Still Using the OQO Model 02

I just love the fact that OQO has the Model 02. This truly is an innovative piece of technology. For a while there, I had almost forgotten how useful this tiny PC can be. The best part of this tiny device is its size. No other full PC fits into my jacket like my OQO.

Just today, I was out doing some shopping and I had to quickly revise a document and e-mail it to a client ASAP. It was so handy to have my OQO in my jacket pocket. I quickly made the revisions, pulled up all the necessary data using IE, Excel, and Powerpoint, then I had to generate a PDF, and in about 10 minutes I was done. I e-mailed the changes and my work was done. Thanks OQO!

A walk through history - my personal computing experiences

My first laptop was a Mac. If my memory serves me right, it was an old Apple (Macintosh) PowerBook 150 series that had a 33 Mhz processor, a 640x400 grayscale screen, a hard drive that was smaller than a ZIP disk, and a 1.4" floppy disk drive. No CD-ROM, No DVD, No USB, No Firewire. However, the thing was built like a tank and I used it for several years.

I also used Unix-based systems and Windows 3.1, but my PowerBook was my main computer.

However, since the mid-to-late 1990's, I've been primarily using Microsoft Windows. I started with Windows 95, then upgraded to Windows 98. I also played around with NT. I never had a chance to use Windows 2000 or Windows ME very much.

When I first started using Microsoft Windows, I primarily used IBM Thinkpads. My first Thinkpad was the 760 and the keyboard actually flipped up and opened the entire laptop so that you could replace the battery, switch the CD-ROM drive, or change the hard drive. The tilting keyboard didn't catch, since it was never used again on future models.

When XP came out, that was a huge improvement in performance and reliability. I experienced fewer episodes of the dreaded "Blue Screen of Death" (BSOD) running XP. It's hard to believe that XP came out in 2001 - only 1 year after Windows 2000 and Windows ME.

Now that Vista is here, I have several machines running XP and Vista (dual-boot). I mainly use XP because of performance and reliability issues. Now there are circulating rumors that Windows 7, the next version of Windows, may be released next year. What does that say about Vista? Was Vista such a flop that it won't have the longevity history of XP?

XP proponents are also fighting hard to keep XP on the shelves. According to Microsoft, they plan to keep XP around for ultra-low-cost PCs. What about for ultra-compact or ultra-low-power PCs that need a minimalistic operating system?

In my opinion, XP has been the best operating system released by Microsoft. It's so sad to see people buying PCs that have Vista pre-loaded, and switching these machines to XP. I would have never done that with XP and Windows 98! What does this say about Windows 7?

"The Worm Within"

The New England Journal of Medicine posted this "Image of the Week"

This is a parasitic worm found in a Korean woman during a colonoscopy. The name of the worm is: Ascaris lumbricoides

What would you do if you saw a long worm (20 cm) in your toilet after a bowel movement?

Thanks to:
Myoung Kuk Jang, M.D.
Ki Sung Lee, M.D.
They submitted this image/video to the NEJM.

MD and not DM; PhD and not DPh

I've been wondering, who came up with the suffix "MD" or "PhD"? Sometimes the D that stands for "doctor" goes at the front, while other times it goes at the end. Of course, the roots go back to the Latin phrases:

M.D., from the Latin Medicinae Doctor meaning "Teacher of Medicine"
Ph.D. for the Latin Philosophiæ Doctor, meaning "teacher of philosophy"
or D.Phil., for the equivalent Doctor Philosophiæ

Here are some common doctorate degrees:

MD = Doctor of Medicine
PhD = Doctor of Philosophy (also written as DPhil)
DPH = Doctor of Public Health
PsyD = Doctor of Psychology
DO = Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine
OD = Doctor of Optometry
DSc or ScD = Doctor of Science
PharmD = Doctor of Pharmacy
DDS = Doctor of Dental Surgery
DMD = Doctor of Dental Medicine
DPM = Doctor of Podiatric Medicine

Web 2.0

The Internet has revolutionized information access. I remember the days of the old Mozilla browser and when most people used Netscape. Then came the days of dial-up modems and 14.4 speeds. The Internet is changing rapidly and the next generation of the Web is Web 2.0.

According to Tim O'Reilly, "Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform."

If you get a chance, make sure to explore various RSS feeds, wikis, blogs, and social networking sites. These sites represent the next generation of the WWW. Get familiar with them so that you can leverage the potential that Web 2.0 has to offer.

CDC chief Gerberding spoke at MIT today

I sure miss Kresge Auditorium at MIT. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, spoke at MIT today. Gerberding's talk, sponsored by MIT's Center for Biomedical Innovation (CBI), was titled "Health System Transformation: Getting Our Money's Worth of 'Healthness.'" I wish I could have been there. It was open to the public, so I would have gone.

Atomic Learning

I've recently been testing a web-based software solution called Atomic Learning. By using interactive multimedia, this solution offers short, simple tutorials to help you with your computer skills. It's been a great resource to renew some old software skills. I consider myself a lifelong learner, so that may be why I enjoy these tutorials so much.

Anticytokine Therapies - confusing names?

Ever get confused with medical terminology? Happens to me all the time. Anticytokine therapies and other biologics are revolutionizing the treatment of some serious diseases. Here's an example of a patient with psoriasis who responded to alefacept.

When you're talking about some of the newer biologic agents, you may find that they're easy to mix up. Here's a helpful guide regarding nomenclature.

Abbreviations placed at the ends of the names convey specific information relating to their structure:

* "-cept" refers to fusion of a receptor to the Fc part of human IgG1
* "-mab" indicates a monoclonal antibody (mAb)
* "-ximab" indicates a chimeric mAb
* "-zumab" indicates a humanized mAb

Etanercept is a classic example of a TNF receptor fusion protein. Infliximab is a chimeric mAb directed against TNF. Certolizumab and tocilizumab are humanized mAbs.

MyBlogLog

Undergoing MyBlogLog Verification

ReWalk Exoskeleton

Eliminate lower limb disability! This may not be too far in the future if concepts like this ReWalk Exoskeleton is successful. This product will allow people to potentially stand, walk, and climb stairs.

Engineers have designed this using 3D CAD (computer-aided design) software. It's great to see the advances in 3D CAD software. When I was studying mechanical engineering at MIT, I used a version of CAD called Pro-E (or Pro-Engineering). Now, a lot of engineers use SolidWorks. These software solutions are getting more sophisticated and they are not used just for drawing. You can essentially design a fully functional mechanical device using modern 3D CAD programs. I miss those mechanical engineering days...

ozmosis - the next Sermo?

Yet another physician community has emerged. This one is called ozmosis. Will this be the next Sermo?

What is the purpose of these communities? It's only a matter of time before communities that are specialty-specific will emerge. When will we see pharmacist-only communities? Or nurses-only communities?