carefully formulated an economic development plan that it believes will provide appreciable benefits to the community, including - but by no means limited to - jobs and increased revenues." This majority opinion is important, because the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution provides "nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation." Many had interpreted this provision to mean that eminent domain could only be used to take property for public use, e.g., to build a road or a public school, but not for private purposes, like building upscale waterfront developments.<br /><br />The Associated Press just <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jV-KB6t5TnnZ4pF71h4oAiviGOSgD9AUJS5O0">published</a> an ironic follow-up.<br /><br /><blockquote><em>Weeds, glass, bricks, pieces of pipe and shingle splinters have replaced the knot of aging homes at the site of the nation's most notorious eminent domain project</em>.<br /><br />There are a few signs of life: Feral cats glare at visitors from a miniature jungle of Queen Anne's lace, thistle and goldenrod. Gulls swoop between the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-error">lot's</span> towering trees and the adjacent sewage treatment plant.<br /><br />But what of the promised building boom that was supposed to come wrapped and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-error">ribboned</span> with up to 3,169 new jobs and $1.2 million a year in tax revenues? They are noticeably missing. </blockquote><br />What happened?<br /><br /><blockquote>New London the city's prized economic development plan has fallen apart as the economy crumbled.<br /><br />The <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_11" class="blsp-spelling-error">Corcoran</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_12" class="blsp-spelling-error">Jennison</span> Cos., a Boston-based developer, had originally locked in exclusive rights to develop nearly the entire northern half of the Fort Trumbull peninsula.<br /><br />But those rights expired in June 2008, despite multiple extensions, because the firm was unable to secure financing, according to President Marty Jones. </blockquote><br />So that was the result of the economic development plan the Supreme Court majority termed "carefully formulated." The lesson seems to be that when government makes policy to favor individual corporations, the results are bad policy and little public benefit. Government leaders often seem willing to favor specific health care organizations, rationalizing their actions in terms of economic development or promoting health and health care. Doing so may benefit the corporations involved, but rarely individual or public health. <br /><br />Although US local and national government officials have have increasingly practiced such corporate socialism, they have neglected their regulatory roles. Instead of picking winners and losers, government would do better to act like a combination of an honest policeman on the beat, deterring and punishing dishonest behavior, and in impartial <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_13" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">referee</span>, trying to make sure everyone is playing the game honestly. But no doubt government officials used to mingling with the corporate <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_14" class="blsp-spelling-error">superclass</span> would not be comfortable in the roles of honest cop or impartial <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_15" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">referee</span>.

The Kelo Case Redux: Pfizer's "Nice Place" Ends Up Covered with Weeds

Four years ago we posted ( here , here and here ) about the controversial US Supreme Court decision in the Kelo case. Most discussion of t...

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Keep up with the latest trends using Google Search

Today, we're launching a new web search feature that will help you stay in touch with the latest trends on the web.<br /><br />You might already be familiar with <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends">Hot Trends</a>, which lists the fastest rising searches on the web at any given hour. Now, when you search Google.com and your query matches one of the top 100 fastest-rising search terms, we'll show you a graph at the bottom of page, with more information — like how popular the query is, how fast it's rising over time, and other useful data.<br /><br />Below is a picture of what you'd find today if you searched for [<a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=reina+capodici">reina capodici</a>], who just wed American Idol star Justin Guarini. Or try another example: [<a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=gotthard+base+tunnel">gotthard base tunnel</a>], which is set to become the longest tunnel in the world. (But make sure you search for these examples today — nothing stays hot for long.)<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZYqYi4xigk/SsE9xrTLCAI/AAAAAAAAEnc/nNTQoLwr7Xg/s1600-h/dczchqb_44gm4wtkgz_b.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386654552957847554" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZYqYi4xigk/SsE9xrTLCAI/AAAAAAAAEnc/nNTQoLwr7Xg/s400/dczchqb_44gm4wtkgz_b.png" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 95px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br /><div>To coincide with this change, we've also reduced the number of trends listed on the Google Hot Trends homepage to 40 from 100. This feature, however, will show up for any query that matches the top 100. We hope this change will make for a simpler user experience, and help you focus better on the top, most interesting content.<br /><br />This new feature is available in the U.S. and Japan. We hope it will help you keep up with everything there's to know about the latest trends online. No more being out of the loop at your office watercooler!<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Aaron Wise, Associate Product Manager and Hiroshi Kuraoka, Product Manager</span><br /></div>

Keep up with the latest trends using Google Search

Today, we're launching a new web search feature that will help you stay in touch with the latest trends on the web. You might already be...

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Back to school with Google Docs

As interns on the <a href="http://docs.google.com/">Google Docs</a> team this past summer, we were excited to be able to work on making Google Docs that much more useful for students like us. We've now added a bunch of back to school features which should help our fellow students make the transition from summer to school that much easier — and we hope they'll be useful to you non-students as well!<br /><br />We created an equation editor so you can easily complete problem sets online or write papers that include equations. If you're taking math, you can now take notes in class or answer questions using Google Docs.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZYqYi4xigk/SsD9HkHVUPI/AAAAAAAAEmY/Y_acqVMETxs/s1600-h/dcfknv9p_86ftfp26fj_b.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386583460730458354" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZYqYi4xigk/SsD9HkHVUPI/AAAAAAAAEmY/Y_acqVMETxs/s400/dcfknv9p_86ftfp26fj_b.png" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 269px;" /></a><br /><div>In the same vein, we also added superscripts and subscripts — perfect for expressing chemical compounds or algebraic expressions:<br /><br /><iframe src="http://docs.google.com/present/embed?id=d7qpvbb_48cd8cr6d4" frameborder="0" width="410" height="342"></iframe><br /><br />For language enthusiasts, we integrated <a href="http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2009/08/translate-documents-sharing-across.html">translation features</a> into Google Docs. You can translate either a single word or an entire document — handy for making sure you're on the right track when writing those foreign language essays.<br /><br />For those of you conducting surveys, we added a "Go to page based on answer" option in Google forms, making it easy to show participants only those questions that are relevant to them.<br /><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';font-size:11px;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZYqYi4xigk/SsD9IT0SckI/AAAAAAAAEmg/_ZYlAtedFWY/s1600-h/dcfknv9p_85srpm76gx_b.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386583473535480386" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZYqYi4xigk/SsD9IT0SckI/AAAAAAAAEmg/_ZYlAtedFWY/s400/dcfknv9p_85srpm76gx_b.png" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 289px;" /></a></span><br /></div><div>We also came up with a few features for humanities buffs. To make outlining term papers more customizable, we made it easy to select different bulleting styles for lists by adding an option to the format menu. And when that paper is written and ready to turn in, you now have the option to print footnotes as endnotes for a cleaner-looking paper.<br /><br />We hope these new features make collaboration in Google Docs even more convenient, whether you're editing group presentations from across campus or collecting survey data from friends. In fact, we've created this video to show how collaboration can even help you out with your "extracurricular" activities:<br /><br /><object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/A7y7NafWXeM&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/A7y7NafWXeM&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object><br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Rita Chen and Stephanie Vezich, Google Docs Summer Interns</span></div></div>

Back to school with Google Docs

As interns on the Google Docs team this past summer, we were excited to be able to work on making Google Docs that much more useful for stu...

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More insight into claimed content on YouTube

<span style="font-style: italic;">(Cross-posted from the <a href="http://ytbizblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/more-insight-into-claimed-content-on.html">YouTube Biz Blog</a>)</span><br /><br />We announced last week that we now have <a href="http://ytbizblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/over-1000-content-owners-now-using.html">over 1,000 partners</a> using our content identification and management tools to control how and where their videos are distributed on YouTube. Every major U.S. network broadcaster, movie studio and music label is using <a href="http://www.youtube.com/t/contentid">Content ID</a> to identify user-uploaded versions of their videos, and decide whether they to want block, track or make money from them. As Content ID is proving to be an effective way for media companies <a href="http://ytbizblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/i-now-pronounce-you-monetized-youtube_30.html">to control, promote and monetize</a><a href="http://ytbizblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/i-now-pronounce-you-monetized-youtube_30.html"> their content </a>on our site, we're always thinking about how we can make these tools even more valuable for content owners of all kinds.<br /><br />Today, we're excited to integrate Content ID with <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/insight-into-youtube-videos.html">YouTube Insight</a>. Previously, when you claimed a video with Content ID, we were only able to show you basic information (like view counts and tags) associated with the video you claimed. But now, all the statistics and data we share directly with uploaders in YouTube Insight is available to Content ID partners too, making our content management tools more useful than ever — especially for partners whose claimed user videos generate lots of views for them. For example, using Insight with claimed content, Sony Music learned that the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0">JK Wedding Entrance Dance</a> video is currently the music label's 8th most popular video on YouTube.<br /><br />In addition to rankings, you can also learn about demographics, discovery sources and other metrics for videos that you've claimed, and then compare them to your own uploads. Do the audience demographics of a claimed video differ from those of the official version? What websites or search terms drive the most traffic to user uploaded versions of your content? We think integrating Content ID and Insight can help answer questions like these and will be very helpful as you think about distributing, marketing and making money from your content online.<br /><br />If you're a Content ID partner, you can find this new information in the Reporting section of your CMS (Content Management System) account.<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Martin Landers, Insight Software Engineer and Walter Lee, Content ID Product Manager</span>

More insight into claimed content on YouTube

(Cross-posted from the YouTube Biz Blog ) We announced last week that we now have over 1,000 partners using our content identification and ...

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Malpractices of the multitude revisited: "An outstanding job of educating themselves about clinical issues"

At numerous posts at Healthcare Renewal, we have pointed out what we feel to be a serious gap in the credentials of many in biomedical leadership roles.<br /><br />The gaps are in the form of a near complete lack of any scientific or biomedical education and experience, except perhaps a high school chemistry and biology class or two.<br /><br />We often receive comments back, usually from "anonymous" posters such as <a href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9551150&postID=5185319720165437636&isPopup=true">here</a> to our opinions that this expertise gap impairs the judgment of such leaders on medical matters:<br /><br /><blockquote>... No. I've met individuals with management training who do an outstanding job of <span style="font-weight: bold;">educating themselves about clinical issues</span>. And I've met individuals with clinical training who do an outstanding job of educating themselves about management and business issues.</blockquote><br />I feel this "anyone can be an expert" sentiment is an important issue to bring outside of the comments section of our posts.<br /><br />I raised probing questions in response to such messages <a href="http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2009/09/more-on-healthcare-management-by-domain.html#comments">here</a> in my post "<a href="http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2009/09/more-on-healthcare-management-by-domain.html">More On Healthcare Management By Domain Neutral Generalists: CIO's Running Hospital Pharmacies and Home Healthcare Divisions?</a>"<br /><br />Here are my most recent questions to the above anonymous medical self-education proponent:<br /><br /><i>Re: "I've met individuals with management training who do an outstanding job of educating themselves about clinical issues.</i>"<br /><br /><blockquote>What, exactly, is it that individuals with management training who do an outstanding job of "<span style="font-weight: bold;">educating themselves about clinical issue</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">s</span>" are professionally or even reasonably qualified to do?<br /><br />Could they pass medical boards?<br /><br />Could they reasonably interpret a complex medical article in, say, The Annals, and make truly informed, wise decisions based on that reading?<br /><br />Could they reasonably evaluate therapeutic alternatives in complex cases, say, someone with a new heart valve who's just developed fever and a lower GI bleed?<br /><br />In an emergency could they provide medical care? (mot in the legal sense, just in the skills sense.)<br /><br />If not, why not, and what do you mean by "outstanding job?"<br /><br />In comparison, I have no MBA or formal business training (other than working for years in my father's pharmacy as a stocker and cashier) but did a good job managing a department of 50+ and a budget of $13 million for an international pharma, solving severe business problems that had been impairing R&D and managing my budget consistently to within 0.5% of EA.<br /><br />Is there perhaps an asymmetry between medicine and business?<br /></blockquote><br />Finally, I ask:<br /><br /><blockquote>What percentage of a typical medical training curriculum (such as for a Pharm.D. <a href="http://www.hsc.wvu.edu/sop/students/Curriculum/Curriculum2011_2012_2013_fall2009.htm">here</a> or a physician <a href="http://www.bumc.bu.edu/admissions/curriculum/">here</a>) can a person with a management background absorb through self-education, and is the medical training curriculum therefore irrelevant? Should we just go back to the days of self-trained practitioners? If not, why not?<br /></blockquote><br />The critically thought-out answers to these questions expose the territorial invasion of medicine by ill-suited outsiders and dilettantes quite well.<br /><br />Echoing an observation I wrote about once before in my <a href="http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2009/03/malpractices-of-multitudes-mission.html">eight part series on mission hostile EMR's</a>, but addressing it to medical administration where it also applies:<br /><br />Medical administration reminds me of <span style="font-weight: bold;">dentistry</span> in its early days, especially when medical administrators lacking biomedical expertise refer to themselves as "medical professionals."<br /><br />B.T. Longbothom, author of the second dentistry book published in the U.S. ("<span style="font-style: italic;">A Treatise on Dentistry</span>", 1802), gave an excellent description in his preface of problems at the time. His observations apply to medical administration in our present age:<br /><br /><blockquote style="font-family:arial;">The word "dentist" has been so <span style="font-weight: bold;">infamously abused by ignorant pretenders</span>, and is in general <span style="font-weight: bold;">so indifferently understood</span>, that I cannot forbear giving what I conceive to be its original meaning: viz, the profession of one who undertakes and is capable not only of cleaning, extracting, replacing by transplantation and making artificial teeth, but can also from his knowledge of dentistry, preserve those that remain in good condition, prevent in a very great degree, those that are loose, or those that are in a decayed state, from being further injured, and can guard against the several diseases, to which the teeth, gums and mouth are liable, a knowledge <span style="font-weight: bold;">none but </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">those regularly instructed, and who have had a long, and extensive practice, can possibly attain, but which is absolutely necessary, to complete the character of a Surgeon Dentist.</span></blockquote><br />Hardly anyone spoke out.<br /><br />More than thirty years later, untrained practitioners were as prevalent as ever. One of the leading dentists of the time, Shearjashub Spooner, in his "<span style="font-style: italic;">Guide to Sound Teeth, or, A Popular Treatise on the Teeth</span>" (1836) warned the public of a phenomenon I believe now applies to medical administration:<br /><blockquote style="font-family:arial;"><br />One thing is certain, this profession must either <span style="font-weight: bold;">rise or sink.</span> If means are not taken to <span style="font-weight: bold;">suppress and discountenance the malpractices of the multitude of incompetent persons</span>, who are pressing into it, <span style="font-weight: bold;">merely for the sake of its emoluments</span>, it must sink, - for the few competent and well educated men, who are now upholding it, will <span style="font-weight: bold;">abandon a disreputable profession</span>, in a country of enterprise like ours, and turn their attention to some other calling more <span style="font-weight: bold;">congenial to the feelings of honorable and enlightened men.</span></blockquote><br />I understand that point of view.<br /><br />-- SS

Malpractices of the multitude revisited: "An outstanding job of educating themselves about clinical issues"

At numerous posts at Healthcare Renewal, we have pointed out what we feel to be a serious gap in the credentials of many in biomedical leade...

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Congress expects physicians to implement EHR's when they can't post a PDF on the web?

Congress expects physicians to implement EHR's and review patient histories in detail, when they can't even review their own bills before acting, and post a PDF on the web?<br /><br />This has to be the lamest, most inept, and/or most patronizing Congress in history (with approval ratings to match, 16% as of Sept. 25 according to <a href="http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/congressional_performance">Rasmussen</a>):<br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">Washington Examiner</span><br /><a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Baucus-claims-its-too-difficult-to-put-health-care-bill-online-61246377.html">Baucus claims it's too difficult to put health care bill online</a><br />By: BARBARA HOLLINGSWORTH<br />09/24/09<br /><br />A proposal by Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., that would have required the Senate Finance Committee to post the final language of the $900 billion health care reform bill, as well as a Congressional Budget Office cost analysis, on the committee’s website for 72 hours prior to a vote was rejected 12-11.<br /><br />... Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., himself admitted that “This probably sounds a little crazy to some people that we are voting on something before we have seen legislative language.” Indeed.<br /><br />Baucus’ excuse - that it <span style="font-weight: bold;">would take his committee staff two weeks to post the bill online</span> – sounds a little crazy too.<br /><br /></blockquote>This very same Congress is pushing physicians to implement EHR's under penalty of Medicare payment reductions, while they claim an inability to post a PDF or Word document online. Implementing EHR's is only <a href="http://www.ischool.drexel.edu/faculty/ssilverstein/medinfo.htm">several orders of magnitude more complex</a>...<br /><br />Or, perhaps the "inability" to post the text has to do with text that appears at pages 80-81 of the bill:<br /><blockquote><br />"Beginning in 2015, payment [under Medicare] would be reduced by five percent if an <span style="font-weight: bold;">aggregation of the physician's resource</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">use</span> is at or above the 90th percentile of national utilization." Thus, in any year in which a particular doctor's average per-patient Medicare costs are in the top 10 percent in the nation, the feds will cut the doctor's payments by 5 percent."</blockquote><br />As in the <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/sep/25/death-panels-by-proxy/">Washington Times</a>:<br /><blockquote><br />This provision makes <span style="font-weight: bold;">no account for the results of care</span>, <span style="font-weight: bold;">its quality or even its efficiency</span>. It just says that if a doctor authorizes expensive care, no matter how successfully, the government will punish him by scrimping on what already is a low reimbursement rate for treating Medicare patients. The incentive, therefore, is for the doctor always to provide less care for his patients for fear of having his payments docked.<br /><br />And because <span style="font-weight: bold;">no doctor will know who falls in the top 10 percent until year's end, or what total average costs will break the 10 percent threshold, the pressure will be intense to withhold care</span>, and withhold care again, and then withhold it some more. Or at least to prescribe cheaper care, no matter how much less effective, in order to avoid the penalties.<br /></blockquote><br />No metrics on quality of care, outcomes, patient satisfaction, or other aspects of the complex process of medical care are apparently involved. Just an "aggregation of the physician's resource use."<br /><br />May I use the words "capricious and arbitrary" to describe this metric?<br /><br />Now, we should ask:<br /><br /><ul><li>Is this what our government means by "data driven healthcare?"</li><li>Do they realize the likely adverse consequences of such half-baked measures?</li><li>Are those who would propose such a bill friends of patients, and friends of physicians?</li></ul><br />Where have I seen this before? (How about: biomedical dilettantes helping <a href="http://www.ischool.drexel.edu/faculty/ssilverstein/failurecases/?loc=cases&sloc=pharma">impair R&D</a> at a pharmaceutical company, now in sale mode due to a poor pipeline of new drugs, through cutting drug discovery resources on the simplistic metric of "cost per user per database?")<br /><br />Ultimately, this Medicare strategy is the end result of allowing medical dilettantes (no matter how well they've "self educated" themselves about medicine) to control the playing field. It is a poster example of a perverse incentive in direct conflict with the obligation of physicians to provide the best care.<br /><br />In the end, patients and physicians get screwed.<br /><br />-- SS

Congress expects physicians to implement EHR's when they can't post a PDF on the web?

Congress expects physicians to implement EHR's and review patient histories in detail, when they can't even review their own bills b...

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GHOSTING MATILDA

The fall season is upon us and the markets are filled with advertising for Halloween, so our thoughts naturally turn to the recent stories of ghostwriting in medical journals. Here is a lighthearted take on that topic. This parody began on <a href="http://www.margaretsoltan.com/?p=17582">Margaret Soltan’s blog</a> a few days ago, and it has just kept growing.<br /><br /><strong>GHOSTING MATILDA</strong><br /><br />Once a jolly bagman signed on to some articles.<br />Corporate ghosts even promised him a fee.<br />And he sang as he watched and waited till they were in print,<br />These will be grand right up there on my CV.<br /><br />Ghosting Matilda, ghosting Matilda,<br />Who’ll come a-ghosting Matilda with me?<br />And he sang as he watched and waited till they were in print,<br />These will be grand right up there on my CV.<br /><br />This month it’s Janssen, next it’s Bristol-Myers Squibb.<br />Wyeth and Lilly soon might want to talk to me.<br />Novartis might sign me up, also AstraZeneca ─<br />Soon I’ll be famous like that guy at Emory.<br /><br />Ghosting Matilda, ghosting Matilda,<br />Who’ll come a-ghosting Matilda with me?<br />Novartis might sign me up, also AstraZeneca ─<br />Soon I’ll be famous like that guy at Emory.<br /><br />Up came an editor, looking for the telltale signs.<br />Ghost writing’s hard to cover up, you see.<br />And he found them in the documents: metadata do not lie ─<br />Bagman just sold his name and passed these off on me.<br /><br />Ghosting Matilda, ghosting Matilda,<br />Who’ll come a-ghosting Matilda with me?<br />And he found them in the documents: metadata do not lie ─<br />Bagman just sold his name and passed these off on me.<br /><br />Up jumped the bagman, pointing fingers right and left,<br />You’ll never prove that I lied, said he.<br />I will say that underlings failed to send disclosure forms;<br />Let them be blamed instead, while I get off scot-free.<br /><br />Ghosting Matilda, ghosting Matilda,<br />Who’ll come a-ghosting Matilda with me?<br />I will say that underlings failed to send disclosure forms;<br />Let them be blamed instead, while I get off scot-free.<br /><br />Out! said the editor, you’re now <em>persona non grata</em>.<br />So, too, the Dean and the Provost agreed.<br />Bagman’s ghost may be heard now, sighing in the library ─<br />Could have been grand right up there on my CV.<br /><br />Ghosting Matilda, ghosting Matilda,<br />Who’ll come a-ghosting Matilda with me?<br />Bagman’s ghost may be heard now, sighing in the library ─<br />Could have been grand right up there on my CV.

GHOSTING MATILDA

The fall season is upon us and the markets are filled with advertising for Halloween, so our thoughts naturally turn to the recent stories o...

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Jump to the information you want right from the search snippets

For most search results, Google shows you a few lines of text to give you an idea of what the page is about — we call this a "search snippet." Recently, we've enhanced the search snippet with two new features that make it easier to find information buried deep within a page.<br /><br />Normally, a search snippet shows how a page, as a whole, relates to a your query by excerpting content that appears near and around where your query terms show on the page. But what if only one section of the page is relevant to your search?<br /><br />That's where these new features can help, by providing links within the snippet to relevant sections of the page, making it faster and easier to find what you're looking for. Imagine, for example, that we're researching trans fats and cholesterol, and their effects on the body. If we start with a generic query like [<a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=trans+fats">trans fats</a>], Google returns several results with lots of information about trans fats in general, including this result from Wikipedia:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZYqYi4xigk/Sr0CZlPUzwI/AAAAAAAAElo/UEKU8cQg_8M/s1600-h/sp1.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5385463367921356546" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZYqYi4xigk/Sr0CZlPUzwI/AAAAAAAAElo/UEKU8cQg_8M/s400/sp1.png" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 62px;" /></a>Now, included with the snippet are links to specific sections within the page, covering different subtopics of trans fats. Since we're particularly interested in what's healthy and what's not, "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans_fat#Nutritional_guidelines">Nutritional guidelines</a>" is probably where the most relevant information is. Clicking this link will take you directly to that section, midway down the page.<br /><br />Now imagine we're particularly interested in learning about good cholesterol and what levels of it are healthy, so we try a more specific query, [<a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=good+cholesterol+level">good cholesterol level</a>]. The top result is from the American Heart Association and has tons of information about cholesterol levels. The specific information about good (HDL) cholesterol, however, is contained in one section titled "Your HDL (good) cholesterol level"‎. Since the query was more specific, the snippet for this result now provides the option to "jump to" just this section of the website.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZYqYi4xigk/Sr0CaJSQ-tI/AAAAAAAAElw/Pixn9WuI_CM/s1600-h/sp2.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5385463377597364946" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZYqYi4xigk/Sr0CaJSQ-tI/AAAAAAAAElw/Pixn9WuI_CM/s400/sp2.png" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 63px;" /></a><br />Clicking on "<a href="http://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml%3Fidentifier%3D183%23HDL&usg=AFQjCNEfCN2c_HMJHmvxopdKBvrfQ3avLA&ei=99q7SsvzJoPANYqxlMAL&sa=X&oi=section_link&resnum=1&ct=legacy">Jump to Your HDL (<span style="font-weight: bold;">good</span>) <span style="font-weight: bold;">cholesterol level</span></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">‎</span>" takes you directly to the most relevant information on the page:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZYqYi4xigk/Sr0Caav_iZI/AAAAAAAAEl4/YQE4PdCJhUU/s1600-h/sp3.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5385463382285453714" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZYqYi4xigk/Sr0Caav_iZI/AAAAAAAAEl4/YQE4PdCJhUU/s400/sp3.png" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 201px;" /></a><br />Clicking on the title of the snippet ("What Your Cholesterol Levels Mean") still takes you to the top of the page, as always.<br /><br />If you're a webmaster and would like to have these links appear for your webpages, take a look at the <a href="http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2009/09/using-named-anchors-to-identify.html">Google Webmaster Central Blog</a> for info on some of the things you can do. And in the meantime, we hope these enhancements help you find the information you're looking for faster.<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Chris Kern, Snippets Team</span>

Jump to the information you want right from the search snippets

For most search results, Google shows you a few lines of text to give you an idea of what the page is about — we call this a "search sn...

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The Reappearance of a Ghost of Seasons Past

About a year after we started Health Care Renewal, in late 2005, we wrote multiple posts about the complex and unfortunate case of Dr Aubrey Blumsohn's attempts to keep a research project honest. The early posts were <a href="http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2005/12/another-challenge-to-integrity-of.html">here</a>, <a href="http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2005/12/more-on-blumsohn-procter-gamble.html">here</a>, <a href="http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2005/12/no-protection-for-whistle-blowers.html">here</a>, and <a href="http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2005/12/paying-for-silence-updating-blumsohn.html">here</a>. In <a href="http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2005/12/more-summary-and-much-documentation-of.html">this post</a>, we summarized the case thus:<br /><br /><br /><ul><li>Dr Aubrey Blumsohn, a senior lecturer at Sheffield University, and Professor Richard Eastell performed a research project on the effects of the drug risedronate (<a href="http://www.actonel.com/index.jsp">Actonel</a>, made by Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals [P&G]) under a <a href="http://www.fraudinscience.org/PG/contract.pdf">contract</a> between P&G and the University.</li><li>Although the research contract designated Blumsohn and Eastell as "Investigators" under whose direction the project would be carried out, Blumsohn was not given access to the original data collected by the project.</li><li>Despite numerous requests, (like <a href="http://www.fraudinscience.org/PG/20050525mckay.pdf">this one</a>), P&G <a href="http://www.fraudinscience.org/PG/20030619email.htm">refused access </a>to this data <a href="http://www.fraudinscience.org/PG/attorneyreq.pdf">repeatedly</a>.<br />Blumsohn was concerned that he and Eastell could be accused of scientific fraud if they continued to make presentations and write articles and abstracts without access to the data which they were supposedly writing about.</li><li>Blumsohn became suspicious that some of the analyses done by P&G could be misleading, especially <a href="http://www.fraudinscience.org/PG/20030909audio.htm">related to a graph shown to him that omitted 40% of patient data</a>.</li><li>Blumsohn objected to <a href="http://www.fraudinscience.org/PG/20030424email.htm">P&G arranging for papers and abstracts to be written by a professional writer</a>, but with Blumsohn listed as first author. Blumsohn was concerned that such ghost-written documents were mainly meant to convey "key messages" in support of P&G's commercial interests.</li><li><a href="http://www.fraudinscience.org/PG/20030910audio.htm">Eastell warned Blumsohn </a>not to aggravate P&G, because the company was providing a grant to the University which "is a good source of income."</li><li>After repeated failed attempt to get the data, Blumsohn complained to numerous officials at Sheffield University, including <a href="http://www.fraudinscience.org/PG/20040526eastell.pdf">Eastell</a>, medical school Dean <a href="http://www.fraudinscience.org/PG/20050708weetman.pdf">Tony Weetman</a>, University Vice-Chancellor <a href="http://www.fraudinscience.org/PG/20050814bouche.pdf">Robert Boucher</a>, and the Head of the University's Department of Human Resources, <a href="http://www.fraudinscience.org/PG/20050627boucha.pdf">Ms R Valerio</a>.</li><li>Still unable to get the data, he spoke with news reporters about his case. At this point, Sheffield suspended him, but then <a href="http://www.fraudinscience.org/PG/gag.doc">offered him a severance agreement </a>if he signed a contract binding him not to make any detrimental or derogatory statements about the University and its leaders.</li></ul><p>So the case involved suppression and manipulation of research, ghost-writing, institutional conflicts of interest, and attempts to silence a whistle blower. It provides lessons about the downsides of letting commercial firms sponsor and hence control human research designed to evaluate the products or services they sell; and of academic medicine becoming dependent on research money from such firms for such research. Although Health Care Renewal, being US based, most often writes about such issues in the US, this case is a reminder that they are global. (Note that we posted more about this case in 2006, <a href="http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2006/01/more-fall-out-from-blumsohn-procter.html">here</a>, <a href="http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2006/02/blumsohn-tours-washington-to-raise.html">here</a> and <a href="http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2006/05/dr-aubrey-blumsohn-on-north-american.html">here</a>, but since then it has not gotten much public attention.)</p><p>Last weekend the (UK) Guardian <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/sep/18/doctors-ghost-writing-pharmaceutical-research">returned</a> to it:</p><br /><br /><blockquote>The Guardian has learned that one of Britain's leading bone specialists is facing disciplinary action over accusations that he was involved in 'ghost writing'.<br /><br /><em>The General Medical Council will call Professor Richard Eastell in front of a fitness to practice committee. Eastell, a bone expert at Sheffield University, has admitted he allowed his name to go forward as first author of a study on an osteoporosis drug even though he did not have access to all the data on which the study's conclusions were based</em>. An employee of Proctor and Gamble, the US company making Actonel, was the only author who had all the figures.<br /><br />Experts believe the practice is widespread in Britain.<br /><br />In a letter published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, which carried the original study, he stated: 'In the original paper one of the authors, a statistician working for P&G, Ian Barton, had full access to all the data.' The authors had full access to all the analyses of the data that they requested, he said – but those analyses were carried out by the company.<br /><br />The letter, published in 2007, also acknowledged flaws in the study. A later independent analysis of the data 'identified some errors and poor practice', he wrote. The study was designed to show the strengths of Actonel which was in fierce competition with a rival bone-strengthening drug called Fosamax, made by Merck.<br /><br />Eastell's paper concerned a study carried out on behalf of Proctor and Gamble, comparing the bone density of women prescribed Actonel with others who were not. Only the company knew which women were on the drug and which were taking something else.<br /><br />Eastell's colleague, Dr Aubrey Blumsohn, wanted the codes which would say which of the patients who suffered fractures had been on the drug. The company refused. Blumsohn took his concerns to Eastell, but in a conversation which Blumsohn says he taped , Eastell said he was concerned that persistent requests might damage the relationship they had with the company. Eastell is said to have told him: 'The only thing that we have to watch all the time is our relationship with P&G. Because … we have the big Sheffield Centre Grant [from P&G] which is a good source of income, we have got to really watch it.' . </blockquote><br />So, after four years, this case has generated an official hearing of sorts. The hearing is obviously late, and seemingly will only be devoted to only one aspect of this case (ghost writing). However, at least our friends in the UK are doing something. I cannot recall a single case that resulted in any serious consideration of imposing negative consequences on anyone who was accused of suppressing research, manipulating research, endorsing ghost-writing, or intimidating a whistle-blower. In fact, many of the more troubling cases have never resulted in any sort of public discussion either at the institutions at which they occurred, or at any organization with relevant regulatory, or even just moral authority. So the GMC hearing is at least a step forward. Two cheers for the British GMC, and none for US universities, academic medical centers, professional societies, and government regulators.<br /><br />(If anyone can remind me of a case in which there was a public discussion at the relevant institution, or some public consideration of the case by a regulatory agency, professional society, or some group with moral authority, please remind me of it, and I would be happy to post about it.)

The Reappearance of a Ghost of Seasons Past

About a year after we started Health Care Renewal, in late 2005, we wrote multiple posts about the complex and unfortunate case of Dr Aubrey...

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Place Pages for Google Maps: There are places we remember!

<a href="http://maps.google.com/">Google Maps</a> is a great tool for exploring places — you can pan around the map, zoom in and see nearby places, look around in Street View and search for whatever you want. But what I always wanted to do is be able to get a clear understanding of what a place is all about. Instead of doing the research all over the web, wouldn’t it be great to see all the information about one place in...one place?<br /><br />Starting today, you can do that on Place Pages for Google Maps. A Place Page is a webpage for every place in the world, organizing all the relevant information about it. By every place, we really mean *every* place — there are Place Pages for businesses, points of interest, transit stations, neighborhoods, landmarks and cities all over the world.<br /><br />You can get to a Place Page by clicking on "more info" in search results, or by clicking "more info" in the mini-bubble. Now, instead of just getting a slightly bigger bubble, you'll get an entire page of rich details, like photos, videos, a Street View preview, nearby transit, reviews and related websites.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZYqYi4xigk/SrvowFc_CeI/AAAAAAAAElY/MX3gVsfT1lM/s1600-h/placepageentry.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5385153692246673890" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZYqYi4xigk/SrvowFc_CeI/AAAAAAAAElY/MX3gVsfT1lM/s320/placepageentry.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 131px;" /></a><br />Here are some of my favorite places, and what you can discover about them using Place Pages:<br /><br /><a href="http://maps.google.com/places/us/san-francisco/guerrero-st/600/-tartine-bakery">Tartine Bakery</a>: My favorite bakery in the world. The "Place Summary" section compiles voices from all over the web praising the desserts but warning you about the lines. The "Details" section aggregates material from over 500 authoritative sources; for example, you can find the menu from Zagat.com. The "Related Maps" sections shows user-created maps that include this bakery, such as this delicious <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=104631940394313560320.0004390ad3794bfac38c0&ved=0CBEQkAUwAA&sa=X&ei=mt-5Soj3IYfijAOH3enyBg&sig2=ChZbEnS7J8Im92Jg1d_h8A">California dessert map</a>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://maps.google.com/places/us/san-francisco/guerrero-st/600/-tartine-bakery"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5385153689253711122" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZYqYi4xigk/Srvov6TaDRI/AAAAAAAAElQ/TeYZvpkDYB0/s320/placepagetartine.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 316px; height: 320px;" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/place?cid=10463731849571799424&q=yoda%2Bstatue%2Bsf">Yoda statue</a>: One of my childhood heroes in real size! The "User Content" section shows excerpts from all over the web describing this hidden little gem; "Nearby Transit" helps you find the best way to get there by public transport; and there’s even some useful local ads in case you want to get one of these at home.<br /><br /><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/place?ftid=0x60188b571aa41423:0x418522594924803e&q=tokyo">Tokyo</a>: I've spent a lot of time here lately as it's home to part of the Place Page team. On the city's Place Page, you can find out the most popular hotels, parks and major landmarks in Tokyo, browse local photos and videos, see what other people are searching for and access maps about the city from all over the web.<br /><br /><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/place?cid=2442679245943293040">Zurich Hauptbahnhof</a>: I’ve traveled through the central train station in Zurich several times over the last year, visiting the local team that made Place Pages possible. Place pages for transit stations are particularly useful because they'll show you a list of all the lines serving that station, as well as provide a timetable of upcoming departures. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://maps.google.com/maps/place?cid=2442679245943293040"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5385163990499149874" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZYqYi4xigk/SrvyHhbtSDI/AAAAAAAAElg/oPU98QCXw3k/s320/zurichfinal.png" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" /></a><br /><br />As the <a href="http://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHMB_enUS325US325&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=beatles+%22there+are+places+i+remember%22">Beatles' song</a> in this post's title suggests, we want to make it easy to remember places: pages will come with a friendly URL that is easy to remember and link to under google.com/places. For example, the San Francisco Place Page will be found at <a href="http://google.com/places/us/california/san-francisco-city">google.com/places/us/california/san-francisco-city</a>. Right now we include cities and most businesses, but we're working hard on bringing this to all Place Pages.<br /><br />We want there to be a Place Page for every place in the world, but we might be missing a few places here and there. If you're a business owner, you can add or update your business details through the <a href="http://www.google.com/lbc">Local Business Center</a>. This allows you to make sure your Place Page reflects the most accurate, authoritative and recent information about your business. And if you don’t have a business, but you discover a place that doesn’t have a Place Page, you can add it through <a href="http://maps.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=98014&cbid=1q5t41ccouhnp&src=cb&lev=topic">community edits</a> or <a href="http://google.com/mapmaker">Google Map Maker</a>, depending on the country you’re in.<br /><br />Whether you're searching for a great local florist or planning a trip across the globe, we hope Place Page for Google Maps makes your explorations easier and happier.<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Lior Ron, Senior Product Manager, Place Page team</span>

Place Pages for Google Maps: There are places we remember!

Google Maps is a great tool for exploring places — you can pan around the map, zoom in and see nearby places, look around in Street View an...

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Announcing Project 10^100 idea themes

Late last year we announced <a href="http://www.project10tothe100.com/">Project 10^100</a>, a call for ideas to help as many people as possible, and a program to bring the best of those ideas to life with a total of $10 million. We hoped to capture the imagination of people around the world and offer a way to bring their best ideas to fruition. We were overwhelmed by the response — you sent us more than 150,000 ideas (approximately 10^5.2) in more than 25 languages and it took more than 3,000 Googlers in offices around the world to review the submissions. (The review process took us much longer than we expected and we appreciate your patience!)<br /><br />Some ideas we received suggested broad areas of investment, others were very specific technology or implementation proposals, and many of the ideas shared overlapping elements. So rather than posting individual idea submissions, we've decided to do something a little different. We've pooled similar ideas into a set of 16 top idea themes aimed at addressing some important common goals, from making government more transparent to driving innovation in public transport. Every theme has different possible implementations and we intend to consider all reasonable possibilities. But we need your help.<br /><br />Over the next two weeks we'll be gathering your votes to help inform an advisory board that will then choose up to five winning ideas that will receive funding. After that, we'll present the finalists and ask for proposals from individuals or organizations that can implement these ideas.<br /><br />It has been a long road for those of us who have worked on this from the beginning. Although it took a lot longer than we first planned, we're pleased with the outcome. In the end, we followed the tried-and-true Google method of "launch and iterate." We enjoyed going through so many interesting proposals and adapted to the massive volume of ideas. We are incredibly proud to be able to put these 16 ideas in front of you to see what you think. Let the <a href="http://www.project10tothe100.com/vote.html">voting</a> begin!<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by the Project 10^100 Team</span>

Announcing Project 10^100 idea themes

Late last year we announced Project 10^100 , a call for ideas to help as many people as possible, and a program to bring the best of those i...

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Fast.Forward. Connecting marketers with innovative ideas (and other marketers)

In this ever-changing digital environment, it can often be tough for businesses and marketers to keep up and maintain relevance to consumers. To help out, we've partnered with The Wharton School to launch <a href="http://www.youtube.com/fastforward">Fast.Forward.</a> This site is full of helpful content, including more than 100 videos from leading industry experts — like our own CEO, Eric Schmidt — and academics like <a href="http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/faculty/windj.html">Jerry Wind</a>, Lauder Professor at The Wharton School, offering their perspectives on the changing world of marketing.<br /><br />You can read all about it on our <a href="http://ytbizblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/fastforward-connecting-marketers-with.html">YouTube Biz Blog</a>.<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Cindy Goodrich, Google Business Marketing</span>

Fast.Forward. Connecting marketers with innovative ideas (and other marketers)

In this ever-changing digital environment, it can often be tough for businesses and marketers to keep up and maintain relevance to consumers...

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Why Have Governing Boards Forsaken Their Duties? - Ideas from Silverglate and Malchow

We have posted frequently about the governance and leadership of academic medical organizations. While one would think that health care organizations, and especially academic health care organizations ought to be held to a particularly high standard of governance, we have noted how their governance is often unrepresentative of key constituencies, opaque, unaccountable, unsupportive of the academic and health care mission, and not subject to codes of ethics. How the governance of organizations with such exemplary missions and sterling reputations got this way has been unclear.<br /><br />Now there are new insights from the ongoing discussion of one of the most interesting and controversial cases of disputed organizational governance. We have often come back to the example of Dartmouth College, of which Dartmouth Medical School is a significant component. We most recently discussed <a href="http://www.blogger.com/http//hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2009/04/investment-bankers-strike-back.html">here</a> an ongoing dispute about the extent that the institution's board of trustees ought to represent the alumni at large, or instead, ought to be a self-elected body not clearly accountable to anyone else. (For our take on this complex case, start <a href="http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2009/04/investment-bankers-strike-back.html">here</a> and follow the links backward.) The latest development in the case is a lawsuit filed by Dartmouth alumni challenging an increase in the number of self-elected, or "charter" trustees, which they charged broke an 1891 agreement that established numerical parity between alumni-elected and charter trustees.<br /><br />Soon after this lawsuit was filed, an <a href="http://www.dartblog.com/data/media/Silverglate_Malchow_Fiduciary_Duty_9-09.pdf">important article </a>by Harvey Silverglate (one of the founders of FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) and Joseph Malchow appeared. For those interested in the case, the article includes extensive detail, with multiple citations, on all the twists and turns of the case, and is very much worth reading. (See <a href="http://www.thefire.org/article/11058.html">this post </a>on FIRE's Torch blog for more background and discussion.)<br /><br />However, the article also features extensive scholarship on governance of US not-for-profit institutions, focused on academic institutions (including medical academia), and with relevance to other not-for-profit or non-governmental health care organizations. In particular, the article sheds light on how the governance of such organizations has become so degraded.<br /><br />First, Silverglate and Malchow summarized the duties of governing boards:<br /><br /><blockquote><br />Traditionally, fiduciary duty [of the board of trustees] has been understood as having two components: <em><strong>the duty of loyalty</strong></em> and the <em><strong>duty of care</strong></em>. The duty of loyalty requires a fiduciary to <em>act in a manner he or she reasonably believes to be in the best interests of the organization</em>. The duty of care obliges directors to <em>inform themselves of reasonably available information prior to making a business decision</em>. More recently, courts have considered <strong><em>the duty to act in good faith</em></strong> [the duty of obedience] as a fiduciary requirement. This component, similar to the duty of care, is satisfied when a director <em>makes informed decisions without conflicts of interest</em>.<br /><br />The question central to the dispute regarding Dartmouth governance is to what or to whom do fiduciaries owe their duty. Corporate directors have a relatively straightforward task of serving the corporation and its shareholders. In the case of a charitable trust, however, which generally does not have 'ascertainable beneficiaries who can enforce their rights,' <em><strong>the duty of fiduciaries is instead directed toward fulfilling or furthering the organization’s mission</strong></em><br /></blockquote><br /><br />So just to summarize, considerable discussion, scholarship, and I believe some some laws support the notion that the board of a not-for-profit organization is obliged to take reasonable care to make informed decisions free of conflicts of interest to uphold the organization's mission.<br /><br />However, currently, many boards <em>value deference to the organization's (usually hired) top managers and avoidance of internal conflict within the board more highly</em> than these obligations:<br /><br /><blockquote>Dartmouth, to be sure, is far from the only place where <em>fealty to organizational leaders—and the notion of 'going along in order to get along' —has been placed before true fiduciary duty.<br /></em></blockquote><br />Silverglate and Malchow have some important ideas about how we came to this.<br /><br /><em>Not-for-profits became more like for-profit corporations</em>:<br /><br /><blockquote>During the 1980s, traditional nonprofit organizations supported by donations and governed by donors and volunteers became <em>increasingly displaced by professionally staffed commercial nonprofits, supported by grants, contracts, and earned income, and governed by insider boards.</em> The shift in governance was armored by <em>progressively professionalized and entrepreneurial management</em>, which was perceived to be more adept at control of the ebb and flow of funds in the American market. </blockquote><br />Top hired not-for-profit <em>executives assumed more power at the expense of other constituencies, including the professionals who did the work</em>:<br /><br /><blockquote>By the 1990s, with faculty power firmly institutionalized at colleges and universities, <em>a notion that university presidents were bereft of power took hold</em>. The AGB [Association of Governing Boards], in 1996, argued that university presidents <em>needed to regain power</em> with a pivotal document of its own: Renewing the Academic Presidency: Stronger Leadership for Tougher Times. Though this outlook was applied to varying degrees at colleges and universities, an <em>imperative toward greater executive power in universities was thus established.<br /></em><br /><em>Presidential and professorial decision-making power, combined with the rise of the administrative bureaucracy in academia, have generally relegated trustees to a secondary role</em> in campus affairs. </blockquote><br />Attempts at reforming governance were <em>inappropriately based on a for-profit corporate model, and particularly the need to project unity and avoid confrontation among the leadership trumped transparency</em>:<br /><br /><blockquote>Aligning academic boards with the cultural trends of increased critical oversight has obvious benefits, but some boards have <em>moved to adopt the norms of for-profit corporate governance that are simply not applicable to the university context</em>. Admittedly, this is a thin distinction when considered on a theoretical level. But in practical terms, <em>misguided nonprofit reforms—some of which, upon close examination, actually violate an institution’s mission</em>—are readily evident.<br /><br />For example, some nonprofit boards have emphasized the adoption of <em>formal nondisclosure pledges or confidentiality agreements that step well beyond nondisclosure of proprietary information.</em> This is hardly uncommon in the business sector, where bottom-line strictures demand a certain degree of internal accord and non-transparency. And though there is evidence that nonprofit board directors have, from time to time, attempted to hush public dissent, only recently have dominant majorities of some nonprofit boards proposed and ratified binding pledges not to publicly air differences. According to a 2006 BoardSource publication, <em>'If a board member does not support a decision for whatever reason, [he or] she has a responsibility to remain silent or step down from the board.' </em>(Recall the resignation offer made to Zywicki before his second term was denied.)<br /><br />These directives, written in highly influential publications in the realm of university governance, disregard the important role that public discussion has on decision-making at universities and nonprofits in general. 'In the nonprofit context, nondisclosure agreements or the use of 'executive session' rules to curtail debates about policy and procedure depart from established norms. They shut down opportunities for public dialogue and for communication with other concerned and influential parties, including reporters,' nonprofit specialist Norman I. Silber wrote in the Oregon Law Review. </blockquote><br />Emphasis on raising money rather than upholding the mission has lead to board deference to hired executives.<br /><br /><blockquote><em>Fidelity to institutional leaders, rather than institutional mission, is now paramount in higher education, as deviation from accepted decisions is perceived as potentially shrinking the donor base. Administrators cringe at public disagreement</em>; rather than focusing on the long-term likelihood that competing ideas will result in implementation of the fittest, they tend to focus on the short-term possibility that a particular alumni subset may be offended. This shortsighted outlook is not only an insult to the intelligence of alumni and other constituencies, but it is ultimately detrimental to the institution, as established ideas are enthroned and unchallenged. It is also based on false premises: as in the case of Dartmouth, there is no established correlation between public criticism and donor decline. </blockquote><br /><br />Boards are increasingly <em>composed of executives of for-profit corporations</em>, particularly in the finance field, who may grant the same deference to the organizations' leaders that they would like from their own board. That is, <em>hired executives identify more with other executives than with the organizations they are supposed to be leading</em>:<br /><br /><blockquote><br />Judge Cabranes noted that <em>trustees, especially business executives, tend to act toward university presidents as they wish their boards would act toward them—deferentially.</em> And the phenomenon of board members believing they serve at the pleasure of the executive is what one nonprofit attorney and blogger, has termed 'upside down board.' <em>The ascendance of the hedge-fund community, a peculiar province of graduates of elite institutions,</em> has contributed to the prevalence of the upside down board....<br /></blockquote><br /><br />The article suggests some issues that need to be addressed to make governance more accountable, transparent, ethical and honest. Boards need to be reminded of their duties, and that their loyalty should be to the mission, not the organization's executives, or the views of the board's majority. Transparency and open discussion are more important than projecting the (sometimes false) impression of unity. New board members should be chosen for their loyalty to the mission rather than their similarity to and congeniality with current board members.<br /><br />I strongly suggest that anyone who cares about how health care organizations are run ought to read Silverglate and Malchow's full article. It should be required reading for current and would-be board members of academic and health care not-for-profit organizations (but I will not hold my breath waiting for them to read it.)

Why Have Governing Boards Forsaken Their Duties? - Ideas from Silverglate and Malchow

We have posted frequently about the governance and leadership of academic medical organizations. While one would think that health care orga...

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Help and learn from others as you browse the web: Google Sidewiki

As you browse the web, it's easy to forget how many people visit the same pages and look for the same information. Whether you're researching <a href="http://www.google.com/sidewiki/entry/117213073072448275065/id/Fegil0nf8ivzC6iIB8MU0XREs3A">advice on heart disease prevention</a> or looking for <a href="http://www.google.com/sidewiki/entry/oklahomazeppelin/id/Dys9NgtwlW1uI1a1-R8-grlgxOw">museums to visit in New York City</a>, many others have done the same and could have added their knowledge along the way.<br /><br />What if everyone, from a local expert to a renowned doctor, had an easy way of sharing their insights with you about any page on the web? What if you could add your own insights for others who are passing through?<br /><br />Now you can. Today, we're launching Google Sidewiki, which allows you to contribute helpful information next to any webpage. Google Sidewiki appears as a browser sidebar, where you can read and write entries along the side of the page.<br /><br /><object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/CsjJOsx84MA&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/CsjJOsx84MA&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object><br /><br />In developing Sidewiki, we wanted to make sure that you'll see the most relevant entries first. We worked hard from the beginning to figure out which ones should appear on top and how to best order them. So instead of displaying the most recent entries first, we rank Sidewiki entries using an algorithm that promotes the most useful, high-quality entries. It takes into account feedback from you and other users, previous entries made by the same author and many other signals we developed. If you're curious, you can <a href="http://googleresearch.blogspot.com/2009/06/large-scale-graph-computing-at-google.html">read more</a> on our Google Research Blog about the infrastructure we use for ranking all entries in real-time.<br /><br />Under the hood, we have even more technology that will take your entry about the current page and show it next to webpages that contain the same snippet of text. For example, an entry on a speech by President Obama will appear on all webpages that include the same quote. We also bring in relevant posts from blogs and other sources that talk about the current page so that you can discover their insights more easily, right next to the page they refer to. <br /><br />We're releasing Google Sidewiki as a feature of Google Toolbar (for Firefox and Internet Explorer) and we're working on making it available in Google Chrome and elsewhere too. We also have the first version of our <a href="http://code.google.com/apis/sidewiki/">API</a> available today to let anyone work freely with the content that's created in Sidewiki.<br /><br />We've been testing Sidewiki with several experts and news organizations for a while and are happy to <a href="http://www.google.com/sidewiki/intl/en/testimonials.html">hear their positive responses</a>. We hope you'll try it for yourself, <a href="http://twitter.com/googlesidewiki">follow our Twitter feed</a>, and let us know what you think!<br /><br />If you're ready to start exploring the web with Google Sidewiki, visit <a href="http://google.com/sidewiki/#tbbrand=GZEG">google.com/sidewiki</a> to download Google Toolbar with Sidewiki and contribute your own entries alongside pages on the web.<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Sundar Pichai, VP Product Management and Michal Cierniak, Engineering Lead for Google Sidewiki </span>

Help and learn from others as you browse the web: Google Sidewiki

As you browse the web, it's easy to forget how many people visit the same pages and look for the same information. Whether you're re...

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Picasa 3.5, now with name tags and more

Today, I'm happy to announce that <a href="http://googlephotos.blogspot.com/2009/09/announcing-picasa-35-now-with-name-tags.html">we're releasing</a> Picasa 3.5, a new version of our free photo editing software. This version gives you the ability to add name tags to your photos, using the same facial recognition technology that powers <a href="http://picasa.google.com/features-nametags.html">name tags on Picasa Web Albums</a>. Name tags are designed to help you organize your photos by what matters most: the people in them. Picasa identifies similar faces and puts these into an "Unnamed People" album. From there, you can easily add a name tag by clicking "Add a name" and typing the person's name. After you've added name tags to some photos, you can use your tags to do creative things, like quickly find all the photos with the same two people in them, make a face collage with just one click or upload and share people albums with friends.<br /><br />In addition to name tags, Picasa 3.5 has integrated Google Maps, so you can easily geotag your photos or view the locations of already-tagged photos on a map. And using our totally redesigned import process, you can now import photos from your camera and upload the photos to Picasa Web Albums in one easy step.<br /><br /><object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gYO2uhrIZJ4&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gYO2uhrIZJ4&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object><br /><br />Picasa 3.5 is available for both PC and Mac, in English for now. You can download and try it today at <a href="http://picasa.google.com/">picasa.google.com</a>.<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Todd Bogdan, Software Engineer</span>

Picasa 3.5, now with name tags and more

Today, I'm happy to announce that we're releasing Picasa 3.5, a new version of our free photo editing software. This version gives ...

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Google climate change tools for COP15

In December of this year, representatives from nations around the globe will gather in Copenhagen to discuss a global agreement on climate change. The objective is to reduce global warming emissions sufficiently in order to avoid the most severe impacts of climate change and to support the global community in adapting to the unavoidable changes ahead. Denmark will act as host for this fifteenth Conference of the Parties under the United Nations’ Climate Change Convention, known as <a href="http://www.cop15.dk/">COP15</a>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZYqYi4xigk/Srjmj7Ea0OI/AAAAAAAAEko/Y858s1T6950/s1600-h/cop15geo_blog_post1.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384306859347464418" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZYqYi4xigk/Srjmj7Ea0OI/AAAAAAAAEko/Y858s1T6950/s320/cop15geo_blog_post1.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 289px; height: 320px;" /></a>In collaboration with the Danish government and others, we are launching <a href="http://www.google.com/cop15">a series of Google Earth layers and tours</a> to allow you to explore the potential impacts of climate change on our planet and the solutions for managing it. Working with data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (<a href="http://www.ipcc.ch/">IPCC</a>), we show on Google Earth the range of expected temperature and precipitation changes under different global emissions scenarios that could occur throughout the century. Today we are unveiling our first climate tour on Google Earth: "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPIo7lteCZk&hd=1">Confronting Climate Change</a>," with narration by Al Gore. Stay tuned for more tours in the coming weeks!<br /><br />Together with the Danish government, we're also launching our <a href="http://www.youtube.com/cop15">YouTube COP15 channel</a>. On the channel, you can submit your thoughts and questions on climate change to decision-makers and the world through an initiative called "Raise Your Voice." These videos will be broadcast on screens around the conference in December and rated by viewers of the channel. The top-rated contributions will be aired globally during the COP15 CNN/YouTube debate on December 15th, and the top two submissions will win a trip to Copenhagen. We look forward to seeing your videos!<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Benjamin Kott, Green Business Operations and Jonas Vang, Industry Analyst</span>

Google climate change tools for COP15

In December of this year, representatives from nations around the globe will gather in Copenhagen to discuss a global agreement on climate c...

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A "Safety-Net" Medical Center CEO Gets a Golden Parachute

<a href="http://www.thebostonchannel.com/investigative/20987735/detail.html">From theBostonChannel.com </a>comes this story on executive compensation in a not-for-profit health care organization,<br /><br /><blockquote><br /><em>Boston Medical Center – a financially troubled hospital – gave its outgoing CEO a one-time, <strong>nearly $3.5 million payment</strong>, in addition to her <strong>$1.3 million annual salary</strong></em>, Team 5 Investigates reported Friday.<br /><br />Elaine Ullian, 61, has led the <em>city’s major 'safety net' hospital</em> for the last 15 years. She recently announced she will retire when her contract expires in January.<br /><br />The <em>hospital's financial situation is such that hospital leaders say it could face closure in the years ahead</em>. It is currently suing the Executive Office of Health and Human Services over how it gets paid for treating poor and uninsured patients.<br /><br />Team 5 Investigates discovered, in a review of the hospital’s financial filings with the state, that Ullian was <em>paid $3,466,458 'in recognition of exceptional performance over a period of 15 years.'<br /></em><br />The nearly $3.5 million bonus was on top of Ullian’s 2008 compensation of $1,348,504 including salary and benefits.<br /><br />In a written statement to Team 5 Investigates, Ted English, the chairman of BMC’s board said that Ullian’s 'compensation is set by a committee of the Boston Medical Center Board of Trustees who consult with independent compensation advisors. It is based on her performance evaluation and measurable goals that are reviewed annually.'<br /><br />'The Board considers Elaine Ullian to be one of the most competent and successful hospital CEOs in the country and believes <em>she is primarily responsible for the success of Boston Medical Center</em> over the past 15 years,' English's statement said.<br /></blockquote><br /><br />Boston Medical Center was formed by the merger of University Hospital (the Boston University teaching hospital), and Boston City Hospital, the legendary municipal hospital. (Note: I served as an internal medicine intern and resident in the University Hospital program, and rotated through Boston City frequently.) Thus, as noted above, BMC is the city's primary "safety net" hospital for the care of the poor. BMC has for <a href="http://www.bmc.org/about/who/mission.htm">its mission</a>:<br /><br /><blockquote><br />We will provide consistently <em>excellent and accessible health services to all in need of care <strong>regardless of status or ability to pay</strong></em> – exceptional care, without exception.<br /></blockquote><br /><br />Such generous pay seems inconsistent with this mission and the organization's not-for-profit status. Such a golden parachute seems inconsistent with the current threats to its finances.<br /><br />Any worry about the CEO's retirement finances should further be reduced by her ongoing part-time work on the boards of directors of three public for-profit health care corporations, <a href="http://www.hologic.com/">Hologic</a>, a medical device company specializing in "womens' health," <a href="http://www.thermofisher.com/global/en/home.asp">ThermoFisher Scientific</a>, a manufacturer of laboratory equipment and supplies for health care and research, and <a href="http://www.vrtx.com/">Vertex Pharmaceuticals</a>, a biotechnology company focusing on small-molecule drugs. For her work as a director of Hologic, she received $304,698 in total compensation in 2008, and owned 40,000 shares or equivalent of common stock (per the company's <a href="http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/859737/000119312509009496/ddef14a.htm">2009 proxy statement</a>). For her work for ThermoFisher Scientific, she received $275,319 total compensation, and owned 61,068 shares or equivalent (per the <a href="http://ccbn.10kwizard.com/xml/download.php?repo=tenk&ipage=6256980&format=PDF">2009 proxy statement</a>). For her work for Vertex Pharmaceuticals, she received $337,480 total compensation, and owned 79,500 shares or equivalent (per the <a href="http://investors.vrtx.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1047469-09-3942">2009 proxy statement</a>). As Robert AG Monks put it, corporate directors are supposed to "demonstrate unyielding loyalty to the company's shareholders" [Per Monks RAG, Minow N. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Corporate-Governance-Robert-G-Monks/dp/1405116986">Corporate Governance</a>, 3rd edition. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2004. P.200.] Therefore, Ms Ullian's directorships seem to pose conflicts with her primary employment as CEO of an academic medical center which must buy products used in womens' health, buy laboratory supplies, and implement basic and clinical research. <br /><br />The BMC board chair's assertion that the CEO is "primarily responsible for the success" of the institution merits special comment. It seems obvious that the main determinant of the success of a medical center is the work done by its health care professionals and support personnel. A medical center cannot provide care, much less good care, without doctors, nurses, therapists and technicians, supported by supply, logistics, cleaning, maintenance, dietary, clerical, medical record, financial and yes, even health care information technology workers and systems (and if I left out an important group of support personnel, I apologize now.) The chair's assertion suggests the hubris central to the ethos of contemporary business managers, but is at odds with the clinical context. (Of course, if the CEO was primarily responsible for the organization's success, she should now shoulder primary blame for its current awkward financial situation, but such consistency may be the hobgoblin of minds too little to understand the gravitas of the C-level manager.)<br /><br />A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, health care was a calling. Doctors once pledged to avoid all commercialization (see post <a href="http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2009/06/why-did-us-physicians-give-up-their.html">here</a>), and hospital directors or superintendents (not CEOs) did not earn riches, much less become "imperial." (See Ludmerer's <em><a href="http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/HistoryOther/HistoryofMedicine/?view=usa&ci=9780195181364">Time to Heal</a></em>.) But in the culture of wretched excess that spread from the financial world, hospital CEOs now seem to feel entitled to become wealthy, as they claim responsibility for all successes, while all failures are blamed on someone else. The current system has made hired managers into an ersatz aristocracy, entitled to fill their pockets while denying any responsibility for ever rising costs, declining access, poor quality and demoralized professionals. In my humble opinion, to achieve true health care reform, health care again must become a calling, lead by people who will put the mission ahead of the accumulation of wealth and power.

A "Safety-Net" Medical Center CEO Gets a Golden Parachute

From theBostonChannel.com comes this story on executive compensation in a not-for-profit health care organization, Boston Medical Center – a...

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Physicians, Even Those Educated in IT and Informatics, Are Not "Real" IT People

<span style="font-size:100%;">I've been participating in the comment thread on the HisTALK heath IT industry news/gossip site at <a href="https://exchangeweb.drexel.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=6e88815ddf904c1088c4e7892352e56a&URL=http%3a%2f%2fhistalk2.com%2f2009%2f09%2f17%2fnews-91809%2f" target="_blank">http://histalk2.com/2009/09/17/news-91809/</a> . At this time there are 40 comments - mine start at #4. </span><span style="font-size:100%;">(I've also archived the thread in Word format <a href="http://www.ischool.drexel.edu/faculty/ssilverstein/Responses%20to%20HISTALK%20News%2009_18_09.doc">here</a>.)</span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />It's been quite interesting, demonstrating that many of the harmful attitudes of IT personnel about healthcare I observed more than a decade ago are still around.<br /><br />An anonymous commenter under the title "Programmer" has been forthcoming with views I think are actually common in the health IT field about medicine, science, IT flaws and shortcomings, and physician involvement in HIT. I will let you read them for yourself at the above link.<br /><br />Others have indicated in that comment thread and other threads that "Programmer" is an executive with a large HIT company, but I cannot confirm this.<br /><br />Among other stunning views, this commenter exhibited:<br /><br /></span><ul><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Serious errors in logic such as repeatedly and unshakably mistaking well-documented reports about known rates of IT project failure as a condemnation that all IT projects fail, perhaps reflecting a state of denial;<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Lack of understanding that in scientific fields such as biomedicine, conclusions generally should be supported by reasonable evidence, not "because I think so";<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Lack of understanding and dismissal of the value of the peer reviewed scientific literature on health IT, and further, a seeming inability or unwillingness to peruse the "references" section of scientific articles, a profoundly unscientific approach to the world;<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Dismissal of the written views of organizations such as the Joint Commission, US National Research Council, </span><span style="font-size:100%;">European Federation for Medical Informatics and others on HIT deficiencies;<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Perhaps most harmfully, dismissal of faulty conceptual and physical data models, inadequate workflow and cognitive support, and IT of poor user interaction design that presents a mission hostile user experience as a real problem in <span style="font-weight: bold;">critical care areas </span><span>such as Invasive Cardiology (specifically, in <a href="http://www.ischool.drexel.edu/faculty/ssilverstein/failurecases/?loc=cases&sloc=Cardiology%20story">this case</a>). Instead, this IT person dismissed physician dismay and rejection of such ill-designed and profoundly unusable IT as a mere <span style="font-weight: bold;">"pissing contest" between IT and clinicians</span>, consistent with narrow, territorial, paternalistic, indeed autocratic IT-centric views and a reversal of enabler (clinician) vs. facilitator (IT service provision) roles in patient care.</span></span></li></ul><span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;">"Programmer" also attacks (from the perspective of arrogant ignorance) the "<a href="http://www.jamia.org/cgi/content/full/16/3/291">Health IT Project Success and Failure: Recommendations from Literature and an AMIA Workshop</a>" white paper </span><span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;">drawing together the thinking at a workshop attended by over fifty informatics experts from all areas of medicine and technology. The role of the medical informatics expert itself, and other issues as well relating to reasons for HIT failure and difficulty are attacked and dismissed.</span></span></span><br /><span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />(If the person is a fake or "sock puppet", they're doing a mighty accurate approximation of my own uncomfortably-common observations in managing health IT and biomedical research IT projects while working with non-biomedical </span></span></span><span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;">IT personnel, see cases <a href="http://www.ischool.drexel.edu/faculty/ssilverstein/failurecases/?loc=home">here</a></span></span></span><span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;">.)</span></span></span><br /><br />The crux of the matter came out towards the end where "Programmer" maintains in Comment #28 that I am "<span style="font-style: italic;">just someone who likes to talk about IT</span>” and he is a “<span style="font-style: italic;">real IT person</span>.”<br /><br />A "real IT person?" I've heard that before: this is the "<span style="font-weight: bold;">doctors</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">don't do things with computers</span>" <span style="font-size:100%;">(including medical informaticists) </span><span style="font-size:100%;">type of comment I've heard face-to-face periodically from healthcare IT personnel since I entered the field in the early 1990's, and commented upon a decade ago <a href="http://www.ischool.drexel.edu/faculty/ssilverstein/informaticsmd/tactics.htm#dddtwc">here</a>.<br /></span><span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />I've emailed Tim, the proprietor of the HISTalk site [mr_histalk AT yahoo.com], to inquire if this poster was real or just a provocateur.<br /><br />Tim's response: "He's real and has been around for awhile, although lately he seems to be enjoying an escalated level of confrontation when he can create one."<br /><br />I maintain -- based on personal experience and that told me by others -- that this person's views are not all that rare in the HIT vendor and hospital IS communities.<br /><br />I also opine that thinking such attitudes can be dealt with by logical argument and persuasion is a belief itself lacking in rigor.<br /><br />IT personnel of views as in the HisTALK comments thread represent an older culture of <span style="font-style: italic;">data processing</span>, dating from the days of card punch tabulators that ran businesses prior to computers. It is a culture that has failed to mature with the times.<br /><br />As I wrote <a href="http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2008/05/seedie-society-for-exorbitantly.html">here</a>, the </span></span></span>unimaginative, process over results, tight fisted control, bureaucratic data-processing culture of the business IT (management information systems) world is the lineal descendant of <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/acis/history/tabulator.html">IBM's patchcord plug-panel programmed, card tabulating machines</a> from which IBM made a large portion of their profit in the days before the electronic computer:<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8YphtkAHyDU/SrfdCDSBOyI/AAAAAAAAAPc/8WkrzZfpAMw/s1600-h/tabulator.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384014906855078690" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8YphtkAHyDU/SrfdCDSBOyI/AAAAAAAAAPc/8WkrzZfpAMw/s320/tabulator.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 222px; height: 145px;" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;">Hollerith Type III Tabulator with its control panel exposed. <i>Photo:</i> MNRAS, Vol.92, No.7 (1932). Click to enlarge. </span><br /></div><small><br /></small><span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />Fortunately, such personnel and their designer-centric, as opposed to user- and work-centric philosophies are starting to become obsolete. This can be observed (as an example) via the mission of the <a href="http://www.ischools.org/">iSchool consortium</a>, of which my organization, the Drexel College of Information Science and Technology, is a member:<br /><br /></span></span></span><blockquote>The <strong>iSchools</strong> are interested in the <span style="font-weight: bold;">relationship between information, people and technology</span>. This is characterized by a commitment to learning and understanding the role of information in human endeavors. The iSchools take it as given that expertise in all forms of information is required for progress in science, business, education, and culture. This expertise must include <span style="font-weight: bold;">understanding of the uses and users of information</span>, as well as <span style="font-weight: bold;">information technologies and their applications</span>. <span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">[the order of these priorities is pertinent - ed.]</span></blockquote><span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />Unfortunately, the data processing culture and its adherents are not becoming obsolete quite fast enough. There are still too many in the upper echelons of management, including health IT vendors, hospitals and pharmaceutical R&D environments.<br /><br /></span></span></span><span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Finally, IT personnel with such attitudes as displayed in the comments, from the lowliest programmer to the CEO and Board, have no place anywhere near where patient care is conducted, or where information systems serving clinical medicine are designed and built.<br /><br />In line with other character types one encounters in healthcare that are often discussed on Healthcare Renewal, clinicians should <span style="font-weight: bold;">not</span> accommodate such IT personnel and these types of views.</span></span></span><br /><span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />-- SS<br /><br />Addendum:<br /><br />The final (at this time) comment, #40, left by the above commenter states:<br /></span></span></span><blockquote><span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />#40 Programmer: If I decide to become a medical informatproctolicist, I’m going to specialize in sardonicology.</span></span></span></blockquote><span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />IT personnel of such views bring to life Lecia Barker's paper "Defensive climate in the computer science classroom":<br /><br /></span></span></span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" ></span><blockquote><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >“<b style="">Defensive climate in the computer science classroom</b>” by Barker et al., <st1:place st="on"><st1:placetype st="on">Univ.</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename st="on">Denver</st1:placename></st1:place>.<span style=""> </span>Link <a href="http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=563354&coll=portal&dl=ACM">here</a> (subscription required).<span style=""> </span>May help explain the control-seeking culture of IT personnel.<span style=""> </span>As part of an NSF-funded IT workforce grant, the authors conducted ethnographic research to provide deep understanding of the learning environment of computer science classrooms. Categories emerging from data analysis included 1) impersonal environment and guarded behavior; and 2) the creation and maintenance of informal hierarchy resulting in competitive behaviors. These communication patterns lead to a defensive climate, characterized by competitiveness rather cooperation, judgments about others, superiority, and neutrality rather than empathy.</span></blockquote><br />-- SS

Physicians, Even Those Educated in IT and Informatics, Are Not "Real" IT People

I've been participating in the comment thread on the HisTALK heath IT industry news/gossip site at http://histalk2.com/2009/09/17/news-9...

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