Tuesday, December 29, 2009
DiabetesManager-1.4 Released
I have released a new version of DiabetesManager, which adds the following new functionality:
- When using the virtual keyboard, a user click on a data entry text filed will cause the input to open directly to the numberpad.
Please refer to the DiabetesManager-1.4 documentation, and here is a screenshot of the direct-to-number input in action: 
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
DiabetesManager-1.3 Released
I have released a new version of DiabetesManager, which adds the following new functionality:
- Validates user-entered data prior to persisting. Previously users could potentially enter bad data (e.g., blood glucose measurement of “foo”) which could cause problems when attempting to chart data. This is no longer allowed, and users will see an error message telling them which measurement types have invalid values when attempting to save, and they must correct the problems before data is persisted.
- Added ability to import data which was previously exported from DiabetesManager. Users will probably not need to use this (but it is there if they do), but I needed it because a bug in the Eclipse Andorid plugin would not allow me to install my latest version to my phone, so I had to:
- Export all my existing data to SD card.
- Uninstall DiabetesManager-1.2 (causing all existing data to be removed).
- Install DiabetesManager-1.3.
- Import all my old data.
Please refer to the DiabetesManager-1.3 documentation, and here is a screenshot of the data validation in action: 
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Hacking bit.ly URL Creator Firefox Add-On To Work With Firefox 3.5
Now that I am using Twitter a lot, I wanted a handy way to create bit.ly links inside Firefox, but the bit.ly add-on only supports Firefox 3.0.x and you cannot add it if you are running Firefox 3.5. So, I just hacked it up and it is working fine now with Firefox 3.5.3. To do this:
- Go to this page: http://mac.softpedia.com/progDownload/Bit-ly-Creator-Download-38693.html
- Right-click on one of the mirrored download locations and choose “Save Link As” and save the bit.ly_creator-0.1-fx.xpi file somewhere to your hard drive.
- Open the saved bit.ly_creator-0.1-fx.xpi file with a zip file utility and extract the install.rdf file.
- Open the install.rdf file in a text editor and edit the em:maxVersion attribute by changing 3.0.* to 3.*, and save the file
- Reinsert the install.rdf file into the bit.ly_creator-0.1-fx.xpi file with your zip utility, and make sure that there is only one install.rdf file in there and that it is the correctly-edited one.
- In Firefox go to File/Open File and point to the bit.ly_creator-0.1-fx.xpi file, which will cause Firefox to install the add-on and then restart Firefox…you are done!
To use the add-on, just right-click on a link or page and choose the appropriate bit.ly option from the context menu. The URL will be saved to your clipboard and can be pasted wherever you like. SWEET! 
Sunday, August 23, 2009
DiabetesManager-1.2 Released
I have released a new version of my DiabetesManager Android smartphone application, with a significant functionality improvement: definable date ranges for data retrieval. Before displaying a chart, viewing data in table form, or exporting data as a CSV file, version 1.2 allows users to specify if they want all data, the last 30 days of data, or a customizable range of data (range can be as small as a single day). In version 1.1. and earlier, DiabetesManager always retrieved all data, but this was problematical when displaying charts with a lot of data as the chart becomes pretty-much unreadable. Since I have been using the app longer than any of my users, hopefully I am the only one at this point who had been getting annoyed… For more info, please refer to the complete DiabetesManager-1.2 documentation, but here is a screenshot of what it looks like:
on 08/23 at 09:22 PM
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Tuesday, July 28, 2009
How To Run Two Different Versions of Mozilla Firefox.
At work I needed to test some javascript on the latest two versions of Firefox, i.e., 2.0.20 and 3.5.1 (my normal everyday browser). These are the steps that needed to be done to get Firefox 2.x to run alongside Firefox 3.x:
- Download Firefox 2.0.20 installer: http://www.oldapps.com/firefox.php?old_firefox=7
- Copy these instructions into text editor, and then close all open Firefox instances.
- Run “Custom” version of Firefox 2.x installer and choose the ultimate installation directory to be something like C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox 2.x, do not install any shortcuts (otherwise they will overwrite your other Firefox installation’s shortcuts), and do not start Firefox at the end of installation, just close installer when it is done.
- Open a command prompt and start the Firefox ProfileManager: C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox 2.x\firefox.exe -ProfileManager
- Create a new profile for your older version of Firefox (e.g., firefox_2.x_profile).
- Rename the newly created profile something meaningful (e.g., firefox_2.x_profile), and then close the Firefox ProfileManager.
- Use whichever version of Firefox you want by clicking the respective shortcut. Please note that you will not be able to open multiple windows of either version by repeatedly clicking the same shortcut. If you do this you will see an error message that says: “Firefox is already running, but is not responding. To open a new Window you must first close the existing Firefox process, or restart your system.” Instead, to open another window of the same version, just click on an already-open window of that version, and click
+ N, which will launch a new window from the existing process. A little-less convenient than click on the shortcut, but not too bad.
Monday, July 13, 2009
DiabetesManager-1.1 Released
DiabetesManager-1.1 release features the addition of data export functionality. All of the supported measurement types can be exported as CSV format files, and once the phone has been mounted via USB cable, can be retrieved and emailed to doctors, who can then just click on the files and view in Excel (or any other program which supports CSV files). You can see the new documentation here, and here are some screenshots of the new main screen and export functionality from the Eclipse Android emulator:
New button configuration/naming on main screen:
Message when data files have been exported to SD card:
How to retrieve exported data files from SD card via USB mount:
on 07/13 at 12:31 AM
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Monday, July 06, 2009
DiabetesManager Enhancement: Added Protein Field For Meal Measurements
As per request from user “Christina”, I have added a field to capture grams of protein for meal measurements, which is something that I should have done from the start except didn’t think of it for some reason (oops, I guess the fact that I am not keeping track of meals meals is showing!).
.
This change should work seamlessly for users who already have existing meal data without protein measurements captured, as just blank entries will be shown for those measurement points. The table is a little squished up (cannot completely see meal calories value) in portrait view mode, but it looks fine in landscape view mode. My first enhancement since initial release! I am keeping the version number at 1.0.0 though, out of sheer inertia. 
My installed users base now stands at 15 after almost two weeks in the market. 
One anonymous user comment says that I should rename it since it is more than just a diabetes management tool. I am thinking maybe “HealthManager”? In light of this feedback, and the potential increase in user base, I am going to set aside the google health integration work for a bit and focus on adding configurability of measurement types and units, so that users who don’t have diabetes, and users in other countries might be able to use it more effectively.
on 07/06 at 11:46 PM
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Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Clarion Call For Electronic Personal Health Records and Automation
I read a very interesting article in today’s nytimes.com science section which strongly underscores the need to develop electronic personal health records and associated automation. According to a study by Dr. Lawrence P. Casalino at Weill Cornell Medical College, a review of the records of more than 5,400 patients at 19 independent physicians offices and 4 academic research centers, reveals that greater than 7% of abnormal test results do not get reported to patients. That is very scary indeed, but unfortunately I am not-at-all shocked. The good news though is that in cases where electronic health records were used exclusively, the failure rate was significantly lower.
As a patient with a chronic illness I have found that I am not only my best advocate, but I am also the one most likely to actually care enough to connect all the dots when I receive testing. Many times I find myself having to call my doctors to follow-up and get results, not because of some failure on the doctor’s part, but usually just because the administrative staff is too busy, and things get lost in the shuffle. If there was a standardized electronic medical records system that patients had access to, the all medical tests would be automatically entered and the patient would have seamless and perfect knowledge. Additionally, such a system could have automation built in to detect abnormal results and alert doctors and patient alike. If there was just a single centralized system operating on clearly-defined international standards, then automated tool development would be eased, and more-and-more intelligence could be built in. With recent advances in computer vision, it seems like things such as automated radiology are a very real possibility. Increasing automation and increasing medical records clarity will have dramatic and far-reaching impacts on improved patient outcomes.
My message to President Obama and Congress: electronic personal health records…YES WE CAN (AND MUST)!!!
DiabetesManager-1.0 Released
DiabetesManager is an Android application (available for $5 in Android market) which allows users to store and view (in chart and tabular form) diabetes-related and general health data. The following measurement types are supported in version 1.0:
- exercise
- meals
- blood glucose levels
- HBA1c
- cholesterol
- humalog injections
- lantus injections
- weight
- blood pressure
- heart rate
- body temperature
- subjective general health
You can see the documentation here, and here are some screenshots from the Eclipse Android emulator (looks the same on G1 phone, but that has landscape perspective, which is better for viewing charts):
I have been using it for all my personal data for almost a month now, and am very pleased with it. I am planning to release new functionality soon (e.g., google health account integration), so watch this space!
on 06/23 at 01:19 AM
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