Tag Archive for: covid-19

Quarantine Queries

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The guys over at Chartr use Google Trends to gather up lovely data for us all to look at. A LOT of it is very interesting. At a time like this where we are all in quarantine, what better time to look at the data. So they checked out Google trends to map out ways we’re living differently.

First of all, a lot of us are googling ‘What is Zoom’. Why is this important? Well a few months ago Zoom only had 10 million users. Now? Well, there’s over 200 million users.

“Bars Near Me” has been replaced with “Wine Delivery”. Those who are looking for puzzles may be digging out old copies of the sims.

Furthermore “Gym Membership” search queries has been replaced by “Online Yoga”. While no one is searching for “Hot Outfit For A Date” and “Weekend Getaway” anymore.

Also, no one is searching for “Bus or Train Timetables”, people are searching for “Buy A Desk”, but not “Buy a Suitcase”. While people searching on “How To Watch Harry Potter”

 

Harry Potter is childhood nostalgia and comfort. Therefore it makes sense as to why people are searching for Harry Potter and are re-watching them during quarantine.

Quarantine Potter

Chartr have plotted the number of mentions of Harry Potter books against the screen time of those characters, across all 8 movies. This is so they can see which of the characters were relatively promoted during the transition period from book to screen.

The results showed that the film adaptations of the books, did a pretty good jon. As most of the main characters were promoted well. This suggests that the producers did stick faithfully to the books. However, this could be down to how closely JK Rowling worked on the makings of the films.

Screen Time

However, some characters did in fact do better! Lucius Malfoy was mentioned 249 times. Which would equate to 6 minutes of screen time. Yet he got more than 15 minutes. Narcissa also got more screen time. Though many of the Weasley family, Bill, Percy and Molly got less screen time.

The above chart shows 100 most mentioned characters that got at least 1 minute of screen time. Though some didn’t make it into the films at all! For example Ludo Bagman got 250 mentions in the books. Though he never made it into the movies. Bagman was the head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Peeves the Ghost, Winky the crouch family elf or Charlie Weasley didn’t make the cut either.

Mad Eye Moody also got hit hard. Though his screen time may be attributed to Barty Crouch Jr who pretended to be him in the Goblet of Fire.

Overall though the data suggests a very good adaptation of the books, and the screen did well to portray the book. Which is good considering the over 4200 pages of source material.

 

Technology has served us well in quarantine too. Data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics has shown an interesting trend in the US over the last 45 years.

Things produced in the US per hour (Productivity) has gone up 120% since 1970. While the compensation of workers has gone up by little over 50%. Why aren’t they closer together like before 1975?

Well, it could be attributed to globalisation, bargaining power, minimum wages, public policy and legislation all impact how wages are determined.

Quarantine Robots

Technology is getting better and better. More and more people are being replaced by technology. Which on the surface of things is a good thing. A factory worker could go do what he/she wants. The new car people want to buy is cheaper as it was made by a robot, which works more productively and up to 24 hours a day.

However, if retraining is difficult or there isn’t as much competition, the company will reap all the benefits. Which in turn will result in the transfer of income from labour to capital owners. While studies suggest consistently that technological change decouples wages from productivity.

The chart is not intended to show a political point but to stimulate debate when many jobs which are deemed lower skill are absolutely essential to our survival.

While a study from McKinsey suggests that “about half of all the activities people are paid to do in the world’s workforce could potentially be automated by adapting currently demonstrated technologies”. Automation is coming, and if we manage it properly it could be wonderful for millions of people.

(Chartr)

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6 Ways An Apple Watch Can Keep You In Shape!

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Apple Watch is a great way to help you stay fit, it’s a great fitness helper and an incredible gadget too! So, why not get involved and find out how the Apple Watch can help you stay fit. While not just in lockdown but also when we return to regular old normal day to day life!

1. Activity Sharing


At times like this, people feel more isolated. So why not get involved with the Activity Sharing features! While this is a great time to try it out with your friends. As it’s a way to make keeping in shape fun! Furthermore it can boost your spirits. As it can be just as much about being active. As it is about staying connected and social! Get out there and challenge your friends and family!

 

 


2. Activity Competitions

So as we stated in #1, you can set competitions. While more specifically, activity competitions! Yet, it doesn’t have to be about winning and losing. So just set a goal that is easy to hit. Therefore aim to tie each other or max out the points for a certain number of days. Simple! Therefore a simple shared goal can be a fun addition to the week for you and your friends. Help each other stay connected. Motivate one another. While staying fit!

3. Stand Reminder

Also, don’t forget to pay attention to the stand reminder! Use it as an encouragement to get active. Not just a notification to ignore! Just walk around the house/flat if you can’t go out. So just do a few minutes every hour over 12 hours. Therefore it can really add up over the course of the whole day

4. Awards

So, remember competitions? Check out Awards tab in the Activity app on iPhone. Compete with yourself and go for an award you haven’t received yet

5. Mindfulness

While, the Breathe app is an easy way to take a few minutes during the day to reset. As your mental health is just as important as your physical!  Furthermore, there are also many guided meditation apps on the App Store to select!
Also, whilst you’re doing so, why not check out new podcasts on Apple Podcasts or playlists on Apple Music!

6. Apps


While it’s a great time to explore the App Store on iPhone or Apple Watch, get moving! Download apps which encourage group fitness classes or live classes! Experiment with activities and try some in the privacy of your own home!

 

 

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Top 5 Screen Sharing Apps

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Coronavirus has kept us all isolated and at home. Many of us are experiencing a lockdown in our respective countries and we’re all looking for ways to keep in touch with one another. As we all are looking stay social with one another, because life’s better shared, right?! We’re also looking to do the things that we’d normally do with friends but find ways to do it online too. Here’s the Top 5 screen sharing apps!

Google Hangouts

Google Hangouts Meet allows you to connect with your team anywhere with video calls! It’s super simple to use, simply set up a meeting and share a link. You can have a total of 30 people in a call too!
Meet is fully intergrated into G Suite so you can join meeting through a Calendar or Email invite too! All the important details are there if you need them. G Suite’s enterprise edition allows a dial in phone number for each meeting. So everyone can join, even if they are on the move! Simply via 2 taps on a smartphone and an iOS/Android app.
All Google Hangout Meets are encrypted and safe to join, even if you are off site.

Zoom

Zoom is another really great option to keep in contact with people. It’s super easy to join and collaborate across any device. You can sync it with a calendar system (Google, Outlook, iCal) to schedule in chats easily. You can have HD video and audio for your meetings with support for up to an incredible 1000 p

articipants and have 49 participants on screen at once.

Furthermore you can record your meetings to the cloud or locally. Plus get auto-generated searchable transcripts! Collaborate with other people on the call and share screens simultaneously. Even co-annotate for a more interactive meeting. Share videos and photos, without uploading content with screen sharing.

Your calls are encrypted end to end, they have role-based user security, password protection, waiting rooms and even place an attendee on hold. There’s group chats available, searchable history, share files and there’s even a TEN YEAR archive!

Have a virtual background to look meeting-ready with ‘touch up my appearance’ Start Q and A’s to keep participants enganged, allow virtual hand raising and also track engagement of those involved with an attention indicator.

Furthermore there’s expaned audio options, with VoIP and toll-based dial-in for 55+ countries, global toll free and call out and dial in numbers.

Download: Apple / Google / Desktop

House Party – Lots of Fun 

Houseparty the biggest app right now during lockdown. Available on Android, iOS, iPad OS and macOS, the face to face social network focuses on video chats, quizzes and games to bring people together. Which is perfect when we can’t be together physically.

Houseparty has been around since 2016, but has surged in popularity during being stuck at home for long periods of time.

Houseparty has been called a more informal version of Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams and Zoom. As Houseparty has quizzes and games in it too. So it’s more than just talking in front of a camera.

Download here: Apple / Google

Instagram Co-watch

launched a media sharing feature. This feature will allow you to view instagram posts together over video chat.

Firstly, start a video chat by tapping the video chat icon in the direct messaging inbox. While you can also do this in an existing thread too. Then view saved, liked and suggested photos/videos by tapping the photo icon in the bottom left hand corner of an ongoing video chat.

Download here: Apple / Google

Squad – Watch a number of things and screen share

Squad is a really cool app that allows you to hang out with friends over video chat and watch your favourite content together! Watch a YouTube video, a Tik Tok even a movie! Furthermore you can share your screen to play games or watch or share other content on places like Twitter or Facebook.
Share your screen to share websites to get ideas on what thing to buy, get help with research, get an opinion on some music, even have a little house party! The possibilities are endless!
It’s super super easy and the video quality is incredible too! There’s no lag when watching video content either. It’s perfectly synced up so both are you are watching it at the right time. No need to time it correctly!
Download here: Apple / Google

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Instagram Co-Watch

How To Use Instagram Co-Watch

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Coronavirus has kept us all isolated and at home. Many of us are experiencing a lockdown in our respective countries and we’re all looking for ways to keep in touch with one another. As we all are looking stay social with one another, because life’s better shared, right?! We’re also looking to do the things that we’d normally do with friends but find ways to do it online too. Introducing Instagram Co-Watch!

Well Instagram have come through with a brand new feature! They’ve launched a media sharing feature. This feature will allow you to view instagram posts together over video chat.

Firstly, start a video chat by tapping the video chat icon in the direct messaging inbox. While you can also do this in an existing thread too. Then view saved, liked and suggested photos/videos by tapping the photo icon in the bottom left hand corner of an ongoing video chat.

So what are you waiting for? Start up Instagram Co-Watch and connect with your friends and start sharing all of the latest meme’s, photography and videos that you all love. Share it with your friends and find ways to kill time whilst in lockdown!

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How many people will you kill?

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We’re all on lockdown at the moment here in the UK. Following in the footsteps of Italy, Spain and France. Though it may seem like it’s nothing to go out and live life as you normally would. You could be putting a silly amount of people at risk. So website How many people will you kill, helps to shock you into behaving correctly.

The site does some mathematical magic to work out how many people you will kill by going out. Potentially infecting people. Remember you may be infected and not even know it!

You put in your location, how many people will be there and an average age. It will give you a run down of how many people you’ll infect. Furthermore it will tell you of those infected how many people you will kill.

How Many People Will You Kill?

(The below information has been copied/pasted, we need it to be 100% accurate)

The calculator pulls in the latest figures for confirmed cases for each country and region. Due to limited testing, asymptomatic cases and a lag between contracting the virus and test results, the true numbers of infected people are much higher. This is evident when looking at the number of diagnosed cases vs true cases in the early stages of the spread in Hubei:

The proportion of undetected cases is estimated by comparing the measured fatality rate with the fatality rate in countries with the best testing, for instance South Korea. Higher fatality rates in a country are assumed to imply limited testing and hence more hidden cases.

The data from South Korea also depicts considerable variation in the number of confirmed cases across different age groups. Party-goers in their 20s are more likely to contract the virus than typically less sociable older people. This distribution is hidden in countries such as Italy, where only those with the most severe symptoms are tested:

Combining the recent infections data with the hidden case and age factors gives a probability that each of your attendees is infected.

Number of immediate infections

COVID-19 has proven to be very infectious, so it’s assumed that for small gatherings if anyone in your group has the virus, they’ll infect everyone else.

Crucially this means the expected number of direct infections scales as the square of the number of attendees. If you’re really set on holding an event, best not allow +1s as that’ll make the impact 4 times worse.

Long-term impact of these infections

Exponential growth means a small number of infections can quickly explode to a vast number, as has been seen around the world. For the countries still battling with the epidemic, we assume the worst (but very possible) scenario, that they fail to control the spread, and eventually 60% of the population become infected. For the countries who have demonstrated they can contain the disease. The number of possible final infections has been capped to a much smaller proportion of their population.

Your event is responsible for the infections it causes instantly as a fraction of all the infections at that time. Multiplied by the final number of infections. The expected deaths are estimated to be 1% of this figure.

There’s an argument that, in this worst-case scenario, the deaths would have happened anyway, with or without your event, you just make them happen sooner. In which case you’d need to calculate the extra pressure on the health care system, due to the larger and more sudden peak in infections. This approach would also work for considering the non-worst-case scenarios, where the disease is eradicated before it infects most of the population. This refinement can be added when the effectiveness of the European lockdowns becomes apparent.

(How Many People Will You Kill)

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Houseparty App

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Houseparty the biggest app right now during lockdown. Available on Android, iOS, iPad OS and macOS, the face to face social network focuses on video chats, quizzes and games to bring people together. Which is perfect when we can’t be together physically.

Houseparty has been around since 2016, but has surged in popularity during being stuck at home for long periods of time.

Houseparty has been called a more informal version of Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams and Zoom. As Houseparty has quizzes and games in it too. So it’s more than just talking in front of a camera.

How to

Simply enter your name, email address and mobile number and choose a unique username!

Next link up your contacts, either your phone book or link up your Facebook.

Houseparty will then recognise them and add them allowing you to dive into chats instantly.

On the mains creen you’ll see your face in the selfie screen. The plus icon in the top right hand side of the screen will allow you to add in contacts and group people together for houseparty group calls!

Below that there’s a dice icon, which allows you to start some games, including pictionary game Quick Draw and Heads Up.

Select a game and then add friends to play with you.

To start/join a game swipe up! You’ll be able to see your friends recently spoken to and join House Parties which are basically group chats (max of 8 people). Even join ones that are on-going!

Grab a mate’s attention by hitting the hand wave icon next to their name and send them a notification. Tap the phone icon to give them a call!

Swipe right to go to the inbox to send a private video message when they are not around. You are also able to switch between cameras by using the toggle and a padlock icon to lock the chat to prevent people joining and have a private conversation.

To exit a call, just hit the cross icon in the bottom right corner of the screen.

Download Houseparty: iOS / Google

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Amazon Tracking Employees

Amazon shipping only essential products in Italy and France

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Amazon has temporarily stopped taking orders on non essential products on it’s Italian and French sites. This in an effort to stop the spread and contain the novel coronavirus.

“As customers use e-commerce to support their social distancing efforts, we too have implemented social distancing guidance within our fulfillment centers to keep our employees safe and healthy,” An email from an Amazon spokesperson to The Verge 

While customers can still order many of the products from 3rd party sellers who are able to shop directly to customers. Essential products include food and hygiene items. Amazon have said that the measure will allow “fulfillment center associates to focus on receiving and shipping the products customers need most at this time.”

Furthermore a notice on Amazon read:

“We are prioritizing the most requested products and some items may be temporarily unavailable. We appreciate your understanding at this time when we prioritize the products that customers need most. All orders already confirmed will be delivered regularly.”

While 5 workers have tested positive at Amazon Warehouses in Europe for coronavirus Bloomberg reported. Workers at an Amazon Warehouse in Italy went on strike on March 17th to protest inadequate action by the company to protect them.

Italy has become one of the hardest areas hit by COVID-19. As more than 53K people infected and 48K dead according to the New York Times. With Saturday alone, reporting 793 new deaths in one day, reported by the Times.

(The Verge)

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Toilet Paper Calculator

How long will your toilet paper last?

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There’s a toilet paper calculator to help you know how long you’ve got left based on the amount of rolls you have and the number of toilet visits you take per day. It’s called How Much Toilet Paper?! So helping during the time where people panic buy outrageous amounts of toilet paper.

We love talking about toilet trips here at How To Kill An Hour. We delved deep into how various different celebs wiped their back side. So now it’s time to find out how long that paper will last!

Staying calm and rational means that there’ll be plenty for everyone. The website starts with an average of 10 rolls left in the house with 3 visits per day. This will last you 53 days. Which is more than enough to last for a while.

For those wanting to delve down deeper into the more advanced settings. Which includes number of sheets per roll and the average number of wipes per visit.

(Metro)

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Twitter Fake Tweets Removed!

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Twitter are cracking down on fake tweets during the coronavirus outbreak. Tweets with promote fake treatments or deny expert guidance will be marked as harmful. Then removed. Content like this could place people at a high risk and contravene it’s safety rules

Furthermore this could include claims that specific groups are more susceptible of contracting COVID-19. While posting unverified claims that incite people to action and cause widespread panic. Plus posting about harmful or non harmful treatments which are ineffective.

‘We will enforce this in close coordination with trusted partners, including public health authorities and governments, and continue to use and consult with information from those sources when reviewing content.’ Twitter post on it’s website

This follows announcements from various video social media sites, such as Facebook, Google, LinkedIN and Reddit, who are committed to work together. Alongside governments in response to the pandemic.

Social Media

In a joint statement, they said they’d work to help people stay connected during the isolation. Furthermore fighting any misinformation and fraud linked to the outbreak.

‘We are working closely together on Covid-19 response efforts,’ the statement said. ‘We’re helping millions of people stay connected while also jointly combating fraud and misinformation about the virus, elevating authoritative content on our platforms, and sharing critical updates in co-ordination with government healthcare agencies around the world.’

Social media sites and search engines have placed official guidance on their sites. From the NHS and World Health Organisation at the top of search results. Other platforms are also removing any misinformation linked to coronavirus which is either flagged or spotted by them.

Other platforms have also pledged to work quickly to remove any misinformation. Which is linked to the virus which is flagged to or spotted by them .

(Metro)

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Facebook

Facebook / Instagram lower video quality in EU!

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Following YouTube and Netflix’s decisoin to lower video quality to help European networks deal with demand, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Facebook and Instagram will also temporarily reduce video bitrates in Europe. Therefore helping to handle “bandwidth constraints” and keep people in touch.

The sheer audience sizes of Facebook and Instagram could cause additional strain of users are more active than usual. Facebook had 288M daily users in Europe as of Summer 2019. With many users turning to video chat to keep in touch with people they’d otherwise meet in person.

With the news of reducing video bitrates it might help people work from home and otherwise get the internet services they expect.

“To help alleviate any potential network congestion, we will temporarily reduce bit rates for videos on Facebook and Instagram in Europe. We are committed to working with our partners to manage any bandwidth constraints during this period of heavy demand, while also ensuring people are able to remain connected using Facebook apps and services during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

(Engadget)

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