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Category Archives: senior lifestyle
Doctors On Demand
Images from Doctors on Demand
One of the best known tech sites, Re/code.net, did a review this week on Doctors on Demand, a web and app-based medical video service. That means, instead of seeing a certified MD or PhD in person, you now have the option of experiencing a video visit.
If you click here, you can read all about the good, the bad, and the future of medical video visits.
Re/Code points out that video consultations cost $40 for 15 minutes. Psychologists cost $50 for 25 minutes or $95 for 50 minutes. Sorry, no insurance plans.
Medical video visits are becoming increasingly popular because of the convenience and speed of consultations. I have a number of doctor friends who have been conducting video visits for years for existing clients. They love it and their patients love it. There are some serious drawbacks discussed in the review, but as time goes on, these issues will be worked out.
When I posted the review about Doctors on Demand on Facebook yesterday, some doctors and health care company executives responded citing various pitfalls. I copied one of the remarks because it basically echoed what others had to say.
“Sounds great but it is fraught with issues. First, only full pay patients can access. Good if you can pay. Second, not clear if Rx can be written. Third, as more and more Drs are employees of medical centers they may not be covered by malpractice insurance.
“Progress but not perfect yet.”
Happy Chanukah, Etc
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Happy Chanukah to all DigiDame readers.
Hat Check Girls, Go-Go Dancers and Now Wine Angels
This is the fancy schmancy tech entertainment feature many restaurants are installing today. It is called a “wine tower.” This is the first one I ever saw up close and personal. Cibo Wine Bar & Italian Restaurant , just down the street from my Miami condo, has one of the larger ones in the country but definitely not the tallest. Some of the “wine towers” in Vegas are several stories high.
Wine angels are the guardians of the restaurant’s wine collection, usually stored in a floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall “wine tower.” They swing side to side, moving up and down — in a computer-controlled, motor-driven harness that the wine angel controls. Some of the controls are retrofitted video game joysticks.
This is definitely a James Bond experience.
I’m Going To Make You Laugh, Then Cry
I can’t help myself. I had to share these two YouTube videos with you. I found them so precious. The first one was posted on Facebook and my friend Russ Rowland managed to lift it off for me so I can post it here. Thank you Russ. The little boy in the video reminds me of my nephew’s son who once fell asleep on the back of his father’s bicycle. This is just one of life’s rare moments.
The next video is a reunion that made me weep. Fifty years ago, I used to go with my mother to the airport to pick up family and friends visiting us. While we waited, we loved sitting at the gate watching people cry when they were reunited with their families or being separated for some unknown reason. It was so emotional for us and we didn’t even know the people.
The Next Generation Of Bras
Image: University of Wollongong
Big news for big-busted women. Good news for women with smaller breasts. Interesting news for women who don’t wear bras at all. A new type of bra is being developed in Australia that will expand and contract based on movement.
The Bionic Bra is the idea of professor Julie Steele, director of Breast Research Australia (BRA) at the University of Wollongong. Steele hopes to develop a bra that will not cause chronic pain in shoulders, neck, and the back. Many women, according to Steele, claim that their current bras are causing them great discomfort over time.
Steele said her smart bra “uses soft, intelligent fabric that sends a signal to the bra’s fibers. The fabric adjusts to fit the user, contracting and expanding as needed.”
She said the intelligent fabric can detect movement. The Bionic Bra fits one way while a woman is sitting down and more supportive when she gets up and starts moving around.
The Bionic Bra is in the prototype stage right now, but generating a lot of interest. Many newspapers and tech sites are giving it coverage. I guess that is because Steele is making great progress towards mass production. I will let you know as she gets closer.
What?
Images from Seahawk.
I’m not sure if more people are mumbling or my hearing is starting to fade. I do find myself saying “what” more often. It doesn’t happen all the time but definitely enough that I am aware of it.
My doctor told me that most seniors have hearing loss. If they are like me, they don’t want to do anything about it until it becomes absolutely necessary. I might, however, invest in an aid called Soundhawk, a smart listening system which sells for $300. It connects to a smartphone app that will let me customize the sound for different environments, like indoors and outdoor modes.
The Soundhawk is really considered a personal sound amplification by Food and Drug Administration. It looks like a bluetooth earpiece so when I wear it you might mistake it for a phone device. Michael Kisch, Soundhawk’s chief executive, said the Soundhawk is really for folks who only have trouble hearing in noisy restaurants or loud parties. The Soundhawk does not need to be tuned by an audiologist. That’s why it is less expensive than a hearing aid. I can select settings as needed.
Soundhawk is headquartered in Cupertino, California. The Wall Street Journal just did I review on Soundhawk. Read it here.
The Remnants Of A Lovely Meal
When I moved into my Miami Beach condo 13 years ago, my mother was convinced I got cheated because my unit didn’t come with a garbage disposal in the sink. She was sure that the builder included that feature in each apartment and mine was overlooked.
I told her right there and then that l lived without a garbage disposal all of my life and I didn’t want one. I had the most horrible thoughts about that contraption cutting off some of my fingers. A good old manual sink strainer was just perfect for me.
I remembered that story well when I saw a post from my girlfriend Leslie on Facebook about a new type of strainer that allows you to remove the the collected waste without touching it. Called the Tweak strainer, the invention is made from a flexible polymer and comes in a variety of colors.
The Israeli company that invented it said on its Facebook page that, “It works by simply applying pressure to a bump on the edge which then bends the strainer so that you can carry whatever refuse that it has collected to the garbage without touching any of it.” There are two sizes, one for the kitchen and a larger one for bath tub. Price is around $12 for both.
Tweak was started by Nitzan Shafat and Aviv Rozenfeld. They successfully crowdfunded the company on Kickstarter.com. They received $78,642 in funding from almost 3,000 investors. Their goal was only $14,000.
Tweak just started distributing this unique strainer to donors and then it will be available to the general public.
Male Mail
This is a post for all my male readers who like custom made shirts but don’t want to spend a lot of time at a tailor. Download the MTailor app and find out how your smartphone camera is going to help you select fabrics and get measured in record speed.
1-First you will be asked to select a fabric. You will get a choice of dressy to casual. Lots to choose from.
2-Then you will select the collar you want. with a wide spread, straight point, regular button down, and a softer casual button down.
3-Now it’s time to get measured. This is where the fun begins. A 50-second video teaches you how to place your iPhone down on the floor at a certain angle, stand back and turn in a circle. That’s all there is to it. You are measured.
4-The shirts are made in China. Prices range from $69.00 up. The price depends on the thread count. The term thread count is explained here
5-MTailor offers free shipping and and no tax. Orders usually take three weeks, many times less.
6-MTailor has an easy return policy and allows free remakes.
I wish there was something like this for women. I hate trying on clothes in a store. I am going to ask around to see if there are any female counterparts.
Meanwhile, the big scoop is that MTailor may be expanding to suits soon. Can women’s clothes be next?
A Bracelet That Stores Your Identity
Once again I am referring to my girlfriend Sheri when talking about a new development in the world of digital technology. We were at breakfast in Los Angeles almost two weeks ago, when Sheri admitted she can’t stand memorizing multiple passwords for all of her numerous digital activities. She doesn’t want to carry around a piece of paper with her passwords on it, nor does she want to post them electronically for fear that someone would hack her files.
There are a lot of people who feel the same way as Sheri. My brother Steve referred me to a recent article on the CNN website that highlighted a new digital bracelet that could be a great solution for Sheri. Bionym, a Toronto based company, has introduced a biometric biometric ECG (electrocardiogram) bracelet,
Nymi, that has an embedded electrocardiogram sensor that can identify you by recognizing your unique ECG pattern. The information is directly communicated to mobile devices as a replacement for passwords and PINs. Now that is totally cool.
If you visit the Bionym website, it instructs you to place Nymi onto your wrist to power it on. Next step requires you to place a finger on the sensor while your wrist is in contact with the bottom sensor to complete the electrical circuit. Now you are ready to be identified. Go for it!
A Calmer, More Focused You
Some of my friends over 50 tell me they are having trouble focusing. They used to love to read, but now their minds wander. They find themselves reading the same page over and over. Others don’t want to drive anymore because they have to stay focused on the road. They feel they are too pre-occupied with other stuff going on in their lives that they can’t concentrate.
Personally, I think a lot of people are worried about getting dementia. The minute someone forgets something, they get very upset. More and more pals are telling me that this is their biggest concern about getting older. They are afraid they will lose their minds.
Many have confessed that they have had mental examinations just to be sure they are not going mad. I giggle a little when they tell me their fears because they seem to have blown them out of proportion. They are very serious and don’t like me trivializing it.
One of the products that will be shown at CES in Las Vegas this January is Muse, a brain fitness tool that supposedly helps you gain more clarity in just 3 minutes a day. Muse claims to detect your brain signals during guided focused attention exercises. It helps you train your brain for today and for the future.
The company that it helps to make you calmer, feel more in control, gives you confidence, and helps you deal with stress. Sounds good to me. All you have to do is download the app, put on the feather-light headband, and begin to meditate. The Muse website explains the brain-wave readings are taken from five points on your forehead and ears and then transmitted from the headband to your phone.
“If your brain waves are calm, you’ll hear a light breeze. If your mind wanders, the breeze turns to a tempest, and a cool female voice instructs you to focus on your breathing and count down from 10. If you heed the pseudo-Siri, the light breeze returns.”
Muse has been tested and certified in accordance with Canadian, USA and European regulatory standards (FCC, UL, CE).
I tell myself to relax all the time. It’s later than we think.
DigiDame 