Dealing with Lockdown
- Thread starter Timerover51
- Start date
Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
With respect to the World data, I have considerable qualms about any data from China and Iran, along with any data from South America. Anecdotal accounts indicate that Ecuador is getting hit pretty bad, and Brazil is a big question mark.
We're in Texas, and have been isolated some 6 weeks by now, online games have seen record numbers of players in game, internet connections are getting stressed with some people getting knocked offline repeatedly each hour.
Businesses using Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) to conduct their call centers are adding to the load. All we need now to really have an economic implosion is to have widespread DDoS attacks, worms, and other state sponsored villainy to successfully attack our internet infrastructure.
What do you suppose the geopolitical result of such a scenario would have been for the Vallani in the Nth interstellar war?
Businesses using Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) to conduct their call centers are adding to the load. All we need now to really have an economic implosion is to have widespread DDoS attacks, worms, and other state sponsored villainy to successfully attack our internet infrastructure.
What do you suppose the geopolitical result of such a scenario would have been for the Vallani in the Nth interstellar war?
From what I've seen of the cannon on the period, their service manuals were basic operator stuff like Jump not working? is the fuel tank full, have you turned off the maneuver drive? If they are confronted by attacks on their communications they had never thought of, the usual Valani user or administrator would be directed to contact the manufacturer for their tech support to assist, but if they can't contact tech support they would be helpless (literally).
There is probably an established protocol to escalate such reports. At a high enough level the instructions are that if you get enough similar reports, contact the local Imperial Noble. At that point he'll look through a manual that will tell him to unlock the vault containing the manual for how to deal with it.
There IS such a manual. It DOES have the answers. It's a thousand years old and still is higher-tech than present capability.
Chances are you won't like the answers, but not implementing them would be worse.
The fact that this particular manual (or any particular one like it) exists -- let alone its contents -- are an extremely well-kept secret. It is nonetheless widely assumed that there are such manuals, somewhere.
Once the problem is resolved, everyone involved is sworn to secrecy (or eliminated, if they cannot be trusted) and the manual goes back into the vault.
Last edited:
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
The Vilani deliberately stagnated their TL at 11, that is 4 TLs above us. I'm pretty sure they could cope if we can.
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
To make sure that such instruction manuals remain secure, it requires double key decryption, each physical and software key kept by a separate individual.
I was in that room. The unmarked one that has Vilani engineering docs. I didn't see ANY instruction manuals, just technical reference. And those appeared to be using some high-tech form of multiple-factor auth to access.
Much later, a convict on death row whispered me what was inside THEM (he had nothing left to lose)... all the technical reference was written in this standardized legal engineerspeak Vilani that he likened to an early Common Business Language used for programming their computers. So you had to read a specialized Vilanic language that read like a computer program. Training to just be able to read this gibberish apparently took years.
Much later, a convict on death row whispered me what was inside THEM (he had nothing left to lose)... all the technical reference was written in this standardized legal engineerspeak Vilani that he likened to an early Common Business Language used for programming their computers. So you had to read a specialized Vilanic language that read like a computer program. Training to just be able to read this gibberish apparently took years.
A Common Business Oriented Language?
Or was it a matter of Formula Translation?
Almost nobody left who knows those languages these days...
Or was it a matter of Formula Translation?
Almost nobody left who knows those languages these days...
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
Might be something more complex than binary, to throw off unauthorized decryption attempts.
This is Traveller: it's either in Base 6 or it's Hexidecimal.
Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
I was trying to figure out how a discussion of the lockdown turned into a discussion of older computer languages. Personally, I started out on Fortran, with a touch of Basic, and a smattering of COBOL. That was a very long time ago, pre-1970.
In Illinois, all schools are shut until the fall, so high school and junior high students are going to miss out on graduation. So far, there are no indications of an extension to the lockdown past April 30. My friends who are teachers are experiencing student withdrawal, and I can only wonder how much education actually took place online.
Wisconsin is locked down until May 28th, but that is going to be interesting to see if it lasts.
In Illinois, all schools are shut until the fall, so high school and junior high students are going to miss out on graduation. So far, there are no indications of an extension to the lockdown past April 30. My friends who are teachers are experiencing student withdrawal, and I can only wonder how much education actually took place online.
Wisconsin is locked down until May 28th, but that is going to be interesting to see if it lasts.
There's a resurgence of COBOL. Too large an installed base, and relatively readable code.
One of the Youtubers I watch was discussing the rise of COBOL in IT college programs... and recommending it be one of the things people take the downtime to learn.
Xerxeskingofking
SOC-13
England is locked down for at least another 3 weeks, but I expect that to be rolled over at least once more. The Uk government says the latency between restrictions being emplaced and those restrictions having an effect on the hospitalisation and death rates is about 3 weeks, which seems to line up with what has played out, with a steady exponential rise though the first few weeks rapidly slowing down over the next 2 weeks as the lockdown measures took effect.
schools are not expected to open until at least the new school year (September). Ive not paid attention to what is planned for those supposed to sit their exams this year (GCSEs for 16 year olds, A levels for 18), but I know its a point of concern for the kids and parents.
most shops are shut, only supermarkets and a few other "essential" shops are open. the panic buying that characterised mid-to late March has stopped as the hoarders both ran out of space to store food and realised that society (and the supermarket logistics network) wasn't about to collapse completely, and the shelves are almost back to normal.
It was bad for a while, though. I genuinely went 3 weeks before I saw toilet paper for sale again. at one point the shops had no rice, no pasta, no fresh fruit, no milk, and barely any meat. I was really a case of going to the shops and trying to work out what we could cook with what was available, rather than going with a shopping list we planned beforehand. that phase lasted about 2 weeks before the shops were consistently having at least some of most basics in again.
Currently, the NHS seems to be coping (or at least, we haven't seen the same imagery of meltdown that we saw in Italy). The Government planned and converted a major conference centre in London into a 4,000 bed hospital in the space of less than 10 days, a feat that I would have flaty said was impossible in January. the day-on-day and week-on-week data says the virus has been slowed dramatically, from doubling every 3 days at the announcement of lockdown to doubling around every 10 days now. the deaths are starting to stabilise as well and they say the apparent infection rate (as in the number of people each infected person is passing it on to) has dropped below 1 (the "unimpeded" rate of infection was around 3, I believe).
we seem to be in the "peak" of the epidemic, and although no one is really sure when it will drop off, the situation seems to be under control. Our outbreak has been proportionally much worse than the US one so far (the UK has roughly 1/6th the population of the US, but deaths are currently around 1/3rd the US total), but that might just be that we're "ahead" on the curve.
Then again, the outbreak is progressing very differently in different countries, and different counties are at different stages of the outbreak. form what I can tell, the African continent hasn't been affected much yet but it really is a matter of time, and once it does it is going to be devastating, given the much less developed healthcare systems of the continent. not hearing much about South America, but if cant imagine its going to be pretty in the favelas when this gets a grip their.
and it is a "when", not a "if". the virus seems to have significant levels of asymptomatic infections (ie people who have the virus and can spread it but show no signs of it), and people with mild symtoms who haven't been properly isolating (either because they physically cannot or because they don't realise that they have COVID-19 and not just a regular cold). this virus is very contagious and it is going to spread almost everywhere, eventually. our best hope is that the lockdown will delay and shift the peaks of infection around so that we are not all sick, all at once.
on the topic of coding, im currently doing a online course teaching me Python, because why not?
schools are not expected to open until at least the new school year (September). Ive not paid attention to what is planned for those supposed to sit their exams this year (GCSEs for 16 year olds, A levels for 18), but I know its a point of concern for the kids and parents.
most shops are shut, only supermarkets and a few other "essential" shops are open. the panic buying that characterised mid-to late March has stopped as the hoarders both ran out of space to store food and realised that society (and the supermarket logistics network) wasn't about to collapse completely, and the shelves are almost back to normal.
It was bad for a while, though. I genuinely went 3 weeks before I saw toilet paper for sale again. at one point the shops had no rice, no pasta, no fresh fruit, no milk, and barely any meat. I was really a case of going to the shops and trying to work out what we could cook with what was available, rather than going with a shopping list we planned beforehand. that phase lasted about 2 weeks before the shops were consistently having at least some of most basics in again.
Currently, the NHS seems to be coping (or at least, we haven't seen the same imagery of meltdown that we saw in Italy). The Government planned and converted a major conference centre in London into a 4,000 bed hospital in the space of less than 10 days, a feat that I would have flaty said was impossible in January. the day-on-day and week-on-week data says the virus has been slowed dramatically, from doubling every 3 days at the announcement of lockdown to doubling around every 10 days now. the deaths are starting to stabilise as well and they say the apparent infection rate (as in the number of people each infected person is passing it on to) has dropped below 1 (the "unimpeded" rate of infection was around 3, I believe).
we seem to be in the "peak" of the epidemic, and although no one is really sure when it will drop off, the situation seems to be under control. Our outbreak has been proportionally much worse than the US one so far (the UK has roughly 1/6th the population of the US, but deaths are currently around 1/3rd the US total), but that might just be that we're "ahead" on the curve.
Then again, the outbreak is progressing very differently in different countries, and different counties are at different stages of the outbreak. form what I can tell, the African continent hasn't been affected much yet but it really is a matter of time, and once it does it is going to be devastating, given the much less developed healthcare systems of the continent. not hearing much about South America, but if cant imagine its going to be pretty in the favelas when this gets a grip their.
and it is a "when", not a "if". the virus seems to have significant levels of asymptomatic infections (ie people who have the virus and can spread it but show no signs of it), and people with mild symtoms who haven't been properly isolating (either because they physically cannot or because they don't realise that they have COVID-19 and not just a regular cold). this virus is very contagious and it is going to spread almost everywhere, eventually. our best hope is that the lockdown will delay and shift the peaks of infection around so that we are not all sick, all at once.
on the topic of coding, im currently doing a online course teaching me Python, because why not?
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
Going by the statistical table, our infection curve appears to be flattening out, and the lockdown has only been extended to the end of this week, knock on wood.
While doing the grocery shopping round on Saturday, I noticed that a cop on a motorcycle was patrolling around the town, particularly interested in the "gatherings" around the local train station, which was extremely unusual.
While doing the grocery shopping round on Saturday, I noticed that a cop on a motorcycle was patrolling around the town, particularly interested in the "gatherings" around the local train station, which was extremely unusual.
It looks that way at the national level, but if you drill down to the state (or county) it depends where you live.
New York appears to be flattening, and that is dominating the national graph since they have far and away have the most cases. Meanwhile, granting that the data is noisy, deaths don't look to have stopped rapid doubling in California, Florida, Michigan, or Texas (as examples).
New York appears to be flattening, and that is dominating the national graph since they have far and away have the most cases. Meanwhile, granting that the data is noisy, deaths don't look to have stopped rapid doubling in California, Florida, Michigan, or Texas (as examples).
Sifu Blackirish
SOC-14 1K
I live near Boise Idaho. We were just extended on shutdown until the 31st. Been staying busy working on rehab of a 40 year old RV and sorting through boxes of semi useful stuff to stay busy.
There is very little traffic, and what is on some roads are noticably speeding but no street racing behavior, at least here. Police are almost invivible for some reason. About 15-20% people wearing masks in public. I am not worried about this virus even though i am old (64). When I go into a store, i wear a bandana just so others around me are at ease.
i am in an isolated location about 20 miles from the city, with a few acres I can wander in to eliminate that cabin fever. Visited a friend in town and it got to me quick, so i would walk back and forth in the alley behind her apartment. Internet strains are here, too. No cell phone service up here, and uploading a 20 min video file can take up to 12 hours! Hope you millenials can handle it when there is a burp in the system and areas of the country are down for a while.
Hope all of you are staying healthy and safe
There is very little traffic, and what is on some roads are noticably speeding but no street racing behavior, at least here. Police are almost invivible for some reason. About 15-20% people wearing masks in public. I am not worried about this virus even though i am old (64). When I go into a store, i wear a bandana just so others around me are at ease.
i am in an isolated location about 20 miles from the city, with a few acres I can wander in to eliminate that cabin fever. Visited a friend in town and it got to me quick, so i would walk back and forth in the alley behind her apartment. Internet strains are here, too. No cell phone service up here, and uploading a 20 min video file can take up to 12 hours! Hope you millenials can handle it when there is a burp in the system and areas of the country are down for a while.
Hope all of you are staying healthy and safe
