Does spell check and calculators make us worse spellers and less capable of mental math? What diid scientists think of slide rules when they first came out? How bout those board foot measuring sticks?
Just musing…..
Does spell check and calculators make us worse spellers and less capable of mental math? What diid scientists think of slide rules when they first came out? How bout those board foot measuring sticks?
Just musing…..
My wife went through a catheter procedure in the spring where they went into the heart via a vein in the wrist. She was awake throughout the procedure and was able to see what the medical staff was seeing. They confirmed she needed a new aortic valve but the rest of the heart looked fine.
They replaced her aortic valve 6 weeks ago by going through the groin. Had her follow-up exam on Tuesday. Told her she could do whatever she wanted and to come back in a year.
Last edited by Bob Turkovich; 11-18-2023 at 5:56 PM.
"Don't worry. They couldn't possibly hit us from that dist...."
Ok... which slide rule manufacturer "rules"? Post, Pickett or K&E?
"Don't worry. They couldn't possibly hit us from that dist...."
I would say so, as seen by the user, there is no need for it. The loss of need is why the exponential and fancier scales on my slide rule were no longer obvious - and dare I say that after the years for the same reason, how to do the underlying math with or without an aid is severely diminished too.
When I use a calculator, phone-based calculator or even a spreadsheet, I still do a mental "idiot check" of the answer since keying errors are a problem and in the spreadsheet case, maybe the formula isn't quite right.
Spell-check could be a good teaching tool if the user noted the correct spelling but that may be unlikely.
I freely admit I am not computer savvy at all, but I do use google daily to look up interesting new things. I even retain some. Yesterday I looked up interest rates on new and used cars. Wow, are they up since April when I bought one.
No learning yesterday, but I simply asked Google what time it was in Tunisia, so I could call my wife and daughter, who are there for a week.
Rick Potter
DIY journeyman,
FWW wannabe.
AKA Village Idiot.
the SR-71 blackbird was designed with a slide rule.
That's such a cool story about your wife Bob, thank you. The advancements in medical stuff are amazing.
I have a windsurfing friend that's 60 years old and very athletic. I was told she had a joint replacement so I didn't see her on the water for a while. In the spring of 2023 when the season began I saw her getting ready to windsurf. I asked about her joint surgery and she said she took 9 months off cuz she had both knees and both hips replaced! She had it done as fast as she could so she could get back to being active again.
Then we went out in strong wind and she windsurfed as good as she did in her prime. I've been lucky and not needed any joint replacements, but her story is so inspiring.
"Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t - you’re right."
- Henry Ford
Context matters:
Sliced bread.jpg
Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
"Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
She was kept in the hospital overnight. She had a follow-up with the surgeon one week later in which she was given the Ok to start doing some exercise (including golf) but don't overdue it until she gets into the Cardio Rehab program. She had her orientation (exercise + lifestyle counselng) earlier this week with the program and will start a week from Monday.
She believes she doesn't get as tired by the end of the day since the valve replacement. We celebrated her 70th birthday two weeks ago.
"Don't worry. They couldn't possibly hit us from that dist...."
I was also kept overnight. Didn't sleep much that night. My first night home was the best night's sleep I've had in years or since. I also no longer get as tired by the end of the day.
Isn't modern medicine great! Much more than a half century ago we would have likely been out of luck.
My 73 birthday was in September.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Glad to hear that. My sister in law had it done back in 2015 and she felt like a new person. She died in 2019 from cancer but up until then she said she felt great. The reason she had the TAVR was she had open heart surgery and they couldn't replace her valve as she had porcelain veins and they ended up just closing her up. So she had a rough time altogether.
Last edited by Jerome Stanek; 11-19-2023 at 8:59 AM.
Yes, TAVR's are pretty amazing. Originally only used on patients who weren't expected to survive open aortic valve replacements (AVRs).
Mortality rates for critical aortic stenosis, untreated are huge, in short periods of time. One of the operations I most enjoyed doing was AVRs, because of all the patients in cardiac surgery, their lives seemed to change the most afterwards.
Certainly challenging to do the anesthesia for TAVRs. Kept my transesophageal echocardiography skills state-of-the art. And mind-blowing that we can do this with patients sedated and not always require general anesthesia (which is not simple, or risk-free in patients with critical aortic stenosis.)
Congrats on your successful procedure.
- After I ask a stranger if I can pet their dog and they say yes, I like to respond, "I'll keep that in mind" and walk off
- It's above my pay grade. Mongo only pawn in game of life.
On a medical note. People often say that pulse oximeters are an amazing invention that saved many lives. And they have. (It is mind-blowing to me to see these fingertip probes sold on Amazon, CVS, etc., when the originals were large metal boxes that cost $20K.) As an anesthesia resident, the first thing I would do on my call nights was sneak into one of the ORs that had them, and "borrow" the end-tidal CO2 monitor and pulse oximeter, and bring them into my OR for the night.
But end-tidal CO2 monitors have saved many, many more lives in the operating room and intensive care units than pulse oximeters ever did. And we had to fight like crazy, to get them mandated as a standard. (Yay, Harvard Medical School Dept of Anesthesia!!!)..
Last edited by Alan Lightstone; 11-19-2023 at 7:22 PM.
- After I ask a stranger if I can pet their dog and they say yes, I like to respond, "I'll keep that in mind" and walk off
- It's above my pay grade. Mongo only pawn in game of life.