Yes, there's an app for that.

NYTimes: When Doctors Are Called to the Rescue in Midflight

"Airborne calls for medical assistance pose a singular challenge for physicians, who find themselves suddenly caring for a stranger whose history they don't know, often with a problem well outside their specialty, in a setting with limited equipment but no shortage of onlookers scrutinizing their every move.
...Journal of the American Medical Association. The paper argued not only that the medical kits should be standardized, down to the number of latex gloves, but also that a method for reporting incidents should be consistent among all airlines."

Since the earliest days of commercial aviation, airlines have depended on doctors who board planes as passengers to deal with in-flight medical emergencies. http://nyti.ms/kqwXvH

-Tom.

top ten in-flight emergencies

Animoto - video from photos

http://animoto.com/

Scrapbooking, Greetings, Slideshows and More at Smilebox

www.smilebox.com

Nice Guys Finish First

New ideas are emerging that cooperation and helpfulness are evolutionary advantages in humans, as opposed to the traditional view that all behaviors are ultimately selfish.
"An infant of 12 months will inform others about something by pointing. Chimpanzees and other apes do not helpfully inform each other about things. Infants share food readily with strangers. Chimpanzees rarely even offer food to their own offspring. If a 14-month-old child sees an adult having difficulty — like being unable to open a door because her hands are full — the child will try to help.
Tomasello’s point is that the human mind veered away from that of the other primates. We are born ready to cooperate, and then we build cultures to magnify this trait."

Developments in the study of evolution suggest that the survival of the fittest depends as much on cooperation as it does on a competition between self-interests. http://nyti.ms/jGvloF

Insanity vs Judgment

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results"

"Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment."

These pithy quotations, often attributed falsely to others, both come from Rita Mae Brown. 

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rita_Mae_Brown

-Tom. 

Health Insurers Making Record Profits as Many Postpone Care

Health care costs are rising at 7%, and insurers are being granted the ability to raise premiums 22%(!) TE

Companies continue to press for higher premiums, saying they need protection against any sudden uptick in demand once people have more money to spend on their health. http://nyti.ms/mga2GO

To Find a Parking Spot, Drivers Look on Their Phones

In San Francisco, a phone app gives information about areas with available parking spaces. http://nyti.ms/iAFcgJ
App shows available parking spots in real time thanks to sensors embedded in the road. TE
"The system, introduced last month, relies on wireless sensors embedded in streets and city garages that can tell within seconds if a spot has opened up." "San Francisco already has the dubious honor of the most car-pedestrian accidents in the country..." 

Safe driving tips.

http://editorial.autos.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1183820&icid=autos_1810&GT1=22010

Fascinating global time lapse video

Here's the world weather image time lapse

and here's the ocean temperature time lapse

and this water vapor time lapse - it looks like a hose spraying from the equatorial regions to the temperate zones.

TV shows

Not sure if this interests you, but here are a few TV shows/media links that were worth watching, available online.

In this TV show, a millionaire is anonymously dropped into an inner city neighborhood, and asked to find local grass-roots movements to restore the troubled neighborhoods. It's surprising what local grandmothers and shop owners are doing out of their own pocket. At the end of the show, the millionaire gives away $100,000 of his own money to the organizations he feels are most deserving. 

http://abc.go.com/watch/secret-millionaire/SH5580166/VD55117876/james-malinchak-gary-in

In this show, a young celecbrity chef feels americans are dying of obesity, and wants to get into local schools to start a revival movement of eating healthier foods.  He encounters surprising difficulty but still ends up hopeful.

http://abc.go.com/shows/jamie-olivers-food-revolution

This one is more drama and less substance, but its idea is to generate a surprise crowd of seeming passers-by who are in on performing a dance number for an unsuspecting person.

http://www.sidereel.com/mobbed/season-1/episode-1

Here's a link to a computer server that plays my favorite songs, and introduces me to similar music.

http://broadcaster.pandora.com/t?r=927&c=901946&l=37961&ctl=238BA2C%3AF8BE3C3433892A77A0FFF5D3FBC8350F050542759970026E&

Parahawking - now that sounds pretty cool. Paragliding with trained hawks that guide you to where the thermals are.



-Tom.

World Airline Traffic (24-Hour Time Lapse) AMAZING!!!

Fascinating ballet-like little ants on the screen:

Commentary on this video describes the flights predominating:

And a similar theme on this video of all flights suddenly grounded on 9/11:

NYTimes: Aboard the L Train, Luncheon Is Served

On Sunday, a moving subway car was quickly transformed into a traveling bistro with a six-course menu, served to a dozen diners. http://nyti.ms/iRr0nB

Now that's my kind of flash mob!
-Tom.

NYTimes: On Small Farms, Hoof Power Returns

A sign of the times.  TE

As diesel prices skyrocket, a number of small farmers are turning — or rather returning — to animal labor to help with farming, trading tractors for oxen. http://nyti.ms/jXTmjh
"...setting out to prepare a pasture using a tool so old it seems almost revolutionary: a team of oxen."
"...they are cost effective only on small farms. They are also time intensive, performing well only when they can be worked every day, and becoming temperamental when neglected."

"“You still have to walk nine miles for every planted acre”"

"Since the dairy industry relies on keeping cows pregnant so they lactate, millions of baby bulls are born each year. A pair of calves start at $150... "

"“Even when it’s tough with them, it’s better than spending a day with a tractor,” he said."

New jacket fabric wins over Goretex

The Test

For one month this winter, four testers wore both jackets while skiing front- and backcountry in the mountains of Vermont, Colorado and Utah. Conditions ranged from snow squalls to bright sunshine, and temperatures varied from close to freezing to as low as –30ºF.

The Results

All four testers felt consistently more comfortable in the 17-ounce Polartec shell, despite the Gore-Tex’s jacket being three ounces heavier. Testers had to physically air out the Gore-Tex jacket by unzipping its armpit vents, whereas sweat evaporated quickly out of the ventless Polartec.

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-04/new-jacket-fabrics-vent-sweat-without-letting-water-or-cold-air-sneak