damont

(Originally posted to my GoFundMe earlier today, so I didn't bother to change the timestamp. This is basically copied verbatim (modulo formatting), including the fundraising stuff at the end; I *was* posting to GoFundMe after all. Feel free to ignore those bits if you want. Because of the admin issue noted in the post, the updated link to the fundraiser will be provided in the post itself.)

I don't have much in the way of "Links from all over" to post right now in the "SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 related PSA / traditional weblogging meets the usual begging post" series, so here's a relative quickie with one from a few months back that I think I just discovered this week.

The Astounding Physics of N95 Masks

minutephysics is a fun channel for me, even if it's not one I watch regularly. Anyway, since the link is about masks let me remind you again that whenever you're going into a building that's not your home, or going outside and expect to come within 10 feet of other people for more than a couple of seconds, wear a mask that covers the nose and mouth and make sure you're actually COVERING both your nose and mouth with it.

One last administrative note to wrap this up. GoFundMe changed payment processors recently and had to clone the old fundraisers from before the changeover. As a result, if anyone had bookmarked a link to my fundraiser, that bookmark points to the OLD fundraiser which no longer accepts donations and doesn't get new updates. So please bookmark the NEW (cloned) fundraiser instead! Here's the new link...

Thank you for all your support, and I'll catch you next week.

Thursday was the day we got combobulated soon enough to consider early voting. Alas, the satellite voting centers don't open until NEXT week, and we didn't want to mail in our ballots because reasons, so off to the County Government Center we went.

When we got there, the voting queue ran up one side of the center hedge, looped around the flagpole, back down the other side of the hedge, across to the sidewalk near one of the driveways, back up that sidewalk, across the driveway in front of the building, across the approach to the building, and about 100 feet into the building. What you see here is most of the "last" quarter of the queue along the hedge. It took us just about 2 hours to get in to vote.


Due to COVID19, Fairfax County (1) wasn't giving out the usual stickers, and (2) was giving out takeaway pens so voters weren't passing germs around via pens.

For those of you who might be wondering: the "short break" I mentioned in my most recent post is mostly a short break from posting to my GoFundMe... but will also be a break from pandemic-related posts. (There will be a short vacation for a few days next week as part of this.)

In the meantime it's finally time to start a new series of posts with the overarching topic "My Past In Popular Music." This was inspired by watching a bunch of music critics on YouTube, many of whom have started making videos about the best/worst hit songs of years going all the way back to the 1950s. Since most (if not all) of these critics are under the age of 35, it occurred to me that there was one thing these relative youngsters simply couldn't provide. It's one thing to go back and revisit years from 1996 on to the present, but for most of them, if they look at a year before 1996, the knowledge they have is all second-hand. I, on the other hand, *lived* through each of those years, unless we go back to "before USA Beatlemania".

So I decided to take a larger look back at each year of my life in US pop music, though I'll probably not go any more recent than the mid-1990s. (And maybe I'll look further back as well, in which case it won't be "My" past in pop music, just *The* Past...) These posts are going to be strictly on Dreamwidth for now; I'm not ready to tackle a podcast, much less a YouTube type video. But before I make my first post, here's an overview of what those posts will be like.

A. For each quarter of the year, I will look at the Top Twentysomething songs of that quarter and rank each one on a scale of 0 to 5: Terrible, Bad, Meh, Decent, Good, Excellent. Occasionally a song will be Exceptionally Great (a rank of 6). Hopefully *lesss* occasionally, a song will be Exceptionally Horrid (a rank of *negative* 1).

B. For each year as a whole, I will list my Top Ten(-Plus) Best Hits, with Honorable Mentions. I will also list my Top Ten(-Plus) Worst Hits, with Dishonorable Mentions. In keeping with precedents previously set by a few of the YouTube critics, the format of the Top Ten+ is a bit more fungible (you can call it "cheaty" if you like)... for example, I can choose to lump everything by one artist into one entry. I can guarantee there will be some of this going on because I've already prepped one year for writing about, and realized very quickly I wouldn't survive without cheating a bit. Maybe more than just a bit.

C. And for each year I will look at the Year-End list and rank each song on it with the same scale as the quarterly rankings. The Year-End list will always include some songs that didn't make any quarterly list, and likely leave out some songs that DID make a quarterly list. The year-end list will be at least 100 songs, and almost certainly more, for reasons I'll explain below.

Anyway, before I go any further, allow me to set up the ground rules.

( Ground rules )

Again, for the quarterly Top 20+ and year-end Top 100+ there are usually six tiers of rankings: Terrible, Bad, Meh, Decent, Good, and Excellent. On rare occasions I will add Exceptionally Horrid and Exceptionally Great categories as needed.

And with that, stay tuned for my first post of actual content in this series, coming soon! If you have any suggestions, please leave them in the comments.

(Originally posted to my GoFundMe earlier today, so I didn't bother to change the timestamp. This is basically copied verbatim (modulo formatting), including the fundraising stuff at the end; I *was* posting to GoFundMe after all. Feel free to ignore those bits if you want. Link to the fundraiser will be provided in the comments and upon request.)

It's finally time for another update in the "SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 related PSA / traditional weblogging / usual begging post mashup" series. Today I'm coming back to pharma-chemist Derek Lowe's blog in Science Translational Medicine. I've got nearly three weeks of his blog posts to sift through, so here are the pieces I want to share in this forum. (If you want to read his other posts, feel free!)

The first one is a much more general thing but I think it's well worth a read, about trends in drug and vaccine development.

New Drugs and New Structures

The rest are more SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 specific.

Bradykinin and the Coronavirus

Serious Adverse Event Time

The Russian Vaccine Data

Drug Repurposing: How Often Does It Work? (Ed. note: and a bit of why it does and doesn't)

Vaccine Transparency

Monoclonal Antibody Data

The Vaccine Protocols

Hey, that was only eight links! For three weeks it could have been 12 or more, but like the rest of us I suspect COVID fatigue has set in. (And he does have some truly unrelated posts as well, which are still good reads but I didn't link here.) And with that all out of the way, it's time for the usual begging part of this post. As anyone who's been reading these posts can guess, before and in addition to the usual plea for help for ourselves, I'm going to ask those of you who are able to SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BUSINESSES. Some businesses were essential and never closed during the lockdowns. Others, after having opened back up, are now trying to stay open to what extent they can as we struggle through various phases of "reopening" including going back to more restrictions as needed. So please do what you can to help keep your local economy a little bit more afloat. Locally owned businesses are, and will continue to be, struggling to survive and get back on their feet, so please patronize them as much as you can. BUY LOCAL. Please however, do so in a safe manner. Keep on wearing masks and other protective equipment when going shopping in person, continue social distancing. Act intelligently, because I know you can.

( Rest of the begging stuff is behind the cut. )

(Originally posted to my GoFundMe, and backdated to the date of that original post. This is basically copied verbatim (modulo formatting), including the fundraising stuff at the end; I *was* posting to GoFundMe after all. Feel free to ignore those bits if you want. Link to the fundraiser will be provided in the comments and upon request.)

It's been a couple of weeks since the last "SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 related PSA / traditional weblogging combined with the usual begging post" -- I skipped last week because the available links at the time felt like they were only rehashing stuff I'd already posted. So this week I'm sticking with our pharmaceutical chemist blogging friend Derek Lowe. Let's see what he's had to say about pandemic-related stuff in his posts for Science Translational Medicine in the last two weeks before Labor Day.

Preparing For the Vaccine Results

Thoughts On a New Coronavirus Test (And on Testing)

Cold Chain (And Colder Chain) Distribution

It’s Weird Down There

Coronavirus Vaccine Roundup, Early September

And now we turn to the usual begging part of this post. As anyone who's been reading these posts can guess, before and in addition to the usual plea for help for ourselves, I'm going to ask those of you who are able to SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BUSINESSES. Some businesses were essential and never closed during the lockdowns. Others, after having opened back up, are now trying to stay open to what extent they can as we struggle through various phases of "reopening" including going back to more restrictions as needed. So please do what you can to help keep your local economy a little bit more afloat. Locally owned businesses are, and will continue to be, struggling to survive and get back on their feet, so please patronize them as much as you can. BUY LOCAL. Please however, do so in a safe manner. Keep on wearing masks and other protective equipment when going shopping in person, continue social distancing. Act intelligently, because I know you can.

( Rest of the begging stuff is behind the cut. )

(Originally posted to my GoFundMe earlier TODAY, so I haven't bothered to backtime it. This is basically copied verbatim (modulo formatting), including the fundraising stuff at the end; I *was* posting to GoFundMe after all. Feel free to ignore those bits if you want. Link to the fundraiser will be provided in the comments and upon request.)

Let's check out some links from all over for this week's installment of "SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 related PSA / traditional weblogging plus the usual begging post mashup" -- and let's start with the Consequences of Stupid Dept.:

Barrow County, Georgia, schools will move to online learning after 90 staff had to quarantine due to Covid-19

Georgia high school closed due to coronavirus in district with 1K in quarantine (not the same school as the previous headline)

One man attending church service with coronavirus infected 91 others

Oklahoma high school student knowingly went to class with coronavirus, officials say

UNC-Chapel Hill goes to remote learning after 135 COVID-19 cases within week of starting classes

Notre Dame suspends in-person classes after COVID-19 cases surge following off-campus parties

Coronavirus outbreak linked to wedding reception in Maine

From the Think Of The Children Dept.:

Children Can Get Severe COVID-19, CDC Says — Especially Black And Hispanic Children

New CDC guidance says Covid-19 rates in children are 'steadily increasing'

And lastly, from the Face Mask Research Dept.:

Simple New Experiment Reveals Which Face Masks Are Best at Blocking Droplets

Researchers created a test to determine which masks are the least effective

Scientists tested 14 types of masks — here are the ones that worked and didn’t

All right, that was a lot, particularly rather a lot of stupid behavior. Let's move on to the usual begging part of this post. For the benefit of anyone who's reading one of these posts for the first time, or at least the first time since April: before and in addition to the usual plea for help for ourselves, I'm going to ask those of you who are able to SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BUSINESSES. Yes the spring lockdowns were, in general, too short; even more places than before are now going back to more restrictive phases. But some businesses were essential and never closed, or after having reopened are now trying to stay open to what extent they can. So please do what you can to help keep your local economy a little bit more afloat. Locally owned businesses are, and will continue to be, struggling to survive and get back on their feet, so please patronize them as much as you can. BUY LOCAL. Please however, do so in a safe manner. Keep on wearing masks and other protective equipment when going shopping in person, continue social distancing. Act intelligently, because I know you can.

( Rest of the begging stuff is behind the cut. )

(Originally posted to my GoFundMe, and backdated to the date of that original post. This is basically copied verbatim (modulo formatting), including the fundraising stuff at the end; I *was* posting to GoFundMe after all. Feel free to ignore those bits if you want. Link to the fundraiser will be provided in the comments and upon request.)

One tropical storm can really mess up your whole day. The flooding in this area was the worst in at least a decade (though Superstorm Sandy's effects were much worse overall). More relevant to this post is that it knocked power out for most of the day. So much for internet access and therefore posting the intended update here. So, delayed by a day, here is the next installment of "SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 related PSA / traditional weblogging combined with the usual begging post" where we continue our look around the Net. Apologies if the overall tone of this post comes out kind of dire.

I have friends and relatives doing contact tracing. It's been a really difficult slog for them.

Contact Tracing Is Failing in Many States. Here’s Why.

It appears that capacity for making certain disinfectants is not only insufficient, but will take even more time to increase. I note that in this vicinity, hand sanitizer has been widely available for at least 2 months, though it's more expensive than before. Local distilleries really stepped up to the plate here. But things requiring more tricky chemicals are proving more difficult for small businesses to fill the gap.

Clorox Won't Have Enough Disinfecting Wipes Until 2021, Its CEO Says

Yet another thing we're discovering about how this virus is Mean As Hell:

How Covid-19 can damage the brain

Don't forget, kids can get this disease too, and those older than 9 are likely just as likely to pass it on to other kids AND ADULTS as adults are:

COVID-19 outbreak discovered at St. Paul's Hospital NICU (Vancouver, BC)

85 children under age 2 tested positive for coronavirus in 1 Texas county, as U.S. sets new record

North Texas Counties Report at Least 433 Babies Test Positive for Coronavirus Since March

Older Children Spread the Coronavirus Just as Much as Adults, Large Study Finds

Researchers find COVID-infected children are major carriers, further complicating the school-reopening debate

Okay, that was a lot. And on top of all that, it's time for the usual begging part of this post. I'm utterly certain that all of you who've been reading these non-photo posts will be shocked (Shocked, I tell you!) to hear what's next: before and in addition to the usual plea for help for ourselves, I'm going to ask those of you who are able to SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BUSINESSES. It's becoming apparent that the spring lockdowns were, in general, too short, as even more places than before are now going back to more restrictive phases (and in a few cases, back to the MOST restrictive). Regardless of that, some places of business either never closed (having been deemed essential) or are now trying to stay open to some degree after having already reopened. So please do what you can to help keep your local economy a little bit more afloat. Locally owned businesses are, and will continue to be, struggling to surviva and get back on their feet, so please patronize them as much as you can. BUY LOCAL. Please however, do so in a safe manner. Keep on wearing masks and other protective equipment when going shopping in person, continue social distancing. Act intelligently, because I know you can.

( Rest of the begging stuff is behind the cut. )

(Originally posted to my GoFundMe, and backdated to the date of that original post. This is basically copied verbatim (modulo formatting), including the fundraising stuff at the end; I *was* posting to GoFundMe after all. Feel free to ignore those bits if you want. Link to the fundraiser will be provided in the comments and upon request.)

It's been over a week since I last posted a "SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 related PSA / traditional weblogging combined with the usual begging post" type post. For a variety of reasons I just didn't have the energy to do one last week. It has therefore been a while since I last posted a recap of what our pharmaceutical chemist friend Derek Lowe has been posting for Science Translational Medicine about the pandemic. So let's see what he's had to say in the past week-and-large-change.

I'm starting with one article that's only indirectly related:

Formulating RNA – And Owning It

More directly pandemic related posts:

More Pfizer Phase I Results: Antibodies, Viral Mutations, and T Cells

New Data on the Oxford/AZ Vaccine

New Data on the CanSino Vaccine

AI, Machine Learning and the Pandemic

And now, as my labeling at the top of this post prophesied, it's time for the usual begging stuff part of today's program. As anyone who's read these weblogging-and-begging posts in the past can guess, before and in addition to the usual plea for help for ourselves, I'm going to ask those of you who are able to SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BUSINESSES. It's becoming apparent that the spring lockdowns were, in general, too short, as even more places than before are now going back to more restrictive phases (and in a few cases, back to the MOST restrictive). Regardless of that, some places of business either never closed (having been deemed essential) or are now trying to stay open to some degree after having already reopened. So please do what you can to help keep your local economy a little bit more afloat. Locally owned businesses are, and will continue to be, struggling to surviva and get back on their feet, so please patronize them as much as you can. BUY LOCAL. Please however, do so in a safe manner. Keep on wearing masks and other protective equipment when going shopping in person, continue social distancing. Act intelligently, because I know you can.

( Rest of the begging stuff is behind the cut. )

(Originally posted to my GoFundMe, and backdated to the date of that original post. This is basically copied verbatim (modulo formatting), including the fundraising stuff at the end; I *was* posting to GoFundMe after all. Feel free to ignore those bits if you want. Link to the fundraiser will be provided in the comments and upon request.)

Today's episode of "SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 related PSA / traditional weblogging andthe usual begging post mashup" looks around the wider universe for various links.

Complications from COVID-19 may depend on von Willebrand factor in the blood

Scientists warn of potential wave of COVID-linked brain damage

Coronavirus pandemic could cause wave of brain damage, scientists warn

How the geography of the pandemic is determined by centuries-old regional differences

‘The Second Wave’ of COVID Hits Israel Like a Tsunami

And now on to the usual begging stuff. Unless this is the first of these weblogging-and-begging posts you've ever read, you can guess what comes next: before and in addition to the usual plea for help for ourselves, I'm going to ask those of you who are able to SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BUSINESSES. States are now in various stages of reopening after the spring lockdowns, even if evidence is piling up that this was premature from a public health standpoint, and some states are retightning in response to increases in infection rates. Still, regardless of what stage of reopening you are currently at, please do what you can to help keep your local economy a little bit more afloat. Locally owned businesses are, and will continue to be, struggling to surviva and get back on their feet, so please patronize them as much as you can. BUY LOCAL. Please however, do so in a safe manner. Keep on wearing masks and other protective equipment when going shopping in person, continue social distancing. Act intelligently, because I know you can.

( Rest of the begging section is behind the cut. )

(Originally posted to my GoFundMe, and backdated to the date of that original post. This is basically copied verbatim (modulo formatting), including the fundraising stuff at the end; I *was* posting to GoFundMe after all. Feel free to ignore those bits if you want. Link to the fundraiser will be provided in the comments and upon request.)

Today's installment of "SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 related PSA / traditional weblogging and the usual begging post mashup" is the third list of links from all over from the BIG list that rose up after the past 2-3 weeks' large increase in news about the pandemic. And yes, I haven't checked back in with Derek Lowe in almowst two weeks either, so I'll get to that in a couple of days. For now, on with today's links.

A friend in the field has noted this article from the NY Times but applies some caveats, saying:

I'd go with the subtitle "Geneticists said more evidence is needed to determine if a common genetic variation of the virus spreads more easily between people."
I checked the preview scripps paper a few weeks back and it was very artificial. In specific condition an artificial incomplete virus with that mutation expressed more spikes and binds more to cells artificially modified to express the target protein.
OTOH, neutralizing antibodies from recovered patients could neutralize both virus sequence variants similarly. So I wouldn't go too far with conclusion about the infectious effect in humans.

Here's the article in question.

Next, a couple more items from the scientific front lines on developing vaccines and treatments:

All You Wanted To Know About Coronavirus Vaccine Science But Were Afraid To Ask

Life-saving coronavirus drug 'major breakthrough'

Plus another note on just how this particular virus can really mess you up.

Inside the body, the coronavirus is even more sinister than scientists had realized

And now on to the usual begging stuff. As you can guess it you've been reading these posts during the pandemic, before and in addition to the usual plea for help for ourselves, I'm going to ask those of you who are able to SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BUSINESSES. States are now in various stages of reopening after the spring lockdowns, even if that might actually be premature from a public health standpoint, and some states are retightning in response to increases in infection rates. Still, as things start to open up again, help keep your local economy a little bit more afloat. Locally owned businesses are, and will continue to be, struggling to get back on their feet, so please patronize them as much as you can. BUY LOCAL. Please however, do so in a safe manner. Keep on wearing masks and other protective equipment when going shopping, continue social distancing. Act intelligently, because I know you can.

( Rest of the begging section is behind the cut. )