Well, I finally ordered my iPad. It should arrive in about 4 weeks, hopefully in time for an upcoming trip to California, since it would be easier to take than my laptop. I can't leave home anymore without my iPhone and it’s hard to travel anywhere without my laptop. We’ve all become dependent on our computers--in all of their various forms. Microchips are everywhere. They’re in our washing machines, our ovens, and our cars--not
Have you heard of the concept of neuromarketing? Well, have you ever watched the AMC television show Mad Men, which follows the lives of 1960s Madison Avenue advertising executives? In one of the episodes, the lead character, Don Draper, says “Advertising is based on one thing: happiness.” He goes on to tell us that “Happiness is the smell of a new car. It’s freedom from fear. It’s a billboard on the side of a road
The “official” start of spring is only two weeks away, but here in northern New England, it’s still winter. Parts of Vermont got almost 30 inches of snow yesterday and, here in New Hampshire, the mountainous snow banks in shopping mall parking lots will probably take another month to melt. The long winter and late spring of northern New England were hard to get used to when I moved here from the mid-Atlantic 22 years ago. I was used to a
A front page article in today’s New York Times (3/6/11) was all about the changes that psychiatry has undergone over the past couple of decades. The article profiled Dr. Donald Levin of Doylestown, PA and focused on the fact that, like many of the 48,000 psychiatrists in this country, Dr. Levin no longer performs “talk therapy” or psychotherapy. Instead, largely because of how much insurance will pay, he prescribes medication. Psychotherapy, when it is part of the patient’s treatment plan
This has turned out to be quite a tough winter. Many parts of the country are having to deal with colder than average temperatures and higher than average snowfall amounts. I was supposed to fly to Washington, DC yesterday to deliver a lecture on TMS but it was cancelled when the capital region was buried under 8 inches of snow. Winter can be tough even if you’re used to it, like we are here in New Hampshire. And even if you
