Review: Zotero
Probably old hat for a lot of you, but if you’re not using it… Zotero is an amazing tool.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been able to conduct extensive amounts of data research, and build my own (huge) archive all within my browser. Those ‘snapshots,’ along with the ability to build my own tagging taxonomy and annotate the snapshots, have really made an impact on my workflow.
With that shaping done, the last few days have just been focused on quickly pulling up snapshots and pulling what data I need. Going very smoothly and the browser embedded nature of Zotero lends itself to continuing to build this dataset even after the first phase product is finished.
Sullivan Mention in FP/SWJ Column
Nice! (Regarding crime+warfare.)
Review: UniquePhones
My Blackberry 8700c’s jog wheel imploded (refuses to ‘click’ anymore), so I replaced it with an 8800 (GPS was the primary motivator) to tide me over until my contract ends. Had to unlock the phone though, and wasn’t a customer with ATT so couldn’t use them.
UniquePhones did a great job – really easy to use site, really great pricing ($10), and I had my code within, literally, minutes. Really great, efficient, useful, and cheap service. Got me up and running with the new phone in no time flat.
Interstellar Offshoring
IBM is not a black hole for jobs, it’s a wormhole.
What Social Contract?
Harvard researchers say 62% of all personal bankruptcies in the U.S. in 2007 were caused by health problems – and 78% of those filers had insurance.
In 1981, only 8% of families filing for bankruptcy cited a serious medical problem as the reason, while a 2001 study of bankruptcies in five states by the same researchers found that illness or medical bills contributed to 50% of all filings. This newest, nationwide study, conducted before the start of the current recession by Drs. David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler of Harvard Medical School, Elizabeth Warren of Harvard Law School, and Deborah Thorne, a sociology professor at Ohio University, found that the filers were for the most part solidly middle class before medical disaster hit. Two-thirds owned their home and three-fifths had gone to college.
But medically bankrupt families with private insurance reported average out-of pocket medical bills of $17,749, while the uninsured’s bills averaged $26,971. Of the families who started out with insurance but lost it during the course of their illness, medical bills averaged $22,658. “For middle-class Americans, health insurance offers little protection. Most of us have policies with so many loopholes, co-payments, and deductibles that illness can put you in the poorhouse,” said lead author Himmelstein. “Unless you’re Warren Buffett, your family is just one serious illness away from bankruptcy.”