groups, eRx NOW is available free to
any health care provider with legal
authority to prescribe medications,
and it requires no download, no new
hardware, and minimal training.
The product includes the ability to
generate secure electronic prescriptions that can be sent computer-to-computer or via electronic fax to
55,000 retail pharmacies via Sure
Scripts Messenger Service (www.sure
scripts.com). Prescriptions are checked
for potentially harmful interactions with
a patient’s other medications, and the
product includes the ability for physicians to search and find targeted
health-related information using a
custom search engine from Google.
And in case you’re worried about
your medical records, note that eRx
NOW includes multiple redundant layers of firewall; deep-packet inspection;
SSL encryption; database encryption;
intrusion detection; and virus, spy-ware, and malware protection for the
program’s remote servers. So, physician, heal thyself. After all, it’s free.
STOP EMBARRASSING
LEAKAGE
PHOTO COUR TES Y OF PC GUARDIAN.
■ This USB lock is designed to provide
data protection for various digital
devices.
The USB Port Security System from
PC Guardian (www.pcguardian.
com) may not be the highest-tech
product you’ll run into, but it looks like
a good bet if you are worried about
data leakage, data theft, computer
viruses, and malware that passes
through USB ports of your computer.
Capable of protecting single or multiple
USB ports in various configurations, it
was developed in response to the ever-
increasing threat of unauthorized data
transfer through USB ports to Flash
drives, memory sticks, MP3 players,
and other mobile storage devices.
The USB Port Security System is
compatible with most USB ports on
the market today. The pushbutton lock
is available in different keying options,
and multiple configurations are
available to secure from one to seven
USB ports. The locks are priced at
$12.95 to $71.95, depending on
configuration and components.
tion from it. It employs a vision detection
technology that combines stereoscopic
cameras with high-luminosity infrared
LEDs, and an advanced interpretation
algorithm is said to provide detection
accuracy better than 97 percent under
all lighting conditions, in anything ranging from tropical to arctic conditions.
FREE VIDEO SOFTWARE
In a continuing effort to inform readers about useful freebies, we present
Prism v. 1.00, from the folks
down under at NCH Software. The
Canberra-based outfit specializes in
business and video software and has
just released a video file converter for
Windows 98 onward, including Vista.
The central control units can also
provide asset management, security
and surveillance, diagnostics and fleet
monitoring, wireless communication,
and information services. Isolated
digital inputs and outputs can be used
to control devices on the vehicle, detect
door position, or to trigger external
systems. And apparently, vandalism is
common in Italy, as well as in the US,
because the counter is enclosed in a
sealed, solid magnesium enclosure with
locking automotive-grade connectors.
LOW-COST SERIAL
ANALYZER
It’s basically just a file converter
that converts avi, mpg, vob, asf, wmv,
mp4, ogm, and all video formats that
have a DirectShow based codec to
AVI and Windows Media Video formats, and it’s available for download
at www.nchsoftware.com/prism/
index.html. (DirectShow, formerly
called ActiveMovie, is Microsoft’s
graphic driver for various formats.)
CIRCUITS AND
DEVICES
DEVICE COUNTS
PASSENGERS
PHOTO COURTESY OF MICROCHIP TECHNOLOG Y.
■ This new tool enables design
engineers to interface with circuits that
are embedded deep within serial
systems using any Windows®-based PC.
■ The PCN-1001
Passenger
Counter is
based on
noncontact
stereoscopic vision
technology. PHOTO COUR TES Y OF EUROTECH S.p. A.
It’s not as if one in a million of us would
ever need one, but Eurotech’s PCN-
1001 Passenger Counter falls into the
category of “interesting stuff you probably never knew existed.” The Italian
company ( www.eurotech.it) builds computer systems for public transportation
vehicles, and the PCN-1001 is intended
to work with a vehicle server that can
preprocess, store, and upload informa-
The latest from Microchip
Technology, Inc. (www.micro
chip.com) — a provider of
microcontroller and analog
semiconductors — is the PICkit™ Serial
Analyzer, an addition to the PICkit
development tool series. It is designed
for engineers who develop firmware to
communicate via serial communication protocols to components typically
found in embedded systems.
The instrument comes with a
28-pin demo board populated with a
PIC16F886 mid-range eight-bit micro-controller. The kit’s hardware and
graphical user interface (GUI) software
allow communication between the PC
April 2007 9
