Category: Uncategorized

I spent most of my holiday weekend writing. But tonight, in between the Cavs game, Iron Chef America and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (we’re geeky here, but our interests are broad), I played with code (like I said–geeky). Happily, I neither wiped out all of my data, nor did I inadvertently convert all the text to the Cyrillic alphabet. Nope, instead I managed to tweak the functionality of the site. Most of it you probably won’t notice, but I would like to point you toward the new mobile version of the site. Now you can browse the site from your iPhone or web-enabled device of your choice. Just dial us up on your browser as usual–you’ll see a much more streamlined page, easier for viewing on small screens. Enjoy!

[Don’t forget, you have until Wednesday, December 23rd at noon ET to be eligible for a copy of the Child Abuse Quick Reference, 2nd Edition. Just answer the question here to enter your name into the random drawing.]

Over at ReachMD, they have an interesting podcast I haven’t heard discussed elsewhere: The Essential Role of Death Certificates in Public Health.

Let’s just go ahead and put this in the where in the world did you come across this one? category. The Swedish Association for Sexuality Education (RFSU) has decided it would be a good idea to rename the hymen in order to, um, bust the myths that surround it…(sorry.)

ABC News is running an article on their site about the choking game, which is a popular search term on this site. The article doesn’t break any new ground, but it does a decent job of providing an overview to the lay public. What I liked about the article, though, was the mention of an upcoming study being published in the journal Pediatrics.

I had the pleasure of attending a really good talk yesterday on stalking. The speaker showed this video to the group afterward, which made the humorous, but very valid point that cell phones have become an incredible tool for offenders, even more so as the technology evolves.

The updates to the Canada page have begun. Our first entry: a comprehensive overview of forensic science in Canada. Thanks to Sheila Early, who will be curating this page. Stay tuned for further updates. And by all means, please let us know your thoughts about this new aspect of FHO…

Please ignore this if you didn’t attend the leadership/management workshop in ATL this past October:

For those of you who were at the workshop on leadership and management at IAFN and did not receive the report, please let me know. We had a lot of illegible emails, so the number of bouncebacks was pretty high.

I am a big fan of giving gifts that mean something. Not necessarily gifts that are serious, but gifts that speak to the recipient on some level. So here are 10 things I’m loving right now, just in time for the holidays:

Heading home from a long, but satisfying week in Miami working with prosecutors at our sexual assault institute. But before I get on a plane, I just want to mention a couple things over at the sustainability site:

• *A plethora of business management and leadership audio and video  podcasts from Harvard Business Publishing (a favorite read of mine)
• *An interesting article on retaining an aging nursing workforce
• *This month’s Free-Range Thinking and a great piece on using data vs. stories for garnering support

Next week I’m in Baton Rouge at the LaFASA conference (with one of the best conference themes ever), so if you’ll be there, please come say hello. It’s supposed to be snowing in the CLE this weekend, but my understanding is those of you in Mississippi and Texas may be getting it, too, so I don’t feel as bad. Have a safe (and warm) weekend, everyone!

OVC has a web forum December 8th from 2-3 pm on substance abuse and victimization. No registration is required, and if this date doesn’t work for you, not to worry– the discussion is fully archived on their site. You can submit a question to the speaker, Dr. Steven Walker, here. And you can review the previous web forums here.

As you can see, things have definitely changed around here. It was time to secure our own domain and hosting so that we could have a site with increased functionality. In the process of moving the site, we upgraded a few things and added content.  So along with all of the regular posts, you’ll notice we now have some categories running along the top.

Here are your random numbers:
39
Timestamp: 2009-11-25 17:35:05 UTC

Faith Shortal, please email me with your address so we can send you your book! And for all of my FHO readers, GW Medical has extended a special 20% discount on your purchases through December 2nd–just use the code BL20 at checkout to apply it.
[psst…commenters, check your email in-box this weekend because you’ll be receiving a little something extra for participating.]

For those of you paying close attention, while not all the comments transferred to the new site, all 78 were used for the random number generator.

Just a quick reminder: you still have a couple more days before the Sexual Assault Quick Reference giveaway. Head over to the post and leave your comment to be eligible!

Sometimes it’s a relief to just get back to basic clinical assessment skills. Anytime I see an offering that reinforces exam techniques, I’m all over it. I noticed that the American College of Forensic Examiners has an online course available that appears to be along this vein: Types of Knee Injuries and How They Occur–A Forensic Review.

A subset of human trafficking, organ trafficking and transplant tourism are significant concerns around the globe. And while they’re not discussed to the same extent as sexual exploitation and forced child labor, quite a bit’s available on the subject. It initially caught my eye when I noticed Harvard’s Initiative to Stop Human Trafficking had an archived webcast available on their site addressing the issue. You can link to it, along with podcasts, articles, and other resources after the jump.

A brand new partnership here at FHO means goodies for readers. Stay tuned tomorrow for details, including a giveaway that could become a regular feature on the site!