" if anyone even suspects they might have this gods-be-damned virus, they should self-quarrantine until they get the all-clear!" Some Italian data suggests 50% of those carrying the virus have no reason to suspect they're doing so. AFAICT, that implies EVERYONE sick or well should self-quarantine.

" Anyone who does not have the virus but does have the antibody is at no risk to anyone either now or into the foreseeable future." Not 100% true. What is still possible in your scenario is that the current virus mutates sufficiently to re-infect someone immune to the previous generation of viruses. This is what drives the continuous reappearance of new strains of influenza. The last I heard there are 5 different viruses (due to mutations so far) that cause COVID-19.

Then there is the "advanced" commonwealth which recently closed all its interstate rest stops including the parking lots, along with restaurants along the roads, ensuring that long haul truckers have it even worse than they do now, delivering key supplies to hospitals, police, grocery stores, public water supply systems, the electric grid, you name it.

"There are eggs that last for months?" Dehydrated eggs as powder last for years. They taste awful. I have a native American friend who gave me some in the USDA commodity packages given to the poor. Couldn't stand them. After a year on my shelf some tiny insect or weevil put holes in the bags and spoiled them for human consumpton.

"During the first stage it is concentrated in the upper respiratory tract and is contagious, but the symptoms are relatively mild" New findings in Italy make this statement somewhat irrelevant. A small town in Italy recently tested EVERYBODY, with or without symptoms. I didn't get the figures of + tests. What was most interesting was that 50% of the + patients had no symptoms whatsoever. That is the rationale behind all the current closures and lockdowns. Since no one knows who is spreading the virus and who isn't, it is best to treat everyone else as contagious. If you don't know whether or not you are an asymptomatic carrier of the virus, it is best to stay away from everyone else - to whatever level is possible / tolerable.

"Our health care professionals should all have forced air hoods with UV sterilization," CDC is not currently recommending that except for cases where secretions are spewing all over a room. Some of their recommendations do consider the nationwide scarcity of PPE in the USA.

"I can imagine the liability lawsuit though when 4 people die instead of 2 and the doctor/hospital is blamed for overloading their equipment...." If things get that bad the doctors will have died from COVID19 &/or overwork and the hospital will have already gone out of business. I hate to think what rioters would do to the judges & courthouses beforehand.

"The problem I see is just what is being monitored? Besides sensors hooked up to gauges, a skilled human can monitor by sight, sound, even smell." I'm sure the ventilator clinicians have been working for years on this. Current ventilators have many subunits / sensors / etc doing this. But still skilled personnel must be available at all times for the inevitable glitches, and there are many possible glitches. The other problem is spare parts for the inevitable failures. Global outsourcing is not our friend on matters like a pandemic.

Current ventilators have a great deal of electronic circuitry inside. We can only speculate on the size the supply of backup parts -- and where the factory migh be located, probably in Wuhan. There are outmoded designs for ventilators that require no electronics whatsoever. If the blueprints still exist, ramping up a production line might not be that difficult. I'm an MD and have had patients on ventilators. The number and skill of associated personnel is critical to the survival of ventilator patients. There are many possible points of failure that the machinery is not liable for.

"It is merely beyond the scope of patent law." Congress has forgotten that LAWS CAN BE CHANGED. But we already have laws on the books. I really & truly doubt patent law will restrict the actions of a US president during a national crisis. If some idiot CEO & corporate decides to sue, I doubt any jury will consider their case for more than a few minutes.

It's better to be a plain idiot than a so so idiot.

Dollar General is advertising a Samsung Galaxy Centura Android phone for $9.99, compatible only with the Tracfone system. As far as I know, this Android phone would make a passable (but small) tablet without ever needing to be activated as a cell phone.

Where can I buy R-Pi in a B&M store in the USA, so that I can actually get it for $5? And when will it actually be available? You left out the necessity to pay sales tax in most US states at B&M stores. So I had to pay $5.40 US Cash for mine, 20:30 EST on 27 Nov 2015 at a MicroCenter in Ohio. Of course they had already been sold out for hours, the only reason I got one was I ordered it online the previous day as soon as I learned the Zero was available.

it's 2015 and some people have never heard of USB wifi adapters about 4 years ago I informed my niece with her MSEE about their existence.

Chances are you will own: a spare SD card, a spare keyboard, a spare mouse, an old monitor (if you don't use a TV), and even an old USB hub I already had multiple versions of all these items when I bought my Zero yesterday.