UW-Madison receives $9.5 million Gates Foundation grant

The University of Wisconsin-Madison has received a five-year, $9.5 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to identify virus mutations that would serve as early warnings of potential pandemic influenza viruses.

C.O.R.E Jobs Act targets state’s economic strengths

A package of economic growth ideas proposed by Senate Democrats expands current tax credits and grant programs and adds new initiatives to spur business development and retention as well as worker training. The Wisconsin C.O.R.E. Jobs Act, (C.O.R.E. stands for Connecting Opportunity, Research, and Entrepreneurship) was introduced by State Senator Julie Lassa (D-Stevens Point) and Senator Pat Kreitlow (D-Chippewa Falls) was unveiled at a November 9, 2009 news conference.

Online identity widget conceals email and shares social profiles

Are you concerned about publishing your email address on your website or blog for spammers to find? Do you want to share all your social media profiles with the visitors to your website – easily? Contact Button has come up with a widget that enables users to both hide their email address and share all their social media profiles in one neat place.

API Healthcare introduces new generation of Navigator

API Healthcare, the provider of human capital management solutions to the healthcare industry, announced the general availability of Version 9.0 of its Navigator payroll and human resources system. The application streamlines human resources information management, automates manual tasks and empowers employees to manage their personal data.

NanoRite board sets strategic direction for the center, elects officers

The newly created NanoRite Advisory Board with Jeff West, former president of Silicon Logic Engineering, and Dr. Charles Sorensen, UW-Stout Chancellor, as chair and vice chair will help Chippewa Valley Technical College (CVTC) by identifying prospective tenants, reviewing marketing activities and strategies and promoting the exchange of ideas and knowledge among businesses and educational institutions.

Press releases and other news

• Stem cells may improve heart bypass results
  Source: U.S. News
• The future of ERP
  Source: CIO
• Health insurance costs more in Wisconsin
  Source: Chicago Tribune
• A freakonomic view of climate change
  Source: Reuters UK

HIPAA - Past, Present, and Future

Guest Column/Karl Richards: The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) ushered in a new age of modernizing the United States healthcare system. The goal of HIPAA was to simplify healthcare administration to improve efficiency and cost effectiveness. Sound familiar? Although HIPPA became law in 1996, the legislation did not have a significant impact until 2003 when CMS mandated the use of electronic data interchange (EDI) and established standards for healthcare information privacy and security.

IBM moves closer to emulating human brain

Computers capable of mimicking the human brain's power and efficiency could be just 10 years off, according to a leading researcher at IBM. According to the researcher, Dharmendra Modha, the manager of IBM's cognitive computing initiative, scientists from his company and some of the world's most prestigious universities have already managed to simulate the computing complexity of the feline cortex, a feat that could augur a day not too far off when it will be possible to ramp up to what the human brain can accomplish.

Nuclear breakthrough has Wisconsin fingerprints

The US Department of Energy considers a recent achievement “a world record” in gas reactor particle fuel use, according to Kathy McCarthy, Deputy Associate Lab Director for Nuclear Science & Technology at Idaho National Laboratory. UW-Madison nuclear engineering students have been strongly contributing to the projects research.

Press releases and other news

• Clouds in IT future
  Source: InformationWeek
• Anti-Gravity treadmill developed from NASA technology
  Source: Universe Today
• Top IT turkeys of 2009
  Source: Network World
• Wisconsin Rapids uses technology to keep residents informed
  Source: WAOW TV 9

Your organization chart and what it tells others

Guest Column/Mark McDonald: An enterprise tells its story in documents ranging from formal strategies to shared values embedded in the company culture. One document in particular tells you much about a company – the organization chart. Take a look at your org chart and you can see not only how work gets done, but also gain insight into the company’s culture, its overall efficiency and the structural risk it is looking to protect itself against. There is truth behind the term ‘reorganization’ as a proxy for change.

Myth busters: Why some things you hear about venture capital are wrong.

Inside Wisconsin/Tom Still: A record 500-plus people attended Wisconsin's largest early stage investing conference this month and another 250 rubbed shoulders in the same convention hall at the Midwest's largest forum on health care investing. What better time to shatter myths surrounding the investors who crowded both events? Tom disputes six common myths.

EraGen announces licensing agreement with San Diego biotech

EraGen Biosciences Inc., a Madison biotechnology firm, has entered into a strategic partnership and licensing agreements with San Diego-based, Illumina that will give each firm access to the other's technology. EraGen, whose products focus on detecting infectious diseases and genetic disorders, will use Illumina’s analysis platforms to develop more diagnostic tests.

Press releases and other news

• Promega Corporation and SwitchGear Genomics announce a novel method for characterizing DNA-protein interactions
  Source: Promega
• The argument for free classes via iTunes
  Source: New York Times
• The great cloud debate's unsatisfying but true answer
  Source: InfoWorld

Shuttle Atlantis on pick up, delivery and installation mission

Global Fusion/Mike Klein: Space shuttle Atlantis and its six-member crew began an 11-day delivery flight to the International Space Station on Monday with a 2:28 p.m. EST launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The shuttle is transporting spare hardware to the outpost and return a station crewmember that spent more than two months in space. Read commentary and see exclusive WTN News launch photos.

The virtual doctor visit

New technology is helping elderly patients and those with chronic diseases monitor their condition from the comfort of home. Every morning at 10 a.m. sharp, Juanita Wood, 87, taps "okay" on a screen to start up a device that takes her blood pressure and transmits the information to her medical clinic.

Press releases and other news

• Thousands of web sites compromised, redirect to scareware
  Source: ZD Net
• File-sharing software ban sought in House
  Source: Washington Post

Good Morning Houston, "We're having a baby, seriously! Shuttle Atlantis launches without a hitch. Simply AWESOME!

Global Fusion/Mike Klein: T-10... nine... eight... seven... six... five... four... three... two... one... zero... and liftoff of space shuttle Atlantis, on a mission to build, re-supply and to do research on the International Space Station. Later this week we might hear, " Good Morning Houston, were having a baby!" Seriously! Many men speak urban legends of how they missed or almost missed their baby's birth. Astronaut Randy Bresnik and his wife, Rebecca, expect the birth of their daughter, while Randy is in orbit around the Earth! WTN was on the scene reporting, tweeting, (handle: wtnmike) and taking great photos. See story for pictures and commentary.

FluGen fighting flaws in flu vaccine industry

A small Madison company seeks funds to bring to market two technologies it believes will make flu vaccine production less costly and more efficient, and will increase the effectiveness of vaccines once they are administered.

Grants available to Wisconsin manufacturers

The Department of Commerce has authorized Next Generation Manufacturing grants to help Wisconsin manufacturers improve performance, stimulate growth and respond to new challenges as the economy recovers from the recession. “Wisconsin manufacturers who adopt Next Generation Manufacturing principles can improve their competitiveness, win a greater share of global markets, and react quickly to market opportunities,” said Department of Commerce Secretary Richard J. Leinenkugel.

Contemplating an IT-less recovery

Guest Column/Mark McDonald: I was at an event a few weeks ago hosted by a leading IT journalist who made the following opening remarks. “Good times are ahead for IT. A new investment cycle should happen soon as we have postponed infrastructure upgrades for too long.” His tone was upbeat and encouraging. The only thing was that the audience of more than 20 CIOs and CTOs was not buying it.

'The moon is alive,' NASA says after water discovery

The mission that plunged a rocket into the moon's surface last month detected about 25 gallons of water in the form of vapor and ice -- enough to inspire hope for a lunar colony. Scientists have found "significant" amounts of water in a crater at the moon's south pole, a major discovery that will dramatically revise the characterization of the moon as a dead world and likely make it a more attractive destination for future human space missions.

Tips on pitching a business plan part of Global Entrepreneurship Week

As part of the Global Entrepreneurship Week, Paul Jones will give insight into preparing and pitching a business plan to investors and lenders at the next WIN meeting on Tuesday, November 17. Paul will discuss the fundamentals of writing a business plan and how one must prepare to pitch their plan to investors and lenders.

Press releases and other news

• Madoff computer programmers arrested; could face 30 years in $60B fraud
  Source: Daily Finance
• Priceless! The 25 funniest vintage tech ads
  Source: CIO
• Top 20 tech underdogs
  Source: PC World
• Little benefit seen, so far, in electronic patient records
  Source: New York Times

Merge Healthcare sells additional 9 million shares

Merge Healthcare plans to sell an additional 9 million shares of common stock in a registered direct offering to select institutional investors at a purchase price of $3.00 per share. Merge expects to enter into definitive agreements with respect to this offering later today.

Press releases and other news

• Dell’s out-of-town tryout for smartphones
  Source: New York Times