The big decision this year is where do get get takeout from while on Quarantine and as I’m technically supposed to stay six feet from her during this quarantine it’s even more complicated since we have to eat it in different rooms
Such is life
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
By Christopher Harper
After the disclosure of deep ties to China and massive disruptions of online meetings, the Zoom boom may be a bust.
I’ve never been a fan of Zoom since I started using it about six months ago for an online class I teach.
For some reason, Temple University recently changed from Webex, a product similar to Zoom that was built by Cisco. No one I asked seemed to know why the change happened. But it probably had to do with the lower cost of Zoom at $19.99 a month vs. $26.95 for Webex. Both services offer free individual downloads.
Now everyone should know about the hazards of using Zoom, particularly after a legal investigation in New York and an FBI warning.
Zoom names every video recording in a similar way, so a simple online search can reveal a long stream of videos.
News organizations and others were able to watch a variety of videos that included therapy sessions; a training orientation for workers doing conferences that included people’s names and phone numbers; small-business meetings that included private company financial statements; and elementary school classes, in which children’s faces, voices, and personal details were exposed.
Many of the videos include personal information and ntimate conversations, recorded in people’s homes. Other videos include nudity.
But there’s more. The inadequate security enabled hackers to join meetings, known as Zoom bombing, to disrupt them with obscene materials and profanity.
But there’s even more. The founder of Zoom is from China and backs up some of the information on servers there. Moreover, a major part of Zoom’s research and development occurs in China, which is likely to have some means of cracking the codes.
I have stopped using Zoom, but I have been unable to convince my colleagues that the program is a bad idea.
I don’t agree with Elon Musk and New York City about much of anything. But both of them have at least banned the use of Zoom over privacy and security issues. I also don’t trust the founder of Zoom to fix the issues any time soon.
Report from Louisiana: The Exponential Numbers
Posted: April 6, 2020 by Pat Austin in UncategorizedTags: covid19, datechguy's magnificent seven, frank, report from louisiana
By: Pat Austin
SHREVEPORT – Coronavirus hit close to home this week; my husband and I learned of the death of our friend Ann who fell victim to this virus. One moment alive and well, the next moment she’s gone. It’s a terrible, terrible thing.
Here in Louisiana, we have over 13,000 positive cases and as of yesterday, 477 deaths, and over 1,800 in hospital. Officials are warning that this week will be bad and that everyone should avoid going anywhere at all unless absolutely essential. We are taking that seriously in my house and have only left home twice this week for quick grocery trips. I would love to do curbside pick-up for groceries, but the wait time for your order is two weeks!
Meanwhile, people are practicing social distancing with various degrees of seriousness. One couple I know attended a birthday party at a friend’s home this week, while another person I know met up with her girlfriends in a parking lot to share a bottle of wine and “hang out.” Even the caretakers of LSU mascot Mike the Tiger are taking more careful measures than some people I know.
Some states have already declared this school year officially done, but we are still awaiting that call. Our “stay at home” order extends until the first of May, so it seems highly unlikely that we would have to report back with only three weeks left, yet that call has still not been made.
The border between Louisiana and Texas is closed and checkpoints have been established at the state line. Commercial traffic is allowed to pass freely but everyone else must be screened and fill out paperwork before entering Texas. This is obviously causing travel nightmares.
As we monitor these numbers, these daily death toll reports, be sure to check out Stacy McCain’s post in which he does some pretty interesting analysis of the numbers:
There is an enormous variation in the death rates, with Italy’s rate being about five times higher than the U.S. rate, and the death rate in Washington State, Michigan and Louisiana being more than twice the rate in Florida and Texas. Will these rates change? Maybe, but the fact is that the same virus is having different impacts in different areas, and the “experts” on TV are doing a bad job of explaining this differential, insofar as they are not completely ignoring it. While I don’t claim to be an “expert,” my hunch is that it probably has something to do with viral load at first exposure to the virus. If you attend a two-hour event with dozens of other people, some of whom are infected — or if you’re on a two-hour commercial airline flight, or riding New York City’s subways on a daily basis — then your initial exposure is likely to be a high viral load. On the other hand, a brief encounter with an infected convenience-store clerk will expose you to a lower viral load, and if you do become infected, your case will probably be milder. That’s not an “expert” opinion, just a common-sense interpretation of what some experts are saying, and one which would seem to fit the available data.
This brings me back to my friend that went to a birthday party. What was the exponential exposure?
I’m afraid that a lot of people are not taking all this seriously enough and won’t until it hits too close to home.
Stay safe, friends, and stay home.
Pat Austin blogs at And So it Goes in Shreveport and is the author of Cane River Bohemia: Cammie Henry and her Circle at Melrose Plantation. Follow her on Instagram @patbecker25 and Twitter @paustin110.
Two Navies, Two Stories, One Choice
Posted: April 4, 2020 by ng36b in UncategorizedTags: china, crozier, navy, Navy Grade 36, NG36B
The Navy is in the news a lot. On one coast, the USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT, named after the iconic President, is in the news in a bad way. Her Commanding Officer, CAPT Crozier, was removed by the Secretary of the Navy because of a letter he wrote (and didn’t safeguard adequately) where he argued to evacuate most of his crew due to a COVID-19 outbreak because “Sailors do not need to die.” Reading the letter on its own (available here), without any other context makes CAPT Crozier look like a selfless hero, amplified when he was removed from command by Acting Secretary Modly and then cheered by his own crew.
Like most stories, the surface belies the true nature of the medium. The largest fallacy comes from thinking the Navy wasn’t already acting to help the THEODORE ROOSEVELT. The Navy was moving, quickly, to find a suitable plan for ROOSEVELT. It had already secured 3,000 beds in Guam, which if you’ve ever been to the tiny island, you’ll realize is quite an achievement. Secretary Modly was in contact with CAPT Crozier personally, on multiple occasions before the letter was sent.
Before you sign a petition supporting CAPT Crozier, or think the Navy is some evil, vile organization that hates its Sailors, try watching Secretary Modly’s full press conference. I can guarantee it is not boring:
The Navy balances Sailor morale and welfare with the mission assigned to it. Contrary to CAPT Crozier’s letter, where he asserts we “…we are not at war, and therefore cannot allow a single Sailor to perish…”, that’s simply not true. The Navy executes dangerous “peacetime” missions every day. We fly planes, drive submarines, spy on enemies, rescue mariners in distress, ride out rough weather, and provide humanitarian assistance and disaster relief to areas that have multiple infectious diseases. Every day we engage in these activities, which occasionally kill Sailors, and while we balance our risk, the risk is never zero, because the American people expect their Navy to be ready for war, and readiness is never achieved with zero risk.
CAPT Crozier’s actions smell of grand standing. You can’t simply shutdown a nuclear aircraft carrier and park it like some cheap rental car. You always have Sailors onboard to monitor the reactor plants and maintain critical gear. CAPT Crozier even acknowledges that he has to keep at least 10% of the crew onboard. If he had proposed a rotation plan to maintain THEODORE ROOSEVELT while the virus burned itself out, he would probably still be in command.
On the other coast is another Roosevelt. DDG-80, the USS ROOSEVELT, is preparing for a deployment to Europe and a homeport shift to Rota, Spain. No doubt her Sailors are worried about COVID-19, as are their families. Instead of inspiring doubt and fear, her Commanding Officer is finishing deployment preparations, in a quiet and professional manner.
Emotions run high when things are uncertain. Emotions feel good, and can even make you popular. But emotions cause you to make mistakes in war. Emotions, and emotional responses, sap your reasoning and break down your training. In war, when time and training matter, emotions get you killed.
If we’re being emotional now dealing with a virus with a mortality rate of 2%, and likely less than that for young people, how are we going to deal with a Great Power Competitor that has a higher death rate? Will we write letters to the press about the Sailors we lost in missile exchanges? Will we complain about driving into harm’s way?
When the going gets tough, do you want to be lead by someone ruled by their emotions, or someone who chooses to rule them?
This post represents the views of the author and not those of the Department of Defense, Department of the Navy, or any other government agency.
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