Mon - November 19, 2007
Leopard Upgrade Woes...
Very bad Apple, very very bad... I just upgraded
my laptop to Leopard (10.5) -- it trashed my filevault enabled home folder...
this is really bad.
Here is how I recovered:
Booted from Firewire backup drive into 10.4.
Ran Prosoft's Data Rescue II on the sparseimage.
Copied everything to another machine.
Bad Apple, very very bad Apple. This is worse than any Microsoft screwup I've encountered.
Here is how I recovered:
Booted from Firewire backup drive into 10.4.
Ran Prosoft's Data Rescue II on the sparseimage.
Copied everything to another machine.
Bad Apple, very very bad Apple. This is worse than any Microsoft screwup I've encountered.
Posted at 11:19 PM Read More
Fri - October 6, 2006
Dynesys animation
Dynamic stabilization (dynesys) is an excellent
alternative to rigid fusiion surgery.
Dynesys.swf
Dynesys.swf
Posted at 11:19 PM Read More
Sun - July 23, 2006
Danek Satellite, Fernstrom Ball
This animation demonstrates the biomechanics of
the Fernstrom ball or Satellite sphere as a disc nucleus replacement (officially
an interbody arthrodesis device). After a large disc herniation is removed, the
cobalt chrome (Vitallium) sphere is inserted into the disc interspace restoring
height lost as a result of the disc herniation. Essentially normal motion
results similar to that of an artificial disc. Unlike total disc replacements
such as the Depuy Charite, the Satellite sphere is placed via a minimally
invasive laminectomy (posterior) approach and with only minimal pain.
These intraoperative photographs demonstrate insertion of the sphere through a microendoscopic approach.
We check an intraoperative x-ray to confirm excellent placement before finishing.
These intraoperative photographs demonstrate insertion of the sphere through a microendoscopic approach.
We check an intraoperative x-ray to confirm excellent placement before finishing.
Posted at 07:05 AM Read More
Tue - May 30, 2006
Gamma Knife Central
Day after Memorial day in the "bunker" under
Kettering Medical Center (Dayton Ohio). We are performing 4 Gamma Knife procedures today.
Everything is smooth. It is good to get back into the Gamma Knife routine. I
have been concentrating on a bunch of new advanced spine procedures recently.
Thursday we are going to place the first two Fernstrom balls. I am one of only
five surgeons in the country doing this procedure. This procedure is a "motion
sparing" type of lumbar fusion. That sounds like a bit of an oxymoron, except
that this is how the device is classified by the FDA. The idea is to replace a
removed nucleus pulposis (disc herniation) with a cobalt chrome sphere that
restores the normal disc motion and preserves disc height. The original device,
the Harmon sphere, made of vitallium, resulted in interbody fusions in some
cases, hence the classification as a fusion device. Of course that was between
1959 and 1965. Nowadays we have a few new tricks up our sleeves ... watch this
space.
Posted at 08:57 AM Read More
Sun - April 23, 2006
Too Many Wires
I've got lots of wires. I must have been somewhat
of a spectacle at the airport. I was plugged into the wall for power, and I have
a USB cable going to this new "audiophile" outboard DAC Bithead thingie with another cable going
to my earphones which split into two and then wrap around my ears. The Shure E5s
have nice bass. There are chords I haven't heard in years :-), and another
firewire cable headed to an outboard drive. I am told that to get *great* sound,
you need to rip your CDs into iTunes using error correction and the Apple
Lossless codec. Then use an outboard USB DAC to get completely gitter and error
free music -- this is what those untra expensive CD players and DACs will give
you. Instead of buying a $2000 high end CD player, you get a $2000 laptop or for
a real bargain a $700 Mac mini.
All this to watch a movie, or listen to music. Too many cables. Of course this is better than the alternative. Too few cables and you are SOL. It is amazing to me that I can edit a HDV video clip on a laptop in an airport -- while I am listening to music.
In any case this fellow sits down next to me stating "You must make Steve very happy". He pulls out a tiny Vaio. "This is the way to go." I smiled, I showed him FCP . No stinkin dinkie Vaio can do that :-) In all seriousness though I had a tiny Vaio notebook in the late 1990s and they are the slimest lightest thing going. The issue is that the little keyboard and small screen make it hard to do real work for extended periods of time. And watching movies in HD is way better on a 15 inch screen. The 17 is too large to use comfortably on the airplane so the 15" MBP is perfect for me. Particularly if you are wearing shorts in the winter. Too many cables though.
All this to watch a movie, or listen to music. Too many cables. Of course this is better than the alternative. Too few cables and you are SOL. It is amazing to me that I can edit a HDV video clip on a laptop in an airport -- while I am listening to music.
In any case this fellow sits down next to me stating "You must make Steve very happy". He pulls out a tiny Vaio. "This is the way to go." I smiled, I showed him FCP . No stinkin dinkie Vaio can do that :-) In all seriousness though I had a tiny Vaio notebook in the late 1990s and they are the slimest lightest thing going. The issue is that the little keyboard and small screen make it hard to do real work for extended periods of time. And watching movies in HD is way better on a 15 inch screen. The 17 is too large to use comfortably on the airplane so the 15" MBP is perfect for me. Particularly if you are wearing shorts in the winter. Too many cables though.
Posted at 02:38 PM Read More
Sat - April 15, 2006
Panera good, Starbucks bad ...
I guess that the fact I am writing this in 2006
indicates that I haven't been a 'heavy' wifi user out of the home but I just
found out ... after trying to use my laptop at a Starbucks ... that they expect
us to *pay* for this privilege. Harumph. I've been shelling out $2 - $3 a day
for the last decade or so on Starbucks coffee and they don't have the courtesy
to give me wifi access. I turns out that the coffee at Panera bread really isn't
all that bad and the wifi is free. Panera is getting more of my business and in
exchange for the wifi they gave me today, they get this free plug (I am a pretty
cheap date, but a good demographic
:-)))
Panera locations near my office
Panera locations near my office
Posted at 04:53 PM Read More
Sun - April 9, 2006
Windows on Mac
Loaded both the Parallels VM as well as boot camp on my shiny
new Macbook (Pro). It is a bit disconcerting to run Windows XP on a Mac. I
remember why I like OS X so much :-)) Actually both installs went smoothly. The
trick to getting Airport to work with Parallells is to select
en1. I
am still trying to get the two virtual machines to connect to eachother over the
network -- while preserving as much of each of the respective firewalls as I
can. At the very least I can ping the VM so I am sure that it won't be too
difficult to mount the VM drive using Windows
Sharing.
Of course this type of activity is old hat in the computer world and for Virtual PC users but to have things work at usable speeds and on a laptop no less is really terrific. Bootcamp is a tad smoother than Parallels but I'm more inclined to use Parallels on a frequent basis unless there is some 3D graphics intensive program that only runs on Windows (I am not a huge gamer).
So what do I need Windows for?
Two things ... firstly, many of the hospitals have chosen the GE PACS ... an expensive system that allows us to view MRI and CT scans across the hospital network, and via a VPN on a browser ... the kicker is that GE in their infinite wisdom have implemented their browser based system such that Internet Explorer (on a PC) is required ... losers ... in any case I need to bring up IE for this application. The other being ...
At this point in time the USB based GPS devices (that have good software) require the PC.
Other than that I don't need Microsoft software for anything.
Having the two OSes side by side on the same machine really shows off how smooth OS X is. Oh and the battery lasts far longer under OS X. Little details like a camera that can sense ambient light levels and properly adjust the screen as well as the backlit keyboard make this laptop a joy to use. Oh and trying to color correct the monitor under Windows is arcane in comparison.
Of course this type of activity is old hat in the computer world and for Virtual PC users but to have things work at usable speeds and on a laptop no less is really terrific. Bootcamp is a tad smoother than Parallels but I'm more inclined to use Parallels on a frequent basis unless there is some 3D graphics intensive program that only runs on Windows (I am not a huge gamer).
So what do I need Windows for?
Two things ... firstly, many of the hospitals have chosen the GE PACS ... an expensive system that allows us to view MRI and CT scans across the hospital network, and via a VPN on a browser ... the kicker is that GE in their infinite wisdom have implemented their browser based system such that Internet Explorer (on a PC) is required ... losers ... in any case I need to bring up IE for this application. The other being ...
At this point in time the USB based GPS devices (that have good software) require the PC.
Other than that I don't need Microsoft software for anything.
Having the two OSes side by side on the same machine really shows off how smooth OS X is. Oh and the battery lasts far longer under OS X. Little details like a camera that can sense ambient light levels and properly adjust the screen as well as the backlit keyboard make this laptop a joy to use. Oh and trying to color correct the monitor under Windows is arcane in comparison.
Posted at 09:34 PM Read More
Thu - April 6, 2006
I just received my Macbook Pro
I just received my new Macbook Pro 2.0 Ghz. It
works great. I doesn't make a funny sound. It is a bit warm, but not noticeably
different than other laptops I've owned. I assume it is a revision D
board because it is in the W8614 serial number
series.
I ordered a custom configuration from the Apple website last Sunday -- free shipping. On Monday I received an email that the order was received and being processed. On Tuesday I received an email that the order was being shipped with a Fedex tracking number. It was being shipped from Shanghai CN. By Tuesday evening it had arrived in Anchorage AZ. Before going to work Wednesday I checked the tracking again ... the package had gone from Alaska to Indianapolis IN, and by (apparently) overnight truck to Loveland OH. By 10:30 AM it had arrived !!!
I popped it open and it worked. Apple is really doing something right.
I ordered a custom configuration from the Apple website last Sunday -- free shipping. On Monday I received an email that the order was received and being processed. On Tuesday I received an email that the order was being shipped with a Fedex tracking number. It was being shipped from Shanghai CN. By Tuesday evening it had arrived in Anchorage AZ. Before going to work Wednesday I checked the tracking again ... the package had gone from Alaska to Indianapolis IN, and by (apparently) overnight truck to Loveland OH. By 10:30 AM it had arrived !!!
I popped it open and it worked. Apple is really doing something right.
Posted at 10:40 PM Read More
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Published On: Nov 19, 2007 11:19 PM
Published On: Nov 19, 2007 11:19 PM