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Zeiss field machines, public Wi-Fi risks and IoT scanning

End of support for old field machines Zeiss have recently announced that they are withdrawing support contracts for many of their older 7 series Humphrey Field Analysers (HFAs) in November 2017. They have confirmed maintenance contracts can continue, but repairs...

The Wachter Review

Professor Robert Wachter (pronounced Wokter) is well known in the NHS IT sector. In late 2015 Jeremy Hunt announced he had tasked Dr Wachter to lead a review of the digital future of the NHS. The resulting Wachter Review was...

Google Maps - some supremely useful features

This article covers some less well known, yet very useful, features of Google Maps. Estimate your journey time by the day and time you’ll be travelling It’s easy to type a destination in and get an idea about how long...

Social networking

The use of social networking is now very common in both home and work environments. The field is expanding continually and we have had some requests for a roundup of common platforms. What is social networking and social media? As...

Protecting and recovering from email hacking

Over the last 12 months I have received emails from more than 20 friends and acquaintances (mostly doctors) who didn’t send those emails. More often than not I find the emails in my ‘Spam’ folder as Gmail knows they are...

Meltdown, Spectre, Flying Hospitals and Spy Cams

iPhone slowdown In early 2018 users discovered that Apple was slowing down older iPhones intentionally. The reported reason was to prolong the usable battery life. These changes were made without the knowledge or consent of owners. Unsurprisingly, a community backlash...

Projectors and Stagefright

Choosing the correct aspect ratio for a presentation There are several mistakes that are easy to make when using PowerPoint. The most common one I see is the failure of a video to play because the video file wasn’t copied...

The GMC joins the mobile revolution

If you are an ophthalmologist practising in the UK the increasing need to log your educational activities for your Annual Review of Competence Progression (ARCP) or appraisal can’t possibly have escaped you. The existing tools in this area for ophthalmologists...

Code4Health

Like many of the topics covered in this column this subject is not ophthalmic specific. Hopefully it is of sufficient interest to be relevant to this audience. Code4Health is a programme from NHS England that was announced in March 2015...

GDPR, email and private practice

A new set of data protection regulations became law in the EU (including the UK) in May 2018. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) replaces the 1988 Data Protection Act. The regulation brings new rights and expectations about how our personal...

Smart speakers: for patients and practitioners

Many readers will have experience of using smart speakers, such as the Amazon Echo or the Google Home. These popular devices are inexpensive and powerful. In brief, smart speakers listen for a spoken trigger word, followed by verbal commands. Commands...

Samsung focuses on the sight impaired and internet security flaws

Smartphone assistive technology for the sight impaired In previous issues we’ve covered some specific smartphones that have been developed for the sight impaired. Samsung are now doing something similar, but in the form of accessories. In March 2014 they announced,...