06.30.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 9:32 pm by livefood
The developer said, “a patient whose movement is being monitored — perhaps because of Alzheimer’s or dementia — can wear the quarter-size sensor on a belt or piece of clothing. A patient being monitored for vital signs — such as temperature, heart beat and oxygen level — needs to wear the sensor on his or her skin.” He goes on, “The body sensor communicates with sensors in various rooms and with a hub, which would be connected to the Internet and communicate with a care-giver’s smartphone or a personal digital assistant.”
Every so often I’ll hear someone say that they think they were born in the wrong century…meaning that they would like to have lived in the 1800s…what a pastoral thought…but not well thought….drafty pit toilets? No running water? No refrigeration?…you’re kidding right?
There is just so many cool things being developed today. I know…there are some really wicked things happening…Iraq, Iran, Korea…lots of crime and corruption right in the USA…kids killing parents…”dads” killing family and then chicken that they are….themselves…
…but when I run into a cool device like this technology and think about how many folks can be helped with it…just Wow is all I can say…
Of course this is coming from a guy with two parents with Alzheimer’s, so just the notion of knowing where Mom and Dad are where they should be would be great comfort. Mom’s in a facility now, but for a couple of years it was as 24/7 worry for my Dad, now I worry about where this road will take him.
So today is 1/2 way through my Bible reading exercise. 600 passages over 150 assignments. I wish I could say I did the 25 passages each month as scheduled, but I’ll admit that I fell behind a couple of times and then read ahead a couple also. I’m actually ahead a bit right now…read the Book of Esther for a Sunday School bit coming up in July.
I told Brenda that I might read it again next year with a yellow marker and sticky tapes in hand. I sort of wish somebody had clued me in before I started. There are some really beautiful passages embedded in the book…regardless of religious affiliations, just great stuff.
Six hundred passages down…600 to go…150 more reading days left.
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06.29.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 10:24 pm by livefood
This is a sad story. Not the story line of the birds hitting plane and doing the crash landing in the Hudson…it’s sad because some folks always seem to want to find a person to blame for their issues. Sometimes we forget about God…blame Him…call it “An Act of God”…most insurance policies do.
Of course, sometimes someone is to blame and they should make things right. Sometimes there is nobody at fault and we should accept that.
But the need to find blame is really sad.
I’m not an attorney, so I could be wrong on the legal issues here, but just why does the couple think that the airline is liable for the accident? It really seems to me that perhaps they should be thanking the airline for having such a well trained and level headed crew to have brought the plane down without harm to the passengers.
Stuff happens sometimes. You deal with it. It’s part of being an adult.
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06.27.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 10:21 pm by livefood
Last night I was watching an interview with Mavis Staples on the boob’s tube. What a character. One of the interesting things she talked about was that she doesn’t really know what key she is singing in…or what key the tune is in…she related a story about her singing the national anthem for the Laker’s, “before Kobi was even born” and the organist (like they have those now) asked her what key she wanted him to play it in…she ran to a pay phone and called her Dad…he got out a guitar and the two of the figured out that it was in “A”…and the show went on.
I sort of confirmed my feelings that alot of times the music is experiential and not necessarily intellectual. Apparently the two concepts can be indipendant.
A few weeks back I was visiting a rather famous potter and he an I were discussing the need to learn the craft. Although many of his works are not round, that is definitely a choice that he makes. He has the chops to do just about anything he can imagine in clay…some beginners think that they can fudge on technique and head to the front of the class on “art”…but we decided that art without a command of the material can create a pretty shallow experience.
So Ms. Staples doesn’t know the key she works in but has the depth inside to pull it off and Joe the Potter can’t make a round pot and the piece is amaturish in it’s finish.
Recently, in his “Software Interrupted” blog, Dave Rosenberg posted a piece he called Guitar heroes dismiss Guitar Hero game.
To quote a piece of the blog, “Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and The White Stripes’ Jack White have taken shots at the popular Guitar Hero video game, according to a report in NME.
Speaking at a press conference in Los Angeles on June 19, the two guitarists said “they don’t believe video games are an ideal way for people to be exposed to music or learn to play instruments.”
As much as I enjoyed Guitar Hero, I have to agree that it’s annoying that the game doesn’t teach you to play an instrument and depressing that game buyers aren’t really interested in the music itself–just how hard the game makes it to play the songs. The silver lining is that bands such as Dragon Force would be even more obscure if it weren’t for the game.”
When I read the piece I thought back to the soul-less potter and musicians I know who know the key but can’t play the tune musically.
The blog went on, “It’s depressing to have a label come and tell you that Guitar Hero is how kids are learning about music and experiencing music,” White said. He added that although he doesn’t try to dictate “which format people should get their music in…if you have to be in a video game to get in front of them, that’s a little sad.”
Page added that he can’t imagine that people are really learning anything significant about playing instruments by playing video games.”
The Hero game helps to be looking good, smelling good…but…knock, knock…nobody’s home. But after all it is just a game. Let’s hope that our two famous rock stars are wrong and that kids are getting music experiences at home and at school.
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06.26.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 10:02 pm by livefood
The title of the story is a little misleading…the story is less about the hospital treatment and more about the character of the coach. Definitely the read…really sounds like a wonderful gentleman. Sad to come to an end in this manner.
Nothing last forever and all things come to an end, but I’m not sure Coach has ended quite yet. He has created something that will be a legacy for the town for a long time to come. His students will be passing on his system of morals and teaching for a couple of generations…at least.
With all the very strange events in the world…and even in the midst of this tragic loss…the silver lining is that the man is recognized and remember, now and I’d bet for a while…a long while.
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06.25.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 9:01 pm by livefood
From Wired Science, written by By Brandon Keim…sometimes I read this stuff and just think it should be called weird science and leave it at that.
Reverse-Engineering the Quantum Compass of Birds
“The latest piece of the puzzle is superoxide, an oxygen molecule that may combine with light-sensitive proteins to form an in-eye compass, allowing birds to see Earth’s magnetic field.”
When I was reading the article I was thinking that the research probably has some military application. I don’t know why I was thinking that, maybe I’m bit slanted these days. At least I think that there is the possibility of being slightly prone to thinking about where funding might be coming from…but I have to be careful not to step off the edge of reality and into the conspiracy theories that some folks grasp onto.
After a while I started to wonder what would be more valuable, knowing how the bird finds it’s way or how the magnetic field can be used?
Then I was wondering how long this study has been going on…probably a long time…one long series of research projects…one after another…entire lifetimes dedicated to bird eyeballs…then, as can happen only in my universe…I thought that maybe teaching the birds to talk so that scientists could just ask them, “How do you know where you are?”…might take less time than finding “superoxide”…which of course does not solve the puzzle…it’s just another piece.
Ph well, I guess somebody has to do the research…do you think?
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06.24.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 8:53 pm by livefood
Maybe this is something that parents should learn to do when they want to be heard…if parents worked hard enough on the training when the kid was a bitzy thing…maybe they would be able to get the teenager to listen?…well maybe not…but interesting none the less.
Wired…or more specifically, Wired Science…written down for all posterity by Alexis Madrigal…
“The present work is one of the few studies demonstrating the natural expression of hemispheric asymmetries, showing their effect in everyday human behavior, write psychologists Daniele Marzoli and Luca Tommasi of the University G. d’Annunzio in Italy.”
The study is based on a person approaching another in a nightclub and asking for a cigarette…hummm…is that the best pick up line anyway…I mean really…if that is the best you can come up with in a nightclub you might already know you are not going to get what you want anyway.
But you never know…maybe they’re on to something…and that would put a whole new spin on “don’t you turn your back on me when I’m talking at you”…or didn’t you ever hear that…or is the phrase a repressed memory…if so, go see shrink above but be sure to look to your left as the shrink speaks.
Or wives of the World, unite…place the television so that hubby has to look to his left…or in a position so you can pop in to the room, speak to his right ear and slip the credit card from his wallet as he nods his head up and down in a trance.
Could this work on dogs…is that why we train them to “heel” on the left…so that their right ears are closer to the stupid commands that we think they understand? Montana (my dog) usually “listens” so that I’ll give her what she wants…she think like, “I want that treat, so I’ll sit, oh yeah you told me to lie down…I can do that too…shake?…the other hand?…just give me the treat fool.” I know that animal is a lot smarter than I am. Who do you think cleans up the poop…the dog or me?…hummmm.
If this study is correct then that would mean that the drivers in a couple of countries…most notably the U.K. have a good idea…sitting with their left ear to the passengers…genius…just pure genius.
Now if this study had been conducted in the United States…big bucks…REALLY big bucks would have been “invested” in the research. It would fall into that same category with the $600 toilet seats and hammers we hear about. I’m sure there is an application for this knowledge someplace, but I heard through my left ear.
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06.23.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 10:47 pm by livefood
My mom always used to tell me (and my brother), “if you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything at all.”
Sometimes it’s best just to keep the flapping lips locked down. It’s sort of related to what you might choose to put onto your social networking pages…like changing you relationship status after an argument…as if nobody in your “friends” (or is that fiends) won’t be following your page and then shock…I MEAN SHOCK…that might email the other former half of the relationship about the change…happens all the time…and I’m SHOCKED…sure.
But if you think about what my Mom used to tell me and only say (and write) things that are good and healthy (and that you will mean today AND tomorrow)…things that you can stand by as time goes by and you will no regret or be embarrassed by…you will get along just fine.
LIONS Clubs International has as one of it’s cornerstone phrases, “to build and not destroy.” If that phrase can work cross culturally with about 1.3 million people, I’m pretty sure it can work with just about anyone.
Sometimes news can travel fast…speed of sound is 343 meters per second
But like the bills and checks arriving in the mail…the bill travel faster than the checks…if bad news travels at the speed of sound, what’s the speed of silence?
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06.22.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 8:20 pm by livefood
The Obama administration is starting to show some stress with small business folks. In a recent article in Business week (What Entrepreneurs Think About Obama) there is an over-arching tone of “wait and see” with a dab of “but I don’t think so” thown in.
A primary concern for small entrepreneurial folks is the lack of credit available. A common collateral to attach to business loans is a home. So when the housing market crashes and at the same time you might need to extend you notes or expand them…good luck. It’s almost impossible to do.
Not that the government shouldn’t try to help out folks in crises and who might be in jeapardy of loosing their homes, but at the same time the government has not taken any measures to help “small business.” The government is big on defining “small” in terms of $25 million revenue. For many small businesses, $25M is huge…not small.
What’s happening to the truly small business folks out and about in the country is scary. Mr. Obama doesn’t get it…doesn’t understand it and neither does his team. But they still like to collect the taxes from the smaller guys…I guess it’s Ceasar’s due…just wish there was a bit more value in the proposition.
The Speed of Light is 299,792,458 meters per second…
So…what is the speed of dark?
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06.19.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 10:16 pm by livefood
There are some sad stories in this commentary. Even sadder are the insurance executives…
The piece was written by Paul Begala, you might recognize him from his frequent appearances on “The Situation Room” as he is a CNN contributor. He is a frequent guest to represent the views of the Democratic Party folks. Usually I pass on his comments other than he is extremely intellegent, witty and always on point. I may think the “point” is off, but that’s my opinion. I respect his.
In his piece is is talking about the practice where insurance companies, when faced with a large and expensive proceedure, look for any and all reasons to curtail the customers coverage…even when they have been paying their premiums. Eamples were sited in the commentary and all of them just sickening.
He wrote, “The subcommittee’s chairman, Democrat Bart Stupak of Michigan, called the hearing to highlight the obnoxious and unethical practice called rescission. His researchers produced performance reviews of insurance company bureaucrats who were praised and rewarded for kicking people off their coverage.
Then Stupak asked three health insurance executives the big question: Will your company pledge to end the practice of rescission except in cases of intentional fraud?
All three health insurance executives said no.”
They said NO…are you kidding me. What pompus butts. These guys pay bonuses to other jerks to find reasons to kick people off the plans when bad stuff is found…which is the very reason that one would want health insurances…just in case something is found…and then they will kick you off and out.
If the fine print was written by these examples of fine gentlemen working for fine insurance companies…it’s probably not fine at all.
What would they do to you…or me…
Ever wonder what an everyday med costs…like my insulin. One of the insulins I take (Lantus)…I take two different kinds of insulin…the Lantus has a retail of just short of $100. Luckily is last a while. My Mom take one pill each day that retails for $2.50, without it she is uncontrollably nervous. We’re both lucky that our medical insurance programs take up some of the “retail” cost and bring the meds down to about half.
Luckily, I am a member of Kaiser Permanente. I like the plan…a like my physicians and support folks…and even though they are non-profit, I’m sure the premiums are a bit steep for some. It is what it is.
If you are one of the fortunate that don’t need a med or a never get a runny nose…count your blessings…but please think about the folks that the some of the worst insurance companies stick it too…and support efforts to bring “affordability” into the medical world.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 1:08 am by livefood
Every Wednesday I play with a group of musicians. We play Irish…mostly (there is sometimes a folk tune or something similar)…a little singing…but most of the time we play tones…reels, jigs, slip jigs, slides and a few airs and waltz.
I think folks call the waltzes to crank me up…I remind then that they would make good reels.
I don’t have a favorite type of music…reels are nice, jigs anr nice and those waltzes can be very very cool. What I do like is the group.
There are some changes in the attendance from week to week, but a lot of over lap…folks like to come and play music. NO politicing…NO religious talk…actually not too much babbling…pretty much just music.
What is extrememly cool is that they will let a beginner like myself call a tune and they will try to accomodate my speed challenges. So newbies will have the tune played at a speed that they can play at…and if we think we need to slow it down we do…if we want a bit more pracitce we do that. But we might not putz along either…half of the tunes last night were as full “session” speeds and in sets no less.
Last night we played about 40 tunes…most of them I know and some new ones. It was a gorgeous evening…we played outdoors on the desk of a firend’s home…as the sun set behind us. The neighbors got a pretty good show…and she baked brownies…wow, brownies, strawberries and Irish tunes. How grand.
So when I get really tweeked about the stupid stuff going on around me, I pick up my bodhran, throw on the iPod and let it rip to Irish tunes…waiting until some sort of sanity comes around the next Wednesday.
I would hope all us find a group as nice as the Marin Irish Ceoiltas and take a spin around the floor to a jig or reel.
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