reCAPTCHAby Jim
28 May 2008
8:05 pm4
Today at work I attended a presentation by the inventor of CAPTCHA, Luis von Ahn, entitled Human Computation. An older version of this presentation he gave at Google is here. It was a very interesting (not to mention entertaining) presentation about how humans can be used to do things computers can’t. The coolest part is that he has created a way to turn games into a useful part of a computer program to identify words and images. At the presentation, he showed us a web service called reCAPTCHA. Basically, what it does is translate words from text scans of documents to digitize books. It turns the process of validating “human” users into contributing to a large project to make the world a better place. Cool.
So, I went to their website and found a WordPress plugin! I’ve installed the plugin, so donate some of your brainpower to a good cause by leaving a comment. This new feature now means you can leave comments without having to wait for them to be moderated. Enjoy!
P.S. Angie is doing well. The recovery is slow, but she is making progress.
Angie is homeby Jim
24 May 2008
10:05 am0
Angie came home late last night and is doing just fine. I’ve come in to work today so I can make up some of the hours I spent at the hospital this week. Jon is with her now to take care of her. Thank you all for your support and prayers.
(This will be the last of the “Hospital Updates” posts for this event, so anyone subscribed to this category won’t get anything more until the next time we visit a hospital.)
An answer to prayersby Jim
23 May 2008
6:05 pm1
Angie is coming home! Mom just called me and said that the catheter is out and the discharge paperwork has been started. Thank you for all of your prayers! I’ll continue to update everyone on Angie’s recovery here on our blog, but now that she will be leaving the hospital, those updates will be less often. Thanks again for your support!
The roller coaster ride continuesby Jim
23 May 2008
2:05 pm0
I just got another call from my mom. They went ahead and put the Vitamin K (Potassium) in her IV, but it started burning and was very uncomfortable. Finally, when the doctor came in, she turned off the IV and had Angie take a potassium pill. The doctor arranged for them to have her blood drawn again and tested at 6 so as to let the potassium have as much affect as possible while still allowing enough time to be discharged tonight.
Angie is in good spirits and lots of her strength is back. She’s already been on a couple of walks and is improving rapidly. I know that she would improve fastest at home, so please, everyone pray that her blood test at 6 will come back positive so she can come home tonight.
Frustrationsby Jim
23 May 2008
12:05 pm0
Well, I have some bad news. I just got off the phone with my mom who had the latest update. The doctors told Angie that they can’t take the catheter out of her back yet because her blood is too thin. The frustrating part is that they’ve been giving her Heparin twice daily to thin her blood. To add to the frustration, this isn’t the first time her blood viscosity has been an issue; they delayed her surgery on Wednesday because her blood was too thin. They gave her some potassium to help thicken her blood so they could start the surgery, which is what they plan to do again so they can remove the catheter. They’ll do another blood test this afternoon to see if her blood is thick enough, but if the results don’t show what they are looking for, she’ll have to stay another night in the hospital. Please pray for Angie to have thick blood this afternoon.
A Room without a Viewby Kathy
23 May 2008
7:05 am2
Hello everyone – I was with Angela last night at the hospital when they came and moved her out of the ICU! It happened at around 10 p.m. and she is now in a regular room. This is great news, as it means she is making progress towards being able to come home. The nurse in the new room also was anxious for Angela to get up for her first walk, so we did that, too. This is also a positive step on the road to recovery. In her new room she can receive visitors beginning at 10 a.m. so Roger and I will be returning at that time to be with her for the day. We will post again when we know what the latest is.
-Kathy
Still in the ICUby Jim
22 May 2008
9:05 pm0
Well, I have good and bad news. The good is that Angie is supposed to be moved to the floor tonight, the bad news is that she hasn’t been moved to the floor yet. We were hoping it would happen this afternoon. Oh well. I think they would have, but some of the medication they gave her lowered her blood pressure below “good”. She was never in any danger, but they gave her something else in her IV to help, but that just set us back a few hours. So is life.
Mom and Dad arrived this evening and are staying with Angie right now. I drove home so I can sleep in a bed and go in to work tomorrow. My supervisor has been very accomodating and has allowed me to work on Saturday so I don’t have to burn up more sick leave (for not going in today). Mom and Dad will return to my place late tonight after they get kicked out of the ICU and return tomorrow morning.
Angie was in good spirits when I left, and when last I talked to her, she was watching “My Fair Lady” on my laptop. With such a classic, she ought to be just fine for the evening. Thanks again to everyone for your prayers; keep them coming.