onfocus

"The University of Washington said it would move to online classes for its 50,000 students. With colleges nationwide about to empty for spring break, students fear they might not be coming back."

They’re planning to open their campus again March 30th.

This is a difficult article to read because it’s about a massive failure, but it’s important to face the truth of where we are. This was especially surprising:

"Oregon, situated between the California and Washington hotspots, can test only about 40 people a day."

We have some catching up to do:

"Today, more than a week after the country’s first case of community transmission, the most significant finding about the coronavirus’s spread in the United States has come from an independent genetic study, not from field data collected by the government. And no state or city has banned large gatherings or implemented the type of aggressive “social distancing” policies employed to battle the virus in Italy, Hong Kong, and other affluent places."

Time to quickly learn from the past.

"That is why, in my view, the most important lesson from 1918 is to tell the truth. Though that idea is incorporated into every preparedness plan I know of, its actual implementation will depend on the character and leadership of the people in charge when a crisis erupts."

This article from 2017 is a sobering read.

"Seattle is effectively in the position that Wuhan was on Jan. 1, when it first recognized it had an outbreak of a new virus, but did not realize the scale of the problem or the speed at which the virus was spreading, Bedford said."

The lack of testing has really put us at a disadvantage.

Best summary I’ve read of the Twitter activist investor threat.

"But business ain’t beanbag, and “good enough” clearly isn’t cutting it for Paul Singer. Unless something changes dramatically, it would appear that Jack Dorsey is in for the fight of his life."

After bending over backward to not enforce Twitter policy for politicians, this is the thanks Jack gets?

This is a helpful look at how tech companies are responding to covid-19 through changes in policy and events. Great to see this leadership.

38 albums of soundtracks are now widely available to stream.

Hooray for more beautiful Studio Ghibli creations more widely available!

Is this a victory for Google?

"Just last year, the Court held that 'merely hosting speech by others is not a traditional, exclusive public function and does not alone transform private entities into state actors subject to First Amendment constraints,'" writes McKeown.

This ruling confirms again that the big platforms are private companies, not part of the government. The idea of First Amendment rights do not apply at YouTube, Facebook, etc. This is confusing for many people and the platforms themselves benefit from this confusion and deepen it with their marketing language. This case touched on that:

"YouTube’s braggadocio about its commitment to free speech constitutes opinions that are not subject to the Lanham Act," writes McKeown. "Lofty but vague statements like 'everyone deserves to have a voice, and that the world is a better place when we listen, share and build community through our stories' ... are classic, non-actionable opinions or puffery."

When platforms host garbage they often use the idea of free speech as a shield from criticism. This ruling weakens that shield.

Timeless advice that applies to more than just computing.

"Most user interfaces are terrible. When people make mistakes it's usually the fault of the interface. You've forgotten how many ways you've learned to adapt to bad interfaces."

[via MeFi]

"Today, Firefox is enabling encrypted DNS over HTTPS by default in the US..."

So strange to see a tech company put energy into consumer privacy but I’ll take it.

So this is happening in my state.

"According to the most current available estimates from the Census Bureau, for 2014 through 2019, the 11 Republicans who walked out represent just 36% of Oregon’s population."

The current rules do not account for a rogue party that does not believe in the rule of law.

Is D&D an idea behind its time?

"Physically, there was nothing that actually stopped the invention of such games centuries or even millennia earlier. It required no special level of science, skill, or materials. So why did it take so long?"