Orson Scott Card’s well known work: Ender’s Game, is answering this question. I won’t give you the details, since I really do not like any spoilers about books. You should read it and see if for yourself, however, I have to say that Scott makes some terrifying points in his book. One can’t help remembering The Lord of The Flies, but this book overlaps with Golding’s work only in some aspects of the depiction of human nature. There is technology, but it is not revealed much till the end of the book, and I’ve realized that I like a little bit of more science in sci-fi! Having finished it just an hour ago, I need to think a little bit more about this book, but I can recommend it (like others tens of thousands of readers) wholeheartedly. I somehow managed to read openings of at least three or more different trilogies, and now have to decide which ones to finish.

Just in case you have not read Gateway, please do it. Pohl’s sci-fi is very impressive, focusing on a lead character who is quite defective. He is not even an anti-hero, he is just the guy in the focus, and I really appreciate that kind of balance about the depiction of lead characters. Certain aspects of this work reminds me of the Rama series, and there are two books following this one, making it a trilogy. The first book introduces so much potential for follow ups, and I hope Pohl’s following books are built on the right aspects. I may have found my new impressive sci-fi trilogy, years after reading Gibson, but it is too early to say this. Let’s see how the two other books are. ...

I’ve been writing some stuff about the things that I keep seeing in the healthcare IT world, especially regarding EHR implementation. Most of it is in draft from now, but I wanted to write down about a particular one, the addiction to perfection. My PhD is in a way focusing on the lack of perfection in certain domains, and accepting it as it is, for better decision support. In the last 13 years or so, I’ve been involved in thousands of conversations with people demanding solutions, and a particular pattern in healthcare is becoming more an more obvious for me. ...

Ok, this is a paper that should provoke a huge discussion. This paper with two of its authors from Harvard says that the picture in hospitals with computers is quite different than the one we always thought we would see. Obviously one should read the paper before discussing it, and I did so. First of all, I have to say that the paper seems to give little thought into why software does not seem to decrease costs. There are three potential reasons mentioned in the conclusion part of the paper, but the final one is quite interesting. Quoting from the paper: “Finally, we believe that the computer’s potential to im- prove efficiency is unrealized because the commercial marketplace does not favor optimal products. Coding and other eimbursement-driven documentation might take precedence over efficiency and the encouragement of clinical arsimony” ...

Ok, this is a paper that should provoke a huge discussion. This paper with two of its authors from Harvard says that the picture in hospitals with computers is quite different than the one we always thought we would see. Obviously one should read the paper before discussing it, and I did so. First of all, I have to say that the paper seems to give little thought into why software does not seem to decrease costs. There are three potential reasons mentioned in the conclusion part of the paper, but the final one is quite interesting. Quoting from the paper: “Finally, we believe that the computer’s potential to im- prove efficiency is unrealized because the commercial marketplace does not favor optimal products. Coding and other eimbursement-driven documentation might take precedence over efficiency and the encouragement of clinical arsimony” ...

Superbugs, and not-so-strong-but-still-a-problem bacteria are threatening patient safety. All those publications out there, and excellent books like Atul Gawande’s “Better” explain the reasons behind this problem, so if you’re curious, you can take a look. What I came across today during my never ending surfing, is a really promising method of increasing the efficiency of killing bacteria and viruses. A new device that uses plasma is able to diminish the chances of carrying harmful bacteria to one in a million.Take a look

Ok, slightly off topic, but if you are interested in my reading list for the last couple of months, here is a brief summary. Atul Gawande, “Better “. Professor Ingram gave this book to me. If you want to see how doctors see certain things, and how hard it is to perform some tasks which they are expected to perform without any errors, read this book. Gawande discusses some interesting topics, including ethics, with quite unusual examples. Would you become a lawyer after years of being a medical doctor, and sue your own colleagues for malpractice cases? Could you use your medical knowledge to end someone’s life, for an execution? A great read. ...

Ok, slightly off topic, but if you are interested in my reading list for the last couple of months, here is a brief summary. Atul Gawande, “Better “. Professor Ingram gave this book to me. If you want to see how doctors see certain things, and how hard it is to perform some tasks which they are expected to perform without any errors, read this book. Gawande discusses some interesting topics, including ethics, with quite unusual examples. Would you become a lawyer after years of being a medical doctor, and sue your own colleagues for malpractice cases? Could you use your medical knowledge to end someone’s life, for an execution? A great read. ...

It appears that every once in a while, makers of really good software remember that there are projects out there who could have used their software, if only they had the resources. Instantiations has very kindly donated a licence for their WindowBuilder Pro product for Opereffa, and I am more than happy to have access to their excellent tool. For those who have not heard about them Instantiations is a company which produces great tools for software developers. Especially if you are using Eclipse, and you are developing desktop or GWT based web applications, their WindowBuilder Pro is pretty much the best tool that money can buy. WindowBuilder Pro does only let you create SWT and Swing forms, but it also lets you create SWT gui artefacts which are crucial in Eclipse plugins. Developing views and editors using WindowBuilder Pro is much easier compared to hand coding them, and guess what: we have lots of tooling to do around Opereffa’s Eclipse plugins. ...

What? My research never goes out of fashion! How can it go out of fashion when the problem is not solved, and my PhD is not even remotely appearing in the horizon? Well, you may be right, but when I say fashion, I mean the hype your research topic can create. The amount of people wondering what is that thing that you’re talking about, and the most important of all, the grants! Yes, grants by venture capitals, research institutions, EU Framework Programme calls, you name it. Why the grants are labelled as most important of all? Well, I’m terribly realistic sometimes, and there are some topics out there, which are so big and complex that you can’t produce concrete outcomes without spending millions of hours of work on it, and an effort of this magnitude can’t exist only by people’s personal commitments. ...