Ron Frisard's Blog

Patientslikeme.com - What a great way of social websites..

Well I just watched the video below from TED-MED on the patientslikeme.com website. It was moving and really put the whole heathcare thing into perspective. Isn’t it time to put the Geek’s in charge of heathcare.

Mr. Feynman: Take the world from another point of view

I really do not believe in role models that much but if I would pick one that I truly admire it would have to be Richard Feynman. Not only did he contribute to the atom bomb and also win a Nobel prize in Physics, he was a world renowned Bongo player..
Here is a great series video from the BBC on how to look at the world from a different point of view..

Here is the rest of the series:
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Another good link of video from a previous old NOVA.

Creative commons and powerpoint

The subject of what you can use fairly in powerpoints has always been a hot issue with me. I have seen the gambit of using nothing to using everything. I watched this really great video by Alvin Trusty on the subject and was just truly impressed. Not only does he talk about the research he has done on the subject but also shows everyone how he does some cool things using Powerpoint. A real open source type of guy. A must watch in my book.

Here is a link to his delicious links he mentioned in his presentation.

Also here is his personal blog:

HDMI Cables…

I just finished adding my PC to my home entertainment center. All very cool with a new PCI-Express video card that has HDMI out. I realized I only had one HDMI input into my TV and had to get a 3 switch hub.
Well doing all of this I was in dire need of some HDMI cables - where did I head, but to “the Shack”. A nice young lady working there pointed me in the area of the cables where I found out that they had a sale - a 6 FT HDMI cable for $49.. I went nuts!
Now, here is a great article from Popular Mechanics where they tested different costing HDMI cables and had experts that could not tell the difference.
I ended up buying 3 - 9 foot cables for $22 bucks from newegg

Watched Apollo 13 last night…

I must of watched this movie about 100 times and am still not sick of it. You can take many things away from such a movie but one of the themes I like the most is “teamwork”. Being an Astronaut makes you part of a close knit group and you trust your life with them. I guess the whole traveling cross country in a diaper to confront the guy you have a crush on does not really fit into this image..
One part that I felt this way was when Jim Lovell’s mom is looked after by Neil Armstrong. Also I like the line his mom made about landing a washing machine to calm his daughter’s fears.
The main reason for this post is my biggest meaning of teamwork - building the CO2 filer for the LEM. This was a true story and sometimes you forget how much NASA likes photos..

This is the team with the contraption and discussing how to relay the procedure to the guys on the capsule.

This is the actual unit installed.

Leo Laporte gets mad at Arrington on Gilmore gang

I am a regular listener of Leo Laporte for many years going way back to the TechTV days.  I had heard about this incident but this was the first time I saw it.  Leo is really mad at Arrington’s thought that he was tainting his view because he got a review unit.. Ouch..  Also this is the keyboard cat version - love these things..

YouTube

The endowment effect and industrial sales

For many years I have been fascinated by sales ~ how it is done, why people buy, etc. Not all people buy things based on engineering fundamentals like my engineering econ prof would of thought. Well, I just read a really interesting article on the concept called the endowment effect. Basically it states that once you “marry” the idea of owning something the buying decision is already done. In the example in the article the guy trys on a pair of jeans and starts to think about how they would go with his shoes.
In industrial sales I see the same concept repeating itself. A good specialists slightly nudges a customer to start thinking about “day 2″ while the buying decision is still going on.
Here is a link to the article. A must read..

Old Photo’s #1: Final Four & Miss Louisiana

Back in 2003 Steve and I finally got our chance to go to a final four that just happened to be in my birthplace. The first night we went to my Cousins car dealership and ran into Miss Louisiana. She was there to take care of the last minute details for an upcoming appearance later in the week at the dealership. We talked a little with her and we asked to take a photo with her and the line Steve and I will never forget is “wait a minute, let me get my sash..”. One of the best trips I will ever have!

4 part lecture series on Heat Exchangers…

Also from Indian technology center, is a three part series on heat exchanger design.  The information is dry but is really good background info.

Part I

YouTube

Part II

YouTube

Part III

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Part IV

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3 Lectures on Control Valves from India…

I just found this great resource on youtube from a university in India.  It has video recorded a tremendous amount of courses and put them online.  Below is a 2 part course on control valves…

YouTube   Part I

YouTube Part II

Also here is a video from a different course on control valves..

YouTube