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The Embrace of Mercy

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On the eve of Mother’s Day, the USNS Mercy docked in Hawaii to take on supplies and personnel before launching on its Pacific Partnership 2010 mission. Thanks to the graces of Pacific Command, the Pacific Fleet, and Naval Region Hawaii, a group of local bloggers, tweeters, and social media mavens was allowed to tour the Mercy, speak to its leadership and crew, and document every aspect of this unique visit.

This is my experience.

About the USNS Mercy

Globally, the US Navy has two hospital ships in its fleet. While the Atlantic is under the care of the USNS Comfort, the USNS Mercy embraces the Pacific region. In stark contrast to its grey-hulled Navy brethren, the USNS Mercy is visually distinct, coated white and prominently displaying the Red Cross to signify its medical mission.

Also, the heritage of the Mercy is one of a converted oil supertanker, not built in the Naval shipyards. Within the Naval fleet, only an aircraft carrier is physically bigger than the Mercy.

The Floating Hospital

The obvious way to describe the USNS Mercy is it’s like a hospital, a floating hospital. Walking the expanses of the ship was just like walking the halls of any major hospital – an emergency receiving area, radiology with a CT scanner, sterile operating rooms, intensive care units, physical therapy, a blood bank, an eye clinic, a pharmacy, and patient wards (with a capacity of 1000 beds) were all there.

However, getting on a floating hospital does require a special ambulance though.

Staggering Logistics

Once you understand that the Mercy is a moving hospital, guessing at the staggering logistics and special requirements follows. Traveling to Pacific countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Timor-Leste during Pacific Partnership 2010 (PP10), language issues are resolved by translators who are part of the crew or volunteers from Non-Governmental Agencies in host countries. Medical expertise comes from a variety of sources and is tailored for the mission at hand. Crew members are not assigned to the Mercy on a rotational basis, but from the 18 months of planning for PP10, medical skills are identified then assembled. Even veterinarians and biomedical equipment repair personnel will be participating. Supplies are continually taken on at every port stop and stored in any available free space.

The Teamwork of Roles

The successful operation of the Mercy lies in the teamwork of the crew as they each perform their vital roles. There are three primary roles on-board represented by the three leaders of the Mercy. From my understanding, Captain Lisa Franchetti heads the overall Pacific Partnership 2010 mission for the Mercy, Captain Jeffrey Paulson is chief medical officer, and Captain David Bradshaw is in charge of the operation of the Mercy.

The crew is composed of military personnel (about 1200) and civilians (about 66), and each member also has additional roles such as firefighters and to even defend the non-combatant ship if attacked.

Comforts

While the USNS Mercy is prepared to handle medical emergencies, familiar comforts are available. The primary dining hall provides meals around the clock, and yes, they serve Starbucks coffee.

To keep the crew physically fit, spaces are converted to make shift but well equipped gyms.

Takeaways

So what are my personal takeaways after touring the USNS Mercy? It simply goes like this:

Amazed, overwhelmed, awed, honored, and lastly, thankful…

More Pictures of the USNS Mercy

More Coverage of the USNS Mercy Tour

Sign Him Up!

My pal JoJo has a future, in dancing or as a runway model, I don’t know. Check out his moves at the 1:00 minute mark.

Civil Beat on the Airwaves

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On Wednesday’s Bytemarks Cafe radio show, Burt and Ryan interviewed some of the talent from local startup Peer News.  Editor John Temple and Developer Ryan Kanno talked about Civil Beat, its background, its goals, and just about everything else.

If you missed the show, it’s now available for listening (the Civil Beat interview is about half way in).

I’m not going to rehash the conversation since you should really listen to it yourself (especially at the 28:07 mark), but there were some personally memorable moments.

Did I mention the 28:07 mark of the podcast?  That was memorable. 😉

I couldn’t believe the issue centering around the use of PayPal for Civil Beat.  This topic went on for several minutes.  Yeah, you gotta have a PayPal account to sign in to Civil Beat and also to pay for your subscription.  PayPal is like the biggest online payment system so this makes sense.  And um, isn’t there like a link between PayPal and eBay, and eBay and Pierre, and Pierre and Civil Beat? Hmmm…  As to the comment about only techies using PayPal, here’s a response.

Ryan Kanno: You don’t have to be tech-savvy to use PayPal. My father isn’t tech-savvy and he’s on PayPal.less than a minute ago via webHonolulu Civil Beat
civilbeat

Then came the talk about design and aesthetics.  Uh oh.  Design and what looks good are tied to personal tastes. Oh that jab about Civil Beat looking Web 1.0-ish had to hurt! But the Civil Beat team has a thick skin.

Web 1.0 eh? Missed my chance to use a <blink> tag I guess. #becivilless than a minute ago via Tweetiemirthlab
mirthlab

I haven’t listened to the entire podcast again, but was there only one caller (albeit with a multi-part question)?

Still, all around a great interview, especially at the 28:07 part. 😉

What I Learned from Next Level Hawaii

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The first ever Next Level Hawaii conference happened last week with great speakers talking all things social media.  The caliber of speakers was top notch, and while the emphasis was aimed at social media for business, general social media usage and tips flowed throughout the day.

So what did I learn from Next Level Hawaii?

Chris Pirillo kicked off the first session and provided a good backdrop for branding via social media.  He reiterated how social media is a long term investment and takes time to build your community and following.  You need to find your business niche, be passionate, and uniquely own the mindshare of your market .  And Chris being Chris, flitted from subject to subject offering his personal, entertaining commentary.

Next up was Geoff Livingston whose highlight was a comparison of Madonna and Lady Gaga.  This was an excellent lesson of branding and social media and illustrated how the landscape has drastically changed over the years.  While only in her early 20’s, Lady Gaga’s network empowered by social media is definitively impacting the entertainment scene, previously dominated by the diva Madonna.  What’s taken Madonna decades to build is being quickly eclipsed by Gaga.

Technosailor, Aaron Brazell, the author of WordPress Bible, followed and overviewed popular WordPress social plugins.  My main takeaway from Aaron’s sesson was BuddyPress.  I’ve heard about this software and seen it mentioned on my WordPress dashboard, but I didn’t understand it until Aaron said BuddyPress is “Facebook in a box.”  I’m sold.

Andrew Hyde was a last minute replacement and talked about the startup market.  He mentioned “Ignite” events which sound like a variation of pecha kucha.  But Andrew’s most sobering point was asking if anyone cared about your site/service/business.  If it shutdown tomorrow, would anyone care or notice?  Side note: check out balsamiq for quickly designing site mockups.

After Andrew, Jesse Stay took the stage to talk Facebook.  As the author of Facebook books (yes, real books), Jesse showed the crowds the new Facebook social plugins.  By the way, Jesse rocked his presentation using Apple’s Keynote and iPhone app that allowed remote control of his presentation.  Sorry, my pics of Jesse were all blurry.

Lastly, local video blogger, Roxanne Darling made a compelling case to start using videos for business branding.  Video consumption is growing, it’s getting easier to do, and companies can further their customer engagement with video.

Whew!  That was a full day of social media!  One interesting point was the “forgotten blog.”  Many conference go-ers wanted to know if the key to social media success was Facebook or Twitter or YouTube.  Several speakers said the same thing which was that your blog should be your central hub of social media activities.

And I almost forgot!  One more thing I learned from Next Level Hawaii is watch your tweets when a live tweet stream is involved.  You (and everyone else) might see something embarrassing. 😉

Thanks to HawaiiRealty for coordinating and hosting Next Level Hawaii.

Watching the Civil Beat

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Hawaii startup Peer News is online and poised to revolutionize the changing landscape of journalism with Civil Beat. May 4th is the official launch date, but Civil Beat is currently open for business in a soft launch mode. I joined as an early subscriber (and at a reduced cost) to see what the potential future of journalism could be. Here are some observations.

The Basics

Civil Beat feels blog-like with posts and articles that allow comments from paid subscribers.  Non-members can consume content but not contribue to the conversations.  Currently, Civil Beat focuses on the five beats of: Honolulu, Hawaii, education, land, and money.

The Cost

Yes, the subscription cost for Civil Beat draws the most attention. A monthly subscription goes for $20, but there is an early subscriber cost of $5 for the first month. So, we’re talking $200+ a year, and what does that get you?

How about no advertisements littering pages of content and contributions. How about reporters aka guides who interact with its online communities. How about an ever-evolving look at topics, not one-and-done articles. How about a walled garden of engaged community members who reflect the Beat’s unofficial tagline of “Be you. Be cool. Be civil.” Is $240 a year too much to pay for the new civic square? Time will tell.

I do wonder if other pricing options will be available after the official launch.  How about subscribing to a specific beat at a reduced cost.  How about defraying costs for active community members.  Since Civil Beat emphasizes conversations, why not reward members for their contributions?

PayPal Needed

To subscribe to Civil Beat, you need to pay using the popular PayPal.  PayPal then acts as the sign in mechanism for Civil Beat.  Leveraging the payment service of PayPal is understandable, but in the day of Facebook Connect and Twitter @anywhere, perceptually, PayPal feels out of place. But maybe that’s also a subtext of Peer News and Civil Beat, to challenge your perceptions and redefine them for a better future.

No Notification

During the soft opening of Civil Beat, one glaring omission is the lack of a notification system letting users know when new posts and discussions are available.  You’d expect RSS feeds since the site feels bloggy-ish. Civil Beat is on Twitter so even tweets of new content might suffice.  Notifications need to be there on May 4.

Make Civil Beat Mobile

A mobile application, not just a mobile-friendly format, would help sustain the engagement of the community. This app could then show new posts and discussions for those on the go.

Civil Beat Listens

And lastly, during my short time on Civil Beat, there’s been countless tweaks and changes, mostly at the recommendation of its community. Don’t like or want to see something, simply speak up, and Civil Beat will be listening. Of course, it’s their discretion how they’ll handle your request, but you know you’ll be heard. That is refreshing.

The new civic square is coming, and I’ll see you there.

The Unlisted Blazin’ Steaks

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Blazin’ Steaks are all over Hawaii, springing up island wide. I think their unofficial motto is if steaks ain’t blazin’ within 2 miles, it’ll soon be.

A problem with this sprawling growth is finding the details of these franchises. There are at least three Blazin’ Steaks in Kailua, but none of them are listed in any phone directories. Even the mighty Google and its 411 service failed.

If you’re looking for the Enchanted Lakes location on Keolu next to Ben Franklin, their phone number is 979-6066.

iTunes Movie Rentals to AppleTV

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For all the things Apple has done right regarding ease of use, this one ain’t one of them. I rented a movie from iTunes and the huge HD file eventually downloaded. That part was easy. Now, how do I view this movie on my synchronized AppleTV?

I checked the movie section on the AppleTV, but it didn’t show the rented movie. Maybe if I select the movie rental from the just released section, the device would know I already purchased a rental. No go, it asks if I want to rent the movie. So where the heck is the movie?

Stuck in iTunes on my Mac. I found this Apple Support article that says you have to move the movie to a device (iPod, iPad, iPhone, AppleTV, etc). Now that’s confusing. You would think that a simple sync would be good enough. Not so, dear AppleTV user.

Apple, how about fixing this in the next versions of iTunes?

A Good Bike Is Hard to Find

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So I didn’t need my HMSA Healthpass appointment to tell me what my tight pants was already screaming, I can afford to lose a pound or two… or 15.  To help with this and boost up my good cholesterol levels, more cardio exercising is in order.

With space at a premium in my home gym aka the garage, I wanted a small footprint so decided to get an upright exercise bike.  Now finding one in Hawaii isn’t as easy as you’d think.  I started at Sports Authority which luckily had a sale on all exercise equipment.  But no luck, they’ve been out of stock of top-rated Schwinn uprights for some time.  Well, the huge Ward location has been out of stock as well as the Waikele location.

Sears didn’t carry the Schwinns either and while available online at sears.com, shipping to Hawaii was killer.  Same for Sports Authority online.  Amazon doesn’t even ship these items to Hawaii or Alaska.  Fortunately, the Kapolei Sports Authority did have a Schwinn upright in stock.  It wasn’t the 140 model as I hoped, but the similar 120.  Good enough since I don’t think you can even get the Schwinn 140 anywhere in Hawaii.  A good bike is hard to find.

Always Tweaking

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I’m always tweaking things here at Pulpconnection and made a few recent changes.

Turned off LinkWithin on the home page. Individual posts still show similar topics using the visual LinkWithin widget, but I removed these from the home page to cut down on clutter.

Moved Archives to the footer. Though the dropdown box for Archives doesn’t take up a lot of space, I moved it from the sidebar into the footer.

Moved Search. Also gone from the sidebar is the Search field. Now, it’s kinda floating in the unused white space of the banner image. Why not since the real estate is there.

Deactivated WP Greet Box. I still like the idea of the plugin, but I don’t like how search engines pick up my posts with the WP Greet Box text instead of the post itself.

Bigger main column. Because of YouTube’s increased size of its video embeds, I increased the main column to 560 pixels wide to accommodate. Previously, the main column was set at 480 px. The Thesis theme made this switch super easy.

Facebook Social Plugins. Facebook just released a bunch of code that can be widgetized to any site, integrating the popular social network. I’ve been experimenting but haven’t found a good fit just yet.

Three columns or two? From my Blogger days, I had a two-column layout and wished I had three columns to work with. After moving to WordPress and Thesis, I got my three columns but now, I’m reconsidering going back to two columns. So much cleaner and simpler, but obviously, less space for things. I have some ideas where to move things around, I just need to figure how to make these moves.

Get Satisfaction. I had it, I removed it, I brought it back, but it’s not used so I might remove it once again.

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