In times of uncertainty, it’s best to stick to the pack.
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Category: Current Events
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Can’t keep us down
The human spirit is irrepressibly creative.
Three mates stuck in their apartment Barcelona hit a chord with their bit, Stay Homas and have now become an internet sensation with their own YouTube channel and a profile in the New Yorker.
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Exponential Growth
I found this video and accompanying visualization of exponential growth on a logarithmic scale helpful, if not terrifying.
Animated plot of selected nations does not bode well for the United States. When looking at the growth along a logarithmic scale you see the United States and Italy shoot up and to the right like fireworks – racing past South Korea and China.
Singapore took quick action because of their experience with SARS but you can see the number of cases creeps back up but they are still below the trajectory of other nations. Japan and Finland have also managed to keep slightly below the trajectory of most nations but I think it’s too early to tell why.
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Group Play
Stuck at home, the world’s symphonies are using technology to play, together.
I learned later that each of the Rotterdam musicians did their bit without practice.
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Fever Hotspots
Smart thermometer company Kinsa allows users of its product to upload their temperature readings along with their location via an app. In normal times, the US Health Weather Map is used to predict influenza trends and compare outbreaks to previous years.
But this year is not normal. Kinsa is suggesting that the Atypical tab on their map might be useful as a predictor for where the next Covid-19 breakout may occur.
As you can see on the map – it looks like the next hotspots after New York and New Jersey are the beaches of Florida (remember the Spring Breakers?) and, for some reason, two counties in Colorado.
Overall trend data for the United States also shows something is amiss.
I’ll be watching this page and update when appropriate.
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Remote Teaching
Tyler is home from school. Boston University closed its dorms for the semester and his part time internship is on indefinite hiatus so he was forced to beat a strategic retreat back home.
As his fellow students rub their weary, time-shifted eyes to tune into yet another Zoom University class, there is also this perspective from the teacher’s point of view. What is it like to teach to an empty classroom?
“Welcome back from spring break,” Abrams booms, looking out at the rows of empty rust-colored seats. “To those of you in California, to those of you where it’s 3 am, you are my heroes, thank you for coming. It’s pretty lonely here in Boston. I miss having you in class. You have no idea how weird and empty this is.”
Remote Teaching and Learning in a Time of COVID-19
We live in interesting times. I still don’t know if that’s a blessing or a curse.
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Shelter in Place
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Goodbye Super Tuesday
Big day yesterday with Bloomberg dropping out this morning, all eyes looking to see what Warren will do and everyone wondering why Tulsi Gabbard is still hanging in there.
More details at The Race.
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Gif Peanut Butter
The limited run is already sold out on Amazon. From the listing:
- Limited edition jar with double-sided JIF/GIF label.
- Perfect for sandwiches, baking, and shutting down internet debates.
- Contains about 34 servings of peanut butter, and 0 looping images.
Due to mandatory quarantines across China, people have resorted to using new and old technology in new ways to serve their needs that has hints of a dark, post-apocalytic, sci fi world. A few examples;
So people do not have to touch potentially infected elevator buttons, many have set out containers of disposable toothpicks which can be used to press the buttons and then discarded.
Drones are used to spray neighborhoods of disinfectant, remotely take temperature reading of apartment block residents, and disperse pubic gatherings.
Many museums are livestreaming events and tours and nightclubs are streaming home party mixes.
Online maps show outbreak clusters in real time so the healthy can avoid going nearby. Apparently several location-based apps (such as your mobile wallet) stop working once you leave the quarantine zone, limiting movement.
Farmers, unable to sell their crops in the market, are selling via live-streaming and shipping direct to customers.