Australian grandmother beats off attacking shark - BBC

From BBC:

"An Australian grandmother has survived a shark attack by repeatedly punching and kicking the animal after it "ripped off" part of her body.

Surgeon Mark Flanagan said: "We can estimate that she lost about 40 per cent of her blood volume from the degree of shock that she had when she came in, and the fact that we required to give her several units of blood."

Mrs Trumbull said she was happy to be alive."


Shark Tunnel and Aquarium at Omaha Zoo, Nebraska.

How to use Google Docs Drawings for medical mind maps

Google Drawings is a new collaborative drawing editor - part of the updated Google Docs. It is free to use, just like the rest of Google Docs. The new standalone drawings editor lets you collaborate in real time on flow charts, designs, diagrams and other fun or business graphics. You can copy these drawings into documents, spreadsheets and presentations using the web clipboard, or share and publish drawings just like other Google Docs.



Until now, my service of choice for medical mind maps was Bubbl.us and I have made more than 100 diagrams with it for AllergyCases.org:

Mind Map Diagrams in Allergy and Immunology

Bubbl.us works very well but I was concerned about embedding the mind maps in case the service goes down temporarily or if the company closes down in the future (mind maps can be exported in XML format for backup). None of these should be a problem with Google Docs. Drawings is obviously behind Bubbl.us in terms of features but it works for basic mind maps and I am planning to use it frequently in the future.

You can embed the minds maps as images, just like you do with YouTube videos, or provide a link to the original mind map and share it for collaboration:

Example: Accidental Injection of Epinephrine Into Finger

Every time you update the mind map in Google Docs/Drawings, the image updates too.

See a few mind maps created with Drawings below:

(click to enlarge the images)


(click to enlarge the images)

In order to publish the mind map diagram on the web, you have to click the "Share" button in the top right corner of the Google Docs menu. After the diagram is published, you will see the options to embed the image with different sizes and the link to share the original drawing with options to be edited by collaborators.

References

Introducing Google Docs drawings
A new Google Docs

Getting started guide for Google Drawings
Can images (mind maps, infographics) stop data overload? Symptom of the computer age: overwhelmed, we delay decisions http://goo.gl/URMKm

University of Cambridge shows high-resolution Newton notebooks online. He used mind maps - check Trinity College Notebook, image 5.

Comments from Twitter:


Robbo @BiteTheDust: excellent. will give it a go RT @DrVes: How to use Google Docs Drawings for medical mind maps bit.ly/J4BX7U

Health experts' tips for safe international travel

CDC video: Health experts suggest that you take several key steps to be protected against injury or illness when travelling to developing nations. This includes packing a health kit, bringing medications, and getting immunizations for safe and healthy travel.

Johns Hopkins Medicine podcast now has a blog

The weekly podcast by Johns Hopkins Medicine now has a blog hosted for free at Blogger.com by Google:

http://hopkinspodblog.blogspot.com

I have been a regular listener for years and have found the podcast to be both educational and enjoyable - not a common combination.

The weekly podcast looks at the top medical stories of the week for people who want to become informed participants in their own health care. The presenters are Elizabeth Tracey, director of electronic media for Johns Hopkins Medicine, and Rick Lange M.D., professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins and vice chairman of medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

See my list of health podcasts at Google Bookmarks here.

Image source: Johns Hopkins

29 Debates About the "Right Way" to Blog

ProBlogger collected 29 Debates Bloggers Have about Blogging. Some of my responses are listed below, see ProBlogger's site for the complete list. Please share your thoughts in the comments.

RSS Feeds - Full vs Partial Feeds
- My opinion: Full feed.

Comment Sections – Comments vs No Comments
- Comments always open.

Post Frequency – Post More vs Post Less

- Short posts daily.

How Many Blogs? – Focus upon One Single Blog vs Having Many Smaller Blogs.
- I have 3-4 blogs.

Domain Names – long vs short, hyphens vs non hypens, .com vs other extensions (like .net, .org), local vs global domain extensions
- Short names, free domain names by Blogger.com.

Hosting – hosted vs self hosted
- Hosted by Blogger.com.

Post Titles – descriptive vs keywords
- I use natural language post titles - descriptive.

Content – Link content vs Original content
- Mostly links and comments, I wish I had more time to write long-form original content.

Design – Professional Design vs Templates
- I modify the templates to create my "own" designs. It's quite enjoyable actually.

Ownership – Use Social Media vs Build Your own properties
- I think your blog should be your "home" on the web.

Post Length – Long in Depth Posts vs Short, Sharp Posts
- Again, I wish I had the time to write long posts but I don't.

Topic – Niche vs Broad Topics
- Niche topic blogs work better.

Blogger Name – Anonymous blogging vs Using Your Name
- Using your name is a much better approach for medical bloggers.

Subscribers – RSS is Best vs Email is Best
- I like RSS better.

SEO – Writing for Search Engines vs Writing for Humans
- I write for humans only.

Personal Blogging – Sticking to Topic vs Injecting Personality and Personal details
- I try to write objectively from a scientific perspective. Personal stories are probably better suited for a paper diary.

Comment Moderation – Highly Regulated and Moderated vs Anything Goes
- I moderate all comments and delete all self-promotional and possibly offensive material.

Social Media vs Search – focus upon social media rather than search engines as traffic sources
- If you write quality content, Google will find you.

LinkBait – Anything goes (e.g.. Personal Attacks) vs Strong Boundaries Around What is and Isn’t Acceptable
- I don't use link baits and I have never posted anything even close to a personal attack on my blogs.

Bloggers Participation in Comments – Respond to Every Single Comment vs Let Readers Talk to Each Other and Don’t Interact
- I don't feel compelled to respond to every single comment. Let readers interact.


This Google video shows that it takes about 2 minutes to start a blog on Blogger.com. Creating a web site has never been easier.

References:
29 Debates Bloggers Have about Blogging. ProBlogger, 2010.

"Europeans Work to Live and Americans Live to Work" But Who is Happier?

Americans work 50% more than the Germans, the French and the Italians. Americans may work more than Europeans because of domestic tax rates - there are lower tax rates in the US than in Europe, and hence working more pays off more in the US. In other words, working longer hours pays off more in the US than in Europe.

This study compares the working hours and life satisfaction of Americans and Europeans using the World Values Survey, Eurobarometer and General Social Survey.

The purpose is to explore the relationship between working hours and happiness in Europe and America. Is it possible that working more makes Americans happier than Europeans?

The findings suggest that Americans may be happier working more because they believe more than Europeans do that hard work is associated with success.

References:
Europeans Work to Live and Americans Live to Work (Who is Happy to Work More: Americans or Europeans?). Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn. Journal of Happiness Studies, 2010.

Image source: Wikipedia, GNU Free Documentation License.

Jamie Oliver at TED: Teach every child about food

Sharing powerful stories from his anti-obesity project in Huntington, W. Va., TED Prize winner Jamie Oliver makes the case for an all-out assault on our ignorance of food.