Grahame Grieve on National Projects and Standards

From his Health Intersections site, this is Grahame Grieve on National Projects and Standards, and the tension between the two. I'm a standards geek, and I live for this sort of discussion. In this very concise article, Grieve discusses why projects at the national level rely on international standards groups, and how this introduces stress factors into these projects. I also appreciate Lloyd McKenzie's comment about the interoperability across borders. This is one of the promises of using international standards, but in reality, it rarely comes up, and comes with it's own host of issues. Interoperability between two sibling releases of a standard can be trying enough, let alone between two nations localization to the same standard. But that is what makes the work exciting. National Projects and Standards « Health Intersections Pty Ltd   There's a difference between the goals of the national project, and the value proposition of using standards, and this difference can create considerable tension...

Right to bear arms meets right to ride bears

Artist Jason Heuser Creates Alternate Bad-Ass United States History The illustrated artwork of Jason Heuser creates an alternate historical reality where famous figures in United States history are total bad-asses. Limited prints of his illustrations are available ....

Slavoj Žižek: Occupy first. Demands come later.

I love Žižek's writing - he always extends just beyond the obvious triad: discontent-protest-demands, in this case, to ask what absence really underlies the presence of the event, what really is at stake. Worth reading twice. (via Guardian) Occupy first. Demands come later Slavoj Žižek: Critics say the Occupy cause is nebulous. Protesters will need to address what comes next – but beware a debate on enemy turf

Health Documents v. Health Messages or Elements

Useful breakdown of same key factors in the use of Health Documents v. Health Messages by John Moehrke: Healthcare Security/Privacy: Critical aspects of Documents vs Messages or Elements Healthcare Security/Privacy. Discussions of Privacy and Security in Healthcare by John Moehrke. Topics: Consent, Access Control, Audit Control, Accounting of Disclosures, Identity, Authorization, Auth...

Michael Geist on Canada's National Digital Strategy

Canada's National Digital Strategy: Hidden in Plain Sight Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of delivering a keynote address at the Cybera Summit in Banff, Alberta. The conference focused on a wide range of cutting edge technology and network issues. My opening keynote discussed Canada digital economy legal strategy. While the formal digital strategy has yet to be revealed, I argued that the digital economy legal strategy is largely set with legislative plans touching on lawful access, privacy, online marketing, and copyright. Michael Geist Cybera Summit 2011 youtube.com - 2011 Cybera Summit introductory keynote by Michael Geist, Law Professor and Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa.

How powerful is Diwali ? This is what India...

How powerful is Diwali ? This is what India looks like on Diwali night :) Picture from NASA

Electrolux Bio Robot Refrigerator

Electrolux Bio Robot Refrigerator works on biopolymer gel the Electrolux Bio Robot Refrigerator is a concept where the Bio Robot cools biopolymer gel through luminescence. A non-sticky gel surrounds the food item when shoved into the biopolymer gel, creating separate pods. The design features no doors or drawers, and the food items are individually cooled at their optimal temperature thanks to the robot. And since it can take any orientation (hung vertically, horizontally, and even on the ceiling), and can be modified in size, you can fit it in any apartment. Designer: Yuriy Dmitriev Electrolux Bio Robot Refrigerator (7 photos)

Curate something!

So, here's an idea: curate something. Anything. In my case, due to an odd concatenation of circumstances, I have taken it upon myself to curate stories about people and their refrigerators. This activity consists of periodically querying Google+ and Twitter and the www at large for a single word, and republishing anything particularly exciting or funny this turns up. A single word. That's all. I suppose I label the post for posterity as well. Try it. Curate something.

Originally posted on Google+ by Adam J. Cohen:

I spent the late afternoon refrigerator shopping because our fridge suddenly stopped cooling. It smelled like the coil might be burning out and this fridge is old, possibly over 20 years old. Just for fun I thought I'd take a look and see if I could find a problem. The coils on the fridge were getting way too hot. On closer inspection, I found a mouse that had stopped the fan from cooling the coils. I removed the mouse (he was beyond repair). Now that the fan is moving again, the fridge is working. Cost of new fridge between $1100 - $1500. Cost of repair, $0.00. Lesson learned, look for some obvious problems before dropping a bunch of money on something.

Haha! Defiantly so!

via +Joseph Lee, via +Wil Wheaton on Google+ We all know Oreos are delicious, but did you know they make a great canvas for cameos? Dating as far back as 332 BC, cameos are defined by contrast, usually with a raised light relief against a dark intaglio, which serves as a dark backdrop. With that in mind, Oreo's most defiantly fit the bill and is another example of food too good to eat. Check out Judith G. Klausner's page for more examples of her art! #Oreo Cameo http://jgklausner.com/work/oreo-cameo

Goodreads: recommended reading by Northrop Frye

The Bush Garden: Essays on the Canadian Imagination by Northrop Frye
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this book quite a long time ago as part of a course on CanLit and poetry. I love the way Frye uses language to express ideas, and ideas to create/curate identity... and rereading this book makes me want to go back and reread Anatomy of Criticism and Fearful Symmetry, as well as works by Atwood, McLuhan, Innis, Lampman, Birney etc etc... if you are Canadian and you like poetry, you should read this book because it might introduce you to a previous generation of Canadian romanticism or a previous previous generation of Canadian classicism.

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Ada Lovelace Day 2011

Ada Lovelace day: in my little XML corner of the world, I have learned more than I could possibly mention from +Eve Maler , +Jeni Tennison , Priscilla Walmsley and +Lauren Wood. Many thanks to all!

This animated presentation by Dan Pink is...

This animated presentation by Dan Pink is easily the coolest thing I have seen so far today (via +John Moehrke) on the nature of work, purpose and incentive. Healthcare Security/Privacy: Standards work is motivating because it gets used and improves lives Healthcare Security/Privacy. Discussions of Privacy and Security in Healthcare by John Moehrke. Topics: Consent, Access Control, Audit Control, Accounting of Disclosures, Identity, Authorization, Auth...

Neal Stephenson - Innovation Starvation

Neal Stephenson on society's failure to mobilize to "get big stuff done":

"Today's belief in ineluctable certainty is the true innovation-killer of our age."

Or in other words, blame Google, since a quick search for a solution to a problem demonstrates either, apparently, that it can't be solved, or that it already has been solved, occluding the possibility that it may not have been solved adequately, and it may not have been solved recently.

Innovation Starvation | World Policy Institute

By Neal Stephenson

Structured Product Labeling...

I am currently reading about SPL (Structured Product Labeling), an XML-based standard used in the pharmaceutical industry, engineered to reduce pharmaceutical error. The SPL Standard, DailyMed, and the Consumer – DCLnews Blog By DCL's Vincent B. Donadio, Editorial Contributions from DCL's Howard Shatz In 2005, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) implemented an XML-based standard for drug labeling (among other thi...

One of countless remarkable things about Eno

One of the countless remarkable things about Brian Eno... The Microsoft Sound In 1994, Microsoft corporation designers Mark Malamud and Erik Gavriluk approached Brian Eno to compose music for the Windows 95 project. The result was the six-second start-up music-sound of the Windows 95 operating system, The Microsoft Sound (.wav). In the San Francisco Chronicle he said:[19] The idea came up at the time when I was completely bereft of ideas. I'd been working on my own music for a while and was quite lost, actually. And I really appreciated someone coming along and saying, "Here's a specific problem — solve it." The thing from the agency said, "We want a piece of music that is inspiring, universal, blah- blah, da-da-da, optimistic, futuristic, sentimental, emotional," this whole list of adjectives, and then at the bottom it said "and it must be 31/4 seconds long." Brian Eno - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Brian Eno. Eno at The Long Now Foundation, 26 June 2006. Background information. Birth name, Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno. Born, 15 May 1948 (1948-05-15) (age 63) Woodbridge...

Goodreads love for Rohinton Mistry

Tales from Firozsha Baag by Rohinton Mistry

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I have to admit, I've shied away from Mistry's novels due to "not having enough time to read such a big book"... After reading these short stories, I plan to make time for A Fine Balance or one of Mistry's other novels.



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Use Cases and Test Cases

Traceability from Use Cases to Test Cases The article illustrates a formal method of deriving functional test cases from use cases, including how to create a use case, derive all scenarios, and create reasonable test cases, as well as use IBM...

This is why I love MulberryTech's xsl-list...

This is why I love MulberryTech's xsl-list: sombody asks a question about an error message during parsing in oXygen using the Saxon 9 parser... and George Bina and Michael Kay respond with an answer, seemingly within moments. xsl-list-digest-subscribe@lists.mulberrytech.com Consultants specializing in XML Applications for Prose Documents | Mulberry Technologies, Inc. XML and SGML implementation consulting for publishing from Mulberry Technologies, Inc.'s staff: Tonya Gaylord, Debbie Lapeyre, Wendell Piez, B. Tommie Usdin.

Tactics for Engagement

A useful set of tactics for engagement with a standard, via Graham Grieve:

How much should we engage with a standard? « Health Intersections Pty Ltd Health Intersections Pty Ltd. Home. About; Ask me a question about HL7; CDA Tools; Courses. V2 to CDA Mapping Course. Enrolment Form. Roadmap to Blog; Text Display Formats. HL7 v2 FT Type; HTML Colour...

Tactics for Engagement

A useful set of tactics for engagement with a standard, via Keith Boone: 

Healthcare Standards: Tactics for Standards Setting: Lead, follow, or get out of the way. I have to make up my travel budget annually every December/January. In order to do so, I have to look at the overall strategic picture for standardization, and then pick the tactics that I think I wil...