Random thought

A great invention would be microwave emission energy conveyance from geosynchronous orbit satellites which is save to ground based inhabitants. This would change everything. No more powerlines needed. Just launch a huge power plant into space and have it beam energy directly where it is wanted.

Red light

Allie was driving to her parents place today. I was in the car too. At
this one intersection, the light changed green for us, so she went. She
started off a bit slower than normal. As we crossed the center of the
intersection, I noticed a car travelling a full speed in the perpendicular
direction on our right. My instinct was to just exclaim "Shit shit shit"
and feel around for the best way to prepare for the impending collision.
Thankfully, Allie picked up on my queues. At the last second she was able
to slow down enough to honk and let the guy zoom by us. She wanted to turn
around and go after the guy, but I was like, "There's nufin we can do; no
point since we didn't actually hit 'em. We can't report him cuz the cops
can't do anything since there was no accident. Just got to let it go as
just one of those things."
She didn't like that, but we continued on. The idiot who ran the light did
slow down to look back without stopping. I don't think he even realized he
was at fault.
___
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Late to The Sims 2 party

I'm a bit late to The Sims 2 party. I bought the game aeons ago, but didn't start playing till last month. It is social engineering at its most basic form. When I used to play the original The Sims, there was an eye opener moment when it hit me, "Hey! It really does kina work like that in real life!" Of course, later comes the thought, "What if some controller is running my life the way I'm running the lives of these Sims?" lol One good thing, the game keeps reminding me that I need to work out in some way to keep in shape. Ironic that the game keeps you from working out while reminding you that you should. :0

Shocking statistics, the horror! Doctors handwriting are not killing 7000 people annually [updated 2016]

In a article this year [2007], TIME Magazine reported that "doctors' sloppy handwriting kills more than 7,000 people annually."  That sounds shocking.  It is sad that 7000 people die unnecessarily each year for any reason.  The problem with this statistic is that it is not accurately stated.  Worse yet, this inaccuracy is based on a nine year old report.  Here's the clincher, the TIME Magazine article was promoting a particular device which claimed to be the solution to the supposed issue of doctors' sloppy handwriting.

What is an accurate statement? Metro News reported that according to the Institute of Medicine (article)(backup link), there was a 1998 study that found 7000 deaths occurred each year from all medication-related errors from all sources.

"Moreover, while errors may be more easily detected in hospitals, they afflict every health care setting: day-surgery and outpatient clinics, retail pharmacies, nursing homes, as well as home care. Deaths from medication errors that take place both in and out of hospitals – more than 7,000 annually – exceed those from workplace injuries."^[001] 

It appears that the IOM report actually didn't discuss handwriting as serious issue at all.  Of more concern was the problem of inaccurate prescriptions and incorrect doses by caregivers (hospitals, nursing homes, etc).  FDA stated the following in their report Strategies to Reduce Medication Errors: Working to Improve Medication Safety:

"In response to the IOM's report, all parts of the U.S. health system put error reduction strategies into high gear by re-evaluating and strengthening checks and balances to prevent errors."^{[002] (backup)}

So, the US health system had already started to take the appropriate actions to address the real problems.  All the while, the real problems are completely ignored by the TIME article.  The issue of inaccurate reporting on this topic is especially egregious in light of the recent news regarding Dennis Quaid's twins (backup link) who were accidentally seriously overdosed with a medication at their hospital.

I've found inaccuracies, such as those found in the TIME article, so common that I seek out the source material before accepting claims of news articles that purportedly reference scientific studies.  Overall, I look at the mass media with an open yet critical eye.

Comment
Since this article was originally written in 2007, we've seen the end of handwritten prescriptions.  It's not even necessary to have any slip of paper at all.  Everything is handled in cyberspace (or on the cloud, as it is often termed these days).  Some places are enacting laws that require electronic prescriptions.^{[003] (backup)} Personally, I've not carried a prescription as slip of paper in years.  Even in 2007, the idea of a device to resolve the issue of doctor handwriting seemed shortsighted, and hindsight seems to have confirmed those doubts.

Atlantis Honeymoon Day 8

Allie really wanted to go to the pools today. She was afraid I was too burned to venture out. I just told her I'd cover up and have a lot of sun lotion on. We got to the pool area and got some extra towels. When I was relaxing in the patio chairs, I just had the towel over me. I did feel comfortable with going on short inner tube underwater slide a few times, and spend some time in the pool. Allie spent a lot of time in the pool. It very relaxing time. Not too much else happened this day. We did have dinner for too much money at one of the higher end buffets again. Mostly, I just wanted a chill day because the next day was going to be the long trip back home.

Overall, Atlantis turned out to not be worth the money. It was fun and all. It's just not as valuable as it costs. Plus, spending 8 days there is just too long. 4 days would've been better. But from California, travelling a whole day to go somewhere and a whole day back, 4 days isn't long enough. Given that, it's not worth going to Atlantis if coming all the way from California.

Information Age and Fine Art

One thing about the new Information Age that we live in is that all the collections of art and information from all times previous is now literally at our fingertips. One such example is the fact that accurate replicas of ancient (and more recent too) art is available on eBay. One eBay store in particular is Artmasterworks that produces replicas that even capture the paint stroke of the original works on canvas for prices that are easily half that of simple replica prints just a few years ago. I haven't ordered any myself yet, but there's a couple I have my eye on.

I started seeing this type of replica in the art stores a few years ago. I'm not sure how long they've been available, but the fact that are available does amaze me a bit.