Patrick Jarrett

photo credit: Fernando Cuenca Romero

It shocks you into realizing that something isn’t right. Often this results in fear, uncertainty, anxiousness, and eventually exhaustion. That all hit me yesterday when I took my dad to the Emergency Room. I had been at work for two hours when he called and said, “Son, I need you. I need to go to the hospital.” He had blacked out three separate times at home, resulting in a very large bump on his head, what we learned was a bruised rib, and a handful of scratches and bruises to show for it.

The problem is not the handful of injuries, but that dad blacked out three times. It turned out that his blood pressure is dropping quite dangerously whenever he stands up. So they admitted him to the hospital to see what is going on.

Once we got past the shock of being in the hospital and what dad is going through I was shocked again at the utter lack of clear information transfer there is among the staffers who took care of him today. I was telling the nurses and doctors the same thing every time I met a new one. Only one doctor took the effort to read the information carefully while conversing with us. There is clearly a lacking tool here, something that allows easy notes and clear communication between staff members.

When dad got transferred up from the ER to the CTU (Clinical Transition Unit, the waiting area until a room is ready) the nurses didn’t know that he couldn’t stand up. That seems like it’s one of the most important pieces of information to be transferred to the new attendants for my dad’s health.

Don’t take this as a criticism of the hospital itself, they do a fantastic job, it’s a criticism of the system that is present in all hospitals I’ve ever been too.

On the drive home last night the idea struck me for a web site system which allowed family members to log on to a website and see the latest information about their family member. Obviously it would need to be a secure platform and would need to be seemlessly integrated into the workflow the nurses are already trained in, but if I could log in and see what dad’s blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen were, then that the doctor had been in to see him, and that right now he was marked as sleeping, it would be very comforting.

Unfortunately the converse is true, the site would also be a window to worry. If the patient was doing well, then there would be the continued reloading of the page to see updates, and frustration that the system wasn’t updating fast enough.

So do the benefits outweigh the costs? Is it something that would do more good than harm? I don’t know. I’m a web developer, not a medical professional. But if any of you decide to pursue this project, I could be convinced to take part and offer my help in building the system.

My dad is doing okay, I’m waiting on a call back from his nurse for an update. Last I knew we were waiting on two doctors to come by to figure out our next course of action, he’s already seen his Oncologist, Dr. Zehngebot, who was understandably perplexed by my dad’s condition. They have temporarily stopped his chemotherapy drug, Sutent, but after that I am not sure what the next step will be.

Link shorteners seem to be the whipping boy of the Internet right now, everywhere I turn someone is griping about their evils, and their faults, and how they are going to be the downfall of the Internet. And yet, Digg, StumbleUpon, Bit.ly, Facebook and others are all working on this in various ways.

Digg and Facebook both use iframe wrappers to put a toolbar at the top of the window, offering the user enhanced functionality but in turn cloaking the content owner’s site and generally being uncool. Site owners, ones who are serious about blogging and building their following, usually dislike this as they feel that they lose credit or value from the links and traffic.

StumbleUpon has a private beta going on for their http://su.pr link shortener and today they released info about something I am VERY keen on. It’s called Supr:Short according to this page, and it solves a major problem I have with Digg and Facebook’s linking.

Digg and Facebook use iframes to display a javascript toolbar that provides extra functionality and control back on the home site. This is done using a less than desirable iframe because it is the only way to maintain the javascript bar at the top of the window. But StumbleUpon is providing site owners with the ability to host the necessary scripts on their own site by some PHP code and a locally remotely hosted javascript file thus negating the need for the nasty iframe.

The fact that they put the scripts in the control of the user means that everyone wins. The site owner does because they regain the value and the address bar reads their own url. StumbleUpon does because the script sends them the necessary information and analytics and maintain their control bar.

The downside is that it possibly means issues as site owners will need to keep their script up to date. But the gained value more than makes up for the needed maintenance.

I can’t stress enough how exciting this possibility is and that it is a very good direction for link shorteners to go. I unfortunately do not have a beta invite for StumbleUpon, but would love to get one to play with this new development!

Update: – Minutes after I posted this, StumbleUpon released 250 more beta codes into the public. I successfully snatched one and have implemented the SuprShort code on the site. I’ll test it over the next few weeks and write a follow-up detailing my experience. Just a heads up, if you came to this page from http://trickjarrett.com/3gFN then you just used the Su.pr code I talk about above.

It’s no secret I’m a morning person. I’m usually up at 6am with an outer edge around 8am. It’s something I developed in middle and high school.

The thing is, I love the quiet. My life is bombarded by noise from the tv, online, in my Twitter feed. And in the wee hours the world is silent, allowing me to relax and start my day off right.

The fact of the matter is that I get up early the same reason a lot of programmers work in the wee late hours. It’s undistracted time for me to work on tasks, catch up on the DVR, or just relax.

Last night was an example though of staying up late AND getting up early. K and I went to SAK for a hysterical set of shows, and then went out with our good friend Rob to hang out and get a late night meal at IHOP. So right now I’m running on four hours of sleep. And this is when I curse myself for being an early morning person, though I am about to head out and spend time with my dad so I turn to my top secret answer to tiredness: Red Bull.

When it comes to web development, or technology as a whole, I want to be Julian Delphiki. You may expect me to tell you that Delphiki was a famous scientist or some brilliant engineer who created an enhanced beach ball, but in fact he was just a child when he had his greatest success.

Julian Delphiki is better known as Bean, the diminuitive greek kid who helped Ender Wiggin save the earth from the buggers in Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game. His specialty was being the problem solver. He thought of the stupid ridiculous over-the-top ideas and made them work.

I want to be the mad scientist of web design. Ask me for the impossible, give me the time and the resources, and I’ll find the way or I’ll blaze my own trail.

There’s a magical idea here, the seductive power of the infinite. Web design is an infinite canvas with infinite canvases available. But even in the infinite boundless workspace the possible can be hard to find. I love web design for that feeling, the same feeling a sculptor has as he digs his fingers through clay. The way that Edison felt when his light bulb lit and held its burn for longer than the flash so many others gave off as they went off.

Or when the Pirate Blackbeard first spotted his prey and then successfully overran them and began to pillage and plunder. The feeling of satisfaction and pleasure basking in victory. He created a victory where in many cases there should have been none. Now imagine if Bean had been a pirate, Somalia would have been deeply interested in that.

Invention is a wonderful and powerful thing.

Last night’s improv show was fun, but I think my favorite quote came from a scene about a vampire:

“You want to stake me? I think you look like a steak.”

1. Win the lotto.
2. Tell K the good news.
3. Call our richest acquaintance in Orlando, get the name of their lawyer.
4. Get the name of the lawyer’s accountant or financial adviser.
5. Set a meeting with both to setup the protections and financial plans for investing.
6. Set up trust for inheritance money.
7. Pull aside a small percentage for use.
8. Pay off all debt.
9. Begin plan to spread money among closest family, such as parents, siblings (and kids if we have any at the time.)
10. Give generously to charities and organizations we support.
11. With what remains of spending money, depending on amount, buy house, plan trips, etc.
12. Once I’m fully setup and ready, it’s time to pursue world domination.

I would most likely quit my day job and begin plans to really roll out my own business. I’ve got a plan for a shopping center with a variety of stores and businesses I think I could run better than other people. Things like game shops, sushi restaurants, after school centers, and a handful of others.

K and I could also go nomadic and uproot and begin traveling the world, that’s also a likely outcome, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Oh and I plan to give $10,000 to the first 5 individuals (who I know, sorry random visitors) to comment on this post. You know, if K and I ever win the lotto

If we decided what had won E3 for the most press and buzz, undoubtedly it is Xbox 360’s Natal (nah-tall). This project is bringing the next level of interaction and immersion in games. The ability for us to move past the Wii’s active level using a controller into an active gaming experience on our own.

Now the first thing is to share that a bit of this technology is bought or licensed by Microsoft, it isn’t their own. Johnny Lee, who is best known for the hack he did with the Wii, where he modified a pair of glasses to interact with the Wii and create an impressive experience where the screen reflected his location and orientation, allowing him to literally look behind objects and such. Also I saw a demo for some of the function where a person can control systems without any controller, such as we saw the flicking through movies etc.

Of the demos though, Natal’s Milo is the most amazing, stunning and unbelievable. The functionality shown in this demo is so smooth and realistic I find it very hard to believe.

Further, I realized halfway through the video that Milo had not fallen into the Uncanny Valley for me. Obviously he’s still clearly animated and not going for the 100% realistic look, instead going with a more artistic nearly anime art style while still staying somewhat close to realistic.

But considering even the animation as ho-hum, consider the AI we’re shown. The ability for the system to process natural language, detect inflections, and the creation of realistic audio. Just wow. This could be truly epic and if the game / system continues to develop in this way, I will definitely be acquiring an Xbox 360 for it.

What makes for a good weekend? Let me lay it out for you because this weekend was pretty good:

1. The Orlando Magic win in a decisive and very strong finish in a six game series to the Cleveland Cavaliers
2. I saw a HYSTERICAL show at SAK on Friday night, a great cast and lots of crazy only-in-improv antics
3. Did yard work and felt satisfied with the progress in the eternal battle with our yard
4. Watched lots of TV on DVD including 30 Rock season 2 (almost finished) and Big Bang Theory season 1, both are hysterically funny shows
5. [censored]
6. Lots and lots of laughing
7. Grilled up some very yummy pork chops
8. Nearly caught up on my Food Network shows from Grill week
9. Got a much needed haircut