The Fantastic Pill Voyage

The World Health Organisation (WHO), states that that approximately 50% of us fail to take medicines correctly.

This could be where technology is able to step up and help. So here's a tablet which is smart enough to text or tweet you when it enters your stomach.

This is not science fiction. It is called "Proteus" and could prove to be the next medical breakthrough that helps humanity.

It's named after the microscopic vessel which ventured within the human body in the 1966 movie Fantastic Voyage. The Proteus is a sensor you swallow, and the key to it working is that it can be embedded in a tablet.

Stomach acid creates enough voltage so that the sensor will work, which in turn communicates with a small plaster-shaped patch worn by the patient. This patch is capable of tracking vital signs, movement and sleep. As for the patch itself, it can transmit data it received to the cloud which can be accessed from a smartphone, tablet or PC.

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MPR funnies made FUNNIER...

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Cool Gadget: Handy Salt Meter

I love to read Chinese or Japanese translated into English. I remember my favorite as a young lad was the warning on fireworks: "Light fuse, get away!"

I posted awhile back on reducing salt intake. That post originally appeared here. So this is a handy device to help you reduce your salt intake:

It can measure the salt concentration of food by simply inserting it into the latter. The numerical value of the salt concentration is indicated by LED which can be understood at a glance!

It has been said that if you ingested salt excessively, you would run the risk of coming down with high blood pressure and lifestyle-related diseases. Moreover, it has been said that the required amount of salt for one day is about 10g.

That is to say, you must not take more than that! Let's always measure the amount of salt! So that you don't take too much. With this "Handy Salt Meter", you'll be able to easily measure the salt concentration of your food! You'll also be able to see the results at a glance, as indicated by LED. 

This is a must-have if your doctor has already told you to be sparing in the intake of salt!

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I am soooo in the wrong job

With a gross salary of more than $333,000, BART's highest-paid employee last year wasn't its general manager, police chief or a worker who racked up gobs of overtime scrubbing grime from filthy train seats.

It was someone who did no work at all for BART in 2012: Dorothy Dugger, the agency's former general manager who resigned under pressure more than two years ago.

Under a lucrative retirement scheme, Dugger, 57, quietly stayed on the books, burning off nearly 80 weeks of unused vacation time, drawing paychecks and full benefits for more than 19 months after she agreed to quit in May 2011, according to an analysis by this newspaper. By remaining on BART's payroll, she accrued almost two extra months of vacation, while sitting at home drawing a six-figure salary for unused time off.

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Whose Club Card is it, Anyway?

Mrs. Wheelbarrow approaches the pick-up window. She's very engaged in a cell phone conversation:

"Yes, I done told you not to let him in the house. I done told you he'd pee on the floor."

She looks at me, slightly, "Subscription for Wheelbarrow..."

She means PRESCRIPTION, but that's ok. We get that a lot.

I get the medications for Paul Wheelbarrow, her husband. I've never met him, but based on the interaction I've had with Mrs. Wheelbarrow before, the man must be a saint.

She's still on the phone but asks me, "What's the meds for Paul?"

"I have Lisinopril and Levo-thyroxine."

She looks at me, somewhat dumbfounded. Mind you, she's picked up the same meds for Paul every month for as long as I can remember. "It's HIS BLOOD PRESSURE and THYROID medication."

"Oh." Attention turns back to the cell phone... "Well put HIM back outside. Do it RIGHT NOW."

"Do you have a Goofmart club card?" I ask as I'm ringing in the prescriptions. She ignores me and continues talking on the cell phone. "That will be $14," I say.

She looks at the monitor and hands me a twenty dollar bill. 

I briefly consider asking her about the club card again, but it seems rude to interrupt the conversation.

I type in $20 in our magic machine, the drawer spits out and I put out $6 and hand it to her along with the receipt.

Mrs. Wheelbarrow suddenly looks like she's awakened from cell phone sleep and asks me, "Did YOU put in my club card number?"

Thoughts go through my mind as to possible answers in a split-second...

It's NOT my club card, it's YOUR club card. Why would I put in YOUR club card for you?

I asked you if you had a club card. YOU ignored me.

You rude cell-phone maggot-- if you'd get OFF the damn cell phone and pay attention you could put in your own club card, you idiot!

But all I can muster out is, "No, I did not put in your club card. I will get a manager back here to fix it for you."

Mrs. Wheelbarrow doesn't want that. She belts out "Forget it! I'll call the 800 number and COMPLAIN!" as she storms off. She's still holding the cell phone to her ear as she walks away.

Happy Labor Day!

Labor Day, an annual celebration of workers and their achievements, originated during one of American labor history’s most dismal chapters. In the late 1800s, at the height of the Industrial Revolution in the United States, the average American worked 12-hour days and seven-day weeks in order to eke out a basic living. Despite restrictions in some states, children as young as 5 or 6 toiled in mills, factories and mines across the country, earning a fraction of their adult counterparts’ wages. People of all ages, particularly the very poor and recent immigrants, often faced extremely unsafe working conditions, with insufficient access to fresh air, sanitary facilities and breaks.

As manufacturing increasingly supplanted agriculture as the wellspring of American employment, labor unions, which had first appeared in the late 18th century, grew more prominent and vocal. They began organizing strikes and rallies to protest poor conditions and compel employers to renegotiate hours and pay. Many of these events turned violent during this period, including the infamous Haymarket Riot of 1886, in which several Chicago policemen and workers were killed. Others gave rise to longstanding traditions: On September 5, 1882, 10,000 workers took unpaid time off to march from City Hall to Union Square in New York City, holding the first Labor Day parade in U.S. history. The idea of a “workingmen’s holiday,” celebrated on the first Monday in September, caught on in other industrial centers across the country, and many states passed legislation recognizing it.

Congress would not legalize the holiday until 12 years later, when a watershed moment in American labor history brought workers’ rights squarely into the public’s view. On May 11, 1894, employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company in Chicago went on strike to protest wage cuts and the firing of union representatives. On June 26, the American Railroad Union, led by Eugene V. Debs, called for a boycott of all Pullman railway cars, crippling railroad traffic nationwide. To break the strike, the federal government dispatched troops to Chicago, unleashing a wave of riots that resulted in the deaths of more than a dozen workers. In the wake of this massive unrest and in an attempt to repair ties with American workers, Congress passed an act making Labor Day a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.

More than a century later, the true founder of Labor Day has yet to be identified. Many credit Peter J. McGuire, cofounder of the American Federation of Labor, while others have suggested that Matthew Maguire, a secretary of the Central Labor Union, first proposed the holiday.

Labor Day is still celebrated in cities and towns across the United States with parades, picnics, barbecues, fireworks displays and other public gatherings. For many Americans, particularly children and young adults, it represents the end of the summer and the start of the back-to-school season.

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Things to Laugh at on Sunday