Rolandt

The local CBC station asked for images of empty shelves in local stores. This is the tiny convenience store section of the pharmacy which has remained open in the Arbutus Mall during redevelopment. Usually the shelves are kept stocked because of the lack of stores in the immediate vicinity for people living in the Village. There is also a considerable volume of trade during the day for the people building the new development.

The mall also manages to attract a steady stream of people in cars because parking is so easy and convenient – and the dance studio and swimming pool are still open for lessons. Though with the closure today of all K-12 schools I do not know if that will continue.

UPDATE

Wednesday March 18

We went to much bigger Safeway on Granville at 70th – and the empty shelves were again much in evidence. Surprisingly for fresh fruit and vegetables – but not organics. Also for fresh bread, packets of cereal, eggs – and not just some types – no eggs at all! This was all mid-afternoon so presumably people who got there early simply swept up all there was.

Some packages carried stickers “limit 2” – because they often do that for sale items. Safeway is not the only retailer, of course, so we found big oranges, jars of marmite and some fresh bread rolls at Choices. There did not seem to be quite the same pressure there.

I have a dog, and he requires walking. I have a passion, birdwatching, and this passion is sated simultaneously while the dog is walked. When there are a great many birds outside doing interesting things, I tell my husband, "the birds were On One today." I don't know where the term "On One" originates but I'm pretty sure it's Twitter and marginally sure it comes from a specific dril tweet.


If you, like me, live in Northwest DC, a few days ago you would not think that an international pandemic is, in fact, happening. People were out jogging, loitering in the street, generally laughing it up. While some of this still continues, many people, with the exception of those with dogs to walk or children to entertain, have opted to stay inside. This is a sign that things have indeed gotten worse. The whir of springtime weed whackers and the shouts of toiling landscape workers have quieted. The gutting of the house around the corner has come to a halt. The impassioned footsteps of the ever-present DC fitness nuts have stopped drumming, their breaths, no longer panting. People who are outside feel bad about it and talk quietly among themselves like children up to no good.

What you can hear, in glorious abundance are the birds.

The birds have no idea an international pandemic is causing turmoil in the human world. Probably because this time (unlike with the Bird Flu) they are innocent bystanders to this pageant of misery. The birds are probably very happy that there are fewer people out, especially the ones with weed whackers. Trees have begun producing buds and pods full of pollen, favorite staples of the bird diet. They can finally hear themselves think, not having to contend with the constant jackhammering of the house-gutters so close to a patch of woodland on Adams Mill Road they particularly enjoy. Better yet, the feeders have still been replenished, all the better to eat at without the pesky interruption of those inconsiderate humans. It must be a pretty good time to be a neighborhood bird right now.

For the first time, I saw a Hairy Woodpecker on our block; this is a bird that does not commonly venture up from nearby Rock Creek Park, for it is among the more shy of the woodpeckers, unlike its smaller relative the Downy Woodpecker or its distant cousin the Red Bellied Woodpecker, both of which will come to feeders and are generally present in city blocks with enough tree cover. The Golden-Crowned Kinglets are out now, and they appear tiny next to the Northern Cardinals which have just begun to sing, whoops and whistles that carry across our community of apartment blocks near the National Zoo. The White-Throated Sparrow has also begun to sing, its song plaintive, tonal, wistful even, like the bird equivalent of the airy vocal tracks on a Billie Eilish song. Even our humble friend, the American Robin, Turdus migratorius, has become emboldened in the last few days, singing, flocking, and eating worms from the undisturbed earth. The Carolina Wren whittles its triplet tune before hopping along the sidewalk in a rare moment of undisturbed bliss. Northern Mockingbirds are beginning their seasonal acoustic piracy, picking up the songs of their fellow avians and broadcasting them throughout the neighborhood in a bizarre bird mixtape. I say hello to all of them, and they continue about their business, which like all bird business, is very intense and conducted with all the vibrating energy their little beings can contain.

I turn off the white noise machine (necessary because the dog will bark at anything he hears) in order to hear the birds sing and chatter. Despite the seriousness of the situation we are in, I cannot help forgetting everything happening around me, instead singularly focusing on hearing the birds go about their lives, trying to pick out a specific tune or two among their chatter. It is easy to forget that outside of our human dramas, another world exists that both depends on the outcome of those dramas but is regardless ultimately unfolding day by day outside of most of them. The birds don't know about the coronavirus, but they have illnesses of their own. They aren't washing their hands every few hours, but they do spend hours a day preening their feathers, ensuring they aren't colonized by harmful bacteria. The birds don't understand social distancing, congregating in little huddles beneath a neighborhood suet feeder. They get to see their friends and their enemies, the petty conflicts of their little quarter-mile territories unfolds normally in the background of ours, but the stillness of our isolation has elevated them to the foreground of our consciousness.

Sitting here, writing this at 6:16 PM EDT, I hear ten different birds. I have been writing different things all day, stopping only to take the dog for a walk and pause, inevitably, to observe the birds. It is spring, the sun is shining. The air is cool and crisp. The news is horrifying, the pandemic is getting worse, governments are taking drastic measures, elections are crumbling, but outside, right now, the birds are singing. Dozens of them, all different songs, mellifluous and elegant, croaking and cawing, cooing and warbling, they are singing. 

"The birds are On One today," I tell my husband. He nods absently. He is refreshing the news.

Cupertino, Kalifornien - Apple hat heute das MacBook Air, das beliebteste Notebook der Welt, mit schnellerer Leistung, dem neuen Magic Keyboard, doppelt so viel Speicherplatz und einem neuen, günstigeren Einstiegspreis von 1.199 Euro inkl. MwSt. aktualistert

Brauchbare Tastatur, mindestens 256 GB Storage. Das kann man endlich wieder kaufen!

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Using R, we look at how your decreased interaction with others can help slow the spread of infectious diseases. Read More

Apple has released a new, faster MacBook Air with an updated keyboard and more storage at a lower price. The company also released a minor update to the storage of base-model Mac minis.

According to a press release from the company, the new Air features a 1.2GHz quad-core Core i7 that, with Turbo Boost, can achieve speeds up to 3.8GHz. This is the first time the Air has included a quad-core processor. The laptop also features Intel Iris Plus Graphics, which Apple says are 80% faster than previous models.

The Air’s keyboard has been updated too with a scissor switch-based Magic Keyboard that has 1 mm of key travel and an inverted-T layout of the arrow keys.

The Air, which is available in gold, silver, and space gray, starts at $999, a $100 drop from prior models. Thankfully, Apple has also increased the base storage of the entry-level model from 128GB to 256GB SSD storage, a capacity that will make it easier for users to store photos and other media locally without resorting to external solutions. The new Air can also be configured with up to 2TB of storage, which is twice as much as could be previously configured, and is equipped with Apple’s T2 Security Chip, which ensures a secure boot process and handles Touch ID information.

Apple’s press release highlights the following features too:

• A three-mic array for more clear voice capture for FaceTime calls with friends and family.
• The industry-best Force Touch trackpad for precise cursor control and multi-touch navigation.
• Thunderbolt 3 ports for data transfer, charging and video output in a single connector.
• Support for up to a 6K external display, a first for the MacBook Air.
• Advanced stereo speakers for immersive, wide stereo sound for activities like watching Apple TV+ content or playing games in Apple Arcade.

The new Airs can be ordered on apple.com starting today.

Finally, the base configurations of the Mac mini received a small update today. The $799 model now comes with 256GB of storage and the $1,099 configuration has a 512GB SSD.

The MacBook Air has been difficult to recommend because of its previous-generation keyboard. With a new keyboard, increased storage, faster CPU and graphics, all at a lower price-point, the MacBook Air looks like the Mac that will meet most people’s needs.

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I am longing to write here and have a few unfinished posts, but it develops very fast now and I do write where many people read – on FB. Unfortunately.

For those not on FB – we have now 4/5 of the family with the symptoms that could be a coronavirus. Mild symptoms so far and none here is from the risk group – according to the current policies in the Netherlands we are not tested and stay at home. We have what we need at the moment and people to ask for help if needed.

I plan to do some reposts of FB stuff here, backdated to where it was originally posted, so you might see some background. And will see how things develop from there.

I hope that we get over the health concerns sooner or later and then I’d love to see if there are any sparring partners here to help me with two things:

• figure out which plugins, other tech and good habits I need here to get back to the social experience of blogging
• find a path to get active professionally

I’ll write more on both once there is a space for it, but don’t hesitate to add links and comments if you have some pointers right now.

 

The post A quick update appeared first on Mathemagenic.

I have been in isolation for the past week or so, because my immune system has always been compromised. I am doing this against the current wisdom provided by the Mexican secretariat of health, but following global approaches to facing the COVID-19 pandemic, because apparently, “these kinds of measures are not necessary at the moment” (ask me later why I am so pissed off at Mexico’s epidemiological strategy against COVID-19). Anyhow…

In this blog post, I want to address some of the limitations of models and modeling, and the risk that we are currently facing of everyone wanting to become “arm-chair epidemiologists” in light of COVID 19. I write this as someone with a double PhD in political science and human geography who has spent years of his life reading, learning and understanding mathematical epidemiology models, and those three degree theses (undergrad in chemical engineering, Masters in economics and PhD) are models of various kinds (2 mathematical, 1 game-theoretic).

I am not an epidemiologist, nor do I have a PhD in epidemiology, and when I mention things like rate of transmission, mortality, etc. I do so establishing clear boundaries on what I think I CAN know. I’ve mentioned before how when I came in contact with mathematical epidemiology.

I became obsessed with the work of Carlos Castillo-Chavez and Gerardo Chowell-Puente (both Mexicans, and Chowell Puente is from my parents’ hometown, Leon, Guanajuato) on ME. Brauer, Castillo-Chavez and Zheng’s book is phenomenal, in my view https://t.co/RkyV0TBKbz

— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) March 12, 2020

I started reading up on mathematical epidemiology around the early 2000s (20 years, now), and right after we got hit with several epidemics, including SARS, H1N1, MERS and Ebola. I sought experts on Twitter on this kind of modeling, such as Dr. Maia Majumder and Dr. Sherri Rose.

I understand well enough (thanks to having done mathematical modeling myself) that models, and particularly epidemiological models, rely on assumptions. What makes mathematical epidemiology important, in my view, is the combination of knowing math AND epidemiology. This area is inherently cross- and inter-disciplinary. Mathematical epidemiologists are modelers who understand the epidemiological assumptions and consequences of their models. Many of them, alongside virologists, statisticians, physicians, social workers, medical anthropologists, are losing sleep trying to figure out SARS-CoV2 (COVID-19). Modelers are trying to get the model assumptions right because they know that there’s enormous uncertainty in creating models. We calibrate models with empirical data for this reason, trying to adjust them to reality.

BUT, and here’s the but: reality right now is extraordinarily uncertain, and that’s what is making mathematical epidemiologists (and epidemiologists overall) so concerned. The natural sciences’ component of this epidemics are still developing. We can’t say “this is another flu”. Because there’s so much uncertainty (not only in the models we are using but also on the virology/epidemiology of this pandemics), we need to take precautions that, to some people, may look extreme. People are preaching social distancing and pre-isolation in abundance of caution. This is NOT just another flu and virologists/epidemiologists are trying to figure out why. We need interdisciplinary work where we acknowledge our knowledge limitations, the assumptions we are making, the potential risk pathways that we may need to walk, trade offs we make.

here’s a reason why public understanding of science scholars, communications specialists, risk analysis and disaster management academics are all face-palming right now (myself included). Not everyone is, nor should be an epidemiologist. We need specialists of all areas. We need to develop wiser ways to communicate the risks of COVID and the implications of models we make, and as consumers of this information, we need to accept that models bring along uncertainties, and our activities carry a certain degree of risk. This is all about managing it.

When people say “we are all in this together”, it’s because we are. COVID-19 is revealing why interdisciplinary work matters and our planet is becoming a global laboratory for its implementation. We all, civilians and scientists, have a role and responsibility in surviving this. This is the time to absorb different perspectives on the epidemiology and virology of COVID-19, and the human dimensions of this disease and the potentially negative implications it will have not only on financial markets but also on hospitals and local health systems. It’s vital that we understand what happens within such a complex system.

Models have assumptions and limited predictive power under contexts of high uncertainty. If you need reassurance as this issue develop, follow knowledgeable people and ask about the limitations, assumptions, and implications of a model. Trust me when I say that nobody is more oncerned about getting this right than the natural and social scientists (as well as the people in the humanities and math, communications specialists, science communicators, journalists). But it has to be an inter-, and cross-disciplinary.

Not just models.

Canada.ca, Mar 18, 2020

These are really good content design practices all the time, not just in a time of crisis. The tips are practical: follow a news-based page structure, use headings as answers, keep track of common wording and terms, create web content, not documents. I wish schools, corporations and governments would use them all the time. But now is as good a time to start as any.

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

I've been back home for just two days, since a ten day road trip to Boston, Los Angeles and Las Vegas and for me the new normal of WFH doesn't feel strange at all, as I've been working from home since 1992 on a daily basis. But really have been a remote worker since my first job with the Philadelphia Wings way, way back in 1974. Back then remote meant working from the press box at The Spectrum, or from arenas in the USA and Canada reporting the outcome of games to the media when we were on the road, so I guess I can claim the title of being one of the earliest road warriors, so the idea of being home isn't strange. Just the prospect of not going on the road again for a while is. Welcome to my new normal.

Watching all the news, seeing all the companies and people I've touched past and present adapt, and getting comments from colleagues and friends about being "ahead of the curve" as Dialpad founder and CEO Craig Walker texted me during an exchange, or hearing over lunch in Vegas from Xceptional Chairman Larry Johnes "that no one will ever question how much early you were into the idea of  remote work" were all nice to see and hear. But this new normal is a big change even for me.

My day is more filled than ever with video calls, conference calls and scheduling things. My life is now more Zoom, UberConference, Slack than even before, not because I didn't use them--oh I did for years--but now others who used to be more "weekly call" centric are now engaging more often throughout the day with others, who like me are not, in their company offices and having me join those sessions.

I'm finding that creating Shared Slack Channels is a great way to boost communication flow. People who were previously texting me are now moving into Slack. Files exchanges, previously emailed or sent Google docs/sheets/slides links are now being shared inside Slack. And on a personal note, those closest to me are now calling me more via FaceTime, Messenger, WhatsApp and Google Duo. I've got clients using Signal too. My iPhone or iPad are now is no longer relegated to the kitchen charging stations, as one is usually with me more when I'm using my Pixelbook simply due to iMessage, but back in their normal place when the Mac Book or Mac Book Pro is in use.

Now more than ever, tools like Woven and Calendly are becoming staples for scheduling. Alerts and reminders are key as getting the "ten minute" warning about a scheduled call allows me to gracefully (sometimes) end a call. I'm also finding that I'm setting more meetings to be 25 minutes, not thirty, allowing time to catch up on IM's, emails and even listen to the occasional voice mail for those that leave them.  Most people I know now are texting and asking "when can we talk" and then after agreeing on a time, one of us sends off a calendar item with the appropriate conference bridge based on who, where, and personal preference.

There's also a growing sense of time-shifted communications between friends to help overcome the loneliness of sheltering in place. More and more friends who were short form writers or photo posters only are sharing more on Facebook. Instagram is becoming the creative outpost. LinkedIn is becoming more and more the haven for help and business advice, not simply a job seekers best friend.

What's Next? More Zapier and IFTTT - the two services automate routine tasks and manage services. Already I use them to open my door when I come home. My lights turn off when I go too far from home, and can be programmed to turn on when the lock opens. With the two services I can get notified when someone tweets me, retweets, send me an email to one of my accounts I don't live in during the work day and more, by having the alert sent to me either in Slack or via SMS. With now thousands of combinations of integrations, all based on APIs, the two services allow us to focus on the tasks that need our attention, while the bots do the repetitive work.

Yes, for many, the new normal is a major adjustment, but for me, the adjustment is really about giving in to not getting away to work from anywhere. It's now about "AWFH"--always working from home.

Not a surprise at this point, and actually looks pretty decent, even if it doesn’t have an Esc key (good thing we can remap Caps Lock now, right?).

The keyboard is a bit weird, though. I love the detail of placing an USB-C charging port into the hinge itself, but the mechanical aspects of turning the thing into a stand make it… interesting.

But it looks quite distinct from a Surface Pro, and I’m guessing that was part of the point.

I think it’s going to be massively appealing for regular users, but without software improvements that allow for such things as self-hosted development (a point that has been rising in prominence among the technical crowd as lower hanging fruit was fixed over the years), it’s not likely to really replace laptops for quite a few people.

And, lo and behold, we’re finally going to be able to use existing Apple mice and trackpads (at least the 2.0 revisions). That’s going to be interesting.

Update: Revision 1 mice and trackpads cannot use gestures, which is sad. I’m using a Microsoft Arc Mouse without any issues other than being unable to scroll horizontally.

The corona virus also now known as COVID-19 is top of mind for everyone in British Columbia as the province deals with the potential impacts. Most people have been asked to work from home,  increase their personal space,  minimize contact with others, and of course, wash hands.

The Medical Health Officer for the province is Dr. Bonnie Henry.  Dr Henry after receiving her medical degree went to San Diego to do a masters in Public Health and then did residencies in preventive medicine and community medicine at the Universities of California and Toronto.

She worked on polio eradication with World Health Organization and UNICEF in Pakistan and also worked on the Ebola outbreak in Uganda. She was the operational lead to the SARS response in Toronto in 2003 and was a member of the  H1N1 influenza Pandemic Coordinating Committee in that 2009 outbreak.

Dr. Henry is also a compelling speaker, and has been a champion at advocating for Vision Zero, where no road deaths are tolerable.  Dr. Henry has also written a book called “Soap and Water and Common Sense”.

In short, Dr. Henry is eminently qualified to lead the Provincial decision making on how to arrest the COVID-19 virus, and has been the calm, consistent knowledgeable voice in daily updates on the crisis. She’s been approachable and accessible, and will be part of a virtual town hall meeting with Global News this Thursday.

It’s no surprise that Dr. Henry’s work and efforts have been highly appreciated in this province. There is even a twitter account called the Dr. Bonnie Henry Fan Club set up by a northern Vancouver island resident.  As of press time, Dr. Henry’s fan club has over 4,750 followers.

The first YouTube video with a song honouring Dr. Henry has just been posted by Amy Shier, and we at Price Tags are happy to share it with you below.

Thank you Dr. Henry for your work and commitment.

 

 

 

Also Fed programs, virtual meetings, virtual shareholder meetings, virtual performance reviews and bond ETFs.

In times of great anxiety, I find comfort in the mechanical, the onerous. That is precisely what hand washing laundry is, a tiny manual labor of repetition—like kneading dough except the reward isn’t a steaming, delicious loaf, but the ability to wear your clothes without offending the noses of everyone else you live with.

For every crotch and armpit I scrub with a bar of unscented hotel soap, I am able to let go of something, if only temporarily. I am able to think less about my aunt, a pediatric pulmonologist who will certainly be affected by what is to come. I am able to think less about my roommate’s boyfriend, who works in the ICU, and the anxiety she must be feeling, though I know she hides it.

This is useful, I tell myself, we are running low on quarters, the washing machines and dryers in this complex only take quarters, it would be dumb to break social distancing just to go to the bank for a roll of quarters, I will ask for quarters on my next grocery run, and hope that they haven’t run out.

Every night I take at least three pieces of clothing from my hamper and set them atop the toilet seat, the prepping area for my wash space. I have been sorting my soiled—that word always makes me think of shitting yourself, but that I promise that is not the case here—laundry into piles by brights, lights, and darks. Anything that smells especially pungent, gets pulled aside for its own isolation in OxiClean. I have been doing indoor workouts with my roommates, so much of our laundry is what you would consider pungent.

This is how you hand wash your clothes, adequately exorcising the stink, without being unkind to them, or roughing them up in a way that will degrade them faster. First, select your washing station. If you have a sink that can plug, even just moderately well, that works fine. Just make sure to wash it very well before, for disinfecting purposes, but also to wash away any residual product. Lots of anti-acne creams and washes, for example, might spot bleach your clothes. A mixing bowl can also work well, in a pinch, for smaller delicates. If you have a basin or a bucket that would work best.

I have never been in a home without washing basins. My mother owns three washing basins. My grandmother owned a washing basin for each bathroom, and multiple in the kitchen. My roommate owns two washing basins. I purchased my washing basin from Amazon. Our apartment is small, so I went with something collapsible that I could store in our little splinter of a closet, the vertical looking ones with tiny shelving, that exist to maximize the uneven corners of the apartment. Sometimes I worry that, in pressing the basin down to close, the silicon will somehow rip, and I will no longer be able to hand wash my clothing. At least not the way I like.

Second, fill your wash space with the soap of your choice. It is best if you have something that will be kind to your hands, that says it can be used as a detergent or “multi-purpose.” In most cases, you should not use more than a teaspoon. (Think about how much detergent you put into a load of laundry in a washing machine, and scale back accordingly to whatever size your wash space is. I don’t have exact numbers here, but your intuition will probably work just fine). You will want the wash space to fill with water a bit before you put the detergent. Swirl it around with your finger, so that it is evenly distributed before you add in your clothes.

Third, add in your clothes. You should not expect the mixture to become extremely frothy or bubbly, though a bit of bubbling is to be expected. I think we associate frothing with cleanliness, when in fact it can mean that there will be soap residue left in your clothes. You can actually tell if you’ve added too much detergent because your clothes will be very stiff when dry. Over time you’ll learn the right amounts.

I was often washed in my grandmother’s basins as a child. It is odd, I think, that I used to be a size that would plop right into this basin.

Fourth, swish around and perhaps gently press and squeeze your clothes in the detergent. Lots of guides to handwashing clothes will call this “agitating” the clothes. The word choice makes me think they’re telling me how to bathe a cat, and that cat is very angry with me. Luckily your clothes should not jump out at you, or try to scratch and bite you. If they do, try to speak with a medical professional.

Fifth, let them soak for just a few minutes, or up to 30 or so minutes. If your sink is draining too fast that’s alright. If you think certain, smellier areas need more attention, you can take a basic bar of soap and rub gently over those areas, maybe sniff test a bit. Repeat a few previous steps.

Every night, I check my hamper and am appeased to find that what was once a mountain of filthy clothes has diminished into a manageable pile. I worry that I am running out of things to wash. I worry what I will do, or how I will feel, when I run out of things to wash.

Sixth, rinse your clothes with medium temperature water—no need to martyr your hands over cold water for the sake of avoiding dye bleeding out. This is the part where personal preference and a bit of art come into play. Only you can decide how many times you want to squeeze a garment before deciding the soap has been washed out. Find a place to hang them, hopefully a ventilated area that gets a reasonable amount of sunlight. Put lotion on your hands, they deserve it.

My drying rack is running out of space. Tomorrow I will approach it with a blow dryer.

If you’re new to working from home, there’s a pretty good chance that you’re also new to using Zoom—our former pick for the best videoconferencing service. We’re not the only ones who like it: Zoom has added millions of users over the past few months as teams shift to remote work in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

If your Wi-Fi cuts out when you’re streaming a movie, it’s a bummer. But if it happens while you’re talking to your boss over Skype or giving a presentation via Zoom, it can feel like a calamity. Working from home means you may have to be your own IT department and manage your Internet connection so that you can access company resources, connect with colleagues, and prove you’re not slacking off. You can fix some problems without spending a dime, but some issues require buying new hardware.

Sergio De Simone, InfoQ, Mar 18, 2020

NPM stands for 'Node Package Manager' and it's a key piece of the Javascript infrastructure. If you need to add a function to your platform, you can type 'npm install whatever' and it does the job. But there have been concerns expressed recently about the stability and longevity of NPM. This acquisition by the Microsoft-owned GitHub addresses that concern. Now I have no doubt that a non-corporate alternative to NPM will be rolled out. That's as it should be. And the innovation can take place on this edge system, while NPM remainst mainstream and stable.

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

Michael Feldstein, e-Literate, Mar 18, 2020

Michael Feldstein is sponsored by David Wiley's Lumen Learning and then we see a perfectly predictable appeal to eschew non-commercial licensing. I would hesitate to draw a line between the two, but I've never seen Feldstein concerned about licensing one way or another (he seems fine with it here), while the anti-NC campaign has long been a Wiley signature. Feldstein writes, "we should reduce the friction of sharing as much as possible. One source of friction is licensing." Well, that's true. But the main source of friction is charging people money for content. That's what non-commercial licensing prevents. And if your big worry during this crisis is that you can't sell openly licensed resources, then you are worrying about exactly the wrong thing.

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

Air purifiers with HEPA filtration efficiently capture particles the size of (and far smaller than) the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 , and many of you have asked whether air purifiers can help protect against infection. The answer is yes in theory. The CDC believes the virus is mainly transmitted by person-to-person contact, but there is growing evidence that it may also be transmitted through the air. If that is confirmed to be the case, HEPA filters will capture airborne coronaviruses.

Jeffrey Leek, Lucy D’Agostino McGowan, and Elizabeth Matsui have a free/ pay-what-you-want book on understanding data and statistics in the medical literature:

Whether you are a medical student reading their first journal article or a healthcare professional trying to use the latest research to improve patient care, understanding data and statistics has never been more fundamental for extracting accurate information from the medical literature. This is a high-level, introduction to the concepts you need to know. It is targeted at busy students and professionals, and therefore efficient, with short lessons that can be completed in 5 to 10 minutes, with the whole course-time totaling around 4 hours. We leave out the mathematical detail and focus on the conceptual ideas. Anyone can pick this course up and gain a better understanding of the medical literature.

We’re probably going to see a lot of research come out over the next weeks and months, and it’s more important than ever to understand the results and distill what it actually means. If anything, it might help you explain the current situation to others.

Tags: academic, book

In recent weeks, many people have begun working remotely for the first time, as part of social distancing efforts. We’ve seen a corresponding increase in folks using our audio routing tool Loopback, which is proving helpful at solving many problems related to remote communication. One of the most common ways people are using Loopback is to add multiple audio sources to voice chat (VoIP) calls with services like Zoom, Skype, FaceTime, and more.

To help folks use Loopback to add audio to voice chats, we’ve written up a new tutorial. Learn more about combining audio from microphones and applications and providing it to voice chat applications to be heard by all participants, with this new Knowledge Base article.

The rumours surrounding Apple’s 2020 iPad Pro line were entirely accurate.

The key feature this year along with a rear camera array that includes a LiDAR scanner for more powerful depth-sensing, is an entirely revamped keyboard. The new ‘Magic Keyboard Folio’ unfolds and elevates the iPad Pro to a higher viewing position, and also features a built-in trackpad.

“Rather than copying the experience from macOS, trackpad support has been completely reimagined for iPad. As users move their finger across the trackpad, the pointer elegantly transforms to highlight user interface elements,” says Apple in a recent press release.

Regarding app support, Apple says that is iWork suite of productivity apps — Pages, Numbers and Keynote — all take “full advantage” of the Smart Keyboards trackpad. It’s still unclear how expansive full-fledged third-party app support will be for the Smart Keyboard, but given Apple doesn’t mention popular apps like Photoshop in its press release, it’s likely apps that work with the trackpad will be limited at launch.

The Magic Keyboard features a hinge that allows the iPad Pro to be adjusted to a viewing angle of up to 130-degrees. The keyboard also features backlit keys USB-C pass-through and a scissor switch mechanism that features 1mm of key travel.

The tablet also features Apple’s new A12Z processor that features an 8-core GPU, five “studio-quality” microphones and four speakers that automatically adjust to the tablet’s orientation. Regarding the camera array, along with the new LiDAR sensor that’s capable of measuring the distance surrounding objects up to five meters away, the tablet also features a 12-megapixel wide camera and a 10-megapixel ultra-wide angle shooter, along with support for 4K video. In terms of the LiDAR sensor specifically, Apple outlined how the sensor allows for its Measure app to be far more accurate.

Apple says that both the new 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro are available to order now in ‘Silver’ and ‘Space Gray’ finishes. The 11-inch iPad Pro starts at $1,049 CAD for the Wi-Fi model and $1,249 or the Wi-Fi + Cellular model and the 12.9-inch iPad Pro starts at $1,299 (CAD) for the Wi-Fi model and $1,499 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model.

The New Magic Keyboard is set to be available to purchase in May for $399 in both 11-inch and 12.9-inch sizes. Trackpad support is launching on March 24th alongside iOS 13.4 for all iPad Pro models, the iPad Air 2 and later, the 5th-generation iPad and later and the iPad mini 4 and later. Further, Apple says that third-party mice connected over Bluetooth or USB are also supported. It remains unclear if the iOS 13.4 will also support third-party keyboards along with Apple’s new iPad Pro Magic Keyboard.

Apple is also offering customers that purchase the iPad online from the Apple Store the ability to engrave the 2nd-generation Apple Pencil for free as long as it’s purchased at the same time.

Similar to every iPad Pro Apple has released, the Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard Folio are sold separately from the tablet.

MobileSyrup will have more on Apple’s iPad Pro in the coming days.

More to come… 

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Apple’s 16-inch MacBook Pro is no longer the only viable laptop in its lineup.

The company’s new MacBook Air (2020) features its improved, scissor switch ‘Smart Keyboard’ in place of the beleaguered butterfly mechanism keyboard that has been featured in its laptops for the last several years. Further, the lightweight laptop’s keyboard includes the same 1mm travel and inverted-T arrows as the 16-inch MacBook Pro.

The updated Air also includes double the performance of the previous version of the laptop, including Intel’s 10th-gen processor up to a 1.2Ghz quad-core i7 and Iris Plus Graphics. Storage also now starts at a 256GB SSD and can be configured up to 2TB.

It’s worth noting that the new MacBook Air doesn’t include the 16-inch MacBook Pro’s impressive-sounding speaker system, though Apple does state that it features “advanced stereo speakers for immersive wide stereo sound.” It’s currently unclear how substantial the Air’s improved audio is over the previous version of the laptop.

While Apple hasn’t revealed anything yet, it’s likely the long-awaited 13-inch MacBook Pro refresh, which will bring Apple’s Smart Keyboard to the laptop, isn’t that far off. Along with the new MacBook Air, Apple also recently revealed a refreshed iPad Pro and Smart Keyboard that features trackpad support.

Apple’s refreshed MacBook starts at $1,299 CAD for the 1.1GHz dual-core 10th-generation Intel Core i3 with Intel Iris Plus Graphics, with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Education pricing for the new MacBook Air starts at $1,169.

MobileSyrup will have more on Apple’s new MacBook Air in the coming days.

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Rogers is going to close most of its retail locations, including those of its flanker brands Fido and chatr, in response to COVID-19.

The national carrier says that it will continue to support customers at 93 retail locations across the country to deliver critical services. Customers can see which stores are open for Rogers, Fido and chatr. 

The critical services include phone repair and loaner phones, critical device activation, SIM card swap and replacements, modem and cable box swaps, and remote control for Ignite TV.

The stores will have reduced hours of operations from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. There will also be a limited number of people allowed in the stores at one time. Rogers is also adjusting the layout of its stores to help promote social distancing, and is adding strict new health and sanitation procedures.

Rogers notes that customers can continue to reach out for support through its self-serve platforms, online chat options and call centres.

The carrier says that customers can easily do a number of things online such as viewing and making a bill payment, checking their usage 24/7 and browsing device options and plans.

Rogers also requests customers who are feeling unwell to stay home and give them a call, visit their website or mobile app.

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Along with a new iPad Pro (2020), an iPad Smart Keyboard that includes trackpad support and a refreshed MacBook Air (2020), Apple also quietly announced that the base-level Mac mini will now feature double the storage.

The base-level $1,399 Mac mini now features 256GB of storage, with the configuration that includes 512GB of storage coming in at $1,399.

Apple last refreshed the Mac mini back in 2018 with storage starting at 128GB and ranging all the way up to a 2TB SSD. Other than the storage upgrade, nothing else seems to have changed about the Mac mini. This is unfortunate because the desktop device is in dire need of a processor refresh.

The desktop Mac still features four Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports, two USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI 2.0 port, an ethernet port and a headphone jack.

The Mac Mini starts at $999 for the 3.6GHz Quad-core 8th-generation Intel core i3 version with Intel UHD Graphics 630 that includes 8GB of DDR4 RAM and a 256GB hard drive.

For more on Apple’s tiny, but capable Mac mini, check out my impressions on the desktop device from back in 2018.

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Alongside the release of a new iPad Pro (2020), Apple has revealed that the next version of iPadOS will add full mouse and trackpad support to the tablet

The tech giant first added the functionality last June as an accessibility feature, but the new version of mouse support is significantly more robust.

Apple says that its iPad and trackpad support has been designed to work specifically in a touch-based environment. Ideally, the cursor should adapt to whatever it’s hovering over in order to act how the user needs it to. This is a much-needed feature since using a mouse with a touch-based app can often feel awkward.

As you hover over text the cursor should change to allow you to select the type. If you hover over something that’s more geared for touch controls, the mouse cursor morphs into a circle and acts more like the tap of a finger.

Apple also says that if you’re using a trackpad, you can still utilize a lot of iPadOS’ gestures. This means motions like swiping with four fingers to the left or right will still move users quickly between apps.

The tech giant revealed this feature by showing off its new ‘Magic Keyboard’ for the refreshed iPad Pro. That said, mouse and trackpad support is compatible with all iPads that support iOS 13.4, including Bluetooth and USB models.

So far, only a few of Apple’s iWork apps offer full trackpad and mouse support, but more developers will likely adapt their apps to the new input method in the coming weeks.

Source: Apple

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Popular business communication platform Slack is getting a massive redesign that should make the platform simpler to use.

However, the company announced the redesign would begin rolling out today — perhaps a bold decision, considering the increase in people working remotely and relying on communication platforms like Slack. Several communication platforms have suffered outages from increased traffic over the last few days, including Microsoft Teams in Europe.

Audacious timing aside, Slack’s new redesign should iron out some of the navigational quirks of the platform while also making things work smoother for users. New features include better sidebar customization, a new universal compose button, a top navigation bar and more.

The redesign begins with Slack’s sidebar. The biggest change here is that messages, channels and apps can now be sorted into collapsible sections. For example, this means users can group channels and DMs for a specific product into a section specifically for that project.

While an excellent organizational tweak, Slack also locked the change behind a paywall. It’s only available on paid Slack plans and not free plans.

Alongside the new sidebar tweaks, Slack rolled out a new compose button. This appears at the top of the sidebar and lets users quickly start a message. Further, users can use the button to draft a DM or message for a channel and Slack will load in relevant message history from the destination.

Additionally, there’s a new sidebar section for ‘People’ and ‘Mentions & reactions,’ which should make it easier to find people you want to DM and see mentions or channel pings.

Finally, Slack says users will be able to customize the width of the sidebar and tweak its colour with 11 new themes that are coming soon.

Top navigation bar, minor UI changes and more

Along with the wealth of changes to the sidebar, Slack is adjusting the top navigation bar. The shift adds more prominence to search. On top of that, Slack now has forward and back buttons, like a web browser, for quickly switching between parts of the app.

Further, Slack changed the UI in minor ways to clean up channel details, menus, preferences and more.

Ultimately, these changes should mean Slack feels simpler and less cluttered than before.

Most of these changes apply to the desktop and web versions of Slack. However, the company also has plans to release a redesign to its mobile apps in the coming weeks. The Verge saw a sneak peek of the new apps, which include a new bottom navigation bar with quick access to ‘home,’ DMs and mentions.

All the new desktop changes will begin rolling out March 18th starting with new users brought on board by the influx of remote workers. The goal here is to avoid new users having to learn two different interfaces. Everyone else will begin to see the new design over the coming weeks.

Source: Slack Via: The Verge

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Apple is preparing for spring with a new slate of colourful cases and Apple Watch bands to celebrate the new season.

In terms of watch bands, there are quite a few and, like all of the new Apple accessories, they use fresh colours.

There are three Silicon Sport Bands — ‘Cactus,’ ‘Grapefruit’ and ‘Surf.’ These colours are also now available as options for the iPad Smart Covers and the iPhone Silicon Cases. That said, There’s no Grapefruit option for the smart covers because the ‘Pink Sand’ colour is already available and looks the same.

The other Apple Watch bands have received upgrades too. There are five new Sport Loops: ‘Sunshine,’ ‘Vitamin C,’ ‘Surf Blue,’ ‘Neon Lime’ and ‘Neon Pink.’

There are also two new Nike Sport bands, ‘Black/Lime Blast’ and ‘Midnight Turquoise/Aurora Green.’ Plus, there are two new Nike Sport Loops, ‘World Indigo/Lime Blast’ and ‘Hyper Crimson/Neptune Green.’

In terms of leather straps, there’s one new ‘Peacock’ Leather Loop, two new Modern Buckle straps, ‘Raspberry’ and ‘Deep Sea Blue.’

There are also five Hermès straps in the new spring collection: ‘Noir/Blanc/Gold Swift Leather Single Tour,’ ‘Orange Swift Leather Single Tour,’ ‘Noir Swift Leather Allover Print Double Tour,’ ‘Blanc Swift Leather Allover Print Double Tour,’ and ‘Noir Gala Leather Single Tour Rallye.’

Beyond the Silicon iPhone cases mentioned above, there’s also a new Leather Folio case in ‘Peacock,’ ‘Raspberry’ and ‘Deep Sea Blue.’

You can look at all the new watch straps here, all the iPad cases here and all of the new iPhone cases here. Apple also revealed a new iPad Pro and a new Macbook Air today.

Source: Apple

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Apart from Brydge’s already available Pro+ iPad Pro keyboard, it looks like Logitech is the first third-party manufacturer to release an iPad keyboard that features a trackpad.

The backlit keyboard wraps around the iPad and offers 40-degrees of tilting. Unlike Apple’s official Smart Keyboard, Logitech’s ‘Combo Touch Keyboard Case with Trackpad‘ doesn’t elevate the tablet, and generally seems similar to the iPad Pro’s current official keyboard. It’s also important to point out that Logitech’s keyboard is designed for the seventh-generation iPad (the 10.2-inch model) and the third-generation iPad Air (the 10.2-inch model), while Apple’s new Smart Keyboard works with the new 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro and the 2018 version of the tablet.

While Logitech’s keyboard lacks USB-C pass-through and doesn’t seem capable of tilting at the same angles as Apple’s official Smart Keyboard, the keyboard portion of the case can be detached.

Logitech says that its Combo Touch Keyboard Case with Trackpad will start shipping in May in the United States for $150 USD (roughly $220 CAD). This is also when Apple will begin shipping its Smart Keyboard for the new iPad Pro. MobileSyrup has reached out to Logitech for more information regarding the keyboard’s Canadian release date and pricing. Logitech’s third-party keyboard isn’t currently available on Apple’s Canadian website. This story will be updated with more information when it becomes available.

Trackpad support is part of Apple’s upcoming iPadOS 13.4 update. Apple claims iPadOS’ trackpad and mouse support has been designed to work specifically in a touch-based environment.

This means that the cursor adapts to whatever it’s hovering over. This, at least in theory, should mean that using a trackpad or mouse won’t feel awkward with apps that haven’t been revamped to support the functionality.

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Following its announcement of closing most locations under the BCE brand, including Bell, Virgin Mobile and Lucky Mobile, the company announced further measures to ‘serve Canadians through COVID-19 situation.’

In a statement to MobileSyrup, Bell is now waiving all Roam Better and all pay-per-use roaming fees for all destinations for every customer (consumer and small business) between March 18th and April 30th. This is in addition to the company waiving extra usage fees for residential Internet customers.

In addition, Bell is also expanding its free previews of CBC News, CP24, CTV News, ICI RDI and LCN on BellTV to now include Hollywood Suite, Disney Channel and HGTV Canada.

Finally, if you are considering returning or exchanging your newly purchased smartphone, Bell has extended the return policy for all devices from 15 days to 30 days.

It should be noted that the Roam Sweet Roam and pay per use roaming fees and the new 30-day return policy also applies to Virgin Mobile. Lucky Mobile is also offering the 30-day return policy.

“As Canada works through the COVID-19 crisis, the Bell team is continuing to serve our customers and keep our country connected. I thank our team members in every region as we work to deliver for consumers, businesses, governments and health providers at this critical time,” said Mirko Bibic, President and CEO of BCE Inc. and Bell Canada. “Bell is making the significant investments required to manage growing service volumes, while also waiving fees on key services and providing billing relief for customers facing difficulty as we all deal with this unprecedented situation.”

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