Yep, there was a whole lot of tweeting going on (mostly by our staff and speakers, but still…)

InFocus has a winner for its “What not to present” contest, and boy is it a doozy!

As Gizmodo says, “Do those boxes even say anything, or is this just some sort of psychological experiment?”

I know it’s not CME-related, but I could swear I’ve seen this one at several Alliance for CME sessions:

But this one, ah, this one I find strangely compelling, if totally nonsensical:

May your weird assets be on an upward trend! (More blindingly awful ppts here.) This was cross-posted on face2face.

Of the top 50 continuing education blogs, that is. Well, the link actually goes to the Medical Meetings site, but that’s fine with me. Thanks for the link love, StudentLoans.net.

From this review in the New York Times, Atlus Software‘s Trauma Center: Second Opinion, played on the new Wii gaming system, sounds incredibly hard. I wonder if it actually does any good as a surgical simulation, or if it’s just a game?

Here’s the latest from the Borowitz Report:

Rocket Scientists Not as Smart as Originally Thought

New Findings in Study Commissioned by Brain Surgeons

Rocket scientists, long considered the gold standard in intelligence among all professionals, are not nearly as smart as originally thought, according to a controversial new study published today by the American Association of Brain Surgeons.



The study, which appears in the organization’s monthly publication, Popular Brain Surgery, is entitled “The Intelligence of Rocket Scientists: Myth Versus Reality,” and suggests that rocket scientists’ reputation for smartness is largely undeserved.




“It does require a superior intellect to function as a rocket scientist,” the article concedes. “Having said that, though, rocket science is not brain surgery.”




The article drew an immediate rebuke from a spokesperson for the American Society of Rocket Scientists, who blasted the study as “state-of-the-art pro-brain surgeon propaganda.”




“As rocket scientists, we take offense at this naked attempt by a devious cabal of opportunistic brain surgeons to supplant us as the smartest people on the planet,” the spokesperson said. “If rocket science is so easy, we’d like to see these so-called brain surgeons give it a try one of these days.”




Professor Davis Logsdon, a University of Minnesota expert who studies the turf wars between rocket scientists and brain surgeons, said that he believes the latest controversy between the two groups has been overplayed.




“The fact of the matter is, the smartest people in the world have always been, and will always be, University of Minnesota experts,” he said.




Elsewhere, after a backup punter at the University of Northern Colorado was accused of stabbing the starter in the leg, he said in his defense, “It was either that or start taking steroids.”

Here is my entrant into Dr. Charles’ tomato contest. Does he not look like a fruit equal to the task of raising public awareness of global warming and then defusing the global threat of terrorism? He’s nothing if not green (though he does blush pink in parts, awaiting for the world to understand that while tomatoes like heat, they will not survive global warming in a Massachusetts garden. A few more days on the vine also would have been good). And in his coloring, he also is a symbol of the golden mean, or the “middle between two extremes, one of excess and the other of deficiency,” which many see as a root cause of terrorism in the world today. And, of course, the spiral he displays is both a further symbol of the interconnectedness of all things, and thus the futility of trying to solve problems by blowing each other up. His lovely spiral also follows (OK, very loosely) the Fibonacci numbers explained so deliciously in the runaway bestseller, The Da VInci Code. While usually the Nautilus shell is used as an example of this perfection expressed in nature, why should not the humble tomato as well?

In Hopi symbology, “the spiral represents a broadening of consciousness, which is the destination arrived after a long journey,” which is something we all need to combat global warming and terrorism. And given that terrorism has so often and so tragically struck at planes, is it a coincidence that the spiral also is painted on jet engines as a safety precaution? In the Wiccan religion, the spiral also is the symbol of the godess, who I’m sure is none too happy about either of the challenges our little tomato has taken on.

Is inspiring us all to consume less energy, conserve the planet, and learn to live in peace too much to ask of a tomato? I think not.

Plus, his friends and neighbors are rooting for him:

P.S. To regular Capsules readers, please humor me on this off-topic post. It is Labor Day weekend, after all, and a girl just has to have fun!

For the healthcare bloggers among us: Envision Solutions is conducting a survey of healthcare bloggers. I’m not entirely sure Capsules qualifies, but what the heck, I’ll give my two cents. If you have a healthcare blog, you might want to participate, too.

I have to brag about this one: Scott Raymond, our art director, won the Gold in the ASBPE Nationals for the Medical Meetings March/April 2005 cover, “Don’t Panic,” which was about the ACCME’s updated Standards for Commercial Support. I think this may be my all-time favorite cover.

We are so proud of him!

One of my favorite physician bloggers, Dr. Charles, is running his second annual tomato contest and of course, being a tomato farmer myself, I had to join in the fun. Who could pass up the chance to have her very own tomato win in categories including

* Largest Tomato

* Most Sensuous

* Most Disgusting

and…

* Tomato Most likely to raise public awareness of global warming AND THEN defuse the global threat of terrorism

Here’s our tomato patch (along with the potatoes, Swiss chard, zucchini, green beans, cukes, brussel sprouts and basil, with a backdrop of day lilies). The past few years we’ve been growing a lot of heirloom varieties of tomatoes—yum, and very strange looking, which gives us a shot at the Most Disgusting title.

Any other farmers out there?

Check out these groovy drug ads from Spain in the 1960s and 1970s. They were a lot more colorful back then, or so it seems.