Nearly one year ago, I raised some questions about the safeguards present on ICDs and pacemakers, especially given the expansion of longer-range (“wandless”) telemetry.
Now a group of researchers has gotten access to a device without the normal accompanying computer hardware, normally called a “programmer”. They do note that it required expensive equipment at a short range, but feasibility has now been shown. The FDA has been notified (by them, not me).
Rob today showed me a new and different web comic: garfield minus garfield.
I could try to explain it, but the author does a much better job, so here’s vis spiel:
Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness in a quiet American suburb.
Here’s a sample:
It’s updated frequently and offers an RSS feed. What are you waiting for?
I don’t have a car in Baltimore. As such, I was happy when a company called FlexCar made some cars available at Hopkins. I could take a car for a few hours at a time, for $6 per hour, and with about a $30 sign-up fee. Their customer service was always very friendly and helpful, and I had no trouble speaking with a real person.
Unfortunately, they “merged” with their main competitor, Zipcar. Effectively, they were taken over. FlexCars are becoming Zipcars. The rates are higher ($9 per hour). There’s an annual fee of about $50.
I used some free credit I got for switching my account over to Zipcar this weekend. When I got in the car, the key was in the glove box (as it had been with FlexCars). I took it out of the glove box, did my driving, and put it back where I found it. Later I got a voicemail saying that the person after me couldn’t find the key. However, to return the call, I had to go through their main 866 number system. Their phone menu is horrible. The menu options are ambiguous and unhelpful. Pressing zero repeatedly got me nowhere. To get anywhere, you have to enter your Zipcard number — and I don’t keep the card on my person. When I expressed my displeasure at this to the rep (that I finally got to), he said there was no way around the phone system, even if I was trying to return their call!
Now, granted, they did send me an email survey after the call, and I let them know about these issues, but my first experience with Zipcar left me annoyed at best.
The funny thing is, technically it’s the exact same thing as FlexCar. The same cars (here) even that I had used under FlexCar. It’s amazing what a difference it makes who is running the show on the back-end though. I recommended FlexCar to people frequently. I will not recommend Zipcar to anyone.
Mediocrity has won out yet again.
Don’t forget, the clock skips from 01:59 to 03:00 tonight!
(And no, there’s not a typo in the title.)
Clinical Cases and Images has a nice post up with a set of links to and explanations of various ECG/EKG learning tools. They are introduced as follows:
To provide some background, I am a teaching attending at Cleveland Clinic and have multiple rotations during the year with our residents and medical students. We record all topics discussed during a particular rotation on this blog and I know from the feedback which one the residents and students like the best. This month it was the session about using 2 mnemonics as a systematic approach to interpreting EKGs and web-based tools for EKG training.