Ideas

seminars | UKAPP 2017

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Come to the 2nd annual UKAPP seminars. Sunday 4th & Monday 5th at the Radisson Blu hotel in Birmingham England

See you there to share! I’ll be here just before BMXnet to help my colleagues further their organizational momentum!! It gives us great pleasure to announce the 2nd annual UKAPP seminars. Sunday 4th & Monday 5th at the Radisson Blu hotel just a 2 minute walk from Birmingham Moor street train station This year the UKAPP … Read more

APP: The Point #73

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As President of the Association of Professional Piercers, I have a regular editorial column in The Point magazine. Issue 73 editorial   Please enjoy my article on asepsis in the new issue of The Point by the Association of Professional Piercers  

President’s Corner The Point 68

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As President of the Association of Professional Piercers, I have a regular editorial column in The Point magazine. Issue 68 editorial As we approach our twentieth annual meeting, I reflect on the beginnings of the APP. When I discovered that a group—this group—had formed to take action and establish professional industry standards I was immediately interested … Read more

Fantasy and Science Fiction: ‘Kiosk’ by Bruce Sterling | Beyond the Beyond | WIRED

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The Fabrikator by Bruce Sterling

THE FABRIKATOR WAS UGLY, noisy, a fire hazard, and it smelled. Borislav got it for the kids in the neighborhood.

One snowy morning, in his work gloves, long coat, and fur hat, he loudly power-sawed through the wall of his kiosk. He duct-taped and stapled the fabrikator into place.

The neighborhood kids caught on instantly. His new venture was a big hit.

The fabrikator made little plastic toys from 3-D computer models. After a week, the fab’s dirt-cheap toys literally turned into dirt. The fabbed toys just crumbled away, into a waxy, non-toxic substance that the smaller kids tended to chew.

Borislav had naturally figured that the brief lifetime of these toys might discourage the kids from buying them. This just wasn’t so. This wasn’t a bug: this was a feature. Every day after school, an eager gang of kids clustered around Borislav’s green kiosk. They slapped down their tinny pocket change with mittened hands. Then they exulted, quarreled, and sometimes even punched each other over the shining fab-cards.

The happy kid would stick the fab-card (adorned with some glossily fraudulent pic of the toy) into the fabrikator’s slot. After a hot, deeply exciting moment of hissing, spraying, and stinking, the fab would burp up a freshly minted dinosaur, baby doll, or toy fireman.

Foot traffic always brought foot traffic. The grownups slowed as they crunched the snowy street. They cast an eye at the many temptations ranked behind Borislav’s windows. Then they would impulse-buy. A football scarf, maybe. A pack of tissues for a sneezy nose.

Once again he was ahead of the game: the only kiosk in town with a fabrikator….

via Fantasy and Science Fiction: ‘Kiosk’ by Bruce Sterling | Beyond the Beyond | WIRED.

The Fabrikator by Bruce Sterling

Somatic Piercing

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Nick completed his Masters degree at the Ohio State University in Somatic and Cultural Studies in 2002. His final project, “Somatic Piercing: The Art and Ritual of Body Piercing” portrays his experiences in body rituals as well as illuminates other piercers’ views on the matter.

Sacred cows in infection control

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SSI Prevention: Evidence-Based Practices Replace Lingering “Sacred Cows’ in the OR
This report explores the prevention of surgical site infections (SSIs) within the context of evidence-based practices replacing “sacred cows” in the operating room. It focuses on the critical practice of preoperative hair removal.

When Thomas Paine noted in 1776 that, “A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right,” he could not have imagined that he was describing a current tug-of-war that still exists in some operating rooms today.