Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Where would the Web be without newspapers?
I won't attempt to answer the question that's the subject of this post, but I will point out that the Web PLUS local newspapers can yield some cool stuff. Such as this amazing tidbit, which turned up in my Google news alert for "Sandsmark."
From the International Falls, Minnesota Daily Journal:
From the International Falls, Minnesota Daily Journal:
50 YEARS AGO
Fairland’s last remaining dwelling will be moved by the owner, Ed Sandsmark, to Birchdale. Friends and relatives of Mr. and Mrs. Sandsmark, Fairland, gathered at their home Saturday evening for an informal farewell party. Mrs. Sandsmark will operate the telephone switchboard there.
Labels: fun, history, Internet, news
Monday, July 20, 2009
It was 40 years ago today ...
Our family was driving to South Dakota when Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the moon. I remember watching it on a snowy black-and-white TV, somewhere in the heartland. (Normally, we wouldn't spring for a motel - much less one with a TV - so this was a big deal.)
That summer, Gulf Oil gave away paper cutout models of the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) if you bought a tank of gas. Mike and I got several of these during the trip, and one survives to this day - it's been hanging in the attic for decades.
Another of the paper models was built with a Black Cat payload. That one never made it back.
P.S. Turns out you can download, print out, and build your own Gulf LEM, along with many other spacecraft. Now that's what the Internet was made for.
That summer, Gulf Oil gave away paper cutout models of the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) if you bought a tank of gas. Mike and I got several of these during the trip, and one survives to this day - it's been hanging in the attic for decades.
Another of the paper models was built with a Black Cat payload. That one never made it back.
P.S. Turns out you can download, print out, and build your own Gulf LEM, along with many other spacecraft. Now that's what the Internet was made for.
Labels: history, Internet, news, personal history, science, travel, TV
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Doctors and Patients
An article in Monday's New York Times told about a radiologist who experimented with attaching a digital photograph of a patient (the outside of a patient, that is) to the patient's digital CT or MRI scans to see how doing so affected radiologists' interpretation of those scans. The abstract of his findings includes these results:
The Times article also implied that attaching a photo could have a similar effect on "pathologists and other doctors who rarely have contact with patients."
This reminded me of something that happened not long after Jane was first diagnosed with her brain tumor back in 1998. Our monthly support group at UC Davis Medical Center followed a format in which we'd alternate between open discussion one month (we called it "sharing") and a guest speaker the next. One month, the neuro-pathologist who had prepared Jane's initial pathology report -- a report that was quite dire in its prognosis -- was to be the speaker. (I'm embarrassed to admit I don't recall his name, but I remember that he looked like a guy who spent his days in a dark room performing experiments and looking through microscopes -- pale, rumpled, hunched.) We listened to his presentation, and learned a lot about how brain tumors were identified and classified. After the talk, Jane approached him, pathology report in hand.
Never a shrinking violet, she asked him to read and autograph the report. He was startled but polite; he looked at the report, looked at a very healthy and alert Jane, and said, "Clearly, I didn't know what the hell I was talking about." A huge smile broke across his face, and he autographed the report with a flourish.
We related this story a few times over the years, and the reaction was almost always the same. Our fellow travelers were happy that we had beaten the odds, proved the expert wrong, and got to tell him to his face. (One person was not amused, saying, "I would have sued his ass on the spot.")
I'm pretty certain that that pathologist learned as much that day as we did. By connecting a face, a personality, a person to that tiny "rat bite" of tissue on his microscope slide, he learned that his work exists in the context of real lives and that his words matter. This wouldn't mean that he should be overly optimistic in his reports, but it did mean that he had an obligation to be as precise, accurate, and honest as possible. It's a lesson that the radiologists in the above-mentioned study also seem to have learned.
All radiologists felt more empathy to the patients after seeing the photograph. The photographs revealed medical information such as suffering or physical signs of disease. Out of the 30 cases which were presented twice, in 80% the incidental findings were not reported when the photograph was omitted from the file. All radiologists involved reported that the addition of the photograph did not lengthen the duration of the examination, however did render the interpretation more meticulous. All recommended adopting this idea to routine practice.
The Times article also implied that attaching a photo could have a similar effect on "pathologists and other doctors who rarely have contact with patients."
This reminded me of something that happened not long after Jane was first diagnosed with her brain tumor back in 1998. Our monthly support group at UC Davis Medical Center followed a format in which we'd alternate between open discussion one month (we called it "sharing") and a guest speaker the next. One month, the neuro-pathologist who had prepared Jane's initial pathology report -- a report that was quite dire in its prognosis -- was to be the speaker. (I'm embarrassed to admit I don't recall his name, but I remember that he looked like a guy who spent his days in a dark room performing experiments and looking through microscopes -- pale, rumpled, hunched.) We listened to his presentation, and learned a lot about how brain tumors were identified and classified. After the talk, Jane approached him, pathology report in hand.
Never a shrinking violet, she asked him to read and autograph the report. He was startled but polite; he looked at the report, looked at a very healthy and alert Jane, and said, "Clearly, I didn't know what the hell I was talking about." A huge smile broke across his face, and he autographed the report with a flourish.
We related this story a few times over the years, and the reaction was almost always the same. Our fellow travelers were happy that we had beaten the odds, proved the expert wrong, and got to tell him to his face. (One person was not amused, saying, "I would have sued his ass on the spot.")
I'm pretty certain that that pathologist learned as much that day as we did. By connecting a face, a personality, a person to that tiny "rat bite" of tissue on his microscope slide, he learned that his work exists in the context of real lives and that his words matter. This wouldn't mean that he should be overly optimistic in his reports, but it did mean that he had an obligation to be as precise, accurate, and honest as possible. It's a lesson that the radiologists in the above-mentioned study also seem to have learned.
Labels: brain tumor, health, Jane, medicine, news, people, personal history, science, work
Friday, March 20, 2009
Cisco Flips for Video
The rumors were true: Cisco has purchased Pure Digital, the company that makes the Flip camcorder.
Cisco, of course, has been a beloved client of mine for years. And I'm a fan of Flip, and have done some mildly crazy things with mine (such as strapping it around my neck while skiing and making a hillbilly VCR out of it).
But what to make of the merger? Cisco historically has been very good at acquiring and integrating other business-focused technology companies into its corporate fold. Its acquisition of Linksys and its move into the home market has been generally well-handled, but that involved a networking company buying another networking company. The Pure/Flip company is a different beast, and I suspect it has a very different customer base. Dumber and cheaper, to be frank. (Remember, I'm a Flip devotee.)
My advice for Cisco (as if it wants my advice) is twofold: keep Pure's programmers, because I generally like the way FlipShare works (though not its appearance); and create a cheap, capacious battery-powered box that can offload videos from the Flip when I'm away from the computer. (For those of you who don't know: the Flip does not have removable memory, so once it's full, you can't record any more until you offload the videos.) If that box can be a network device too, fine; just keep it simple.
Cisco, of course, has been a beloved client of mine for years. And I'm a fan of Flip, and have done some mildly crazy things with mine (such as strapping it around my neck while skiing and making a hillbilly VCR out of it).
But what to make of the merger? Cisco historically has been very good at acquiring and integrating other business-focused technology companies into its corporate fold. Its acquisition of Linksys and its move into the home market has been generally well-handled, but that involved a networking company buying another networking company. The Pure/Flip company is a different beast, and I suspect it has a very different customer base. Dumber and cheaper, to be frank. (Remember, I'm a Flip devotee.)
My advice for Cisco (as if it wants my advice) is twofold: keep Pure's programmers, because I generally like the way FlipShare works (though not its appearance); and create a cheap, capacious battery-powered box that can offload videos from the Flip when I'm away from the computer. (For those of you who don't know: the Flip does not have removable memory, so once it's full, you can't record any more until you offload the videos.) If that box can be a network device too, fine; just keep it simple.
Labels: gadgets, news, photography, technology, video
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Birthday Wishes
Today would have been Jane's 47th birthday.
She's on my mind every day, but moreso today. That's obvious, and intentional.
I spent the morning matting and framing three of her linoleum block prints. They're among my favorites of her artworks: one resembles redwood bark, one describes a redwood frond, and one shows a redwood tree. She loved redwoods, to the point of naming her company Studio Sempervirens. The prints, particularly the image of the full tree from below, are rich and evocative. I cut three windows in a single mat and mounted the prints vertically. The photo below is glary, but you get the idea; come by and see them up close sometime.
It was good to look carefully at something she had seen, handle something she had made, and enhance a beautiful piece of art she had created.
In the afternoon I headed for Jane's niche at Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland. (Visits were also paid to Piedmont Springs and Fenton's.) I freshened the flowers and ate a late lunch. My tradition has become to have sushi and beer when I visit. While I was there, a couple came through with a dog on a leash to visit a gravesite. My thoughts turned to Delta, who regularly accompanied me to Mountain View. Followers of the Castro Valley Boulevardier know that I had to let her go over the weekend when virulent abdominal cancer returned just six weeks after its initial appearance and resection.
It's been a big week. Between Martin Luther King Day, the inauguration, Jane's birthday, Delta's death, and more, I'm pretty well spent.
She's on my mind every day, but moreso today. That's obvious, and intentional.
I spent the morning matting and framing three of her linoleum block prints. They're among my favorites of her artworks: one resembles redwood bark, one describes a redwood frond, and one shows a redwood tree. She loved redwoods, to the point of naming her company Studio Sempervirens. The prints, particularly the image of the full tree from below, are rich and evocative. I cut three windows in a single mat and mounted the prints vertically. The photo below is glary, but you get the idea; come by and see them up close sometime.
It was good to look carefully at something she had seen, handle something she had made, and enhance a beautiful piece of art she had created.
In the afternoon I headed for Jane's niche at Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland. (Visits were also paid to Piedmont Springs and Fenton's.) I freshened the flowers and ate a late lunch. My tradition has become to have sushi and beer when I visit. While I was there, a couple came through with a dog on a leash to visit a gravesite. My thoughts turned to Delta, who regularly accompanied me to Mountain View. Followers of the Castro Valley Boulevardier know that I had to let her go over the weekend when virulent abdominal cancer returned just six weeks after its initial appearance and resection.
It's been a big week. Between Martin Luther King Day, the inauguration, Jane's birthday, Delta's death, and more, I'm pretty well spent.
Labels: Jane, news, personal history
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Michelle Gamble-Risley on ABC News
Michelle Gamble-Risley, who as editor of California Computer News gave me an opportunity early in my freelancing career, was on ABC News recently, sharing career- and life-changing ideas from her new book, Second Bloom. Congratulations, Michelle!
Labels: books, friends, jobs, marketing, money, news, people, TV, video, writing
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Voter Registration
Voter registration, voter fraud, purges of voter rolls, and related issues have been much in the news over the last few days.
My sister Linda appeared in a CBS-5 video registering new voters at the League of Women Voters booth at the recent Sausage & Suds festival in San Leandro. (They signed up over 100 voters!)
Fresh Air did an entire hour on voter suppression efforts yesterday.
Miller-McCune published a comprehensive article by David Rosenfeld on Monday.
And to add irony to it all, on Tuesday Jane's sample ballot arrived in the mail. (No, I'm not going to vote for her.)
My sister Linda appeared in a CBS-5 video registering new voters at the League of Women Voters booth at the recent Sausage & Suds festival in San Leandro. (They signed up over 100 voters!)
Fresh Air did an entire hour on voter suppression efforts yesterday.
Miller-McCune published a comprehensive article by David Rosenfeld on Monday.
And to add irony to it all, on Tuesday Jane's sample ballot arrived in the mail. (No, I'm not going to vote for her.)
Labels: Jane, media, news, politics, voting
