Oct 16, 2015
National Hospital and Health-System Pharmacy Week
It is
celebrated Oct 20-26. Pharmacists are the unsung heroes of the
medical system. They keep doctors honest, and patients as well as
possible. They are the last stop before a patient ingests
something that can do great good or grave harm.
Laser Razor
Here is a new invention that has been a long
time coming. It was a kickstarter campaign and garnered US $4
million. The goal was $160,000. If it makes it, a whole industry
will change forever, just like it did when Gillette came up with
the disposable razor blade. This one is non-disposable and
requires a battery to operate.
Kickstarter has suspended funding because it is, “in violation of our rule requiring working prototypes of physical products that are offered as rewards.” Should be fun to watch for the next round. See for yourself at LINK.
Kickstarter has suspended funding because it is, “in violation of our rule requiring working prototypes of physical products that are offered as rewards.” Should be fun to watch for the next round. See for yourself at LINK.
Email Study Results
A recent study by USC Viterbi
School of Engineering researchers found that speed of email
responses depend on a variety of factors including age, platform,
volume, and timing.
The paper, "Evolutions of Conversations in the Age of Email Overload," was presented at the World Wide Web Conference. The paper is the largest study of email to date, measuring how the volume of incoming email affects behaviors of recipients and the length of time it takes them to reply to emails. The study was conducted in accordance with privacy standards: individuals opted in to the study, the data was anonymized, and the emails were not read by humans.
The researchers said ninety percent of people respond within a day or two of receiving an email to which they plan to respond. Half of responders will respond in just under an hour.
Age is also an indicator for email response time. Younger people reply faster, but write shorter replies. Teens were the quickest, with an email response time average of 13 minutes. Young adults aged 20-35 years responded on average of 16 minutes of receiving an email. 35 to 50 years tended to respond in 24 minutes, on average. Those over 51 years of age, on average took 47 minutes to respond.
Women typically respond four minutes longer than an email response from a man. The platform also plays a critical role: If someone is working from a laptop, on average it will take them almost twice as long to respond than if using a mobile phone.
Emails with only five words are the most common. More than half the email replies are less than 43 words, and only 30 percent of emails are longer than 100 words.
Younger users can cope with the increased email load more than older email users. When younger users become more overloaded they tend to send shorter and faster replies to cope with the increased load. On the other hand, older people respond to an increased load of emails by replying to a smaller fraction of emails.
It is no surprise that people are more active on email during the day than at night. Emails on weekends get shorter replies than weekdays. If you want a longer and perhaps more thoughtful reply, email someone in the morning. The researchers found that emails sent in the morning tend to get longer replies than those in the afternoon.
The paper, "Evolutions of Conversations in the Age of Email Overload," was presented at the World Wide Web Conference. The paper is the largest study of email to date, measuring how the volume of incoming email affects behaviors of recipients and the length of time it takes them to reply to emails. The study was conducted in accordance with privacy standards: individuals opted in to the study, the data was anonymized, and the emails were not read by humans.
The researchers said ninety percent of people respond within a day or two of receiving an email to which they plan to respond. Half of responders will respond in just under an hour.
Age is also an indicator for email response time. Younger people reply faster, but write shorter replies. Teens were the quickest, with an email response time average of 13 minutes. Young adults aged 20-35 years responded on average of 16 minutes of receiving an email. 35 to 50 years tended to respond in 24 minutes, on average. Those over 51 years of age, on average took 47 minutes to respond.
Women typically respond four minutes longer than an email response from a man. The platform also plays a critical role: If someone is working from a laptop, on average it will take them almost twice as long to respond than if using a mobile phone.
Emails with only five words are the most common. More than half the email replies are less than 43 words, and only 30 percent of emails are longer than 100 words.
Younger users can cope with the increased email load more than older email users. When younger users become more overloaded they tend to send shorter and faster replies to cope with the increased load. On the other hand, older people respond to an increased load of emails by replying to a smaller fraction of emails.
It is no surprise that people are more active on email during the day than at night. Emails on weekends get shorter replies than weekdays. If you want a longer and perhaps more thoughtful reply, email someone in the morning. The researchers found that emails sent in the morning tend to get longer replies than those in the afternoon.
Wine is Better than Exercise
A recent study found that a
glass of red wine is the equivalent to an hour at the gym. Also,
drinking red wine could help burn fat, says another study.
The health benefits of red wine have been well documented. Studies have revealed that those who drink a glass of red wine a day are less likely to develop dementia or cancer, that it is good for your heart, it is anti-aging and can regulate blood sugar.
Research conducted by the University of Alberta in Canada has found that health benefits in resveratrol, a compound found in red wine, are similar to those we get from exercise. Resveratrol was seen to improve physical performance, heart function and muscle strength in the same way as they are improved after a gym session. Other sources of resveratrol are blueberries, peanut butter, red grapes, and dark chocolate.
The health benefits of red wine have been well documented. Studies have revealed that those who drink a glass of red wine a day are less likely to develop dementia or cancer, that it is good for your heart, it is anti-aging and can regulate blood sugar.
Research conducted by the University of Alberta in Canada has found that health benefits in resveratrol, a compound found in red wine, are similar to those we get from exercise. Resveratrol was seen to improve physical performance, heart function and muscle strength in the same way as they are improved after a gym session. Other sources of resveratrol are blueberries, peanut butter, red grapes, and dark chocolate.
Segway Causes Segway
In 2010, Jimi Heselden, the
mufti-millionaire owner of the company that makes Segway motorized
scooters died in an accident while riding one of his vehicles.
He was riding a rugged country version of the two-wheeled Segway when he lost control of the machine as he traveled along a bridleway close to his estate near Boston Spa, West Yorkshire. He was found dead in a river after plunging 80 feet over a limestone cliff. The Segway was found in the river near his body, indicating that he was still riding the scooter when he drove over the cliff.
Segways are banned on British roads for safety reasons, but are legal on private land. Heselden bought the Segway company nine months earlier and planned to further develop the machine.
He was riding a rugged country version of the two-wheeled Segway when he lost control of the machine as he traveled along a bridleway close to his estate near Boston Spa, West Yorkshire. He was found dead in a river after plunging 80 feet over a limestone cliff. The Segway was found in the river near his body, indicating that he was still riding the scooter when he drove over the cliff.
Segways are banned on British roads for safety reasons, but are legal on private land. Heselden bought the Segway company nine months earlier and planned to further develop the machine.
Free Books Online
Thought I would share a few sites that
offer free books for your reading pleasure.
- http://en.childrenslibrary.org/ Find award-winning books and search by categories, make believe books, true books, and picture books
- http://www.lookybook.com/
Access children’s picture books and books about philosophy and
religion.
- http://www.bored.com/ebooks/ It has has music ebooks, cooking, over 150 philosophy titles, and over 1,000 religion titles
- http://www.ideology.us/ Works by Rene Descartes, Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx, and others.
- http://e-library.net/Religion.htm Read books about the Bible, Christian books, and more. Plays From Shakespeare to George Bernard Shaw and more contemporary playwrights.
- http://www.readbookonline.net/ Here you can read plays by Chekhov, Thomas Hardy, Ben Jonson, Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe and others.
- http://www.fiction.us/plays.htm Read Pygmalion and more.
- http://shakespeare.mit.edu/ All of Shakespeare’s comedies, tragedies, and histories
- http://vl-theatre.com/list4.shtml This site catalogs plays available in full text versions online
- http://www.publicbookshelf.com/ Romance novels, mysteries, and more
- http://www.ibdof.com/ Fantasy, graphic novels, anime, J.K. Rowling, and more
- http://www.free-online-novels.com/ Christian novels, fantasy and graphic novels, adventure books, horror books and more
- http://www.foxglove.co.uk/free_online_novels.html Free novels, satire, and short stories
- http://www.baen.com/library/ Find books by Scott Gier, Keith Laumer and others
- http://www.roadtoromance.ca/freestories.htm Books by romance novelists.
Doctor Codes
"Doctor" codes are often used in hospital
settings for announcements over a general loudspeaker or paging
system to avoid panic or endanger a patient's privacy. Most often,
"Doctor" codes take the form of "Paging Dr. _____", where the
doctor's name is a codeword for a dangerous situation or a patient
in crisis. These are used in the same way as code blue, code red,
etc., are used
Doctor Brown: To alert security staff of a threat to personnel. If a nurse or doctor is in danger from a violent patient or non-staff member, they can page Doctor Brown to their location and the security staff will rush to their aid. In some hospitals
Dr. Allcome: Serious emergency. "Doctor Allcome to Ward 5." indicates all medical staff not presently occupied are needed.
Dr. Firestone: Fire in the hospital. If a fire's location can be isolated, the location of the fire is included in the page, e.g. "Paging Dr. Firestone to 3 West" indicates "Fire in or near west stairwell/wing on third floor" (William Beaumont Hospitals, MI).
Dr. Pyro: Fire in the hospital. "Paging Dr. Pyro" indicates a fire and its origin or current location, e.g. "Paging Dr. Pyro on 3" means "Fire on third floor" (Kaiser Permanente, system-wide).
Dr. Strong: Patient needs physical assistance or physical restraint. "Paging Dr. Strong ..." indicates that any physically capable personnel (orderlies, police, security officers, etc.) in the proximity should report and be prepared either to move a patient who fell down and cannot get back up or to capture and restrain an uncooperative patient.
Doctor Brown: To alert security staff of a threat to personnel. If a nurse or doctor is in danger from a violent patient or non-staff member, they can page Doctor Brown to their location and the security staff will rush to their aid. In some hospitals
Dr. Allcome: Serious emergency. "Doctor Allcome to Ward 5." indicates all medical staff not presently occupied are needed.
Dr. Firestone: Fire in the hospital. If a fire's location can be isolated, the location of the fire is included in the page, e.g. "Paging Dr. Firestone to 3 West" indicates "Fire in or near west stairwell/wing on third floor" (William Beaumont Hospitals, MI).
Dr. Pyro: Fire in the hospital. "Paging Dr. Pyro" indicates a fire and its origin or current location, e.g. "Paging Dr. Pyro on 3" means "Fire on third floor" (Kaiser Permanente, system-wide).
Dr. Strong: Patient needs physical assistance or physical restraint. "Paging Dr. Strong ..." indicates that any physically capable personnel (orderlies, police, security officers, etc.) in the proximity should report and be prepared either to move a patient who fell down and cannot get back up or to capture and restrain an uncooperative patient.
Staying Young
It does not need to take a lot of effort.
John Morley, M.D., director of the division of geriatric medicine
at Saint Louis University outlines a ten step program to improve
quality of life as we age.
He suggests little changes that involve good eating, such as including dark chocolate in your diet, drinking wine, socializing, adding simple exercises, fidgeting in your office chair to burn calories, spending time walking from your car to the store rather than driving to find a close parking space, working in your garden, walking up stairs instead of using the elevator, or going dancing once a week. I can fidget, plus adding wine, chocolate, and dancing, how can this be bad.
He suggests little changes that involve good eating, such as including dark chocolate in your diet, drinking wine, socializing, adding simple exercises, fidgeting in your office chair to burn calories, spending time walking from your car to the store rather than driving to find a close parking space, working in your garden, walking up stairs instead of using the elevator, or going dancing once a week. I can fidget, plus adding wine, chocolate, and dancing, how can this be bad.
Oct 9, 2015
Happy Friday
Happiness is not infinite, but can be infinitely shared.
I always share my happiness infinitely while having a Happy Friday!
I always share my happiness infinitely while having a Happy Friday!
Happy Birthday Confucius
“What you do not want done to
yourself, do not do to others.” Confucius formulated the Golden Rule
2,500 years ago. This year we celebrate his birthday 9 October 2015
(Eighth Moon, Day 27).
Confucius is one of the most influential of China’s philosophers. He left a world-famous legacy of teachings and ethical principles that stress self-enlightenment through the Five Virtues of charity, justice, propriety, wisdom, and loyalty. His teachings, emphasizing proper behavior and loyalty to friends and family, shaped Chinese culture and continue to influence Japan, Korea, Vietnam and more to this day.
Confucius is one of the most influential of China’s philosophers. He left a world-famous legacy of teachings and ethical principles that stress self-enlightenment through the Five Virtues of charity, justice, propriety, wisdom, and loyalty. His teachings, emphasizing proper behavior and loyalty to friends and family, shaped Chinese culture and continue to influence Japan, Korea, Vietnam and more to this day.
International Day for Failure
October 13th is International
Day for Failure. A holiday intended for people to share stories of
failure and learn from them. The goal of the people organizing the
event is to have it be an internationally-recognized holiday by
2020. Without the possibility of failure there is no success, they
go hand-in-hand. On this day you can admit some stupidity, error
estimation, awkward moments, and other fails to the world. Facebook
has a page dedicated to it.
The holiday was created in Finland in 2010. In 2012 it expanded to over 17 different countries. You can share your failures at this LINK It will be interesting to see if their failure campaign will be a success.
The holiday was created in Finland in 2010. In 2012 it expanded to over 17 different countries. You can share your failures at this LINK It will be interesting to see if their failure campaign will be a success.
More October Holidays
On October 12 we celebrate Columbus
Day and Canadian Thanksgiving day. Of course they have nothing to do
with each other, just coincidence this year.
Nine Gartner Technology Predictions
Gartner has released
its technology predictions for the year.
By 2018, twenty percent of all business content, one in five of the documents you read, will be authored by a machine. "Robowriters" are already producing budget reports, sports, and business reports, and this trend is sneaking in without notice.
By 2018, six billion connected things will be requesting support. These non-human “things” are customers requesting services and data, and other methods of support.
By 2020, autonomous software agents outside of human control will participate in 5% of all economic transactions. Smart algorithms are already beginning to perform transactions without human help.
By 2018, more than three million workers globally will be supervised by a roboboss. "The problem with this is that robot bosses don't have human reactions," it said. "The reality is we have to see if robots can get human mannerisms right."
By 2018, twenty percent of smart buildings will have experienced digital vandalism. As buildings, both commercial and residential, get smarter and more connected, there is greater potential that these buildings can be attacked. We need to develop a way to detect and correct these intrusions.
By 2018, fifty percent of the fastest-growing companies will have less smart employees and more smart machines. Smart systems will be analyzing how a factory is being run, or deciding whether people are completing a task at an appropriate speed.
By 2018, digital assistants will recognize individuals by face and voice. Passwords are unworkable and good ones are hard to memorize. Biometrics have been around for a long time, but will get stronger.
By 2018, two million employees will be required to wear health and fitness tracking devices as a condition of employment. One benefit is that insurance costs may be lower for those companies with healthy employees. The use of such devices also raises significant issues about whether an employee keeps a job based on fitness level.
By 2020, smart agents will facilitate forty percent of mobile interactions. This is based on the belief that the world is moving to a post-app era, where assistants such as Cortana, Siri, and Google Now act as a type of universal interface.
By 2018, twenty percent of all business content, one in five of the documents you read, will be authored by a machine. "Robowriters" are already producing budget reports, sports, and business reports, and this trend is sneaking in without notice.
By 2018, six billion connected things will be requesting support. These non-human “things” are customers requesting services and data, and other methods of support.
By 2020, autonomous software agents outside of human control will participate in 5% of all economic transactions. Smart algorithms are already beginning to perform transactions without human help.
By 2018, more than three million workers globally will be supervised by a roboboss. "The problem with this is that robot bosses don't have human reactions," it said. "The reality is we have to see if robots can get human mannerisms right."
By 2018, twenty percent of smart buildings will have experienced digital vandalism. As buildings, both commercial and residential, get smarter and more connected, there is greater potential that these buildings can be attacked. We need to develop a way to detect and correct these intrusions.
By 2018, fifty percent of the fastest-growing companies will have less smart employees and more smart machines. Smart systems will be analyzing how a factory is being run, or deciding whether people are completing a task at an appropriate speed.
By 2018, digital assistants will recognize individuals by face and voice. Passwords are unworkable and good ones are hard to memorize. Biometrics have been around for a long time, but will get stronger.
By 2018, two million employees will be required to wear health and fitness tracking devices as a condition of employment. One benefit is that insurance costs may be lower for those companies with healthy employees. The use of such devices also raises significant issues about whether an employee keeps a job based on fitness level.
By 2020, smart agents will facilitate forty percent of mobile interactions. This is based on the belief that the world is moving to a post-app era, where assistants such as Cortana, Siri, and Google Now act as a type of universal interface.
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