How the humble technology of text messaging improves drug safety in developing countries
You don’t normally think of it this way, but your little, non-smart, mobile phone is really a little computer that when used in ways you hadn’t considered, can be a boon to people’s lives. Such a thing is true of text messaging, technically known as SMS or “short message service“. Today, it can be used to send short messages to someone about, say, that you’ve landed at the airport or please pick up a loaf of bread at the store. Easy stuff but what if you could use that technology to prove a drug was authentic and that a patient could safely use it?
That’s what Sproxil has done. Taken little ole SMS and created a way to use it such that it helps the users and the companies. The users, in some cases, get a safer product. The producers are able to cut down on piracy of their products. In the case of medications, Sproxil did this, according to a February 2010 report in Pyramid Points:
Take Africa, where counterfeit goods are rampant, with nearly 100 Nigerians recently killed by a tainted batch of fake pharmaceuticals. In response, a startup called Sproxil created Mobile Product Authentication (MPA): Manufacturers put a unique code, hidden under a scratch-off panel, on their products. The potential buyer then sends the code via SMS to the authentication service, which sends an instant reply about whether the product is authentic or counterfeit. Sproxil sells the scratch panels and SMS bundles to manufacturers. Consumers pay nothing to use the service because the manufacturer pays for both the query and response messages.
Pretty neat way to use a simple technology for good!
Fenway Health Sponsors a T-Social for everyone in the community, March 25th, 6.30PM @ Club Cafe, Boston
Fenway Health will be sponsoring “T-Social 2010: We Live in a Vibrant Culture” on Thursday March 25th, from 6:30PM to 9PM at Club Cafe in the Moonshine Room, 209 Columbus Avenue, Boston.
Connect with the Boston area’s transgender, transexual, gender queer, gender non-conforming, cross-dresser, SOFFAs, friends, and allies of anyone who crosses mainstream society’s notions of gender, for a T-Social.
This social is free and open to the public and features light fare, door prizes and entertainment! Some of the organizations in attendance include:
- The Men and Women Event
- Fenway Dental/Eye and Vision
- Project S.O.S. Study
- Josephs Salon
- The Chelsea Café
- The Transgender Fund
- Glad
- MTPC
- Tiffany Club
- PFlag
- Career Collaborative (Boston)
For more information, call Alex at 617.927.6449 or email livingwell@fenwayhealth.org.
Sponsored by Fenway Health‘s Living Well program and the Boston Public Health Commission.
Boston Area Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual & Transgender Youth, BAGLY, hosts their 30th Anniversary Celebration April 8th
Boston Area Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual and Transgender Youth, BAGLY, will be host their 30th Anniversary Celebration and Fund Raiser Dinner on Thursday, April 8 from 6PM-9PM at the Artists for Humanity Epicenter in South Boston, MA. Greg Brown, of WCVB-TV 5 will be the guest host, with Grace Sterling Stowell, BAGLY Executive Director.
During BAGLY’s Celebration, they will be pleased to honor Ane Rybeck, Executive Artistic Director of the Theater Offensive, with the Michael Pumphret distinguished leadership award.
The Deborah Levi Distinguished Leadership Award will go to The Theater Offensive’s True Colors: Out Youth Theater Troupe.
For more information and tickets, contact Aaron Chandler at achandler@bagly.org or 617-227-4313 ext 21.
This American Life Broadcast: "81 Words" how the American Psychiatric Association decided in 1973 that homosexuality was no longer a mental illness
This American Life, the public radio program that does in depth stories on various topics, is featuring an audio program on how the American Psychiatric Association changed its view on homosexuality in the DSM. The story is fascinating in how it tells the story of how the APA slowly made their change, how gay activists helped that move, and, mostly, how courageous APA members and interested parties actually changed the APA’s view from inside the APA itself. It wasn’t so much pressure from the outside as it was a realization from within that being gay was not a disease.
You can listen to the teaser promo here: “81 Words”
Here’s a synopsis:
Act One.
In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) declared that homosexuality was not a disease simply by changing the 81-word definition of sexual deviance in its own reference manual. It was a change that attracted a lot of attention at the time, but the story of what led up to that change is one that we hear today, from reporter Alix Spiegel. Part one of Alix’s story details the activities of a closeted group of gay psychiatrists within the APA who met in secret and called themselves the GAYPA … and another, even more secret group of gay psychiatrists among the political echelons of the APA. Alix’s own grandfather was among these psychiatrists, and the president-elect of the APA at the time of the change. (24 minutes)
Act Two.
Alix Spiegel’s story continues, with a man dressed in a Nixon mask called Dr. Anonymous, and a pivotal encounter in a Hawaiian bar. (30 minutes)
You can listen to This American Life broadcast here: “81 Words: The Story of how The American Pyschiatric Association decided in 1973 that homosexuality was no longer a mental illness“.
Work Alongside People Instead of Working From Home at the WorkBar
They ain’t free (a day pass will set you back $20) but if you work from home and are hankering for working alongside others, then WorkBar might be your poison.
Nestled in at 711 Atlantic Ave and conveniently located across the street from the south station train platform and next to the Boston Sports Club, you get an awful lot for $20. Check this list:
- Wired and wireless Internet
- Phone services
- Administrative services
- Mail services
- Printing/copying
- Unlimited faxing
- Free coffee/water/snacks
- Conference room
- Lounge and private phone areas
You can check them out at their web site: Workbar You can check a few reviews out on WorkBar here, here and here.
