I won't argue that Gates is wrong about the value of testing in the US. I would posit he's wrong about the value of testing overall. It's inconceivable that we prevent businesses from opening back up until we are in a position to test 10% of the population daily and get results back in hours. By that time every state and municipal government will be so far in debt it won't be able to run fire or police departments.

There are a growing number of scientific voices suggesting that the lockdowns are ineffective, but even that argues that you must define what is meant by 'effective'. The original goal was to avoid the number of cases that the health care system could not tend to. We've succeeded in that, even in NYC.

If there is another rationale for keeping people off of beaches entirely, closing all but 'essential' businesses, prevent child wellness visits, I haven't seen it. In WA state, you can go shop for a car, but not a boat. Where's the 'science' in that?

Continue denying permits for conventions, theaters, review opportunities for restaurants with a skeptical eye to avoid closed in crowding. Don't suggest that ubiquitous testing is a goal before opening up the economy, the absence of tax revenue alone will do more harm than the lockdown prevents.

It's a good excuse to drag the fire pit and the grill around to the front of the house and invite the neighbors to do the same. Then spend the night watching what fireworks people set off (illegally) in the neighborhood and what we can see of the municipal display over the intervening houses and trees. The fireworks viewing is accomplished while drinking various libations and eating grilled meats, etc. and sitting around a roaring fire.

Note: I haven't melted the fire pit yet but there's still time.

Cheers,
Dave

I took my first programming class in 1976. We used punch cards on an IBM mainframe. Somebody have a link to a job req. for a "digital native?" I could have some fun.

Cheers,
Dave

Driver: "Open the door, car."

Car: "I can't do that <insert name here>. You're too stupid to let behind the wheel."

Problem solved.

Cheers,
Dave

About 600 feet downhill from here in Parker (official elevation 5,900 ft.) but more like 700 ft. downhill from our house according to my GPS. I figure I spend enough time in the mountains (~10,000 ft. to ~11,000 ft.) that it balances out me visiting folks in flat land.

Cheers,
Dave

... that's just enough to cover my property taxes so I said about what was anticipated.

Cheers,
Dave

Simple: it wouldn't be any fun or a challenge. Still no dings in the skid plate.

Cheers,
Dave

Fixed that or you.

People who come up with this crap usually live in urban areas and have never driven on anything but city streets and urban highways. I somehow don't see the autonomous car getting me up an old mining road in the Colorado Rockies that doesn't show up on any road map. I also don't see me trusting said car to pick it's way around, over and between the various obstacles like wash outs and large lose rocks that take some very careful driving to get over or around. Especially when there's a 1,000 foot drop on one side and a cliff face on the other. Routes like the Alpine Loop between Silverton and Lake City or the "road" to Argentine Pass to name just two places I've driven.

Cheers,
Dave

As I noted in the OP Comcast's Incompetence, Lack of Broadband May Force Developer To Sell Home The guy failed to do due diligence in checking the physical ( is there a cable box anywhere nearby?), talking to neighbors or any other neutral observer. He put his faith in two organizations no one trusts. He got what we all expect: lousy service. I looked at moving out that way myself, but bandwidth limitations have kept me on this side of the Sound. This is a story of how not to buy a house. If bandwidth is THIS important, don't leave it to sales, or tech sales, staff to tell you there's bandwidth. He wanted to be convinced, he became convinced, he felt betrayed when he should have felt stupid for not acknowledging the obvious: there's no bandwidth in the countryside.

CO poisoning has the unique effect that the CO molecules attach to hemoglobin in the same way as oxygen so the blood chemistry doesn't change.

Cheers,
Dave

Other missing options:

Semaphore
Signal flags
Morse code (please specify physical media)
Smoke Signals
Carrier pigeon
Qbits
Steganography
Microdots
Signal flares
Obscure language (e.g. the Windtalkers)
Bugle call
Messages in bottles
Cairns
Petroglyphs

Cheers,
Dave

Just turn on some "reality TV" and the zombies won't be interested in you. "No brains here," they'll grunt. Just remember to turn the TV off before the reality TV rots your brain.

Cheers,
Dave

Vector Research VR-2500 amplifier and Pioneer PL-300 turntable (Grado F1+ cartridge). Both are from about 1980. The output goes into my sound card and I use the rig for digitizing my vinyl with Audacity.

The only problem I've run into is that the vinyl has some much more dynamic range than a CD that I have trouble capturing the full range. 60s and 70s groups like The Who, The Moody Blues (old stuff), etc. really pushed the sound envelop.

Cheers,
Dave

The Millionaire Next Door

Highly recommended.

Cheers,
Dave

Bzzzzzt. Wrong. Lots of people advised me to get into my company's stock savings plan when I started working in 1980. That turned into a 401K at some point. It's amazing what compound interest does to investments after 35 years. That and not pissing away what you earn on the latest shiny toys.

Cheers,
Dave