Gloucester's chat thread

[Essie Mae]

We had a sermon on demons once, and it wa s great because you could blame them for everything that was wrong with you, if you ate too much, it was a demon of greed, if you lost your temper all the time, it was an angry demon.

[xSilverPhinx]

We had a sermon on demons once, and it wa s great because you could blame them for everything that was wrong with you, if you ate too much, it was a demon of greed, if you lost your temper all the time, it was an angry demon.

Sounds like a great way to remove personal responsibility from oneself. I've met many people who do this throughout my life, fueling my disgust for religious thinking. 

[Dave]

Hi, guys 'n' gals!

I may not be around for a bit, The Virgin ISP system has crashed somewhat severely, I have no Wifi and a LAN link to the router is incredibly slow.

I can only get through on my old laptop, no tablets working, because of this.

Just though I would let you know in case it goes on for a long time!

I am not a happy bunny  and will be expecting compensation over this.

[Recusant]

  I hope it gets fixed up again soon.

[Magdalena]

Hi, guys 'n' gals!

I may not be around for a bit, The Virgin ISP system has crashed somewhat severely, I have no Wifi and a LAN link to the router is incredibly slow.

I can only get through on my old laptop, no tablets working, because of this.

Just though I would let you know in case it goes on for a long time!

I am not a happy bunny  and will be expecting compensation over this.

We'll wait for you.

[Dave]

Still not fixed but . . . engineer coming out Wednesday morning, think the router went faulty at the same time as Virgin had infrastructure probs. Whatever, my router works on a LAN cable but nothing works on it on Wifi, though all the settings have been reset and all online diagnostics show no fault. I reckon the wire has fallen of the internal aerial!

Very difficult to get help line types to recognize that others also know about computer systems! I have had a few cases, on help lines and other places, where youngsters think it amusing that a 70+ yo has oodles of tech and knows how to use it. I often have to tell them that I was programming computers before they were born (if it was only BASIC in 1980! I was studying FORTRAN for a while as well)

Anyway, on the subject of high tech...

I think that I have mentioned that, in 2008, I had a cardiac pacemaker-cum-defibrillator implanted, and that it saved my life a couple or three times. The, in 2012, the battery in it went flat in four years instead of the expected 7. So I had to have a new device implanted.

Had it checked last week, all functions OK, estimated battery life 3.5 years.

Then I got a call from the hospital, the manufacturer has found a battery problem in that they can go flat half way through their expected life. Touch of deja vu here . . .

Got to go in Friday for some more checks. If one dodgy battery in my model is found every person who has one will have to have it replaced! It is only a minor op under sedative (or not last time, my favourite cardiologist did the job and I spent al having him explain what he was actually doing. He would not let me watch the video monitor that was recording the job though!

The day after the test I had reason to check my blood pressure at home. That was OK but my pulse rate was only 64, not in the 70 - 75 range I am used to. Worked out that there was no real problem, it was only my resting rate, the implant was boosting up to 100 bpm on activity. A pulse resting rate of 60 would be good for an ailing ticker, save thousands of beats a day. And I do quite a bit of resting on the sofa with a book!

Phoned the hospital the next day and eventually got through to a technician. He said that the pacing rate had been changed deliberately the records said that I had been informed why. Oh no I had not, it was never mentioned during the tests. Other than in emergencies they need my informed permission for such things. So, I have started a formal complaint, even small protocol ''mistakes'' need to be investigated and eliminated - apart from the actual lie about my being informed.

Time for some severe wrist slapping I think.

On another forum they have tongue-in-cheek "What's your latest first world problem?'' thread for things like this. Though it could just be "The dishwasher broke." In a third world country I would probably have been dead 18 years ago.

On the battery thing, bloody glad my implant does not have a Samsung battery in it. Oh, bugger, I have two Samsung tablets and two Samsung phones 

[xSilverPhinx]

That sucks, Gloucester, I hope everything gets sorted out soon!

[Essie Mae]

Hope you get successful outcomes on Wednesday and Friday.

[Arturo]

In a third world country I would probably have been dead 18 years ago.

While I was reading your post I thought of how people from the 80s reacted when they first heard of a pacemaker. Since I know people from that time, I don't feel too surprised by what I suspect their reactions would be. But then when I go to people from 1800s when their life was the farm and thinking about how they would react to an electronic device that shocks your heart and keeps it running, I blow my own mind into thinking how lucky we have it and how cool it is to have technology such as this. One day I hope they can make an app on your phone to monitor your pacemaker and give you alerts to when it needs care.

On another, yet similar note, some believe that with the emergence of brain mapping, that we will have similar devices for our brains. What I've heard is that we will have smart machines into our frontal lobes to be like a smart phone but just in your head. Augmented reality would also be apart of this.

But I'm thinking, since I read your post, that we will have more medical uses for these things, instead of improving what we already have. We don't see a pacemaker for athletes, do we? So based on previous technologies that put foreign objects into your body, they don't improve the human race to a higher level, rather they protect the weak. Being schizoaffective, I wouldn't mind getting my brained mapped. I would like to be able to help people with my illness by donating a copy of my mind to science. Also, I heard you can get yourself on a disc and I would like to turn myself into my own personal assistant.

[Essie Mae]

If I offered myself on disc as a personal assistant, could I expect to be paid?

[Dave]

Apathy, there are more advancements being made with variations of the device that I have. Parkinsons disease, epilepsy and depression I know can be treated using electrical pulse stimulation of nerves from a modified pacemaker, lots cheaper and smaller than the one I have!

Not sure how many other neurological diseases will be amenable to this kind of preventative therapy - let's hope lots. But, as we gather more info via fMRI scans etc , learn more about the grey stuff, we will see modern tech even more doing incredible stuff.

Another idea I have seen mooted is that future implants may incorporate GPS and a mobile, so they can report problems and location.

I have the letter about my Friday appointment - pretty good one from the manufacturer explaining the problem and the risks. Seems the batteries grow lithium whiskers that short the electrodes. There was a similar problem with the old NiCAD batteries years ago, thought lithium jobs did not suffer this. Oh, forgot, this is not a rechargeable so different principles.

Anyway, looks like the Friday thing is to issue a sort of Bluetoothy 24/7 monitor with a built in mobile, talks to the implant on a short range link and phones the monitoring centre if there are any problems. Bit less sophisticated than built in and won't work away rom home. Would hae thought they would have apps for smarphones to do the job by now! No doubt it will come.

There are already incredible medical uses being found for smartphones. Also the almost immediate video/image and on the spot text/verbal messaging  from disaster areas primes the relief organisations with what to expect and what is needed.

I love technology and the people that develop it, they are not all money grabbers. I grew up with computers, from whole rooms full of glowing valves to the thing in my pocket and this tablet.  Fighting the impulse to get involved with Rasperry Pi  and similar tech - already got too much stuff and not enough room!

[Arturo]

"Rasberry Pi"; I just searched that on the web. Interesting stuff. Maybe I might get one when the money comes. I've learned how to program in CSS and HTML on codecademy but I never found any use for it or even enjoyed what I was doing. But seeing as the most of my time is spent on the computer, I could probably use it.

[Dave]

"Rasberry Pi"; I just searched that on the web. Interesting stuff. Maybe I might get one when the money comes. I've learned how to program in CSS and HTML on codecademy but I never found any use for it or even enjoyed what I was doing. But seeing as the most of my time is spent on the computer, I could probably use it.

The other micro computer system is Arduino, lots of accessories for that as well!

There is a video somewhere where a guy modified an electric wheelchair chassis with a lawnmower, micro comp and GPS to make a mower that once taught the layout of the lawn, knew where it was and mowed pefectly every time.

They are also used a lot by Remap, a voluntary organisation of retired engineers who make bespoke aids for disabled people.

Loads of Youtube stuff on them. Great to teach even 10 yos computing and coding. Great for test/prototype/experimental rigs etc etc etc. Best I managed, 1984, was controlling a prototype river water quality monitor system using a Sinclair Spectrum with its parallel data port (available on the extension port) operating a bunch  of relays.  Could do so much more now...

[Arturo]

Heck, I'm sure the water quality system could be autonomous by now.

[Dave]

Heck, I'm sure the water quality system could be autonomous by now.

"Autonomous"?  Er, "automatic"?  Yes, that was just a prototype and could have run easily on the old washing nachine programmer system, a synchronous motor and a bunch if cams and microswitches. It had about ten functions that it repeated at set times of day.

No idea how sophisticated it is now, when I left work in 2004, a whole 12 years ago we were only just building WiFi, Bluetooth and mobile phone circuits into developmental prototypes of our instruments. All setting up of the instruments was done over wire from the old Psion pocket computers (a real step forward in their day)and laptops. Now I am sure it is done via a smartphone app!

It is as you implied, the advancement, driven by the mobiles, tablet and gaming industries, are making many engineering firms learn lots of new skills. And I reckon we ain't seen nothing yet!