Monthly Archives: August 2009

Healthcare Heroes

Posted on August 19, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

Goal ThermometerDemocracyForAmerica.com has a list of “healthcare heroes”: Congresspersons who are standing up for the public option.

There are three members of Florida delegation listed there:

Corrine Brown (FL-03)
Robert Wexler (FL-19)
Alcee Hastings (FL-23)

Notably absent are Kendrick Meek (FL-17), who is running for Senator and you would think might want to get out in front on this but who is running to the right almost as fast as Charlie Crist, and progressive folk like Alan Grayson (Fl-8), Ron Kein (FL-22) and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (FL-20).

Well, maybe Wasserman-Schultz isn't such a surprise. But Alan Grayson definitely is.

It is a sad thing that contributions often speak louder than polls. If you want to contribute to show these healthcare stalwarts that you appreciate their backbone, click on the thermometer on the right.

Posted in Health Care | 1 Comment

And So We Go Full Circle (Inevitable Dept.)

Posted on August 18, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

Thanks to the Guilds's Do You Wanna Date My Avatar we've gone full circle.

Once upon a time, the cool thing about Machinima was having avatars singing along to songs, or having songs written for them. Avatars playing people moved quickly from dogs on their hind legs to an art form.

Now the wheel has gone full circle and we have a genuine music video in which people play avatars. (And, yes, I'm aware of previous parodies).

Posted in Kultcha, Virtual Worlds | Comments Off on And So We Go Full Circle (Inevitable Dept.)

Old Russian Joke Meets Japanese Reality

Posted on August 18, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

There is an old joke that when the hot line between the white house and the Kremlin was installed, the strategists were very concerned that a mistranslation might set off a world war, so they invested heavily in machine translation projects.

One way in which machine translations get tested is that you take a text in the first language, translate it to the second, then translate it back. If it's recognizable, you're doing well. Well, the story goes that the Army came up with computer program it thought would do the trick, but the folks at the White House demanded a live demo. At the demo they input the phrase “out of sight, out of mind”.

After a round trip via Russian, it came back as “blind drunk”.

I'm reminded of this by Translation Party which will take your English text, translate it to Japanese and back and repeat the process until it achieves what it calls a “equilibrium”. Inputting “out of sight, out of mind” I got “Vision and heart”.

So far, the most steps I can get it to do for a short saying is 11 (“Every llama thinks his load is the heaviest” becomes “All the heavy burden of Rama and his”).

And my weirdest is “Pot calling the kettle black” which quickly became “Runny nose, laughing eyes KUSO”.

(And “measure twice, cut once” went into an endless loop.)

Posted in Internet | 7 Comments

Potentially Interesting Software

Posted on August 17, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

Has anyone here used Mendeley? I'm not entirely clear on the use case: do I upload the papers I've written? Ones I'm reading? Ones I mean to get around to reading?

And how much of what I upload is browseable by others? If I put up all the papers in my bibliography before I publish the paper, is there any risk of finding someone who writes faster writes it since I've acted as their research assistant?

Posted in Software | 7 Comments

H1N1 Preparedness

Posted on August 17, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

Universities, like schools, are ground zero for flu epidemics, so I’m glad to see that the U is taking reasonable steps.

Dear Faculty:


With the fall semester ready to
begin, we would like to update you about H1N1 influenza and the university’s
preparation for the upcoming semester. The university’s H1N1 decision team has
met on a regular basis during the summer and has remained in close contact with
the local and state health departments in preparation for the possibility of an
increase in cases when school begins.


Over the last several weeks, H1N1
flu has occurred in the South Florida area and at the University of Miami,
mostly among children and young adults. The majority of cases have been mild to
moderate in severity, and many have not required medical care for
diagnosis or treatment.  Individuals with influenza-like illnesses (defined
by the Florida Department of Health as fever, temperature of 100°F [37.8°C] or
greater and cough and/or a sore throat) are advised to remain at home until at
least 24 hours after they are free of fever, which is 3 to 5 days in most
cases. This guidance does not apply to health care settings where the
exclusion period should be continued for 7 days from symptom onset or until the
resolution of symptoms, whichever is longer.   


Household members and other close
contacts have been urged to follow these same recommendations if symptoms
develop, and to seek information about medical care and isolation from the
Student Health Service or other medical providers. Classes and activities have
not been cancelled and services have not been interrupted.
Students have received periodic updates via Ibis
News, and new
students and their parents will receive additional information during
orientation sessions. 


As long as cases continue in our
community, students with symptoms of an influenza-like illness will be advised
to self isolate according to the CDC
guidelines.  Currently, students are
being asked to contact the Student Health Service for medical advice. If cases
become more common, those with severe symptoms or with underlying health
conditions will be asked to contact the Student Health Service or other medical
providers, however others may self diagnose and require no specific
treatment.  In the event of a widespread outbreak self reporting may be
the predominant form of notification and not all students will have
documentation of their illness.  Students who are unable to attend class
will be asked to contact faculty or their designee via e-mail.  Faculty may
choose to establish an alternative method of communication, and if so, should
advise their students at the start to the semester.


Faculty with flu symptoms should
seek medical advice and treatment from their own health care providers, adhere
to CDC self
isolation recommendations, and abide by recommendations of
the Employee
Health Office
and Human Resources.


It is predicted that most cases
of H1N1 flu will be mild to moderate in severity and self-limited; however, more
severe cases may occur.  In order to minimize the impact of this situation
on our community, we encourage you to refer to the information on the CDC, Miami-Dade County Health
Department and
Student
Health Service
websites and abide by appropriate recommendations.


If you have any specific
questions, please feel free to e-mail studenthealth@miami.edu or call (305) 284-5921.  We
wish everyone a healthy and productive semester.

Sincerely,

Howard Anapol, M.D., Director, Student Health Service
William S. Green, Senior Vice Provost and Vice President for Student Affairs
Patricia A. Whitely, Dean for Undergraduate Education

I’ll have to emphasize to the 1Ls that they really should stay home if they have a fever.

Posted in Science/Medicine, U.Miami | 2 Comments

It Begins

Posted on August 17, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

I have my first meeting with my (rather large) Torts class this afternoon.

I suspect the greatest challenge I'll face this term — other than the sheer size of the group and the unfortunate room geometry (it's narrow and deep, and full of mini-jumbotron TV screens in the back half) — is mediating the tension between the need to go really really slowly and the nagging desire to get to the even more interesting stuff in the back of the book. My current syllabus has me doing a pretty standard torts course, without the fun extras. But it's not like you can decide not to do negligence this year.

Posted in Law School | 2 Comments