Fred Sandsmark's Blog

McCain's "My Friends" Tic

2008-09-04T21:44:00.000-07:00

On Slate, Paul Collins has explored why John McCain keeps referring to crowds as "my friends," saying that in American political discourse the phrase hearkens back to William Jennings Bryan.

Personally, I wonder if Senator McCain didn't pick up the habit from another source: Criswell.

Technology Changes

2008-09-04T09:48:00.000-07:00

We're trying out some new technology here at the Marble Publishing World Headquarters.

Connectivity: I'm testing out AT&T High Speed Internet Pro here at the home office. I haven't yet turned off my Comcast cable modem service, but expect to soon. Several factors played into this decision: I'm not watching TV anymore so having cable is $1200 a year I don't want to spend; AT&T's service includes use of WiFi at Starbucks; and by consolidating billing I can save a few bucks and simplify paperwork. (I opted not to get the U-Verse service, because [again] I'm not watching TV.) I got the setup kit just before Labor Day and the install worked fine. I left the modem running for the weekend and switched the computer over to the service this morning. The DSL modem (a Motorola MSTATEA) is a tiny thing, just 4.25 x 3.5 inches.

Related question: the DSL modem has a sticker reading: "To maximize connection speed, leave this modem on for 10 days after DSL installation is complete. Please note: You can use your DSL service during this time. It is not necessary to leave your computer on, only the modem." Any idea what that's about?

PDA: I've sprung for an Apple iPod Touch. I got the base model on the Apple Refurb store for $200. (It's been months since my Palm Zire died.) I couldn't justify the monthly charges for an iPhone. So far I'm very, very happy with the Touch. I've got it loaded with music, videos, and photos, along with my calendar and contacts. I'm using it occasionally for email and web surfing (including on the AC Transit M Transbay Bus). I haven't bought any apps yet, but I'm looking at some sort of password database.

Desk phone: Call me old-fashioned, but I still have a landline here at World Headquarters. However, because I consolidated phone numbers (510-538-5263 is no longer connected), I wanted a cordless desk phone with an answering machine and two handsets (one for downstairs). I got a Panasonic KX-TG9342T, and so far I like it very much. (Thought the Talking Caller ID is kinda creepy ...)

Wireless router: I got a Linksys WRT54G2. I haven't had WiFi in the house for a while, and bought this router without a lot of comparison shopping. Perhaps a mistake. It works great with the Touch but not with my old G3 iBook. I have yet to figure out what's up there, but haven't put a lot of effort into it yet. I may end up wishing I had splurged on an Apple Airport with Airtunes, especially once I move more of my music collection in that direction.

THEMIS on NOVA

2008-07-16T11:02:00.000-07:00

Tonight's NOVA scienceNOW includes a segment on the THEMIS project -- the study of the aurora borealis, on which my friend John McDonald works.

Check here for an earlier post on THEMIS with more links.

Douglas L. Peterson dies

2008-07-16T09:07:00.001-07:00

I learned today on the CSUEB View that one of my CSUH professors, Douglas L. Peterson, has died.

The View article says that Prof. Peterson left CSUH in 1977, but I know I had at least one class from him in the early 1980s. I remember one episode very clearly.

I was a young and nervous underclassman, still trying to decide on a major. I had written my first paper for Prof. Peterson's class, and was surprised when he started reading the paper aloud in class one day. (He didn't say who had written it.) He read my thesis paragraph, then looked up over his half glasses and said to the class, "I don't agree with that." My heart sank a little. He read more, then gave another disapproving remark. The pattern repeated. With each of his comments, I'm sure I slumped deeper into my chair. He eventually read the entire paper, taking it apart bit by bit.

When he finished, he looked up and said (I paraphrase), "I didn't agree with much of what this writer said, but he presented his arguments well and thoughtfully. It's a well-written paper. I gave it an A."

It was there and then that I decided to be an English major. That a teacher could put aside his opinions on my ideas and judge my writing on its merits impresses me to this day. It's a goal I aspire to when I edit others.

Coworkers are bigger stressors than work itself

2008-06-25T07:44:00.001-07:00

When I tell people that I work at home, a common reaction is a sort of swooning: Oh, that must be nice, they say. Yes and no; I like setting my own hours and not having a commute, but I sometimes miss having colleagues whom I see regularly.

But perhaps I shouldn't long for coworkers after all. A survey (sponsored, almost inexplicably, by some mysterious Hormel lunch product), showed that 51 percent of surveyed workers identified their coworkers, and not the work itself, as the number one source of on-the-job stress.

Other findings:

Your Desk Is The New Water Cooler. A majority of office workers in America can’t get away from office gossip because most of it takes place right at their desk or a co-worker’s desk (53 percent), rather thansomewhere outside their workspace such as the water cooler (just 2 percent) or the kitchen or lunch room (22 percent).

Catchphrases That Drive You Crazy. The top three clichés that drive office workers nuts? “Think outside the box” (22 percent), “Team Player” (20 percent), and “Shoot me an email” (19 percent).

Flattery Doesn’t Get You Everywhere. Brownnosers are a major office offender. Among office workers familiar with NBC’s “The Office,” the character they’d least like to get stuck in an elevator with is irritating brownnoser Dwight Schrute, played by actor Rainn Wilson (27 percent).

A Lack of Long-Lasting Lunches. Unfortunately, many office workers just aren’t satisfied by their desktop dining: nearly half (46 percent) say they feel hungry again within just three hours of their midday meal.

Ah ha! That last point shows why a lunch-meat company sponsored the study. Another lunch-related data point from the survey: Nearly half of Americans who work in an office eat lunch at their desk at least three times a week.

The results don't strike me as all that surprising. What does surprise me is the casual use of the word "brownnoser" in the press release. Did the Hormel PR folks think at all about its origin? Then again, Houghton Mifflin on dictionary.com (linked above) says "Despite its scatological origin, today this slangy term is not considered particularly vulgar."

People Like Brain Images

2008-06-16T20:22:00.001-07:00

I've looked at my fair share of brain MRIs and even played with OsiriX. Turns out I'm not the only person who finds neuroscience and brain imaging compelling.

A study, blogged about at Cognitive Daily, says that brain images make science articles more compelling to readers.

Not long ago we discussed work led by Deena Skolnick Weisberg showing that most people are more impressed by neuroscience explanations of psychological phenomena than plain-old psychology explanations. Talking about brains, it seems, is more convincing than simply talking about behavior, even when the neuroscience explanation doesn't actually add any substantive details.

The article's interesting and compelling. The comments are also worth reading; get ready for the advent of neuromarketing.

Seyed Alavi in SF Chronicle

2008-06-16T10:16:00.000-07:00

The San Francisco Chronicle has an article today by Charles Burress about one of Seyed Alavi's public art installations -- specifically, the traffic-signal boxes in Emeryville. The photos are worth checking out, too. As commenters on the article have pointed out, the work isn't new, but nevertheless I'm pleased to see it get some attention.

I'm very happy to own one of Alavi's "Aquamano" prints, called "Loon Song."

Senator Kennedy's Surgery

2008-06-02T14:37:00.000-07:00

The Washington Post has an informative article on Senator Kennedy's surgery. My thoughts:

First, I'm not surprised that the Senator went to Duke, and Dr. Allan Friedman, for his surgery. I predicted to a friend that he would either see Dr. Friedman, Keith Black at Cedars Sinai, or Mitchel Berger at UCSF (Jane's surgeon). These three are probably the top guns in deep brain tumor surgery in the US.

Second, I'm not surprised that the Senator was talking and feeling good after the surgery. Done well, brain surgery is surprisingly easy on a patient. There aren't any nerves in the brain -- just in the scalp -- so there's not a lot of pain associated. The biggest worry is swelling, and this will likely be approached with fluid restriction for a day or two and Dexamethasone (the hated Decadron).

Third, it's interesting to note that the Senator is planning to do both chemotherapy and radiation therapy. This is an aggressive path, and good for him. The latest treatment mode seems to be to take Temodar (an oral chemotherapy) concurrently with 3D Conformal radiation therapy. They'll likely radiate a 1-centimeter buffer area around the tumor resection cavity (the hole where the tumor was) to try to zap as many stray tumor cells as possible. That is, if it was a good resection. If there were parts of the tumor that couldn't be safely removed surgically, they may try to extend the radiation therapy into those areas.

Last, the Post article makes the point that the Senator's tumor type is not yet known. As I noted in the earlier post, "malignant glioma" is a generic term. I'm curious whether the specific tumor type will be released to the public.

One postscript: is disheartening to see the vitriol spilled in the comments section on the Post's article about Senator Kennedy's affliction. It's one thing to disagree with a person's political point of view; it's quite another to wish a person ill in such an awful, vicious way. I wonder how people who write such things can look themselves in the mirror. I hope they never get ill and have to face such hatred on top of their health challenges.

Midlife Crisis Underway

2008-05-30T14:36:00.000-07:00

Delta checks out the new "furniture" in the family room, then goes looking for earplugs.

The drumset is on long-term loan from Dave E. Thanks, buddy!

Paris Metro Nudes

2008-05-22T10:03:00.000-07:00

The story in the Telegraph (UK) about Jam Abelanet's book "Fantaisies Souterraines" -- which has fifty images of naked women in Paris Metro stations and trains -- reminds me of one of my crazier travel stories.

We were in Barcelona, Spain in 1991. It was a sparkling clear summer day, and Jane and I were in line to explore Antoni Gaudi's famed Sagrada Familia Temple. We noticed a strange pair in line with us: a guy with lots of camera equipment around his neck, accompanied by a beautiful woman -- with a very careful coif and makeup -- wearing what appeared to be a lab coat and sneakers. We had a hunch as to what was afoot, and decided to follow them.

They quckly climbed the spiral staircase of one of the highest towers. Eventually the woman walked out onto one of the bridges connecting the towers as the man readied his cameras. (The bridges can be seen clearly in this photo.) We peeked at them from a small window in the tower; the summer sky and the city of Barcelona formed a perfect background as the woman tossed off the lab coat -- as you might expect by now, she had nothing on underneath -- and the guy snapped photos. As fast as it happened, the woman slipped the coat back on and the pair hustled off the bridge and down the stairs. We laughed and laughed -- we think we were the only ones who saw the whole episode.

For months and years afterward we kept our eye out for nude photos on the Sagrada Familia. This was before the Internet and Google Image Search, so the best we could do was look in books of Barcelona photography. We never found out what became of the photos, but we got an hilarious travel memory from the day.

Ted Kennedy Brain Tumor Coverage

2008-05-20T23:20:00.000-07:00

A friend asked me what I thought of the New York Times coverage of Ted Kennedy's brain tumor. I wrote a long, fast email, which I'm also posting here:

They gave the general tumor type (glioma) but not the specifics. There are several types of gliomas, including astrocytomas, glioblastomas, and oligodendrogliomas. Also four grades, from I to IV (the higher the number, the more aggressive). Malignant gliomas are grades III or IV, though so-called "benign" ones still cause lots of trouble because the cranium is an enclosed space and anything that squeezes the brain in that space can cause trouble. Jane's tumor was a mixed astrocytoma-oligodendroglioma, grade III.

They gave the location of Kennedy's tumor as left parietal, and said that area of the brain was involved in sensation, motor control and language. Would have been more accurate to say USUALLY involved in language. Not always. Whether or not often depends on handedness. Jane was left handed, and had her initial tumor in the left occipital and parietal lobes. (Toward the end it spread to the frontal lobes and into the right hemisphere.) Frequently, left-handed people have their language more distributed between the hemispheres than right-handers, but still centered largely in the left hemisphere. Jane had a Wada test that determined that her language was almost entirely in the right hemisphere. (She never did play by the book!) This allowed for a much more aggressive left-hemisphere surgery back in 1998 and 2000.

I have the videotape of Jane's Wada test, by the way -- I remember it as strange and fascinating to watch, but I haven't viewed it in years. I also have a photograph of her open cranium.

One article quoted Keith Black, a neurosurgeon at Cedars-Sinai in LA. He's a rock star among brain surgeons, more famous but NOT more sought after than Jane's surgeon (Mitchel Berger). Keith Black was written up in TIME magazine a decade or so ago, I think.

One article rightly says that age has a lot to do with prognosis. Getting a malignant glioma at age 76 is not a good thing. Another article rightly says that the disease is "treatable but not curable."

The articles refer to the disease as brain tumor and not brain cancer. The distinction is subtle; generally, cancers can metastasize to other tissues, but brain tumors cannot. (You can't get a brain tumor in your lungs, but you can get lung cancer in your brain.) Doctors will very rarely say "brain cancer" in my experience, probably because to do so is imprecise, but a lot of brain tumor patients and advocates (I'm not among them) prefer to use the term "cancer" because, I think, it sounds more urgent. A tumor sounds like something that can be sliced off, like a wart. Brain tumors, especially gliomas, tend to have lots of tendrils and stray cells throughout the brain; it's rare that they're encapsulated. (One NYT article said this, in a roundabout way.)

Diablo Magazine Clips

2008-05-15T21:27:00.000-07:00

I'm catching up on posting some older stories. Here are two I wrote for Diablo Magazine:

The Illusionist - a profile of magician and Alamo resident Lee Grabel - January 2007. Snippet:

His den is covered with playbills and pictures of Grabel and his wife, Helen, onstage. Files overflow with newspaper reports of their performances in the 1950s, when Lee was America’s preeminent magician.

The Shark Whisperer - a short item about John Valentine, a Pleasanton man who nurses sharks in his huge home aquarium - December 2006. Snippet:

A money manager for wealthy clients, Valentine began keeping reef fish in 1999 to unwind. In 2000, he adopted an 18-inch whitetip reef shark when a customer reneged on a deal with a Danville aquarium-store owner. The shark grew to four feet; Jigsaw now stars at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

What's Worse Than One Annoying Company?

2008-05-15T09:48:00.001-07:00

How about two annoying companies merging?

Comcast is buying Plaxo.

Mountain View (Cemetery) People

2008-05-14T08:17:00.000-07:00

I happened across a cool blog today: Michael Colbruno's Mountain View Cemetery Bio Tour. The name says it pretty clearly: Colbruno photographs the graves and gives biographies of prominent people in Oakland's Mountain View Cemetery.

I did some Googling to find out about Mr. Colbruno. I'm not sure if the keeper of this blog is the same Michael Colbruno who is an executive with Clear Channel and a board member of the Chabot Space & Science Center. I'm pretty sure he's the same guy who runs the MikeOpera blog. (If you see this, and it's you, let me know!)

I plan to spend some more time with the blog when I'm able to come up for air. Meanwhile, I was up at Mountain View last night, freshening the flowers on Jane's niche (the heat is already taking its toll) and noticed that the new gates are almost complete.

Brain chemistry, gliomas, and neurodegenerative disease

2008-05-09T11:41:00.000-07:00

Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University may have found a brain chemistry connection between brain tumors and neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS and Alzheimer's. It's good to see people taking creative tacks toward the unraveling of these problems.

[Researcher Paul B.] Fisher and his colleagues were interested in identifying how the promoter region of the EAAT2 gene controlled the expression of glutamate in a group of brain cells called astrocytes. Using molecular biological approaches, the team examined all the regions and sequences in the promoter region and systematically eliminated them to then define which region was necessary to respond to ceftriaxone.

According to Fisher, this led the team to a critical transcription factor called nuclear factor kappaB, NF- kappaB, which regulates many functions in the brain and other parts of the body. This is a central molecule involved in regulation of genes controlling cell growth and survival. Once they identified critical regions in the EAAT2 promoter that might regulate activity, they found that alteration of one specific NF-kappaB site by mutation in the promoter was responsible for up-regulation of EAAT2 expression and consequently glutamate transport by ceftriaxone.

“This work not only has implications for the field of neurodegeneration and neurobiology, but may also help us more clearly understand brain cancer, including malignant glioma, an invariably fatal tumor, and how it impacts brain function,” said Fisher[.]

The full article from Physorg.com is here.

New Reader's Digest Book Out

2008-05-08T08:23:00.000-07:00

I recently got my author copy of Save $20,000 With a Nail, a Reader's Digest book. I researched and wrote the Home Appliances chapter. My friend and colleague Aimée Oscamou also contributed to the book. (Aimée, I know you check this blog occasionally; what chapters did you end up doing? Honk your horn in the comments.)

The book was packaged by Gonzalez Defino in New York, and provided me with a welcome opportunity to work with the brilliant and kind Joseph Gonzalez.

CIO Digest Returns

2008-05-07T22:36:00.000-07:00

After a brief hiatus, Symantec has resurrected its CIO Digest magazine. for the current (April 2008) issue, I interviewed three healthcare IT leaders, asking them about their challenges with device management, enterprise security, storage, compliance, and communications. The article, entitled Best Medicine, can be found here (pdf).

Catching Up on Clips

2008-05-07T21:43:00.000-07:00

The new issue of Boalt Hall Transcript (the UC Berkeley law school alumni magazine) is out, and I realize that I hadn't yet linked to articles from the last issue, published in Spring 2007. I had two:

Does Money Talk? discusses the research of Professor Eric Talley, who's done work linking creative executive compensation to securities fraud.

Patent Trolls Take Their Toll talks about patent reform with Professor Pamela Samuelson.

Please check them out, and share your comments. For the current issue of Transcript (which I'll link to when it's live online) I profiled Howard Chao, a prominent Silicon Valley attorney who does private equity work in China.

Update on Mail Forwarding Problems

2008-04-16T11:43:00.001-07:00

I went through all of my domains at Go Daddy and updated the registration information. Some of it was wrong or out of date. This seems to have fixed the problem.

It's a good news / bad news thing. The good news, obviously, is that the problem is fixed. The bad news is that the Go Daddy tech support people I spoke with couldn't identify the problem, and worse said there was no problem.

Anyway, it's fixed and I'm happy. I hope my posting this fix helps somebody else in the future.

Go Daddy Email Forwarding Problems?

2008-04-14T09:40:00.000-07:00

I use email forwarding through Go Daddy for one of my domains, and in the last week it has stopped working. I called GD and asked if they were having problems; they said no. I tried loosening up the spam filters on the receiving side, but it didn't do any good. So we're foregoing the service, which makes me unhappy.

Can anybody corroborate my experience? Got a workaround? And can anyone suggest a low-cost domain purchase and/or parking service that includes reliable email forwarding? (I don't want to have my domain registrar hosting my email, no matter who it is. Once bitten twice shy ...)

The Book Shop in Daily Review

2008-04-13T16:10:00.000-07:00

Those of us who love The Book Shop in Hayward were happy to see the article about Hank Maschal in Saturday's Daily Review. In it, Staff Writer Kristofer Noceda got a lot of the details exactly right. For example: "If friends were made solely on first impressions, Maschal wouldn't have many. Yet he does, several of them longtime, loyal customers. That customer loyalty is what helps keep the store open." Count me among them. I also liked Noceda's calling Renée Rettig "the sweet to [Hank's] sour." An excellent article about a gem of a place.

Back from China

2008-04-02T12:20:00.000-07:00

I spent a quick week in China (Beijing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Shanghai) and got back yesterday. A good time, but too fast; also I have a bit of a sore throat now. Anyway, I plan to post some photos, video, and audio, but it probably won't be soon.

Candorville Coming to the Chronicle

2008-03-21T17:02:00.000-07:00

While Doonesbury takes a break, the San Francisco Chronicle will run Darren Bell's Candorville. I'm a fan, so this is great news to me. I hope it becomes a regular.

NBTF Angel Adventure - May 3, 2008

2008-03-21T11:25:00.000-07:00

I will participate in the National Brain Tumor Foundation Angel Adventure on May 3, and invite everyone to join me, either in person or in spirit. And, of course, financially. You can go to My Fundraising Page and sponsor me (or better, join Team Jane). You can also use this handy little widget to participate. Either way, thank you.

Ray Orrock Dies

2008-03-05T09:07:00.001-08:00

I was sad to read that Ray Orrock, columnist for the Daily Review, has died. I read him daily when I was growing up and until he retired a few years ago.

I liked so much about him. His unadorned wit. His power of observation. His devotion to friends and family. His love of sports cars. The fact that he was a cartoonist. And the fact that writing was a second career for him -- he had originally worked in the public sector, if I recall correctly.

One of Mr. Orrock's taglines was "I'd buy him a drink." (As in, "If I met the guy who invented flavored lipstick, I'd buy him a drink.") About a week after my 21st birthday, I had the good fortune (with the help of some friends) to meet Ray Orrock for a drink at a bar on Winton Avenue in Hayward. It was a great visit.

I really wanted to buy him a drink, but Mr. Orrock insisted on paying. What a gentleman.

Mr. Orrock said in one of his columns long ago that he wanted a palindrome on his grave marker. Here's what he came up with: "Risk Corroded a Jaded Orrock, Sir." Brilliant. I hope he gets his wish.