Getting ready to travel to Austin TX

I'll be in Austin TX to visit the AANP (American Academy of Nurse Practitioners). This is my second trip to Texas this month (I was in Lubbock earlier speaking at the annual MD/MBA conference). I'm also making a brief trip to Dallas later this month.  That's 3 trips to Texas this month! 

Flying to Chicago today

I'll be in and out of Chicago today for a business meeting. I woke up at 5 am this morning to get to the airport on time, so I really hope all the flights are on time! Who's in the Chicago area?

According to Manta, there are 19,256 company profiles for Healthcare Companies in Chicago, Illinois. There are 287 Medical Equipment & Device Companies. How many pharma or biotech companies are in Chicago? 

• TAP (what used to be TAP)
• Astellas
• Takeda
• Abbott

Some other major companies in Chicago include:

• Siemens Medical Solutions
• Fujifilm Medical
• Mead Johnson Nutrition

Preparing to attend the Alliance for CME meeting in New Orleans #ACME2010

I'm preparing to attend the Alliance for CME meeting in New Orleans on January 27-30. Last year, the Alliance meeting was in San Francisco, CA and I took a red-eye flight back home after the conference ended. That was painful. This year, I get to spend a few days with colleagues and friends in New Orleans, so I'm looking forward to some good food.


Lawrence Sherman, FACME, CCMEP and I have been exchanging some messages on Twitter about the upcoming Alliance meeting (Twitter hash tag #ACME2010). Lawrence will be hosting a ReachMD - XM Satellite 160 program that will cover the Alliance meeting and I've been asked to participate in an interview, so stay tuned.



As a board member of the North American Association of Medical Education and Communication Companies, Inc., (NAAMECC), I'll be staffing the NAAMECC booth in the exhibit hall, so please come by and say hello.

Infrared Heat Sensors to Detect Fever

If you're traveling, you may get scanned by infrared thermal imaging systems that are looking for signs of fever. Swine flu continues to be the hot topic all over the news. Will it turn into an epidemic? A pandemic? The fears are mounting and airports are taking precaution. Remember how travelers were screened at the airport for fevers during SARS? As technology advances and improves our ability to detect signs and symptoms of illness, let's hope that we'll be able to contain this outbreak quickly. Many people don't understand the public health implications associated with a massive epidemic and let's hope that the public won't have to experience something like this first-hand.

Old iPod Chargers and new iPods

So I have several older iPods and a few new ones (yes, I admit that I'm a gadget freak, but most of these were not purchased). I've had the opportunity to win some iPods through drawings, Sermo, and a few others sources. I love iPods because they are great travel companions. However, I've recently noticed that my older iPod chargers don't charge my new iPod nano (4th generation) and iPod touch (2nd generation). If you have no idea what models I'm referring to, then take a look at this Apple Support page on different iPod generation models.

So I'm very disappointed that my Firewire charger, my Kensington Universal Charger (tip J3), and several other old iPod chargers do not work on my newer iPods. What's going on Apple?

Is the Amazon Kindle 2 Worth It?

I've been reading some reviews from people who've purchased the Amazon Kindle 2. It's a fairly hefty purchase at $359. There are 432 customer reviews on Amazon right now and I'm guessing that most of those users are e-book readers (who probably upgraded to the Kindle 2). How many of those are students using the Kindle 2 for their textbooks? (how many college or medical students can afford to spend $359 on a textbook reader and then another whopping sum for the actual books?)

I wish I had more time for leisure reading. The advantage of a paperback book while you're traveling is that you can read it on a plane during taxiing, takeoff and landing. You'll have to turn off the Kindle 2 and flip through the SkyMall catalog during those same times.

So is it worth it? That's what I'm curious to find out. Is it worth it if you already have a briefcase that contains a laptop, an iPod touch, and a smartphone? You can read on the iPod and the smartphone, so why get a Kindle 2?

Off to Chicago

I'm off to Chicago today. I have a meeting at Takeda. I don't particularly enjoy traveling, mainly because I seem to get stuck at airports for long delays. Today looks promising so far, but I'm not on the plane yet. The weather in Chicago looks clear and sunny, so that's good. however, I won't hold my breath until I'm on the tarmac at ORD.