Gaming software development was not anything I had experience with, but I did read a lot about it along the way. Unity is a framework, something like a low level operating system integrated inside the main operating system. Think Bootstrap for HTML, something I know you are familiar with. All the routines and trivial code is built into the framework. All you need to do is call the function instead of re-inventing it by manually writing lines of code with each new webpage. IDE's, development environments, take many forms and the Unity one seems to be popular these days. I would guess that is the case because it looks as if it is easy to adapt to mobile device applications. So, if you're a developer, you would be nuts to reinvent all those routines again when they are already available inside a framework easily available.
Flash is more like an operating system onto itself given that it deals with the deep down innards of the processor running it. That's why Apple computers was hesitant to use it. They didn't, and still do not, want anybody messing with their operating system. Linux ... well they are open source and anything goes there. I thought Google invented WebGL because their crazy Chrome operating system is web based. But, I looked it up and it came out of the Mozilla camp, which makes sense. Mozilla rules browsers. Google is just keen on taking advantage of other people's work. LOL All I really know is that WebGL operates on a different level than does Flash or Unity. Each one of those operating systems came from different sources and it is natural for them to have their own ways of doing things. Getting your game to work on any one of them would be a trick and a half, but apparently the makers of Farm Town have it all figured out.
Micro Robots
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Re: Micro Robots
Slashkey did have to rewrite a huge part of their software, because the conversion program didn't understand some of the ways the game worked. The new way might have worked better, but if it didn't have the features we had, it wouldn't fly with the users. Such as the ability to crops, trees, flowers, and building, all on the exact same spot in your farms. Some of us even had harvestable trees, sitting in the same spot as trees you chop down. But none of that worked on WebGL. Flash Player was akin to a graphics drawing program with independent Layers you could turn on and off. WebGL did not have that feature, it was like a painting program with only one layer. I think that is why they chose to use Unity to rebuild that part of the game from scratch so they could get layer controls back again. Our farms look the same, and we can still put things on top of things, but it is a little trickier to accomplish and many don't know how to do it even yet.
At least I understand how it works well enough I can go in to anyone's farm and fix a problem they have with their farming fields for crops. Since you don't play, there's no sense in explaining how it works.
At least I understand how it works well enough I can go in to anyone's farm and fix a problem they have with their farming fields for crops. Since you don't play, there's no sense in explaining how it works.
Re: Micro Robots
All I can talk about is the challenge of getting software to work on multiple platforms. If a game was coded to work in Windows, for example, it would not understand the coding it takes to make it work in Linux. However, if both Windows and Linux used a third party subsystem, such as Flash Player, then the game is portable and will work across platforms. Take away Flash Player, and then the compatibility across platforms goes with it. It seems as if the developers of Farm Town found a platform suitable to their needs. It's not a direct replacement for Flash, but then the Flash Player had some major problems. It's best not to duplicate the problems just to satisfy a few game players' preferences.
My only experience with the farm game on Facebook dates back to when Zynga was a relatively new company. The version of the game I played was simple but entertaining up to a point. There have been several iterations of the theme since I abandoned the game and I'd not be surprised if it became more sophisticated along the way. What I saw was pretty boring so that new features might add appeal. It's just too bad that those appealing features could only be generated in Flash Player however.
My only experience with the farm game on Facebook dates back to when Zynga was a relatively new company. The version of the game I played was simple but entertaining up to a point. There have been several iterations of the theme since I abandoned the game and I'd not be surprised if it became more sophisticated along the way. What I saw was pretty boring so that new features might add appeal. It's just too bad that those appealing features could only be generated in Flash Player however.
Re: Micro Robots
FarmVille was more like a Cartoon of sorts than a Mature farming game like FarmTown. I guess one appealed most to kids and the other to older adults. FarmVille kept adding ridiculous things to their game and some of them made it really hard to play it as a farming game as well. I played FarmVille myself for a while, and some of their other games which all used the same engine, so they all had the same glitches in them in the exact same places.
For a short time, there were a lot of farming type games that sprung up, and I think I played most of them for a time. Like Country Life, and a few others I don't remember the name of.
I don't know anything about game programming, but I hear programmers talk about how convoluted Windows API's are all the time. Plus other things that makes writing programs for Windows computers so hard. Writing for Linux is much easier and without all the surprises they get writing for Windows, but alas, Windows is what they have to write their programs for.
For a short time, there were a lot of farming type games that sprung up, and I think I played most of them for a time. Like Country Life, and a few others I don't remember the name of.
I don't know anything about game programming, but I hear programmers talk about how convoluted Windows API's are all the time. Plus other things that makes writing programs for Windows computers so hard. Writing for Linux is much easier and without all the surprises they get writing for Windows, but alas, Windows is what they have to write their programs for.
Re: Micro Robots
I've heard complaints about the Windows API since the days of Windows 98. LOL I did some very fundamental programming with Visual Basic which used those questionable API's and never had a problem. I think that was due to the fact that I didn't do anything too involved or complicated. I do understand how an open source jock would be frustrated by not being able to see the exact code he is working with in Windows, but it's just a matter of learning the techniques. I have little appreciation of gaming software these days, especially now that things like X-Box are prevalent. There are a lot of options to suit the needs of any programmer. Most of those guy don't stay with one job very long. They finish a project and move onto another company that may be using entirely different platforms. For a while it was a joke that any programmer who had a single employer for more than two years had something wrong with them. LOL
There is a lot of commonality going on now and days in the mobile device arena. Looking over the apps and games available gets to be pretty boring because they all come from the same development source. I guess in some ways that is good because the app is then salable on any mobile device. Doesn't matter if it's Android or iOS. It all works the same way. The disappointing part, for me anyway, is that they all look the same too. That's one reason I prefer PC oriented games. Microsoft is trying to do away with the PC game market by forcing people to use their gaming console. From what I understand that is where the bulk of computer games are going. The best compromise is to get involved with a gaming server, such as Steam. Steam is everywhere and all their games can be place wherever it's possible to install their server.
There is a lot of commonality going on now and days in the mobile device arena. Looking over the apps and games available gets to be pretty boring because they all come from the same development source. I guess in some ways that is good because the app is then salable on any mobile device. Doesn't matter if it's Android or iOS. It all works the same way. The disappointing part, for me anyway, is that they all look the same too. That's one reason I prefer PC oriented games. Microsoft is trying to do away with the PC game market by forcing people to use their gaming console. From what I understand that is where the bulk of computer games are going. The best compromise is to get involved with a gaming server, such as Steam. Steam is everywhere and all their games can be place wherever it's possible to install their server.
Re: Micro Robots
Since I never worked in anything to do with programming, other than my own Basic programs I wrote in the early computing days. I'm totally lost. And even when I did study it a little bit and tried it out for myself, it would work on-line on the training screens, but would never work on my own computer. Which showed just how ignorant I really was. To get those programs to work I needed to install a Server on my computer, hi hi. Which I did, and then they worked OK. But time and other duties pulled me away from getting beyond that initial phase of trial programming.
I write my own websites so they don't look like all the cookie cutter websites out there. But even then, now that I'm using Bootstrap, as flexible as it is, there are still some things I would like to do but cannot, without programming knowledge in things like javaScript and PHP.
And now at my age and health, no sense in even wasting the time on it anymore.
I write my own websites so they don't look like all the cookie cutter websites out there. But even then, now that I'm using Bootstrap, as flexible as it is, there are still some things I would like to do but cannot, without programming knowledge in things like javaScript and PHP.
And now at my age and health, no sense in even wasting the time on it anymore.
Re: Micro Robots
Programming was probably one of the most satisfying parts of my career at Motorola. Since I didn't have a degree and basically picked up techniques on my own I didn't get to do anything serious. I did have a few opportunities to show my stuff, but I had to learn a lot on the job and there was not enough time to do both programing and studying. For the longest time I could not afford a fancy home computer on which I could practice. I did learn a lot about the programing language 'C' on my own time, but as you point out you need to know about compilers, IDE's, and servers in order to make things work.
I have a suspicion that you are to this day capable of learning anything you can devote your time to learn. I'm certain you can master something like Python, which is used in Linux frequently. It would take a lot, and I do mean a lot, of effort but you have the kind of mind that allows for it. Naturally you would ask what purpose would it serve at your stage of life. The answer is it would be for personal satisfaction, if for no other reason. You're not going to make a living writing code at your age, but you can learn something that interests you and gives you a sense of accomplishment.
I have a suspicion that you are to this day capable of learning anything you can devote your time to learn. I'm certain you can master something like Python, which is used in Linux frequently. It would take a lot, and I do mean a lot, of effort but you have the kind of mind that allows for it. Naturally you would ask what purpose would it serve at your stage of life. The answer is it would be for personal satisfaction, if for no other reason. You're not going to make a living writing code at your age, but you can learn something that interests you and gives you a sense of accomplishment.
Re: Micro Robots
Would you believe, everything I learned about HTML5, I forget between times I have to update my web pages, and have to study how I did something all over again. I tried my hand at PHP and just couldn't grasp it well enough to use, not that or JavaScript.
I really don't have time to get some of the things I need to get done as it is, without adding more to my plate.
But I do know, if I had the time, I could probably learn it, but then I would forget it just as quickly.
I really don't have time to get some of the things I need to get done as it is, without adding more to my plate.
But I do know, if I had the time, I could probably learn it, but then I would forget it just as quickly.
Re: Micro Robots
My only point in my last response was that age should not be a deterrent to learning something new. Coding is not simple, but I don't think you would get a lot of enjoyment out of simple tasks. I realize that you are restricted in activities, which makes it all the more important that you do things you like doing. Then again, if you like a sedate kind of routine, who am I to discourage you from that?
There is a show on PBS that I have only watched a time or two. It's called Growing Bolder, and, of course, about all the things senior citizens can do in spite of their age. I watched the show about some seniors doing sky diving because I like to watch crazy people do crazy things. Otherwise that show is supposed to be motivational. Well, I don't need no motivations. However, the theme of the show is inspiring. Grow bold, not old.
There is a show on PBS that I have only watched a time or two. It's called Growing Bolder, and, of course, about all the things senior citizens can do in spite of their age. I watched the show about some seniors doing sky diving because I like to watch crazy people do crazy things. Otherwise that show is supposed to be motivational. Well, I don't need no motivations. However, the theme of the show is inspiring. Grow bold, not old.
Last edited by yogi on 18 Dec 2022, 17:39, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Micro Robots
Since I cannot walk from my office down to the house without cranking my O2 up to 4 or 5 lpm, and even then, as soon as I'm down there, I set the portable down and grab the big tank and crank it up until I get my O2 back up 95% or above. And sometimes I'm suffering greatly before it gets up. And then my CO2 retention compounds the issue as well. I can get my O2 up but still feel like I'm suffocating from no O2. So I burn up more O2 doing pursed lip breathing.
I'm not kidding when I say it now takes about 2 hours of being up, dealing with a dripping nose, before I can even consider going to my office. But once I'm up here and settled in my chair, I usually do fairly well, but now on O2 at 2 lpm 24/7 when seated.
In other words, I'm going downhill faster and faster, which is not good at all.
Yes, I see old folks doing all kinds of things I once used to be able to do.
Like the gal says, she sees them too, but she can't even keep her balance to put her underwear on, hi hi.
I'm not kidding when I say it now takes about 2 hours of being up, dealing with a dripping nose, before I can even consider going to my office. But once I'm up here and settled in my chair, I usually do fairly well, but now on O2 at 2 lpm 24/7 when seated.
In other words, I'm going downhill faster and faster, which is not good at all.
Yes, I see old folks doing all kinds of things I once used to be able to do.
Like the gal says, she sees them too, but she can't even keep her balance to put her underwear on, hi hi.
Re: Micro Robots
I hear you loud and clear regarding your physical restrictions. I am blessed to not have many at my ripe old age of 78. A lot of people my age are not as capable as I am, and I'm certainly not as strong as I was when we first moved down here. I did a lot of heavy physical work in that forest I had up north. Thinking back on it I probably should have had a heart attack many many years ago. Certainly a hernia or two. I would lift and carry logs a few hundred feet while trying to make some order back there. It wore me out to a frazzle but for a few days after I recovered I felt great. I guess it was all good cardio exercise and helped keep me healthy up to a point. I do none of that here and have taken a hiatus from even cutting the grass. My wife thinks I should not be doing such a strenuous thing, but then she probably is unaware of what I was doing back in the forest. My doctor also told me to take rests between grass cuttings, and I probably should. But, I simply don't feel tired or strained most of the time. I have 6800 sq ft of lawn and split the cutting of that into two days most of the time. Half of it is on sloped grounds and that is indeed stressful. This year I had some surgery and decided to let somebody else cut the lawn, and now I'm thinking I like the idea well enough to keep them on. LOL I'll evaluate it again in a couple months. I need the exercise and am not getting it any other way.
Mom was on O2 the final year of her life. She had asthma and her lungs would fill with water. I can't begin to imagine what your routine is like, but I do know what mom had to do. She didn't feel like doing much of anything, but she did have a routine until she became bed ridden. Mom was in charge of emptying the waste baskets each week, and she performed magnificently. She also would go shopping for groceries as often as she could and refused to ride in a cart or use a walker. She too carried a portable O2 supply when she went out.
To be honest about it you are doing a remarkable job each day of your life. I don't know if it means much, but I can see that you have spirit and dignity and are not about to give up any of it. That might not seem like much but it is what keeps you going. I've seen too many people already who lost their spirit and gave up trying well before their end.
Mom was on O2 the final year of her life. She had asthma and her lungs would fill with water. I can't begin to imagine what your routine is like, but I do know what mom had to do. She didn't feel like doing much of anything, but she did have a routine until she became bed ridden. Mom was in charge of emptying the waste baskets each week, and she performed magnificently. She also would go shopping for groceries as often as she could and refused to ride in a cart or use a walker. She too carried a portable O2 supply when she went out.
To be honest about it you are doing a remarkable job each day of your life. I don't know if it means much, but I can see that you have spirit and dignity and are not about to give up any of it. That might not seem like much but it is what keeps you going. I've seen too many people already who lost their spirit and gave up trying well before their end.
Last edited by yogi on 20 Dec 2022, 00:28, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Micro Robots
I hear ya! When I first moved down here, I cleared 1/3 of our acre of heavily wooded trees and dead half rotten logs. Made for a bigger back yard, on a steep hill besides.
I got to the point last year, I couldn't even mow using my riding lawn mower. Just steering up and down the hills used up my O2 way to fast, and I would have to stop for 15 minutes are so before I could start up again. And now I'm worse than last summer.
I did manage to finish our kitchen right after my first heart attack, but it took ten times longer and was about that many times harder to do also, since I couldn't lift my hands above my head doing overhead plumbing in the crawl space.
Instead of water in my lungs, I have heavy phlegm, and my cilia hairs are not strong enough, or enough of them left to get it out properly. I have this tool I use to breath through, which is basically a big heavy steel ball inside of a tube that bounces up and down when I blow into it. It emulates coughing sorta, and does vibrate the whole body when I'm using it.
I've got way too much stuff I have to get done before I croak, and I know I won't get most of it done. But I am trying and do a little bit each day. I spend about an hour after lunch each day getting a couple light physical things done, which is good.
I got to the point last year, I couldn't even mow using my riding lawn mower. Just steering up and down the hills used up my O2 way to fast, and I would have to stop for 15 minutes are so before I could start up again. And now I'm worse than last summer.
I did manage to finish our kitchen right after my first heart attack, but it took ten times longer and was about that many times harder to do also, since I couldn't lift my hands above my head doing overhead plumbing in the crawl space.
Instead of water in my lungs, I have heavy phlegm, and my cilia hairs are not strong enough, or enough of them left to get it out properly. I have this tool I use to breath through, which is basically a big heavy steel ball inside of a tube that bounces up and down when I blow into it. It emulates coughing sorta, and does vibrate the whole body when I'm using it.
I've got way too much stuff I have to get done before I croak, and I know I won't get most of it done. But I am trying and do a little bit each day. I spend about an hour after lunch each day getting a couple light physical things done, which is good.
Re: Micro Robots
There is an old philosophy called humanism. It boils down to encouraging you to be the best possible human you can be. You need to explore your potentials in order to determine what you are good at, and I must say you spent most of your adult life doing just that. The drive to be yourself is something you can do right up to the last moment of your existence. You may not be as capable as you were decades ago, but this is today. You can express yourself up to today's limits. That's amazingly difficult for a lot of people because they tend to fixate on the good old days and discard what is possible in the present. Once in a while, and only once in a while, I meet people who get it and don't give up being their best. I can't tell what is going on in your mind, but judging by what you say here you are very humanistic and maximizing your potentials every day of your life. Kudos to you.
Re: Micro Robots
Yes sir, I get up and come up here to my office and start my days work (and play), hi hi.
I've got to always be doing something. I sit with the wife for a couple of hours during and after dinner, and I work jigsaw puzzles while she has the idiot box blaring away.
At night, after I'm in bed, I work both crossword and sudoku puzzles until I'm nodding off. Sometimes I nod off and find a pen sticking out my nose, and squiggly marks on my puzzle, hi hi.
My doctors appointment went too well, again, and it gets frustrating.
Every visit for the past four visits, no matter how good or bad my week has been, and my average week is not all that good either. But when I get inside the doctors building, my O2 shoots up to 99 without oxygen on. I even take a walk down the hall and back and it is still up at 98. But here at home, if I walk from the kitchen to the bathroom, my O2 drops from 95 down to 89 just from that short walk, and that is normal for me now. But not at the doctors office. So I swear they pump O2 into the air there, hi hi My wife even cornered my doctor and told him what I was like for the first couple hours every morning, and some mornings she was getting ready to take me to the hospital, because I was coughing so hard my head was as red as a beet, and my O2 was down in the upper 80s while on O2.
I think I'll put on my tombstone, "Hey Doc, I told you I couldn't breathe!" hi hi.
Besides that, no matter how much phlegm I hack up, when I'm at the doctors, my lungs are always clear as a bell.
Amazing is all I can say!
I think for shits and grins, I going to bring a cot, pillow, blanket, and nightstand with me to my next visit and tell them I'm moving in, since I breathe perfectly here and have no phlegm, so they can deal with me in the mornings, hi hi.
I've got to always be doing something. I sit with the wife for a couple of hours during and after dinner, and I work jigsaw puzzles while she has the idiot box blaring away.
At night, after I'm in bed, I work both crossword and sudoku puzzles until I'm nodding off. Sometimes I nod off and find a pen sticking out my nose, and squiggly marks on my puzzle, hi hi.
My doctors appointment went too well, again, and it gets frustrating.
Every visit for the past four visits, no matter how good or bad my week has been, and my average week is not all that good either. But when I get inside the doctors building, my O2 shoots up to 99 without oxygen on. I even take a walk down the hall and back and it is still up at 98. But here at home, if I walk from the kitchen to the bathroom, my O2 drops from 95 down to 89 just from that short walk, and that is normal for me now. But not at the doctors office. So I swear they pump O2 into the air there, hi hi My wife even cornered my doctor and told him what I was like for the first couple hours every morning, and some mornings she was getting ready to take me to the hospital, because I was coughing so hard my head was as red as a beet, and my O2 was down in the upper 80s while on O2.
I think I'll put on my tombstone, "Hey Doc, I told you I couldn't breathe!" hi hi.
Besides that, no matter how much phlegm I hack up, when I'm at the doctors, my lungs are always clear as a bell.
Amazing is all I can say!
I think for shits and grins, I going to bring a cot, pillow, blanket, and nightstand with me to my next visit and tell them I'm moving in, since I breathe perfectly here and have no phlegm, so they can deal with me in the mornings, hi hi.
Re: Micro Robots
Your story about breathing well at the doctor's office borders on magic. But then, I don't particularly believe in magic. There is a rational explanation for everything. We may not have all the information necessary to devise a reasoned analysis, but as far as I know none of the laws of physics were ever broken regardless of how bizarre is the incident. I'm sure that whatever is clearing up your lungs at the doctor's office can be explained, but not knowing that explanation I can't even speculate that you could duplicate it in your man cave back home. Asking the doctor, the expert in such matters, more than likely won't result in an explanation eit6her. Doctors don't believe in magic either and go strictly by the book. In recent years doctors have become more amenable to alternate medical treatments but legally they can't advise you in such things without incurring some liability. I don't know exactly how to go about it, but it would be well worth investigating why you do so well at the doctor's office but not at home. There must be some shamans down there in Knoxville who would take your case. 
Re: Micro Robots
They just attribute it to the fact I do have some good days and some bad days.
I do know my early afternoons are usually better, after getting over the morning spells.
But NEVER do I hit 99% O2 sitting in the house or my office without O2 on.
And since this makes 4 times at the doctors office, I do think there is something in the air there!
Or, they could be related to auto mechanics, since a similar phenomenon occurs there with our cars, hi hi.
I do know my early afternoons are usually better, after getting over the morning spells.
But NEVER do I hit 99% O2 sitting in the house or my office without O2 on.
And since this makes 4 times at the doctors office, I do think there is something in the air there!
Or, they could be related to auto mechanics, since a similar phenomenon occurs there with our cars, hi hi.
Re: Micro Robots
Four times in a row is a very significant statistic. It's not just random days of feeling good vs bad. That is a 50% likelihood, but you seem to be experiencing the good 100% of the time in a specific situation. You can test this out, of course, by going there when you don't have an appointment. It would require several random visits at various times of the day to show any significance. If you can go there first thing in the morning, presumably your worst time of day, and if the O2 goes high just by being in the building, then I'd say you should find out exactly what is doing it. You might be on to some life saving secret that only the janitor at the doctor's office knows about.
Re: Micro Robots
That sounds like a plan, but unfortunately, I probably couldn't make it to the car for Debi to take me in the mornings. Yeah, mornings are that bad for me.
I had a moderately bad night last night, and an awful morning this morning. I didnt' get to my office for 3 hours after I was up this morning, and then I had to sit here for a half hour doing nothing except pursed lip breathing while on O2. Then I could get started with my mornings work.
But you may be onto something there. You know you sit in a doctors waiting room for over a half hour before they call you back, then you sit in the examination room for another 20 minutes answering questions before they finally take your blood pressure and check my O2. All that sitting still is what I do in my office.
But the odd thing is, here, if I get up from my desk and go to the fridge and come back, I'm usually winded and often have to hit a dose of O2, not much, but some. At the doctors, this time, walking to the end of the hall, down the other side, and back around making a loop around the center rooms, I did drop to 92 when the nurse read it right away. But then seated, I went right back up to 95. I'll tell you, I'm NEVER even at 95 at my desk unless I used O2 to boost it up first, then it will hold for about an hour or so, sometimes most of the day. But I do have to get my O2 up to around 97 before I put on the portable tank to go down to the house, and by the time I'm inside and seated at the counter where I have my other O2 ready, I'm often down to 89 to 91.
The really hard thing for me is if my O2 is up to 97 or 98 while on the O2 on a high setting, and I still can't breathe, I feel like I'm suffocating, this us normally due to a buildup of CO2 in my lungs, and in my blood, so I have to do pursed lip breathing to get the CO2 out, and that is hard to do for any length of time and very tiring, so using that energy up eats up the O2 also.
And I know I'm in a steady decline, based on what I can do and by the next week, it is harder and causes me more problems.
I had a moderately bad night last night, and an awful morning this morning. I didnt' get to my office for 3 hours after I was up this morning, and then I had to sit here for a half hour doing nothing except pursed lip breathing while on O2. Then I could get started with my mornings work.
But you may be onto something there. You know you sit in a doctors waiting room for over a half hour before they call you back, then you sit in the examination room for another 20 minutes answering questions before they finally take your blood pressure and check my O2. All that sitting still is what I do in my office.
But the odd thing is, here, if I get up from my desk and go to the fridge and come back, I'm usually winded and often have to hit a dose of O2, not much, but some. At the doctors, this time, walking to the end of the hall, down the other side, and back around making a loop around the center rooms, I did drop to 92 when the nurse read it right away. But then seated, I went right back up to 95. I'll tell you, I'm NEVER even at 95 at my desk unless I used O2 to boost it up first, then it will hold for about an hour or so, sometimes most of the day. But I do have to get my O2 up to around 97 before I put on the portable tank to go down to the house, and by the time I'm inside and seated at the counter where I have my other O2 ready, I'm often down to 89 to 91.
The really hard thing for me is if my O2 is up to 97 or 98 while on the O2 on a high setting, and I still can't breathe, I feel like I'm suffocating, this us normally due to a buildup of CO2 in my lungs, and in my blood, so I have to do pursed lip breathing to get the CO2 out, and that is hard to do for any length of time and very tiring, so using that energy up eats up the O2 also.
And I know I'm in a steady decline, based on what I can do and by the next week, it is harder and causes me more problems.
Re: Micro Robots
You could scientifically go about the investigation into what makes you breath better at the doctor's office. My suggestions above is a first step. The unfortunate fact is that you would have to participate in ways you are not able to do. Then, even if you prove conclusively that the office environment has something which benefits you, you would need to be able to find out what that "something" is. Then, you would need to duplicate the environment back at your home and office. That's a pretty tough task even for a healthy person, and impossible for you. The cruel irony is that there may be something that can be done to help you out. We just may never know what it is.
The other approach is something like reverse engineering. It would require an expert pulmonologist willing to sit down for an interview and share his/her expertise. The questions you would ask are about what it would take to produce the effect that you experience. I doubt that the expert would nail the exact cause of your improvement, but knowing what would be required might help discover what is in the doctor's office that meets the requirement. My limited understanding of all this is that your lungs are physically damaged, which in turn prevent the normal oxygen exchange. I can't imagine what could overcome the damage.
The last thought I have to offer is somewhat related to my own experience with high blood pressure. It was all under control while I lived in Illinois. I was taking a medication to keep it under control and didn't think there were any problems. My first visit to the new doctor in O'Fallon said it was dangerously high. I attributed that to the newness and excitement of seeing a new doctor, and convinced him I don't have a history of it being as high as he measured it. So, he wanted to see me in 90 days to check it out again. I bought a cuff to measure my own BP and it was borderline, sitting at 140/90 most of the time. I had a wrist meter to measure it too, plus one of those FitBIt watches. None of those devices agreed even within 20% of each other. The FitBit was way off the mark. So I recorded the readings with all three devices and considered the measurements to be relative. If there was a trend, it would show up on all three devices. The next visit to the doctor was still too high for him to be happy, and not all that close to what I was measuring. There still could have been some psychological trauma going on that raised my readings, but being a technician that worked in a calibration lab for a few years, I was beginning to suspect the doctor's equipment.
Well, the third visit, 90 days later, still showed high readings at the doctor's office, but now they were converging with the readings I was getting at home. He gave me a second prescription and summoned me back three months later. At that time his readings were very close to what I was getting, which was borderline high. The conclusion was that I had high blood pressure, and being on the border line of acceptable was OK for me individually. Subsequent visits over the years showed my BP to be in the normal range. Fine. But what was causing his initial readings to be high while mine were not? I've had similar discrepancies with my weight. The doctor's scale was 10 pounds higher than mine for about two years. The readings before that and after that were very close to what I was seeing at home. My conclusion then was their scale was off calibration, or they simply got a new scale that didn't work as well as the original.
The moral of the story is that I have some skepticism about the test equipment doctors use. They go by the readings they get, as they should. But are those readings accurate? In your case that is easy to verify. You can breathe easy, or you cannot. I don't know if oximeters can be calibrated or not, but it would be interesting to know if any two would yield the exact same reading. Mom's pulmonologist told her anything above 95% saturation was good enough, but then she didn't have the same problems you are experiencing.
The other approach is something like reverse engineering. It would require an expert pulmonologist willing to sit down for an interview and share his/her expertise. The questions you would ask are about what it would take to produce the effect that you experience. I doubt that the expert would nail the exact cause of your improvement, but knowing what would be required might help discover what is in the doctor's office that meets the requirement. My limited understanding of all this is that your lungs are physically damaged, which in turn prevent the normal oxygen exchange. I can't imagine what could overcome the damage.
The last thought I have to offer is somewhat related to my own experience with high blood pressure. It was all under control while I lived in Illinois. I was taking a medication to keep it under control and didn't think there were any problems. My first visit to the new doctor in O'Fallon said it was dangerously high. I attributed that to the newness and excitement of seeing a new doctor, and convinced him I don't have a history of it being as high as he measured it. So, he wanted to see me in 90 days to check it out again. I bought a cuff to measure my own BP and it was borderline, sitting at 140/90 most of the time. I had a wrist meter to measure it too, plus one of those FitBIt watches. None of those devices agreed even within 20% of each other. The FitBit was way off the mark. So I recorded the readings with all three devices and considered the measurements to be relative. If there was a trend, it would show up on all three devices. The next visit to the doctor was still too high for him to be happy, and not all that close to what I was measuring. There still could have been some psychological trauma going on that raised my readings, but being a technician that worked in a calibration lab for a few years, I was beginning to suspect the doctor's equipment.
Well, the third visit, 90 days later, still showed high readings at the doctor's office, but now they were converging with the readings I was getting at home. He gave me a second prescription and summoned me back three months later. At that time his readings were very close to what I was getting, which was borderline high. The conclusion was that I had high blood pressure, and being on the border line of acceptable was OK for me individually. Subsequent visits over the years showed my BP to be in the normal range. Fine. But what was causing his initial readings to be high while mine were not? I've had similar discrepancies with my weight. The doctor's scale was 10 pounds higher than mine for about two years. The readings before that and after that were very close to what I was seeing at home. My conclusion then was their scale was off calibration, or they simply got a new scale that didn't work as well as the original.
The moral of the story is that I have some skepticism about the test equipment doctors use. They go by the readings they get, as they should. But are those readings accurate? In your case that is easy to verify. You can breathe easy, or you cannot. I don't know if oximeters can be calibrated or not, but it would be interesting to know if any two would yield the exact same reading. Mom's pulmonologist told her anything above 95% saturation was good enough, but then she didn't have the same problems you are experiencing.
Last edited by yogi on 24 Dec 2022, 00:45, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Micro Robots
Other than it only being 41 degrees in my office when I got up here this morning, and my little heater has not managed to get it up over 54 yet, which causes my nose to operate like a broken dam, hi hi.
Now this might sound crazy to you, but I have a window AC unit installed in the wall, up high, so the top of the unit is parallel with the top of the window about 16 inches away from the window, and around 18 inches down below the ceiling, and 16 inches away from the right wall in my office. It is directly above my banks of computers, which since only one of them is working, not much heat generated from computers running.
However, the AC unit is set to 86 degrees, and in automatic mode, which includes air cleaning and outside air in, during its special cycle. About every 10 minutes, it runs for 3 minutes with the compressor on, just long enough to slightly cool the inside coil, but not enough to cool the room, then 3 more minutes just as an air exchanger. Unless of course the temp goes over the setting I have it on, then it will stay on in cool mode.
Now my heat pump down at the house uses HEPA 2 to 4 filters, we usually buy HEPA 2. If we use HEPA 4, airflow is greatly diminished.
OK, back to my office, where I do the best. The AC unit inside coil will sweat and the air passing over it gets filtered, because air particles will stick to the wet surface and drain down to the outside and out of the house. I tested this myself using baby powder and sure enough, the baby powder I puffed into the air ended up in the jar I set outside under the AC that catches the drips. So I know that part is removing airborne particulates OK.
Then also, as I mentioned before, I have what you would call an elaborate air suction system to outside that my ashtray is housed in. When I take a puff of a cigarette, I immediately put it back in the ashtray, and when I blow out a puff of smoke, I blow it into an upper intake container, and all of this gets blown to outside. I should have made this day one instead of waiting for everything in my new office to get ruined first. My original AC unit in here did not have the air scrubber feature.
My summation of this is simple. The air in my office is cleaner than the air in the house, and this makes a big difference.
I ordered a watch from China, it is en-route to my house as we speak. For some reason after it cleared customs it went to Chicago where it was transferred from the airline carrier to the USPS and is on a truck headed to Nashville, so should be here in a couple more days, probably after Christmas.
I had bought one of these a couple of years ago and sent it back because it required a Schmartz-Fone to use.
Debi bought one and although it does require a Schmartz-Fone, she can access all the functions from the touch screen on the watch, once it is set up.
The one I ordered can work through WiFi to a Schmartz-Fone either Iphone or Android, or to a PC running an Android App, and the PC can be using Ubuntu, Linux Mint, or a few others they named off. Ironically, they didn't mention Windows for this watch, but they did for others they sell that will also work with msPhones too.
If you record your readings on the phone, you have to move the reading to the PC or Schmartz-Fone using the app. It will hold 30 hours of readings, more if you are only saving one reading, like O2, but if you use it to read several things, like overnight readings they suggest copying the data every 16 hours via the WiFi. You can leave it in WiFi mode, but it eats the charge up faster. It also comes with a cord to download and charge via a USB C port or standard USB port. It looks like the wire itself is USB C with an adapter plugged to it for regular USB.
The reason I ordered the watch is because I used Debi's overnight once, and also the entire day and recorded the data so I could see when my O2 dipped low, which it did each time I walked. I saved the data on her phone, but we couldn't find my data when we were at the doctors office, drat. She's not a real whiz when it comes to doing things like that. Heck, she even has me download her pictures for her into a folder. She has a program that does this for her, but then she don't know how to move the pictures from the download folder into individual files, hi hi. No matter how many times I show her how to do it.
She's going to be in deep water after I eventually kick the bucket, and then will have to figure out how to do things, hi hi.
I've compared my pulse/oximeters with the ones the doctor uses, and they always read identical.
My older blood pressure monitor was more accurate than my newest one, but still within perhaps 2 pulses.
I'm on medications that control my heart rate, so I'm usually 120/70 give or take 5/2.
The only thing always out of whack on me is my HGL is always too low, but the other one, LDL I think, is always normal.
I was worried about my A1C going up by 0.2 points every year, but the doc said I'm doing better than most folks on holding it down. When and if it gets up to 6.7 then he will have me take 3 Metformin instead of only 2.
He is concerned that I've lost some more weight. If he only knew how much all the junk in my pockets and my boots weighed he would probably say I'm way to low on my weight. But then I've always weighed light my entire life.
Now this might sound crazy to you, but I have a window AC unit installed in the wall, up high, so the top of the unit is parallel with the top of the window about 16 inches away from the window, and around 18 inches down below the ceiling, and 16 inches away from the right wall in my office. It is directly above my banks of computers, which since only one of them is working, not much heat generated from computers running.
However, the AC unit is set to 86 degrees, and in automatic mode, which includes air cleaning and outside air in, during its special cycle. About every 10 minutes, it runs for 3 minutes with the compressor on, just long enough to slightly cool the inside coil, but not enough to cool the room, then 3 more minutes just as an air exchanger. Unless of course the temp goes over the setting I have it on, then it will stay on in cool mode.
Now my heat pump down at the house uses HEPA 2 to 4 filters, we usually buy HEPA 2. If we use HEPA 4, airflow is greatly diminished.
OK, back to my office, where I do the best. The AC unit inside coil will sweat and the air passing over it gets filtered, because air particles will stick to the wet surface and drain down to the outside and out of the house. I tested this myself using baby powder and sure enough, the baby powder I puffed into the air ended up in the jar I set outside under the AC that catches the drips. So I know that part is removing airborne particulates OK.
Then also, as I mentioned before, I have what you would call an elaborate air suction system to outside that my ashtray is housed in. When I take a puff of a cigarette, I immediately put it back in the ashtray, and when I blow out a puff of smoke, I blow it into an upper intake container, and all of this gets blown to outside. I should have made this day one instead of waiting for everything in my new office to get ruined first. My original AC unit in here did not have the air scrubber feature.
My summation of this is simple. The air in my office is cleaner than the air in the house, and this makes a big difference.
I ordered a watch from China, it is en-route to my house as we speak. For some reason after it cleared customs it went to Chicago where it was transferred from the airline carrier to the USPS and is on a truck headed to Nashville, so should be here in a couple more days, probably after Christmas.
I had bought one of these a couple of years ago and sent it back because it required a Schmartz-Fone to use.
Debi bought one and although it does require a Schmartz-Fone, she can access all the functions from the touch screen on the watch, once it is set up.
The one I ordered can work through WiFi to a Schmartz-Fone either Iphone or Android, or to a PC running an Android App, and the PC can be using Ubuntu, Linux Mint, or a few others they named off. Ironically, they didn't mention Windows for this watch, but they did for others they sell that will also work with msPhones too.
If you record your readings on the phone, you have to move the reading to the PC or Schmartz-Fone using the app. It will hold 30 hours of readings, more if you are only saving one reading, like O2, but if you use it to read several things, like overnight readings they suggest copying the data every 16 hours via the WiFi. You can leave it in WiFi mode, but it eats the charge up faster. It also comes with a cord to download and charge via a USB C port or standard USB port. It looks like the wire itself is USB C with an adapter plugged to it for regular USB.
The reason I ordered the watch is because I used Debi's overnight once, and also the entire day and recorded the data so I could see when my O2 dipped low, which it did each time I walked. I saved the data on her phone, but we couldn't find my data when we were at the doctors office, drat. She's not a real whiz when it comes to doing things like that. Heck, she even has me download her pictures for her into a folder. She has a program that does this for her, but then she don't know how to move the pictures from the download folder into individual files, hi hi. No matter how many times I show her how to do it.
She's going to be in deep water after I eventually kick the bucket, and then will have to figure out how to do things, hi hi.
I've compared my pulse/oximeters with the ones the doctor uses, and they always read identical.
My older blood pressure monitor was more accurate than my newest one, but still within perhaps 2 pulses.
I'm on medications that control my heart rate, so I'm usually 120/70 give or take 5/2.
The only thing always out of whack on me is my HGL is always too low, but the other one, LDL I think, is always normal.
I was worried about my A1C going up by 0.2 points every year, but the doc said I'm doing better than most folks on holding it down. When and if it gets up to 6.7 then he will have me take 3 Metformin instead of only 2.
He is concerned that I've lost some more weight. If he only knew how much all the junk in my pockets and my boots weighed he would probably say I'm way to low on my weight. But then I've always weighed light my entire life.