News Staff

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Author Archives: News Staff

Fuzzy records

By | February 6, 2017

Symptoms that patients describe to doctors may not always be documented in electronic medical records, a small study suggests. To test out how well the records match reality, researchers compared symptoms that 162 patients checked off on paper-based questionnaires with the information entered in patients’ electronic charts at eye clinics. Roughly one-third of the time, data on blurry… Read More »

Game on

By | February 6, 2017

U-M collects video games. Lots of them. The university’s Computer and Video Game Archive features more than 7,000 titles—everything from time-honored favorites such as “Pac-Man” and “Frogger” to newer fare, including “Call of Duty” and “Halo”—on dozens of gaming systems. Now in its 10th year, the CVGA collects video games in the same way that other archives pursue books,… Read More »

Cybersecurity forecast

By | February 6, 2017

Hacks and data breaches continue to make headlines—including during the presidential election—but that hasn’t seemed to worry consumers, or even many policymakers. M.S. Krishnan, the Accenture Professor of Computer Information at the Ross School of Business, says that while security breaches haven’t changed consumer behavior, it’s time for a cybersecurity summit. Krishnan, who is also professor of technology and… Read More »

Its master’s voice

By | February 3, 2017

Does your digital assistant know who it’s talking to? A wearable device prototype could let voice-controlled assistants like Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa recognize their owner so they don’t take orders from anyone else. The VAuth device, developed by U-M computer scientists Huan Feng and Kassem Fawaz, uses an accelerometer hidden in a pair of glasses or earphones… Read More »

Data rescue

By | February 3, 2017

More than 275 volunteers from U-M and around the community converged on Shapiro Library on January 27 and 28 in an emergency effort to preserve scientific data that is at risk of disappearing from government websites. The effort, called Ann Arbor Data Rescue, was organized by librarians and students at U-M and is part of the national Data Refuge project… Read More »

Phantom phone alerts

By | February 2, 2017

If you’ve fallen victim to “phantom phone alerts,” the mysterious phenomenon where you think your phone is buzzing but it isn’t, it may be time to take a tech break. Experiencing the nonexistent vibrations could be an indicator that you are too reliant on your cell phone. According to a new study headed by Daniel Kruger, a scientist at U-M’s… Read More »

Enhancing informatics

By | January 31, 2017

The loss of her father in 2009 drew a sharp focus on the need for accurate and timely medical records for Patricia Abbott, associate professor of nursing. The experience gave her renewed purpose to continue her research, which explores how massive amounts of data can improve care for patients. Abbott is exploring a variety of innovative Big Data… Read More »

Bits and the Bard

By | January 28, 2017

The annual convention of the Modern Language Association (MLA) is the greatest show on earth for the humanities and for some years now, digital humanities—using computer technology to understand literature and the arts—have been all the rage. They present new ways to approach the work of humanities scholarship, and they’ve already delivered not just new results but new… Read More »

Submit an Enriching Scholarship proposal

By | January 27, 2017

February is right around the corner, and that means so is Enriching Scholarship 2017! The 20th Annual Enriching Scholarship will be held May 1–5. Enriching Scholarship is a great opportunity for Michigan IT staff to share their work and expertise with the greater U-M community. This year’s event is particularly meaningful as it marks not only the 20th anniversary… Read More »

Hacking for global health

By | January 26, 2017

The Skoll Global Threats Fund pioneered the EpiHack, or “epidemiology hackathon,” which design digital tools that allow communities to detect, report, and verify disease outbreaks in real time. Annie Maxwell, the group’s president and an alumna of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, says one particular EpiHack, focusing on avian flu in Thailand, was special. “It was… Read More »

Free to be you and me

By | January 25, 2017

In a recent Educause blog post, Sol Bermann (privacy officer and interim CISO at U-M) examines the concept of autonomy privacy and argues for its importance in higher education. Higher education, Bermann writes, rightfully prides itself as being a place where freedom of expression, intellectual discourse, dissenting views, and social experimentation are not just the norm but expected. The ability… Read More »

Big Data vs. disease

By | January 25, 2017

Researchers at U-M will use Big Data and mobile technology to learn how to predict when individuals will get diseases, and to unlock the potential of single-cell gene sequencing under three recently funded projects. The Michigan Institute for Data Science awarded the three interdisciplinary projects a combined $3 million under the second round of its Challenge Initiative program. “These… Read More »

A new look for M-Pathways

By | January 24, 2017

Information and Technology Services (ITS) is upgrading the PeopleTools technology behind M-Pathways to version 8.55. This upgrade will bring a new look and feel to navigation within M-Pathways. This change will impact everyone who uses Wolverine Access at the university. The new navigation will be available on February 20 for M-Pathways Student Administration, Faculty Business, and Student Business,… Read More »

Yahoo under fire

By | January 23, 2017

Back in December, Yahoo came under renewed scrutiny after disclosing the largest known data breach in history, prompting Verizon Communications to demand better terms for its planned purchase of Yahoo’s internet business. According to Erik Gordon, a professor at the Ross School of Business, renegotiating the deal’s price tag would be the simplest but also least likely scenario… Read More »

Pitfalls facing new programmers

By | January 23, 2017

Colleen Van Lent, a lecturer at U-M and an instructor at Web Design for Everybody, outlines four common pitfalls that new programmers face: A lack of confidence. Hesitance about putting in the time to learn about and utilize a good editor. Viewing setbacks as failures rather than commonplace events. Seeking out the wrong kind of help with questions. “A… Read More »

Summer interns wanted

By | January 23, 2017

Do you know a college student who would be a great candidate for the ITS Summer Intern Program? The application period is now open for 2017 ITS Summer Interns! The application deadline is February 5, 2017. If you know students that might be interested in applying for an ITS internship, direct them to the ITS Summer Internship website,… Read More »

HITS opens new help center

By | January 23, 2017

On January 9, Health Information Technology & Services (HITS) opened a new Help Me Now (HMN) walk-up support center in the Towsley Center for Continuing Medical Education, located in Room G2413 (near the lobby just inside the building entrance). HMN staff are available to help with many kinds of common IT-related questions and issues, including: Duo two-factor authentication… Read More »