My Family Doctor

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everest_2007_129I don’t usually do this sort of thing but I’m making an exception. My family doctor is an amazing guy. I’d like you to look at what he’s doing.

Like I said, I think he’s an amazing guy. It’s not because he’s been a good family doctor for me and my family for the last 20 or so years, although he has been that.  He’s been a small town GP for most of his career. That’s rare these days, but that’s also not why I want more people to notice him.

A few years ago he started a foundation called Basic Health International whose mission is to provide basic health care to remote communities around the world. He doesn’t just talk about it or try and get people to donate to the cause. He does actual doctor-stuff in places like Tibet, Ethiopia, and Peru.

He’s quite an unassuming man, but when he tells you you should get more exercise, it’s hard to ignore. You see, this past October he attained a rare distinction: he became a member of “The Seven Summits Club: at least, he has made it to the top of the highest peak on each of the seven continents. If I know this man at all, whether or not he ever makes on the ‘official list’ is not as important as the ability to parlay this into ways to help more people.

everest_2007_184Two years ago he did Everest (the highest). I saw him as a patient a few weeks after he’d returned. His face was still quite burned and the tips of his fingers were still black with frostbite. He’d been the expedition doctor on that trip (he’s a high-altitude specialist), and happened to be the only physician on that part of the mountain at the time. He ended up helping out a few other expeditions along the way, at least one of which suffered fatalities.

This year was Carstensz (probably the trickiest). That’s after trying, and failing last year. I tried to get him to tell me some stories (forgive me, Dr. Hanlon) but any time I try he gets very uncomfortable, mumbles a few words and then changes the subject (usually to the plight of some of the people he’s met on his adventures). I did manage to get out of him that he ended up caught in a mudslide and spent 3 weeks in the jungle with some native headhunters.

What’s next? Today, he left on a 2 month ski trip. Sounds cushy, huh? Well, this one is to the South Pole.

1_bAny publicity he gets from this goes to try and bring more attention to his Foundation. So, if you are so moved, take a look. Maybe even make a donation.

Universal healthcare is good, right?

For everyone, right?

Even the people who live at the tops of the world.

p.s. He’s Irish. So I figure there’s a greater than zero chance he’s off to the Antarctic after Shackleton’s scotch ;>

all photos (C) William Hanlon

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“Venality, Pretension, Irresponsibility and Risible Claims”: That sounds just like the UofC

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Stanley Fish is really hit and miss for me: sometimes I agree with him, and other times really, really not. This is one of those times I agree:

By By Stanley Fish
Published: October 19, 2009
Reader responses and further debate on the issue of academic freedom and the law.
When he talks about how sordid academia can become, I can’t help thinking about the UofC as a shining example of just how low one can go. While there are still some great people there, they are becoming fewer and fewer, and they are becoming more and more oppressed.  The term “Death March” springs to mind.

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Fail: How NOT to do user experience design (I)

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I don’t know about you, but I’m getting really weary of dopey interface design decisions on the web. I’ve got 30 years in CS – I have a pretty good idea about what’s possible, what’s easy, and what’s hard. DO HCI people not pay attention? Here’s an example (from Scoop). Click on the “click to enlarge” link (or the picture itself). Does that look bigger to you? What’s wrong with these people?

Neanderthals Hunted, Raped And Ate Humans

Friday, 18 September 2009, 12:58 pm
Press Release: The Mandus


Click to enlarge

Now, the web isn’t the only place where people don’t bother to think about user experience design. It happens ALL the time, everywhere.

Watch this space for more…..

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And Still There’s Trouble in River City… sort of.

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It’s the same old same old – human cry from those that have because they fear they might have to share. A Well-written article worth the time to read.

100 years of Big Content fearing technology—in its own words

For the last hundred years, rightsholders have fretted about everything from the player piano to the VCR to digital TV to Napster. Here are those objections, in Big Content’s own words.

By Nate Anderson | Last updated October 11, 2009 10:00 PM CT
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Teaching Introductory Programming: We’re Doing It Wrong (still)

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I just read Mark Guzdial’s excellent post on some of what’s wrong with how we teach introductory programming courses.

Question Everything: How We Teach Intro CS is Wrong

The notion that we should be modeling expert behaviour when teaching programming is silly. Experts work quite differently from novices. We accept this as a given in sport – if you make a novice do things an expert does you could very well cause them to injure themselves.

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On Dissertations and Theses

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When I was writing my thesis I looked for examples of dissertations to get some ideas about how to formulate my own – you know general style, chapter organization, etc. It was suggested that I go to my school’s library and look at the theses that had been completed there in the last several years. It was a good idea. I did that. It didn’t help me even a little.

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Profiling via web presence (or, the company you keep tells us a lot about you.)

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I’ve always told people that they should assume that anything they put on the web should be considered public, whether it is on a public site or not. If you don’t want the information known, then don’t put it out there.

Thanks to modern data mining techniques, we can now predict whether or not you are gay by looking at your friends on Facebook.

That’s kind of interesting, though personally, I don’t really care if someone is gay or not. It doesn’t (or shouldn’t) affect their ability to be a decent person.

On the other hand, I am FAR more interested in finding out whether they are honest or not;  loyal or not; bullies or not. THAT would be useful. I wonder if looking at someone’s FB friends can tell us that?

I have now lost track of how many people I *thought* were my friends, who have let me down by not standing up for honesty and integrity and for treating people decently and fairly. They always have an excuse, but the truth is, it is easier to lie than to be honest, and it is easier to be indifferent than decent. Cowardly, but definitely easier.

One thing I have learned is that people who defend someone who is dishonest or mean are a bad risk.

A righteous man is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray. – Proverbs 12:26

At MIT, an experiment identifies which students are gay, raising new questions about online privacy.

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All Videogames, All the Time?

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Now, I’m a big fan of Serious Games, but I’m also quite sure that this is one of those cases where more is not necessarily better. What is important is balance. I suppose it may be difficult to make sure students have exposure to natural things too, given that they are in Manhattan (http://q2l.org/), but I am quite convinced that ultimately, a lack of connection with nature and living things will have far more negative consequences than spending too much time online.

I’m talking negative on an epic scale.

Here is the article:

New York Launches Public School Curriculum Based on Playing Games

Video games and learning exercises form the core of a new public school curriculum

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