Monthly Archives: May 2013

Saving Battery with Tasker

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The Galaxy Nexus is notorious for its mediocre battery life, especially when operating in an area with marginal 4G coverage.  Finding that my phone would frequently attempt to maintain a cellular data connection even while not being used, I decided to remedy the issue with BattSaver, my creatively-named Tasker profile designed to minimize power usage from the phone’s radios while not in use.

Components

BattSaver comes in 4 parts, either due to necessity or my own inefficiency.  Still, it is quite simple, and the results speak for themselves.

Left: Samsung Galaxy Nexus LTE failing || Right: Running BattSaver Tasker profile

Left: Samsung Galaxy Nexus LTE failing at being a phone || Right: Improvement with BattSaver activated

There are many of these profiles out there, such as this one on XDA, but I found them to be  either too complex or overly rigid.  While one can attempt to plan for every usage scenario, it eventually becomes so burdensome and inefficient to do so that the whole point of automation is lost.  I don’t, for instance, want to manually add every Wi-Fi network I use to the profile so that it can trigger when away from home.  This is an inconvenience, but worse, it is inflexible.  What if I go on a trip, or change my routine?  I do not want to have to manually update my phone to keep the task working.

Here, as with most things, I’m a fan of the KISS (keep it simple, stupid!) principle.  My profile may not have as many functions, but it is predictable.  BattSaver requires no attention aside from enabling or disabling it, and is –  I’ll bet – at least 90% as effective.

So, back to the 4 components:

Batt Saver Trigger

This profile checks to see that the phone is not in use, as defined by the following conditions:

  • Screen is OFF
  • Charger is disconnected
  • Phone is not at home

If these are met, Batt Saver will activate.  You can also set a minimum percentage the battery must reach before the profile engages – I typically use 25%.

Batt Saver

This is the main profile, which enables airplane mode as long as the above conditions remain met, and no phone calls are ongoing.

Battery Status

This maintains a variable (%BATTLVL) to monitor the battery percentage and use it as a condition in Batt Saver Trigger.

Batt Check

Finally, we need a way to periodically check for messages and email while the battery saver is running.  This turns the radios on every 30min by interrupting Batt Saver for one minute – enough time to connect and send/receive data.

Profiles

As usual, here is a zip of the profiles and tasks if you wish to import them.  Aside from Tasker, you will also need the free version of SecureSettings installed.

The only modification you will need to make is to change or remove the condition in Batt Saver Trigger that checks if the phone is at home.  I use a variable that is set by another profile that monitors the nearby WiFi and Cell towers, so you can either create a similar profile and have it change the %AT_HOME variable (1=yes, 0=no), use a different condition, or just delete it.

Category: Technology | Tags: , , , , ,

Flashcards Like a BOSS…with Anki

When confronted with information overload on a daily basis, one quickly learns how to be efficient when it comes to memorization.  One of my favorite tools for this daunting task is Anki, a multi-platform flashcard application that uses the principle of Spaced Repetition  to maximize retention of information.  There’s nothing more frustrating to spend, say, a semester learning the intricacies of Biochemistry just to forget everything a year later when it comes time to review for an exam.  Sadly, I haven’t managed to solve this particular problem, but Anki is the closest to a solution I have come across.

There are plenty of tutorials out there on what Anki is and how to use it, so what I’d like to focus on is my setup for reviewing cards.

Desktop

To maximize speed and comfort while reviewing 100s of cards in one sitting, I’ve found using the keyboard and mouse to be suboptimal.  Instead, I acquired one of these:

Microsoft Media Center IR Remote (A9O-00007)

Microsoft Media Center IR Remote (A9O-00007)

This is the first half of the equation.  The second is a nifty piece of software called LM Remote Keymap.  It allows you to assign any keystroke (or other function, such as launching programs etc…) to the button of your choosing on the remote.

By default, Anki is set up to use Enter (or the OK button) and the numbers 1-4 to advance and rate cards.  All I had to do was assign a button for Suspending (Hotkey: @), Marking (*) and Undoing (Ctrl-z).  I chose to use 3 of the 4 media buttons above the number pad (Recorded TV, Guide, and DVD Menu), because they had no other function outside Media Center.

With this setup, you can assume any number of postures while reviewing; you aren’t stuck in a chair, nor bound by a cord.  The next option improves on this idea even further…

Treadmill

Here’s the true breakthrough in efficient studying.  If you own a treadmill, the option exists to position it in such a way that allows it to work with the above setup.  At the gym, however, one must improvise…

1) Android Tablet, running AnkiDroid (free) – MUST Support Bluetooth

2) Wii Remote

3) Wiimote Controller App

Wiimote + Nook Color (CM7, Rooted) + AnkiDroid + Wiimote Controller App

Wiimote + Nook Color (CM7, Rooted) + AnkiDroid + Wiimote Controller App

The process is much like before.  You need to map the keys of the Wiimote to function in AnkiDroid.  I used the D-pad for rating cards (Left=1, Down=2, Right=3, Up=4) and the A button for advancing cards (Enter).  AnkiDroid didn’t have as many hotkeys as the desktop version when I last used it (an update may have fixed this), so I just used the touchscreen if I needed to mark, undo or suspend.  I also set the cards to auto-advance after 30sec in the options, marking the current card as failed.

iPad folk – sorry, I’ve had no luck finding a way to replicate this setup.  Even with a Jailbroken device, there are few options for Wiimote tethering over Bluetooth, and all of them are either tech demos or usable solely for games.  No app exists to map keys…yet?

With the proper setup in place, it’s surprising how much more efficient it is to review flashcards.  Mastering Anki’s many functions, such as filtering cards by tag, creating filtered decks, and most importantly – designing cards in a suitable fashion for memorizing – are things that come with time and practice.  With its growing popularity, multitudes of high quality, shared decks, and compatibility (with sync) for all of the major operating systems, Anki is unparalleled for reviewing flashcards in a digital format.

UPDATE: Well, what do you know, using Anki on a Treadmill actually has research to support its effectiveness.  Seth Roberts has an excellent post detailing the synergy of these two activities: Boring + Boring = Pleasant!?

USMLE Arms Race

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And so it begins.

Today marks the start of the dreaded ISP, or Intensive Study Period – that time when second year medical students attempt to refresh or re-learn everything from the past two years of their schooling.  We have just one month spend diligently cramming for the most important test of our lives.  The USMLE Step 1 is the first of three national licensing examinations for U.S. MD students, but its real importance lies in determining our career options.  Do well and the world is your oyster.  End up at the low end of the curve…well let’s just say your hopes of matching into a Dermatology or Plastic Surgery residency are rather stricken.  If you were planning to practice Family Medicine somewhere in BFE – well then it may just be your lucky day.

usmle_arms_race

The real travesty of the high selection pressure imposed by STEP 1 is that it has come to resemble an information and economic arms-race not unlike the duel between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. during the Cold War – metaphorically, at least.  Medical students are some of the most competitive and hard-working people on the planet, but here this works against us.  A positive-feedback loop was created, in which students willing to pursue ever-more diminishing returns to memorize factoids that might appear on the boards slowly started to have an impact on average scores.  To compensate for this apparent grade inflation, the designers of the test had to find even more obscure, clinically irrelevant details to maintain their precious bell curve, and so forth.

Then the internet hit.  Now everyone has access to vast expanses of all these formerly secret and exclusive nuggets of trivia, carefully compiled by a host of new companies who have found themselves in the business equivalent of an all-you-can-eat buffet.  Desperate, anal-retentive med students represent the ultimate seller’s market.  $50 soft-cover test prep book?  Shut up and take my money.  $100 online pathology review lecture series?  Sign me up.  $300 question bank?  How could I hope to do well without it?  The list goes on.  I didn’t even mention the $1500-$3000 live prep courses available…ouch.

first_aid

So now we are in a situation where an exam costing $560 requires an additional $400 at a minimum to prepare for.  I am unashamedly following the herd like a sheep in front of a cane, sporting my trusty 2013 edition First Aid ($40), Pathoma ($100) and USMLE WORLD question bank ($300).  Baaa.

I wish I could say it gets better, but sometime next year we’ll be taking STEP 2, an exam with both a written and practical portion (in Chicago, no less).  Cost?  Well, lets see – $1750.  Looks like the government will be making record returns on its 6.8% investment next year.  Pity it’s at my expense.

Category: Medicine | Tags: , , ,