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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: 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. :-)
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.