GeorgeBMac

EPIC and the hospitals are not concerned about patient privacy or cost (When did our healthcare system ever worry about cost?)

They ARE concerned about losing control of patient data for a plethora of reasons:  Once control of the data is taken away from "The System" the patient has a lot more knowledge and control -- which can put the hospital in bad spot.  Basically, our healthcare system, particularly at the hospital level, has always been adamant on maintaining total control of what goes on -- the patient is limited to refusing care, but even that is very difficult.   In addition, the patient's data would lose a great deal of its monetary value as they would not be able to sell it themselves to companies like Google (which one major system has already done).

When thinking about why our large health care operations do something always think money and profits because that is all that they think of - just as any other corporation does.  This proposal will cost them both in money and control so they are opposed to it.   Their objections have nothing to do with protecting the patient -- that's just the shield they hide behind.

I just upgraded from a 44mm Series 1 to a 44mm Series 4 -- because I could get a new one for $130 off from a third party vendor trying to clear stock.   Yeh, the always on display of the Series 5 is a very nice feature -- particularly in meetings where you need to sneak a peek to get the time and doing a dramatic wrist raise is not in good taste.   But, being retired, that feature is no big deal to me.

 But, this was a major upgrade from my Series 1 (which was running really well).  To be honest, I noticed an improvement in speed, but surprisingly nothing dramatic because the Series 1 was already pretty quick.

But four things that are making a big difference for me:
1)  The increased size of the icons make it a lot easier for my fat fingers to maneuver the home screen.
2)  The increased font sizes make it a LOT easier to read while running (that's really nice).
3)  Having a phone on my wrist means I no longer have to carry a phone around for safety in case I need to call for help.
4)  The fall detection already kicked in:   While running on a trail yesterday I tripped over a rock buried under some leaves and went down hard (partly because I was already moving at 6-7mph).   And, it gently asked me if it should call for help -- which was doubly nice since I was out there alone and did not have my phone with me.

So, this Series 4 with LTE is already pretty sweet.  And the Series 5 is obviously even better -- especially if your boss is lecturing you over something as it comes time for your bus to arrive.

There are two main approaches to "healthcare":

The one we are most familiar with is actually "DiseaseManagement" -- where you go to the doctor with a complaint or your doctor finds a problem and, in most cases, he prescribes a pill.  The pill typically does nothing to resolve the problem.   But it does suppress the symptoms of the problem (so in the medical mind, they fixed the problem).  (Blood pressure pills are a prime example)

The other approach is actual healthcare where health is promoted and maintained.   Dean Ornish may be the best proponent of that approach as he advocates a healthy lifestyle that includes a healthy diet, daily exercise, stress reduction along with human love and connection.  He has shown that that lifestyle can not only prevent but even reverse heart disease, many cancers, Type 2 diabetes and is currently running a study that may show that it can prevent and reverse Alzheimers.  His program is no longer alternative medicine or anything far out as Medicare and many insurance programs now pay for it because it has been proven to work.

It is estimated that 80% of the $17Trillion Americans spend on health care each year is spent on chronic diseases and that this lifestyle approach can prevent 80% of those chronic diseases.   Which is maybe why those receiving that $17Trillion have never been thrilled by the lifestyle approach.

So, while the American medical system gives lip service to lifestyle medicine it typically then ignores it in favor of traditional medical pills and procedures (which is where the money is).   Apple has come closer than most to promoting those healthy lifestyles but still seems to be firmly rooted in the traditional medical establishment.  That may be good because, in that business, traditional medicine calls the shots and any who challenge it tend to run into a buzz saw.

Putin is far from maniacal.   He is calculating.  Coldly, calculating for what is best for his country.

In 2014 Hillary promised Ukraine a NATO membership if they left the Russian fold.

NATO and its missiles, fighter planes, bombers, tanks, etc... on Russia's border are a direct threat to Russia -- just as they were to us in 1960 when Russia started moving them into Cuba.

How did Putin respond to Hillary's foolishness?  By making sure she was not elected president.  And, we didn't hear anymore about NATO in Ukraine till Biden took office.

How did Russia respond to all of that?

Russia wanted ALL Ukrainians to have a vote - so they supported the Minsk agreement.  But western Ukraine blocked it (after agreeing to it) -- so only western Ukrainians got to vote -- and they are voting to let in NATO missiles next door to Russia.   Russia is understandably worried about that -- just as we were when missiles were shipped to Cuba in 1960 when we said:  Either remove them or there WILL BE WAR!

The west knows better than to face Russia militarily.  So it is taking the Trump route with "sanctions".
But, like with Trump's.  It is us who will pay the price. Oil prices are already headed up to $100.

Meanwhile, we've been throwing economic warfare around since 2016 and those we are targeting are beginning to take action to defend themselves.  That will weaken us even further.  Actually, a LOT further when the dollar and U.S. financial systems are no longer the world standard.

The losers in this cock fight will be, once again, us, the people.

All we have to do is commit to never letting NATO into Ukraine and this nonsense would be at an end.  We would lose nothing and the world would gain peace.

But no.  Instead we're starting an economic war.

... Stupid.   Very, very stupid.

I have not experienced any of these problems after updating my iPhone 7 and Series 4 AppleWatch.

But, as a warning, I have experienced problems when trying to restore an iPhone and then re-pair it with a watch.  

Specifically:   The iPhone would restore and appear to be fully functional but the pairing process would fail on multiple attempts.

Eventually what was happening became more clear:   while the data (such as contacts) was restored from the iCloud backup, the phone was still restoring data from elsewhere.   That was data that was not backed up under iCloud backup such as:  music, health, pictures, etc....   While it was never exactly clear what was going on, it appeared to be that the download of that additional data overrode the download of data to pair the Apple Watch (almost like WiFi had failed) and the pairing process failed.

As the article points out:  They knew the bridge would have to be partially disassembled to get the boat out of the ship yard.   What it doesn't say is that it will be reassembled at Bezo's expense in a matter of weeks.

While there are people who are objecting, the locals say that building the ship there was worth it to them and the local economy.

OF my 14 year old grandson's friends, I do not know of a single one who doesn't have an iPhone.  And the oldest model is an Xr.

They use group chat and FaceTime not regularly but constantly...  But increasingly I see them using Apple Cash -- not only to buy stuff but, on occasion, they transfer cash among each other peer to peer.  For them, it is replacing cash.

Basically, their preference for iPhones has little or nothing to do with hardware and mostly / everything to do with Apple's software and ecosystems that enable them to interact with each other in ways and at times they could do without their iPhones.

On the other hand, I do not know of even one who has an Apple Watch.  My grandson had one (a Series 3) but stopped wearing it -- now his mother uses it to monitor exercise.

You won't get any disagreement from me on that.

But, as a long haul driver, it is possible he had not been home, with his girl friend, for months.  And, with the driver shortage, they would likely send him back across the country as soon as he delivered that load.

No, that doesn't excuse it.  But I suspect that there is another side to the story.

We should perhaps be blaming the booking & scheduling agency as much or more than the driver.

But here, we're only getting one side of the story.  We don't know if he was a goof-off or just trying to survive.  Sometimes that can be a fine line.

In any case, somebody screwed up and: That's a great story about AirTags!

Of course people aren't using that silly cord Apple enclosed with the iPhone 12.   They have nothing to plug it into.   It was just a cruel joke Apple played on its customers.

Now, if they provided something (like a USB-C brick) to plug it into the story would be quite different with happy customers watching their phones charge from 0% to 50% in 30 minutes.