Technology at the Beach

While on spring break last week, I did a little bit of thinking about technology at the beach (just a little bit- mostly I was relaxing!). I went to the beach with a few friends, and we spent most of our time either laying on the beach or swimming in the ocean. And I read a book! It was so great for me to be able to read a novel for pleasure; it's something I never can find the time to do while school is in session, and even if I had the time, I do so much reading for class that it might not be quite as enjoyable.
While I was reading my novel, I considered the Kindle. I've done some reading up on it at Amazon's website, and one of the advantages they mention is the fact that if you go on vacation, you don't have to pack twelve books in your suitcase. You can carry them all, nice and compact, in your Kindle. But I started thinking that if I had spent $350 on a portable reading device, I would certainly NOT want to take it to the beach. As it was, the paperback I brought with me was a wonderful read, but I was not terribly concerned about preserving it- it got a bit sandy and quite damp from traveling in my beach bag. If it had been stolen while I left it beside my towel and took a dip in the ocean, I would have been disappointed, but not heartbroken. If I had taken a Kindle, I would have been nervous the whole time! I would not have wanted it to sit unguarded, or get sandy or damp, and so I probably would have left it in my condo and not brought it to the beach at all. So why bring it? The paperback was much more practical (for this vacation, at least) and it did survive the trip in one piece.
In the same vein, when I got home I realized that I had not taken a single picture on the actual beach. I never wanted to bring my digital camera because it might get wet or stolen. I did see one person on the beach carrying one in a ziploc bag... too much hassle for me.
Another thing about technology and vacation- I really appreciated having a break from the computer. The hotel we stayed at did offer computers with internet access, and I went in there once to see if midterm grades had been posted. I actually logged onto Facebook, and when it arrived at my homepage I decided I didn't really want to deal with it after all. It just didn't seem like the right thing to do on vacation. I didn't even check my email, I just went out to the beach. So my spring break was very relaxing, I think partly because it also included a break from technology.

An Excellent Piece of Library News!

I just read in the Herald-Leader today that the Lexington Public Library is extending their hours! In these times of budget strains and economic woe, this is heartening news for librarians everywhere! Starting in April, every LPL location will stay open two extra hours on Fridays (closing at 7 pm instead of 5 pm), and they will extend their Sunday hours to 6 pm instead of the current 5 pm.
According to the paper, our current economic situation has sparked increased usage of the library, especially by people who are job-hunting. Increased usage! This is definitely a good sign. Even when the economy is under stress and unemployment is on the rise, libraries retain their immense worth to the community. The value of their services may even increase when some of our other luxuries are taken away.
The closing of the research library of the Wall Street Journal was a cause for concern for me, but this great news right here in Lexington gives me hope. Some libraries may be (wrongly?) seen as dispensable, but here in Lexington things have proven otherwise. In a time of need, our library has stepped up to serve its community, responding to increased usage by making themselves more available.

Be nice to your computer!

Thought I would share with you this sobering video about the dangers of technology.

Ascii Art and E-cards

My last two posts have been medically related, and today's is going to follow in that same vein. I found out today that UK Hospital offers a service through which you can send e-greetings to patients (I discovered this fact through my friend's family's blog, which I wrote about two posts ago). So I immediately took advantage of this fantastic service! You can create a greeting though this website, and a UK Healthcare volunteer will print it out and deliver it to the patient. Cards can be sent to anyone who is at UK Chandler Hospital, Markey Cancer Center or Kentucky Children's Hospital.

Originally, when I was thinking "e-greeting," I was imagining being able to pick a template or at least a picture or some kind of design to go on the card. I wanted to send a sappy card with fuzzy kitties and hearts and balloons... you can imagine my disappointment when I was not able to do this. As you'll see if you go to the site, the only option available to me were patient's name, room number, etc., and a box to enter "your message." So I was thinking, how boring can this be? My friend will receive a piece of paper with my typed message on it. And there are only so many of these :) :) :) a person can put up with.

I overcame this obstacle through the wonders of ascii art. You might have seen a little bit about ascii in our readings for module 1. Today it became very useful for me. I found a website that is a veritable ascii art bonanza! So now the only limit to my e-greeting is the size of the text box (500 characters) and the extent of this ascii dictionary. I was amazed at how many people have obviously put much time and effort into creating these designs. My e-greeting was ultimately a success-- I used the butterfly seen above. And in case anyone is wondering, it is nearly impossible to incorporate ascii art within the text of a blog!

Robots at UK Hospital

I read a really neat article in today's Herald-Leader about robots that are being used at UK Hospital. They are currently using two of these "TUG" robots, which are basically big mobile cabinets, to transport blood and other patient specimens from the draw point in the hospital to the lab across the street for testing. The trip between these two points is about a mile long (round-trip), includes crossing a pedway and using elevators, and is typically made about 15 or 20 times each day.
Sending the TUG robots is advantageous to the hospital because they now have a reliable method for delivery (apparently they have had problems with employees stopping to talk on cell phones, grabbing coffee, etc.) and they know about how long it will take. Previously, they had to pull employees from the phlebotomy station and send them to the lab with samples, which became a problem because patients were having to wait in long lines to have their blood drawn.
There are lots of pictures of the robots on Kentucky.com, and included in the online article, there is a video of one of the robots making the trip - here. The robots stop when their way is blocked and wait for it to become clear, and they are able to operate the elevators using radio signals (apparently they are very polite and wait for all humans to exit the elevator before sending it to the floor they need).
The hospital is paying $18,000 per year to lease the robots, plus $3,000 maintenance, and if they like them after the year is up, they may buy them outright. In the comments section below the online article, a few people have pointed out that for this expense, the hospital could have hired another employee. I'd be interested to know how much the robots will cost to buy, and how long they are expected to last, because it does seem that hiring another employee to do this legwork could be cheaper. But that does not take into account the hospital's complaint of employees calling in, dawdling, smoking, etc. These robots, so far, seem to have proven a more reliable method of transportation for these time-sensitive materials.