April Fool's Day Has Been Cancelled
Apr. 1st, 2020 10:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tcpipCOVID 19 Global Statistics of March show the rapid and global reach of the pandemic: On February 29 there were 86,504 confirmed cases and 2,977 people had died. On March 31st there are 856,356 confirmed cases and 42,086 had died. And the curve is still increasing just under 10% per day for new cases. I've been continuing daily updates on Facebook on the situation in Australia, which is beginning to show some effect. I am not at all confident that we are out of the woods yet, but the introduction of social distancing and self-isolation has had some effect. Of course, on Monday it was announced that as of midnight that day we were going to Stage 3, which is effectively stay at home, don't mix with anyone outside of your household, and only venture outside for essentials. Which curiously has assisted my general work productivity significantly; with minimal distractions I've been able to smash my way through various software installs at pace, and - appropriately on-topic - there has been a concerted effort in the service to get more storage and compute available especially for those engaged in COVID-19 research. It would be even easier if we had a proper NBN, which Kevin Rudd recently reminded us, which was killed by political partisanship on one side.
It has not all been work with no play; on Sunday run a session via video-conferencing of Eclipse Phase where the PC proxies and their sentinels, infected by a virus (reality imitating fiction) finished the final part of their perverse life-cycle on either side of an interstellar gate. A couple of days prior played in another session of Megatraveller using a different tool, and on Sunday will be playing RuneQuest. So far we've done all these either via Google Hangouts or Zoom, although recently I have installed the FOSS package Jitsi, and I'm keen to see how that goes. In addition to this, I sent out a newsletter for the Isocracy Network last night, outlining our various activities for the past couple of months (especially the Bramble Cay Melomys Memorial Day) and the many articles and posts by members and friends. I and will do the same again tonight for the Victorian Secular Lobby, which unsurprisingly will have a few articles on how a number of religious organisations have been in absolute denial of their requirements to engage in COVID-19 social protocols; Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius.
Sadly, I must announce the departure of the household fantail goldfish which was simply called "Big Fish". Whilst one does not generate a particularly strong attachment to a fish as a companion animal, Big Fish had kept us amused for close to ten years by its various antics and the place has lost that particular avenue of humour as a result. The fish had an infection ("drospy" is the informal name in the business), and by the time they're noticed it's usually too late. Anyway, fed the cadaver to the turtle who enthusiastically made quite short work of it. Thus the number of animal companions in the house is now down to two cats and a turtle; a far cry to what there's been in yesteryear and even a plausible number to think seriously about long-term international journeys - once all this pandemic is resolved, right?
It has not all been work with no play; on Sunday run a session via video-conferencing of Eclipse Phase where the PC proxies and their sentinels, infected by a virus (reality imitating fiction) finished the final part of their perverse life-cycle on either side of an interstellar gate. A couple of days prior played in another session of Megatraveller using a different tool, and on Sunday will be playing RuneQuest. So far we've done all these either via Google Hangouts or Zoom, although recently I have installed the FOSS package Jitsi, and I'm keen to see how that goes. In addition to this, I sent out a newsletter for the Isocracy Network last night, outlining our various activities for the past couple of months (especially the Bramble Cay Melomys Memorial Day) and the many articles and posts by members and friends. I and will do the same again tonight for the Victorian Secular Lobby, which unsurprisingly will have a few articles on how a number of religious organisations have been in absolute denial of their requirements to engage in COVID-19 social protocols; Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius.
Sadly, I must announce the departure of the household fantail goldfish which was simply called "Big Fish". Whilst one does not generate a particularly strong attachment to a fish as a companion animal, Big Fish had kept us amused for close to ten years by its various antics and the place has lost that particular avenue of humour as a result. The fish had an infection ("drospy" is the informal name in the business), and by the time they're noticed it's usually too late. Anyway, fed the cadaver to the turtle who enthusiastically made quite short work of it. Thus the number of animal companions in the house is now down to two cats and a turtle; a far cry to what there's been in yesteryear and even a plausible number to think seriously about long-term international journeys - once all this pandemic is resolved, right?
