The Covid19 thread

[Annoyed]

In Sweden, there is a company that has microchips for it's employees. The chips get them into and out of the building, logged into their computer workstations and snacks from the vending machines. The chips also register their paychecks. They are already saying that the microchips are the way of the future for everyone. I'm so not happy about that.

They can put one into my cold, dead hide,

I can easily see the benefits of this. I like the idea. But the plain and simple fact is that there are far too many concerns regarding who can see that data and under what circumstances, And that is legitimate access. We are horridly sloppy with data privacy. I gotta say "drop dead" on this idea.

[epg20]

UPDATE

ok, here is what I heard today, covid 19 soes VERY poorly in sunlight and high heat and humidity.

https://www.aol.com/article/news/202...mmer/24017889/

[Annoyed]

UPDATE

ok, here is what I heard today, covid 19 soes VERY poorly in sunlight and high heat and humidity.

https://www.aol.com/article/news/202...mmer/24017889/

This shows the opposite. Seems to do well in the northern parts of the planet. And it's early spring in the northern hemisphere.
The only active area in the southern hemisphere seems to be China. Wonder why that is.

https://news.google.com/covid19/map?...=US&ceid=US:en

[Gatefan1976]

Sigh.

[Womble]

I have been seen more and more people claim not to have cash (pre-SARS-CoV-2). Honestly, it's going to happen by trend. It took cellphones a few decades, but they are driving landlines instinct in people's homes. Easy use of debit cards haven't been around as long as cellphones, and that gives you a general idea. Good or bad, pros or cons, it's happening.

My cash has been quarantined in my wallet for much longer than 14 days now. I have it, but I barely ever use it.

Fully eliminating cash transactions - and physical plastic cards along with them - would be a tremendous benefit to all mankind. You would not believe how many people there are out there without bank accounts, and how expensive it is to move money without one. A unified digital money transfer system would do wonders to alleviate poverty worldwide, reduce violent crime - and yes, limit the spread of diseases.

Trouble is, it is difficult at this stage. The world is not sufficiently unified yet, and Covid-19 will set unification of systems and standards back. Many places lack reliable internet coverage. The pre-digital generation struggles to adopt new tech (hell, even I have some issues with newer apps, their interface makes more and more assumptions about the user's familiarity with digital technologies). Also, the current technologies of choice are... sub-optimal. I don't like NFC-based payment method because it still requires point-blank proximity or touch. QR codes... Russia is currently using them to control people's movement during quarantine, but scanning QR codes at entrance to metro stations created long, dense waiting lines which are perfect for spreading disease. Things have to go more digital than today for a fully cashless society. Also, cross-border connectivity for tourists etc. is tricky to solve.

[VampyreWraith]

I just went to the small Italian supermarket about a mile from where I live (this is the farthest I've been from home in almost a month lol, I've really only needed to go out to buy milk previously). They had everything, including all kinds of meat and toilet paper (you could only by one little 4 pack though). I walked there since I didn't want to lose the parking space in front of my house, so I couldn't by too much, but it was a very nice walk. Maybe next week I'll try going to one of the major chain supermarkets, and see what they have there.

[Falcon Horus]

One huge thing about going all plastic.....have a sustained power outage and your cards are useless. Apps are useless without power running the machines to process them. The internet goes down your apps are useless.

Yeah, but everything will be dead in the water so it wouldn't matter either way.

In Sweden, there is a company that has microchips for it's employees. The chips get them into and out of the building, logged into their computer workstations and snacks from the vending machines. The chips also register their paychecks. They are already saying that the microchips are the way of the future for everyone. I'm so not happy about that.

Hard pass!

ok, here is what I heard today, covid 19 soes VERY poorly in sunlight and high heat and humidity.

https://www.aol.com/article/news/202...mmer/24017889/

National Geographic posted about how the viruses in the Corona-family, which includes COVID-19, can withstand high temps and low temps so no, warmer weather will not make it miraculously go away.

***

LOL!! This is both sad and hilarious. Sad that they had to create the page and hilarious that they felt the need to create this page. Sorry Annoyed -- it's from the WHO:

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public: Myth busters

[Annoyed]

Fully eliminating cash transactions - and physical plastic cards along with them - would be a tremendous benefit to all mankind. You would not believe how many people there are out there without bank accounts, and how expensive it is to move money without one. A unified digital money transfer system would do wonders to alleviate poverty worldwide, reduce violent crime - and yes, limit the spread of diseases.

First, a cashless society would not be a benefit to everyone, For many, it would be a great hindrance or outright unworkable. In order to have it, all transactions would be registered with a central authority and recorded. How would governments and others be allowed to access and use this information? And what about governments and other entities using the information for purposes they aren't supposed to?
Governments simply cannot be trusted to be able to track every transaction between citizens.

Second, how would it alleviate poverty? It's not going to magically put more money in people's accounts. And don't you think all of these people that will now be required to open bank accounts will won't be charged for them? And of course, there will be fees and charges levied on merchants too, and that will be passed to the consumer via increased prices? How do you expect new tracking services to not have costs?

[Annoyed]

LOL!! This is both sad and hilarious. Sad that they had to create the page and hilarious that they felt the need to create this page. Sorry Annoyed -- it's from the WHO:

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public: Myth busters

I can't believe that people actually thought that any virus/disease could be passed over a radio signal of any kind. Kinda shows how pathetic our education system is these days.

[Womble]

First, a cashless society would not be a benefit to everyone, For many, it would be a great hindrance or outright unworkable. In order to have it, all transactions would be registered with a central authority and recorded.

If there is no need to register all digital transactions with a central authority now, there won't be if cash is out of the picture. We're not talking about changing the way digital transactions work but about phasing out cash.

How would governments and others be allowed to access and use this information? And what about governments and other entities using the information for purposes they aren't supposed to?
Governments simply cannot be trusted to be able to track every transaction between citizens.

They'll have the same access to that information as they currently have to your bank account information, and your cash transactions with legitimate businesses which record their transactions as per law. The only difference is that you would not be able to bypass any and all banking for completely under-all-radars cash transactions with entities that do not record them. Legitimate uses of those transactions aren't many.

Second, how would it alleviate poverty? It's not going to magically put more money in people's accounts.

It will save the poorest people lots of money in money transfer fees. People without bank account in the USA pay 4 times more in fees to access their money. In the poorer places, like Southeast Asia and Africa, the difference can be much more.

If I need to transfer money to someone who has a bank account like I do, it costs me NOTHING if I do it with an app, and NIS 1.35 if I do it through my bank's website. When my wife sends money to her mother - who does not have a bank account - the fee is a percentage of the amount being sent, which on the last transfer added up to NIS 8.4 - that's almost 8 times more than bank transfer. Now, 8.4 shekels monthly for us is a trivial amount; back in the Philippines it's the cost of a modest restaurant meal. We only send small amounts to help my wife's elderly parents - but guest workers sending home thousands of dollars in remittances lose more than $100 per transfer. It can add up to over $1000 per year.

Also, people without digital money have difficulty accessing internet-based shopping, which tends to be significantly cheaper than store-based retail.

[quoteAnd don't you think all of these people that will now be required to open bank accounts will won't be charged for them[/quote]
Actually, that is the idea. Basic all-digital bank accounts and debit cards should be free of fees and charges. It already exists even without the government requiring it. Leumi bank in Israel has a fairly popular digital banking sub-brand called Pepper. It's an app-based bank account in which there are no fees for account management or most operations such as money transfer and cash withdrawal (the only operation they charge for is cancelling a check).

And of course, there will be fees and charges levied on merchants too, and that will be passed to the consumer via increased prices? How do you expect new tracking services to not have costs?

These costs will be lower than the costs of handling cash.

This is something people tend to not realize, but businesses are increasingly mindful of - handling cash is EXPENSIVE. It requires maintaining a whole infrastructure - cashiers, tills, armored tracks with armed guards etc. - and risks which could have been entirely avoided, lowering the costs of doing business and therefore prices across the economy. US businesses lose $40bn per year just from theft of cash.

[VampyreWraith]

I can't believe that people actually thought that any virus/disease could be passed over a radio signal of any kind. Kinda shows how pathetic our education system is these days.

I'm more worried about the people who thought spraying themselves down with chlorine would kill the virus if they were already infected.

[Wraithworshipper]

In Iran, they had folks drinking industrial ethynol and methynol because they thought it was a cure or preventative. So sad.

[SGalisa]

I'm not sure the government has to "print" money. But social trends are hard to control.

They don't, not in the USA... the Federal Bank level does not actually PRINT to paper any more. It's all a bunch of numbers done digitally across the board. Move $$ amount from one location to another, or from ONE account / area into another. Eliminates paper movement to a large extent. From what I heard

Spoiler:

from a very reliable source who knows people working in that actual system

Most of the paper money that has been already damaged gets shredded and is not being replaced. It is all controlled digitally or electronically. That is why there are database centers, in addition to the paper flow. Eventually, everything will go all digital.

This whole COVID-19 virus situation is (a convenient *excuse* for) making sure that any money that is physically being handled, and "cleaned" with soap or other chemicals, ends up getting destroyed.

One huge thing about going all plastic.....have a sustained power outage and your cards are useless. Apps are useless without power running the machines to process them. The internet goes down your apps are useless.

A natural disaster like a hurricane, flood or tornado can knock out power for a small or even large area for days or weeks.

That is the fatal weakness of relying totally on plastic.

True. That is why I hope there are still paper transactions, at least until I'm no longer living in this world.

My cash has been quarantined in my wallet for much longer than 14 days now. I have it, but I barely ever use it.

Fully eliminating cash transactions - and physical plastic cards along with them - would be a tremendous benefit to all mankind.

Be *careful* what you wish for/seek. It may end up happening in ways that you will realize are NOT desirable.
Thus, enter the "chip" or *mark of the beast* (economy portion). As dreamy as it may seem to have a totally "cashless" system where ALL of your ID data, plus health and wealth banking and buying/selling items are all embedded into that single object --being labelled a "microchip", some people cannot tolerate any foreign object inside their body. There are other versions already created that are bio-engineered using one's own DNA, to prevent rejection from the "chip", but still... even this type of system, as convenient as it might sound to the general population(s), is not 100% wise. It will still have its pitfalls... nevermind, the entire gov't *mark of the beast* aspects...
There is such a system already being established. Not sure how far along it is, but it is very, VERY close to completion.

I can live with and tolerate having to use a plastic card to buy my groceries, etc., but I cannot tolerate any "microchip" / tattoo thingy injected into my body. I get serious rashes and infections from anything that my skin (internal and external) comes in contact with and rejects. Even dust or clothing fibers that dig into my skin causes a serious allergic reaction.

Trouble is, it is difficult at this stage. The world is not sufficiently unified yet, and Covid-19 will set unification of systems and standards back. Many places lack reliable internet coverage. The pre-digital generation struggles to adopt new tech (hell, even I have some issues with newer apps, their interface makes more and more assumptions about the user's familiarity with digital technologies). Also, the current technologies of choice are... sub-optimal. I don't like NFC-based payment method because it still requires point-blank proximity or touch. QR codes... Russia is currently using them to control people's movement during quarantine, but scanning QR codes at entrance to metro stations created long, dense waiting lines which are perfect for spreading disease. Things have to go more digital than today for a fully cashless society. Also, cross-border connectivity for tourists etc. is tricky to solve.

Actually, I think the COVID-19 virus situation has suddenly FAST-TRACKED this entire movement over to going completely cashless. Most banking and business systems are already in place, they just need to be networked. It started with the Bar Code, but has since progressed to combining ALL sorts of transactions with each other and interconnected with businesses of ALL types. That includes the accounting processes within how each business operates. One, gigantic networking system.

And... there is a super computer in Luxembourg that became well known during the 1980's, where some of these master filed systems first began. So, that was at least over 30 years ago, when that particular super computer began to compile the entire world's worth of data for all things that could be put into a computer file... just break it down by Main branch systems which are broken down further into smaller systems and so forth. Each system is networked to the entire world, and maybe in 8 years or less, the whole thing will go into automatic mode and be fully operational. Depends on which persons are in control of all businesses and gov't actions around this planet, by then, too.

That's my guess, based on various news I've been hearing here and there...

[Wraithworshipper]

Anyone here remember the old TV show Max Headroom? It now seems a bit prophetic looking back on it.

[SGalisa]

Anyone here remember the old TV show Max Headroom? It now seems a bit prophetic looking back on it.

Oh yeah. I kind of liked that show. Had no idea of its implications to real life years later into now.
Real life imitating fiction?

Be *careful* what you wish for/seek. It may end up happening in ways that you will realize are NOT desirable.
Thus, enter the "chip" or *mark of the beast* (economy portion). As dreamy as it may seem to have a totally "cashless" system where ALL of your ID data, plus health and wealth banking and buying/selling items are all embedded into that single object --being labelled a "microchip", some people cannot tolerate any foreign object inside their body. There are other versions already created that are bio-engineered using one's own DNA, to prevent rejection from the "chip", but still... even this type of system, as convenient as it might sound to the general population(s), is not 100% wise. It will still have its pitfalls... nevermind, the entire gov't *mark of the beast* aspects...
There is such a system already being established. Not sure how far along it is, but it is very, VERY close to completion.

I can live with and tolerate having to use a plastic card to buy my groceries, etc., but I cannot tolerate any "microchip" / tattoo thingy injected into my body. I get serious rashes and infections from anything that my skin (internal and external) comes in contact with and rejects. Even dust or clothing fibers that dig into my skin causes a serious allergic reaction.


Actually, I think the COVID-19 virus situation has suddenly FAST-TRACKED this entire movement over to going completely cashless. Most banking and business systems are already in place, they just need to be networked. It started with the Bar Code, but has since progressed to combining ALL sorts of transactions with each other and interconnected with businesses of ALL types. That includes the accounting processes within how each business operates. One, gigantic networking system.

And... there is a super computer in Luxembourg that became well known during the 1980's, where some of these master filed systems first began. So, that was at least over 30 years ago, when that particular super computer began to compile the entire world's worth of data for all things that could be put into a computer file... just break it down by Main branch systems which are broken down further into smaller systems and so forth. Each system is networked to the entire world, and maybe in 8 years or less, the whole thing will go into automatic mode and be fully operational. Depends on which persons are in control of all businesses and gov't actions around this planet, by then, too.

That's my guess, based on various news I've been hearing here and there...

Addendum... hmmmmmmm... correction?
There is another Main super computer in Brussels, Belgium. The computer in Belgium is nicknamed "The Beast" ... thus, any file or transaction connected to this computer that is absorbing the data, will be *marked* or identified to its original source... and as some sci-fi programs jokingly call their giant computer system projects a "beast"... this system in Belgium is aptly named.

Also, just read that there may be 3 super computers already set up and interconnecting with each other. It's just a matter of networking the entire rest of the world into the various libraries, purchasing systems, tracking anything, and business work data, in general. Once that is complete, everything will be online and apart from an initial *GRACE* (trial) period, then all work connected electronically or digitally or whatever you prefer to label it as will become mandatory by being fed into this "Beast" (or beastly) system. Expecting a few hiccups along the way, but it is very close to completion.

Oh, there already is sort of a system similar to this "beast" that exists... it is *affectionately* known as "THE CLOUD"
And whatever data or info you put into the CLOUD, it stays there (permanently / archived into the deeper levels of darkness), regardless of (generic) you deleting any electronic info from your own computing / phone / other digital systems.