Wednesday, September 2, 2020
Yesterday, I had to rescue the robot vacuum cleaner (Dustin') from under the difficult-to-navigate coffee table. This morning, one of our smart home smoke detectors started falsely alarming at 4 AM. There are days when I have the sneaking suspicion that I am serving the tech more than technology is serving me. However, I do not believe I live in a Wachowski-esque dystopian Matrix. I cannot imagine a sentient super-computer would unleash a pandemic into a simulated reality. I hope.
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Latest Data
Global-View:
https://www.ft.com/content/a2901ce8-5eb7-4633-b89c-cbdf5b386938
Nationally:
There is a continued slow decline in new cases in the US (40,000 a day) and slightly decreased deaths @ 2.8 per million (or still about 900 deaths per day), but the data varies by state and region.
https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-chart/?areas=usa&areas=gbr&areasRegional=usny&areasRegional=usca&areasRegional=usfl&areasRegional=ustx&areasRegional=usco&cumulative=0&logScale=0&perMillion=1&values=cases
Also, look at https://covidtracking.com/data
The US Regionally:
The NY Times state-level data visualization:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html
About the data:
https://covidtracking.com/about-data/visualization-guide is the best resource to understand data visualization and data integrity.
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The Cleveland Clinic offers a consumer-level review of data on how masks prevent the spread of coronavirus. Though I previously highlighted the referenced article from Duke, the Cleveland Clinic article's expert commentary offers some good analysis.
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/new-study-highlights-new-evidence-that-masks-prevent-coronavirus-spread/
It appears that Dr. Fauci is entering the crosshairs of our President's "Sauronic eye." Dr. F. offered comments in response to reports that the CDC would reclassify COVID-related deaths by the underlying comorbid conditions, not by the virus that killed the patients.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/01/fauci-debunks-theories-of-low-cdc-coronavirus-death-toll-there-are-180000-plus-deaths-in-us.html
An appropriate comment from an orthopedic surgeon on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/cadiulus/status/1300408867717812231
A loyal reader sent this case report on coronavirus-induced bilateral orchitis. Our conversation (which I am paraphrasing) concluded that if this symptom/complication were more prevalent in adult males, we would have full-body PPE, military-grade E.T.-style containment, and a world-wide response akin to movies with alien invasions."
https://www.ajemjournal.com/article/S0735-6757%2820%2930761-0/fulltext
As the Weinstein family is working its way through day 3 of remote schooling, I found this article in TIME reporting on how epidemiologists are working through the complex calculus of sending kids back to school (or not). There are no right answers here.
https://time.com/5883677/school-coronavirus-epidemiologists/
Here is an article from Madison, Wisconsin, covering historical premature vaccine deployments (pre-adequate phase 3 testing). The author is a bit alarmist, but the stories are accurate. I think the most rational takeaway is that there are trade-offs to early and emergency use of vaccines. We should, collectively, acknowledge and appreciate those trade-offs.
https://madison.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/past-vaccine-disasters-show-why-rushing-a-coronavirus-vaccine-now-would-be-colossally-stupid/article_e97a668d-ab4a-55c3-ad09-b46d8fc9987f.html
Infographic of the day #1- Crude Oil!
https://www.rigsourceinc.com/news/crude-oil-products/
As an aside, I have always thought the notion of "crude" oil was judgy. It evokes visions of oil belching while on a distressed couch drinking cheap beer. Unrefined, uncouth, uncultured oil all seem like more pleasant alternatives.
Infographic of the day #2 Heimlich for Dogs
I should not still be surprised between the overlaps of human and veterinary medicine. (Mammals are mammals, right?) I had not considered the need to rescue choking dogs, but alas, here you go:
https://www.chelmsforddogassociation.org/ufaqs/dog-heimlich/
---Bonus Round - The Never-Ending Rand
One of my big takeaways from college political science was the nearly bible-like belief some conservative economists held in the philosophy espoused by Ayn Rand in Atlas Shrugged. I read Atlas Shrugged, thinking I could better understand. It was entertaining enough, but the characters were two-dimensional, and the story melodramatic. Nevertheless, it is a very concrete guidepost in the often confusing landscape of political philosophy. And while far, far from perfect, it is a mental handle to grasp as politicians create whirlwinds of claims about "socialism" or "the free market." I was surprised to learn that Ayn Rand was a topic on social media last week and even more surprised to find a thoughtful article about the problems and prose of Atlas Shrugged this morning. Join me for PolySci 201: The Randian World
https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/ayn-rand-atlas-shrugged-sam-leith/#
Clean hands and sharp minds,
Adam
Yesterday, I had to rescue the robot vacuum cleaner (Dustin') from under the difficult-to-navigate coffee table. This morning, one of our smart home smoke detectors started falsely alarming at 4 AM. There are days when I have the sneaking suspicion that I am serving the tech more than technology is serving me. However, I do not believe I live in a Wachowski-esque dystopian Matrix. I cannot imagine a sentient super-computer would unleash a pandemic into a simulated reality. I hope.
----------------
Latest Data
Global-View:
https://www.ft.com/content/a2901ce8-5eb7-4633-b89c-cbdf5b386938
Nationally:
There is a continued slow decline in new cases in the US (40,000 a day) and slightly decreased deaths @ 2.8 per million (or still about 900 deaths per day), but the data varies by state and region.
https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-chart/?areas=usa&areas=gbr&areasRegional=usny&areasRegional=usca&areasRegional=usfl&areasRegional=ustx&areasRegional=usco&cumulative=0&logScale=0&perMillion=1&values=cases
Also, look at https://covidtracking.com/data
The US Regionally:
The NY Times state-level data visualization:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html
About the data:
https://covidtracking.com/about-data/visualization-guide is the best resource to understand data visualization and data integrity.
-----------
The Cleveland Clinic offers a consumer-level review of data on how masks prevent the spread of coronavirus. Though I previously highlighted the referenced article from Duke, the Cleveland Clinic article's expert commentary offers some good analysis.
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/new-study-highlights-new-evidence-that-masks-prevent-coronavirus-spread/
It appears that Dr. Fauci is entering the crosshairs of our President's "Sauronic eye." Dr. F. offered comments in response to reports that the CDC would reclassify COVID-related deaths by the underlying comorbid conditions, not by the virus that killed the patients.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/01/fauci-debunks-theories-of-low-cdc-coronavirus-death-toll-there-are-180000-plus-deaths-in-us.html
An appropriate comment from an orthopedic surgeon on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/cadiulus/status/1300408867717812231
A loyal reader sent this case report on coronavirus-induced bilateral orchitis. Our conversation (which I am paraphrasing) concluded that if this symptom/complication were more prevalent in adult males, we would have full-body PPE, military-grade E.T.-style containment, and a world-wide response akin to movies with alien invasions."
https://www.ajemjournal.com/article/S0735-6757%2820%2930761-0/fulltext
As the Weinstein family is working its way through day 3 of remote schooling, I found this article in TIME reporting on how epidemiologists are working through the complex calculus of sending kids back to school (or not). There are no right answers here.
https://time.com/5883677/school-coronavirus-epidemiologists/
Here is an article from Madison, Wisconsin, covering historical premature vaccine deployments (pre-adequate phase 3 testing). The author is a bit alarmist, but the stories are accurate. I think the most rational takeaway is that there are trade-offs to early and emergency use of vaccines. We should, collectively, acknowledge and appreciate those trade-offs.
https://madison.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/past-vaccine-disasters-show-why-rushing-a-coronavirus-vaccine-now-would-be-colossally-stupid/article_e97a668d-ab4a-55c3-ad09-b46d8fc9987f.html
Infographic of the day #1- Crude Oil!
https://www.rigsourceinc.com/news/crude-oil-products/
As an aside, I have always thought the notion of "crude" oil was judgy. It evokes visions of oil belching while on a distressed couch drinking cheap beer. Unrefined, uncouth, uncultured oil all seem like more pleasant alternatives.
Infographic of the day #2 Heimlich for Dogs
I should not still be surprised between the overlaps of human and veterinary medicine. (Mammals are mammals, right?) I had not considered the need to rescue choking dogs, but alas, here you go:
https://www.chelmsforddogassociation.org/ufaqs/dog-heimlich/
---Bonus Round - The Never-Ending Rand
One of my big takeaways from college political science was the nearly bible-like belief some conservative economists held in the philosophy espoused by Ayn Rand in Atlas Shrugged. I read Atlas Shrugged, thinking I could better understand. It was entertaining enough, but the characters were two-dimensional, and the story melodramatic. Nevertheless, it is a very concrete guidepost in the often confusing landscape of political philosophy. And while far, far from perfect, it is a mental handle to grasp as politicians create whirlwinds of claims about "socialism" or "the free market." I was surprised to learn that Ayn Rand was a topic on social media last week and even more surprised to find a thoughtful article about the problems and prose of Atlas Shrugged this morning. Join me for PolySci 201: The Randian World
https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/ayn-rand-atlas-shrugged-sam-leith/#
Clean hands and sharp minds,
Adam
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