Monthly Archives: May 2014

Learning about my new Computer to help our Plastic Surgery Practice in Modesto, California

I just got a new PC desktop, small form factor from HP

It has a 1 terabyte boot-up hard drive.

Right out of the box 5/30/14 with very little newly installed software, it has a boot up time of 41 seconds and a shut down time of 11 seconds.

Statistics:

  • 41 seconds to boot up
  • 11 seconds to shut down

I’ll be posting more information soon as I learn more about my new computer

  • Model: HP EliteDesk 800 G1 SFF
  • Windows Experience Index: 5.1 (1-7.9)
  • Processor:  Intel Core i7-4770 CPU @3.4 GHz 3.4GHz
  • RAM: 32 GB
  • 64 bit operating system
  • Intel HD graphics 4600
  • 4 cores, 3.4GHz, 8 MB cache

Windows Experience Index

  • Processor: 7.7
  • Ram: 7.8
  • Graphics: 6.7
  • Gaming graphics: 6.7
  • Primary hard disk: 7.9

 

HP Promo EliteDesk 800 SFF, Core i7-4770 Quad Core3.40 GHz, 500 GB 7200 RPM, 4 GB (1×4 GB) DDR31600 MHz, Windows 7 Professional 664 with Windows8.1 Pro License, 3-3-3. 3763085

SAMSUNG 840 EVO 2.5" 1TB SATA III TLC InternalSolid State Drive (SSD)

HP Z24i 24in IPS display, AC power cord, DVI cable,USB cable,  DisplayPort cable, CD (includes user guide,warranty, drivers) 3618140

HP 14-in-1 USB2/3 3.5 Media Card Reader

 

WiFi in the world of Electronic Medical Record

Surgeons and other doctors need to know know a bit about computers.  That stems from the electronic medical record growth surrounding us.  I’d say that it’s an important part of a surgeon’s knowledge base to know a bit about wireless internet connections, and internet connections speeds, and internet connection security – starting with wireless connection security.

Today, I just wanted to explore my own WiFi connection on my laptop.  I was comforted to know that my home WiFi connection is WPA-2 encrypted.  I was able to find out how that was done.  But I also saw that most of the hotels that I have traveled to were not protected in this fashion.  To me this means that I should be cautious surfing at hotels.

I was also curious about my speed.  I looked up my WiFi card in my computer by looking up the details of my wireless network connection.  It seems that I have a Broadcom 4313 card which is able to acces 802.11 b/g/n which can run at a speed of 72 Mbps.  These were data spit out on my Windows 7 equipped laptop.  At this time, I still haven’t figured out which Hz the transmission is traveling.  I’ve heard that it could be 2mHz or 5mHz – I think.

I decided to do a speed test on my connection with Charter.  With my WiFi equipped Laptop, I got speeds of 19.34 Mbps download and 3.32 Mbps upload. (ping was 24 ms).

Testing several more times:

  • Down/Up
  • 18.76/3.31
  • 19.01/3.31
  • 19.51/3.28

I’ll hopefully get a chance to test out these other numbers in other situations.

I have another computer which I just purchased a brand new wifi adapter to plug into the usb port.  It is the Linksys N900 AE3000.  I think Linksys and Cisco are somehow together.  It has 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, Simultaneous 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, runs on USB2.

Here are the testing on that computer.  I know the times are related to my signal strength and router.  But regardless here are some speedtest.net results.  Ping 32ms, Download speed 29.41 Mbps, Upload speed of 2.23 Mbps.  But the speed is somewhat erratic on this machine because it is located next to a chimney probably.

  • 31ms/21.59 down/2.79 up
  • 29ms/11.92 down/2.4 up
  • 32ms/38.83 down/3.09 up
  • 33ms/2.46 down/2.48 up
  • 34ms/23.41 down/2.68 up

YouTube vs. FaceBook Video Sound Quality

Piano as surgical dexterity practice

As part of my daily surgical dexterity practice, I play the piano.  But I also need feedback by self-assessing my technique by making videos.  Most importantly the sound created with my fingers, arms, and body is important.  I do load the videos up onto the internet at times to get feedback from others.  I would say that there are plenty of experts out there on the internet who know a lot more about piano playing than I do.  But part of my goals is to have my dexterity improve for my cosmetic surgical practice where I inject Botox, Fillers, Veins and I perform Acupuncture too.

Two social sharing platforms are FaceBook and YouTube.  I had to compare to see which one had better sound quality.  In the end I think the sound quality goes with the video quality.  YouTube won out in my opinion.  But both platforms do change the volume and degrade the quality of the original file which was taken as a quicktime move with a Canon 60D camera which I got from Costco about a year ago.

Head to head comparison: YouTube vs. FaceBook

My initial conclusions are that YouTube’s sound quality degrades less than FaceBook’s. YouTube has a tendency to lower my volume and FaceBook does the opposite – it raises the volume (when compared to the original quicktime file sitting on my hard-drive). Here’s the YouTube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqCNMfsNBvQ

I don’t know if I can share the video from FaceBook, but this would be the link:

I guess you can decide for yourself.

I did the listening through a new beyerdynamic professional headphone.  It’s the Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 80 Ohms.

beyerdynamic professional headphone dt770 pro

The box got crushed in the delivery to me, but I think the headphones are fine.  This is how it arrived (there was an outside box that got beat up too).  The box was torn in several places, but I think miraculously the headphones were flexible enough to take some of the squishing that happened.

Beyerdynamic Headphone specs for the DT 770 Pro, 80 Ohms:

  • Transducer type: dynamic
  • Operating principle: closed
  • Nominal frequency response 5-30,000 Hz
  • Nominal impedance 80 Ohms/system
  • Nominal SPL:  96 db SPL
  • Nominal THD:  <0.2%
  • Ambient noise isolation:  approx. 18 dBA
  • Weight without cable: 270g
  • Cable: 3m/stright cable
  • Connection: gold plated mini jack 1/8″ and 1/4″ adapter

Skin Care Peptides and Vitamin C

Peptides in Obagi Hydrate Luxe

Peptides in Obagi Hydrate Luxe

Peptides in Skin Care

Peptides, another hot topic in skin care, signal cells to stimulate collagen and elastin. Peptides are short strings of amino acids which can act as signaling molecules to help slow down visible signs of aging. Obagi Hydrate Luxe is the first and currently the only product at Surgical Artistry which contains peptide technology. Obagi Hydrate Luxe containes two key peptides which reduce the appearance of fine lines and increases skin firmness: Chronoline and Kollaren. This was my attempt to teach and discuss within our Modesto office.

Vitamin C in Skin Care

Vitamin C is used by fibroblasts to make collagen and elastin. Vitamin C is also an antioxidant which has a photoprotective effect by reducing damage to cells and DNA which are caused by oxidation from UV light exposure. Oxidation is also caused by pollutants over time. The vitamin C also protects the sunscreen from oxidative changes caused by UV light. This allows the sunscreen to work with less degradation from ultraviolet light. 

Skin care is an integral part of plastic surgery.

Visit our other pages:

Thank you!  Enjoy!  Disclaimer: double check the facts, I’m just writing all this off the top of my head.  Facts can change over time too.

How long does it take to become a Surgeon?

There are many different ways to measure this length of time for surgery training and surgery education.  I was just wondering these same things as I reflect on my surgical experience.  I was also wondering how long it might take me to become a pianist.  Perhaps my musings might help others.  First I should say that I am very grateful to all my teachers.

I currently practice in a Modesto Plastic Surgery setting with my wife, Dr. Tammy Wu, Modesto Plastic Surgeon.

I had posted this comment on my Modesto FaceBook page, but I thought I’d share these educational duration thoughts here:

It took me 10 years of diligent study to become a semi-proficient VIOLINIST. It took me 17 years to become a competent full fledged SURGEON. I wonder how long it would be if I attempted to tackle piano.

Notes: 
1) Violin years determined by age started (7) and age with performance-readiness of the Tchaikovsky violin concerto.  My Tchaikovsky violin concerto – see below.
2) Surgery years determined by starting with the first year of acceptance into Brown University’s Medical Education program and the year where I became a full fledged board certified surgeon. This duration of time is 17 years after high school.
3) I learned piano briefly when I was little, but then switched to violin, dropping all piano lessons. I had to focus. Just like these days I have to choose between Acupuncture vs. Surgery – there isn’t enough time/energy to focus on all things.

Here’s a violin recording/video of my Tchaikovsky violin concerto:

Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, Calvin Lee