ResearchKit

I don't know if you've noticed but the Apple Watch seems to be dominating the news this week. Apple made another one of their very fun to watch product announcements and, since then, everywhere I look I see this:

Not that there is anything wrong with seeing this. It is very pretty. 

What I'm not seeing as much of is something that was introduced in another part of Apple's presentation. 

Something that Doug brought to my attention and insisted that I sit down to watch for myself. 

Something called ResearchKit (click here for the link to their site and a great promotional video).

As Apple says, it is "an open source software framework that makes it easy for researchers and developers to create apps that could revolutionize medical studies, potentially transforming medical research forever".  

Basically what it does it is turns your iPhone (with your permission) into a diagnostic tool that can be used to help further medical research. Researchers can create apps that allow users to provide all sorts of medical data. The accelerometer in a phone can be used to conduct a gait analysis or to evaluate motor impairment, the microphone can be used to evaluate speech etc etc. 

Apple has partnered with several large research institutes and together they have developed the first five apps. These apps will help further medical research for breast cancer, parkinson's disease, cardiovascular disease, asthma and, you guessed it, diabetes. 

Users who choose to download one of these apps and participate in research will be able to complete consent forms, fill out surveys, complete tasks or whatever else a particular research study is looking for people to do. 

Users choose what research they participate in, control what information they provide and get to see what data is shared. And Apple does not see any of their data. 

The potential for what this can do to help medical research is enormous considering how many iPhones users are out there. The potential for recruiting people for large-scale studies is incredibly exciting. 

On a personal note, I probably spend less than 5 minutes a year thinking about what a cure for type 1 diabetes might be like. Any more than that feels like a waste of time because a cure is a long long way off and my life is happening right now. 

But as I watched the talk about the potential of ResearchKit for providing vast amounts of data and helping to move research forward at a much faster rate, I was surprised to find my eyes welling up with tears. I was even more surprised to hear a little voice in my head whisper 'maybe this will be how we find a cure'. 

Try The Chocolatey Nuclear Witch Apple - They're Delicious!

Yesterday's blog was written sitting on the couch at the end of a long day of exploration and travel.  I tried to capture everything about four days in NYC in one photo essay but there were so many little things that got missed that I'm taking you back to New York just so I can share some more.

Today's themes are a little more random and will include being tested for nuclear residue, delicious witches and Apple.

Twice during the trip I had to run the airport security gauntlet and twice I was pulled over.  Both times I declared my pump, my needles and my above the limit liquids.  Both times, my luggage made it through without a hitch but I was asked to step to the side for extra screening.  I was asked to handle my pump (i.e. touch it with both hands) and then they swabbed my hands.  According to the nice lady they were looking for nuclear residue.

Funny how, even though I was 100% confident that I had not been handling radioactive substances, I immediately thought "Omigod, what if I touched something that someone who had just make a bomb touched and now they're going to find it on my hands!?!".  Thankfully radioactive materials are a little less common than, say, cold germs so I survived without a swat team intervention.

Still, I'm always glad when I get the ok to put my shoes and belt back on and carry on with my journey.

I just have to show you this:

This, my friends, is a Fat Witch brownie.  It is officially (as in I have declared it so) the world's bestest and most richest, yummiest, chewiest, chocolatiest brownie. 

You can get it at the Fat Witch bakery at the Chelsea market and it is worth the airfare just to go stock up.  

Trust me.

And if I find out that anyone within driving distance from Niagara has been to NYC and has not brought me back a dozen of them - there will be hell to pay. 

I just checked their website and they do ship brownies. I will pretend that I did NOT just read that...unless anyone wants to join me in placing a large order.

Finally, may I just say the Apple is officially the coolest store?  We saw three Apple stores in New York City and two of them were quite impressive.  The third was just regular run of the mill awesome. 

The first was in Grand Central Terminal.  Doug was excited to go and I figured it was an Apple store.  You know, glass everywhere, hip looking tattooed kids talking the talk and wearing their apple logo t-shirts.   Tiny computers and huge screens.  

I did not realize that Apple had somehow managed to obtain the entire second level space at the terminal and that they had an 'open air store'.  It extended through several rooms but there weren't really walls or doors or anything.  It was just a big open space full of technology.  Kinda like a really cool flea market. 

Walking up Fifth Avenue towards Central Park, we got to the edge of the Park and were checking out the Park Hotel.  Very famous!  Across the street, we spotted a glass cube with an Apple logo on it.  I figured, as first glance, that it was an advertisement. 

We looked more closely and noticed doors.  And stairs.  And an elevator!?!  Yes indeed, there is an Apple store below Fifth Avenue. 

Doug heading underground to the Fifth Avenue Apple Store.  I took the photo standing on the sidewalk. 

The final shot taken from inside the store.  The store is at the bottom of the shot, the stairs take you up to the street.  The elevator goes up and down the centre of the staircase and the Park Hotel is visible across the street.  How very Steve Jobs. 

Stay tuned for Wednesday's tale of the sights, smells and tastes of NYC. 

iDream of iPads

Anyone know of a little company called Apple? 

They make neat little gadgets that play music and sexy-looking computers and laptops. 

You may have heard of them.

My family and I have been fans of Apple since their first computer came out and, other than my computer at work *sigh* my life is 100% Mac.  The Mac vs PC debate does not need to happen in our house.  There are three laptops, one desktop, two phones and several mp3 players that are all sporting the ubiquitous apple logo on them.  Oh and an AppleTV just to round things out in the entertainment department.

If Apple made insulin pumps, I would use theirs without question.  It would be stylish, have fabulous features, be absolutely intuitive and probably sing me to sleep if I wanted.

I have a few loves in my life.  Apple products are one of them. 

Reading is another. 

I learned how to read before they taught us in school and never looked back. I devour books and share the best ones with friends.  I've been accused of peddling books the way some people deal heroin.  At one point, three ladies with whom I shared an office were all reading the same book series at the same time and each one of them came in every morning with their update.  Having already read the books, I loved hearing their reactions to the latest plot twist - knowing that an even crazier one was lurking in the next chapter. 

For me, reading is both a solitary and a group activity.  Holding a book is a very tactile experience. I love watching my books get more and more worn as they exchange hands. I love a bookshelf overloaded with memories and I love rereading the best of the best. 

So here's the problem. I'm feeling a greater and greater pull to merge my two loves: Apple and reading.

The reason that I am agonizing?  the iPad. 

The thought of reading the newspaper or my favourite blogs on an iPad is quite appealing.  Yet, the thought of reading a book on an iPad still feels very aversive to me. 

I understand the appeal, I really do.  It's portable - I can bring a huge collection of books on vacation and never exceed the weight restriction on the plane.  It's instant.  I decide I want to read a book and it's on the iPad in seconds.  It's environmentally friendly - no trees will be cut down to support my habit. 

But I like holding my books.  I like the weight of them on my chest when I read in bed.  I like watching the bookmark migrate a little more each day. I like how pretty books can be.  I love lending them to friends and having them returned covered in coffee stains and apologies.  Books are meant to be read, shared and treasured.

*sigh*

The sad thing is that I know how this will turn out.  I know what will win out in the end.  I will be reading books on an iPad.

I think I'm just sad because it feels like the end of an era.  It was no big deal to go from cassettes to CDs and an even smaller deal to go from CD walkmen to iPods.  But it felt like the end of something important when we went from records to cassettes. 

That's how I feel now.  Maybe because books have been the norm for my entire life and, in a world that changes by the minute, that's a very very long time.  Maybe because I will agonize until I finally get an iPad and then, in a few years, there will be something to replace that.  I feels like I will be trading in a faithful friend for the gadget of the moment. 

Let me just get through the pile of books by the bed first and then I'll decide...

Of course by then it will be my birthday and I will probably get a few books as gifts...

...and then it's Christmas...

*sigh*