More TED talks

Dean Kamen: New prosthetic arm for veterans
Inventor Dean Kamen previews the extraordinary prosthetic arm he’s developing at the request of the Department of Defense, to help the 1,600 “kids” who’ve come back from Iraq without an arm (and the two dozen who’ve lost both arms). Kamen’s commitment to using technology to solve problems, and his respect for the human spirit, have never been more clear than in this deeply moving clip.

Philippe Starck: Why design?
Legendary designer Philippe Starck — with no pretty slides behind him — spends 18 minutes reaching for the very roots of the question “Why design?” Along the way he drops brilliant insights into the human condition; listen carefully for one perfectly crystallized mantra for all of us, genius or not. Yet all this deep thought, he cheerfully admits, is to aid in the design of a better toothbrush.

– “God is a trap . . . God is the answer when we don’t know the answer”

Dancing the Airport Security 2-Step

Great take on the ridiculousness of our current airport security procedures in the NY Times – from an airline pilot.

MOTD – Stars::In Our Bedrooms After the War

Great to listen to in the evening when the lights are low and you are sitting with your sig other having a great pinot.

Here is the review from AllMusic

Final Jeopardy – Answer: “Oh Snap!

Me – “Alex, what is the sound Jess’ ankle makes when he dislocates it”

Yep – I did a number on my ankle on Wednesday.

We are house-sitting a dog during the break – a 10-month old Havanese puppy with lots of energy. We took him to dog park to play and I was chasing him around – around on a hill – on a hill covered with wet grass and mud. I made a cut and my left leg went out from under me. My right foot stayed planted and I pivoted all my weight on the right ankle. I heard two loud pops and ended up on the ground.

Sat up to look at my foot and it was pointing off to the right at a 30 to 45 degree angle from my leg – not good. Beverly was calm and collected and called 911. Surprisingly it did not hurt much – a 2 on a scale of 1-10. EMTs showed up and splinted and iced it. Ambulance showed up a few minutes later and away we went to the hospital. I was sort of bummed that I did not get the sirens. They told me that the people that need the sirens really are not in shape to notice so I should be happy I did not need the siren.

Got to the Emergency room and went right in – no waiting at all. [Note to self - when going to the Emergency room go via ambulance - you skip the waiting room, which was packed.] I was sent for X-rays to confirm that it was dislocated – which was good. I was afraid I had broken both the bones in my leg but dislocation is better, easier on the body and easier to fix. Doc gave me some morphine and some other drug that would make me forget the next few minutes. They wrapped a towel around my foot and pulled – heard a few pops and it was back in place. I know I went back to X-Ray because I saw the after X-rays and they splinted and wrapped my leg, but I do not remember any of it. Gotta get some more of that drug.

Once everything was back in place the ER Doc called an Orthopedic surgeon to get his expert opinion. He was concerned that the socket the ankle fits into would be loose and could lead to future complications, like arthritis. He recommended surgery to insert two screws to pull the bones in the leg together to tighten up the socket. The recovery would be the same with or without the surgery – 6 weeks on crutches and then 6-8 more weeks to completely heal – so went for the surgery. An hour later I was in happy-land and on my way to surgery. Woke up and hour and half later with my leg all bandaged up and was released to go home.

My ankle is sore and as long as I keep popping the Vicodin the pain is manageable. Biggest thing I am bummed about is that I will miss Macworld in a couple of weeks and our annual Macworld dinner – first time in 16 years. Oh well – C’est la Vie.

TED talks

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

I was turned on to TED by a friend (thanks GSM) and have watched some great talks. Thought I would share some of my favorites so far.

Gever Tulley: 5 dangerous things you should let your kids do
Gever Tulley, founder of the Tinkering School, talks about our new wave of overprotected kids — and spells out 5 (and really, he’s got 6) dangerous things you should let your kids do. Allowing kids the freedom to explore, he says, will make them stronger and smarter and actually safer.

– Great advice for parents of young kids. Best line – “They are young, they heal fast”

Sherwin Nuland: My history of electroshock therapy
Sherwin Nuland, the surgeon and author, talks about the development of electroshock therapy as a cure for severe, life-threatening depression. Midway through, his story turns personal. It’s a moving and deeply felt talk about relief, redemption, second chances.

- Wow. A very personal story that shows that a procedure we may consider old-school works.

Election 2008

I have not made up my mind who I am voting for next fall – but this essay by Jeff is very well written and makes some great points. Food for thought.

Living with someone who has chronic depression

Those of you who read dooce are aware of the psychological challenges she has faced over the years. [btw - if you are not reading dooce you should be]. Her husband, John, has his own blog – blurbomat – and he recently did a post regarding living with someone that has chronic depression.

As someone of the masculine gender, who has the fix-it gene, I have learned that the ability to shut up and listen applies to most relationships with someone of the feminine gender – chronically depressed or not. A difficult skill to master but one required for longevity in the marriage department.

Oh. My. Good.™

RaZZberry M&Ms – nuff said

An awesome perspective on mental health

If you are depressed, suffer anxiety attacks, or have any other “mental health” issues and have not talked to your doctor about drugs or counseling – you MUST READ Heather’s latest post.

If you know anyone that has these type of issues – you MUST HAVE them read this post.

I am not ashamed to admit that I take Zoloft. I was having anxiety attacks and my stomach was always killing me. Visited my doctor and she put me on a low dose of Zoloft – felt much better. I have stopped taking the medication, but within a few days I start to get edgy. Don’t know if I will be on drugs forever, but if works don’t change it.

Movie Review – Maxed Out

Rating – A-

Investigating both the personal and the national debt owed by Americans, this thought-provoking documentary explores the staggering financial burden we live with every day and exposes how the contemporary financial industry is set up in ways that can harm unwitting customers. With both sobering facts and black humor, Maxed Out unveils the consequences of our debt addiction, including its contribution to the vanishing of the American middle class.

Documentary about Americans and our love of credit – credit cards, home equity loans, pawn shop loans, you name it.
An eye opener and buts the fear of financially instability in your heart.
Time to review the budget.

Movie Review – American History X

Rating – A+

A California neo-Nazi (Oscar-nominee Edward Norton) gets sent to prison for murder and comes out a changed man. But can Norton atone for his sins and prevent his younger brother (Edward Furlong) from following in his hate-filled footsteps? With searing performances and gut-wrenching realism, American History X offers a compelling and anguishing look at racism, family and forgiveness.

Holy $&!# – talk about one powerful performance by Edward Norton. This movie was INTENSE. I was on the edge of my seat the last 30 minutes waiting for the shoe to drop. Most memorable line – “Hate is baggage. Life’s too short to be pissed off all the time. It’s just not worth it”.
There were a couple of scenes that made my stomach do flip-flops, but all in all a great movie.

Movie Review – Evan Almighty

Rating – B

In director Tom Shadyac’s raucous follow-up to the 2003 comedy Bruce Almighty (also helmed by Shadyac), God (Morgan Freeman) summons narcissistic newscaster turned congressman Evan Baxter (Steve Carell) to build an enormous ark in preparation for a devastating flood. Unfortunately, Evan’s perplexed family interprets his latest hobby as a midlife crisis gone wrong rather than as a divine assignment from the man upstairs.

Typical Steve Carrell movie. Not as over the top as “40-Year Virgin”.

Movie Review – Knocked Up

Rating – A-

A one-night stand results in an unexpected pregnancy for entertainment reporter Alison (Katherine Heigl) in Judd Apatow’s romantic comedy. Determined to be a good mom and keep her career on track, Alison decides to try to make things work with the baby’s father, slacker Ben (Seth Rogen). It’s anything but smooth sailing as the odd couple gets acquainted, but Alison finds there’s more to Ben than she originally thought. Paul Rudd also stars.

Will never think of Pink Eye the same. Some really funny moments, but a love story in the end. Definitely not for the kids.

One man’s A/V system

My friends and I have been having an ongoing discussion regarding how to set up the A/V system at home.
Do we use an AppleTV or a Mac Mini? Wireless or wired? TiVo or not?

Fred Ward is a VC in the NYC area and I read his blog primarily for his views on music. He recently wrote an article describing his A/V set-up at home.

I don’t have the financial means to create the kind of set-up Fred created, but it gives me some ideas that I can use in my home – someday.

I’m going to get my Foo

Just announced in the Foo Fighters Newsletter:

February 2nd – Oakland, CA – Oracle Arena

Woo Hoo

MOTD – Plain White T’s::Stop

A little Death Cab for Cutie. A little Dashboard Confessional. And then throw in some Fall Out Boy for good measure.

This is an older album from them, but will be adding the rest of their catalog to my music to get list.