REVIEW: Nexxtech USB FM Transmitter

Recently while I was in Banff, I was looking around the Source by Circuit City store and came upon the Nexxtech USB FM Transmitter. I've been thinking about buying an FM transmitter for a while, but I found this one appealing because it powers directly from the USB port from my laptop (or any other USB port for that matter.) It also comes with an adapter that powers the trasmitter when you don't have a USB port available. It's handy for using the transmitter with your MP3 player, CD player or PDA. The adapter is powered by two AAA batteries.

The transmitter sound quality is pretty top notch compared to my brother's Belkin FM transmitter that he purchased for his MP3 player. The Nexxtech transmitter has a range of about 10 metres.

The only downside to the transmitter is that it lacks a digital display and ability to choose any frequency that you want. It has about 5 frequencies that you can choose, and you can select the frequency by adjusting the combination of three on/off switches on the transmitter.

The Nexxtech USB FM transmitter is currently selling for $29.99 at the Source by Circuit City stores.

You can purchase the Nexxtech USB FM transmitter here:
Nexxtech USB FM Transmitter

Sgt.Pepper Reprise/The End

I've been searching for the Sgt.Pepper Reprise/The End segment of a Paul McCartney concert, and finally found one on Youtube.com. It was an awesome way to end a truly awesome concert. If he ever tours again I'm going back to see him just to see him perform Sgt.Pepper Reprise/The End one last time.

Italy defeats Australia in injury time

Italy beat Australia today 1-0 with a goal on a penalty kick in injury time. Italy was already down one man after one of their players was sent off on a red card earlier in the match. The winning goal was scored on a penalty kick on a phantom foul in injury time. One of Australia's defenders missed a tackle and the Italy attacker fell over him while the defender was completely still. A pretty weak call to end an important game!

Old Navy Discount

If you shop at Old Navy, this post is for you. You can get $10 off if you spend $50 until July 5, 2006. Use this coupon here:
http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/5825/oldnavy4ek.gif

SanDisk 1GB MP3 Player - $69.99 at FS

Futureshop has a 1GB SanDisk MP3 player on for $69.99 for today only ($90 off). It's expandable with an external SD card. It uses one AAA battery, which lasts up to 17 hours. It also comes with an arm band and has a built in FM tuner.

You can get it here:
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0665000FS10060839&logon=&langid=EN

Dell Laptop weekend savings

Dell has a good deal on a notebook this weekend. You can get a Inspiron 6400 for $999 ($364 off the regular price).
It has the following features:

Dell Inspiron 6400 with Intel Core Duo processor T2300 (2MB/1.66GHz/667MHz)
512MB DDR2 533MHz 1Dimm Memory
8x DVD+/-RW Drive
15.4'' TrueLife Wide-Screen WXGA
128MB ATI Mobility Radeon x1300 HyperMemory
80GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Intel PRO/Wireless 802.11 a/g Mini Card (54Mbps)
Windows XP Home Edition, SP2, English
Microsoft Worksuite 2006

Get the deal here:
Amazing Dell Deal! Inspiron 6400 notebook for only $999.

Longest day of the year

Today is the longest day of the year and the first day of summer. I'm told there will be around 17 hours of daylight today. Whoo hoo. On the downside, the days get shorter from here on in, and, before you know it, winter will be back.

Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes (PPROM)

I'm doing obstetrics and gynecology right now at the Royal Alex, and I have to pick a topic for our teaching tomorrow, and seeing as it might be an interesting topic to some of my readers out there, I'm making it a blog posting.

The topic I've chosen is Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes. This is defined as the rupture of membranes before 37 weeks gestational age AND prior to the onset of labour. Some risk factors of this condition include:

Maternal

• Multiparity
• Cervical incompetence
• infection: cervicitis, vaginitis, STD, UTI
• family history of PROM
• low socioeconomic class/poor nutrition

Fetal

• congenital anomaly
• multiple gestation

People with PPROM present the same way as regular ROM present -- they present with a history of fluid gush or continued leakage.

How do you confirm that you indeed have a case of PPROM? First, a sterile speculum exam should be done (to avoid the introduction of infection.) On this exam you may notice pooling of fluid in the posterior fornix or you may observe fluid leaking out of the cervix on cough/valsalva ("cascade.")

You may also be able to take a swab of the fluid and under a microscope you may see ferning crystals (the high salt content of the amniotic fluid looks like ferns as the fluid evaporates.)
You should also do a ultrasound to rule out any fetal anomalies, assess gestational age, and amniotic fluid volume.

How do we manage these patients? Firstly, we should avoid introducing infection with examinations (such as avoiding doing a digital pelvic exam.) Cultures should be sent to identify any harmful organisms present. Depending on the gestational age, the degree of prematurity vs. the risk of amniotitis and sepsis by remaining in utero must be weighed. Some guidelines in Toronto Notes are as follows:

• <>26-34 weeks - expectant management as prematurity complications are significant
• 34-36 weeks - "grey zone" where risk of death from RDS and neonatal sepsis is the same
• > 36 weeks - induction of labour since the risk of death from sepsis is greater than RDS

One should also assess the fetal lung maturity by L/S ratio of amniotic fluid. A shot of betamethasone valerate can also be given to accelerate maturity. Antibiotics can also be given to reduce the chance of infection, but this seems to be controversial.

The latest Dell.ca coupons

Here are the latest Dell.ca coupons:


Save an additional $100 on select systems when you spend over $1199 with coupon code 6XNVGVRN8B$XT0

Save an additional $50 on select systems when you spend over $499 with coupon code $65RH6QGJ?2LD1

Codes Expire June 29th, 2006.

Oilers lose game 7

The Oilers lost game 7 tonight of the Stanley Cup playoffs. I missed the first two and a half periods (I was on call at the Royal Alex.) It looked like they might tie it up in the last 10 minutes, but it was not to be. Hopefully it won't take them another 15 years to get back to the finals (I'll be 39 if that's the case.)

So, now I'm sad :(

Now, to make my sadness go away, I'm hoping the Eskimos repeat as Grey Cup champions, although their game on Saturday wasn't a great start to the season.

Go Esks Go.

Letters in the AMA Doctors' Digest

There's been a lot of focus in medical school today regarding entering family medicine practice. Many students today are choosing specialty medicine over family practice.

Family physicians are extremely important in healthcare. The majority of people in Canada rely on their family physician to provide their daily healthcare needs. They follow patients' health problems, both acute and chronic. If a patient does not trust their family physician, they most likely will not trust the rest of the healthcare system.

There are a number of excellent reasons to choose family medicine as a medical student, including the ability to run your own practice, to choose your own hours, and the ability to follow your patients for a number of years.

In the most recent issue of the Alberta Medical Association Doctors' Digest (May/June edition), they featured some member feedback on physicians possibly considering a career change. Here's what some people had to say:

“I am considering a career change. . . . The very significant lack of fair compensation for work done, responsibility assumed, is a major influence. The tremendous demand on time has impacted my personal life irreversibly and it is time to care for myself, my family, as ardently and thoroughly as I have cared for patients.”

“I will be retiring because of a number of factors: poor remuneration for family practice; ever-increasing office costs related to computerization/privacy legislation/licensing fees/staffing salaries; increasing paperwork demands related to insurance/medical-legal reporting; the unwanted push to join primary care networks with the paradoxical result of further fragmentation of patient care; increasing difficulties in getting speedy patient consultations, the frustrations of having to fill in multiple forms, arrange/book more preliminary testing before a specialist will agree to see a patient. Never have waiting times been so long (thanks to 1994 gutting of the medical system, subsequent loss of many excellent doctors).”

“I am considering retiring as I see family medicine losing the personal touch. By political design and with the willing acquiescence of 'political' doctors . . . the doctors are to be technicians and no longer doctors.”

“I have changed my career path within the last four years from 100% delivery of medical care to patients to a 25-30% patient contact: 70-75% administrative work mix. This is not as professionally rewarding but it offers better flexibility as a mother and, sadly, is more financially rewarding.”

“Reasons to leave practice: increased institutionalization of practice via increasing numbers of programs giving RHAs power to interfere with the delivery of primary care, threatening professional independence and autonomy; increasingly heavy workloads for those providing comprehensive primary care; relatively poor remuneration for those providing comprehensive primary care. . . .”

It seems as the feedback was quite one-sided, as I'm sure there are a number of family physicians who love their practice and patients. However, I think that what is represented in these views should be presented to medical students along with the pros of becoming a family physician so that students can make a choice for their career which best suites their personality and goals for the future.

Gone to Banff for the weekend

My family, along with Amanda are going to Banff this weekend for a Rod Run (Hot Rod's, oh yeah.) Hopefully the weather holds up for most of the weekend. I couldn't believe how much it rained last night -- luckily nothing flooded around my house!

We'll have to find a bar tomorrow to watch the hockey game at. The Oilers better win! Go Oilers Go!

Antidepressants associated with birth problems

Normally I don't take much of an interest in the daily CMA.ca emails, but since I'm doing obstetrics right now, this one was a little more interesting (and rather controversial it may seem.)

So what's the bottom line? The CMA states:

    "The use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in the year before giving birth is associated with increased risk of prematurity, fetal death, and neonatal seizures. However, these observational data are weakened by the need to make difficult adjustments for other important factors thought to be causally related to the outcomes studied, such as poverty and drug dependence."

What's an SSRI? Some examples that you may have heard of are Prozac, Celexa, Paxil, and Zoloft among others. Many people take these SSRI's for the treatment of depression.

The CMA then goes on to state:

    "In this retrospective cohort study the pregnancy outcomes of 972 Canadian women who received at least one prescription for an SSRI were compared with those of 3878 women who did not. Matching was performed on the basis of year of infant birth, type of institution in which the birth took place, and mother's postal code. Women who took SSRIs were more likely to be older, receive social assistance, have higher parity, higher rate of multiple gestation, and higher rate of drug dependence. The authors adjusted for all these factors, and for maternal drug dependence. Data were not presented for additional potential confounders including smoking. Significantly increased risks were found for low birth weight (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.58; 1.19-2.11), preterm birth (AOR =1.57; 1.28-1.92), fetal death (AOR = 2.23; 1.01-4.93), and neonatal seizures (AOR = 3.87; 1.00-14.99). There were no adverse associations found for congenital malformations or maternal outcomes"

I'm guessing that further research will be needed in this area, as the study seems rather short on some important points.

'Access is denied' message when installing Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2)

So, for a couple of weeks now I've been having trouble installing Windows XP Service Pack 2. I kept on getting registry errors during the install process, finally ending off with an “Access is Denied” message, thus, ending the installation. However, after a lot of searching, I found the following solution, which actually works, as compared to all of Microsoft's solutions.

(UPDATE -- July 3rd. This page has now had over 10,000 page views. Hope you're all still benefiting from this solution!)

Do the following:

1. Download and install subinacl from: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e8ba3e56-d8fe-4a91-93cf-ed6985e3927b&displaylang=en

2. Download and install this file: http://brock.paramagnus.com/files/sp2_registry_fix.exe (FREE - Ad-supported) or pay $5.00USD to download an ad-free version here: Download an ad-free version here for $5.00USD

3. Run SP2 InstallationNote -- The SP2 Registry Fix is Ad-Supported Software. It does not contain Spyware.

Alternatively, you can follow these directions:

1. Download and install subinacl from:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e8ba3e56-d8fe-4a91-93cf-ed6985e3927b&displaylang=en

2. Create a file named reset.cmd in C:\Program Files\Windows Resource
Kits\Tools folder.

3. Edit the reset.cmd file with the following content.

subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE /grant=administrators=f
subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_CURRENT_USER /grant=administrators=f
subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT /grant=administrators=f
subinacl /subdirectories %SystemDrive% /grant=administrators=f

subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE /grant=system=f
subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_CURRENT_USER /grant=system=f
subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT /grant=system=f
subinacl /subdirectories %SystemDrive% /grant=system=f

4. Enter into CMD prompt.

5. Enter the following commands one at a time and click Enter.

cdcd "C:\Program Files\Windows Resource Kits\Tools"
reset.cmd

6. Let the program do it's work, then run the SP2 installation.

Good times.

8 months!

My girlfriend, Amanda, and I have been dating for almost 8 months now! Here's a picture of us that was taken recently at Adam and Robyn's engagement brunch at the Sawmill on Calgary Trail. I've got a face only a mother could love!

Welcome to Brock's New Blog

I've outgrown the functionality of the .Text blog system and needed something a little more complex for my blogging needs, thus, I've switched to a Blogger blog hosted on the Paramagnus server. We'll see how it goes, but it's been fun to play with so far! I'm also able to make my posts in Microsoft Word and publish them directly from there, which will make things a whole lot easier for me!