One of the advantages of modern technology is the ability to view remote events live; another is to discuss a presentation, while it is being presented, "in the back channel" — i.e., in a chat room or on Twitter. These technologies give many of us who could not otherwise attend a technical presentation the opportunity to attend virtually, and to participate. This past week has been chock full of such opportunities.

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A bell's not a bell 'til you ring it... -- Oscar Hammerstein II

Much like the opening lines of the "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" reprise ⁽¹⁾, knowledge -- like love: doesn't exist "'til you give it away." Data become knowledge when they are shared, analyzed, verified. Or like money in Hello, Dolly!, knowledge "is like manure -- it doesn't do good unless you spread it around, encouraging young things to grow."

While sharing everything you know may, perversely, show up everything you don't know, knowing what you don't know gives you the option to learn it. Of course, there will be someone who will take that opportunity to say that it's your posterior, not your cranium, that has the intelligence,⁽²⁾ but y'know what? That's just him (or her) sharing his (or her) lack of knowledge. (READ MORE)

It's no secret that several of us who blog here at dLife are active in a number of diabetes-oriented online forums and social networks -- what we refer to as "the Diabetes Online Community" or "the DOC" -- and that in the process, we've learned which people, which groups, and which venues are doing what in terms of offering emotional support, medical and lifestyle advice, places to gripe and complain, and ways to use our various talents to make living with diabetes easier (or less difficult, depending on your point of view) for ourselves and others to manage.

I must also mention here that I have been, for the most part, a satisfied user of Freestyle glucose meters since I adopted the Therasense Freestyle several months after my initial diagnosis, upgrading to the Freestyle Flash almost as soon as it came out, and eventually to the Freestyle Lite (which I currently use).

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Kris Freeman may have won the 30K cross-country race at the U.S. National Championships in Anchorage, Alaska last month – had he not been forced to stop and test his blood sugar late in the race. Freeman came in second.

The first and last time an American won an Olympic medal in cross-country skiing was 34 years ago. Freeman hopes to end that drought in the winter Olympics, despite having type 1 diabetes.

As a hockey household, we’ve been anxiously awaiting the winter Olympics to cheer on team USA. I’ll admit, cross-country skiing was never something I had given much thought about and it was not on my radar when I thought of the events I’d like to check out. That said, we’re now officially on the Kris Freeman bandwagon and our household will be cheering loudly for him when he races in Vancouver.

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I joined Tu Diabetes recently.

If you feel like your page is being spied on by a guy sitting on a bench across the street in a grey overcoat and a newspaper with two holes cut out for eyes , well, it has. It's me.

I've been snooping around in the parents of kids with type 1 group, ogling your A1cs.

I've spotted some very nice ones.

Seeing such a selection gets me in that envious, wanting mode - the way I get when let loose in a good record store.

"Whoa! 6.8! That's rare. I don't have this one."

"Wow, 7.2! I don't have this either. I thought they broke up?"

"Ooh, a 7.0 live in UK bootleg. I have to get this!"

"This 7.4 is also pretty cool. I only have their 8.7 and their 8.9."

But these desirable A1cs must be returned to the shelves. (READ MORE)