As summer vacations and long weekends away are ending, it’s a good time to reflect on days spent enjoying the weather the past few months. Going to the beach has always been a favorite pastime of mine and I look forward to visiting new beaches along the east coast each year. Here are some personal favorites and new beaches I look forward to exploring.
New Jersey – Growing up in New Jersey, beach days usually revolved around getting pizza and Italian ice after a long day in the heat. Here are some recommendations for beaches and where to eat afterwards. Reminder, you need to pay to get on the beach in NJ!
Avon – A relatively quiet beach spot to enjoy your summer reading list and warm water. Make sure to visit Pete & Elda’s for the best thin crust pizza in the area. Get the XL pie, trust me you’ll eat the whole thing.
Beach Haven – Located on Long Beach Island, a classic! Start your day at Shore Good Donuts and enjoy the long beaches.
Ocean Grove – known for its quaint Victorian houses along the water but to my family it has the best Italian Ice shop. Go to Day’s Ice Cream and order the Iced Tea with Lemon Italian Ice – so delicious and refreshing!
Massachusetts –
Wingaersheek – This year was my first time visiting and has been my favorite so far. The water there is always calm and clear, and they have a great sandbar!
Cahoon Hollow – a Cape Cod staple in my opinion. Gorgeous beach with massive dunes. Check out the Beachcomber for some seafood and music before heading home.
Nahant – Another beach I added to my list this summer. A nice and long beach with lots of room to spread out and enjoy the water.
Maine – I will be visiting for the first time this Labor Day. Here are the beaches and spots I look forward to enjoying over the long weekend.
Goose Rocks Beach– Kennebunkport has been on my list of must visit places for years! I can’t wait to spend time at this scenic beach.
Ogunquit Beach – I’ve been told Barnacle Billy’s is a must visit – looking forward to ending the summer season with a Maine lobster roll!
When you hear Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, what comes to mind? What always came to mind was some combination of Mister Miyagi karate and WWE wrestling. But now I find myself in my late twenties, spending my weekends driving up and down the coast and spending hours on end in arenas and school gyms.
Some people spend their nights walking, running, watching a movie, or attending dinner. But my friends and I spend our night in a gym full of people trying desperately to take you down and put you in various dangerous submissions.
In the last ten years, Jiu-Jitsu has exploded in popularity due to the popularity of the UFC which Jiu-Jitsu is a critical component. Gone are the days when you must travel up and down the coast to find a tournament. Now there are tournaments every weekend in various gyms and arenas.
Jiu Jitsu is a unique subculture of martial arts. It is intense and competitive but has an art form tied within that looks beautiful and artistic when performed at the highest level. On the outside, you may think while watching that it is centered around strength and brutality. Still, beneath that physicality, there are vast amounts of strategy at work. Think about it like a game of chess where one player makes a move, and the other must adapt and react. Now take that complex decision-making and rapidly accelerate the time you must act due to your opponent trying their hardest to beat you as quickly as possible. This strategic element has transcended the business world where industry titans are lining up in droves to compete…sometimes against each other.
Tom Hardy & Mark Zuckerberg
Now in Jiu-Jitsu, there is no forced competition; countless individuals participate in it simply for the camaraderie, the workout, or just to find another hobby. However, there is also a large contingency of practitioners who compete religiously, where you must travel extensively, cut weight, and compete in front of large crowds.
2020 World Championships in Las Vegas
I have been training in martial arts since I was 12 years old. I was captivated by the WWE at the time due to the high-flying acrobatics and athleticism. When I started high school and had the opportunity to try out for the wrestling team, I joined instantly. I wrestled throughout high school and college, and it was an integral part of my life, both physically and for my friendships and connections.
This constant competition in my life and desire to keep improving was now gone. One day, I was walking home from work and stumbled upon a Jiu-Jitsu gym called Combat Sports Boston in the North End. I walked in and immediately felt like this was a sport I was destined to be a part of. The camaraderie was the first thing I encountered with guys training hard and laughing after class. Jiu Jitsu is an exciting sport in that it is one of the few that you can go as hard as you want and pull back right before somebody gets injured. In Jiu-Jitsu, the fundamental principle is that the sparring session is over when you tap the ground signifying you submit. It is a fundamental principle built upon trusting one another. It, therefore, profoundly affects building your relationship with your teammates. I fell in love with it not only because of the exercise, challenge, and camaraderie. But also, for the fact that you can compete. I have been competing for as long as I can remember in sports and post-college. I longed for that camaraderie and competition that athletics brings.
In my first competition as a white belt, the whole ride to the arena, I was shaking and nervous, and it felt like my first match wrestling in high school. But once I stepped on that mat and won my first match by submission, I knew this was where I belonged, and this was a sport I would pursue ultimately. I am now a purple belt in Jiu-Jitsu (2 belts before your black belt). I have been lucky enough to be ranked in the top 20 in the world at my weight and have competed all over North America and internationally.
Jiu-Jitsu has enhanced my physical fitness and has crossed over and been a great tool for learning to adapt and face adversity professionally. With Jiu-Jitsu, I have learned that progress, both in business and athletics, is gained slowly over time, and true success is making micro improvements and adjustments that will pay dividends in the long term. I have taken this to heart and can’t wait to see how martial art and business will continue to intertwine.
What season might that be? Well, there is no debate, like the famous battle between Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck doing their best to sway hunter Elmer Fudd between hunting seasons, it is full on shark season off the eastern seaboard.
Luckily this year the local headlines have been more about sightings than bitings, but the same can’t be said for points further south. Talking about you New Smyrna, Florida where there have been several events, and more recently on Hilton Head Island South Carolina on the exact stretch of beach I was visiting with family and friends in early July.
The increase in the number of great whites off our coast centered around Cape Cod has been astonishing. In 2004 a well-documented siting of a great white trapped in a tidal marsh just south of Woods Hole was considered a rare occurrence. More recently a study by the group Atlantic White Shark Conservancy suggested there were 800 white shark visits to the waters off Cape Cod’s eastern shoreline each year between June and October from 2015 to 2018. That would qualify this area as one of the largest seasonal meeting areas for white sharks on earth.
If you’re wondering where the sharks are hanging out – more specifically, are they cruising the waters off the beach I’m about to go swimming at – as I’m sure you have heard there’s an app for that. (SHARK Tracker APP) You just have to assume that the shark patrolling your beach has been tagged, that the battery and the transmitter are working, the signal is reaching the satellite, the data is making it back to earth through Canadian wildfire smoke, the servers and software are operating efficiently and effectively, your app is refreshing in real time, and you have solid bars at this beach holding your phone while you wade into the water. (These fish are fast, just ask the seals, so you can’t assume the all clear you saw on the beach is still good a few minutes later.)
But if you simply want to know where sharks might be without all the hassle – this ad from a North Carolina beach community can sum it up for you. Just overlay the messaging across a map of the Cape.
Every summer as stories about these predators heat up I can’t think about sharks without immediately summoning quotes from one of the best movies ever made – Jaws.
(Not to be confused with JAWSH (Allen), the quarterback who gobbles up offensive yards and defensive backs like chum on a warm summer day.)
So, I thought it would be fun to list some of the more memorable lines from the movie, and test your skills for identifying who said what. Was it Chief Brody, Quint, Matt Hooper, Mayor Vaughn, or Ellen Brody?
To see if you’re right, just hover your mouse over the word Answer for each. Good luck! And always swim with a buddy. (Answer key at the bottom of the post if the mouse over text is not working for you.)
As the days grow longer and the temperature rises, summer emerges as a season of endless possibilities. It is the time when we can finally shed those layers of winter clothing and feel the soothing sun on our skin. Summer is a season that encourages us to dust off our bicycles, pack our picnic baskets and embark on a new adventure. Whether we are camping under the stars or enjoying a walk in the park, it provides endless opportunities to connect with nature. Summer gives us the opportunity to escape the daily grind and immerse ourselves in the wonders of the world. Summer is a time for families and friends to come together and create memorable moments and strengthen their bonds. Whether it’s a backyard barbecue, a family reunion or just gathering at the beach, summer provides the ideal setting for reconnecting with loved ones.
Summer is a time for spontaneity and embracing the present moment. Take advantage of longer days and make the most of your free time. Try a new hobby or read that book you’ve always been meaning to get to. The relaxed atmosphere of summer encourages us to slow down, recharge, focus on the things that truly bring us joy and create lasting memories. It’s a time to travel somewhere new, take an adventure, go to festivals, and live concerts, culinary delights and spend time with family and friends. Embrace the joy of summer and make this season one to remember.
PART I: Going to Las Vegas
As I am writing this blog post, I am packing for my summer vacation with family to Las Vegas. We have never been to Las Vegas before so this should be fun. Las Vegas is known for its atmosphere, entertainment, and dazzling attractions. We chose a hotel on the Las Vegas strip for easy access to the city’s main attractions. Las Vegas is known for its spectacular shows such as the Cirque du Soleil or a magic performance. There are also some other places to visit besides the strip such as the Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon so we might visit those if we have time. Of course, we will try our luck at the world-class casinos and immerse ourselves in the Las Vegas experience.
PART II: The Experience
The experience in Vegas was one that we will not forget. We stayed at the Caesars Palace which is known as one of the luxury hotel and casino in the Las Vegas strip. The architecture and design of Caesars Palace are inspired by ancient Rome, with grand columns and marble statues. The iconic entrance features a replica of the Roman Colosseum, with statues of Roman gods and emperors. Our room offered an amazing view of the serene garden of the gods pool oasis.
Serene Garden of the Gods Pool Oasis
On the first day, we spent our day at the pool to cool off from the heat. Then we took a long walk on the Las Vegas strip and watched the Bellagio water show in front of the hotel. This is an iconic attraction located in front of the hotel includes choreographed water movements, music and light affects, creating a spectacular visual experience. The second day we had tickets to see the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam. The trip was all day from 8 in the morning to 7 at night. We first saw the Grand Canyon at the skywalk and then went to a camp site where we can walk around and explore the canyon from up close and take pictures. From there we went to see the hoover dam where we went up on several flights of stairs and walked on a bridge where we can stand and take pictures of the hoover dam.
Grand CanyonHoover Dam
After the day trip we had dinner reservations at Lago restaurant in the Bellagio hotel. Lago is a popular Italian restaurant with stunning views of the Bellagio Fountains, offering a unique dining experience that combines delicious cuisine with a beautiful setting. We got two orders of the seafood mixed grills and two orders of the seafood platters along with salads and starters which was enough for our group of 8 people. The dining experiencing was amazing, and food was delicious. The restaurant also had professional photographers that offered to take pictures and print them out after we were finished with our food for purchase. Once we were done with our dinner, we tried our luck at the casino before going back to our hotel room and getting ready for our flight back to Boston.
Lago Restaurant by Bellagio Hotel
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On April 9, 2023, Logan Roy, infamous media mogul and patriarch of the ultra-wealthy Roy family, died at the age of 84. Shortly after, the Los Angeles Times published this obituary chronicling his life and times. The wry twist to this obit is that Logan Roy is actually a fictional character on the award-winning television series “Succession”. His dynamic, terrifying presence during the show’s four seasons have made Logan Roy a prominent cultural icon.
Logan Roy is also a terrible teacher.
For those readers unfamiliar with the show (be advised spoilers lie ahead) the main storyline involves Logan’s quest to find a suitable successor to run Waystar Royco, the company he founded and built into a global empire. His hope is to groom one of his four children for the CEO role. Logan suffers a stroke near the end of the first episode that heightens the urgency of this pursuit for all involved.
Given this main objective, Logan’s methods fail to prepare any of his children for the top job, or in some cases any job at all. Here are some meaningful examples of how that unfolds for each of the siblings:
Roman
Roman is not a serious person. Raised in the golden bubble of extreme wealth, he is a flippant clown with marginal business skills. All the same, Roman stumbles ass-backward into the role of Chief Operating Officer of Waystar Royco. Logan comes to realize this mistake and assigns his trusted lieutenant Frank to be Roman’s tutor. Indignant, Roman asks “What does that mean?” Logan bellows “It means you do what he tells you!”
Eventually Roman finds an able tutor in Gerri, the Chief Legal Counsel of Waystar Royco. She urges Roman to go through the company’s corporate leadership program. There Roman learns and develops as a businessperson. Seeing his potential, Gerri takes him on as an apprentice. But in time Roman’s deep character flaws spoil this mentorship (I almost just wrote “relationship” or “partnership”, oy, if you watch the show, you understand my difficulty completing this sentence).
Logan occasionally praises Roman’s minor successes, but never passes on knowledge or accrued wisdom. In Logan’s world, teaching is not hands-on work; it gets subcontracted out to others. Teachers function as bosses or babysitters.
Connor
Connor had always been an outsider, disinterested in the company and content to enjoy the indulgences of wealth. That changes while serving as a substitute event planner for the company charity gala. Drunk on his first sip of power, Connor makes a pitch to Logan: he wants to run the whole Waystar Royco charity organization.
Logan replies with a grunting murmur that on the surface indicates a “we’ll see” stance. But that grunt is a trademark Logan mannerism. He grunts similarly to his other children throughout the series. The audience knows the subtext to that grunt. Logan is secretly testing Connor. At the gala dinner when butter for the rolls arrives frozen, Connor has failed the test.
Poor, sad Connor, the after-thought son. Logan never bothered to coach him, about the butter or much of anything else. It’s Logan’s pattern to secretly tests his kids. They mostly fail because they are unaware of the test. Plus, he never taught them the subject matter in the first place.
Shiv
Siobhan is Logan’s only daughter, who goes by the awesomely appropriate nickname Shiv. When we first meet her, she works as a political consultant having never expressed interest in the family business. Discounted by the brothers, Shiv is the most intelligent and savvy one of the four. Logan comes to see this around the same time he realizes his sons are hopeless goofs.
At the start of Season 2, Logan anoints Shiv to be his successor. It is perhaps Logan’s most sincere, heart-warming moment in the series. Shiv realizes this is what she has always wanted. To be seen and respected by her father in a role where she always felt she could excel, but never dared to hope.
Initially their succession plan is kept a secret between them. Logan tells her that they will fast-track her training within the company. But as the weeks go by, ambition and power get the better of Shiv. She impatiently pressures Logan to accelerate her training and announce her as future CEO. The more Shiv presses Logan, the more he grunts and evades and pushes back the timetable.
It all comes to a head in a disastrous way. At a crucial moment in a business negotiation, Logan is pressed to name his successor to seal the deal. When he refuses, Shiv blurts out their secret pact. Logan is furious. He stares daggers at her that signal serious repercussions. Logan does everything his way, on his own schedule, based on an obtuse inner logic. Counterattacking challenges to his decisions takes precedent over any other objective. He is a single-minded professor so convinced of his expertise that he fails to teach his unworthy students. Even if the student is his daughter.
Kendall
Kendall is the son thought to be Logan’s successor from the start. He has a keen business mind and significant experience. But Kendall is painfully flawed. He is ambitious, egotistical, insecure, and unstable. At a fundamental level, he loves his father and siblings but also feels he is morally and intellectually superior to them. He is the Chosen One who radiates impending doom from his sweaty brow.
The first episode of the series is supposed to be Kendall’s coronation day. His competence immediately comes into question though when Kendall botches the Vaulter acquisition deal. His smarmy, bro-speak approach to woo the Vaulter executives halts the negotiations. Kendall is confused. His Waystar team watch him flounder in silence. Finally, one of his minions says, “Do you want to call your Dad?” Kendall is enraged.
Later that day, Logan calls out Kendall’s failure as weakness, berating him unmercifully. The Vaulter acquisition is a standard process that Logan has easily executed many times before. Kendall blowing it could be an incredible teaching moment where Logan passes on knowledge born from experience to his son. A better mentor, and a better father, might offer advice or constructive critique in such a moment.
What Logan offers instead is brutal humiliation. He instinctively sees the moment as competitive. Logan preaches at length about how his own strong-armed tactics work. In contrast he calls out Kendall’s overly friendly, throw-money-at-the-problem approach as foolish. Logan rescinds his original plan to retire and name Kendall as his successor. This sets in motion the Shakespearian level tragedy that is Kendall’s journey throughout the entire series.
*****
“Succession” is ultimately not a show about which of the siblings or ancillary players become CEO of Waystar Royco. But rather why each of them are so tragically and/or comically unprepared for the task. Of course, Logan plays a big part in this equation as a mentor and a father.
To be fair, the kids certainly do themselves no favors in how they respond to Logan. After a lifetime with him, they still haven’t figured him out well enough to earn his trust or replicate his success.
“Succession’s” Logan Roy is played by Brian Cox. (credit Macall Polay / HBO)
What makes the show such intriguing drama is that it never explains these forces directly. We may see glimpses of each character’s past and present that offer oblique clues as to why they are the way they are. They each have moments of boastful grandstanding and dismal confession. There are times when we hate each of them and later feel incredible empathy for them.
To me, so much of the painful turmoil of “Succession” results from Logan’s inability to teach. His institutional knowledge is never passed on. Logan actually seems to hoard it. Logan may bark out orders that hint at his gut instincts and street smarts. These have served him well. Perhaps he expects those around him to learn by osmosis. That might work in some environments as part of a thoughtful plan. But in the toxic world of Waystar Royco, proximity to Logan is a corporate cesspool more than a university.
Whatever Logan’s teaching approach might or might not be, it fails to achieve its intended aim. He works at cross purposes from himself and his stated business objective, to find a worthy successor. Hubris blinds Logan who cannot see beyond his singular viewpoint. Logan cannot navigate past his own competitive drive to consider sharing what he knows with his children. His instinctive nature produced an empire and made him a terrible teacher.
Jess Cheng Schrepel’s post on Artificial Intelligence (AI) was thought provoking. AI has been a particularly hot subject in the financial news and Jess’ post made me wonder why. So I looked into it.
AI as a concept has been around for a long time, and has gained momentum in recent years. However, AI became a news phenomenon when the app called ChatGPT was released by a company called OpenAI on 11/30/22. Swiss bank UBS says it became the fastest growing app of all time, amassing 100 million active users in January 2023, only two months after its launch. By comparison, it took TikTok nine months to reach 100 million users.
ChatGPT is described as a natural language processing tool and is implemented using AI technology. One interacts with it with questions and instructions similar to spoken, natural language. So it can be like a conversation. You can ask it questions or instruct it to do tasks like writing a poem or writing software code. The public can use it for free at the moment because it has limited data (only up to 2021) and is still in the research phase. A paid-for version called ChatGPT Plus was released in February and is more advanced, and has access to the internet, and therefore current data.
ChatGPT is viewed as a potentially big advancement over a search engine. A search on Google results in a page of links that the user must browse and learn and iterate to an answer they are looking for. ChatGPT provides a single answer quickly. Currently, the answers are not always accurate, but will get better. But ChatGPT can also do more advanced tasks like write an essay or computer code. For example, a technology entrepreneur[RL1] was recently interviewed on CNBC. He was asked what he thought ChatGPT could be used for. He had a recent actual example. One of the best developers he knows was trying to solve a particularly difficult software programming problem. He had been wrestling with it for days. So he described the problem to ChatGPT and it provided the computer code that solved the problem for him. Pretty amazing!
ChatGPT’s reputation also grew through its association with Microsoft[CJ2]. It was well known that Microsoft had invested in OpenAI since 2019. But they upped the ante in January 2023 when they made an additional estimated $10 billion investment. That caused speculation that Microsoft would use the ChatGPT technology to turn the Microsoft search engine, Bing, into a game changer, potentially leapfrogging Google. That story dominated the headlines for a while.
Another transformational AI technology are the computer chips supplied by Nvidia Corporation. Nvidia has been around since the 1990s and was known primarily for the PC graphics cards that enabled fast graphics for computer gamers. Those cards evolved to become chips called Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), which continued to focus on enabling fast graphics. In the past decade Nvidia optimized their GPUs for general computing operations, not just graphics. And it turned out that Nvidia GPUs were coincidentally well suited for running artificial intelligence algorithms. That has made Nvidia a very hot company. In their quarterly earnings report in May, they reported results that were dramatically better than expected. That caused the stock prices for Nvidia, and other companies associated with artificial intelligence, to rise.
So it seems artificial intelligence is in the news more these days because it is at an inflection point. The enabling technology underlying it has matured to make AI development faster and more companies are sprouting to take advantage of it. Apps like ChatGPT are being used by millions of users, who are learning new things that AI is capable of, fueling more growth. That is both promising because of the ways AI can help our companies and we become more productive, but also concerning because the increased capability can also be misused. At the moment, I choose to be optimistic.
Being a HIMSS conference attendee newbie, I only knew that HIMSS23 (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) promised 35,000 healthcare-related attendees from around the world, with education, discussion, and networking focused on improving the global health ecosystem with innovative health tech products. Oh my! Thankful that my initiation to the event was with my partner-in-crime in all things Digital Health Innovation-related and veteran/Life Fellow/past NE HIMSS chapter president, Mike Kusmin.
Picture: Mike and me at HIMSS23, Chicago
Not surprisingly, much of this year’s conference centered on artificial intelligence (AI), a topic I have mixed emotions with. In this post, I’ll scratch the surface of this ever-evolving topic and share some of my learnings, excitement, and fears.
To get started, what is AI? How does it work?
AI is a rapidly evolving technology that has and will continue to transform many aspects of our lives. It’s a field of computer science that creates programs which can perform tasks that normally require human intelligence and simulate human brain functions such as perception, learning, reasoning, and problem solving.
AI systems are designed to “learn” by processing, analyzing, and categorizing enormous amounts of data. With that, AI systems evolve over time using algorithms finding patterns, making predictions, generating intelligent responses, and/or taking actions.
Diagram: High level ontology of Artificial Intelligence
Inspiration: from Homer to Hollywood
The idea of autonomous thinking, learning and decision-making machines has inspired countless legends and works of fiction. In Greek mythology, it was believed that Talos was a giant, bronze automaton created to patrol and protect the island of Crete. In popular culture, HAL9000 from Arthur Clarke’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” is the robot brain of the spaceship Discovery. While entertaining, both stories also serve as chilling, cautionary tales about the dangers of giving machines power without the capacity to make moral judgments.
The blurring lines of fiction and reality
From the myth of Talos to a fully automated chess playing engine created by IBM’s Alex Bernstein in the late 1950s, AI has grown and evolved, with the development of natural language processing (interprets human language into something a computer can understand and respond to) and machine learning (uses algorithms to identify patterns in data to inform predictions or take actions).
Rosie the Robot and AI in our everyday lives
Picture: The Jetsons with Rosie the Robot
While our world isn’t (yet) quite what The Jetsons envisioned with flying cars and Rosie the Robot in every home, who here can live without:
Virtual assistants and smart home devices such as Siri and Nest Thermostat using natural language processing to understand and respond to user requests.
Online shopping, streaming and social media platforms such as Amazon, Netflix and Facebook using machine learning algorithmsto recommend products and personalize experiences based on user history and preferences.
Finance, transportation, manufacturing, and healthcare industries relying on AI solutions to provide us better services (while improving their bottom line). Examples include:
Service industries: Customer service optimization, reduction of response times
In healthcare today
AI-powered solutions are being used to improve patient outcomes, reduce costs, and increase efficiencies. Some interesting examples include:
Virtual symptom checking and triage services such as Buoy Health. Buoy’s digital health chatbot uses algorithms to analyze user-provided information and match it with a comprehensive database of medical knowledge and clinical guidelines. Depending on a user’s input, the application may recommend self-care and/or seek medical attention and would be available 24/7.
Medical imaging products such as GE Healthcare’s Edison use AI algorithms to analyze large amounts of scans to detect and diagnose more accurately, consistently, and quickly than a human alone. Partnered with a care team, AI support can potentially help radiologists detect and classify tumors more effectively. In turn, this can potentially aid in early detection, enabling timely intervention and improved patient outcomes.
Health Gorilla uses AI to provide physicians with a comprehensive, digitized, organized view of patient health records that are easily searched and shared (across EHRs and privately and securely of course!) for more efficient and coordinated care among distributed care teams. By automating administrative tasks and streamlining workflows, providers are better prepared and able to focus more on direct patient care.
Here at Dana-Farber, AI helps advance computational cancer genomics research. In Season 2, Episode 6 of Unraveled, listen to podcast host Ken Shulman’s discussion with our very own Dr. Eli Van Allen discuss how AI experts, physicians, and ethicists are working together to apply AI to cancer research.
Our Supersonic Industrial Revolution
David Pesta mused in December 2021: Will Artificial Intelligence Take My Job? His conclusion then “…if you excel at what you do and you understand people, you’re probably safe. Probably.”
The use of AI provides both remarkable opportunities and significant concerns. While it has and will continue to transform industries, enhance efficiencies, and improve lives, it also requires careful attention to ethical, social, and economic considerations.
Unregulated and in the hands of bad actors, AI can easily be used for malicious purposes. Unsupervised and informed by unbalanced content, AI can be biased and suffer hallucinations. It’s our responsibility to be educated and part of the dialogue that ensures these systems are used for good and not harm. If you’d like to learn more:
Start here: Coded Bias is a must watch. The documentary explores benefits, risks, and ethical implications of using AI and provides insights on how to hold AI systems accountable.
The Open Letter to Pause AI refers to a March 2023 open letter published to create awareness and urge for greater oversight over the rapid development of AI systems such as OpenAI’s chatGPT.
The Medical Futurist Dr. Bertalan Meskó and his team provide timely informative and entertaining content without being overwhelming.
This Week Health podcast and HISTALK as well as mainstream news outlets. Follow along as the technology and related topics unfold in real time!
P.S. In full disclosure, OpenAI’s chatGPT and Google’s Bard tools helped me better understand some of what I heard at HIMSS23. No, I didn’t ask either to write this post; these words are my own!
It’s that time of year for our (somewhat) annual “Digital Spring-Cleaning” public service announcement. As always, you can revisit all the installments in the series for easy-to-follow tips to tidy up your digital life. Our last post drilled down on dealing with bloated browsers. If you have never felt the Zen-like bliss of an empty inbox or a blank desktop, now is a great time to purge unwanted digital residue for a fresh start to the season.
In this rendition, we are stepping outside our normal approach to the topic for something a little different, ACTUAL cleaning. If you don’t think you need to do this, take that computer keyboard you are sitting in front of right now, turn it upside down and give it a couple of shakes. After you finish pushing all the crumbs into a little pile on your desk, look at some of the links below for best practices on how to clean a few common devices.
Note many sites (like this one) will reference using isopropyl alcohol, but that is only for glass-coated screens like an iMac. This is NOT recommended for most monitors.
So much more than just a tail wave or distraction in meetings, family pets help with work life balance in our daily routine, exercise reminders, and personal well-being. Let me introduce you to some of the IS PMO furry & finny family.
Sophie & Zola
Sophie and her coffee
Name: Sophie Origin: Rescue, and now about 10 year old Harlequin kitty Loves: Sunbeams & Coffee! She has been known to put her foot in any unattended or uncontested coffee cup. Sophie’s humble servant, Meagan, tries not to think about how many times she might have drunk a coffee that once had her foot in it. Quirks: One of her many quirks is finding the perfect resonance spot at the the top of the stairs where she practices her best yowl to wake everyone up, until someone comes and feeds her, of course. She has never had a cat as vocal and chatty as her.
Zola – Boss of the House
Name: Zola Origin: smol kitten, now 13 years old “Standard Issue Cat” Loves: catnip banana toys, keyboard naps, chasing Sophie, and treats – but especially brushing. You can hear her purr from across the room when she gets a good brush massage
Meagan finds that both kitties provide a daily dose of affection, humor, and levity to each workday that she is continually thankful for. Thank goodness for kitties!❤🐱
Nemo
Species: Beta Fish, about 7 months old Favorite Activity: Plays Hide ‘n’ Seek in the Krusty Krab figurine. (For those who are not familiar, the Krusty Krab is a fast-food restaurant in the SpongeBob SquarePants television series.) Quirky Behavior: When he needs a rest, he takes a nap on a horizontally angled leaf that is stuck to the side of the tank via a small suction cup
Theresa finds that fish have a calming effect when she watches them swim around in the tank. Some research find that watching fish is really a good relaxation activity! In the future the family plans to expand the aquarium and include other fish that would make good roommates for Nemo.
Timmy
On the way to the dog park for a lunch break
Age: 22 week old puppy Breed: Rat Terrier Special Traits: Did you look at his lovely ears?! Sandra thinks that taking on a puppy really forces her to be super aware of time and become even more organized. There’s A LOT to do getting him on a schedule and making it as consistent as possible day to day. So far, the plan is to get up earlier, pour an extra cup of coffee and get to it. Timmy is super fun already and despite the extra work a puppy entails, it’s worth it! I hope he doesn’t chew on your favorite shoes
Ollie, Beckett and Briar
Big or little all the boxes are good for a sit or a nap
Name: Ollie Origin: South end backyard rescue, about 16 years old Tuxedo cat Loves: waking me up in the morning, food, catnip Quirky behavior: blocks my way to the food all the way down the stairs Ollie has a timer on his stomach, so I am aggressively reminded that I have to get up out of my office, use the stairs, and provide sustenance As for work/life balance, that timer helps me to stand up and take exercise and computer breaks during the day. Downstairs 2 flights, maybe a quick walk, upstairs 2 flights – at least 4 times a day
Kittens snuggled together in a flower pot
Tiny tuxedo Briar Loves: chasing toys, fetching balls, and killing cardboard boxes. She is the smallest kitty ever House panther Beckett Loves: kisses, anchovy treats, chicken, spinach and yogurt They both love snuggles with and grooming Ollie Hates: loud noises, other people – the pet sitter has never seen them They make sure we have regular mental health breaks to de-stress with hugs, snuggles and play-time
It’s human nature to long for community, to want to feel a connection to people and experiences, and to be part of something larger. This is true for personal experiences as well as work experiences. The IS Project Management Office (PMO) wants to create a space for project managers and those interested in projects and project management across the Institute to connect, build community, and learn from one another.
We are excited to share that we are hosting an online Project Management Symposium on May 25th, 2023. Save the date! We have a fabulous lineup of speakers, with the discussions facilitated by members of the IS PMO. You won’t want to miss this event. Join us as we explore diverse topics in project management. We envision this symposium as a forum for connection, collaboration, communication, and learning. If you can’t join us the day of the event, consider watching the recorded sessions.
Registration for these sessions are available in HealthStream, with the drop-in sessions available without registration. Try searching “DFCI PM Symposium” in HealthStream to find the details of each session and register. We hope to see you there.
To learn more and register, please visit the Symposium page within DFCI Online.
