Stroke survivor and Co-founder of the Stroke Awareness Foundation, Chuck Toeniskoetter rode his Harley 13,000-plus miles cross-country to celebrate his recovery. Along, with his co-workers at Toeniskoetter Construction, we cheered him on as he arrived back in San Jose. Toeniskoetter's ride was a celebration of his full recovery from stroke after a high-drama helicopter medical evacuation from the ski slopes in 2000.

The drama is re-enacted in a CNN special, called "The Empowered Patient," to air at 8 p.m. on Saturday, October 2.

The mini-conference day is built around "21st Century Conversations", the idea is to bring together some of the tools makers (such as Facebook) with social commentators, users, and faculty to talk about what we’re gaining, and what we’re losing in this rush to new communication methods and tools.

Stanford has assembled enthusiasts such as Peter Hirshberg, Phil McKinney, Gifford Pinchot, Engin Erdogan, and Beth Kanter along with key Stanford faculty – Jennifer Aaker, Cliff Nass, Byron Reeves, Renate Fruchter – for what these new Social Tools and Metaphors mean, and what opportunities and challenges they present.

For more information and to register for the event, please visit: http://mediax.stanford.edu/WSI/

Like many of us, I heard about Rolling Stone's US General McChrystal article via NPR.

In all the subsequent coverage of the article by Michael Hastings in which McChrystal was quoted criticizing the Obama administration, I've seen only a couple of explanations of how that so-called interview actually happened.

Here's the Los Angeles Times piece by James Rainey that ran on June 26, 2010:

"Timing and setting helped pave the way for Hastings' bombshell. Many of the aides who spoke out of turn were hardened military men who had spent most of their time since 9/11 in Iraq and Afghanistan. Poorly attuned to life outside the war zone, they suddenly found themselves stuck for 10 days this spring in Europe because of no-fly restrictions following the Iceland volcano eruption.

Hastings had the good fortune to see his two-day visit prolonged and then continued later in Afghanistan."

The point that struck me was that Hastings spent weeks with McChrystal and his staff. He traveled with them, drank with them, lived with them. It's clear from the Rolling Stone article that the general and his staff felt very comfortable with the reporter.

The Deputy Sheriffs’ Association of Santa Clara County (DSA) donated a specifically equipped, high-resolution Canon digital camera to the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (SCVMC) on June 24th.

The Canon digital camera can document injuries such as bruises and cuts on patients who were victims of a sexual assault for use by investigators and prosecutors. The camera is specifically outfitted to take high-resolution, in-door and close-up shots in poor lighting. It replaces a camera that is more than 10 years old and will aid investigators and prosecutors in providing the best possible evidence against rapists and other sexual predators.

Linda Richards, R.N., Program Manager for the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) at VMC was on hand to receive the camera. As a surprise to her, the DSA donated not one camera, but a second one as well. The first camera will be used by the SART team at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose and the second will be used at the Gilroy Valley Health Center. Each costs $1,000 and comes with a hard carrying case.