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Basically, since Leopard 10.5.3 (presumably), Address Book has had built-in functionality to sync with Google Apps and Gmail Contacts.  Incidentally, iCal also now includes CalDAV support and Google has a neat little how-to on the topic.  Anyway, to get Address Book sync running, you’ll first need to get your hands on an iPhone or iPod — just kidding, but iPod/iPhone owners can skip a step in this guide that applies only to those of us not yet riding the thousand-dollar cell phone bandwagon.

Ok, here it goes:

1. While starting, and prior to enabling the new Synchronize with Google feature, Address Book checks whether you’ve previously plugged an iPod or iPhone to your Mac.  Normally this would exclude the functionality for the non-enlightened, but we can fool the check through creation of a simple plist file (iPhone/iPod owners, skip steps 2, 3 and 4).
2. To create the required plist file, you will require PList Edit Pro.
3. Once you have opened PList Edit Pro, create a new project and paste the following text into the file listing (bottom right pane):

   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
   <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN"
          "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">

   <plist version="1.0">
   <dict>
   	<key>Devices</key>
   	<dict>
   		<key>Red-Herring</key>
   		<dict>
   			<key>Device Class</key>
   			<string>iPod</string>
   			<key>Family ID</key>
   			<integer>10000</integer>
   		</dict>
   	</dict>
   </dict>

   </plist> 

4. Save the file as ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iPod.plist
5. Open up iSync and then close it (I don’t know if this is necessary, but do it anyway).
6. Now open Address Book and go into the Preferences — you should now see the “Synchronize with Google” feature!
7. Enjoy.  Contacts get synced with every execution of a sync through iSync.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
 <key>Devices</key>
 <dict>
 <key>Red-Herring</key>
 <dict>
 <key>Device Class</key>
 <string>iPod</string>
 <key>Family ID</key>
 <integer>10000</integer>
 </dict>
 </dict>
</dict>
</plist>

We have recently completed a pilot study as part of the Ontario Osteoporosis Strategy to investigate wide network transmission over our own implementation of a secure HL7 standard that we are tentatively calling HL7e.  The purpose of this study was to investigate the overall feasibility and loading characteristics of a fault tolerant point-to-point HL7 messaging network.

The HL7e protocol, loosely defined, is a wrapper for the general standard, encapsulating each message in an SSL encrypted tunnel.  The main actors in our implementation are:

1. HL7e Gateway Processes
2. The HL7e Server

HL7e Gateway

These gateway processes listen for regular HL7 messages from modalities, encrypt the contents, and re-transmit  to sequences of further gateways or HL7e Servers.  The purpose of the gateway is to secure messages, and act as both a carrier and queue for further transmission.  Our HL7e Gateways are fully standards compliant, and can be plugged into any HL7e workflow, maintaining data endpoints, and even providing a temporary store in the event that recipient resources are offline.

Through-the-Pipe Encryption

Because HL7 Messages are encrypted by the first gateway in the chain, re-transmission in a gateway-to-gateway pathway is possible while maintaining data security and integrity.  Implementation of our very own conditional FluxML workflow XML language ensures that path failover occurs in the event of gateway outages, and data safely arrives at its destination.

HL7e Server

The HL7e server is the final point in an HL7e network.  It receives encrypted HL7e messages, decrypts them, and stores them in a local database for later use.  As the final purpose of our tests is to establish the feasibility of mass HL7 data aggregation, this final destination is a temporary store of unaltered HL7 messages from the originating modalities.  Our HL7e protocol ensures that HL7 data remains untouched throughout the process, and industry standard encryption technology is harnessed to ensure integrity down the entire pipe.

As part of a recent project, Flux Inc. has released a preliminary version of a Flash-based online interactive Business Card Builder.  Words cannot describe it as well as a video, so here is a link.  Enjoy (and be sure to turn on your speakers)!

Card Builder Demo
]]> http://blog.fluxinc.ca/?feed=rss2&p=246 0 http://blog.fluxinc.ca/?p=193 http://blog.fluxinc.ca/?p=193#comments Sun, 12 Jul 2009 05:24:24 +0000 Wojtek Grabski http://blog.fluxinc.ca/?p=193

Enterprise Intranet Web

Our core enterprise business is bringing people and computing resources together.  Our highly militant and organised staff produce what are, paradoxically, the most majestically complex and elegant solutions to virtually any set of problems.  We employ best design and build practices to achieve the perfect mix of usability, security, and capability to all of our applications.  Starting from our own foundational web platform, we build each application from the bottom up to ensure the most complete fit.

We provide all of our enterprise clients with full source code access, and waive all non-preexisting intellectual property rights — our aim is to build a working relationship, not create a one-way dependency.  Please read our enterprise success stories to learn more.

Front-Facing Web and E-Commerce

Everything the customer touches has to be both simple and bewilderingly flexible.  We achieve this dichotomy through intuitive web client interface planning, our own modern design touch, and the same web platform technology we use as a starting point for each and every web based application we build.

Data Mining and Data Migration

At the end of any decision process related to making use of, and storing data, it actually does have to be placed onto a platform more suited to its purpose.  It’s precisely at this point that our skilled database architects feel right at home.  There is no existing data set that we cannot turn into a resource.

IT Infrastructure and Strategy Planning

One of the most impressive advantages contemporary internet access offers us is that we can now, finally, see specialisation take place in computing resource management.  Most of us are not in the e-mail business, or are we backup management experts.   Yet most businesses still try to handle these highly complex and mission critical tasks on-site when hundreds of companies offer far superior and developed services for a fraction of the cost?  Why deal with 100MB Inbox limits when mailboxes over 20GB in size are offered nearly free online by world-class providers?  Why worry that a building fire will wipe out your entire backup system when a multitude of online vendors stay awake nights dreaming up ways to make their infrastructure even more impervious to nuclear war.  Let the full extent of the market work for you and let us move you in the right direction;  we mange the move, you reap the rewards.

In addition to providing a range of services, we also provide the following retail products to the healthcare community:

DICOM Printer 1.6 (User Interactive)

A Windows-based universal DICOM enabler.  DICOM Printer shows up as a regular windows printer, but instead of printing, sends documents to PACS or DICOM-compliant film.

DICOM Printer 2.0 (Background Automated)

A second, completely rebuilt version of our popular DICOM Printer package.  This edition features invisible operation and fully-scriptable conditional workflow.  Query PACS, Query Worklist, Print to Film, Store on PACS, and call external applications to gather patient data.  Contact us for more information.