Tales from the data-entry trenches. When a family member underwent a series of minor medical procedures recently, I got a front-row view of the hospital's data entry systems. As I'm sure is also true elsewhere, it wasn't a pretty picture. The ordeal begins at the registration desk where, no matter how many visits you've made… Continue reading Tales from the data-entry trenches

eWeek explains Steve Wozniak's new product/company. [Scripting News]

Brown to unveil personal manifesto for UK. Gordon Brown will today lay out his vision for a “British decade” – flaunting his leadership credentials while fighting to keep together his rapidly unravelling government finances. [The Scotsman]

Yikes! I have to plan an IT project. Gawd, I've been there.  This Computerworld article discusses the experiences of a first time IT tech project planner…she also happens to be one of their editors.  Track her progress as Computerworld gets a new content management system.  As a first time planner, she's statistically bound to flub… Continue reading Yikes! I have to plan an IT project

Managers misuse tech to control workers, study says. Managers with outdated notions about controlling workers are misusing technology to monitor and micromanage employees, according to a new report. [InfoWorld: Top News] [Privacy Digest: Privacy News (Civil Rights, Encryption, Free Speech, Cryptography)]

Delving into mind over matter. David Hamilton left a well-paying job to prove scientifically the healing power of the brain, writes CLAIRE SMITH [The Scotsman]

Red Hat, Novell To Package Xen. Xen, an open-source project with growing ties to Red Hat, Novell and Hewlett-Packard, is emerging as the leading contender for providing open-source virtualization for the Linux environment. [Meerkat: An Open Wire Service]

Black Box Parsing.  NetNewsWire doesn’t know anything about RSS or Atom. Heck, it doesn’t know XML from Shinola. Which is an absurd claim—it wouldn’t be much of an aggregator if it were true. But—here’s the deal—to me as the developer, it is true. I’ll explain… But first: the below is of interest mostly to beginning… Continue reading Black Box Parsing

Big Dig engineers find new wall flaw. Big Dig engineers found a serious flaw this week in a section of Interstate 93 tunnel wall that is similar to the defective wall where a gushing leak erupted Sept. 15, Turnpike Authority officials announced yesterday. [Boston Globe — Front Page]

Our ReplayTV Home Is Somewhat Similar. A Life Where TiVo Has Always Existed “…My daughter was only 3 months old when it arrived and we set it up. As far as my daughter knows, TiVo has always been around. Now that she (and our TiVo) are three years old, and there are some very interesting… Continue reading Our ReplayTV Home Is Somewhat Similar