Saturday, October 20, 2007
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Communism
As part of the prep for China I read Quotations From Chairman Mao Tsetung (aka The Little Red Book) and The Communist Manifesto.
The Communist Manifesto is actually very short. Most of the version I have is preface, the actual manifesto is only 40 pages. It starts off with complaints about capitalism. The interesting part there is they are all the same complaints that people have now. I wonder if they are just the obvious fundamental issues or if people today are just repeating what Marx said. I actually read this a few months ago so I'm having trouble thinking of examples. It was interesting because at first I figured I was in the category of bourgeois as I am reasonably well off in a rich country, but as he described it I realized I'm really a proletarian. While all of his complaints are still discussed today, I agreed with some of them. However, as soon as he started describing his solution (communism) he lost me. Once he said put all power in the hands of the government I knew I was not going to be a big fan. A lot of the ideas seemed a bit arbitrary, although maybe that is just because it is a brief manifesto and a longer description would make more sense.
Quotations from Chairman Mao Tsetung is very different from the communist manifesto. This book is really a big collection of quotations. It is organized in chapters and the quotations are put in an order so that there is a somewhat constant flow of ideas within a chapter even though most quotations are a paragraph or two long. It actually says very little about the concept of communism and takes it as a given that Marxist-Leninist communism is the best form of government. A lot of the quotations are directly or indirectly about the army and war which makes some sense since he ran the country during a civil war and world war II. It was a bit weird reading it because a lot of what is said are really good ideas, but it becomes fairly clear that it is mostly propaganda and lies. There is a lot of talk about the important of criticism and listening to the people which doesn't exactly match the fact that I'm not sure which email accounts I'll have access to there since they block so many websites in order to keep people from seeing criticism of the country.
Well I'm headed off to Asia in a couple days. I'm not bringing a computer so I'm not sure exactly how I'll be communicating with people in the US. I may or may not blog much while I'm there. If not I'm sure when I get back you'll hear more than you ever wanted to know about my vacation.
For those that make it to the end of my posts - previously I said I was going to observe an implant. The patient had something come up so the procedure was rescheduled. So instead I got to spend the day at work in nice clothes explaining to everyone why I was dressed up. (I'm not irritated though - the patient had a good reason for having the procedure rescheduled).
The Communist Manifesto is actually very short. Most of the version I have is preface, the actual manifesto is only 40 pages. It starts off with complaints about capitalism. The interesting part there is they are all the same complaints that people have now. I wonder if they are just the obvious fundamental issues or if people today are just repeating what Marx said. I actually read this a few months ago so I'm having trouble thinking of examples. It was interesting because at first I figured I was in the category of bourgeois as I am reasonably well off in a rich country, but as he described it I realized I'm really a proletarian. While all of his complaints are still discussed today, I agreed with some of them. However, as soon as he started describing his solution (communism) he lost me. Once he said put all power in the hands of the government I knew I was not going to be a big fan. A lot of the ideas seemed a bit arbitrary, although maybe that is just because it is a brief manifesto and a longer description would make more sense.
Quotations from Chairman Mao Tsetung is very different from the communist manifesto. This book is really a big collection of quotations. It is organized in chapters and the quotations are put in an order so that there is a somewhat constant flow of ideas within a chapter even though most quotations are a paragraph or two long. It actually says very little about the concept of communism and takes it as a given that Marxist-Leninist communism is the best form of government. A lot of the quotations are directly or indirectly about the army and war which makes some sense since he ran the country during a civil war and world war II. It was a bit weird reading it because a lot of what is said are really good ideas, but it becomes fairly clear that it is mostly propaganda and lies. There is a lot of talk about the important of criticism and listening to the people which doesn't exactly match the fact that I'm not sure which email accounts I'll have access to there since they block so many websites in order to keep people from seeing criticism of the country.
Well I'm headed off to Asia in a couple days. I'm not bringing a computer so I'm not sure exactly how I'll be communicating with people in the US. I may or may not blog much while I'm there. If not I'm sure when I get back you'll hear more than you ever wanted to know about my vacation.
For those that make it to the end of my posts - previously I said I was going to observe an implant. The patient had something come up so the procedure was rescheduled. So instead I got to spend the day at work in nice clothes explaining to everyone why I was dressed up. (I'm not irritated though - the patient had a good reason for having the procedure rescheduled).
Monday, October 15, 2007
Flatliners Game #6 - Last Chance for Glory
Well tonight was probably my last game as a flatliner (well the last game of the season is the day after I fly back from China so if it turns out that I learn the anti-jet lag spell then I'll get another game - of course if I could cast spells like Harry Potter I might have used some to help win the games...). Of course there's always the possibility that we'll make it to the playoffs, well fine I'd put my money on the anti-jet lag spell.
Tonight ended 27 to 11 and we celebrated making it through all 7 innings without hitting the mercy rule. Actually it wasn't so bad - we only had 9 players so we only had 3 outfielders instead of 4.
Since this was my last game (if you ignore all the insanity in the first paragraph) it was also my last chance at glory. As catcher I didn't really have any chances at glory. I did have one goof, although it wasn't too bad. A batter hit the ball so it landed between me and the pitcher, but closer to me. Both of us ran for it. As we got close the pitcher told me to go to home, but by the time I processed that I had reached for the ball - we both grabbed the ball and each other's hand which if you think about the timing is pretty crazy. I let go and he motioned to throw to first, but it was too late. As I looked around I realized that there had been a runner on third who had made it home while I was racing the pitcher for the ball. Guess that guy on third was why I was supposed to stay on home plate... oh well.
One almost amazing play was the ball was hit between our center fielder and second baseman. They both ran for it. The ball bounced off the glove of the center fielder then it bounced off the second fielder's glove then bare hand. In the end it hit the ground.
Ok - back to me and my quest for glory. First at bat I determined to do something amazing. So I swung at a ball over the opposite side batter's box and fouled it. Then I decided to only swing if it was a really good pitch, well I realized I was a bit too discerning as it hit the strike zone. At least I knew when to walk away from the plate. Although on my way back I questioned if I had walked away too soon since I wasn't sure how the foul counted. Then I was glad I was out because that would have looked really stupid.
Next at bat I slowed it down a bit and had a beautiful hit - it was the only hit I really watched - I could tell it went far enough I didn't have to sprint all out to first. Well I basked in the glory of a slightly high line drive to left center all the way into the left center fielder's glove.
In the 6th inning I was up again and if I didn't hate the tortoise and the hare so much I might say something about slow and steady. I hit a dinky nothing somewhere between the pitcher and the catcher and raced to first - made it there and they over threw the ball so I raced to second. Then from two other people's hits I made it to third and then home. Not exactly glory, but at least contributing almost my fair share to the score.
In the last inning I swung at a low pitch and popped it up to center field. They caught it, but it gave the guy on third enough time to make it home.
Well, no real glory, but had some fun. And possibly the best part is I now have two bright red shirts that say Flatliners on them. I'll need to get a yard so that I have yard work so I have a time when I can wear them. Maybe I can wear them when I'm in Asia and claim to be a famous baseball player.
For those who have made it this far - in other news the A/C at work is broken and is supposed to get fixed at some point tomorrow so management said wear whatever you want, but I have to go in formal business clothes because I'm going to watch a device implant (or put another way - I get to go watch a device implant tomorrow!). Well after I recover from fainting I'm sure I'll write more about that.
Tonight ended 27 to 11 and we celebrated making it through all 7 innings without hitting the mercy rule. Actually it wasn't so bad - we only had 9 players so we only had 3 outfielders instead of 4.
Since this was my last game (if you ignore all the insanity in the first paragraph) it was also my last chance at glory. As catcher I didn't really have any chances at glory. I did have one goof, although it wasn't too bad. A batter hit the ball so it landed between me and the pitcher, but closer to me. Both of us ran for it. As we got close the pitcher told me to go to home, but by the time I processed that I had reached for the ball - we both grabbed the ball and each other's hand which if you think about the timing is pretty crazy. I let go and he motioned to throw to first, but it was too late. As I looked around I realized that there had been a runner on third who had made it home while I was racing the pitcher for the ball. Guess that guy on third was why I was supposed to stay on home plate... oh well.
One almost amazing play was the ball was hit between our center fielder and second baseman. They both ran for it. The ball bounced off the glove of the center fielder then it bounced off the second fielder's glove then bare hand. In the end it hit the ground.
Ok - back to me and my quest for glory. First at bat I determined to do something amazing. So I swung at a ball over the opposite side batter's box and fouled it. Then I decided to only swing if it was a really good pitch, well I realized I was a bit too discerning as it hit the strike zone. At least I knew when to walk away from the plate. Although on my way back I questioned if I had walked away too soon since I wasn't sure how the foul counted. Then I was glad I was out because that would have looked really stupid.
Next at bat I slowed it down a bit and had a beautiful hit - it was the only hit I really watched - I could tell it went far enough I didn't have to sprint all out to first. Well I basked in the glory of a slightly high line drive to left center all the way into the left center fielder's glove.
In the 6th inning I was up again and if I didn't hate the tortoise and the hare so much I might say something about slow and steady. I hit a dinky nothing somewhere between the pitcher and the catcher and raced to first - made it there and they over threw the ball so I raced to second. Then from two other people's hits I made it to third and then home. Not exactly glory, but at least contributing almost my fair share to the score.
In the last inning I swung at a low pitch and popped it up to center field. They caught it, but it gave the guy on third enough time to make it home.
Well, no real glory, but had some fun. And possibly the best part is I now have two bright red shirts that say Flatliners on them. I'll need to get a yard so that I have yard work so I have a time when I can wear them. Maybe I can wear them when I'm in Asia and claim to be a famous baseball player.
For those who have made it this far - in other news the A/C at work is broken and is supposed to get fixed at some point tomorrow so management said wear whatever you want, but I have to go in formal business clothes because I'm going to watch a device implant (or put another way - I get to go watch a device implant tomorrow!). Well after I recover from fainting I'm sure I'll write more about that.
Medtronic Lead Problem
I've been told that telling people to not read further can have the opposite impact (I actually want to use the word affect or effect instead of impact, but I cannot remember which one is right) so instead I'll just say that if you are tired of hearing me talk about work read on at your own risk of boredom. But if you heard the news about Medtronic and wonder how it relates to what I do at work then read on.
Today there were articles in the NYT and Wall Street Journal about Medtronic pulling its ICD (implantable cardioverter-defibrillator) lead off the market. The lead is the group of wires that travels through a vein into the heart. It contains the wires that are used for sensing signals from the heart and the wires used to deliver a shock.
Leads are very troublesome for many reasons, most of which stem from them going into the heart. One reason is that every time the heart beats the lead bends. If you are wondering why this is bad try bending a paper clip once a second for 20 years (or maybe save some time and just imagine it). If a lead breaks the device might detect it, but it can cause the device to become confused causing false shocks, and worst of all it can stop the device from providing appropriate therapy (either by messing up the sensing or not providing an electrical path). Another issue is that leads are really dangerous to remove, because the vein wall grows around them over time and they are often screwed into the heart wall. Sometimes when a new lead is required they will not take out the first one, but instead just put in another one.
Having said this - very often the benefit of a defibrillator out weights these risks. If you have a device, are considering a device or know someone with a device this article should NOT prompt anyone to demand their device be removed or refuse to get one. Discuss the benefits and risks with a doctor who can help with the individual's risk benefit tradeoff. I'm not just saying this to be legally proper, I really believe that it is important to listen to your doctor and to take this report into account, but not be scared by it.
The device the company I work for is designing still has a lead, but it does not go in the heart or veins (it sits just under the skin). So it is not subjected to the same amount of bending (it does bend with breathing, but that is a much smaller movement and less often) and thus is much less likely to fracture. It is also much easier and safer to remove should there be an issue.
You might think that we would have been celebrating that the top company in the field had a failure directly related to what distinguishes our company, but people were actually very good at seeing the big picture that bad things happening to patients is not something to be happy about.
This article mentions that Chenney does have a medtronic ICD, but an older lead model that does not show this issue.
Today there were articles in the NYT and Wall Street Journal about Medtronic pulling its ICD (implantable cardioverter-defibrillator) lead off the market. The lead is the group of wires that travels through a vein into the heart. It contains the wires that are used for sensing signals from the heart and the wires used to deliver a shock.
Leads are very troublesome for many reasons, most of which stem from them going into the heart. One reason is that every time the heart beats the lead bends. If you are wondering why this is bad try bending a paper clip once a second for 20 years (or maybe save some time and just imagine it). If a lead breaks the device might detect it, but it can cause the device to become confused causing false shocks, and worst of all it can stop the device from providing appropriate therapy (either by messing up the sensing or not providing an electrical path). Another issue is that leads are really dangerous to remove, because the vein wall grows around them over time and they are often screwed into the heart wall. Sometimes when a new lead is required they will not take out the first one, but instead just put in another one.
Having said this - very often the benefit of a defibrillator out weights these risks. If you have a device, are considering a device or know someone with a device this article should NOT prompt anyone to demand their device be removed or refuse to get one. Discuss the benefits and risks with a doctor who can help with the individual's risk benefit tradeoff. I'm not just saying this to be legally proper, I really believe that it is important to listen to your doctor and to take this report into account, but not be scared by it.
The device the company I work for is designing still has a lead, but it does not go in the heart or veins (it sits just under the skin). So it is not subjected to the same amount of bending (it does bend with breathing, but that is a much smaller movement and less often) and thus is much less likely to fracture. It is also much easier and safer to remove should there be an issue.
You might think that we would have been celebrating that the top company in the field had a failure directly related to what distinguishes our company, but people were actually very good at seeing the big picture that bad things happening to patients is not something to be happy about.
This article mentions that Chenney does have a medtronic ICD, but an older lead model that does not show this issue.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
HP 4
In my slow attempt to catch up with everyone else I read HP 4.
I wonder to what degree kids catch the whole don't trust the government, don't believe the news message. I know people were protesting the HP books, but I think that was some insane thing about witch craft, but I do not feel like anyone ever objects to it being a kids book that has idiots and evil people as government officials and liars writing the newspapers. Don't get me wrong - I think it is great and I do hope it has a lasting impact on kids - but I would have expected some people to not be so thrilled about it. I almost wonder if no one sane wants to say anything about the books because they are afraid of being associated with the crazies.
I'm going to wait to finish the series with 5 (in my round about way of reading them) before I comment too much on the elf stuff. Although at the end of 4 the message is very questionable. Claiming that it is ok that a group of people works as slaves is ok because they like it that way seems like an odd message. It seems closer to a feudal or caste system than slavery, which would fit better with English history, but still not a good thing to have all but one character approve of. I guess if Harry disapproved it would be one thing, but he seems to treat those "under" him well, but does not object to the system as a whole, only Hermione does that. Well so much for not saying much. I guess that when I get to 5 I might have to take back some of what I said here, although based on 6 and 7 I don't think so.
I may have brought this up before, but is it just me or are the Goblins every negative Jewish stereotype put together? Ok, maybe not every negative stereotype, but I challenge anyone to name a characteristic of Goblins that is not a Jewish stereotype. They're short, have big noses, are clever, greedy, and tricky and control all the money through banking...
Whenever Percy was talking about caldron thickness I totally understood what he was talking about and was rather disturb by it (no - I don't know about caldron thickness, but I do spend a bunch of time at work making sure components are designed properly and used within specifications and regulations for long term reliability).
Hm, after all that I guess I should clarify that I actually really liked the book.
I wonder to what degree kids catch the whole don't trust the government, don't believe the news message. I know people were protesting the HP books, but I think that was some insane thing about witch craft, but I do not feel like anyone ever objects to it being a kids book that has idiots and evil people as government officials and liars writing the newspapers. Don't get me wrong - I think it is great and I do hope it has a lasting impact on kids - but I would have expected some people to not be so thrilled about it. I almost wonder if no one sane wants to say anything about the books because they are afraid of being associated with the crazies.
I'm going to wait to finish the series with 5 (in my round about way of reading them) before I comment too much on the elf stuff. Although at the end of 4 the message is very questionable. Claiming that it is ok that a group of people works as slaves is ok because they like it that way seems like an odd message. It seems closer to a feudal or caste system than slavery, which would fit better with English history, but still not a good thing to have all but one character approve of. I guess if Harry disapproved it would be one thing, but he seems to treat those "under" him well, but does not object to the system as a whole, only Hermione does that. Well so much for not saying much. I guess that when I get to 5 I might have to take back some of what I said here, although based on 6 and 7 I don't think so.
I may have brought this up before, but is it just me or are the Goblins every negative Jewish stereotype put together? Ok, maybe not every negative stereotype, but I challenge anyone to name a characteristic of Goblins that is not a Jewish stereotype. They're short, have big noses, are clever, greedy, and tricky and control all the money through banking...
Whenever Percy was talking about caldron thickness I totally understood what he was talking about and was rather disturb by it (no - I don't know about caldron thickness, but I do spend a bunch of time at work making sure components are designed properly and used within specifications and regulations for long term reliability).
Hm, after all that I guess I should clarify that I actually really liked the book.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Chris Matthews On the Daily Show
If you have not seen a good Jon Stewart interview in a while then this blog is here to the rescue:
Monday, October 08, 2007
Flatliners Game #5 - Back to Reality
A game that ends 26 to 20 in the 6th inning has a lot of highlights. Unfortunately I peaked early. First hit was solid and I got to first. Then they over threw the ball into the dugout, but I didn't run, but apparently you get the next base free anyway. It was nice getting the base, but I felt silly having a bunch of people telling me to go to 2nd and having no idea why. Next inning an ok hit got me to first then barely forced out at second. By the third at bat my head had left the game. I swung at two terrible pitches and then had my zoolander at the awards show moment as I got ready to swing and the ump had to remind me that we start at 1 and 1 so I had struck out.
Fielding I had one guy tip the ball and I had it in my glove, but it bounced out. The other catcher on our team (we do every other inning) caught a fly ball so now that we are even I've challenged him to see who will catch the most fly balls. Then my moment for glory came as the runner was headed home the ball was thrown to me. The ball and the runner were arriving at the exact same moment and my attention was split between the two as the ball went right past me... DOH!
Having scored 20 runs the flatliners were still in a good mood even after losing.
Well one more game for me to earn glory before heading to the other side of the world.
Fielding I had one guy tip the ball and I had it in my glove, but it bounced out. The other catcher on our team (we do every other inning) caught a fly ball so now that we are even I've challenged him to see who will catch the most fly balls. Then my moment for glory came as the runner was headed home the ball was thrown to me. The ball and the runner were arriving at the exact same moment and my attention was split between the two as the ball went right past me... DOH!
Having scored 20 runs the flatliners were still in a good mood even after losing.
Well one more game for me to earn glory before heading to the other side of the world.
Friday, October 05, 2007
Reliability Control for Electronic Systems
Last night I finished up Reliability Control for Electronic Systems (again for work). I was thinking there was even less people would be interested in from this book than the burn-in book, but there is one thing that is sorta interesting.
If you've ever seen a company advertise a brand new product and then guarantee that it will last 5 years and wonder how the hell they know that, well basically the answer is they got it really hot and then ran it for a much shorter period of time. If you've never wondered about this then stop reading here and save your patients for future posts.
Actually there are several ways to accelerate life testing.
The most straight forward is to increase the duty cycle. Ex: if you assume someone will use a light bulb 4 hours a day then by running the bulb 24 hours a day you can accelerate the life test by a factor of 6 so a 5 year life requires less than 1 year of test. With some things like cell phones which are actually communicating a tiny portion of the time this method can be a huge benefit.
Another method is if turning a device on and off puts more stress on it than just leaving it on, then for life testing it can quickly be turned on and off to simulate a much longer life.
The first two methods depend on the usage pattern of the device - the method that can be used for anything is to increase the stress on the device. For an electrical product the supplies can be run at a higher voltage than normal. For mechanical the device can be stretched or vibrated or... But the main one is to just increase the temperature since this accelerates basically all failure mechanisms. The amount it accelerates each mechanism varies significantly. But if the primary failure mechanism is known then the acceleration factor can be calculated. A very common method in electronics is to run the device at 125 C (257 F) because it is hot enough to get decent acceleration, but not so hot that it generates failures just because of the temperature (such as melting the packaging).
The methods are all a bit questionable, but it gives a decent chance of getting the life right (or at least making people feel comfortable that most devices will last at least as long as the guarantee (or at least something to show the judge to prove you didn't just pull a number out of the air)).
If you've ever seen a company advertise a brand new product and then guarantee that it will last 5 years and wonder how the hell they know that, well basically the answer is they got it really hot and then ran it for a much shorter period of time. If you've never wondered about this then stop reading here and save your patients for future posts.
Actually there are several ways to accelerate life testing.
The most straight forward is to increase the duty cycle. Ex: if you assume someone will use a light bulb 4 hours a day then by running the bulb 24 hours a day you can accelerate the life test by a factor of 6 so a 5 year life requires less than 1 year of test. With some things like cell phones which are actually communicating a tiny portion of the time this method can be a huge benefit.
Another method is if turning a device on and off puts more stress on it than just leaving it on, then for life testing it can quickly be turned on and off to simulate a much longer life.
The first two methods depend on the usage pattern of the device - the method that can be used for anything is to increase the stress on the device. For an electrical product the supplies can be run at a higher voltage than normal. For mechanical the device can be stretched or vibrated or... But the main one is to just increase the temperature since this accelerates basically all failure mechanisms. The amount it accelerates each mechanism varies significantly. But if the primary failure mechanism is known then the acceleration factor can be calculated. A very common method in electronics is to run the device at 125 C (257 F) because it is hot enough to get decent acceleration, but not so hot that it generates failures just because of the temperature (such as melting the packaging).
The methods are all a bit questionable, but it gives a decent chance of getting the life right (or at least making people feel comfortable that most devices will last at least as long as the guarantee (or at least something to show the judge to prove you didn't just pull a number out of the air)).
Monday, October 01, 2007
Flatliners Game #4 - The Win!
First a quick tip: cooking up tofu with a bag of frozen spinach on the stove using some olive oil makes for a good meal, but, here's the important part, not just before a softball game. Nothing too bad, but some definite stomach grumbling during the game.
Next, the important part - me. As catcher I didn't do anything special (although the whole paying attention thing is working out well). Picked up the ball and threw it back a bunch of times. Once tried to catch a fly ball but it hit the back fence and I missed it coming down along the fence (not actually sure if that would have counted or not). Had the ball thrown to me during one play, it was fairly far away and I missed it, but the guy had made it home long before the ball got there.
The other team did not have a strong pitcher so our team did a lot of walking. First at bat walked and eventually made it home. Second at bat had a sissy hit that landed about equidistant between the catcher, pitcher and third baseman so made it to first and eventually home. Third was a good line drive, flew between second and short stop to the outfield, and got to first but next play was forced out at second. Fourth was a line drive to about the same spot, but much softer and got forced out at first.
Finally the crazy part (well if you don't count the flatteners winning as crazy). While we were fielding (I was doing my inning on the bench) the other team had two guys standing around as first base coach. They were talking to each other fairly loud. Our first baseman asked them to quiet down so he could concentrate on the game. One of their guys said, "It's softball we can be as loud as we want. Instead of complaining about talking, why not tell your team to stop being sissies and swing at the ball." After that he made similar comments to other players on our team. It didn't get to anyone on our team due to the combination of not taking it that seriously and being so happy that we actually won.
Oh, and if you hadn't noticed - WE WON!
Next, the important part - me. As catcher I didn't do anything special (although the whole paying attention thing is working out well). Picked up the ball and threw it back a bunch of times. Once tried to catch a fly ball but it hit the back fence and I missed it coming down along the fence (not actually sure if that would have counted or not). Had the ball thrown to me during one play, it was fairly far away and I missed it, but the guy had made it home long before the ball got there.
The other team did not have a strong pitcher so our team did a lot of walking. First at bat walked and eventually made it home. Second at bat had a sissy hit that landed about equidistant between the catcher, pitcher and third baseman so made it to first and eventually home. Third was a good line drive, flew between second and short stop to the outfield, and got to first but next play was forced out at second. Fourth was a line drive to about the same spot, but much softer and got forced out at first.
Finally the crazy part (well if you don't count the flatteners winning as crazy). While we were fielding (I was doing my inning on the bench) the other team had two guys standing around as first base coach. They were talking to each other fairly loud. Our first baseman asked them to quiet down so he could concentrate on the game. One of their guys said, "It's softball we can be as loud as we want. Instead of complaining about talking, why not tell your team to stop being sissies and swing at the ball." After that he made similar comments to other players on our team. It didn't get to anyone on our team due to the combination of not taking it that seriously and being so happy that we actually won.
Oh, and if you hadn't noticed - WE WON!
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