Hacker News Reader

lborsatoon CDC says Americans can now go unmasked in many parts of the country

Actually it literally does.

A pandemic is a geographically spread epidemic. If a disease is endemic then it is not epidemic, and therefore cannot be a pandemic as per the accepted definition.

lborsatoon How illiterate people use their mobile phones (2012)

It's the best kitchen timer in the world, no matter how many dishes you're cooking.

lborsatoon Omicron largely evades immunity from past infection or two vaccine doses

Unfortunately as a result of original antigenic sin, the fact that the immune system has been trained for by a vaccine for a certain strain means that the body will respond to that strain, likely unable to mount a new defence for the different strain.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33692194/

lborsatoon Antarctica's 'Doomsday Glacier' could meet its doom within 3 years

How dare you! /s

Just the one file? I've been hearing this story since 1988. The screeching just gets a little louder year by year. :)

lborsatoon Scientists mystified as Africa avoids Covid disaster

He would likely base that comment on the fact that no pre-2020 RCT studies of masks (over decades) showed any significant protective effect against aerosol-spread respiratory viruses.

Covid epidemic curves globally similarly showed no change as a result of mask mandates.

And a massive outbreak of influenza was not deterred by a fully masked U. Mich campus.

They seem to provide a psychological benefit to some though.

lborsatoon FDA asks federal judge to wait until 2076 to fully release Covid vaccine data

My first thought is that there are 329,000 pages of data related to the Pfizer vaccine alone and we are supposed to believe that the FDA read and evaluated them before granting authorization.

lborsatoon Florida, Center of Covid Mandate Resistance, Has Lowest Infection Levels in U.S.

As Governor Gavin Newsom says, it’s all about seasonality:

“We know why: because [of] the seasonality to COVID,” Newsom said. “It’s not particularly difficult, after a couple of years, to understand. You see those trends in Europe. You see those trends extend in other parts of the globe. Unfortunately, that’s what’s happening here.”

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-11-09/winter-i...

lborsatoon Tuvalu looking at legal ways to be a state if it is submerged

Well not many since Tuvalu’s land area is actually increasing:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-02954-1

lborsatoon Mandate is hereby stayed pending further action by this court [pdf]

If it were really obvious that "the vaccine is good, everyone should get the vaccine", then public vaccine mandates would not be necessary.

lborsatoon Pfizer's oral Covid-19 antiviral cuts hospitalization, death by 85%

ICUs typically run around 85% occupancy and up. At 68% it is difficult to pay the bills.

lborsatoon Pfizer's oral Covid-19 antiviral cuts hospitalization, death by 85%

The Lancet you say?

“Individuals who have had two vaccine doses can be just as infectious as those who have not been jabbed.”

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-59077036

Study: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3...

lborsatoon Ask HN: What Toaster Are You Using?

I do own one. It was a gift for my parents’ wedding in 1957. The cord has been replaced twice but everything else is original.

You put bread in. It goes down. About 20 seconds later it rises, toasted perfectly.

It seriously is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

lborsatoon Pfizer's oral Covid-19 antiviral cuts hospitalization, death by 85%

“Individuals who have had two vaccine doses can be just as infectious as those who have not been jabbed.”

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-59077036

(Article contains link to the Lancet study)

lborsatoon U.S. spy agencies say origins of Covid-19 may never be known

It has already happened multiple times previously in our lifetime:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC403836/

lborsatoon 72% of unvaccinated workers vow to quit if ordered to get vaccinated

“Individuals who have had two vaccine doses can be just as infectious as those who have not been jabbed.”

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-59077036

lborsatoon Ask HN: How are you? How did the pandemic affect you?

It’s as if a majority lost the ability to think critically, choosing instead to tilt at the windmills of incessant fear propaganda from media/social media, usually lacking any context to assuage that fear.

lborsatoon Covid-19 vaccine-myocarditis paper to be permanently removed: Elsevier

As Retraction Watch notes, the journal is not disputing the study (they refused to respond to a request) but has no interest in publishing the study because they seem to be questioning the motives of the authors.

Either the study is valid or it isn’t. Disliking the authors should not be a factor.

lborsatoon Gain of Function

Dr. Fauci and the NIH misled the public repeatedly, claiming that there was no funding of gain-of-function research. Finally they were forced to admit that they were indeed finding such research.

Fool me once shame on me. Fool me repeatedly…

lborsatoon In Major Shift, NIH Admits Funding Risky Virus Research in Wuhan

“We have investigated ourselves and found that no crime was committed.”

lborsatoon Neuroscientists discovered a whole new role for the cerebellum

And deny themselves the pleasure of the advertising? /s

lborsatoon Toronto students told not to talk at lunch to reduce the spread of Covid-19

Two years ago this would have been called child abuse. It still is.

lborsatoon RFC 3339 vs. ISO 8601

I’m in America/New_York as well and I see them correctly. I think your computer’s time zone may be incorrect.

lborsatoon Polyglot programming and the benefits of mastering several languages

For me it’s trying to remember the ‘for each’ syntax in every language. I normally bounce between 4 or 5 languages every day.

lborsatoon Harnessing the benefits of UVA light treatment in Covid-19 patients

The phrase “Sunlight is the best disinfectant” exists for a reason.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181017211703.h...

lborsatoon 1k Netflix employees threaten work stoppage over Dave Chappelle

The twisted world of Twitter consists of people who claim to care about others for internet points, yet have no idea what empathy is.

lborsatoon HCA posts stories of anti-vaxxers dying, scaring fence-sitters into the shot

700,000 Americans died. That is approximately 0.21%. Over almost 2 years. Not 1%.

lborsatoon HCA posts stories of anti-vaxxers dying, scaring fence-sitters into the shot

But they are higher in elderly, an even higher correlation.

lborsatoon Aspirin lowers risk of Covid: New findings support preliminary Israeli trial

From the study:

“Aspirin use was associated with lower likelihood of COVID-19 infection, as compared to nonusers”

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33621437/

lborsatoon The climate disaster is here

Well this is my fifth decade of “10 years to save the earth from climate destruction” if that eases your worry a bit.