Jerry Fahrni

Author: Jerry Fahrni

  • SugarSync, an easy way to share large files across the net

    It’s not uncommon for me to find myself with the need to get a large file onto someone else’s machine. The problem is that I’ve moved away from many of the more traditional ways of moving files back and forth. I try to carry a flash drive with me, but someone always needs one and I end up giving them away. I don’t have a CD-RW on either of my travel machines. I don’t carry an external drive. And my corporate email limits email attachments to 10MB, which really isn’t that big these days.

    Anyway, I found myself in a situation where I needed to move several large files and had no easy way to do it. Fortunately I use SuargarSync, which is capable of quickly and easily sharing files.

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  • West Coast fails to get single city in list of top 7 cities for IT jobs…bummer

    Healthcare IT News:

    Houston claimed the top spot to find an IT job in large part due to its position as a key hub for numerous global organizations – many of which are now rebounding from the recession and benefitting from increased IT budget.

    …

    A number of east coast cities also took top spots on the list – including Washington, D.C., which came in second, and boasts a 6 percent unemployment rate, well below the national average. Not surprisingly, most of the employment demand in the nation’s capital is being driven by the U.S. government, as it provides a variety of economic incentives for companies to start up or to relocate in the market. In addition to the government, other sectors seeking IT talent in Washington, D.C. include biotech, associations, telecom, financial services, technology, IT startups/dot-coms, construction and hospitality.

    The full list of top cities to find a job in IT are:
    1. Houston
    2. Washington, DC
    3. Columbus, OH
    4. Detroit
    5. Philadelphia
    6. Edison, NJ
    7. Boston

    Why do you suppose the West Coast is so far out of the loop?

  • Pharmacy Director needed…programming experience required?

    As I alluded to in a recent post, I still get a fair number of emails and phone calls from pharmacy recruiters; actually got one of each today.

    The following recruiter email arrived in my inbox a few days ago. I found a few things very interesting. Feel free to read the entire job description, but pay particular attention to the highlighter sections.
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  • Why I dropped DropBox

    I received the following email message from DropBox the other day:

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  • Cool Pharmacy Technology–Apoteca

    I have a soft spot for robotics, especially for IV preparation. I’m not quite sure that pharmacy is ready to fully embrace the idea, but we’re well on our way.

    APOTECAchemo is an IV preparation robot modeled in the image of i.v.STATION. Prior to yesterday I had not heard of APOTECA. Fortunately someone visiting my site left me a link to the U.S. website. The site contains limited information with the exception of the video below. However, a quick internet search led me to the Loccioni Humancare website where I was able to find additional information.

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  • Being labeled as ‘Google sheep’

    sheepI’ve been labeled ‘Google sheep’! All this because I said the Google Chromebook wasn’t a bad idea. Did I come out and say it was the only platform worth using? Nope. Did I say it was the greatest thing since sliced bread? Certainly not. Did I say it was revolutionary? By no means. Did I say it would change the way we look at computing? Not even close. Did I say it would be the dominant computing platform for the next 100 years? Sorry, but no. So why label me Google Sheep?

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  • Opinion: why the Google Chromebook is not a bad idea

    Anyone that knows me personally or has read this site must realize that I like technology and think that the cloud is the future for a great many things. While I don’t necessarily think the cloud is ready for primetime for everyone, I believe that we have yet to realize the full power of moving away from the desktop storage model.

    Google recently unveiled the availability of its Chromebook, a laptop “optimized for the web”. I haven’t had an opportunity to see one in person, but I have every intention to purchase one of these machines and give the concept a shot. Based on internet chatter it may be easier said than done as I believe the Chromebook will be a hot commodity when it becomes available.

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  • Laptop want versus laptop need

    marco.org: “The right laptop to get is the one that will be able to serve most of your needs, most of the time, with the fewest compromises on factors that matter to you.
    ….
    Almost everyone can point to a handful of situations in which a given Apple laptop is impossible, impractical, or frustrating to use for a particular task.
    …..
    Most people put far too much consideration on size and weight. There are situations in which this matters, such as the tray-table example, but evaluate your own situation before deciding based on that: How often do you travel on planes, how much time during the flight would you realistically be working on your laptop, and how bad would it be if you couldn’t?”

    I don’t personally use an Apple laptop, but the information in the article can be applied to non-Apple machines as well. While I don’t agree with the author’s conclusion that people put far too much consideration on size and weight, I can certainly relate to the problem with tray-tables on planes. I for one put a lot of consideration into size and weight when choosing a laptop. It’s important to me. Thin and light with good battery life tops my list of desirables when I’m looking at a new machine. I also prefer laptops with screens around 14” in size.

    Unfortunately my desired screen size directly impacts my ability to use laptops on planes. I fly in cattle-class where the seats are designed for petite women less than 5’6”. And for some reason the person sitting in front of me always wants to lie in my lap. Anyway, my 14.1″ Lenovo T410s laptop doesn’t fit on the tray-table comfortably between me and the reclining ding-bat in front of me; really irritating (that’s a totally different post).

    What’s the solution? Get a smaller laptop obviously. Just sayin’.

  • Top posts for week ending May 8, 2011

    Below is a list of the most read blog posts over the last week based on number of hits:

    1. All good things must come to an end, and so goes the pharmacist shortage
    2. Some friendly advice for pharmacy recruiters
    3. Best iPhone / iPod Touch Applications for Pharmacists
    4. Cool Technology for Pharmacy (Alaris Smartpumps June 18th, 2009)
    5. Quick update: Pharmacy iPad use
    6. First Impressions – Lenovo T410s Laptop
    7. The evolution of tablets for pharmacy
    8. What are you going to do with all that data?
    9. Moving storage around in the “cloud”
    10. Barcodes on patient wristbands
    11. Taking a look at the new Lenovo X220t Tablet PC
    12. Thoughts on speech recognition in pharmacy
    13. Cool Technology for Pharmacy (Capsule Machine September 10, 2009)
    14. “What’d I miss?” – Week of October 4th
    15. Cool Technology for Pharmacy (hydrogel membrane October 15, 2009)

     

  • Why Disney should run healthcare

    My oldest daughter’s competitive cheer team qualified for the World’s Cheer competition in Orlando, FL. The competition was held a couple of weekends ago at Disney World’s ESPN Wide World of Sports. There were teams from all over the world; Czech Republic, Canada, Japan, China, Mexico, New Zealand the US, among others. It was big, really big and Disney handled it without incident.

    Here are some observations:
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