Sensor Holders Redux

With so many people getting digital x-ray sensors, one of the most common requests we get are for alternatives to the RINN kits that come with the sensors. Here are the ones I normally recommend:

There are a bunch of systems you can try:

1. Wingers, just like bite-tabs.

2. Eezee-grip. Soft Snap-a-Ray device.

3. Kwik Bite. Rinn-type system.

4. Clik-Ray. RINN-hybrid.

First Sub-$200 19" Monitor

Found a monitor on NewEgg's site called the Rosewill. At $165 after rebate, this is the lowest price I've ever seen for a 19" LCD monitor. I haven't tested it yet, but perhaps there's someone adventurous out there who wants to take it for a spin. Reviews seem to be good.

Sweet Suites

There's no doubt that the need for protecting our data is at an all-time high. While there are many programs that can handle the chores of firewall, antivirus, and antispyware, some people would prefer to use an all-encompassing suite to handle all of these. PC World, in their July issue, will evaluate the Top 10 All-in-One Security Suites. The winner? Symantec Norton Internet Security 2006.

Goodbye Hard Drives

Samsung has announced that they will be releasing their new laptop, the Q30-SSD, in June. What makes this laptop special? Well, it's the first laptop that uses a flash drive rather than a standard hard drive. If you have a USB thumb drive, then you're familiar with flash drives: very solid, quick, low-energy drives. This will allow laptops to run about 250% faster with about 1/2 the weight to boot. While only available in Korea at first, expect to see these hit our shores by the end of the year.

Worst...Products...Ever

Here's a fun list. You know how there are all these lists of the Top this and the Ten Best that? Well, PC World compiled a list of the 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time. I'm embarrassed to say that I owned or used four of these. What about you?

Norton Flaw

According to the Washington Post, a flaw has been discovered in Norton's AntiVirus that leaves computers susceptible to hackers. I'm not a huge Norton's fan but I know many of you use it. You can check out the details here.

File Downloads

I'm constantly searching for cool files and programs to download. What if someone did the work for you? Check out File Ratings. It basically keeps track of the most popular downloads across the entire web. If others are downloading the files, maybe they are worth a look.

Paperless Technologies Revisited

I had a chance to see the latest version of the Paperless Technologies system in Phoenix this past weekend, and I'm very impressed with the improvement I saw. Handwriting recognition, while still not 100%, was much better than when I saw it an Yankee Dental in January. The icons now allow for easier navigation, they have an online component, and the entire flow of information is much more developed. Paperless Technologies is different from Dentforms in that they allow the patient to fill out their information on a Tablet PC and have that information automatically populate the fields in your PMS program. Definitely worth a second look.

Downloadable TV

Many of us are aware of the shift in TV viewing over the years. I've been using TiVo for quite some time and about 10% of what I watch is when it actually airs; the rest is at some other time. With so many people being mobile, though, and wanting to watch TV on portable devices or away from their homes, there's a new paradigm shift: downloadable TV. TechCrunch, one of my favorite sites, has an excellent review of this emerging technology. Check it out.

SCN

As my last day at the annual Speaking and Consulting Network is upon me, I'm reminded again what a great organization this is. Originally started by Linda Miles, while she's still a part of it, it has taken on a life of its own. I know a lot of the readers of this blog have, at one time or another, considered doing some speaking, consulting, writing, coaching, etc. The SCN is a great resource for anyone that wants to get started with this. If you can imagine 130+ of the top dental consultants in the country getting together, then you know how powerful this can be.

Cleaning Up After Yourself

As many of you know, everytime you use a computer, you leave traces and tracks of where you've been. Since many of us share computers with others in the office or at home, it's often a good idea to remove those tracks. Here's a good summary of how to do that...some of it gets very technical but is often necessary if you truly want to be safe.

3G...the new Wi-Fi?

As I've been enjoying my new Lenovo X60 laptop, I've come to realize that Wi-Fi as we know it will probably disappear. The biggest selling point for me, besides the under-3 pound weight and great keyboard and screen, is the built-in EV-DO. EV-DO is a high speed cellular network, used by Verizon and Sprint. What this means is that rather than have to seek out a Wi-Fi hotspot or pay the nightly hotel fee, you can get highspeed connections anywhere that you can get cell reception. So far, I've not found a single location that this doesn't work.

The New York Times has a good review of the different highspeed plans and their costs that you can read about here.

A Class Act

I had an opportunity to spend the day at the LVI Endodontic Symposium. I had heard a lot about LVI before but have never been here before. Let me tell you...this is a first-class organization. The quality of the speakers is incredible, the facilities are top-notch, and the events have been great. I think they are coming out with a DVD of the meeting, so I suggest you get it, and if you've been thinking about taking a course...go for it!

My Next Phone?

The long-awaited Motorola Q, which I've been drooling over for about a year, looks to be coming out in a week or two. Think of every feature you could want in a phone. Web surfing? Yup. Email? Easy. High speed wireless? Sure. Play music? Piece of cake. View photos and video clips? Right here. Digital camera? Yes. You can check out the details here.

Hard Drive Health

As more and more date gets stored on our hard drives, being aware of any potential problems with those drives is critical. Here's a neat little program called HDDLife which addresses those needs. It's simple to use, monitors many different criteria such as the integrity of the drives, temperature, and free space available. Did I also mention it's free?

Blogging 101

As someone who has had a blog for over a year now, I know how much fun and informative a blog can be. I know that many of the readers have considered starting their own blogs. Here's a great little primer on what you'll need to quickly enter the world of blogging.

New Search Engine

The big news in Search engines is the official release today of Snap.com. This is an entirely new approach to search, and one of the coolest features is the ability to see the main page of what you're searching without having to actually follow a link there. Very cool. The guy who invented this is the same guy behind Idealab so he knows his stuff. If you want to see what makes this service unique, check this out here.

Touchscreen Conversion

We are finding that many offices want to consider touchscreen monitors. What they don't want to consider are the high price of these monitors, often in the $800+ range for a 17" mode. Enter Navisis, and their EZ-Canvas, which effectively turns any monitor into a touch monitor, plus it includes some nifty software. It should cost around $180 or so per system, which is a bargain compared to what the alternatives will run you.

E3 Recap

Every year, the annual Electronic and Entertainment Expo takes place in Los Angeles. Of course, I was traveling all over the place and didn't have time to attend. However, there are plenty of recaps of the show online. Here's one from PC World that gives you the highs and lows.

Patient Surveys

One of my favorite patient confirmation services, Smile Reminder, has added online patient surveys to their list of services. The forms are completely customizable. You can read about this new service here.

New Notebook

After weeks of research, I finally settled on a new laptop: The Lenovo X60. Probably the best decision I've made. As someone who travels a lot, the features were irresistible: a 12" screen and full-sized keyboard, battery life that goes for 8 hours, all in a package that is less than 3 lbs. The killer application for me is the EVDO, which is basically a high-speed broadband that works over the cell phone network. Meaning, no more hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots or paying outrageous $10-15/nightly fees for hotel access. Definitely recommended, although at $2400, not cheap.

Kodak Dumping PW/Softdent/Trophy?

For those of you who have been watching the news the past week, it hasn't been good for Kodak. They have been bleeding money and last Thursday, they announced that they would be considering a sale of the Health Imaging division. I have it on good authority that indeed this will be happening. I hate to be the one saying, "I told you so", but I've been predicting this for years, although I thought they would just dump Practiceworks and Softdent and keep the sensors....we'll see. What does this mean if you are thinking about purchasing Kodak sensors or software? Well....don't! You can read the details about this on many websites, so here's just one.

Mozy on Over

This is from my friend Paul Feuerstein. Both of us are always on the lookout for good, cheap services. I've been a proponent of online backup as a secondary backup system for awhile now. Enter Mozy, which gives you a whopping 2 GB of online storage for free! You install a small software program and it automates the entire process. You can purchase the paid version, which tops out at 20 GB for just $40/year...that's very cheap.

G6 Replaced

According to my friends at Photomed, they are no longer selling the Canon G6. The A610/A620 has the same specs as the G6 but with a smaller body, so this unit is now their "point and shoot" system of choice. At under $1200 for a complete dental kit, it's less expensive as well.

Photo Organizers

I know that many dentists struggle with the daily chore of organizing and storing their many photos. If you're not capturing them in a dental-specific program, then you have many options available to you. PC Magazine just released a great article on the top photo management programs, and many got a very good grade. You can check out the article here.

Windows EULA

Many of you who buy new computers know that when you first start it up, you are agreeing to the Windows End User License Agreement, or EULA. Most of us have no clue what all that legalese means. Here's a good explanation, in plain English, exactly what you are agreeing to do.

TV on the PC?

I was surfing around tonight and came across two sites that appear to be showing TV shows or TV channels. Not sure how they are doing it, but both work really well. The first, PeekVid, is showing recently aired and older episodes of shows, such as 24 (my favorite!), The Daily Show, and Monty Python. Another site, Channel Chooser, has about 70 live feeds from what appears to be regular TV channels. The legality of these sites seems a bit questionable to me, but that appears to be a grey area. Enjoy them while they are still up.

DRC Continues to Impress

I revisited the Dental Resource Center today and I'm really impressed with all of the information there. Not only do they have around 300 online CE modules (a few by yours truly), but they have equipment manuals for all the major vendors, a Drug Index, MSDS sheets, an Oral Path gallery, and many other features. Considering that they have over 100 hours of CE on here, it's worth every penny of the annual $499 fee ($399 for Schein Privileges customers) in my opinion. Feel free to check it out.

First 802.11n Routers

The 802.11n standard is about a year away from being ratified. That isn't stopping manufacturers, though, from releasing their "pre-N" systems. With a theoretical speed of 300 MB/s and real world closer to 150 to 180 MB/s, these are the first wireless systems that I would consider for a dental office that is doing imaging. You can read about Belkin's entry here.

Docere!

The new and improved version of DentalTown is now up and running! The new site is called Docere, which is Latin for doctor. As a long-time Townie, it will take some gettings used to (as did the former conversion a few years ago), but I like it so far. The goal is to have separate sites for each speciality. If you haven't joined DentalTown already, head on over and register.

Spyware 101

Here's a nice article I found online that explains what spyware is, how most people get it, and most importantly, how to remove and prevent further problems. Very well written and gets to the point.