Monthly Archives: September 2013

HEALTH CARE REFORM – What’s it all mean at MMH?

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By JANE BIGBEE

Skip Lowe, chief executive officer of Bernie Lowe and Associates, during a presentation on the hospitals health plan recently, told members of the Marengo Memorial Hospital board a lot of questions remain on health care reform.

Starting with his question to the board: When was the last time a federal law was overturned in this country? he answered: Prohibition. Health care is not likely to be overturned. It is here to stay.

He said he told his staff, in March 2010, they were there to guide clients and should not think the Supreme Court would overturn the health care reform act nor to think elections would change the act.

He continued, there are some changes coming very quickly. He pointed to an announcement in mid-July that the player pay mandate will require companies to count their employees working 30 hours.

He discussed personal medical plans and what they mean with deductibles, co-insurance and out-of-pocket maximums.

Most people dont know their health insurance coverage. How would I expect them to understand health care reform tomorrow? he asked.

Analyzing material including enrollment, contributions, pre-tax benefits, etc. provided by the hospital for its employee plan, Lowe gave trustees a broad view of the plan design for the next five years. Starting with 2012, items and provisions will impact the employer as well as the employee. He noted the Internal Revenue Service is not a fan of pre-tax benefits.

NEW FEE

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HEALTH CARE REFORM – What’s it all mean at MMH?

Futurist Jack Uldrich to Keynote Five Energy Industry Events This Fall

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Washington, DC (PRWEB) September 10, 2013

Following on the heels of successful presentations to Associated Electric Cooperative (June 25), the Southeastern Electric Exchange (June 26) and the New England Public Power Association (Aug. 26), popular keynote speaker, energy industry futurist, change management expert and best-selling author, Jack Uldrich has been selected to deliver five additional keynote presentations this fall. On September 10, Uldrich will be in Baltimore to address The Electric Power Research Institute, the Northwestern Public Power Association on September 18 in Glen Eden Beach, Oregon, BP on October 3 in Minneapolis, Atmos Energy on October 23 in Plano, TX and Eaton Corporation's World Leadership Conference in Amelia Island, FL on October 30. The topic of each his presentations will be a customized version of his talk: "The Future of the Energy Industry Will Require Unlearning."

The talks will be based on Uldrich's two latest books: "Higher Unlearning: 39 Post Requisite Lessons for Achieving a Successful Future" and "Foresight 2020: A Futurist Explores the Trends Transforming Tomorrow," will begin by discussing how continued advances in Smart Grid technologies, "Big Data," natural gas discoveries and renewable energies will radically transform the energy, utility and power industries in the years ahead. Specific technologies to be discussed will include high temperature superconducting wires, solid-state transformers, smart meters, high storage grid-capable batteries as well as continued advances in home sensors, solar cells, wind turbines and fuel cell technology. An overview of his talk can be found in these articles: 39 Things That Keep Up Every Energy Industry Executive at Night and 5 Future Trends for the Utility Industry.

Uldrich will then discuss why these trends will require unlearning as well as review the consequences of not embracing the concept of unlearning. Uldrich, who has been hailed as "America's Chief Unlearning Officer," will conclude by providing an overview of how these technological changes will also transform customer behaviors and upend long-standing business models in the energy, utility and power industries.

Throughout his talk, Uldrich will use vivid analogies and memorable stories, drawn from a wide spectrum of industries, to ensure his message of unlearning "sticks" with his audience. A sample of his ideas may be found in this chapter, Shifting Power: The Future of Electricity, from his new book.

In the past year, Uldrich has addressed dozens of energy-related associations, including delivering customized keynote presentations to San Diego Gas & Electric, the Southern California Gas Company, Southern Company, Northwestern Energy, the Wabash Valley Power Power Association, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, Idaho Power, Northwestern Energy, the Minnesota Rural Electric Cooperative, the Western Energy Institute, Idaho Power, the American Public Power Association, the Northeast Public Power Association, the Eugene Board of Water and Electricity, the Missouri River Energy Service, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Wisconsin Public Power, Associated Electric Cooperative, the Southeast Electric Exchange and dozens more. Uldrich has also addressed a number of major, non-utility-related corporations on the topic of unlearning including Cisco, IBM, WiPro, PepsiCo, United Healthcare, Boston Scientific and General Electric.

Parties interested in learning more about Jack Uldrich, his books, his daily blog or his speaking availability are encouraged to visit his website. Media wishing to know more about the event or interviewing Jack Uldrich can contact him directly at 612-267-1212 or jack(at)schoolofunlearning(dot)com.

Uldrich is a renowned global energy futurist, best-selling author, editor of the monthly newsletter, The Exponential Executive, and host of the award-winning website, http://www.jumpthecurve.net. He is currently represented by a number of professional speakers' bureaus, including Leading Authorities and Executive Speakers Bureau.

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Futurist Jack Uldrich to Keynote Five Energy Industry Events This Fall

Radical Danish Imam rethinks opposition to Mohammed cartoons and backs freedom of expression – Video

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Radical Danish Imam rethinks opposition to Mohammed cartoons and backs freedom of expression
Seven and a half years after the worldwide Danish cartoons crisis, Ahmed Akkari, a former Imam, now says the drawings were justified as free expression.

By: JewishNewsOne

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Radical Danish Imam rethinks opposition to Mohammed cartoons and backs freedom of expression - Video

'Novel' phone-cam using cyborg astrobiologist could help search for life in universe

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Washington, Sept. 10 (ANI): Scientists have developed a hybrid part-human, part-machine visual system, which uses a mobile phone camera, to search for evidence of past or present life in planetary analogue sites on Earth.

Patrick McGuire from the Freie Universitat, Berlin, and other researchers from the Freie Universitat, West Virginia University, the Centro de Astrobiologia in Madrid and the University of Malta have been working for over a decade towards giving more scientific autonomy to robotic rovers in choosing the most promising sites for geological and astrobiological investigation.

In the Cyborg Astrobiologist system, initially the human astrobiologist takes images of his/her surroundings using a mobile phone camera.

These images are sent to via Bluetooth to a laptop, which processes the images to detect novel colours and textures and communicates back to the astrobiologist the degree of similarity to previous images stored in the database.

Tests of the Cyborg Astrobiologist system have been conducted at field sites with similarities to landscapes that are found on Mars, imaging gypsum cliffs, red-bed sandstones, limestones, mudstones and coal beds.

Some rocks have been partly covered with lichen, a life-form that can possibly spread to/from other planets. Matching images with similar features in images from the database has been very successful.

The results are currently under review for publication by the International Journal of Astrobiology. (ANI)

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'Novel' phone-cam using cyborg astrobiologist could help search for life in universe

Cyborg astrobiologist uses phone-cam to search for signs of life

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Sep. 10, 2013 A novel, hybrid part-human, part-machine visual system that uses a simple mobile phone camera has been developed to search for evidence of past or present life in planetary analogue sites on Earth. Patrick McGuire from the Freie Universitt, Berlin, will present results from this Cyborg Astrobiologist at the European Planetary Science Congress in London on Monday 9th September.

Members of McGuire's team, which include researchers from the Freie Universitt, West Virginia University, the Centro de Astrobiologa in Madrid and the University of Malta have been working for over a decade towards giving more scientific autonomy to robotic rovers in choosing the most promising sites for geological and astrobiological investigation. In the Cyborg Astrobiologist system, initially the human astrobiologist takes images of his/her surroundings using a mobile phone camera. These images are sent to via Bluetooth to a laptop, which processes the images to detect novel colours and textures and communicates back to the astrobiologist the degree of similarity to previous images stored in the database.

"Over the years, our system has shrunk down from a camera on a tripod and wearable computer, to a small laptop and a phone-cam," said McGuire. "We are now working to speed up the image compression analysis and put the whole system onto a Smartphone -- and eventually onto a Mars rover!"

The robotic rovers currently exploring Mars are heavily reliant on guidance from scientists back on Earth to detect areas that are most interesting for further analysis. The time delay in transmitting and receiving the commands can take between 4 and 24 minutes depending on the relative positions of Earth and Mars on their orbital paths. Exploration would be speeded up significantly if the rovers could identify autonomously unusual colours and textures created by geochemical or biological processes that may be a sign of past or present life.

Tests of the Cyborg Astrobiologist system have been conducted at field sites with similarities to landscapes that are found on Mars, imaging gypsum cliffs, red-bed sandstones, limestones, mudstones and coalbeds. Some rocks have been partly covered with lichen, a life-form that can possibly spread to/from other planets. Matching images with similar features in images from the database has been very successful.

"In our most recent tests at a former coal mine in West Virginia, the similarity-matching by the computer agreed with the judgement of our human geologists 91% of the time. The novelty detection also worked well, although there were some issues in differentiating between features that are similar in colour but different in texture, like yellow lichen and sulphur-stained coalbeds. However, for a first test of the technique, it looks very promising," said McGuire. These results of the Cyborg Astrobiologist's field-work in West Virginia are currently under review for publication by the International Journal of Astrobiology.

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Cyborg astrobiologist uses phone-cam to search for signs of life

Volunteers needed to help cleanup beaches

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A conservation group that works to restore the Great Lakes is looking for volunteers to help clean beaches in four states later this month.

(AP) -- A conservation group that works to restore the Great Lakes is looking for volunteers to help clean beaches in four states later this month.

TheAlliance for the Great Lakesis holding its annual Adopt-a-Beach event Saturday, Sept. 21. The group is asking individuals, community groups and school groups to show up at Great Lakes beaches for three hours and help pick up trash.

Thousands of people showed up last year and collected more than 17,000 pounds of garbage. Volunteers also performed water-quality tests to determine the lakes' health.

This year's event will again be held at beaches in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin.

To find out where events are being held or to sign up and start your own beach cleanupregister online.

(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Volunteers needed to help cleanup beaches

NSF Brings Together Leading Brains To Explore Artificial Intelligence

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September 10, 2013

Michael Harper for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

Scientists and robotics engineers have long looked to the human brain for inspiration when building out artificial intelligence. Theyve yet to build a machine that comes anywhere close to replicating the sophistication of the human brain, but theyve made great strides.

Now the National Science Foundation (NSF) wants to push this field of study further by giving the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) $25 million to establish the Center for Brains, Minds and Machines. Members from Harvard and other Ivy League schools as well as industrial partners such as Google and Microsoft will be a part of this group effort to deliver smarter machines in the near future. By crossing over disciplinary lines, the NSF hopes not only to move technology forward, but to provide a facility to train the next generation of engineers and scientists.

Understanding the brain is one of the grand scientific challenges at the intersection of the physical, life, behavioral and engineering sciences, said John Wingfield, assistant director of NSFs Biological Sciences Directorate in a press statement.

Despite major research and technological advances achieved in recent decades, a comprehensive understanding of the brain how thoughts, memories and intelligent behavior emerge from dynamic brain activity remains unexplained.

The Center for Brains, Minds and Machines will be staffed by ten MIT faculty members and five from Harvard. They will also be joined by faculty members from Cornell, Rockefeller University, UCLA, Stanford and the Allen Institute. IBM, Boston Dynamics, Rethihnk Robotics and Willow Garage will also provide their expertise as industrial partners in this venture.

Each of the partners involved has already been working to build intelligent machines machines which think in the same way the human mind has been doing for hundreds of thousands of years. Most notably, Google has been making headlines lately as they push forward with their driverless car program. Though Nissan has recently thrown down the gauntlet and hopes to beat them to the punch, Google plans to have the first commercially available autonomous vehicle on the road, capable of making the hundreds of snap decisions that human drivers normally make inside their natural brains.

IBM, in partnership with DARPA, recently announced theyve developed a programming language to facilitate brain-inspired machines. With a new architecture and new hardware, IBM says theyll be able to power devices which operate in a way weve never before seen.

Researchers from Stanford have been actively pursuing a computer which is built with genetic material, the same kind of stuff found floating around in essentially every human cell. In March they announced that they had developed transistors made completely out of bio material, and said they could one day soon put a computer in any living cell, further blurring the distinction between the brain and a machine.

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NSF Brings Together Leading Brains To Explore Artificial Intelligence