Google at HIMSS

Ankylosing Spondylitis

Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) is an inflammatory condition affecting the spine and may present with acute uveitis. Patients with AS have been known to have high IgA levels and Klebsiella in their feces.

Low gravity exercise such as swimming and yoga may improve mobility and reduce pain associated with AS.

HLA-B27 is detected in 90% of patients with AS.

Since trauma to the spine can cause AS, maybe there is an association of occupational predisposition especially those who have to maintain their position for long periods eg programmers.

Flashmob: A cool way to demonstrate

Flashmob occurs when someone puts an event meeting tima and place on his social networking channel and invites his friends there, who in turn invite their friends. We should use this technique for a peaceful protest where everone meets at the designated place at the designated time and quickly disperse. You can do cool stuff at the designated time like:

1. Change into the same colored tshirt

2. Lift up a protest banner all at the same time for photographers to snap the event

3. Dance, eg we you've won an election

A great event to get everyone together without being harassed by the authorities for illegal gathering.

Read this or play the video below:

New books to read

Got 6 new books last month. Hope to review them one by one here.

The first is Guide to Health Informatics by Enrico Coiera, which is in its second edition. 

The author has a deep understanding of modeling life and the philosophy behind it. He explains how we form a system based on abstractions, a snapshot of the real thing to better understand it so as to also simplify how we manage the system, be it the respiratory system or the cardiovascular system, or in my case, the health information system. Have a feeling I'm going to enjoy this book.

Thank you Azlina for lending me your copy.

Daddy's sketch

Found a piece of paper under our bed yesterday which we carbon dated to circa 2005-2006 when Tok Daddy came to our house for a visit (you must be wondering how often we clean under our beds... 8-O). It was a sketch of our house which has a glass exterior and is double story. It even has my workshop area. How cool is that? With a large cross on top of the drawing, this must have only been one of his drafts.

Sarah Palin is a babe?

A friend of mine says Sarah Palin is a babe. While I agree with his diagnosis, her career as a single term mayor has a few antics which makes her less of a qualified candidate for VP. Read:

http://my2bucks.wordpress.com/2008/09/02/a-letter-from-someone-who-has-known-sarah-palin-since-1992/

Thus my conclusion why she was elected as McCain's running mate is purely because:

1. She's a woman. This will bring in the votes originally meant for Hillary Clinton
2. She's pro-life

Thus, Palin is the exact opposite of what Obama is. If this strategy works, I'll tip my hat to Carly Fiorina.

Yay! Anwar won

I'm glad Anwar won the parliamentary by-election in Permatang Pauh. Here's hoping he would bring Malaysia to greater heights. We're in a dire need of a great leader and I hope Anwar fills that void.

CNN reports: "It is a lie to smear him. The government is doing everything they can to shame him," said Mustakim Ramlee, a 66-year-old businessman who voted for Anwar. "Anwar's victory will bring good reforms to our country and will unite all the races in Malaysia." I'll say Amin to that.

Anyone saw The Last King of Scotland? Lets hope it is not too late for Malaysia.