No border wands, just brutality: what the death of the CBP One app portends

It’s infuriating that I have to defend this profoundly unjust yet unfairly maligned, rights-violating, prison gate-keeping, Hollerith-ass, bureaucratic government-enforced insult to human dignity in app form, but here we are. On Inauguration Day, January 20th, one of the first things Trump did was cancel the CBP One app— an app developed by Customs and Border … Read more

Deus ex Smartphone: Healthcare Access Isn’t Going to Democratize Itself

One of my first-year classes in college was History of Theater, in which I learned how the Greeks built amphitheaters into hillsides, carving out a semicircle of seating for the audience around the stage to maximize. The scenery for a play completes the circle, just as it does for any show in an amphitheater today. … Read more

Healthcare tech’s turf war hurts patients- here’s how to protect yourself

Quick recap In my last post (Down the patient portal: the world of healthcare tech serving you data about you) I introduced the back end of patient engagement from the patient’s perspective. While you can’t choose the digital patient engagement tools your provider uses, you can often choose your provider— and different providers may be … Read more

Down the patient portal: the world of healthcare tech serving you data about you

The subject of patient engagement tools, especially patient portals, took up permanent residence in my head last January when my mother, a few months away from achieving octogenarian status, experienced a health event that would change both of our lives. When she came home from the hospital, suddenly she was no longer under 24-7 observation … Read more

I (don’t) feel your pain: A conversation with ChatGPT about what “empathic AI” in healthcare really means

This is an essay in two parts: First, a somewhat rambling conversation that I had with ChatGPT about its own limitations in healthcare, and the limitations of those designing and using it. After that it’s time for the reality check, and some reflection. I review the research on where things currently stand with empathy and … Read more

CBP One™: The Border in Your Pocket

In August of 2018, in light of the growing number of apps under Customs and Border Protection, the agency’s Office of Field Operations (OFO) announced that it would develop the CBP One mobile application in collaboration with the Office of Information Technology (OIT). The app would prevent the confusion that comes with travelers needing to … Read more

Booth babes

Gizmodo takes ’em on: At CES last week, in addition to all the gear and gadgets, there was something else on display: women. As with many trade shows—especially ones aimed at a male audience—CES was rife with booth babes. Yet when the BBC ran a story on the practice of hiring scantily-clad models to stand around booths and draw stares … Read more