Blood glucose meters, which millions of diabetics rely upon to regulate their blood sugar, have become less costly and easier and less painful to use.

But they haven’t become more accurate, a top Food and Drug Administration official said May 21 at a meeting of researchers analyzing studies that show wide variation in the performance of the machines used to measure blood glucose levels.

Katherine Serrano, diabetes branch chief in the FDA’s division of chemistry and toxicology devices, said the federal government is aware of accuracy problems with meters on the market. But she said the FDA is limited in its response because some manufacturers are in Asia, and the agency must rely on the manufacturers’ own studies related to accuracy.

Health experts say if a blood glucose meter provides a false reading, it puts a patient at risk of dosing with too much or too little insulin. If too much insulin is given, it can bring blood glucose levels down to dangerously low levels, putting the patient at risk of severe hypoglycemia and possible hospitalization.

Typically, a person with diabetes tests his or her blood sugar before eating or exercising to find out if he or she is within normal range. The patient then uses insulin or diet to restore blood glucose to a healthy level. About 24 million people have diabetes in the United States,  and nearly a third of that number rely on insulin to regulate their blood sugar.

Researchers at the Diabetes Technology Society meeting in Arlington, Va., presented several studies done in the United States and Germany showing it is common for many devices to fall short of the 95 percent accuracy standard required by the FDA. Consumers often buy the devices based on which is cheapest, or which is covered by their insurance policy without realizing that not all meters offer same accuracy, they said.

Serrano said several factors can reduce a meter’s accuracy, such as storing it in a hot or cold area, or failing to wash your hands before using them. She said studies done by manufacturers seeking approval are done in labs by trained personnel.

“There have been a lot of advances in the technology of the meters but we have not seen great strides in accuracy,” Serrano said.

Serrano notes that manufacturers don’t have much incentive to improve accuracy because federal law requires only that they prove they are “substantially equivalent” to another meter already on the market. The FDA relies on the manufacturer’s own studies to analyze accuracy and does not require any independent testing, she said. Here are some tips to help improve accuracy.

Also of Interest

• 5 Things Caregivers Must Know About Diabetes
• The 9 Unhealthiest Restaurant Meals Are…
• Join AARP: Savings, resources and news for your well-being

See the AARP home page for deals, savings tips, trivia and more

According to the GeriJoy website, the virtual dog, which can be displayed on a computer or other Internet-connected device, provides “all the availability and unconditional love of an adorable pet, combined with the ability to talk with true intelligence and compassion,” adding: “It’s as if it lives inside a picture frame, so you get the benefits of pet therapy without any smells, allergies, cleaning up, bites, or food and veterinary bills.” (And in the event of a tornado, GeriJoy users don’t have to worry about finding their companion in the wreckage, as this woman did.)

Yet another plus: Because the virtual pet actually provides feedback to GeriJoy staffers about what’s happening with the user, it actually can serve as a sort of online watchdog as well. In a recent blog post, GeriJoy cofounder Victor Wang recounts how GeriJoy detected that a user’s human caregiver was being verbally abusive, and contacted the user’s daughter to let her know about it. As a result, the daughter fired the caregiver and replaced her with gentler helpers.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Wang, a former Canadian Army officer who did research on human-machine interaction for NASA while at MIT, was inspired to develop the virtual dog by his grandmother in Taiwan, who became depressed while she was living alone.

GeriJoy also will be on exhibit at AARP’s Health Innovation@50+ Tech Expo on May 31 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Also of Interest

• Can Caregivers Help Slow Dementia?
• Putting a New Face on Alzheimer’s
• Join AARP: Savings, resources and news for your well-being

See the AARP home page for deals, savings tips, trivia and more

The spot shows hip college-age revelers befuddling their iPhone-using elders with all of the phone’s flashy technology — such as the AirView feature that allows users to answer the phone by sweeping their fingers over the screen without actually touching it, a camera mode that allows them to take rapid-fire pictures of moving objects and an app that transforms the phone into a TV remote control.

Click here to view the embedded video.

As Ad Age digital notes, though, the commercial strives to position the S4 as the “young, tech-savvy, early adopter’s smartphone,” mostly by trashing the iPhone as the antiquated choice of out-of-it geezers. (The oldsters also showed up in a Samsung commercial in September, unfavorably comparing the iPhone5 to the Samsung GS3.) When a young woman uses the S4′s near-field communication (NFC) technology to share photos with a friend by touching their phones, for example, an older woman next to her tries to join in, only to discover that her iPhone doesn’t have NFC. The woman’s husband then remarks: “Some smartphones are smarter than other smartphones.” (The real reason the current iPhone doesn’t have NFC: Apple’s designers gave it an aluminum-and-glass body that blocks such transmissions, while the S4 has a lighter, plastic body that doesn’t. But there’s a downside: comparison testing by phone-warranty provider SquareTrade found that the iPhone 5 is relatively durable, while the S4 is much more vulnerable to cracking if you drop it.)

See also: 5 Reasons for Buying an iPhone 5

Technology critics such as the Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg, Forbes‘ Larry Magid and The Verge’s David Pierce have given the S4 mixed reviews, generally praising its long list of features but finding fault with its design. (“A worthy phone, but — for most people — nothing to get too excited about,” Magid opines.) But the bigger question may be whether Samsung’s ageist marketing strategy is a wise one. Mac DailyNews, a website for Apple enthusiasts, argues that it is more likely to backfire: “Limiting your target market in the U.S. to 30.6 million adults under 25, while trumpeting iPhone as the smartphone for those over 25, or some 204 million people, just doesn’t seem like a very sound strategy. Especially since the older demographics have far more disposable income.” According to ComScore, the iPhone still holds the biggest share of smartphone users, with 39 percent to Samsung’s 21.7 percent.

Indeed, even Samsung seems to be hedging its bets on the age front, with this ad in which a middle-aged woman gets praised as “cool” by a college-age young man because of her mastery of an S4 photo-editing app.

Click here to view the embedded video.

So what do you think? Do Samsung’s commercials do a good job of selling the S4′s features, or do you find them offensive? Tell us your thoughts below.

Also of Interest

• Work-Related Age Bias Hits Home for Boomers
• 50 Great Apps for iPhone, Android and Blackberry
• Join AARP: Savings, resources and news for your well-being

See the AARP home page for deals, savings tips, trivia and more

Even though I’ve owned my own business for more than 20 years, my promotional skills were a bit stale. Like many others in my generation I relied on traditional advertising and public relations for marketing. As far as social media, I had a website, and shared stories on Facebook with friends, but that was about it.

Not enough in today’s market. Everyone talks about a social media strategy. As I joined the ranks of the 16.4percent of the 55+ market (not coincidentally, the largest group of self-employed individuals in this country) I knew I had to kick it up a notch.

So I created a LinkedIn profile, signed up for Twitter, and started subscribing to every relevant blog and other publication in my field.

I scoured the Internet for articles offering productivity, social media and networking advice. Soon my email Inbox had more than 200 messages at any given moment. (That’s not counting all my shopping and discount site alerts, like Gilt and One Kings Lane.)

It was overwhelming. First, I learned about the basic productivity apps, that I have shared in prior blogs. There is Evernote, the online filing cabinet system; and Pocket, the app that copies and saves web pages. I started storing all my word document files in Dropbox so I could access them on any computer or mobile device.

Like most entrepreneurs, the more I researched, the more digital chatter I received. I still use Evernote, Pocket and Dropbox, but I’ve found some other apps and websites that are helping me streamline my day.

Here are four of my new favorites to help keep me organized in my encore career.

TheSwizzle.com: This site helps me manage my email inbox. It lets users easily unsubscribe from emails that they no longer want by placing all commercial email addresses in one for list, to quickly check off. No more hitting the unsubscribe button on each individual email. For commercial emails you want to continue, like certain catalogs, newsletters or shopping sites, it places them all in one email. Once a day, users receive a Swizzle email, with all of the other emails inside of it. This site has done wonders for organizing my email inbox, giving me a quick view of my business emails.

LinkedIn Apps

Cardmunch: This a free iPhone app that converts business cards into Contacts. Snap a photo of a business card and it loads up in your phone and sends a request to the contact asking to connect on LinkedIn. No more typing the card information into your contact list.

The new LinkedIn Contacts app sorts contacts by region for easy reference

LinkedIn Contacts:  This a brand new free iPhone app that transfers all of your LinkedIn contacts into a phone book. It has the potential to become a businessperson’s primary contact list phone book and personal assistant.

Users can sync their iPhone address book, Gmail, Google Contacts & Calendar, Yahoo mail and contacts, Outlook Mail, Contacts & Calendar, CardMunch, Evernote and even TripIt all in Contacts.
It’s great for business trips, as users can sort their contacts by region and easily identify who they want to connect with when they travel.

Organizing Your Social Media

Hootsuite: It’s marketed as a social media management system for organization’s to launch campaigns, but I use it to organize people I follow on Twitter and to schedule my Tweets, LinkedIn and Facebook updates.

I recommend going through the tutorial and learning how it works so you can set up topic streams, and add the people you want to follow in lists. Now I spend 30 minutes each morning, noon and evening keeping tabs on my Twitter influencers and my tweets. I can also schedule all of my posts on my other social networks like Facebook or LinkedIn.

It’s a “must have” for anyone who uses social media — which is everyone in business in 2013.

Are you considering a next step in your life or career? Check out Life Reimagined to get started. 

Also of Interest

• Retiring Boomers Driving Sales of Small Businesses
• Ground Control to Commander Chris Hadfield: ‘Hallo Spaceboy’
• Join AARP: Savings, resources and news for your well-being

See the AARP home page for deals, savings tips, trivia and more

As Commander Chris Hadfield, 53, heads back home from the International Space Station, his video of David Bowie’s Space Oddity is trending on YouTube and approaching 2 million views exceeding 10 million views in just a couple of days. It’s being called the first music video recorded in space. Bowie himself is tickled pink, tweeting ‘Hallo Spaceboy’ to the astronaut in honor of another celestial Bowie tune.

Hadfield is using his new status as a social-media celebrity to educate and delight an audience that might not otherwise be interested in the science and art of space flight.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The first Canadian to walk in space, Hadfield has about 850,000 Twitter followers. If you’re just meeting him today, catch up on this unique spaceman, courtesy of the tech website Mashable, where you can see Hadfield’s five most memorable moments in space, including a Google+ Hangout with William Shatner (that’s Captain Kirk to you).

Most of all, Hadfield has given new meaning to the old legend of astronauts having the “Right Stuff.” His personal, creative and inspirational messages have struck a chord in a world where spaceflight has become routine and NASA is ceding the future of space to the private sector. More than just the obvious appearances on daytime and nighttime TV, we hope that Hadfield can lead all of us to a renewed sense of mission, in the quest to leverage what we learn in space to solve our problems here at home.

Also of Interest

• This Fact About Flight Attendants Might Surprise You
• Save on Gas When You Travel This Summer
• Join AARP: savings, resources and news for your well-being

See the AARP home page for deals, savings tips, trivia and more

Click here to view the embedded video.

Smartphone? He doesn’t mention the word. Up until recently, he’s been partial to “handheld personal computer.” Or maybe he’s smart enough to know that the amusement over his omission will drive viewers (70K 250K so far) to watch the three-minute video above.

But let’s take his premise at face value: Phones, smart or not, are changing health care in Africa, and possibly everywhere else.

Smartphone (there, we said it!) apps are helping seniors age in place, and helping everyone save money.

Apps are creating new models in the field of entertainment, dating, driving — you get the idea. And if you’re reading this on your phone, the Social Security Administration has got a site optimized just for you.

So maybe Gingrich is right: Cellphones need a new name. Share your ideas below in the comments box.

Here’s a video response with just the right amount of snark…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Also of Interest

• Best Apps of 2012 (50+ Edition)
• Games for 50+: Games Provide Family Caregivers With Time to Recharge
• Join AARP: Savings, resources and news for your well-being

See the AARP home page for deals, savings tips, trivia and more

Wizard 101 by Kingsisle helps older players mentor younger ones.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve written about the gaming study by Dr. Jennifer Jacobs Henderson, associate professor and department chair, and Dr. Aaron Delwiche, associate professor, of the Department of Communication at Trinity University. For the final installment in this series, I want to focus on a very interesting insight from Drs. Henderson and Delwiche — many older gamers really like the mentoring aspect of multiplayer online games. It’s not about the competition but about helping others.

As we at AARP have introduced the concept of Real Possibilities, we are also introducing a powerfully new idea, Life Reimagined. These ideas recognize that for most of us we’re just starting to get going as we get older and we have talents and interests we can build on, whether at work or in other settings. For the players identified in the study, many are able to use their talents and interests in a new setting, helping others — often younger players — succeed.

As with past blogs, the players’ quotes sum the concept up best.

• “Wizard101 brings people together from all over and teaches others you are not alone, and if you do good here it is OK, and if you make an oops playing, it is OK too … we are all human and we all make dumb moves and forget to do things, but we do good too and helping others when in need of help in turn they will help you when needed when they can. — 50-year-old woman who plays more than 50 hours per week.
• “I have helped several young people, and have tried to set a good example for them. I like the fact, also, that you can play with all different age groups, and that we learn from each other.”  — 65-year-old woman who plays on average 34 hours per week.
• “A lot of the quests require teamwork and I enjoy helping the younger players develop their teamwork.”           — 57-year old man who plays more than 65 hours per week.

Not only are these quotes great at showcasing the idea of mentoring but they also turn a common stereotype on its head. When technology or gaming typically comes up, the assumption is usually one of younger generations helping older generations. While this does happen, these quotes — and the study overall — show that it goes the other way, too, and involves learning not just technology but life skills. I would like to make one final ask for your stories — what examples do you have about mentoring in Wizard101 or other games?  Do you have other examples of powerful benefits of gaming?  We’d love to hear them!

View the entire Games for the 50+ series:

• Part 5: Games for the 50+: A New Outlet for Mentoring
• Part 4: Games for the 50+: Games Provide Family Caregivers With Time to Recharge
• Part 3: Games for the 50+: Grandparents & Grandchildren Find Adventures, Memories
• Part 2: Games for the 50+: Strengthening Friendships
• Part 1: Games for the 50+: Benefits Include Socialization, Activity

Bob Stephen is AARP’s Vice President for Home and Family. In this role he works on issues such as caregiving, intergenerational families, livable communities and technology across the organization.  He connects with family and friends through online gaming.

Image courtesy of Kingsisle

Photo by Victor1558 via CreativeCommons.org

I’ve been writing about the landmark gaming study by Dr. Jennifer Jacobs Henderson, associate professor and department chair, and Dr. Aaron Delwiche, associate professor, of the Department of Communication at Trinity University. Their study is based on over 32,000 users of  Wizard101, an online multiplayer game that surprisingly has a large number of 50+ users. One of the biggest surprises to us at AARP are the findings that show gaming benefits for caregivers and those who have gone through a challenging life transition.

Supporting the needs of family caregivers is a top priority for AARP. Our Caregiving Resource Center provides information to help both the caregiver and the person they are caring for. Most family caregivers are simply caring for a loved one because that is what family members do. The time can be rewarding but can also be stressful — as the family caregiver may become isolated from friends, may not take care of themselves, and may have little time for themselves. For those losing a family member, grief may make it difficult to reengage with friends and family.

Consider these powerful quotes from study participants.

• “I believe that this has been a lifesaver for me. I was in a rut after my husband died and I didn’t want to do anything or go anywhere. All I did was sit and watch TV. Now I never watch TV, I am here visiting with my friends and enjoying myself and living once again.” Comment from a 65-year-old woman who plays about 45 hours per week.
• “My husband is a quadriplegic. I am his caregiver. Wizards101 is a relief from taking care of him. It is an escape. The television is always on for my husband so that is why the high hours of TV. When I want to be in a ‘different’ world I play Wizards101. It is simple and not ‘real life’. I can leave it when I need to and take it up again. I am in my own little world when I play and I need that sometimes.” Comment from a 59-year-old woman who plays around 10 hours per week.
• “Since I take care of my mother, I don’t get out much. Wizard is just my way of being somewhere else for a few hours a day … and it’s something my husband and I can do together.” Comment from a 50-year-old woman who plays about 20 hours per week.

The online, multiplayer aspect of Wizard101 and similar games allows participants to do more than escape — it helps them to stay connected. As with past blogs, it would be great to hear your stories about gaming and connections to health, loss and family caregiving. Next time, I’ll conclude with a final surprise on gaming — mentoring.

View the entire Games for the 50+ series:

• Part 5: Games for the 50+: A New Outlet for Mentoring
• Part 4: Games for the 50+: Games Provide Family Caregivers With Time to Recharge
• Part 3: Games for the 50+: Grandparents & Grandchildren Find Adventures, Memories
• Part 2: Games for the 50+: Strengthening Friendships
• Part 1: Games for the 50+: Benefits Include Socialization, Activity

Bob Stephen is AARP’s Vice President for Home and Family. In this role he works on issues such as caregiving, intergenerational families, livable communities and technology across the organization.  He connects with family and friends through online gaming.

Image courtesy of Victor1558 via CreativeCommons.org

I used to think of Facebook as a sort of friend to the friendless. Whatever its societal shortcomings, I reasoned, at least by redefining the term “friend” to mean “any being capable of hitting the ‘accept’ button on a computer screen” Facebook put friendship — or something like it — within reach of just about everybody, no matter how awkward, ugly, or generally unappealing they might be.

In other words, it was the perfect place for me.

But even that at-least-it’s-better-than-drinking-poison quality was dashed against the cyber-rocks of reality the other day when I opened my Facebook page and was slapped in the kisser by this stark accusation:

Note the presumptive nature of that second line: “You’ve been sending friend requests to people who don’t know you.” Well, how does Facebook know that? I am perfectly willing to accept that I may have been sending friend requests to people who don’t want to say they know me, but I’m not at all sure Facebook is in possession of all the facts in this matter.

Here’s how it works: Assume you’ve got a handful of Facebook friends. When you click on a friend’s picture, you get a list of all their friends, and next to each one is a big button that says,

Now, to me, that’s an invitation, right? Well, apparently not right. If you click that button and the person on the other end doesn’t know you from Adam — or doesn’t remember you from high school, or turns out to just be someone with a name similar to that of an old acquaintance — your would-be friend is asked the question: “Do you know [YOU!] outside of Facebook?” A “No” response sets off a screaming alarm at Facebook Headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif., prompting a sludge-covered hate note like the one that awaited me at my desk.

More insidious is the “People You May Know” notification that pops up just below the list of people asking to be your friend. Right now, at this moment, Facebook is tempting me to “add friend” Eric Clapton.

Well, I think Eric Clapton is awesome, but really, after what I’ve been through I’m not going to touch Eric Clapton with a 10-foot mouse.

Alas, Facebook wasn’t through with stripping away any vestiges of my positive self-image. First it wouldn’t let me leave the page until I checked off a box acknowledging the penalty for sending “Friend requests to people who don’t know me” — an act that sent my psyche flying back to third grade, when Mrs. Quinn made me stand in the corner for looking ahead in the reader. Then, Facebook directed me to another page, this one more harrowing than the first:

“These people,” the text declared, “haven’t responded to your request. Would you like to cancel these?”

And there, stacked 35 deep, was a roll call of people to whom I had extended the hand of Facebook friendship; all of whom had callously rejected me. If you’re reading this, you know who you are, and shame on you. But heartbreaking as it was, a darker, more soul-shattering truth lay beneath: At least one person on that list had punched the “I don’t know this person” button — most likely known internally at Facebook as the “Alert the authorities I am being stalked by a madman” button.

Was it an old schoolmate who had utterly forgotten me? Someone I’d worked with in a previous job (to be fair, most of them are journalists, and a good number of their brains have long since been fried)? Okay, Judi Dench was there, and I confess she doesn’t know me, but her contact was legitimately gotten off the “friend” list of a veteran columnist who had kindly befriended me, Facebook style. And anyway I doubt Dame Judi has the time or inclination to go blacklisting members of the public who try to befriend her. She seems nicer than that.

“Most people,” the notation at the top of the page continued, “cancel their pending friend requests to avoid being blocked from sending requests in the future.”

Sitting starkly at the bottom of the page was a button labeled “Cancel Requests.” I ran my eyes up and down the Judas List one last time. “Et tu, Brute?” I whispered, and hit the button.

Still, Facebook was not through with me. Yet another page of shame appeared on my screen.

“Remember,” it taunted, “you should only send friend requests to people you have a real-world connection with.”

That “real world” is, I suppose, far removed from the fantasy world in which I live; the one where old friends remember me, or where celebrities — who pretend to be my friend when I pay money to see their movies or buy their books — list themselves on Facebook because they actually want people to contact them.

I consulted the resident Social Media expert here in the office, and she explained to me that Facebook is lately trying to head off companies that use the site as a marketing tool, blanketing it with scurrilous “friend” requests. The poisoned dart of a pop-up screen I got is part of the campaign to root out Web evildoers. One way to try and avoid the blackball, she said, is to send a message along with each friend request, something to the effect: “Please do not be afraid. I mean you no harm.” Also explain who the heck you are.

I was hurt for a little while, and then I began to get mad. Am I crazy, or for the longest time didn’t we keep hearing from folks who were proud of their thousands of Facebook Friends? When Facebook was trying to elbow past My Space for web supremacy, I didn’t read any quotes from Mark Zuckerberg urging moderation in our friend-making pursuits.

The New York Times reported in 2010 that Facebook itself allows you to have “only” 5,000 friends. Really? Just 5,000?

Now, after forever cheapening the notion of a “Friend,” Facebook wants to walk it back. We ought to let them, really. We ought to demand it, actually.

I pored over the Facebook page where my friends are listed (283), and I’m satisfied that I know, or have at least met, all of them — and that includes my son’s cat Georgie Fruit (feel free to friend him). I took some solace in that, especially when after hearing about my bad morning my wife Carolyn wrote on my page, “I’m your forever friend — Facebook or anywhere.”

So who cares if I had to delete Judi? Who cares if Facebook banishes me to the Realm of the Facebook Friendless? I’ve got all the friends I need.