Google Video Getting Better. Shows "How Stuff Works"

The New Stuff

Google recently added many more videos to its database. One example is How Stuff Works.com which demystifies the questions of everyday life. Google Video is free, you can upload your own videos and even charge for them if you want to.


A T-Shirt Billionaire

You can also see Sergey Brin, one of Google founders, speaking with UC Berkeley Class how he never thought that Wikipedia would have succeeded.

Check out the complete list of new video projects on Google Blog.


Every Team Has a Blog

Geeks used to complain that Google was so secretive that would not say anything substantial on their blog but just use it for PR purposes. Well, it seem like the new policy is every Google team to have a blog and the video team is no exception.

Rumor of the day:
Google Base, which is supposed to be a giant host for files, is expected to be launched soon.


Google Video in OR. Watch Full-length Movies of Different Surgeries

OR-live.com uploaded videos of different operations and they are currently available for viewing free of charge.

(via grahamazon.com)

Web 2.0 in Medicine

Web 2.0 is a collection of free services that make the internet more useful and interactive. There is nothing to download because they all work in your browser.


Image source: Dion Hinchcliffe's Web 2.0 Blog

Web 1.0 users follow links to content. By contrast, Web 2.0 users comment, edit and create content. It is all about putting the user in charge. For example, on one of the most popular Web 2.0 sites, Digg.com, readers decide which story will appear on the front page. Digg.com and Wikipedia use the "wisdom of crowds" theory which claims that the people as a whole know more than each individual person.

Suggested Online Services

1. RSS Feeds and Bloglines

RSS feeds are updates that are delivered by the websites when something new is published.

Its inventor, Dave Winer likens RSS to "a sushi bar where the sushi comes around in boats. When you see something you like, you grab it and eat it." The same is true with RSS content that feeds you news aggregator.

"It's like having a personal assistant who goes through every publication and blog that could possibly interest you and picks out stories to bring to your attention.", writes PC Magazine.

Bloglines is probably the best choice among the online RSS readers (aggregators). It helps you to collect the information you want in one place. Instead of visiting 20 websites per day, let them send the information to you. Subscribe to specific searches on Pubmed or any search engine and collect them in one place. Subscribe to the major medical journals RSS feeds. You can publish the updates to a private blog to make a portfolio entry.

See the tutorial "How to Subscribe to Medical RSS Feeds on Bloglines" (PDF, 590 kb).

2. Write Your Documents Online at Writely.com

Writely is a secure online word processor. It is ideal for 2-3 authors who are collaborating on an article. Writely allows you to see all the revisions in real time. No more emailing Word documents back and forth between the authors. The service has an easy export to MS Word and you can monitor the changes to your article by subscribing to the RSS feed in Bloglines. Other alternatives to Microsoft Office are NumSum (a simple Excel "replacement") and gOffice.

3. Online Favorites are Del.icio.us

You can collect your favorite websites online on Del.icio.us and make the list accessible from any computer. Add multiple tags (labels) to describe the content. This bookmarks/favorites list is easily searchable. Yahoo MyWeb2.0 takes the online bookmarking even further by letting you to save pages and images on their servers for free.

4. Blogs

Start a website in 5 minutes. You can publish your thoughts, collection of interesting cases or use it to make portfolio entries. The best overall service is provided by Google on Blogger.com. Read about the other options in Choose a Free Blogging Platform - Check Out Opera Blogs.

How to Use Web 2.0 in Medicine?

This is the PowerPoint file of my talk about Web 2.0 in Medicine. I presented it to the Section of Hospital Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic on 10/17/05, internal medicine residents and faculty at the Cleveland Clinic on 1/05/06, Grand Rounds of the Department of Internal Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic on 1/25/06, and internal medicine residents and faculty at Case Western Reserve University (St. Vincent/St. Lukes) on 5/18/06.

Update 1/19/2007:
The new version of my presentation Web 2.0 in Medicine is available.


My presentation on Web 2.0 in Medicine from December 2006.

References:
What Is Web 2.0 - Tim O'Reilly
RSS: The Web at Your Fingertips - PC Magazine
Wikis, blogs and podcasts: a new generation of web-based tools for virtual collaborative clinical practice and education. Boulos MNK, Maramba I, Wheeler S. BMC Med Educ 2006;6:41.
RSS tutorial for STFM Board. Family Medicine Notes
Innovative Web-based software challenges Windows - USA Today
The Best Web 2.0 Software of 2005 - Dion Hinchcliffe's Web 2.0 Blog
Web2.0 - extended mind cloud
Web 2.0 Companies I Couldn’t Live Without - TechCrunch.com

Other RSS tutorials:
HOW TO: Getting Started with RSS - Paul Stamatiou
Bloglines: How to use Bloglines - Honeywell.com, Adding RSS feed to Bloglines - University of California Berkeley, Using Bloglines - preetamrai.com
A really simple guide to a powerful tool: RSS. BMJ Career Focus 2006;332:244.
Google Reader - How to use Google Reader - a Flash tutorial by Andy Wibbels
Google Reader Tutorial. DavidRothman.net.
Sergey Brin in conversation with John Battelle about Web 2.0 - ITconversations.com
Microsoft plays catch-up - CNN/Fortune
Web 2.0 - Wikipedia
Web 2.0 in Medicine Presentations by a University of Michigan Librarian

Related:
Web 3.0 Concepts Explained in Plain English (Presentations). Digital Inspiration, 2009.

Updated: 06/01/2009

A Letter from the Janitor to the CEO - This Week's Medical Grand Rounds

This week's Grand Rounds, a summary of the best posts in the medical blogospere, is hosted at Hospital Impact.org. The format is also interesting - it is written as a letter from a janitor to the CEO of the hospital. After his shift is over and on his way out, the janitor meets different medical bloggers and writes about his conversations with them.

At the end, the host of the Grand Rounds shares a story which shows that all of us of who work in the hospital are part of a big team. Even the smallest player in this team has an impact and unique significance.

"I once spoke with one of the most famous hospital CEOs in America. Out of all the things he could have shared with me that day, he talked to me about a cleaning lady in his hospital. This is the story he told... A patient was in a coma and her grieving family sat around her. The patient had been completely unresponsive for weeks. Then, a particular cleaning lady unknowingly and deeply moved this family - simply by doing her job with a smile and by singing/humming a sweet tune under her breathe. The family noticed that the patient actually responded to this far-off cleaning lady's humming ever so slightly - a twitch of the eye, a tear. The family asked the cleaning lady to come in and sing to their loved one in the coma. Without hesitating, the cleaning lady put down her mop, came into the room, and sang an angelic tune. It was a tender, moving moment for the whole family - another tear flowed down the patient's face. A few days later, the patient died, but the family was so moved by the event, that they wrote the hospital, wanting to thank that anonymous cleaning lady. This week's grand rounds is dedicated to that unnamed hospital cleaning lady, and to all those in healthcare who do their job with a smile on their face and a sweet tune on their hearts."

--- Tony, Hospital Impact.org

The Grand Rounds archive is here.

Google makes 27 cents per search

Yes, it is true. You don't pay anything but Google still manages to cash in 27 cents per every search you enter in the search box. The average revenue per searcher is $7. Google market cap is more than 100 billion dollars which makes it one of the 20 largest companies in the world.

Read more in $94, er, $106 Billion by John Battelle, the author of The Search, a textbook about the search industry.

What is the secret of their success?

Sergey Brin, a Google founder: "If the executives controlled what projects were pushed forward at Google, most of the products that have made Google successful would have never been passed."

This is a perfect example of how important is to have an open mind for new ideas.

Google employees devote 20 % of their work time to personal projects. Adsense/Adwords, which provide the majority of the company's revenue, was started that way, also Gmail and Google News.

Teenager may lose her arm from a snake bite

A 14-year-old girl was bitten by a poisonous copperhead snake at school. The snake was brought in a shoebox by a male student who attended a drama club gathering in Pottstown, PA.

Copperhead snake bites are typically not fatal but are very painful and may cause extensive tissue damage.

The treatment for poisonous snake bites is with antivenin. Patients who develop compartment syndrome may need fasciotomy.

Antivenin is a neutralizing antibody made from horse serum after the horse is injected with nonlethal doses of snake venom. Most physicians withhold antivenin for copperhead bites.

References:

Snakebite at school may cost teen's arm - CNN
Copperhead - ces.ncsu.edu
Snakebite - eMedicine
American copperhead - Wikipedia
Snake bite poison - U.S. National Library of Medicine
See more copperhead photos on Google Images
The Broadbanded Copperhead - wf.net/~snake
Snakebite - JAMA Patient Page, 2012 (PDF).
Image source: Wikipedia

Muraglitazar - Another "Vioxx" Heading for the Market?

Pargluva (muraglitazar) is a new medication for diabetes awaiting approval by FDA. According to Steven Nissen and Eric Topol from the Cleveland Clinic, the new drug doubles the risk for heart attack, stroke and CHF (JAMA).

This month the FDA issued an "approvable letter" for the drug, meaning that muraglitazar could be approved once the agency received additional information.

The regular readers of medical journals probably remember that Eric Topol was the first one to raise doubts about the safety of Vioxx (JAMA). He also expressed concerns about the validity of Natrecor use in CHF patients (NEJM). Is Dr. Topol "anti-pharma" or just "pro-patient safety"? In any case, Eric Topol is among the top 20 most-cited scientists in the medical literature and his opinion certainly deserves the attention of the FDA.


Update 5/18/06:

Bristol-Myers Squibb discontinued the development of muraglitazar.


References:
Cardiologist goes toe to toe with drug companies - CNN
New Diabetes Drug Poses Danger to Patients, Cardiologists Say - Yahoo News
Effect of Muraglitazar on Death and Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus - JAMA
Selling Safety - —Lessons From Muraglitazar - JAMA
New Diabetes Drug May Triple Death Risk - WebMD
Failing the Public Health — Rofecoxib, Merck, and the FDA - NEJM


Other Medical News

A BlackBerry Thumb - AP

Donor's Organs Are Linked to West Nile Virus - New York Times
Transpanting 4 organs from a donor infected with WNV left 4 patients in critical condition.

Bicycling can lead to impotence -New York Times
Chronic trauma on the arteries and nerves in the perineum has adverse sexual effects in both men and women.
Source: Serious Riders, Your Bicycle Seat May Affect Your Love Life - NYT

Flock to Open Office - New Software Releases

Flock

Flock is a new generation of browser which is based on Firefox. Just a few new features:
- bookmarks are saved online (on del.icio.us) instead of in the browser
- integrated posting to blogs. In fact, you can get a free WordPress.com blog (no invitation required) if you download Flock
- a few other things, like Flickr integration. Check out 13 things you can do with Flock (and how to do them).

Flock preview release did not impress me much but it is worth a try even if only to get a free WordPress.com blog.

Read a complete review with screen shots on PaulStamatiou.com and NewsForge. Apparently, Flock was developed by a group of 10 guys in a garage in Palo Alto, California. It is all about Web 2.0 (via oreillynet.com).

Open Office

OO 2.0 was just released and it works on all platforms - Win, Mac and Linux. "Big" clients (programs), like MS Word and OO may soon be a thing of the past for the casual user. Check out the online word processor Writely to see what I am talking about. Writely is a "thin" client that allows collaboration of multiple users which is great if you are writing an article or finalizing a protocol.

WordPress.com Blogs

WordPress works very nicely actually. I used it to create the alumni web page for the internal medicine residency program of Case Western Reserve University (St. Vincent/St. Lukes).
All entries are password protected which is something not possible on Blogger. Also, search is integrated in the blog template and shows results as you type.

Just as Mike Torres writes: "You can blog on MSN Spaces, but MSN Spaces is not just a blogging service."

References:
Flock Web Browser Eases Multitasking But Has Drawbacks. WSJ, 2008.
Image sources: openoffice.org, wordpress.com

Updated: 08/06/2008

A Medical Student Writes About Different Clinical Clerkships

Graham is a medical student and the author of the popular blog Over My Med Body. He describes his experiences going through various clinical clerkships:

- Surgery - part one and two
- Neurology - part one and two
- Radiology
- Geriatrics

There is also a post about the Medical School Depression.

This is some great material for Kent Bottles from SoundPractice. In his very informative interviews with medical bloggers Dr. Bottles likes to explore (among other topics) the difference between the established physicians and the new generation of medical students and residents. Graham would be a good candidate for an interview.

Some other interesting ideas of his:

- MedList is an AJAX-based online application which offers "a way for the patients to store their list of medications online, email a copy to themselves, update them later, print a copy out for their physicians, etc." Update: MedList is on hold until the HIPAA issues are cleared.

- Blogging Your Health Wishes - with a blog entry, a person could provide a written document of their wishes/advanced directive/durable power of attorney.

As mentioned above, the HIPAA rules may interfere with some of those projects.

Image source: grahamazon.com

NPR - This I Believe

This I Believe is an NPR project that "invites you to write about the core beliefs that guide your daily life".

This week's essay is read by John McCain. People who express their opinion on air range from regular folks that you meet every day to politicians like the Senator McCain and the former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Subscribe to This I Believe RSS feed.

Image source: NPR

"ABIM Results" on Google - Guess Who's Number Two in the Search Results?

The Medscape editor does not have much trust in the medical bloggers but Google seems to disagree.

This week I announced that the ABIM results are available to the physicians who took the examination in August.

Soon after that the Google algorithm decided that this is so relevant that it placed the little post right after the official ABIM page (click to enlarge the image).



I still think that this cannot be serious but it goes to show that whatever your write today, it can change somebody's life tomorrow. For the better, or for the worse. Once again, do not take medical advice from internet. Always ask your doctor.

By the way, I am sure that very soon my post will not be ranking that high in the Google search for "ABIM results", it was just very strange (and funny) to see it there.

References:
Who Cares About Medical Blogs? The Video Answer of a Medical Media Company
Google, M.D. In Action - Part II
ABIM Results for 2005 are Available

Family Medicine Collaboration Project

FMDRL stands for Family Medicine Digital Resources Library - an online collaboration project that lets you upload files or post links to share with others. The selection of files is still limited but growing - browse through the archive here.

The project is supported by the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine and DocNotes.

Image source: FMDRL

Top 10 Blog Usability Mistakes

There is a short list on Google Blogoscoped and a longer version on Jakob Nielsen's site.

I have made so many of those mistakes on this blog that there is almost no point in correcting them now... :-)

Just to name a few items of the top 10 list:

- No author photo
- Links do not say where they go (link text such as "“here"” or "“there"”)
- Irregular publishing frequency
- Mixing topics (not becoming a niche blogger)
- Having a domain name owned by a weblog service

References:
Nielsen On Blog Design Mistakes - Google Blogoscoped
Weblog Usability: The Top Ten Design Mistakes - Useit.com/alertbox
Image source: pixelperfectdigital.com

Interesting Links

The simplest search entry - gada.be
Type the search phrase directly in the URL. e.g. clinicalcases.gada.be
Scoble was impressed.

How to move to a new web host without having problems in Google
Some practical advice for medical (or any other) bloggers by the "Google Guy" himself - Matt Cutts.

Draw your own page (literally) with GE

USB as a "Digital Backpack"
You can move not only your files, you can move your whole computer (almost). Read more in Flash Drives Make Any Computer 'Personal' - AP

Convert your own documents into PDF
You can do it for free at pdfonline.com. The only catch is that the maximum size of the original file must be less than 2 mb.

How will Google home page look in 2084? - NYTimes

Bloglines releases new features
The already excellent online RSS aggregator Bloglines recently released some new features - check them out. The keyboard shortcuts are almost identical to the ones introduced with Google Reader.

Why Bloggers Should Link to Their Sources

An Electronic Handshake - a blogger discusses the importance of giving credit to the blog who published the story first:

"I recently saw it happen with a blog that posted a really hot link to a good story. Then I saw the story pop-up on very different places, of which you could tell they all quoted or congratulated the second source, 'the thief', and nobody every knew about the original blogger who actually was the first one to bring this story up.

The same quotes, but no link to the messenger, just to the source.

That's just not right. It's selfish.

It's all about the electronic handshake. It's all about saying 'yo man, thanks! I'm blogging this!' or 'Good job!"

Source: blog.coolz0r.com
Image source: sxc.hu

It's Not Easy to Be a Doctor...

Check out some examples of patient-physician communication, or sometimes attempts of communication... The insurance term is "patient encounter".

Six Unsatisfying and Professionally Unrewarding Conversations I'’ve Had With Patients This Week - DrCharles

Tips for the ED Drug Seeker - GruntDoc

ABIM Results for 2005 are Available

You have to log-in to On-Line Services on the website of the American Board of Internal Medicine. Check "exam history" instead of "am I certified" to get the result.

How Not To Give a Presentation

Some advice how NOT to do a good job when presenting:

- How not to give a presentation by the former BMJ editor Richard Smith. This article lists truly invaluable pearls of wisdom like:

"Bad slides are the traditional standby of a bad presentation. There must be far too many. They must contain too much information and be too small for even those in the front row to read. Flash them up as fast as you can, ensuring that they are in the wrong order..." BMJ 2000;321:1570-1571 (23 Dec)

- Maxims for Malfeasant Speakers - by Norman Ramsey at the Harvard Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

And finally some real advice how TO give a presentation:

- Tips on... Grand round presentations - BMJ Career Focus 2005

Related:
25 years of PowerPoint http://bit.ly/uZWEq

Updated: 08/20/2009

Google, M.D. In Action - Part II

We already know that googling can prevent unnecessary blood transfusions but this is something else - "Google, M.D." diagnosed the puzzling combination of "rash, adult, fever" without a flinch - with the first hit.

Otherwise it is the same old story again:

1. A patient googles a constellation of symptoms and asks her doctor what are the chances of her having the condition "x".

2. The doctor does not think that this is likely but decides to check a few tests anyway.

3. The test results confirm that the patient is having condition "x".

It makes you think "why don't doctors search Google from the beginning?"

We all know that it takes years to become a doctor, even longer to become a good one, so why does Google outsmart them? Actually, Google per se is not smarter than any physician (or any other person). It just has more information and is working hard to make it "universally accessible". No single person's brain can handle all the information on the "innumerable" Google servers.

In our case the diagnosis was RMSF - Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and the doctor was very honest: "I would have completely missed it if I hadn't listened to you", he told the patient. The patient does not blame her doctor "He didn't miss it. He was the first to think of it. And he sent off the test - even though it could prove him wrong. He just wanted to figure out what was going on. He listened to me. That's exactly the kind of doctor I want."

Dear doctor, next time when you are not sure what is going on, why don't you run a quick Google check? It won't hurt you to have one or two suggestions, no matter how crazy they look initially... Having UpToDate is nice but sometimes (just sometimes) Google offers the best answers. The problem is to differentiate between the false information and the valid suggestions produced by the computer algorithm, and this is where a physician has to step in. The doctors will never loose their job.

Update 3/28/2007:

Adam Bosworth, Vice President of Engineering at Google Inc. covers similar topics in: How do you know you're getting the best care possible?

References:
Sleuthing a Rash - NYTimes
Google, M.D. In Action
Who's your patient's best friend? Google!
Power of Google: A distinguished professor gets shown up by Google - MedPundit, NEJM
Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask - UC Berkeley
Checking medical facts online can be OK, but don't become a "cyberchondriac." TheJournalNews.com
Picture source: Google Blogoscoped by Philipp Lenssen, used with permission

Arounder: Panoramic Photo Tours of the World Famous Destinations

Life inside a 2-litre water bottle
This project was linked on Digg.com but that was only the beginning.

Arounder.com has zoom in/zoom out panoramas of some of the world most famous destinations:

The Grand Canyon & Colorado River
Milan's Duomo Cathedral
Sant' Ambrogio Basilica
San Rocco Church, Lugano Switzerland
Santa Maria degli Angeli, Monte Tamaro
The Last Supper of Leonardo Da Vinci
Koeln Dom
Rome Colosseum
Santa Maria Maggiore
San Giovanni in Laterano
San Paolo Fuori le Mura
Arounder Barcelona
Arounder Lugano
Arounder Milano
Arounder Monaco
The Riviera (Italian, French)
Parma Baptistery and Duomo
Arounder Roma
Arounder Koeln
Arounder Cypro
Arounder Riviera Ligure

The Louvre museum 360 degrees panoramic view (via Digg)
Press 'Shift' to zoom in, 'Ctrl' to zoom out.

Find Your Way in the Mobile Web - HP iPAQ Mobile Portal

The mobile web is different from the regular full-size-desktop-laptop version that we use every day.

HP iPAQ Mobile is a portal that lists sites made to be viewed on the smaller PDA screens. It can be used with any PDA, not just iPAQ. In fact, you can browse the mobile web right now from you regular computer, check it out.

Read more in The Mobile Web - Search, Mail, Maps, RSS and More.

Image source: HP iPAQ Mobile

How People Walk - Science in Animation

See how walk changes depending on a person's gender, weight and mood. Choose the "Lines" option from the animation menu.

The project was created by the Biomotion Lab at Ruhr-University in Bochum, Germany and the Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.


Image source: Biomotion Lab

(via Digg)

Who Cares About Medical Blogs? The Video Answer of a Medical Media Company

Medical blogging is generally a good thing but of course it has its own critics.

George D. Lundberg, M.D. is the Editor-in-Chief of the online Medscape General Medicine and he asks Is There a Place for Medical Blogs in a Medical Media Company? (you need a free Medscape registration to see the video). His answer seems to be "no" because "A blog may well be ultimate communication anarchy... the blogger may be the author, editor, publisher, advertiser, critic, reviewer, and owner -- all at the same time -- and fake the whole thing". Hmm... Is Kevin, M.D. fake? How about Robert Centor? I don't think so. I respect Dr. Lundberg's opinion but it reminds me of the person who claimed that podcasts are just "streaming audio". It is much more than that.

The issue of credibility is resolved the Scoble's way - by including your name, email and phone number on your website. Robert Scoble is a Microsoft employee and probably one of the most famous bloggers in the world.


Image source: Medscape

Medical blogs are part of the Web 2.0 phenomenon. The "face" of Web 2.0 are tools like Feeds/RSS, Blogs, Podcasts, AJAX, and DHTML.


Image source: Dion Hinchcliffe's Web 2.0 Blog

Update 1: The reply

Robert Centor, the author of DB’s Medical Rants replies to Dr. Lindberg's commentary.

Update 2: A change of heart?
12/6/05

It looks like "Medscape is starting its own medical student blogs. Perhaps Dr. Lundberg had a change of heart?", writes Kevin, M.D.

Update 3: Medscape embraces blogs
1/6/06

Medscape prominently features an article series about the hosts of Grand Rounds called Pre-Rounds on its front page. Grand Rounds is a weekly summary of the best posts in the medical blogosphere.

Peter Frishauf, the founder of Medscape says that "a variant of Wikipedia for medicine is the future -- and it's good."

I contribute to Wikipedia, do you?

Web 2.0 creates a whole new environment which is an example of Darwin's theory of evolution. You have to adapt to survive in the new economy of Web 2.0.

References:
(via KidneyNotes)
Is There a Place for Medical Blogs in a Medical Media Company? Medscape
But it's not NEW! - Evhead
Lundberg on blogs - DB’s Medical Rants
Are Traditional Peer-Reviewed Medical Articles Obsolete? Medscape
Make the Largest Encyclopedia in the World Better. I already did (I hope)

Related:
Rachel Walden on Replacing LIS Journals with Blogs. DavidRothman.net, 02/2008.

Updated: 02/25/2008

Free Web-Based RSS Readers. Google Joins the Crowd

Google has just entered the field with Reader. It is a rich AJAX application which was launched today. It looks like the product still has a few bugs though. Isn't Google starting to look more and more like Microsoft? At least you do not have to install the software, it is online-based... :-). You need a Google/Gmail account to use the reader. You can also subscribe to podcasts and the audio player is embedded.


Image source: Blogger Buzz

Bloglines - everyone's favorite, it also has an excellent mobile version. Bloglines lets you publish a blog easily from your feeds. Google Reader is integrated with Blogger, of course.

Rojo - it looks nice and colorful but it is more difficult to navigate. Rojo also pre-populates your subscriptions with their suggestions and then you have to unsubscribe if you do not like them. It almost makes you to say: "Let me choose for myself please".

Findory - similar to Bloglines, you can import your subscriptions but it has a bit too much AdSense ads. Update 9/30/2007: Findory shuts down on November 1, 2007. Geeking with Greg.

SearchFox - not very impressive. It has a "self-learning" feature (like Findory) which is supposed to offer you similar stories on the basis of what you read but I am yet to see any real benefit from that approach.

The Aftermath

Whatever you choice is, it is easy to get so used to your RSS reader that you keep on checking for updates every half an hour or so. Do not get over 100 subscriptions because you will not have time for anything else and than you have to put an end to it cold turkey, just like Russell Beattie did. He reached a saturation point in terms of information flow, so he deleted all his 450+ Bloglines subscriptions...

References:
Google Reader in the Wild - Blogger Buzz
Google Reader Released - Google Blogoscoped
Google Releases RSS Reader - InsideGoogle
Review: Google Reader - google.weblogsinc.com
Findory RSS reader, part II - Geeking with Greg
List of news aggregators - Wikipedia
Picking the Best Online RSS Reader - by Brian Livingston
Bloglines Mobile Trick - Russell Beattie
Google Reader Tutorial. DavidRothman.net.
Useful keyboard shortcuts for navigating Google Reader. Google Operating System, 02/2007.
Favorite RSS Resources and Tools. DavidRothman.net, 01/2008.

Updated: 01/18/2008

Must-Read Articles About the New Web 2.0

What Is Web 2.0? Give Me a Few Examples

Tim O'Reilly explains the business models for the next generation of software. It is interesting to see how the web concept evolves before our eyes. Read the part about Blogging and the Wisdom of Crowds.

Medical blogs are part of the Web 2.0 phenomenon. The "face" of Web 2.0 are tools like Feeds/RSS, Blogs, Podcasts, AJAX, and DHTML.


Image source: Dion Hinchcliffe's Web 2.0 Blog


RSS: The Web at Your Fingertips (PC Magazine)

A good explanation of how RSS works. Its inventor, Dave Winer likens RSS to "a sushi bar where the sushi comes around in boats. When you see something you like, you grab it and eat it." The same is true with RSS content that feeds you news aggregator.

"It's like having a personal assistant who goes through every publication and blog that could possibly interest you and picks out stories to bring to your attention.", writes PC Magazine.


Top 10 Ajax Applications - A Venture Forth.com


References:
The Best Web 2.0 Software of 2005 - Dion Hinchcliffe's Web 2.0 Blog

What is a Medical Blog? Dr. Schwimmer Gives a Good Roundup of the Medical Blogosphere

Do you know that a new blog is created every second?

"The best way to learn about blogs is to read them. There are many excellent blogs out there", writes Dr. Schwimmer. So very true...

Read more in Basic Blogging: An Introduction to Medical Blogs for the Renal Community on iKidney.com.

And if you want to keep up with all those 100+ medical blogs, do not forget to subscribe to some of them on Bloglines.

Medical blogging is generally a good thing but of course it has its own critics.

George D. Lundberg, M.D. is the Editor-in-Chief of the online Medscape General Medicine and he asks Is There a Place for Medical Blogs in a Medical Media Company? (you need a free Medscape registration to see the video). His answer seems to be "no" because "A blog may well be ultimate communication anarchy... the blogger may be the author, editor, publisher, advertiser, critic, reviewer, and owner -- all at the same time -- and fake the whole thing". Hmm... Is Kevin, M.D. fake? How about Robert Centor? I don't think so. I respect Dr. Lundberg's opinion but it reminds me of the person who claimed that podcasts are just "streaming audio". It is much more than that.

The issue of credibility is resolved the Scoble's way - by including your name, email and phone number on your website. Robert Scoble is a Microsoft employee and probably one of the most famous bloggers in the world.

Today's Cool Web Tools

Wikipedia Lookup Bookmarklet
Highlight text on any web page and click on the bookmarklet above to perform a Wikipedia search. Or you can just use the link as a Wikipedia search field that pops up.

If you want to post it on your own website, right click and choose "copy link address", then paste it in the link field as usual.

(via LifeHacker.com)
Image source: Wikipedia


LiveMarks | Live Bookmarking
See what people are bookmarking on Del.icio.us right now


Panoramio - Pictures from Around the World on Google Maps
These open APIs create great applications every day.

Medical Podcasts - Direct Links to Subscribe on iTunes

Podcast is a MP3 file that can be downloaded to and played on an iPod. All medical podcasts listed here are free. iTunes is the Apple podcast store that works with iPods.

Subscribe on iTunes by clicking the links below. Alternatively, you can add the podcast to Odeo by just copying and pasting the podcast URL below.

New England Journal of Medicine
Check out the audio archive
Website - Podcast URL

Harrison's Online
Grand Rounds lectures and updates
Website - Podcast URL

Mayo Clinic
This podcast is a part of the Medical Edge project which also features radio and TV clips.
Website - Podcast URL

Society of Critical Care Medicine
Website - Podcast URL

American Society of Microbiology
Website - Podcast URL

These are selected podcasts. A more complete list is available on KidneyNotes.blogspot and KraftyLibrarian.blogspot.

Update 06/16/2007: More links

Podcasts and Videocasts. UBC Health Library Wiki.
Podcasts and vodcasts in medicine. Dean Giustini (PDF)

ICD Codes - No More Chronic Renal Failure. Is CHF next?

Chronic Renal Failure is no more. The new ICD-9 code for the same condition will be chronic kidney disease (CKD).

The nonspecific term chronic renal failure (CRF) has been used to mean any degree of kidney failure including end stage renal disease (ESRD). Another nonspecific term is chronic renal insufficiency (CRI).

Based on the guidelines developed by the National Kidney Foundation, the new codes is 585, chronic kidney disease.

One starts to wonder if CHF is next. All these "failure" terms are uncertain because in reality we are talking about stages of a chronic disease that may span years and "failure" sounds so imminent. Also, we all know that EF of 40% and 10% are not the same.

(via KidneyNotes.blogspot)

References:
What Is "Heart Failure"? BMJ Proposes a New Name For This Classic Disease
Image source: Wikipedia

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - The City of Many Bridges

The National Aviary


Let's start with the National Aviary where the birds fly right in you face. Cormorants, parrots, and even birds with a moustache.


See the bird with a moustache. The information plates neatly explain everything you see.


More sky views from the Aviary. There are tropical birds with impossibly vivid colors. And you are not the only one that is curious... A little bit of practical information: the National Aviary is very close to the highway and it has free parking. The gift shop is fabulous - they have baby owl toys that you just can resist to buy especially if you visit with kids. Can you imagine that the Aviary receives a shipment of 50,000 insects every week?


The City of Many Bridges


Pittsburgh downtown has at least twenty bridges, most of them painted in yellow. You can not go anywhere without passing over a bride at least twice. See the giant wheel of a river boat in front of the bridge.

Pittsburgh has more bridges than any other city in the world: over 2,000 bridges dot the landscape of Allegheny County, while Venice, according to the Lonely Planet travel guide, only has 409 (Wikipedia)


Point Park and the Fountain


Now let's go to the Point Park on the other side of the river. You can see the fountain in the right corner of the picture. See the diagram of the golden triangle with the two rivers and the Point Park in the middle. This is the place of the historic Fort Duquesne. The famous Duquesne Incline (a mini mountain) is on the other bank of the river.

Point Park is at the meeting of 3 rivers. The Monongahela River and the Allegheny River merge to give the beginning of the Ohio River, which flows to the Mississippi River and reaches the Gulf of Mexico by New Orleans, Louisiana.


This is a view of the fountain in Point Park. The Carnegie Science Center is seen on the other bank of the Ohio river. If you are facing the fountain, the Duquesne incline will be on your left, and the Science Center and the Steelers stadium on your right. See the fountain through the mist, there is even a rainbow.


This is one of the bridges seen through the fountain. Have another look at the left bank of the river with the Duquesne incline, and the right bank with the Science Center and the stadium.


The Fort Pitt


The Fort Pitt museum is just at the entrance of Point Park. There is a parking lot right next to the park ($6 all day).


Fort Pitt Blockhouse and other remnants of Fort Pitt


Duquesne Incline


The view from the Duquesne Incline is amazing and it is well worth it the ride in the wooden cart from the beginning of the century. There is a free parking lot at the lower station of the Incline, just next to the Station Square. See how the miners felt going to work every day. The two carts pass next to each other on the way up and down the incline. This is a view of the Golden Triangle (Pittsburgh downtown) from inside the cart.


One of The Best Views in the World


And this is, without doubt, one of the best views in the world... See the small red tourist boat passing next to the Point Park fountain. The Ohio river is a hard working river, see that huge commercial barge pushed by the small white boat. Let's have a look at the Steelers stadium on the other bank of the river and take a ride down to the parking lot. It is time to go back to Cleveland.


References:
Things to do in Pittsburgh - Yahoo Travel. Check the user reviews.
Pittsburgh - Wikipedia
Pittsburgh - Wikitravel
Pittsburgh - LonelyPlanet.com
Pittsburgh - 10best.com