Michael Jackson, Defibrillator Lessons, and Flatline Myths

Michael Jackson’s death reminded me of something I recently learned.

I attended defibrillator training at work, one of 4 in case of a medical emergency.

During the course, the instructor stated a fact that shocked me.

In the movies you always see people flat-lining (essentially dying) and being resuscitated using manual CPR or a defibrillator. But the instructor mentioned this is more likely during Ventricle Fibrillation (V-Fib), which is a twitching of the heart muscles which lasts only 6-8 minutes or so, and very unlikely after flat-lining or when the heart completely stops, at which point, according to him, there is roughly only a 0.0001% chance of survival.

Flatline

Chunking

Just returned form completing the Ride for Heart (50K) here in TorontoMy wife had an excuse to go to a bridal shower so I did it solo this year. It’s become sort of a tradition with me to go participate in this event. out of the last 13 years, I believe I only missed one year.

Since I was on my own, I decided to bring my iPod along. Gave me a chance to get back to an audio book I had set aside. The 2.5 hour ride gave me exactly the time I needed to finish This is Your Brain on Music.

Learned an interesting fact about cognitive memory management. There are two types of memory: long term and short term or “working memory“.

Apparently working memory is limited and can normally only sustain 9 items at one time. So our brain uses “chunking” to retain more complex memory structures in working memory, thanks to knowledge retained from the past.

For example, when memorizing a phone number we “chunk” the area code as one item rather than the 3 individual digits, since we know what an area code is for say Toronto.

5 Myths about Drinking Water

Told you so mom!

1. You need to drink 8 glasses a day
2. Drinking lots of water helps clear out toxins
3. Drinking lots of water leads to healthier looking skin
4. Drinking water suppresses appetite
5. It’s easy to get dehydrated during a workout

Intellivision Memories

Interesting study:

Half Of 26-Year-Old’s Memories Nintendo-Related

BROOKLYN, NY—Nearly 50 percent of 26-year-old paralegal Philip Jenkins’ encoded long-term memories involve button combinations, game-playing experiences, and spatial-cognitive maps of various levels and worlds from Nintendo’s line of video-game consoles, a team of neuroscientists reported Tuesday.

It would be interesting to see how the commercial world is trying to relate and market to the video-gaming generation.

My first console was an Intellivision. As a 35 year old, my memories and spacial-cognitive maps are partially filled with crappier graphics (though considered “advanced” at the time) and less complex virtual worlds. Long hours of eye watering Astrosmash levels, and Tron Deadly Disks high scores ingrained in my head for decades. Wow.. there’s a page for that too? Wikipedia (authors) always seems to impress me.

Interesting. Could explain my addiction to my iPod video and why I mastered its controls so quickly.

What was I talking about?

This Blog is Certified Organic

Are you one of the growing many that spend the extra $ for organic food? But how can you be sure it truly is organic? Well Ottawa’s answer is to introduce the new Canada Organic label which will certify the product is organic.. or will it?

Though the stamp is said to assure:

• Products that contain at least 95 per cent organic ingredients
• Animals raised in conditions that mimic nature as much as possible; and
• The use of natural fertilizers in production;

In reality the test only certifies the farm’s processes adhere to the criteria, but no actual testing of soil or product will be performed. So how can you be sure it truly is organic? Until random tests are instituted, I don’t believe you can be. As long as there is opportunity, someone will take advantage of the “honor system” put in place. For more on this, see the following CBC National news video

Back to the title of this post, given the certification criteria, I can then assure this blog is organic since:

• Subtracting clothing, I’m about 95% organic material;
• Thanks to my kids, my living environment often mimic the wild; and
• The only fertilizer this blog deals with is B.S. :)