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Getting Evernote Past Hospital Filters 01/03/2010

Evernote has proved to be a very effective way for me to collect, categorize, and store images from interesting cases that I see during the work day or while on call. An initial problem however, was getting past the fact that our hospital computer network filters sites such as Evernote.

To get around the restrictions of a network filter, you can run Evernote directly from a USB drive. At the time of this post, to get the most recent version of Evernote to run from a USB drive. you'll have to purchase a U3 USB drive as described on their Q & A page. There are even USB drives that come preloaded with Evernote.

I did discover that if you run an older version, Evernote 3.1, you can put it on to any old USB drive. So far, Evernote 3.5 beta does not allow me to operate it on a non U3 drive. I anticipate this will be remedied in the near future. But for now, if you want to give Evernote a whirl on a protected network, without having to buy a new U3 USB drive, try the 3.1 version on your jump drive.

Download Evernote 3.1 from their website. If it's not available, get it from our download page.

The Potential of Evernote as a Radiologist's Tool 10/16/2009

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I first heard about Evernote from one of my attendings who recommended that I try the service as a way of organizing my cluttered life. Until then, I had been recording interesting radiology cases on scraps of paper, saved email attachments, or recorded on a Google Documents spreadsheet.

The beauty of Evernote is its elegance of storing, categorizing, and retrieving information. Evernote.com is an online storage for images, notes and PDFs that is accessible from the internet or basically any internet ready device. All notes, PDFs and images are cataloged and can be searched, even text within images! The following is a video on how one medical student uses Evernote as a medical peripheral brain:

Using Evernote as a medical peripheral Brain! from Ryan MacDonald on Vimeo.

I think this has huge potential for radiology but I'm still in the early phases of testing out the service. I will report back once I have a firm grasp of how Evernote can benefit the every day radiologist. If you have experience with Evernote, I want to hear about it. To learn more or try out their free service, go to Evernote.com.

Fried Gonads Recipe 07/19/2009

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Also known as Rocky Mountain Oysters, Prairie Oysters, Mountain Tendergroins, Cowboy Caviar, Swinging Beef and Calf Fries, these tasty treats are sure to please. Consuming animal genitalia has been practiced for ages and by many cultures. Some consider it an aphrodisiac.

Because CT and ultrasound modalities are not quite strong enough to cook gonads to the appropriate crispness, we prefer deep frying. Below is our recommended recipe to hot, spicy, and salty nuts:

INGREDIENTS:
1 pounds fresh calf testicles
3 cups water with 1/4 cup salt
3 cups water with 1 tablespoon white vinegar
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon [1 mL] cayenne
1 cup milk
1/2 cup cornmeal
Vegetable oil or lard, for deep-frying
Your favorite hot sauce

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Remove the tough outer skin from the testicles. Soak in salted water for 1 hour. Nothing like salty nuts.

2. Remove the testicles and place them in a pot of water with vinegar. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain and allow to cool. (The testicles can be prepared 1 day in advance and held refrigerated.)

3. Slice each testicle ¼ inch thick. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Mix the flour with the garlic powder and cayenne. Toss the slices in the seasoned flour.

4. Dip the medallions into the milk, then into the cornmeal to coat.
Deep-fry in 365°F [185°C] oil until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Do not overcook, as they can get quite tough and no one likes tough testes.

5. Serve directly from the fryer, with your favorite hot sauce.

Save the Gonads with a Gonadal Shield! 07/18/2009

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The appropriate protection not only protects against fatherhood, it also protects you in preparation for fatherhood!

These testicular shields will reduce testicular dose by 87% and stylish too! Wear them as a patient or as a health care worker to protect yourself from the harmful effects of ionizing radiation. So comfy, you'll want to wear them around the house, too!

Enhance Your Naps with the Caffeine Power Nap 06/23/2009

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I can always use more sleep. Whether I'm post-call from the hospital, scrambling to study for upcoming exams, or was up late taking care of the new baby, the power nap is one of my favorite tools to jump start my brain when I'm feeling a little foggy.

Drastic times call for drastic measures and to make a power nap even more powerful, I use a little "nap enhancer" or the so-called caffeine power nap. Apparently, in a driving simulator and a series of studies, some investigators, Horne and Reyner, researched the effects of cold air, radio, a break with no nap, a nap, caffeine pill vs. placebo and a short nap preceded by caffeine on mildly sleep-deprived subjects. By far the most effective in reducing driving "incidents" and subjective sleepiness was the caffeine power nap.

Here is how I perform the caffeine power nap:

I gave up caffeine on a regular basis so as to not develop a tolerance to the drug. I now reserve this treat for when I need an extra boost most. By keeping myself uncaffeinated, I can also then fall asleep on a moments notice. When the kids are occupied or when the hospital quiets down at night, I have no time to lose trying to fall asleep.
I bolus 54.5 mg of caffeine into my system by quickly drinking half of a 24 ounce Diet Mountain Dew, I then fall asleep in a nice cozy place before the caffeine has a chance to kick in.
My watch alarm wakes me up 25 minutes later, around the time that the caffeine should be hitting my blood stream.
I slowly sip the rest of my Dew over the next hour or two to take in another 54.5 mg of caffeine as a maintenance drip.

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