A real hearty bellyaching laugh.
Then she came in and shared a WhatsApp post from one of her friends which said:
I ate 11 times and took 5 naps and I woke up and it's still today!
Then I couldn't stop laughing. ;-)
(Credit Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)
Showing posts with label Quarantine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Quarantine. Show all posts
March 22, 2020
Life In The Times of Coronavirus
A real hearty bellyaching laugh.
Then she came in and shared a WhatsApp post from one of her friends which said:
Then I couldn't stop laughing. ;-)
(Credit Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)
March 21, 2020
Trying To Maintain Normality
People are trying to get out of the house for just a little bit each day amidst the mandated social distancing.
Especially difficult is to try to get some exercise with all the fitness centers, gyms, and pools closed down.
Some people are just choosing to go for a walk around the track or get in a quick workout with a few friends or family members.
Can we be normal when everything is abnormal? ;-)
(Credit Video: Andy Blumenthal)
March 20, 2020
Great Explanation of Coronavirus (Covid-19)
Great explanation of Coronavirus (Covid-19) by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Need a Part II though to explain what people should do when they get sick--communication on this part has been awful.
BTW, the governor of California stated that he estimates that 56% of their population or 25.5 million people would be infected there within eight weeks.
At a 1-2% fatality rate (lower than the current global 4% fatality rate) that would mean between 250,000 and 500,000 dead just in California.
This is very serious stuff folks. ;-)
(Credit to my daughter, Rebecca for sharing this with video)
March 19, 2020
Coronavirus - Something or Nothing?
And the actions demonstrating unpreparedness, disorganized response, general chaos, and panic do not match the few calming words we are getting.
No wonder everyone is panicking and the bottom is falling from the market.
On one hand:
- The officials tell everyone to remain calm, and there is no reason to panic.
- Help is on the way.
- People are overreacting.
- Most people that get Covid 19 won't even know they had it or the symptoms will be mild (or maybe moderate)
- The death rate is "only" like 3 or 4% and it's mostly older people or those with chronic ailments anyway (as if these people don't matter).
- Younger children aren't really getting it (although we don't know exactly why or the impact on pregnant women).
- It's less contagious and deadly than the flu (wait, it's more contagious and deadly).
- There are plenty of tests available for everyone (no, there aren't).
- It will be over in a few weeks when the seasons change and the temperature goes up.
- A vaccine will soon be ready for testing and then distribution after 12-18 months.
- The numbers of infected are going down in China--see they have it under control!
- Maybe we should allow investigative drugs to be used (or maybe not, the FDA thinks this is a bad idea).
- The impact to the economy will be over probably by August (or will it?).
- It'll ALL be over soon.
On the other hand:
- We don't know what we're facing (people are routinely using the words apocalypse and armageddon).
- This could be the "big one!"
- Is this a punishment from G-d (and is the Messiah coming)?
- This has reached pandemic proportions.
- We are declaring a national emergency.
- This may have come out of a Chinese bioweapons lab.
- Also, China suppressed information and initial response on this making the outbreak worse.
- "China should be punished for these things" (or some version of this).
- Cases are raising around the world.
- The contagion is worse than initially thought (there are comparisons to the Spanish Flu of 1918 which killed around 50 million people)
- The death rate is higher than expected.
- We don't know why or where certain people got Covid 19 from.
- The hospitals are already overwhelmed and are unprepared for a real surge of cases.
- We need to "flatten the curve" so our healthcare system isn't brought to its knees.
- We are already triaging patients and our doctors and nurses are working extra long hours and are exhausted.
- We aren't prepared for this--our healthcare system and government has "failed us".
- We're rolling out unprecedented economic assistance from the Fed, the Treasury...another trillion dollar deficit (no answer for how this gets paid, if ever...can anyone say runaway inflation in the future and lots of worthless dollars).
- Washing and "Social Distancing" are paramount.
- There is a run on toilet paper and disinfectants and these are either sold out or vendors are price gouging these items.
- We are shutting down the country (workplaces, fitness centers, eat-in restaurants, entertainment, travel, places of worship, and any significant gathering of people).
- The instructions to stay at home in "indefinite"!
- People are stuck in the house and worried about how long this will go on.
- Some places like New Rochelle, NY are under quarantine and the National Guard has been called out.
- There is talk of a curfew and further measures of quarantine to be enforced under penalty of imprisonment.
- The lines at the stores (Costco, Sam's Club, Supermarkets, Groceries) are out the door and the shelves are empty.
- Amazon announces that they are running out on consumer stables!
- Businesses are suspending workers, moving them to part time, and laying them off.
- The stock market is down by 1/3 and we're told that this could just be the beginning.
- A recession is looming and the economic impact and duration is unknown.
- Italy is on lockdown.
- Borders are being closed.
- People can't get home from abroad.
- Cruise ships aren't being allowed to port.
- Airlines are screaming for a financial bailout.
- Navy Hospital Ships with 1,000 beds each are being deployed to the east and west coast.
- We're sending $1,000 checks (or something like this) to people below a certain income level (maybe $65,000).
- Taxes are supposedly being deferred (although not filing of returns or estimated taxes yet).
- People are wearing masks everywhere (but we are being told only the sick ones need to wear it and we see everyone in China wearing it and of course our first responders and medical professionals, so which is it).
- Primary voting is delayed in some states and there is question whether the November Presidential election will also be delayed.
Summary:
Does anyone know WTF is going on around here???
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
March 16, 2020
Germs, Can't Think About Anything Else
Who can think about anything but germs!
Or should I say killing germs.
Nobody wants to get sick.
And we don't want to get others sick either.
- Wash your hands a lot!
- No more handshakes.
- No more touching "suspect" surfaces.
- Keep good ("far") social distancing.
- Quarantine yourself in the house for 2 weeks (actually it's more like indefinitely).
What has become of our world.
Just one big GERM BOWL.
Can we really hide from the germs? ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
March 14, 2020
Coronavirus Cancels Synagogue
While I understand the rationale to close the synagogues, not to congregate with others and expose ourselves or spread the Coronavirus, I can’t help thinking and believing that what we need now, more than ever, is prayer to Hashem and the mitzvah of Torah study that the synagogue provides to us. Indeed, only in the hands of G-d is the ultimate power of health or illness, and life or death...To me, this Shabbat was not a full Shabbat, because there was no synagogue, no Rabbi’s sermon, no community to talk and share with. I feel robbed of my religion today. I want to be able to go to synagogue and have a real Shabbat. How many other Shabbatot will we have to continue to go through without being able to pray in a minyan, hear the Torah reading, listen to the Rabbi’s speech, and see our community friends?
Many say and I firmly believe that we are on the doorstep of Mashiach and that he is even here among us waiting for the right moment to reveal himself. We’ve survived so much and finally have returned as a people to our homeland of Israel. Now we must survive the final birthing pains of Mashiach and then we will be able to go not only to our synagogues once again, but also to the Temple in Jerusalem to pray and learn at G-d’s very footstep in this earthly world.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
February 21, 2018
From Malware To Malevolent People
1) Signature Detection - There are known patterns of viruses and the antivirus software looks for a match against one of these.
2) Behavior Detection - There are known patterns of normal behavior on the computer, and the antivirus software looks for deviations from this.
Each has certain weaknesses:
- With signature detection, if there is a zero-day exploit (i.e. a virus that is new and therefore which has no known signature) then it will not be caught by a blacklist of known viruses.
- While with behavior detection, some viruses that are designed to look like normal network or application behavior will not be caught by heuristic/algorithm-based detection methods.
For defense-in-depth then, we can see why employing a combination of both methods would work best to protect from malware.
It's interesting that these same techniques for recognizing bad computer actors can be used for identifying bad or dangerous people.
We can look for known signatures/patterns of evil, abusive, and violent behaviors and identify those people according to their bad actions.
Similarly, we generally know what "normal" looks like (within a range of standard deviations, of course) and people who behave outside those bounds could be considered as potentially dangerous to themselves or others.
Yes, we can't jump to conclusions with people -- we don't want to misjudge anyone or be overly harsh with them, but at the same time, we are human beings and we have a survival instinct.
So whether we're dealing with malware or malevolent individuals, looking at patterns of bad actors and significant deviations from the normal are helpful in protecting your data and your person. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
September 30, 2014
Ebola Has Arrived
As of about 10 minutes ago, they are now reporting, "As Ebola Confirmed In U.S. , CDC vows, 'We're Stopping It In Its Tracks.'"
What do you think we'll see in the news about Ebola within the next 6 months or year--completely eradicated, mostly contained, spreading slowly, or G-d forbid a global pandemic?
G-d should help us to conquer this disease quickly and completely.
(Source Photo: here with Attribution to European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection)
September 9, 2014
Ebola On The Move
Additionally, with a third American infected with Ebola overseas coming back home for treatment, and the CDC retesting a Miami patient negative for Ebola after having shown some symptoms, the stakes seem to be going up with this deadly disease.
Just last Friday, GovExec reported that Ebola has a 18% chance of reaching the U.S. in September.
Moreover, if the outbreak is not contained the risk of it coming here is said to "increase consistently."
My daughter asked me the other day why commercial flights to/from the infected countries (not including aid delvieries) have not been cut off for now to help prevent the spread of the disease and save lives.
Unfortunately, I did not have a good answer to this, except that certainly there are economic and social implications to those countries in the short-term, but what are the potential costs to countless other global citizens if we do not do everything we can to adequately contain this outbreak?
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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