Coronavirus Chat Zone

nitsua60

00:13

@NeutralTax You mean, your regular tabletop game? Getting a half-dozen people together as usual? Or are you talking about something you weren't doing already.

Himitsu_no_Yami

00:32

I work as customer support for Pearson and we've had no business today hardly cus this virus has people panicking so much all of the states that usually call us have closed schools for at least two weeks

KorvinStarmast

01:18

Fear of lawsuits are what's behind this. See what the professional sports leagues are doing and the college basketball tournaments in the US. if you see it through that lens, it makes a lot more sense. The airline industry likewise are reacting in a similar manner, with BA being the leader in "no, we are not flying there" and sticking to it over a month ago.

nitsua60

02:52

@Himitsu_no_Yami Funny, I was just talking about Pearson today. I feel like you (compared to, say, Wiley or McD-L or the others I'm forgetting) are going to be in really good position. It feels like in the last half-year or so you (the company) have really put a lot into your interactive and digital products. I, at least, have been pushed enough high-quality advertising that a couple of months ago I went ahead and contacted a rep and we've been piloting in one section of one class.

nitsua60

03:33

Anyone know what the thinking is behind President Trump waiving interest on student loans as part of the national emergency declaration? I mean, sure: it's a way to put some money in some people's hands. But it seems like a strange set of people to pick, and a strange way to arrive at an amount to give them.

(I'm trying to see my way toward anything other than a cynical interpretation that has to do with politics and an upcoming election.)

Yuuki

03:50

@nitsua60 "strange set of people to pick" and "strange way to arrive at an amount" have been the defining characteristics of this administration.

@nitsua60 It won't help at all, but I'm fairly certain the president had more CEOs on during his declaration of national emergency than medical professionals.

kviiri

05:15

I work as a consultant for an airline. They've lost a lion's share of their business thanks to the covid-19 outbreak. I feel kinda weird, because of (most) my co-workers I'm the only one whose salary isn't threatened

skullpatrol

I found the origin of the word virus interesting.

> late 14c., "poisonous substance," from Latin virus "poison, sap of plants, slimy liquid, a potent juice," from Proto-Italic *weis-o-(s-) "poison," which is probably from a PIE root *ueis-, perhaps originallly meaning "to melt away, to flow," used of foul or malodorous fluids, but with specialization in some languages to "poisonous fluid" (source also of Sanskrit visam "venom, poison," visah "poisonous;"

> Latin viscum "sticky substance, birdlime;" Greek ios "poison," ixos "mistletoe, birdlime;" Old Church Slavonic višnja "cherry;" Old Irish fi "poison;" Welsh gwy "poison"). The meaning "agent that causes infectious disease" is recorded by 1728 (in reference to venereal disease); the modern scientific use dates to the 1880s. The computer sense is from 1972.

source: etymology online

I think the "corona" part is a reference to its shape?

kviiri

05:38

Yes, it means "crown" and comes from how the virus particles look like under a microscope

skullpatrol

Thanks :-)

kviiri

Hm, it might also be in reference to the sun's corona perhaps? Dunno

skullpatrol

> 1650s, "a crown," from Latin corona "a crown, a garland," in ancient Rome especially "a crown or garland bestowed for distinguished military service," from suffixed form of PIE root *sker- (2) "to turn, bend."
With many extended senses in botany, anatomy, etc. A coronavirus (by 1969) is so called for the spikes that protrude from its membranes and resemble the tines of a crown or the corona of the sun. The two "crown" constellations, Corona Borealis (according to fable, the crown of Ariadne) and Corona Australis, are both Ptolemaic. Astronomical sense of "luminous circle observed around t…

same source as above

> coronavirus (by 1969) is so called for the spikes that protrude from its membranes and resemble the tines of a crown or the corona of the sun.

skullpatrol

09:48

d'oh! i just realized what the "V" stands for in H.I.V....

skullpatrol

10:13

comparison with other viruses

3

don't forget H1N1

nitsua60

13:16

My kids have been asking lots of good questions. But the one hard one I haven't been able to answer: "why is it 'viruses' rather than 'virii'?"

kviiri

@nitsua60 I've actually seen "virii" used too x)

Incidentally, it's also a plausible spelling of my surname.

(mis-spelling)

skullpatrol

virus

Noun: virus (countable and uncountable, plural viruses or (proscribed) viri or (proscribed) virii)

Wikispecies
(archaic) Venom, as produced by a poisonous animal etc.
A submicroscopic, non-cellular structure consisting of a core of DNA or RNA surrounded by a protein coat, that requires a living host cell to replicate, and often causes disease in the host organism.
2001, Leslie Iversen, Drugs: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford 2001, p. 64)
Viruses are the smallest and most simplified forms of life.

(3 more not shown…)

kviiri

Corona panic is not really evident here yet. More people wear masks here than before (it was very rare, and usually only Asian tourists and even then very rare), and shops are out of toilet paper. Ridiculous item to hoard since pretty much every toilet is equipped with those little hand shower things that one would think most people'd be able to use to clean themselves as a last resort.

(I mean, many of the more eco-savvy people already use them as a first resort)

But apart from that, shops remain well-stocked. Full of people, probably not good for avoiding further transmissions.

nitsua60

13:35

We usually do our weekly shopping on the weekends. Anticipating gigantic crowds this weekend I went ahead and did our usual on Thursday morning. It wasn't crowded, but the shelves were bare of kids' medicines, cleaning supplies, and toilet paper. A number of items (water, batteries (!), paper towels, canned goods) had posted limits on how many per customer.
Makes me glad I'm not there today.

kviiri

13:54

I seldom do major shopping for our household, because my SO's commute just happens to have a proper grocery store along it while mine only has a cute but tiny and pricey corner store. But now that my client has requested minimizing on-site work, I'll probably have the responsibility of doing our shopping. Luckily, that comes with the luxury of shops being less crowded during weekday working hours.

Okay, my commute has two cute but pricey corner stores and one is not exactly in the corner, I lied. But still :)

BESW

14:23

"BREAKING NEWS: Governor declares public health emergency," in The Guam Daily Post.

I super appreciate that our governor has a professional history as a nurse.

Like, her degrees are a Bachelor of Science in nursing, and a Master of Public Health. She was a nurse full-time for 15 years, including directorship positions.

Carcer

14:45

if only it weren't unusual for government officials to have backgrounds that actually qualified them to do their jobs

BESW

Heh, yeah. She's also been the chairwoman, CEO, and president of the family business--the largest bank on Guam.

NeutralTax

15:21

@nitsua60 Yeah just my regular tabletop group

Yuuki

15:59

> Cocktail of the day: The Quarantiki - it's like a regular quarantini but you add a splash of orange juice and you still drink it alone in your house.

nitsua60

16:11

@NeutralTax I'm having the same sort of thoughts. Sent a group-text to mine today to poll for opinions/preferences/restrictions. Like, I actually can't host, because our campus isn't allowing "visitors" for the time being.

Abhas Kumar Sinha

16:26

24 hours ago, by Abhas Kumar Sinha

nitsua60

@AbhasKumarSinha Thank you. (I think.) Unfortunately, I gave up cookies for Lent, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to enjoy it =)

Abhas Kumar Sinha

Okay, I'll come back tomorrow to give you cookies.

@nitsua60 You are a mod, right?

I need ur help...

kviiri

I was just going to have friends over for board games today but my SO is sick with something (probably not the COVID-19) so we had to cancel >_<

Abhas Kumar Sinha

Any mod on9 here?

@kviiri SO?

Wish him speedy recovery :-)

kviiri

@AbhasKumarSinha Significant Other (or "Otter", as we say in jest)

Abhas Kumar Sinha

16:36

k

I thought son...

XP

kviiri

Ah no x) I've defaulted to the term "SO" because we're not married so "wife" is technically false and "girlfriend" otoh sounds a bit informal for someone who's been living with me for years

I sometimes forget it's not a term everyone knows

Abhas Kumar Sinha

hmm....

kviiri

Re: mods, nitsua is indeed one

If your trouble is with a particular SE site though, asking on their meta is the way to go

Abhas Kumar Sinha

I guess he's not listening...

No, I've to reactivate an old chatroom.

kviiri

Ah ok. Well, people go away from keyboard for whatever reasons, I trust he'll be back soon

Abhas Kumar Sinha

16:39

Btw, I also today had a board game, chess with my friend... I lost by 1-2.

kviiri

My skill with chess largely ends with e5.

Abhas Kumar Sinha

Cool :)

kviiri

I will probably get even worse because I usually played during commuting (notice the re-railing of the discussion :D) I won't be commuting to work in a while

Abhas Kumar Sinha

k

Twitter isn't loading for some reason for past half an hour...

skullpatrol

17:11

Advisory:
With the declaration of a state of emergency by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the doubling of Covid-19 cases in the Greater Boston area, MIT is increasingly concerned for the safety of the community and is therefore taking extraordinary steps.
First, we are cancelling all classes tomorrow, Friday, March 13. This decision was made after consultation with Academic Council, the faculty officers, and MIT Medical.
We are also strongly advising all undergraduate students to accelerate their move out plans. MIT will reimburse travel change expenses and new reservation costs up to…

kviiri

17:43

Seems like the Jethro Tull gig I was to go to has been postponed till next year

Due to Corona

nitsua60

18:05

@AbhasKumarSinha Yup. You can tell us from the blue usernames. (Room owners can also be helpful; their usernames are in italics.)

#unusualCoViDNews: the Appalachian Trail is thumping today. I've honestly never seen so many cars at the pull-offs.

kviiri

@nitsua60 Huh, I wonder if they're fleeing the virus?

nitsua60

@kviiri =D

kviiri

It's a workable idea hiding in the nature I guess. I wonder though

I read a Finnish news article about the virion being unusually heavy and therefore falling to the ground fast. Might be true, but still... wouldn't the size of the droplets it's transferred by have more impact?

nitsua60

@kviiri My assumption is that a lot of people (particularly of the type who think "hiking in Connecticut" is a good thing to do with their time) have had their kids' schools closed for a while or have been told to telework or even to take a week off gratis and are taking that chance to go do that bit of hiking they'd wanted to for so long.

kviiri

@nitsua60 Ah, okay

Yeah, that'd make sense

nitsua60

18:12

I mean, I live on the trail and hit it just-about weekly, and even I was like "well, let's take the kids on some of the stretches they haven't seen yet."

@kviiri I would also imagine so, but I don't really know anything in this area. (Except the physics around the droplets. But how the microbes might be influenced... nada aqui.)

kviiri

I would very much want to see one of those trails

@nitsua60 Yeah, I try to approach this more as "layman being a bit critical" than "layman pretending to be an expert". Namely I haven't seen the "heavy virus" claim elsewhere.

nitsua60

@kviiri I... could go in my back yard and take a photo if you like =)

kviiri

@nitsua60 I wouldn't mind, I can send you something equally exotic back :D

nitsua60

There was a Supreme Court argument last month that mentioned the Trail a lot. Something something which federal agency can actually grant waivers or not so that an oil company can have a pipeline cross the trail 400' underground.

And the justices really seemed to be struggling with the question of whether the trail itself is a thing. Like, is there a distinction between the land on which the trail runs and the trail, itself.

I just wanted to run into the courthouse and scream: "your're literally missing the forest for the trees, people!"

"A trail is an emergent property of land! Just like a forest is a particular arrangement of trees, a trail is a particular arrangement of trees and rocks and dirt."

I couldn't help but feel like if one of the nine's math teachers had done a really good job of teaching about the period or amplitude of a function, or of asymptotic behavior... they might have gotten it.

</rant>

skullpatrol

18:34

@nitsua60 many teachers agree that ninth grade math is the most important foundation setting grade in high school

nitsua60

@skullpatrol For me it's whatever year we're failing to convince people that "the universe is largely apprehensible, this is a useful tool for understanding a lot of it, and you are capable of learning to use that tool."

skullpatrol

"apprehension" is hard work

as they say 99% perspiration...

nobody can "perspire" for you :P

kviiri

19:53

Bright side to everything: the COVID-19 epidemic has inspired spontaneous neighborhood and community activism. People are stepping up to help the quarantined and vulnerable eg. with their shopping, largely organized through informal means like Facebook groups.

kviiri

20:12

We have enough infections now (225 cases, 0 mortalities, 10 recoveries) that our open data site no longer bothers trying to track who got it from where

The two main clusters prior to that were tourists from Italy (mainly in Uusimaa in Southern Finland) and a group of students from Oulu (around the middle of the country) who got it on a trip to Austria

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♦ Coronavirus Chat Zone