Daring Adventures (Free Version) for iOS and Android

Posted on July 31, 2015 by Menagerie Press

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Come gather your heroes, gain elemental powers, and fight the Chaos Beasts in this free fantasy RPG adventure game.

Daring Adventure is a fantasy card game. You will assemble your party of heroes to fight monsters inhabiting various locations. Along the way, you must collect an arsenal of elemental attacks and treasured items to challenge the dreaded Chaos Beasts. The heroes and treasures unlocked during your travels allow for almost infinite customization. You will be able to change your party and elemental attacks to give yourself the most powerful arsenal against the beasts in a certain location. Or you could load up on treasures and let your shinies do the talking. The way you take down your foe is entirely up to you.

iOS Version

https://appsto.re/us/RoCV8.i

Google Play Store (Android)

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.velluminformation.daringadventurefree

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Compendium Imaginarium

Posted on May 15, 2015 by Menagerie Press

compendium imaginarium cover drivethrurpgThis fully-illustrated bestiary includes twenty-five creatures from the depths of the Imaginarium – draconic Deepriver Wyrms mingle with malicious Fleshrenders and the triple- headed Ayaqua. Includes magical constructs such as the Bladed Golem and Silver Golem, and otherworldly creatures like the music-loving Sparks and the elusive Man of the Woods. The fierce Cloud Kraken, gigantic Dread Snake, and necromantic Magus Wraith add extra elements of danger to your adventure plans. Stellar fantasy art from Steven Catizone finishes off this role-playing game book. Also compatible with the Open Game License 3.5 system.

Available at Amazon: http://amzn.com/0692442820

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New TIME WARP card game decks available as POD from PrinterStudio

Posted on April 17, 2015 by Menagerie Press

TIME WARP: Mad Science, TIME WARP: Ragnarok, and TIME WARP: Wild West Now available on POD from PrinterStudio!

PrinterStudio Shop for TIME WARP card game! Come show some love and get a new card game to play. Instructions included in the deck, which comes shrink-wrapped and with a plastic case for protection.

http://www.printerstudio.com/sell/sell_product_shop.aspx?designer=D7B6A29C72AEFF0CFF01C7022A3868D5B6036DC2BA031CE0

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New Developments: Google Play (Android) games now available

Posted on April 17, 2015 by Menagerie Press

Vellum Information is pleased to announce the release of several new Android apps, and some partner efforts that are sponsored on Newgrounds.com:

HeroicMatch

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.velluminformation.heromatch&hl=en

The classic Concentration card game meets Android and high fantasy – images of goblins, elves, swords, and sorcerers decorate this 8-level concentration game. Features easy, normal, and hard (match 3 of a kind) settings to suit any player. Game design by ceosol and TWMB.

Erudite Basic

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.velluminformation.eruditebasic&hl=en

Build your concentration and attention with this engaging fantasy-themed Android game. Choose from the challenging Erudite mode or three Timed modes. Remember which squares show magical items and click on them to progress farther and get points – but it’s up to you to remember and choose only the squares with items, otherwise you lose!

Erudite Hard

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.velluminformation.eruditehard&hl=en

Build your concentration and attention with this engaging fantasy-themed Android game. Choose from the challenging Erudite mode or three Timed modes. Remember which squares show magical items and click on them to progress farther and get points – but it’s up to you to remember and choose only the squares with items, otherwise you lose!

Match Match (for the younger folks)

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.velluminformation.matchmatch&hl=en

The classic, fun to play Concentration card game meets Android. Features easy, normal, and hard (match 3 of a kind) settings to suit any player.

Advanced Memory Search (Newgrounds, developed with ceosol)

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/655959

Try your best to only tap of the correct squares. Children of all ages (including adult children) will enjoy this memory app featuring:

– Two modes of play
– Relaxation mode allows you to save your progress or reset at level 1 to beat your previous score
– Relaxation mode gives you endless play (well, 350 levels of play)
– Try to beat your scores in the Speed Round
– The Speed Round only gives you 60 seconds to get as far as you can
– Be careful of mis-clicking in the Speed Round because multiple misses will start counting against you.

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Hospital and Outpatient Quality Metrics: An Annotated Bibliography

Posted on April 5, 2014 by Menagerie Press

Hospital and Outpatient Quality Metrics

Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting Specifications Manual

http://qualitynet.org/dcs/ContentServer?c=Page&pagename=QnetPublic%2FPage%2FQnetTier2&cid=1196289981244

Description: The Hospitals Outpatient Quality Reporting Specifications Manual was developed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to provide a uniform set of quality measures to be implemented in hospital outpatient settings.  The primary purpose of these measures is to promote high quality care for patients receiving services in hospital outpatient settings.

Keywords:  hospital quality metrics, outpatient-reporting manual, CMS

Audience:  hospitals, physicians, administration

National Quality Forum

http://www.qualityforum.org/Projects/Ambulatory_Care_2010.aspx

Description: The National Quality Forum (NQF) has provided a wide variety of ambulatory care measures for assessment of the quality of care in outpatient facilities, including hospital outpatient departments, emergency department, urgent care facilities, surgery centers, and clinician offices.  NQF’s measures are intended to encourage hospitals and clinicians to improve their quality of care and to empower consumers with quality information to make informed decisions about their healthcare.

Keywords:  NQF, ambulatory care measures, hospitals quality of care

Audience:  hospital outpatient departments, surgery centers, clinicians

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Healthcare Quality Metrics: An Annotated Bibliography

Posted on March 13, 2014 by Menagerie Press

Healthcare Quality Metrics

1.     Health Resource and Service Administration

http://www.hrsa.gov/healthit/toolbox/RuralHealthITtoolbox/PatientQuality/metrics.html

Description: A quality metric allows a user to quantify the quality of a selected aspect of care.  The Health Resource and Service Administration website explains the different types of quality metrics a professional would use to measure healthcare access, outcome, patient experience, process, and structure.  The Health Resource and Service Administration website also provides additional resources for healthcare quality metrics.

Keywords:  access measure, outcome measure, patient experience measure

Audience:  health centers, ambulatory care providers, administration

2.     Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/QualityMeasures/CMS-Measures-Inventory.html

Description: The CMS Measure Inventory is a resource of measures that are used by the CMS in various quality, reporting and payment programs.  The measures within the inventory tool are categorized by CMS program condition/topic, measure type, endorsement status, measure steward, and measure contractor.  Measures that are in use by CMS programs include the following measure information: measure description, numerator, denominator and exclusion statement, and National Quality Forum endorsement information.  The CMS Measures Inventory is updated quarterly.

Keywords:  CMS Measures Inventory, NQF endorsement information, CMS quality reporting

Audience:  health centers, hospitals, physicians

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ICD-9 Conversion to ICD-10 Resources: An Annotated Bibliography

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Menagerie Press

ICD-9 Conversion to ICD-10 Resources

1.     Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Coding/ICD10/index.html?redirect=/icd10

Description: ICD-9 code sets used in reporting medical diagnoses and impatient procedures are being replaced by ICD-10 code sets on October 1, 2014.  This transition is required for everyone covered by the Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA).  The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) offers several resources to help with this transition.  CMS has CMS ICD-10 Industry Email Updates to allow an individual to stay up to date with ICD-10.  CMS also has several resources, such as ICD-10 Introduction fact sheets and general ICD-10 transition basics.  The CMS also offers two free Medscape Education modules that will provide guidance to small practices making the transition to ICD-10.

Keywords: ICD-10 email updates, ICD-10 fact sheets, ICD-10 transition basics

Audience:  providers, payers, vendors, non-covered entities

2.     ICD-10 Code Search

http://www.icd10codesearch.com/

Description: It is important for health care organizations to train and prepare for the transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10 before the 2014 deadline.  This will help avoid costly delays and penalties.  ICD-10 has multiple new codes to learn and implement.  ICD-10 Code Search has created an ICD-10 mapping tool which allows ICD-9 codes to be translated into ICD-10 codes.  ICD-10 Code Search’s crosswalk is a useful tool to help healthcare organizations during the transition, and allow practitioners the ability to train and learn the new coding system before the implementation date.

Keywords:  ICD-10 mapping tool, ICD-10 crosswalk

Audience:  healthcare organizations, physicians

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Big Data Analysis Tools/Resources: An Annotated Bibliography

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Menagerie Press

Big Data Analysis Tools/Resources

1.     Chris Stucchio’s blog

http://www.chrisstucchio.com/blog/2013/hadoop_hatred.html

This blog makes this list primarily for one article: “Don’t use Hadoop – your data isn’t that big”, which provides a guide for deciding whether your data really qualifies as big data, based on its size, purpose, and expected future growth. And, given this decision, which suite of tools is best suited to your needs. The remainder of the blog posts deal with developer level problems in big data, as well as an assortment of economics-, and other news-related items.

Keywords: big data, medium data, kind of large data

Audience: dataset owners considering big data tools, big data beginners

2.     Infochimps

http://www.infochimps.com/

Infochimps provides extensive resources for those interested in big data analysis. These include, whitepapers: detailed overviews of topics in big data analysis; case studies: other companies’ successful use of (Infochimps’) big data products; as well as video webinars about topics in big data.  Some of these represent not-even-thinly veiled promotional pitches for Infochimps’ products and services; however, others will provide useful information for advanced big-data users.

Keywords: big data

Audience: intermediate- advanced

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SQL Programming Resources: An Annotated Bibliography

Posted on March 5, 2014 by Menagerie Press

SQL Programming Resources

1.     Coursera/Stanford “Introduction to Databases”

https://www.coursera.org/course/db

One of the biggest names in Massive Open Online Courseware (MOOC), Coursera has a huge database of university level courses. This offering from Stanford University has 9 units devoted to SQL programming, in addition to providing a comprehensive introduction to databases. It was one of the first courses offered by Coursera and remains one its most popular. The SQL units are introductory, making this an excellent place to begin.

The course includes all of the best features of a Coursera MOOC: helpful readings, a community of learners, ongoing assessment and the option to receive a certification upon successful completion of the course.

Keywords: MOOC, Stanford, Coursera, video lecture, exam, assessment

Audience: beginner SQL users

2.     The SchemaVerse

http://schemaverse.com

SchemaVerse offers a gamified SQL learning experience. The experience is built around an online galactic conquest game implemented within a PostgreSQL database, in which the player controls his army of spaceships through SQL commands. The game consists in sending ships to conquer new planets, mine resources, and defend conquered planets against other players.

The game/tutorial provides a good introduction to the basics of SQL, supported by an excellent tutorial page, for those who find entirely self-directed learning a challenge. It would be difficult to extend much beyond an intermediate level with SchemaVerse, as the available commands are limited and somewhat repetitive.

Keywords: gamification, SQL, tutorial, basic, intermediate

Audience: beginner SQL users, non-autodidacts

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‘Big Data’ Public Databases: An Annotated Bibliography

Posted on March 5, 2014 by Menagerie Press

Big Public Databases

1.     Kin Lane’s Federal Dataset Tool

http://federal-agency-dataset-adoption.publicprivatesector.org/index.html

Many of the following listings refer to US Federal Government datasets. These are some of the biggest public datasets available. Unfortunately, much of this data is messy, published without much regard to its consumption and use.

This project, from Kin Lane, is both an index of a huge number of Federal Government datasets, and a way to access versions of these datasets on GitHub as these are cleaned and repurposed by other users – including descriptions of the alterations made. This tool requires a GitHub account.

Keywords: big data, public data, Open Data Policy-Managing Information, GitHub

Audience: social scientists, economists, advocacy groups

2.     IPUMS project (Minnesota Population Centre)

https://www.ipums.org/

The Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) is an enormous database of individual level microdata. The data in IPUMS USA is drawn from the United States census, the American Community Survey and the Current Population Survey. IPUMS International includes census data from 73 countries, harmonized to allow comparisons across different times and places.

Combined, these datasets comprise a truly massive resource of census-type information, carefully prepared for ready comparison and interrogation. The website has a built-in SQL selector, a useful FAQ covering the basic questions about the data and its use, and a forum covering more technical questions.

Keywords: IPUMS, Minnesota Population Centre, big data, microdata, census

Audience: population survey researchers, marketers, social scientists, political scientists

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