Sunday, August 21, 2005

A robotic system at Stanford Medical Center was used to perform a laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery successfully with a theoretically similar rate of complications to that seen in standard operations. However, as there were only 10 people in the experimental group (and another 10 in the control group), this is not a statistically significant sample.

If this surgical procedure is as successful in large-scale studies, it may lead the way for the use of robotic surgery in even more delicate procedures, such as heart surgery. Note that this is not a fully automated system, as a human doctor controls the operation via remote control. Laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery is a treatment for obesity.

There were concerns that doctors, in the future, might only be trained in the remote control procedure. Ronald G. Latimer, M.D., of Santa Barbara, CA, warned “The fact that surgeons may have to open the patient or might actually need to revert to standard laparoscopic techniques demands that this basic training be a requirement before a robot is purchased. Robots do malfunction, so a backup system is imperative. We should not be seduced to buy this instrument to train surgeons if they are not able to do the primary operations themselves.”

There are precedents for just such a problem occurring. A previous “new technology”, the electrocardiogram (ECG), has lead to a lack of basic education on the older technology, the stethoscope. As a result, many heart conditions now go undiagnosed, especially in children and others who rarely undergo an ECG procedure.

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

January’s second Interview of the Month was with Danny O’Brien of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) on 23 January in IRC.

The EFF is coming off a series of high-profile successes in their campaigns to educate the public, press, and policy makers regarding online rights in a digital world, and defending those rights in the legislature and the courtroom. Their settlement with Sony/BMG, the amazingly confused MGM v Grokster decision by the Supreme Court of the United States, and the disturbing cases surrounding Diebold have earned the advocacy organization considerable attention.

When asked if the EFF would be interested in a live interview in IRC by Wikinews, the answer was a nearly immediate yes, but just a little after Ricardo Lobo. With two such interesting interview candidates agreeing so quickly, it was hard to say no to either so schedules were juggled to have both. By chance, the timing worked out to have the EFF interview the day before the U.S. Senate schedule hearings concerning the Broadcast flag rule of the FCC, a form of digital rights management which the recording and movie industries have been lobbying hard for – and the EFF has been lobbying hard to prevent.

Monday, April 29, 2013

Sunday, the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks drafted Brisbane, Australia native nose tackle Jesse Williams in the fifth round of the NFL Draft. Going into the draft, there were some expectations by the Brisbane Times and other media outlets that Williams might be selected in the first round. Injuries, which resulted in Williams being unable to participate fully in the NFL Combine, likely were reasons why he was not selected higher.

Gridiron football is not the most popular football code in Australia, with rugby league, rugby union, soccer, and Australian rules football all being more popular participation sports. Williams’ youth sporting career reflected this, with Williams playing rugby union until he was 15 years old at which time he switched codes and joined the local gridiron team, the Bayside Ravens. A year later, his playing ability earned him a scholarship offer from the University of Hawaii. He could not meet the university’s academic standards so eventually he attended Western Arizona Community College instead. In 2011, he transferred to the University of Alabama and played for the Alabama Crimson Tide for two seasons. Both seasons, his Crimson Tide team won the national championship.

Williams’ selection is unique amongst Australians as most Australians who have played in the NFL have been kickers. He is also only the second Australian ever to be drafted in the NFL Draft.

Friday, February 4, 2022

The American football team based in Washington, D.C., announced Wednesday on the Today Show it would adopt the new name the Washington Commanders.

The team, which plays in the National Football League (NFL), had previously been called the Washington Redskins.

For years, Native American organizations had argued it is offensive for sports teams to call themselves Indians. The Washington team drew more criticism than most, because unlike “Indians” or “braves,” the word “redskin” is specifically, as Ray Halbritter of Oneida Nation Enterprises called it, “a dictionary-defined slur.”

On Wednesday, team president Jason Wright told viewers the new name “embodies the values of service and leadership that characterizes the DMV [D.C., Maryland, Virginia region].”

Current and former players Jonathan Allen and Gary Clark praised the new uniforms, which feature a prominent letter “W.” Allen said that although the name did not have meaning or history, the experience and atmosphere of seeing players in their new uniforms would soon bring enthusiasm from fans.

For a long time, team owner Daniel Snyder resisted changing the name, once threatening to “put it in all caps.” However, in June 2020, 87 sponsors that pay hundreds of millions of dollars to affiliate with the team, including FedEx, Nike, and Pepsi, wrote a letter to the team management asking the name be changed. The team had also faced increasing complaints the old name was insulting to Native Americans. The team hired John Wright, who consulted with fans, a former player, and Native Americans to find a new name. Fans liked variations of “Red Wolves,” but too many other teams had already trademarked and copyrighted similar names and imagery.

Reactions from Native American voices were mixed.

Crystal Echo Hawk of IllumiNative said the team had an opportunity to “put a horrible chapter to rest,” adding: “There’s still a lot of healing that needs to happen, so I don’t think the team’s work in regards to reconciliation and healing is over.”

Fawn Sharp of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) said team management had not done enough to acknowledge the harm done by the former name: “Without an apology, without any measure of accountability, and without fulfilling the honored commitments they made to tribal nations in 2020 to right this wrong, the NFL and Snyder are simply ‘Commanding’ a continued course of open, intentional and profit-driven racism and erasure.”

About one thousand sports teams in the United States are named after Native Americans in some way, down from about three thousand in the 1990s. The American Indian Movement and NCAI, among other organizations, have advocated for these teams to adopt non-Native American names and mascots.

Monday, February 5, 2007

The return of Michael Dell as the Chief Executive Officer of computer making giant Dell marked a series of changes. In his memo to the employees of the company he founded, Michael Dell said that there will be no bonuses and that the company will reduce its management in an effort to cut costs.

2006 was not a financial success for Dell. It lost its leading market position to Hewlett-Packard, and the SEC started investigating Dell for possible accounting improprieties. Several executives also left during recent months.

The daily newspaper Austin American-Statesman reported the Rollins memo and posted on its website a copy of the e-mail. The e-mail was confirmed by Dell’s spokesman for the Associated Press.

Michael Dell’s memo also outlined the fact that all bonuses would be replaced by so-called “limited discretionary awards”. The beneficiaries of such awards will be all but senior management. There will also be a shortening in the period of stock investing.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

The American satirist Stephen Colbert has announced that he will run for the Presidency of the United States. He made his announcement on his mock news show The Colbert Report.

However, Colbert said that he would only run in his home state of South Carolina as a favorite son. He also said that he would represent both major political parties: the Republicans and the Democrats. It is not known how far Colbert will go with his character during his electoral run.

Colbert has hosted The Colbert Report, a spin-off to another satirical television series, The Daily Show, since its creation in 2005. “I didn’t have a job back then. I wonder what it was like to have a job back then. I am sure I could ask a dentist or a surgeon. He would know.” On the show he plays a right-wing political pundit, based on real-life pundits such as Bill O’Reilly and Stone Phillips. Colbert has been credited with popularizing certain words such as “Truthiness”, meaning to believe something intuitively, without regard for actual facts, logic or evidence.

Filling in for New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd on Sunday, Colbert wrote: “I am not ready to announce yet — even though it’s clear that the voters are desperate for a white, male, middle-aged, Jesus-trumpeting alternative.”