jberryhill

jberryhill's Journal

March 21, 2020

Watching old cycling events on YouTube

A lot of the riders and commentators are bored, and so there are some discussions about favorite classic events.

What’s cool is having the riders in the race respond to your own commentary....

http://twitter.com/ChristianVDV/status/1241409545278238725

March 21, 2020

Please stop with the HOAX TANK PICTURES AND VIDEOS

Our enemies on social media are circulating pictures and videos of military equipment and people in camo.

The same pictures are said to be in one place or another place.

This is a COMMON social media disruption technique.

I just had someone send me pictures of “tanks on a train” in central New Jersey. The trees, however, are in full summer foliage.

There is another one at a railroad crossing in NY, oops Florida, no California - the same stupid fucking video of a train carrying armored vehicles.

There is a stupid “I just got this from my friend at FEMA” email going around which is too stupid to describe. Long story short - that one is fake too.

People, if there were a massive military mobilization in this country, there is no “they” that could keep a lid on it. Please stop circulating this horseshit. Just because someone shows you a picture of a tank and says it was “today in Baltimore” does not make it true.

http://twitter.com/Aureliano_no_24/status/1241159547936362501

http://twitter.com/PaulCady8/status/1241159477258268673

STOP DOING THE WORK OF THOSE WHO WANT TO HARM US

March 21, 2020

Do we have an HVAC specialist here?

I’m interested in HVAC systems such as you find in apartment buildings in urban areas.

Everyone knows that Legionnaire’s disease was propagated through standing water in HVAC systems, and that once it was understood, countermeasures were taken.

In, say, an urban apartment building, does the air return work the way it does in a single family home?

Is air returned from all of the apartment units, mixed together, and recirculated?

March 19, 2020

"Simple Respiratory Mask" from Emerging Infectious Disease Journal, 2006

Keep in mind that relative to many aerosol materials, the coronavirus is very, very, very small - orders of magnitude smaller than many infectious agents.

Like projects? Cooped up with nothing to do? Here's one way to spend time...

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/12/6/05-1468_article#tnF1

The World Health Organization recommends protective equipment including masks (if they not available, a cloth to cover the mouth is recommended) for persons who must handle dead or ill chickens in regions affected by H5N1 (5). Quality commercial masks are not always accessible, but anecdotal evidence has showed that handmade masks of cotton gauze were protective in military barracks and in healthcare workers during the Manchurian epidemic (6,7). A simple, locally made, washable mask may be a solution if commercial masks are not available. We describe the test results of 1 handmade, reusable, cotton mask.

For material, we choose heavyweight T-shirts similar to the 2-ply battle dress uniform T-shirts used for protective masks against ricin and saxitoxin in mouse experiments (8). Designs and T-shirts were initially screened with a short version of a qualitative Bitrex fit test (9) (Allegro Industries, Garden Grove, CA, USA). The best were tested by using a standard quantitative fit test, the Portacount Plus Respirator Fit Tester with N95-Companion (TSI, Shoreview, MN, USA) (10). Poor results from the initial quantitative fit testing on early prototypes resulted in the addition of 4 layers of material to the simplest mask design. This mask is referred to as the prototype mask (Figure).

A Hanes Heavyweight 100% preshrunk cotton T-shirt (made in Honduras) (http://www.hanesprintables.com/Globals/Faq.aspxExternal Link) was boiled for 10 minutes and air-dried to maximize shrinkage and sterilize the material in a manner available in developing countries. A scissor, marker, and ruler were used to cut out 1 outer layer (?37 × 72 cm) and 8 inner layers (<18 cm2). The mask was assembled and fitted as shown in the Figure.

A fit factor is the number generated during quantitative fit testing by simulating workplace activities (a series of exercises, each 1 minute in duration). The Portacount Plus Respirator Fit Tester with N95-Companion used for the test is an ambient aerosol instrument that measures aerosol concentration outside and inside the prototype mask. The challenge agent used is the ambient microscopic dust and other aerosols that are present in the air.

March 19, 2020

A word about the Acetominophen/Ibuprofen thing - "Let the fever do its job"

Don't get too keyed up over the thus-far unsupported theory about ibuprofen.

The bottom line is that fighting the fever - with anything - can be a bad choice.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/health/coronavirus-ibuprofen.html

Is Ibuprofen Really Risky for Coronavirus Patients?

But for infectious disease specialists, the greater concern is that when Nsaids and acetaminophen reduce fever, patients may be more comfortable but their lower temperatures can short-circuit the body’s main defense against infection.

Studies have found that if people infected with a variety of viruses and other microorganisms bring their fevers down, with Nsaids or with acetaminophen, their symptoms may last longer and they continue to shed virus for a longer time — meaning they may be contagious for longer periods.

...

The immune system works better when the body’s temperature is higher, enabling it to more efficiently kill viruses and bacteria. Dozens of studies — in animals, reptiles and humans — have found that fever is beneficial in fighting infections.

...

A drug like acetaminophen or ibuprofen can bring a fever down, but you don’t want to keep taking it constantly, said Dr. Marguerite Neill, an infectious disease expert at Brown University. Let the fever do its job.

“A single dose of an Nsaid when the temperature is 103 or 104 in an adult who has the flu — I’m not saying that’s wrong,” Dr. Neill said. “But don’t keep pumping it in if the fever is lower.”

March 18, 2020

Had a guy attempt to scam me yesterday - Liberty Power Electric Service Slam Attempt

So, yesterday, there is a knock on the door and a young man standing on my front steps with an iPad and a badge. Keeping the storm door closed, since I'm not interested in having strangers breathe on me, we spoke with the door shut.

He had some patter about being an "independent contractor from the power company" and "needing to make sure you aren't overcharged" and some other nonsense about "you should have gotten an email".

Being kind of distracted by events, I was pretty surprised that I wasn't really paying attention, and I mindlessly got a copy of my electric bill.

So, he asks me my address, which is pretty weird since he is standing right there next to my house number, and he types that into some app running on the iPad. Then, he asks for a "service ID number" which is essentially a serial number that uniquely identifies your electric meter. It's like the IMEI on you phone, and is required by your service provider.

It's also required to switch your service to another provider.

At that point, I came to my senses and thought "what the fuck am I doing?" I took a closer look at his badge and it said "Liberty Power", and the app he was running appeared to be some kind of Liberty Power app.

He claimed they were a contractor of my power company as I called my power company, and got a customer service representative. I said, "There is a young man at my front door and..." "IT'S A SCAM!" the rep shouted over me.

So, he's still conveniently standing on my porch while I called 911, but then he notices that I'm giving a detailed description of his appearance and clothing, and he starts hot walking down the street. I follow him at a distance to get a description of his car, and two of my neighbors come out to join me, and he picks up the pace.

Taking a look at "Liberty Power" in search results, they appear to be a large scale scammy operation with a commission structure that they know damn well encourages this kind of thing.

The Illinois Attorney General is, in fact, trying to shut them down:

https://patch.com/illinois/across-il/illinois-attorney-general-sues-shut-down-liberty-power-scam

CHICAGO — Alternative retail electric supplier Liberty Power has scammed tens of thousands of Illinois consumers out of more than $77 million over the past seven years, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday by the state's attorney general.

The suit seeks to shut down Florida-based Liberty Power Holdings LLC, which it says engages in large-scale, deliberate fraud and outright theft in order to deceive electricity consumers into signing contracts to buy overpriced products.

"Liberty Power runs a scam," the suit alleges. "Since at least 2012, Liberty has used an illegal and deceptive marketing scheme to deceive Illinois consumers into switching their electric supplier. Commission-hungry Liberty agents, caught red-handed on audio recordings, recycle the same lies, the same false comparisons, the same artful omissions, all in the service of knowingly tricking Illinois consumers into paying more for their electricity—and lining Liberty's pocket.

March 16, 2020

French Health Ministry Warns On Ibuprofen

The French Health Ministry believes that ibuprofen (and NSAIDs generally) may be interfering with the body’s immune response, and is advising against OTC anti-inflammatory drugs.

Instead, they suggest acetaminophen for pain and fever.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/14/anti-inflammatory-drugs-may-aggravate-coronavirus-infection

That is what the French Health Ministry is saying. You should consult with your health care provider before making decisions about your medications.

March 14, 2020

Went out for some paper towels

Traffic was light...

http://twitter.com/Berryhillj/status/1238918588288733184

March 14, 2020

I FINALLY figured out the toilet paper thing

I thought maybe one of the side effects of the virus was to turn people into the Great Cornholio:

But I realized that many of the people were seeing and hearing the social media focus on toilet paper hoarding, and just figured they should buy some because others were.

Then, I thought maybe people were somehow inspired by scenes of Trump tossing paper towel rolls at disaster scenes.

Here at DU, the conversation moved to bidets.

But none of those captured what is driving it as a collective subconscious level.

We seem to instinctively know that something awful is going to happen to our ass.

March 13, 2020

Balcony Singing Sweeps Italy!

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Hometown: Delaware
Member since: Fri Jan 20, 2006, 08:14 PM
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