Plus: The University Of Chicago Press Book That Caught The NSA’s Attention
Eagerly awaiting Cook County ICU: 30 Years of Unforgettable Patients and Odd Cases, by Cory Franklin.
From Chicago Review Press:
An inside look at one of the nation’s most famous public hospitals, Cook County, as seen through the eyes of its longtime Director of Intensive Care, Dr. Cory Franklin.
Readers will be riveted by stories of strange medical cases and unforgettable patients culled from his 30-year career in medicine that spanned the 1970s through the 1990s, including some major moments in medical history like the AIDS epidemic and the deadly Chicago heatwave of 1995.
We follow Dr. Franklin as he unravels a host of strange cases including the nurse with rare Munchausen syndrome, the only surviving ricin victim, and the professor with Alzheimer’s hiding the effects of the wrong medication.
Each chapter features stories centered on a medical topic like body temperature, medications, detecting poisons, and the art of “taking a history.”
Readers will come away learning how the practice of medicine has changed over the years, which will be insightful for patients, doctors, and medical students alike.
Sounds irresistible.
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On Cory Franklin, from the Guardian:
“An editorial board contributor to the Chicago Tribune op-ed page, he writes freelance medical and non-medical articles. His work has also appeared in the New York Times, Jerusalem Post, Chicago Sun-Times, New York Post and has been excerpted in the New York Review of Books. Cory was also Harrison Ford’s technical adviser and one of the role models for the character Ford played in the movie, The Fugitive.”
The Chicago Snowden Files
The only mention of Chicago in the Edward Snowden files is a reference to the 2006 book Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of Online Games by Edward Castronova, from the University of Chicago Press.
From the University of Chicago Press:
From EverQuest to World of Warcraft, online games have evolved from the exclusive domain of computer geeks into an extraordinarily lucrative staple of the entertainment industry. People of all ages and from all walks of life now spend thousands of hours – and dollars – partaking in this popular new brand of escapism. But the line between fantasy and reality is starting to blur. Players have created virtual societies with governments and economies of their own whose currencies now trade against the dollar on eBay at rates higher than the yen. And the players who inhabit these synthetic worlds are starting to spend more time online than at their day jobs.
In Synthetic Worlds, Edward Castronova offers the first comprehensive look at the online game industry, exploring its implications for business and culture alike. He starts with the players, giving us a revealing look into the everyday lives of the gamers – outlining what they do in their synthetic worlds and why. He then describes the economies inside these worlds to show how they might dramatically affect real world financial systems, from potential disruptions of markets to new business horizons. Ultimately, he explores the long-term social consequences of online games: If players can inhabit worlds that are more alluring and gratifying than reality, then how can the real world ever compete? Will a day ever come when we spend more time in these synthetic worlds than in our on? Or even more startling, will a day ever come when such questions no longer sound alarmist but instead seem obsolete?
With more than ten million active players worldwide – and with Microsoft and Sony pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into video game development – online games have become too big to ignore. Synthetic Worlds spearheads our efforts to come to terms with this virtual reality and its concrete effects.
This New York Times article explains the NSA’s interest in the book.
Iconic Books By Lego
From the recent Lego convention here:
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Comments welcome.
Posted on June 26, 2015