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A lot has already happened this year. SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2) which can cause COVID-19 (COronaVIrus Disease 2019) has been making headlines shortly after it was first reported. The first cases were reported to WHO (World Health Organization) on 2019-12-31. The virus spread. It began as an epidemic in China . The world watched apprehensively. Reports surfaced of cases in other countries and the the apprehension grew. For many folk, it turned to fear when it was upgraded to a pandemic: WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 - 11 March 2020: "We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic."
We have seen increasing efforts to stem the spread of the disease. Efforts have run the gamut. Closing of borders. Cancellation of sporting events. Conferences cancelled. Churches and other places of worship also closed. Schools closed. Panic buying of household goods and supplies. Supply chain disruptions affecting manufacturers. Restaurant, bars, and other such establishments closed. Work-from-home policies established and enacted.
The changes have been many, widespread, and continuing.
Reading about all the ways that "other people" have been affected is one thing. It seems different, somehow, when it hits closer to home and affects us directly. With many of our usual social activities curtailed or cancelled, it is easy to begin isolating and lose perspective. SoylentNews arose from a troubled period (the SlashCott) and a community has formed from that challenging period.
How have you been affected? Have you been infected? Had a family member or friend who was? Helped neighbors who are struggling? Hunkering down and isolating? (In a basement is optional.) Are you suddenly working from home and finding it challenging to manage your time? Still working on site, but now have a faster commute due to all the other people staying home? Catching up on watching TV shows? Reading more SoylentNews? How has your life changed?
From a somewhat different perspective, how have others helped you to cope... and how have you been able to help others? One of the potential impacts of social distancing is isolation and depression. I count myself fortunate, indeed, to have served this site for over 6 years and for all the people I have gotten to know, here. For those who may not be aware, SoylentNews has its own IRC (Internet Relay Chat) server. Feel free to drop in to #Soylent and just say "Hi!"
Social distancing is permanent when you're dead. So, practice good hygiene and stay safe.
Previously (oldest first):
China Battles Coronavirus Outbreak: All the Latest Updates
2019-nCoV Coronavirus Story Roundup
Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Roundup
Coronavirus Roundup
Coronavirus Roundup (Feb. 17)
Roundup of Stories about the SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus and COVID-19 Disease
COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2 - CoronaVirus) Roundup
CoronaVirus (SARS-CoV-2) Roundup 2020-03-12
Working from Home: Lessons Learned Over 20 Years
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Kunasou on Tuesday March 17 2020, @12:40PM (4 children)
I've been working at home for a week (and it's actually quite difficult to avoid distractions!), going out just for groceries and throw out the trash. For now, no symptoms of the virus at all. But, who knows if we're infected since our country (European user here!) only tests severe cases.
Just a note, living with family helps a lot with social isolation issues.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday March 17 2020, @01:10PM (3 children)
Our company has transitioned from a "face to face meetings are the most effective" to a "optional work from home if you want to" to a "work from home unless you simply cannot perform your job function in person" policy in the space of about one week.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 4, Interesting) by janrinok on Tuesday March 17 2020, @06:22PM (1 child)
It is interesting that companies claimed that jobs could not be done at home, and now have found that it is, in fact, very possible and even desirable. I wonder if they will do an about-turn again once the pandemic is eventually over?
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday March 17 2020, @08:40PM
Our management is already posturing... "Face to face meetings are more effective, but in light of the current environment's risk/reward profile we are opting to trade the disadvantages of remote work to protect the health and safety of our employees...."
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday March 18 2020, @01:23AM
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 17 2020, @01:03PM (5 children)
nothing much to report. got netflix running on libreElec. borderland 3 is out on steam (and steamOS!). will get to that after finishing welding and cementing the new frame for my 3 grid-tie solar modules that should shave off about ~ 3A usage from the pool pump (~8A).
else just a bit anxious about the stock market and worrying about maybe missing out on the "free" money being invented and tossed around to "fight" the economic virus ...
methinks a "real" pandemic would announce itself by presenting dead bodies in the street before hitting twitter?
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Tuesday March 17 2020, @01:08PM
LibreELEC 9.2.1 out soon (auto update).
https://libreelec.tv/2020/03/libreelec-leia-9-2-1/ [libreelec.tv]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday March 17 2020, @01:14PM (1 child)
What hardware? I'm really impressed with Kodi/libreElec for 1080p video on the RasPi Zero W. It's not a desktop system substitute, but when it can focus on that one task, it's just about flawless - and, with a 500Gig SD card, you've got a mobile media library, including HDMI + bluetooth player, on something the size of a pack of gum.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 17 2020, @06:01PM
some intel nuc that can do x265 and wasn't too expensive. it's libreElec only.
couldn't get it to netboot (pxe) tho but nevermind that.
another board amd e-350 such and such is listening in on the torrent stream and feeding off a 8tb wd gold, hence the requirement for x265 stutter free.
i am really impressed with how netflix can cope with a most shitty internet connection tho which i got to witness thru a 80m "around the corner" wifi connection ^_^
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 17 2020, @01:15PM (1 child)
The free money is only for the big guys, you won't see any of that.
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Tuesday March 17 2020, @03:03PM
Canada has announced paying people cut off from their job by the epidemic and its countermeasures.
We'll have to see how this get translated into bureaucracy, though.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by SemperOSS on Tuesday March 17 2020, @01:16PM
My current customer is a Danish government institution that has ordered me (and all my colleagues) to work from home. As I am not living in Denmark, it will be interesting to see how the rules where I live may collide with the rules in Denmark … currently I can get in despite the Danish border-closing as I am working there, but that may still change. My biggest problem at the moment would probably be finding an airline to get me there.
Locally people have stockpiled on hand sanitizer, tissue and toilet paper, leaving some shelves completely empty.
Apart from this (and a couple of cancelled flights) I have not really felt the impact of the new virus. *Cough!* *Cough!*
I don't need a signature to draw attention to myself.
Maybe I should add a sarcasm warning now and again?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 17 2020, @01:19PM (1 child)
I've been working from home for years now and I, in general, don't like going anywhere or when there are many people nearby, so I do what I always did: work from home, read books or play games, visit a local shop to resupply once in a while. Too bad I can't go for a coffee with people I do want to be with as easily as I could, though. Technically, I can do it but I'm not sure that'd be a wise decision.
(Score: 3, Funny) by pkrasimirov on Tuesday March 17 2020, @05:29PM
Same with me, I've been training to stay at home for years!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 17 2020, @01:22PM (4 children)
Initial panic caused market shelves to empty out.
Once testing scales up, the number of infection will rise steeply, and a second wave of panic will proceed.
Sociology/social psychology grad students should look into the TP purchase mania - must be worth a few paper and entertaining coffee shop discussion.
Nope, just waiting for the boomers to croak. :)
.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday March 17 2020, @05:05PM (3 children)
I don't get some of the hoarding.
If you buy, say 20 gallons of milk, how long do you think they will last? The sell by date is still the same.
Similarly if you buy 50 cartons of eggs. Do you think you're going to get to eat them all?
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday March 17 2020, @07:09PM (1 child)
If you coat eggs with a thin film of vegetable oil when you bring them home they will keep.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday March 17 2020, @08:36PM
If they don't hatch first.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 17 2020, @09:39PM
hoarding canned food and bottled water is one thing. Why toilet paper? Don't get enough paper junk mail in your mail box?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by petecox on Tuesday March 17 2020, @01:26PM (10 children)
Shelves at the supermarket cleared of toilet paper and many staples.
Yet plenty of the good chocolate, 70% dark organic is 25% off! Amateurs.
(Score: 3, Funny) by helel on Tuesday March 17 2020, @02:03PM (2 children)
Every day I have to convince my partner all over again that the three to six months of TP we have in the house is plenty and that now is not the time to stock up...
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 17 2020, @05:24PM
There is never a good time to run out
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday March 18 2020, @01:44PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 3, Insightful) by turgid on Tuesday March 17 2020, @02:19PM
Get in a few decent Scottish single malt whiskies.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday March 17 2020, @03:08PM (2 children)
There's TP here and there in our city, but it's much more miss than hit.
We had a big golf tournament get cancelled, so the restaurants are seriously oversupplied with perishable foods like meats... burger restaurants that normally charge $9-12 for a burger are running sales at $3 per burger.
Gas dropped below $2 per gallon just in the past few days, about 10% off from where it had been running the previous week.
It feels like a weird after-hurricane situation to me - everybody has electricity and is sort-of expected to try to work, if they can, but most optional activities are either not a possibility, or not advisable. Liquor stores are still well stocked... make your own hand sanitizer from 151?
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by looorg on Tuesday March 17 2020, @03:23PM (1 child)
It's a bit odd but I did notice it at the store yesterday. The section of the store with things that have a short expiration date is overflowing with things that nobody apparently wanted to buy. So they are both running out of some things and cant sell enough of others.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday March 17 2020, @07:43PM
Modern businesses run finely tuned supply channels, based on the population's highly predictable behavior, until...
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Tuesday March 17 2020, @05:05PM (2 children)
As I posted above earlier . . ..
I don't get some of the hoarding.
If you buy, say 20 gallons of milk, how long do you think they will last? The sell by date is still the same.
Similarly if you buy 50 cartons of eggs. Do you think you're going to get to eat them all?
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by shortscreen on Tuesday March 17 2020, @06:25PM
The shelf life on toilet paper or eggs (refrigerated) is pretty good. Milk can be frozen.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday March 17 2020, @07:13PM
We stocked up on powdered milk when news of Wuhan coronavirus first started coming out. It's not the best tasting stuff to drink straight, but it works well in coffee, recipes, with cereal, and chocolate mix.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 3, Funny) by DavePolaschek on Tuesday March 17 2020, @01:51PM (2 children)
I retired last year, and my daily routine hasn’t changed too much lately. I still get up in the morning, go for a mile or two walk around the neighborhood, say hi to neighbors walking their dogs (though from across the street, or at closest a dog's leash distance, as I still pet the pooches), then home to supervise the contractors building my shop (should be done this week, if all goes well). Then maybe a nap before cooking dinner.
We try to bundle errands into town (a ten mile drive, one way) anyhow, so all we’ve changed is skipping a meal out as part of most trips to town. The grocery store doesn’t have everything on our list lately, but we can live with that.
I did cancel a planned road trip in April, but my enthusiasm for that wasn’t very high anyhow. And the weather has been nice enough around here that we're still getting out for daily walks, so we don’t feel any more cut-off than usual. Oh, and our local public library is closed for the duration, so we can’t go check out DVDs to watch in the evenings. Might end up getting a Netflix account if this goes on long enough.
Turns out, when my mom said, "you’re acting like a creepy loner! Get out and socialize!" it just meant I was practicing social distancing. Handy!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by agr on Tuesday March 17 2020, @02:17PM
Stop petting the dogs.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 17 2020, @02:56PM
https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2020-200105/ [torrentfreak.com]
(Score: 3, Informative) by choose another one on Tuesday March 17 2020, @01:58PM (5 children)
Woke up to find I'm officially classed as "vulnerable" (not old, well not that old, but vulnerable), not a surprise really, but seeing it in black and white on the govt. site is still unnerving.
Trying to plan for isolation per the guidelines, not only from the outside world, but from the rest of the family inside too (two at school, still, and two who cannot work from home). Have only one bathroom, one kitchen, and not enough bedrooms as it is and now we're not supposed to sleep together (and not with anyone else either). Going to be fun, not. Wife says we should rent somewhere for me to move out for a few months, think we've probably missed the boat on that, and it won't really help if I have to go out and do my own shopping and stuff. Now worrying about if it's because she actually cares about me or just wants me gone.
In between working out the isolation plan I'm trying to work out if I can post a letter, observing frequency of traffic and pedestrian movements on the road outside and trying to work out the chances of getting across to the postbox and back without being within 1m of anyone. For some reason I now want to go back to the 80s or find an emulator and play Frogger...
Overnight, Amazon and Netflix have become full of shit that I don't want to watch at all, which is odd because it's the same shit they had yesterday. Meanwhile outside the window, in the forbidden land, the weather is a bit shit but also incredibly enticing. Must resist.
I keep slipping back into last-year-thinking, things like "oh, if the schools close, I could maybe pick up a really cheap last minute ski break for me and the kids", before reality intervenes with a large clue stick.
I'm really pleased that bog roll was on offer a few weeks ago and I bought a load, we probably have almost a month's worth. On the other hand I was sure we had two weeks of food, but it's disappearing worryingly rapidly. And soap, soap consumption is up tenfold, we haven't got enough.
On the plus side, I am really not worried at all about the state of my pension investments, no longer sure that I'll need them. The bucket list too is kind of a positive, in that I can actually now cross most of it off as "not allowed to do".
Got my will signed and witnessed yesterday (honestly), should have sorted it out years ago, been meaning to finish it for ages, nothing to do with any damned virus, no way.
Shit, am now struggling to hold back tears as I think how I'm going to miss shopping in the supermarket and that I might have been there for the last time, ever. WTF is happening?
(Score: 3, Funny) by choose another one on Tuesday March 17 2020, @02:20PM
> chances of getting across to the postbox and back without being within 1m of anyone.
Bugger, it's now 2m. Recalculating....
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 17 2020, @02:21PM
Years ago when I got stir crazy, a wise family friend recommended I read Nevil Shute, "Round the Bend". It worked like a charm, and it's now available online (out of copyright), for example from here:
http://gutenberg.ca/index.html#catalogueR [gutenberg.ca] search down for "Shute, Nevil".
(Score: 2) by turgid on Tuesday March 17 2020, @02:22PM
Hang on in there.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 17 2020, @03:47PM
I wouldn't worry about it, just because you're "vulnerable" doesn't mean that it'll kill you in particular if you contract it. I'm also vulnerable, but I likely got it some weeks ago and it was terrible, but I didn't die or need hospitalization. A fever, extreme exhaustion and some trouble breathing, but that was it. If I had those symptoms now, I'd contact my doctor about getting tested and self-quarantining, but that was near the end of January when the first cases were starting to show up and testing wasn't available, nor were clear indicators given as to when quarantining was needed.
That being said, it's especially important to avoid unnessecary contact with other people, keep those hands clean and away from the face, as you won't know how bad it is for you in particular, until after contracting it.
(Score: 2) by etherscythe on Wednesday March 18 2020, @02:05AM
You have an opportunity to ask the big questions while you've still got a chance to change something. I won't presume to know whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, but the opportunity is there, and not everybody gets to see that coming. What you do with that is up to you; personally I'd make peace with that meaning-of-life thing, and especially review everything in my life I was proud of. Write it down.
"Fake News: anything reported outside of my own personally chosen echo chamber"
(Score: 5, Informative) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday March 17 2020, @02:29PM (7 children)
As most know, I am a pharmacy technician. Pharmacies are, along with hospitals, the only establishments that are going to remain open if the dunghill intersects the windmill at speed. I'm in my early 30s, have no health risks, am at a normal weight (about 150lb at 5'10"), and am making sure to eat as close to right as my budget allows and take vitamins (details below).
I will likely get infected if I haven't been already, and will probably be fine, but since many customers are elderly, I may find out in the afterlife that I was indirectly responsible for killing several of them. They won't hold it against me, but it also can't be undone or even avoided, no matter how much handwashing and surface-sanitizing I'm doing.
Regarding vitamins: this is not medical professional advice, just doing what makes me feel best. I am taking 2000 IU dry Vitamin D3, 3,000mg Vitamin C, a B-50 complex tablet, 1,000mg of magnesium as oxide, 200mg CoQ10, and 30mg zinc (this last one 4+ hours from the Mg as I am told they neutralize one another). This regimen appears to work, and while I'm pretty sure I've been sick with *something* for at least 2 weeks, as of Sunday it seems to be clearing up.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 3, Insightful) by janrinok on Tuesday March 17 2020, @02:54PM
You do your best - that is all anyone can do. You are contributing positively, thank you.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Tuesday March 17 2020, @03:38PM (1 child)
I too thank you for being involved, and almost at the front lines. And thank you for those supplement tips.
One of my biggest concerns is that someone could be infected or a carrier and not know it. Do you know if there's a way to test for this? IE, does the current test show positive before you have symptoms but are a carrier?
I'm trying to figure out how I can help the efforts. Any suggestions?
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday March 19 2020, @12:20AM
Honestly, I don't know. What makes this little single-stranded motherfucker so insidious is that you can be asymptomatic for well over a week while shedding virus like a Persian cat sheds hair. I don't even know how the current test kits work or what they're looking for, though I'd assume it's testing for an antibody titer specific to some part of the virus itself.
Regarding the supplements, this may not work for you, or anyone but me, and it may not even continue working for me. Peoples' body chemistries are different enough that what works for one could be actively harmful to another; that much vitamin C, for example, will give normal people what Nanny Ogg persists in referring to as "the dire rear" and only works for me due to massive physiological demand brought on by untreated PTSD and constant stress. High doses of vitamin D3 (though 2000IU is only half the tolerable upper intake) can screw around with your calcium homeostasis, in particular dragging it out of your bones and depositing it in a nice thick layer all over your circulatory systems unless you take magnesium with it. Magnesium and zinc antagonize one another, I am told. The standard cheap B-complex pills could be harmful to someone with a bad MTHFR polymorphism due to having folic acid rather than 6(S)-5-methylfolate in it. And so on, and so on. Please listen to your body and be careful with supplements!
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 17 2020, @03:51PM
I got what was likely covid-19 in late January just after the first identified case was found in my part of the US. If I had the symptoms now that I did then, I would have self-quarantined and contacted my doctor, over the phone, about possible testing. But, at that point, there were no tests available and definitely not to somebody who hadn't been in China recently.I stayed home for a few days, but the symptoms weren't completely gone for weeks afterward, during which time, I likely would have spread it. That's assuming it was this virus and without testing, I have no way of knowing for sure, but a cold with a fever is justification for further testing.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Wednesday March 18 2020, @12:25AM (2 children)
Why aren't you going to delivery and scheduled pickup only? People get a call when their order is ready, come in, pick it up, leave. Instructions in the bag. Any questions via phone.
We went full lockdown at the food bank where I volunteer. Nobody who's not a known volunteer gets in. People pick up their boxes at the side shipping door, they're not allowed in. Their box is placed on a table outside and they take it.
Everyone is wearing disposable gloves, and we're going through boxes like crazy. I had been stockpiling extras for 3 years, got a lot of ribbing for it, said "we may need them at some point" - that point was yesterday. 1/3 of what should have been a year's worth gone in one day. Anything they don't want to take with them they have to throw in the dumpster - we can't take it back inside for someone else. Same as when they transfer food to shopping bags and carts - we can't take the boxes back inside.
Like most volunteer organizations, most of our volunteers are older and with pre-existing conditions. In a way this is a good thing - we take precautions seriously.
Other programs have been cancelled because we simply can't trust the general public to observe the necessary precautions.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday March 19 2020, @12:42AM (1 child)
Hell if I know. Probably because 'MURRICA, and BIZNIZ.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Thursday March 19 2020, @03:22PM
On the news this morning one pharmicist was being interviewed about measures he's taken to protect both his employees and clients. No more lottery tickets, for example. He was shocked to see someone coming in using a walker and buying lottery tickets when we're supposed to be limiting ourselves to essential trips only. It's a simple thing, but every bit helps.
Limiting the number of people entering at one time, increasing home delivery and pre-order/pick-up to get people in and out quickly, because about half the population of all ages has underlying health conditions, same as half the population who has diabetes or hypertension don't know.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by janrinok on Tuesday March 17 2020, @02:36PM (1 child)
I live in a very small rural community - and COVID-19 arrived in our community a day or two ago. Both my wife and are considered 'high risk' and we were informed several days ago that the virus was in the area, and yesterday it got even closer, and that we should now only leave the house when absolutely necessary.
For those that do not already know, I must tell you that my wife suffers from a serious medical condition and I am her full-time carer, although she does have excellent nursing support twice daily with which I assist. She cannot manage alone without support. I do everything in the home - cook, clean, wash, iron, DIY and help to care for my wife and feed her.
The nursing support - and general health care - is superb, as I believe it is throughout France. At the first sign of my wife having any symptoms she will probably be taken directly to an isolation ward where she can receive the appropriate treatment for both the virus and her long-term condition. If I show mild symptoms she may also be removed to isolation simply to protect her. If my symptoms are mild I will probably be allowed to stay in my home and, providing that I do not deteriorate into something more serious, will recover.
In the last 24 hours France has entered into a stage of partial lockdown. Non-essential shops are closed as are theatres, cinemas, bars, parks, schools, restaurants etc. Those that can work from home should do so. Food shops, chemists (pharmacies) and other essential-to-life service providers remain open. Non-essential travel is now forbidden, and sports fixtures and any social gatherings of any significant size are no longer permitted. The aim - which I believe is well understood generally but nevertheless not welcomed by many - is to delay the progression of the virus such that the spread remains sufficiently slowed that the hard pressed medical services can meet the demand at any specific point in the future.
My wife and I feel fine and remain at home for the time being. But the effect of all that is happening does significantly change everyday life. There is no take-away food - if you want to eat you must prepare and cook it. That is not a change for us and many people who live in small rural communities such as ours ourselves do not expect anything different. The amount of extra precautions that I must take to keep my wife and I safe is significant and leaves me with much less time than I had before - and that was already limited. My contribution to this site might be reduced even more now. We are told that this will possibly last a long time, months rather than weeks. On my last visit to a slightly larger town this morning many were saying that they had not seen similar conditions since the end of WW2 - not that I remember that! But - and this is important - morale was relatively good and people were supporting each other rather than going into a selfish mode of looking after only themselves or panic-buying stuff that would serve no benefit in the weeks ahead.
We have been through worse in the past and we are better prepared for the difficulties that undoubtedly lie ahead. Some in our small community (SN) will undoubted have experiences over the coming weeks and months that they would rather not have had to face at all. But reading this thread so far the thing that struck me was the sense of humour that was evident in many of the comments. Keep it coming, I will be reading it everyday even if not contributing quite as much as I have done in the past.
Good Luck to you and those you love!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by FatPhil on Wednesday March 18 2020, @04:17PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 17 2020, @02:44PM (1 child)
(Score: 1) by petecox on Tuesday March 17 2020, @11:16PM
6 feet under, that's your apocalyptic bunker, yeah?
(Score: 2) by looorg on Tuesday March 17 2020, @02:49PM
Personally not much has changed really. The stores are still stocked etc. Being raised outside from the cities you normally just "stockpile" things so it's not really anything changed there. As long as the power is on, water is in the tap and the broadband keeps working I could lock my door and be fine for about a month or so without doing much of anything. Nobody I know have Covid-19 as of yet, family friends and parents are all fine. Slightly worried parents medicines might run out eventually and what to do then, after all those can't really be stockpiled anymore. The government took that option away to save money a long time ago.
I semi worked from home for the last few years, so no difference there really. The university is switching to "distance learning mode" now so even less reason to be at the office. Most meetings at work are cancelled, this is great for the most part. The worst part is I guess that a lot of the projects I was going to work on during the spring are now either cancelled or postponed. That could turn out to be a bit of an issue if this drags on for months or so, I might have to go on vacation early or something cause I doubt they'll keep paying me for doing next to nothing after things to do dry up completely. There is just so much prep, research or review work one can actually do before it becomes totally silly.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday March 17 2020, @02:57PM
Taking sensible precautions. Try to keep a reasonable amount of supplies on hand. Wishing there were more posts on SN. I continue to get paid, but for some reason, I still have to continue to actually work. *sniff* Life is so unfair!
I am probably high risk because of some drugs I take for arthritis.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by TheGratefulNet on Tuesday March 17 2020, @03:12PM
we got mail from our ceo yesterday that an employee in the local bay area office tested positive.
they won't release the name (privacy) - and the rest of us just want to know the boolean state: were we near that person or not, the last few weeks. we're waiting but they may not tell us.
we've been wfh officially since monday, but many of us have been wfh the last few weeks.
bay area is 'lockdown' state right now.
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
(Score: 3, Interesting) by hendrikboom on Tuesday March 17 2020, @03:19PM (10 children)
I live alone.
I'm over 70, so the Quebec government has effectively told me to stay in self-seclusion.
Now I spend most of my time at home anyway, but not going out is still a great loss.
I used to hold write-ins at my place. No more.
I need exercise and I used to get it going out for a walk every day.
I used to eat breakfast out at a local eatery and get things done on my computer there.
I'm free of distractions there.
Now I have to do the same at home, and there are too many distractions to get much done.
What I'm doing?
(1) trying to edit a novel
(2) rewriting the openGL binding for Racket so it's up-to-date. Seems that the specfiles provided by Khronos have new file format. Since most of the binding is machine-generated from the specfiles, this meand a rewrite.
(3) solving sudokus. Even that gets tiresome after a while.
(4) missing human contact.
-- hendrik
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday March 17 2020, @03:54PM (2 children)
Item 2 sounds very cool. I've recently taken a bit of interest in playing with Racket. I think I'm going back to the regular version, not the CS version -- for now.
Item 3 begs for a computerized solution. Have you seen a puzzle game that goes by the name "unblock me" or "traffic jam"? I wrote a solver for this in 2010 and that was very fun.
Item 1 not in my skill set.
Item 4. Being capable of item 1 might make this item more difficult.
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(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Tuesday March 17 2020, @07:39PM (1 child)
(1) I'm starting to wonder if it's in *my* skill set, too.
(2) See https://github.com/hendrikboom3/rackettown [github.com] for my motivation.
Having trouble with openGL, I bought the red book, and found that even the elemntary exercise of drawing two triangles now used functions that weren't present in Racket's openGL. So, thinking that it would be easy to upgrade because the binding was automatically generated from a file maintained any Khronos, I started work on it. Trouble was, Khronos has changed their specfile format to xml. I have to rewrite it all.
(3) I have written a sudoku solver some years ago, mainly to understand the problem. After I wrote it, I lost interest in solving them for about a month. Then I started doing them again, and have been doing the globe & Mail online sudoku fairly regularly for years. There's a kind of visual reasoning involved that I seem to enjoy. I also do nonograms.
I've seen the traffic jam game. It doesn't seem to grab me the way sudoku does.
(4) Staying at home is not a law, but I don't want to do anything that might help the virus spread. Especially not to me. It's part social responsibility and part survival.
I used to write -- both programs and the novel -- at breakfast in local restaurants. That's out now, and stuff at home is just too distracting for me to make progress.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday March 17 2020, @08:34PM
When I wrote the "traffic jam" solver, I also immediately lost interest in playing it for a very long time. It's funny. Once you know it can be solved mechanically, systematically, it is like no need to practice arithmetic since calculators are always handy. But I would bet that you and I both know how to make change from a cash drawer without a calculator. :-)
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 17 2020, @04:42PM
>. I need exercise and I used to get it going out for a walk every day.
Do you live in such a crowded area that this has been banned? Here (suburbs), walking is fine, I don't come close to anyone.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Tuesday March 17 2020, @06:33PM
Here in France, taking exercise is still seen as an essential need even though the country is in lockdown. The only requirement is that you exercise alone or with your partner, and that you avoid contact with others. Would that be possible for you too?
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Wednesday March 18 2020, @12:48AM (3 children)
It's still fine to go for a walk, just stay 2 metres away from people, as per Quebec's medical officer's advice. That is part of the whole "social isolation" thing. There's a difference between "social isolation" and "isolation." I have underlying chronic health conditions, as do many of the volunteers I work with. We take all the necessary precautions, both individually and as an organization. And we take those precautions seriously because many of us have pre-existing conditions, and, like many organizations, an older volunteer base. But we're considered an essential service. So we take the necessary precautions and still manage to have a bit of fun.
Clients are no longer allowed in the building. Basically, if you're not a regular volunteer, you don't come in. We tell them we're in lockdown, which is basically what it amounts to. People have no choice but to accept it.
It's a virus. Soap and water kills it better than even hand sanitizer. So does a 10% bleach/90% water, per the health minister. Cheap and easy to sanitize surfaces.
We're doing what I call the Karate Kid 2020 - soap on, soap off, soap on, soap off. We keep enough distance from each other. We wear latex gloves. We have someone going around sanitizing door knobs, etc. And we keep an eye out for each other, as always, because many of us have pre-existing chronic health conditions, and we're not getting any younger.
But I still walk my dogs on a regular basis. It's part of normal life - just don't get too close to anyone else. Don't have a dog? You can still go for a walk, and since Friday is going to be amazingly warm, I plan to go for lots of walks with the dogs. And all this is within the suggested government restrictions.
I really haven't noticed any real changes compared to our regular dreary winters, to tell the truth.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by hendrikboom on Wednesday March 18 2020, @03:29AM (2 children)
Thanks. You prompted me to find the Quebec government's recommendations [santemontreal.qc.ca].
Here's the relevant passage:
However, one of my daughters is terrified that I might catch the disease, and I also have to deal with her. I'll have a talk with her over the phone.
She is an occupational therapist working at a CLSC. This effectively gives her additional moral authority over me beyond the influence she has as my daughter. I really don't want to dismay her by risking getting sick.
She, by the way, has volunteered to go round with a nurse for home visits testing people for the coronavirus. Doing it at home will reduce the chance of the virus being spread about as they go to a clinic. I'm both proud and worried about her. As she is worried about me.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Wednesday March 18 2020, @12:24PM (1 child)
If you're worried, talk to your doctor. Over the phone, of course. Phone consults are now covered under Medicare - they announced new billing codes during yesterday's press conference.
We're in for warm weather Friday - you should also open all the windows and air out the place. I'll be doing that plus washing the carpets and floors with a solution containing bleach to sanitize - gotta love my Shopvac. Carpets are disgusting, but at least they can be disinfected. (Test first, ymmv).
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Wednesday March 18 2020, @01:30PM
No carpets here. Gwen found them disgusting.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday March 18 2020, @06:53PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 17 2020, @03:22PM (1 child)
Really - I wash my hands before I go to the bathroom. Don't want to get somebody's nasty on old Slick Willy!
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday March 17 2020, @03:55PM
No longer in office. President Clinton was two president's ago.
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(Score: 4, Interesting) by TheGratefulNet on Tuesday March 17 2020, @03:24PM (1 child)
for one thing, no one really likes this (except HR and beancounters and managers). they only like it for cost and control reasons. not a good reason anymore.
I've been saying since OO started being 'a thing' that this will increase sickness, cold, flu since they removed the partitions (they helped a little; any help is welcomed at this point). they help with privacy and sound and give you a sense of your own space. I miss that! we all do.
we should take a unified stand and demand that desks be separated by much more distance and that the cube barriers be restored, once again, like they were 20 years ago (sigh).
I'm also considering changing jobs - been at my last job 2 years and it may be time to look for a change. one of the top criteria I will use is: how much employee privacy/safety do they offer? have they learned anything from this, or are they going to go back to business-as-usual?
I don't expect to see a unified stand from the tech community. afterall, we all think we are our own best negotiators (narrator: we are not) and refuse to band together to bargain for better working conditions. but this is a golden opportunity and we can make something of it if we're SMART.
it would be very hard for HR to deny the severity of this issue and its going to be with us for the next full year, at least. lets all try to raise the question with our bosses, ceos and HRs. the more we talk about it, the more some may see that its time to change back, again.
I'm going to tell every employer that I interview with, if you offer me 'desk safety', that will be worth more than a hiring bonus, at this point; and I'm "deadly" serious, too (I'm an older guy and I'm technically in the risk group, so this is real).
think about it, guys. the 'job creators' use anything they can - any world event that they can use to squeeze you more - its time we use this issue to get something that was taken from us years ago, quite unfairly. and, we want it back!
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday March 17 2020, @04:03PM
I never did get the Open Office craze. (for just a second there, I thought of OpenOffice.org, which was often abbreviated OOo)
Fortunately, for me, I've never had to be in one of these open space offices. For the first couple years, when I was hired as the fourth person in a small company, the other programmer and I shared a large office room that could hold four. After a couple years, we all had separate office rooms. With an actual door and window to the outside. I've had an office for 35 years. I can't imagine how someone would get anything done otherwise. It's one reason I like to come to the office and have never worked from home. It's brightly lit. Quiet. (nobody but myself and one other are in this building for the next couple weeks)
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by nishi.b on Tuesday March 17 2020, @04:00PM
Since about ten days things are gradually getting more serious here (France). From today we are not supposed to go out except for groceries, medical services and walking around without meeting others.
I have been sick with a fever for the last 14 days (usually 1-2 days is common when I get winter illnesses), no idea whether this is the covid-19 as nobody will test me as I do no have respiratory difficulties.
Just before, I moved for work between Paris, Geneva and my own city, going into trains, the subway and into hospitals in the three cities. My kids and wife had a fever for 3 days but are ok now.
I have very at-risk parents in Paris (cancer patient with breathing problems for one, heart problems for the other) so I am pretty worried about them. People started panick-buying a few days ago, there is almost no pasta and rice, very little soap and no masks/hydroalcoholic gels anywhere. I should be wearing a mask when going out but I can't get them. We still have enough to eat and I expect the food situation to come back to normal in a few days when people stop stockpiling.
My job cancelled all meetings 15 days ago, and since a week they require everyone to work from home except when impossible.
I have two young kids (3 and 8), schools are closed now, and as we live in a small apartment it is quite difficult to keep them inside and do home schooling while working in 40 sq meters...
I know from the doctors I work with how serious the situation is in the hospitals. For french-speaking people there are interesting conferences here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKY1i7IpK3Y&feature=emb_logo [youtube.com]
And this guy who gives first results of treating french patients with hydroxychloroquin and discusses the political choice of testing very little instead of testing and treating massively:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4J8kydOvbc&feature=emb_logo [youtube.com]
Stay safe everyone.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Mojibake Tengu on Tuesday March 17 2020, @04:05PM
On Thursday, a well known and academically established medical expert told on TV (translating literally): "People should not wear face rags or clearing shops, it's stupid to freak."
On Friday, I went last round of my planned shopping in an industrial grade gas mask, full face. Equipped a combined particles/gases filter. I keep those for a nuclear fallout.
People were laughing at me all around I walked, especially those youngsters waiting at tramway station.
In a shop, they didn't laugh at all already. They had nearly empty shelves, though.
On Sunday, our government declared a curfew.
Everything is good with me, but...
I am low on coffee.
Respect Authorities. Know your social status. Woke responsibly.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by inertnet on Tuesday March 17 2020, @04:07PM
In the Netherlands, which is possibly worst affected after Italy. Working from home since yesterday. I used to work from home already, but recently got a part time job in Amsterdam. I've got a cold, I'm quite sure it's not corona but not entirely positive (...). Although I'm 63 years old, I'm not worried for myself at all. We'll see how it goes, I've got plenty of work to keep me occupied. Government policy currently is to let the virus have its way among the people, but at a hopefully manageable pace. Hope is that group immunity will eventually prevent those most at risk like the elderly. But for that at least half the country needs to eventually get infected, I'm not sure if the powers that be imagined how that's going to play out. That could take years and I expect there to be a vaccine long before we get there.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 17 2020, @06:03PM (4 children)
I work for a college, and we have moved all courses to distance ed. Older staff and otherwise vulnerable staff are working from home. We are located between the two largest outbreaks in the state (CA), but there is only one known* local case in the county.
My son worked as a bartender in Oregon, but the bar and restaurant owners lobbied to have the govt. shut them down so they could collect insurance. He is getting creative to have an income (we are not sure if he is eligible for unemployment-- this happened yesterday). Glad he isn't in the bar surrounded by all those people, though.
*Since the US failed completely at testing, the actual number of cases in our county, as everywhere else in the nation, is unknown.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 17 2020, @07:22PM (3 children)
Now that is interesting information - why are bars and restaurants not raising hell. They were able to insure themselves. I guess it would be up to the insurance companies now to get people back to work again.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Wednesday March 18 2020, @12:54AM (2 children)
If the government only suggested they close down, they couldn't collect insurance and they were being hit with big drops in sales. Being ordered to close == insurance money.
Don't grieve too much for the insurers - they've just retroactively nullified all travel insurance for anyone who left after the government suggested people not do international travel, and are only covering people who are already away for 10 days to get home, after which the policy is cancelled.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 18 2020, @03:03AM (1 child)
I'm not grieving for them. I want them to get sick of paying to keep restaurants and bars closed.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Wednesday March 18 2020, @12:26PM
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 17 2020, @08:10PM
- Government finally chose to delay Songkran, the Thai new years festival that brings in a gazillion foreigners.
- Entertainment venues are all closing, as are most restaurants.
- Schools are closing, expect for teachers. Teachers are expected to go to work and start remote teaching.
- The country was reasonably softly hit given it was one of the earliest hit. This was in part intentional number juking when Songkran was on to avoid looking like a virus hotspot, but probably also actually genuine. Nice thing about Asia is people wear facemasks for a variety of reasons already and supplies are readily available. Things like this undoubtedly helped slow the spread. Seems to be accelerating now though...
- People are generally pretty chill. You always get an interesting crowd with expats, who tend to be more self reliant.
- There are still tourists.
- No real shortages of food or supplies. Great thing about the country is supplies are always *incredibly* cheap. A kilo of rice is well under $1.
(Score: 4, Touché) by LaminatorX on Tuesday March 17 2020, @09:57PM
I'm holed up with the kids on an old plantation in Louisiana at the end of a half-washed-out road. We've got an assortment of vintage long guns and three actual-weapon-not-replica swords on hand. There's a river across the road, so we can filter & boil our own water indefinitely should the need arise. There are no humans within two miles of here not related to me by blood.
I mean, we'd planned on driving to my Uncle's farm over Spring Break months now, but it just sounds so much more dramatic to frame it like a zombie movie.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Gaaark on Tuesday March 17 2020, @10:28PM (3 children)
my wife has leukemia.
While my son and i are most probably safe, my wife is not: she is (supposed to be) starting her 'therapy' March 24th. So far, we haven't been informed of any delays in that date...we're hoping there won't be, but wondering if there SHOULD be...
If delayed, her chances of getting something from the outside world go down (when i leave work, i wash my hands. when i get home, i shower quickly: all because of love!).
If not delayed, she'll enter the system, but be exposed to 'the world'.
So: we have masks and gloves and some purell and, which the stores still seem to have plenty of, surprisingly, hand soap (we planned early and weren't caught by surprise... we even have enough TP to get us through another couple weeks as well (I always plan ahead when it comes to TP, lol)).
I'm hoping they put her into the system: her symptoms are getting bad and i'd hate to see a delay of weeks/months, but of course, like i said, that enters her into 'the world' where she can catch something that may or may not be Covid.
She's off because they closed the schools down for at least a couple weeks more than March break, so my son is home with her (his day-programs are also closed), but she's getting more and more tired from activities and 'dealing'.
How have we been affected? Isolation and wondering about her future: we're well supplied for most things for at least 2-3 weeks if we never had to see a store for that period, so really, after showering after work, the biggest problem is isolation......
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Wednesday March 18 2020, @12:57AM (1 child)
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Wednesday March 18 2020, @02:35AM
Missed putting that down: yup...do that.
If I get sick, I'll be sleeping downstairs :)
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by pdfernhout on Wednesday March 25 2020, @03:47AM
My heart goes out to you and your family. Reversing cancer once it is well established is problematical -- even as everyone over 55 probably has some cancer -- our immune systems just generally keep it in check).
One resource you may want to look at is a anti-cancer diet based on "G-BOMBS" like Dr. Joel Fuhrman outlines (plus adequate vitamin D): https://www.drfuhrman.com/get-started/health-concerns/26/cancer [drfuhrman.com]
More on mushrooms and curing cancer:
"Mushrooms as Medicine with Paul Stamets at Exponential Medicine"
https://youtu.be/7agK0nkiZpA?t=475 [youtu.be]
Also look into getting enough iodine...
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=iodine+and+cancer [duckduckgo.com]
And maybe a ketogenic diet:
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=ketogenic+diet+cancer [duckduckgo.com]
https://www.chrisbeatcancer.com/david-refused-chemo-and-healed-leukemia-naturally/ [chrisbeatcancer.com]
It is possible some viral infections can ramp up the immune system enough to it also clears the cancer. Example:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3926122/ [nih.gov]
"Occasional “spontaneous” tumor regressions of Hodgkin’s disease and Burkitt’s lymphoma have been documented after measles infections."
Chemo is a problematical thing for many reasons including the conflicts-of-interests in oncologists who make money off of selling the chemicals they prescribe and so tent to overstate benefits and understate risks and costs of treatments they themselves would never use e.g. http://healthbeatblog.com/2009/01/a-very-open-letter-from-an-oncologist/ [healthbeatblog.com]
But if you do have go down the chem route, look into how fasting can help blunt the worst of the bad effects of it (since fasted health cells are somewhat quiescent which makes them less susceptible to poisons). One example (there are more):
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fasting-might-boost-chemo/ [scientificamerican.com]
Water-only fasting by itself may also get rid of some cancer (depends on the cancer, the person's health, etc.) -- or a juice fast might make sense as mentioned here:
http://www.healingcancernaturally.com/fasting-cure-for-health.html [healingcancernaturally.com]
Juice fasting is discussed a lot in "Fat Sick and Nearly Dead" and the sequel. A clip form it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vK_16u11mDA [youtube.com]
Essentially, a healthy human immune system naturally fights and defeats cancer (usually). So many of the same things one might do to strengthen the immune system against viruses helps it fight cancer better. A related book by Dr. Fuhrman (who would be the first to say it it hard and unlikely but not impossible to turn around advanced cancer):
https://www.amazon.com/Super-Immunity-Essential-Nutrition-Boosting/dp/0062080644 [amazon.com]
Even if doing all this does not add any time, it may make the remaining time more pleasant than rounds of chemo in hospitals (where as you say, other dangers lurk like infections).
YMMV. See also: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4046551/ [nih.gov]
Good luck with it a difficult situation.
The biggest challenge of the 21st century: the irony of technologies of abundance used by scarcity-minded people.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by hendrikboom on Tuesday March 17 2020, @10:29PM (1 child)
My daughter has volunteered to be part of a team that goes to peoples' homes to test them for covid-19 at home. I'm both proud of her and afraid for her.
(Score: 2) by drussell on Wednesday March 18 2020, @06:50AM
With proper precautions, she will be fine.
(Not that I wouldn't be absolutely ill with worry if I were in your position! :) )
Stay positive!
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 18 2020, @12:18AM
Well, I died. But my troll-bot continues to function masterfully in my place.
(Score: 2) by Beryllium Sphere (r) on Wednesday March 18 2020, @02:44AM
I'm in a hot area and he's 80+ with both heart and lung disease.
My wife was visiting him at his home 2000 miles from me when the curve here started picking up. She decided to stay with him for the duration. We're doing a lot of video chat and she bought us a pair of Bond Touch bracelets. I may not hug her again until May.
I can find parking places anywhere and the freeways are eerily open.
Costco has gone from unusable to unthinkable.
(Score: 1, Troll) by aristarchus on Wednesday March 18 2020, @04:00AM (2 children)
At risk, being 2400 years old. On the other hand, no previous plague, bacterial or viral, or fungal, has killed me off yet. So I might survive this one, as well? But in the old days, pre-1918, these things were much slower to spread. You could run, as I did from the Plague of Justinian, who was a jerk of an Emperor somewhat resembling the one we have now, especially in choice of wives. On the other hand, may have jinxed it. Cough, cough. I could really die, this time, but if I do, I call upon all Soylentils to continue my quest, and submit submissions on the alt-right, since that is what brought us to this pass.
(Score: 2) by turgid on Saturday March 21 2020, @04:12PM (1 child)
Turgid jr. will now be off school for the duration of this plague since the schools are being closed. He'll be getting lessons at home, and the teachers have already sent home some work for him. He's 10 years old, and quite inquisitive. A few weeks ago I introduced him to Zeno's paradoxes thinking I might start him on the Calculus soon. Now he's going to be at home I was wondering if you had any recommendations for philosophy to which to introduce him by way of his on-going education? As you know, I am but a simple country peasant and got as far as Natural Philosophy a long time ago, but I think an introduction to some more abstract stuff might be good, and you would be the person to ask. What do you reckon?
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 3, Informative) by aristarchus on Saturday March 21 2020, @07:58PM
Usually it is best to start with the master, Plato. Not sure if appropriate for a 10 year old, that's your call. The "Apology"? Or perhaps the "Gorgias". Maybe the "Phaedrus". "Republic" is rather long, but it is political!
Other, more pedagogic works could be "Sophie's World" by Jostein Gaarder, or "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert Pirsig. These may be less available, being the works of recently or not dead yet authors, so still under copyright.
There are always the other classics, 道德經, or "The Questions of King Milinda".
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 18 2020, @05:38AM (2 children)
I manage operations for a small brewpub. Everything from IT to managing introduction of new products. We just went from 21 employees to 6 overnight. I live on an State that has mandated closures of bars and restaurants. Our business is already down over 30%. We will likely case to exist as a company in the near future and I will be out of a job. None of our former employees have been able to file for unemployment because the demand on the website for claims has crashed it. Phone lines are jammed as well. My partner and I just bought a house in December and I fear we could lose it before the end of the year. My partner is a graphic designer and web developer. They were designing a booth for a major trade show in Europe this summer but if was cancelled. She's doing web work still but I fear eventually supply disruptions or lagging demand for products at the tech manufacturer she works for will put her on the chopping block as well.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 18 2020, @05:57AM
"Please be assured that your health is of utmost concern to us..."
(Score: 2) by drussell on Wednesday March 18 2020, @06:46AM
Yeah, Calgary just shut all adult-only bars and restaurants and limited minor-admitted restaurants to half capacity up to 50 people maximum today.... And we still have a total of less than 100 confirmed cases so far in the entire province of 4.5+ million, but with the transmissibility etc., I do understand... I've been crunching the numbers that they're trying to hide from the public.
It just sucks because I know so many people in the industry...
I basically spent the day printing final reports, etc. so that all staff could be laid off and things shut down.
I expect there will be more bankruptcies than deaths from this pandemic, at least in the short to medium term, for sure.
Sad. A very sad day.
Many of us are now doomed, financially....
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday March 18 2020, @09:30AM
That is all.