I was tagged by that Super Steno Girl. Gee thanks! By the way, this is a great new blog just started on December 1st. Check it out if you can. As for my geek profile, unfortunately, no surprises here, ugh...
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Ah, to be a college student again. Those were the days. Partying a lot, going to class sometimes, and having that occasional "interesting" experience. Now, before any of you out there jump to any conclusions, the experience I'm talking about is taking part in a science experiment.
Today, the Chicago Tribune describes a study involving the sense of smell...
If the results are surprising, that may be because no one ever had tried putting a bunch of college undergraduates in a field wearing blindfolds and sound-muffling headphones, then had them crawl in the grass after a scent like pigs hunting for truffles.Researchers at the University of California-Berkeley found that "most of the students could follow a 30-foot trail of chocolate perfume and even changed direction precisely where the invisible path took a turn."
Here's how they did the experiment (I'm not joking)...
To create a scent trail, the scientists soaked a line of string in the chocolate scent and embedded it in the grass. The people were set loose on the ground about 9 feet away from the trail, then had to find the scent and follow it.Some people out there are probably saying, "Hey, it's Berkeley, that's the crazy stuff that they do out there." Some other people may think this is a fraternity stunt. But NO! This is in the name of science, by George. Here's how the article is trying to tie this in to scientific experimentation....
By revealing how noses locate smells, the scientists hope to lay the groundwork for electronic noses that could detect hazards such as land mines. Their work, published online Sunday in the journal Nature Neuroscience, was funded in part by the Army Research Office.That's our tax dollars at work! I don't know if I buy that explanation. But, just you watch. Next summer, there will be a movie about this experiment and someone (probably from Berkeley) will make tons of money. Maybe another one of those lame American Pie sequels. Happy Monday!
Yup, that's right, boys and girls! Doctor Anonymous been around for six months. I can hardly believe it! Thinking back, I didn't even know if I would get through the first week, or even the first month.
It's fun looking back at old posts - especially on occasions like this. I'd have to say that the entire Blogaholics Anonymous thing really got me started. Granted, this is not an original idea, but I'd have to say that was definitely the spark to get things rolling.
Over the past six months, I'd have to say that there were three points where I got a lot more noticed. First, when Moof highlighted me on her blog in June, I remember getting a lot more traffic that I'd ever seen. She's always been great to me, especially when I first started answering all my naive blogger questions. I even asked another question over this past weekend and she got back to be right away. Thanks for everything, Moof!
The second most significant point in the past six months was when I was named Bestest Blog of the Day by Bobby Griffin in September. Especially, if you have been only blogging for about a month or so, get involved with Bestest Blog. You won't regret it. Thanks Bobby!
The third point was the entire Grand Rounds experience, which for me was almost the entire month of November. When Dr. Nick Genes contacted me to host that blog carnival, I had no idea how much exposure I would get and the people that I would meet along the way. For the medical bloggers out there, if you ever have the opportunity to be the GR host, definitely take advantage of it. Thanks Nick!
People have asked me how I've kept on going for six months. First and foremost, your blog should be for YOU and not for us. Write what YOU want to write about and not what you think we want to read about. Just like in the real world, people in the virtual world know when you're not being genuine and trying to "fake us out."
Adding a little piece of yourself goes a long way. Sure, I'm "anonymous" in that people don't know my name or what I look like. But, whether you like it or not, your personality will show through. If people connect with it, they'll be back to read more.
The second piece of advice I'd give is don't be afraid to write about things out of your comfort zone. Sure, when you started blogging you wanted to tell the world about medicine, or being a patient, or science, or sports, or news, or entertainment, or whatever. Don't be afraid to mix it up with different topics.
If you're starting out, don't be afraid to try to add a picture, or audio, or video to your blog. Try different types of posts, like interviewing a fellow blogger. Trying something out of the ordinary will keep things fresh as a writer and we'll enjoy that as a reader.
Finally, I'm the first to say that I'm obsessed with my numbers and my stats. I mean, just look at my sidebar. It's easy for me to say, but to keep your sanity, don't get too hung up on how many visitors you get on a daily basis. It doesn't matter how many people see your blog. It matters how many come back again and again to see your blog.
Speaking of that, thanks so much to all of you who come back again and again to read my blog. I never knew how much fun this all would be. I don't know if I'll be around in another six months, but it will be fun along the way!
You gotta like that YouTube. I saw this very funny commercial this morning, did a quick search, and BOOM there it is. Here is my favorite holiday commercial of the moment...
I'm having trouble sleeping tonight. So, I'm thinking, why not blog?
After days of going back and forth, I finally decided to make the switch to Beta Blogger, UGH! I felt it was really affecting me making comments on blogs. And, maybe it was preventing others from commenting on my blog. So, I took the step to make the switch.
When I was thinking to switching to Blogger Beta, I had this flashback to my blog post number one on June 19, 2006 called: Does this thing work?
I've got to admit off the bat that I'm no techno-expert. This entire sign on process was kind of traumatic. Is this what this blog is going to be about -- whining? Hope not. I'm glad just to be up an running. Don't worry, this sparse blogspace will be filling up soon. Just as soon as a figure out what to talk about...Ah.... Memories.... Anyway, I heard that the side bar may be affected by switching. So, I made sure I saved the links of where all the third party stuff came from. I even printed out my front page, in case I had to re-create my sidebar on my new beta site.
Finally, I got through the first page of Beta registraton. I paused and took a big breath before clicking on making the move. Optimistic that everything would be ok, I clicked to the next screen hoping to see my new site. Unfortunately, I saw the following message.
Could not switch you to the new Blogger: Thanks for your interest in the new Blogger in beta! Unfortunately, we cannot switch your Blogger account at this time, because one or more of your blogs cannot be moved. Please see our help article for more information.What! Blogger, you've been bugging me for MONTHS to get me to switch over. I've been hearing stories, both good and bad, about switching. Many of my blog friends have been bugging me to switch. I made the decision and went through the process, and this is what I get? How do I switch to wordpress?
After about half an hour, I think I've calmed down a little now. The good news is that I think the comment problem has been resolved (hopefully). I'm going to try again to check out my favorite blogs and comment. Feel free to comment here and let me know if this thing is stll working. I'm still thinking about wordpress...
Thanks so much to those of you who nominated me for Medgadget Medical Weblog Awards. I really appreciate it! Who knew I would go from no blog at all to being considered one of the best blogs of 2006.
Now, if you don't tell anyone, I'm going to give you some insight here that you won't get on other blogs. I'm very flattered to be nominated for best overall medical blog of the year. But, at this point in my blog life, I think I'm minor league compared to some in that category.
So, even though as of this second, there are twelve other blogs in the Best New Medical Weblog category, I think I will concentrate my efforts there.
How am I going to do that? Well, here's the way I see it. It is three weeks until the polls open over there on Medgadget. I have three short weeks to earn your vote for Best New Medical Weblog of 2006.
Don't think your vote counts? Think again. In reviewing the rules over there, there will be a new voting system. Yes, there are nine judges (*waving at judges*) and they will have their say. But, your vote counts just as much! So, I have some work to do in the next three weeks to convince you and to convince them that I'm worthy of your vote.
What I'm going to say next is definitely politically incorrect. But, ever since my first day of blogging, I made a committment to myself that since I was going to blog anonymously, I must be open and honest with my readers. Today is no exception.
The politically correct thing is to say "Gee Whiz, it's just an honor to be nominated." No other blog out there is going to say this but me ==> I'm definitely out to win this award. Don't take that the wrong way. I'm not saying that out of a sense of entitlement, just because I've been blogging for almost six months.
Over the next three weeks, I'm going to work as hard as I can and blog my heart out to earn your vote beginning on January 3, 2007. For my blog friends out there (and you know who you are), if you have any advice along the way, please let me know.
I know I sound like one of those nasty politicians running a campaign. I'm just a blogaholic trying to reach for a goal that I never thought was possible six months ago. With hard work and your help, we can try to get there together. Let the countdown begin! Twenty days to go until the Medgadget polls open!
Obese Kids To Be Offered Surgery: The government in the UK is sending the ultimate message of accountability for your actions by offering surgery "as a last resort" to obese children. Richard Watts, campaign co-ordinator of the Sustain's Children's Food Campaign, said: "Instead of expensive and unpleasant surgery, we should look to improve children's diets by protecting them from junk food adverts before 9pm and making cookery lessons in school compulsory." DUH!
Of course, you could do something obvious. No, not encourage exercise. That's too easy. You can ban certain foods, like trans fats. Apparently, that's the fad now in the United States. Cities like Cleveland, Ohio are following the lead of New York City. Oh well. Maybe that will help the obesity problem in kids.
Longer Colonoscopy Time Ups Detection: According to a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine, you have to ask your doctor if they spend more than six minutes doing their colonoscopy. The study stated that those colonoscopies more than six minutes found more abnormal growths than those less than six minutes. DUH!
What the study didn't show is the potential increase complication rate with more biopsies taken and increased time under anesthesia. Stuff like this is always left out of media stories. I wonder why. Hmmmmm.....
Gliding Mammal Lived More Than 125 Million Years Ago: Scientists found a fossil of what they're calling a "gliding mammal." The mammal was probably nocturnal and dined on insects. It was similar in size to a modern flying squirrel.
You're wondering, why did I pick this story? You know, I don't really know, other than I really liked the picture. What do you think? Have a great day!
Imagine that? I'm not even in the dreaded blogger beta. Lots of difficulties with my sidebar this morning. So, I'll be fiddling with this thing this afternoon. Hopefully, I won't accidentally delete the entire blog. I'll be right back after these commercial messages. Thanks for stopping by today!
Update (2pmET): I have a question. Don't worry, I turned the comments back on. I figured some stuff out, but still having some problems.
Is my footer in the right place on your screen? On my firefox screen, it's beneath my profile. Gimme some feedback on this. For all you template gurus out there, if you could help me move it in the right spot, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!
Update (6:30pmET): Still can't figure out the footer thing, but that's ok. I'm glad I didn't mess up my entire template. I'm going to be adding things back to the sidebar in the next few hours. Please let me know if you see anything funky going on on the sidebar or on the footer. Hopefully, I'll have a more "normal" post tomorrow. Thanks for all of your help!
Warning: This is an irk alert...
The people on the west coast of the United States probably have been following this story closer than I have. And, I wasn't going to mention anything about the tragic story of James Kim and his family. But, I read a story this morning that really put me over the edge.
For those who may not know, James Kim and his family (wife and two young daughters) were stranded in the mountains of Oregon for approximately a week. I believe on day five or six of their ordeal, which included hearing helicopters but unable to get their attention, Mr. Kim decided to venture out to try to rescue his family. His family was eventually rescued, but he was not.
The first set of media stories portrayed him as a hero - which is what he was. Initial stories called him "Superhuman." As I did more research, I found out he was a senior editor for Cnet.Com. And, I remember seeing this guy doing reviews for computer and electronic stuff. Great guy. He mentioned his daughter a lot when he did his video reviews for cnet.
Now, the media stories are shifting. The story that really got me going this morning had this to say about the Kim family...
When we finally reached the spot where the Kims' car stopped after a long, winding journey, our traveling companions -- Sgt. Joel Heller, Josephine County Sheriff's office, and John James, owner of the Black Bar Lodge -- both had the same exact thought: Why did the Kims continue down such a desolate path when they so clearly did not know where they were going?This just fires me up! I mean, this family was lost. It was obvious that they have never been there before. It was snowing. The signs were not clearly marked. Even with all these facts, they are blaming this poor family? I don't get it.
For the rest of the article, I was waiting for the passage saying, "We're raising these questions because we do not want this tragedy to happen again to another family." The tone of the article remained on the Kim family.
I know I shouldn't let the media bother me like this, but I think of the two little girls that are left behind. When they read about their brave father in 10-20-30 years, what will their reaction be when they come across stories like this essentially blaming their father for getting the family lost and leaving them behind? In my view, media stories like this are irresponsible. That's my 2 cents worth.
I have no shame. And, when you read this post, you'll see why. HA!
Yesterday, Medgadget announced the opening up of nominations for their 2006 Medical Weblog Awards. This is their third annual event. And, according to their website, "These awards are designed to honor the very best in the medical blogosphere, and to highlight the diverse world of medical blogs."
There are seven categories, but the one I'm most interested in is Best New Medical Weblog (established in 2006). To be honest, I don't think this blog really fits into any of the other categories. Oh BTW, there's a new category this year for Best Patient's Blog. So, for you DA readers who have patient blogs, you can play, too.
Anyway, this is where I'm asking you, the Doctor Anonymous reader, to help. If someone, anyone, would nominate me for Best New Medical Weblog - I'd really appreciate it! I'd nominate myself, but that seems kind of lame to me. Plus, the judges may not take to kindly to self-nominations.
Speaking of the judges, some of them look familiar to me. I think I may have put them in the bottom section of my Grand Rounds 3.09 posting last month. So, they may not like me too much. Oh well. We'll have to see what happens. If nominated, then I'll be shamlessly be seeking your vote from January 3-14, 2007.
What's interesting is that you can only vote once - period. Not once an hour - not once a day - just once - period. I wonder how they'll monitor that. But, hey, they're Medgadget. They can figure it out. But, first thing is first - the nomination. Thanks for your consideration....
Update: To help generate some controversy, the grand Empress Bee herself has obtained some totally illegal pictures of me (LOL) in her post called "They Are Coming Out." Your curiousity piqued yet?