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Comment Re:You have options (Score 1) 86

Use something better like notepad++, if you are still using notepad maybe change your workflow. I realize that this can be difficult if you are doing tech support on someone elses machine.

The thing with Notepad isn't that it's good... rather that it's everywhere.

Notepad is for when you're working but not on your machine. Not everyone's work flow is going to be 100% local and you probably won't have permission to install something on someone elses server.

No matter what the version, what the patch level, what the fuck is wrong with it, notepad is there and notepad works.

Sounds like MS are working on the last part unfortunately.

Comment Re:Very specific denial (Score 1) 36

And what jurisdiction? If they are using European's emails to train AI models, it's going to be the mother of all GDPR fines.

I think that alone is probably a good enough reason for them not to do it world-wide, because even Americans get emails from Europeans, and the possibility of some of that information getting into their AI models and appearing in the output is a huge legal risk.

Comment Re:Ah, well. (Score 1) 40

It's been the case for many years that few people bothered with official Arduino hardware, because other manufacturers offered better options at lower cost. There is a whole ecosystem around it, mostly from Chinese companies but also from people like Adafruit.

I doubt Qualcomm could kill it if they wanted to.

Comment Re:Hack in better ventilation. (Score 2) 29

Ventilation and filtration really help. UV light is effective too, but can be dangerous for humans. It gives your retina sunburn if you aren't careful. Either place it high up shining sideways, or use 222nm lamps that are safe for humans.

It's weird that we just accept seasonal viruses as something we can't do much about, when clearly we can. Offices with all the windows shut and poor ventilation - are those companies just trying to waste money by making their employees sick? And then they only want to give them a day or two off, so they can come back to the office and infect everyone else.

Comment Re:CO2 is a virus? (Score 1) 29

CO2 levels are a good proxy for how much fresh airflow there is. If there is a lot of CO2, it's because people are exhaling it and the air in the room isn't being replaced with fresh air from outside.

It's why you often feel sleepy when you board a plane - the ventilation system used air bled off from the engines, so until they start the CO2 in the confined space of the cabin with hundreds of people in it builds up fast.

Stale air is known to put you at much greater risk from airborne viruses. That's why during COVID people were advised to open windows and keep air moving. So CO2 levels are a good proxy for risk of airborne viral infection too.

Comment CO2 as an indicator of air quality. (Score 2) 29

Indeed. My thought was that CO2 levels could roughly correspond to the number of people in the specific room, offset by actual ventilation levels.

IE more CO2 = more risk because it means more people with inadequate ventilation.

Conference crud is really simple. Hacker or not. You bring in hundreds/thousands of people from around the country and world, exposing most of them to even more potential disease carriers on airplanes, trains, busses, and more, then disrupt people's sleep and disgestive tracts with unfamiliar locations, schedules and food and you have the perfect melting pot to get people sick.

What can be done to help prevent it? Mask wearing might help some, along with sanitary other stuff - improve the ventilation in such buildings, including good filters, UV lights and such helping to sterilize the air. At the same time, improve air quality otherwise, because harsh cleaning chemicals can also make people sick.

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