Tweak Exposé Glow

Tweak Exposé Glow

For Snow Leopard Users

If you have noticed, whenever you press F9 key to activate Exposé, you will see a rather different Exposé from Mac OS X Leopard. And upon mouse over on one of the item, you can see blue glowing effect.

Today, we are going to bring you to tweak on the glow color to your liking.

Step 1. Find the Image Sprites

Most of the time, the items that can be seen (let it buttons, icons, or other items) are located in the System folder of our Mac. The glowing effect of our Exposé is also using the image sprite stored in the System folder.

Here is the quick step to the directory containing the image sprites:

1. Open Finder and hit keystrokes Cmd-Shift-G
2. Type in the directory address: /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/Resources
3. Then, hit enter to quickly jump to that directory (Resources folder)

Step 2. Move Them to Other Place

As you are now inside the System folder, the permission setting will stop you from making any direct changes to the files inside.

The workaround for this is to copy these two items to other place outside System folder, modify them, and move them back.

Here are the detailed steps:

1. Inside the folder, search for two image files, namely: expose-window-selection-big.png and expose-window-selection-small.png
2. Copy these two items somewhere else. And delete the original copy from this Resources folder
3. Now open these two images with your favorite image editor (e.g. Preview, Pixelmator, or Photoshop), change the color, and then save the changes
4. Move back these two images into your the same directory as before (Resources folder)

Step 3. Restart Exposé to the Effect

Finally to see the changes, you need to open Terminal and execute command line:

killall Dock

The above command line will restart the Dock for you as well as restart Exposé. After restarting the Exposé, you can now see the change in glow color after the modification.

The key to quickly do this tweak is to open several Finder windows. This will save your time from going through the whole process to search for Resources folder.

And, it's always recommended to make a backup for these two image files. Enjoy the tweaking

Using Telelens 101.01

telephoto sunset

Longer version look  http://dickystechpages.blogspot.com/

Perhaps the most common use for a telephoto lens is to bring otherwise small and distant subjects closer, such as wildlife. This can enable a vantage on subjects not otherwise possible in real life. One should therefore pay careful attention to far off detail and texture.

Furthermore, even if you were able to get a little closer to the subject, this may adversely impact the photograph because being closer might alter the subject's behavior. This is especially true when trying to capture candid photographs of people; believe it or not, people usually act differently when they're aware that someone is taking their photograph.

Finally, consider this: since a telephoto lens encompasses a much narrower angle of view, you as the photographer can be much more selective with what you choose to contain within your camera frame. You might choose to capture just the region of the sky right around the sunset (left), just the surfer on their wave, or just a tight region around someone's interesting facial expression. This added selectivity can make for very simple and focused compositions.

 Longer version look http://dickystechpages.blogspot.com/

The Impact of New-Onset Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation on Mortality After Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting

The Impact of New-Onset Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation on Mortality After Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting

Sander Bramer, MD^a, Albert H.M. van Straten, MD^a, Mohamed A. Soliman Hamad, MD^a,_*, Eric Berreklouw, MD, PhD^a, Elisabeth J. Martens, PhD^b,c, Jos G. Maessen, MD, PhD^d

^a Department of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, Catharina Hospital, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
^b Department of Education and Research, Catharina Hospital, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
^c Center of Research on Psychology in Somatic Diseases, Department of Medical Psychology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands
^d Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht—CARIM, Maastricht University Medical Center—MUMC, Maastricht, The Netherlands

Accepted for publication March 26, 2010.

^_* Address correspondence to Dr Soliman Hamad, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Catharina Hospital, Michelangelolaan 2, Postbus 1350, 5602 ZA Eindhoven, The Netherlands (Email: aasmsn@cze.nl).

Background: New-onset postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is a frequent rhythm disturbance after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). This study investigated the independent effect of POAF on early and late mortality after isolated CABG.

Methods: Data of patients who consecutively underwent isolated CABG between January 2003 and December 2007 were prospectively collected. The analysis included 5098 patients with preoperative sinus rhythm and no history of atrial fibrillation. Logistic regression analysis for early mortality and Cox regression analysis for late mortality were performed. Propensity score matching was performed to eliminate the effect of confounders.

Results: Median follow-up was 2.5 years. POAF was documented in 1122 patients (22.0%). Early mortality was more frequent in POAF patients (3.1%) vs non-POAF patients (1.6%, p = 0.002), but multivariate logistic regression analysis could not identify POAF as an independent predictor of early mortality (p = 0.169). This outcome did not change after adjusting for quintiles of the propensity score of POAF (p = 0.100). Multivariate Cox proportional hazard analyses demonstrated POAF was an independent predictor of overall and late mortality with hazard ratios of 1.35 (p = 0.012 and p = 0.039, respectively). Analyses after propensity score matching showed that patients with POAF had similar hazard ratios of 1.36 for overall mortality and 1.34 for late mortality (p = 0.009 and p = 0.042, respectively).

Conclusions: POAF is an independent predictor of overall and late mortality after isolated CABG but not of early mortality.

 

Remembering My Time as as CardioThoracic n Vascular Resident :D

Obstacles Faced by the Resident

longer version n more pic in http://dickyscardiothoracicvasco.blogspot.com/

I have recently completed my cardiothoracic and vascular surgery (CTVS) residency. It not only taught me the techniques and art of surgery but also enriched me spiritually. T

The details of an ideal resident training programme will always be debated, and it’s not always possible to achieve the ideal. Residents will continue to expect many things from their course of instruction, and the demands of residency training will continue to create obstacles

Various hurdles and obstacles may arise in our lives; these may hinder our path of training. Most of them are either in the form of health and family related issues or at times various aspects of the hard and rigorous training which test the resident’s psychological strength. 

Nothing is more relaxing than a good sound sleep. Deprivation of sleep is a big enemy for all residents, but it is the call of the duty that keeps us awake for long hours. Residents should try to have a good sound sleep the night before their call day.

Almost all of us have one or another hobby, but most of us are not able to pursue it.

Reading popular books or magazines on technology of today or special reports on sports have a very positive impact on our thinking and behavior.

During residency which is difficult, demanding and exhausting, when the hours are long and days unpredictable, many times a negative thought comes into our mind. One might question why I chose this endeavor. But then thinking about the challenges, excitement, and rewards that lie ahead will help remind you that the choice was correct.

The whole idea of residency training should be not only to produce the best of surgeons but also the best of ‘humane’ surgeons. Let us all work together to accomplish this goal.

I will always be extremely grateful and thankfull to all my teachers who have always taught me the art and science of this specialty and encouraged me to realize my dreams. Many thanks to my great parents, sweet and caring wife and son, wonderful friends and colleagues, family members and all the staff of  the hospital who supported and loved me all throughout my CTVS residency.

Cardiothoracic surgeons are frequently given special respect. They are almost uniformly considered leaders among the surgical specialties. It will be our privilege to touch and mend the heart. The joys of being a Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeon will certainly greatly outweigh the frustrations and irritations that lie in the path of becoming one.

longer version n more pic in http://dickyscardiothoracicvasco.blogspot.com/

Creative Anti-Bullfighting Protest in Spain

Animal rights activists gathered in the Spanish town on Las Ventas, for a very original protest against the famous bull fights held there.
Organized by Equanimal, the protest had the participants strip to their underwear, lie down and cover themselves with fake blood, and corrida spears. It took place at the end of May and hoped to convince authorities that the Spanish people no longer support such a cruel and barbaric tradition as bullfighting.
The anti-bullfighting protest took place in Las Ventas because that’s where a large number of bulffighting events take place. Most bull fights are not even profitable anymore, they are sustain themselves through public grants

Kravmaga

Krav Maga (pronounced /ˌkrɑːv məˈɡɑː/; Hebrew: קרב מגע‎, IPA: [ˈkʁav maˈɡa], lit. "contact combat", "close combat" or "full contact") is an eclectic hand-to-hand combat system developed in Israel which involves wrestling, grappling and striking techniques, mostly known for its extremely efficient and brutal counter-attacks, as it is also taught to elite special forces around the world. ^[1][2] It was derived from street-fighting skills developed by Imi Lichtenfeld, who made use of his training as a boxer and wrestler, as a means of defending the Jewish quarter during a period of anti-Semitic activity in Bratislava^[3] in the mid- to late 1930s. In the late 1940s, following his immigration to Israel, he began to provide hand-to-hand combat training to what was to become the IDF, developing the techniques that became known as Krav Maga. It has since been refined for both civilian and military applications.^[4]

Some refinements include, but are not limited to, the incorporation of elements from traditional Asian martial arts.^[1]
Krav Maga has a philosophy emphasizing threat neutralization, simultaneous defensive and offensive maneuvers, and aggression.^[5] Krav Maga is used by the IDF Special Forces units and several closely related variations have been developed and adopted by law enforcement and intelligence organizations, Mossad, Shin Bet, FBI, SWAT units of the NYPD^[6] and United States Special Operations Forces. There are several organizations teaching variations of Krav Maga internationally.^[7][8][9

What is Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery Anyway?

Minimally invasive clearly means many different things to different people. Some people are obsessed by small incisions, to achieve surgical success then they may need much longer bypas times. Others are obsessed by off-pump surgery, in return they may need much larger incisions to achieve adequate re-vascularisation. Do we really understand the trade-offs? Is an on-pump strategy with a very low blood product useage actually worse than an off-pump strategy in a unit that doesn't cell save and therefore has a higher transfusion rate. (yes it is true, you can be on-pump and still have a very low blood product useage. You do have to CARE about your transfusion levels though!) I have been struck looking at photographs of lower hemi-sternotomy that you can achieve, with care, a full sternotomy through the same skin incision. It is difficult but you can do it. Do we all wear headlights? I find it very difficult to use a small incision without a headlight, the corollary could be no head light therefore big incision, could it not?

We have to remember that we do live in a competitive world, cardiologists and patients are pushing us down routes that we consider might not be in the best interests of the patient. Outcome, survival and long term quality of life must be our drivers. Where we do things well we must market. If we truly believe in what we do then we must take up the challenges to demonstrate that what we do, be it, on or off pump, maximally or minimally invasive is of the highest currently attainable quality, but that we continue to strive to improve. If there are problems that we have not yet solved then we must solve them. At the end of the day we will have to transform our skills to meet the challenges as they arise, always realising that we must keep improving as cardiac suregry develops.