Bidders this week will get the chance to drink coffee with Hillary Clinton, sing with Sting, or perform Shakespeare with Patrick Stewart — virtually. These and other prizes will be offered in an online auction to support the International Rescue Committee and its efforts to help refugees and others battle the coronavirus pandemic. Sotheby’s auction house and Google are sponsoring the auction to raise funds for the nongovernmental organization run by former British Foreign Secretary David Miliband. “As a global community, we are only as strong as the weakest link in the chain, and millions of refugees and displaced people are now facing a double emergency with the virus reaching their communities,” Miliband said. Participants can also bid on a tea with former U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright, a conversation with comic actor Sasha Baron Cohen and a virtual tour of Highclere Castle, where the “Downtown Abbey” television series was filmed. Stars Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern will be the personal tour guides. The online auction runs May 1 through May 8.
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Month: April 2020
Ugandan HIV-Positive Volunteer Goes Distance to Deliver ARVs
Amid a three-week suspension of public and private transport in Uganda due to the coronavirus, some HIV-positive Ugandans have struggled to get hold of needed antiretroviral medications. Noticing a higher risk for HIV patients with compromised immune systems, health worker Simon Bukenya jumped on his bicycle and began making home deliveries, even going long distances to do it.Simon Peter Bukenya has been living with HIV for 30 years and understands the importance of taking antiretroviral drugs. A lockdown due to the coronavirus has stranded Ugandans in need of medical attention, including people who are HIV-positive. Bukenya says on a daily basis, he bicycles more than 80 kilometers to deliver medications to those who need them. He says he started with three patients, and word of his services spread after he posted a notice on Facebook.“There’s even a client that called me and sent me a WhatsApp, when she had gotten herpes zoster, and she’s home,” said Bukenya. “She’s breastfeeding, she has a two-months-old baby and she’s going through a lot. So, that’s what really motivated me; that’s how I started.”Bukenya says so far, he has reached 200 patients. He says he doesn’t get paid for his services; he simply wanted to fill a gap for HIV patients in need.His service is independent of one run by Uganda’s Ministry of Health which recently set up a program to allow community health workers to collect HIV pills for patients. Dr. Kaggwa Mugaga, the head of HIV for WHO in Uganda, admits the ministry’s service has limits, especially when it comes to supplies of key medicines. “We have people who volunteer to pick up drugs on behalf of others in the same community where they have openly shared their status,” said Mugaga. “This has closed the gap of people missing pills. NMS (National Medical Stores) has been able to deliver what it has, but there are medicines which were at low stock levels, Lopinavir, Ritonavir, for the children.”The pharmaceutical division revealed that the order for pediatric antiretrovirals is expected to arrive in May.UNAIDS says about 6 percent of Ugandans are HIV-positive, one of the highest rates in East Africa.Among these is William Matovu, who was born with HIV and will be 26 in July. He previously did not make his status publicly known, fearing discrimination and the stigma associated with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. For him, Bukenya comes in handy. “I was running out of my medication. I had to call him and he assists me. Due to the ban of public transport in this COVID-19 era, I could not move to my facility,” said Matovu. “It’s like 15 kilometers away from my home. When I contacted him, he asked me my details, So, when I gave him my details, he went to my facility and picked up the medication for me and brought it to my doorstep.”Uganda has so far recorded 74 COVID-19 cases, but no deaths.The government’s travel restrictions are currently due to expire on May 3.
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‘The Rise of Skywalker’ to hit Disney Plus on May 4
“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” will begin streaming on Disney Plus on May 4, about two months earlier than scheduled. The Walt Disney Co. said Monday that “The Rise of Skywalker” will land on the streaming service timed to what’s referred to as “Star Wars Day” after the slogan of “May the Fourth be with you.” The release will give fans the option of streaming the full nine-part saga on the annual “Star Wars” holiday. “The Rise of Skywalker” was released for digital rental and video-on-demand in March, so the timing of its streaming arrival isn’t unusual. The film, directed by J.J. Abrams, was the worst reviewed of the nine “Star Wars” installments, with a 52% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes. It grossed more than $1 billion in its theatrical run begun on Dec. 20.During the pandemic, Disney has diverted several of its titles to its streaming service early for housebound viewers. It also sent “Frozen 2” and “Onward” to Disney Plus early, and plans to premiere “Artemis Fowl” on the streaming platform in May in place of a theatrical release. Disney Plus has accrued about 50 million subscribers since launching late last year.
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Undefeated, High Schoolers Head Online For Isolation Proms
In party dresses or come as you are, with colored lights flashing in their bedrooms and teachers-turned-DJs spinning, high schoolers have turned to virtual proms to salvage at least one slice of fun and tradition for the Class of 2020.
And they’re getting help from familiar brands like Teen Vogue and Jack in the Box, with both serving as hosts to thousands of teens.
Celebrities, too, are taking on prom: The “Get Out” actress Allison Williams was a guest DJ for Zoom partygoers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and “Jack Ryan” star John Krasinski was joined by Billie Eilish when he threw a prom live on YouTube.
“It’s terrible that it’s happening to your class, but I hope you’re having a good time anyway,” Williams told about 100 teens, staff and guests April 16 at the prom hosted by the Baton Rouge Youth Coalition, an after-school program.
The theme was “Royaltee,” an acknowledgement that while some kids had already bought their dresses before lockdown, others never got the chance and were welcome in T-shirts.
On top, Williams sparkled in a strapless copper sequin dress, joking that she couldn’t get up and dance because “there are sweatpants happening.”
Alauna Stults, 17, in Findlay, Ohio, will wear a blue bedazzled two-piece outfit when she attends an online prom May 9 thrown by the party apparel rental service Charlotte’s Closet and an event planning site, My School Dance. Charlotte’s Closet is donating dresses to teens in need, including Alauna.
“I was looking forward to prom,” she said. “I was pretty pumped up about it. I was planning on going with a group of my friends, but it’s really cool we can still dress up and do everything we would do for a prom, like doing makeup.”
High schools and cheer teams have thrown virtual proms of their own as social media has filled up with sweet moments among families. Dads have taken their dressed-up daughters for living room spins for a dance or two, and teens have organized home proms among parents and siblings.
“Prom is definitely one of those bigger life moments when you’re growing up, even if you find it to be corny or not cool. It definitely still is something that’s a moment you look back on and remember,” said Teen Vogue Editor-in-Chief Lindsay Peoples Wagner.
The site expects about 5,000 teens to attend its virtual prom May 16 on Zoom. Organizers are working with high schools around the country to set up separate rooms so kids can be with their friends as celebrity co-hosts pop in and DJs get busy.
YouTuber Emma Chamberlain, H.E.R. and “Euphoria” star Storm Reid are expected.
“It will be really interactive, and that’s going to be the fun part of it,” Peoples Wagner said.
As part of a social distancing campaign, #StayInTheBox, Jack in the Box is working with schools in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Houston to put on a prom in May, complete with free food and delivery codes.
Serenity Cadogan in Covington, Georgia, near Atlanta is only 12, but she hosted a high school prom live on Instagram on March 31, which was National Prom Day, for more than 600 teens around the world, from Texas to London.
“We wanted to brighten their day,” said the seventh-grader, who leads a chapter of Becca’s Closet, a nonprofit that donates free prom dresses to high school girls. “Everybody was really happy. It was really classy. I didn’t expect that many people but it actually ran pretty smoothly.”
Ironically enough, at least one online school, the public K-12 Washington Virtual Academies, hosts an offline prom each year for the students it serves across the state of Washington. Not this year. Prom will be online, just like school.
“People have reached out to us saying, hey, how do we do a virtual prom? But that’s not something we’ve previously done, so we’re embarking on this adventure just like schools all over the U.S.,” said Summer Shelton, the head of school.
Offline, the school hosts prom in Tacoma, its home base. Students travel from as far away as Spokane to attend, staying in hotels. The date for Shelton’s virtual prom had not been finalized but will likely be in June. The school has about 500 juniors and seniors.
“This is one of the most looked-forward-to nights of the year,” Shelton said. “Right now they’re dealing with disappointment, understandably, but trying to move past disappointment and saying, OK, what do we do now to make this special?”
Donna Sheperis, an associate professor of counseling at Palo Alto University’s Los Altos, California, campus, sees other ironies for a tech-savvy generation missing out on prom.
“They also crave human connection,” she said. “They crave a chance to dress up and dance with their friends. They crave some time that’s just for them. And this year, they can’t get it.”
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COVID-19’s Huge Greenhouse Gas Cut Won’t Last, Experts Say
From a hill four miles outside Boston, World Resources Institute economist Michelle Manion says she can read the letters on top of the Prudential building, a city landmark.”I’ve never been able to do that,” she said. “It’s really amazing.”Since FILE – Gas prices are listed for unleaded at a gas station in Oklahoma City.Don’t expect it to last.”The general expectation is that most of this will pick up once the crisis is over,” said Michael Gerrard, director of the Saban Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University. Satellite imagery already shows air pollution rebounding over China. In the meantime, the pandemic has slowed the transition to cleaner energy.BloombergNEF, an energy research organization, lowered its 2020 forecast for new wind power construction globally by 12% and new solar power by 8%. Investment in renewables has dried up. Electric vehicle sales are down by two-fifths compared to last year.The downturn is likely temporary. Renewables still make economic sense.”The cost of building solar and wind has plummeted so much in recent years that it’s highly competitive. It’s really often outbidding fossil fuels,” Gerrard said. “That hasn’t changed. We’ve seen a slowdown in the construction. But I think that should pick up once people are fully back to work.”However, BloombergNEF’s forecasts for global renewable energy installations show the world falling far short of what’s needed to keep the planet from warming more than 2 degrees Celsius, the target in the 2015 U.N. Paris climate agreement.And BNEF’s forecasts are more optimistic than most, according to the firm’s head of clean energy, Logan Goldie-Scot. The deeper the economic downturn from COVID-19, the farther off target the world will likely be. “If it ends up delaying or making it harder to finance and build renewable energy projects, then this will make what was already a challenge even harder,” he said.The impact of the oil price crash isn’t clear. “Ordinarily if gasoline is inexpensive, people are likely to go out and buy expensive gas guzzling cars,” Gerrard said. “But these days, they aren’t buying much of anything.” Sales of all vehicles are down about two-fifths, not just electric vehicles. Automakers have announced a few delays, but they’re mostly sticking to their plans to release new electric models.It’s too soon to say, but the pandemic may bring about societal changes that could affect greenhouse gas emissions. Unprecedented numbers of white-collar workers are telecommuting. “A lot of these folks are like, ‘You know what? This is great,'” Manion said. After the crisis, “I think that there will be a pretty strong demand on the part of workers” to keep it up at least part time.”That’s an area where you could see reduction in emissions from commuting,” she added. “You could also see companies starting to maybe shrink the amount of commercial office space they’re using by 10 or 15 percent” because less of the workforce is in the office at a time. That would cut down on emissions from buildings.Before the crisis, growing numbers of large corporations had made commitments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The environment often takes a back seat to economic growth in tight times. But Goldie-Scot says he has not seen companies abandoning their plans.”It may result in some delays here and there, but it’s not a structural shift,” he said.One concern is that the COVID-19 crisis will push the climate crisis off the radar. “Before the virus crisis, there was a tremendous buildup of momentum around the world in public activism and public interest about climate change,” Gerrard said. “Obviously, attention has switched to the coronavirus crisis.” The loss of political pressure could do long-term damage to efforts to transition to clean energy, he said.Governments around the world are pouring unprecedented amounts of money into propping up their cratering economies. The U.S. government invested billions into clean energy in the stimulus bill during the 2008-2009 financial crisis. Big stimulus packages are expected this time around, too. Experts say the right investments could put the world closer to reaching its climate goals. On the other hand, Goldie-Scot said, “If large sums of recovery money goes into sustaining technologies that are detrimental to those longer-term decarbonization goals, this will end up being a setback.”“We’re at a point where we can turn this ship in one of two ways,” Manion added. “I’m hoping that we see some leadership.”
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Australians Race to Download COVID-19 Tracing App Despite Privacy Concerns
More than a million Australians have downloaded a coronavirus contact tracing app within hours of it being released by the government. Officials have said the technology would help Australia get back to normal and help lift restrictions, but it has been criticized by civil liberties groups. Australia has managed to control its coronavirus outbreak, but officials worry about the risk of another flareup. There are 6,713 confirmed Covid-19 infections in Australia. 83 people have died. The Australian government says the voluntary app will help to save lives. It is designed to enable health officials to trace people potentially exposed to COVID-19. Smartphone users who download the app will be notified if they have had contact with another user who has tested positive for coronavirus. It uses Bluetooth signals to log when people have been close to one another. Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline. Embed” />CopyOfficials believe it could help to trace undiagnosed COVID-19 infections. They have insisted the data will only be used by state health authorities.
“No Australian should have any concerns about downloading this app. It is only for one purpose; to help contact tracing if someone becomes positive,” says Australia’s chief medical officer Brendan Murphy. “I think Australians will rise to the challenge because they have risen to the challenge of distancing, they have risen to the challenge of testing.” The CovidSafe app is based on software used in Singapore. But civil liberties campaigners say it is an invasion of privacy. Pauline Wright from the Law Council of Australia says data protection safeguards are needed. “If there are problems then people need to have the assurance that it will be overseen by an independent authority,” she said.
The government wants at least 40% of Australians — roughly 10 million people — to sign up to make the Covid-19 digital tracking measure effective.
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COVID-Hit Businesses Weigh Cost vs. Environment
By 2025, Indonesia is expected to generate 150 thousand tons of trash per day, much of it plastic. Indonesian entrepreneur David Christian is developing everyday products to edge the world’s 4th most populous nation toward producing zero waste. But with COVID-19 wreaking havoc on businesses around the world, some outlets are finding environmentally friendly packaging a luxury they can’t afford. VOA’s Rendy Wicaksana and Ahadian Utama report from Jakarta, Indonesia.
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Amazon Tests Screening New Merchants for Fraud via Video Calls in Pandemic
Amazon.com Inc is piloting the use of video conference calls to verify the identity of merchants who wish to sell goods on its websites, in a new plan to counter fraud without in-person meetings in the pandemic, the company said on Sunday. The world’s largest online retailer has long faced scrutiny over how it polices counterfeits and allegedly unsafe products on its platform. Fakes have frustrated top labels like Apple Inc and Nike Inc and discouraged some from selling via Amazon at all. Amazon said its pilot began early this year and included in-person appointments with prospective sellers. However, it switched exclusively to video conferencing in February because of social distancing requirements related to the highly contagious coronavirus, which has infected more than 2.9 million people globally. The interview vetting, on top of other risk-screening performed by Amazon, has been piloted with more than 1,000 merchant applicants based in China, the United States, United Kingdom and Japan, Amazon said. The extra scrutiny by Amazon could make it harder for some China-based sellers, who have registered multiple accounts using private internet networks or fake utility bills. China-based merchants accounted for 40% of the top 10,000 Amazon sellers in Europe, according to 2019 research from firm Marketplace Pulse.
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Senior Communities Adopt Virtual Reality to Fight Dementia, Social Isolation
Seventy-five-year-old Eileen Higa loves to travel and has visited many countries, but she never got a chance to see the Indonesian island of Bali. After moving into Silverado Beverly Place, a memory care community in Los Angeles, she thought she would never have a chance to see exotic places again. But on a sunny day before lunch, Higa’s dream came true, with virtual reality (VR). When she placed a VR headset over her eyes, the four walls around her disappeared, and she was transported to Bali, where a tour guide showed her key sites around the island.“I like to travel, so for me, it’s great,” Higa said.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
The second image: Eileen Higa feels happy and excited after an adventurous, action-filled virtual reality experience. (E. Lee)“Increasingly over the last few years, noticing first minor memory issues and then bigger things and even bigger things,” said Kevin Higa, who remembered his mother getting increasingly isolated at home.“A lot of concerns and a lot of worries with her living alone with the Alzheimer’s and the dementia.”Signs of promise with VREileen Higa is not the only person who has experienced benefits after a session of virtual reality.In a small pilot study with VR company MyndVR, a few participants felt dizzy, but others responded positively to the experience.“It seemed like it improved their mood,” said Kim Butrum, a gerontological nurse practitioner and senior vice president for clinical services at Silverado. “We saw less depression, a little less anxiety later in the day.”
Researchers are looking into the benefits of virtual reality as a tool to fight isolation and loneliness linked to physical and mental conditions such as cognitive decline. Studies have found social isolation to be associated with a higher risk of mortality. VR for seniors during the pandemicFeelings of loneliness and social isolation could be exacerbated during the pandemic. Older adults are believed to be at a higher risk of life-threatening complications if infected with COVID-19. As a result, many senior living facilities have been on lockdown, not allowing visitors inside and limiting activities in the facilities to protect the residents. MyndVR is donating VR headsets to senior living communities across the U.S., along with access to its library of content for a year to keep seniors engaged.The communities see VR as a way of treating the symptoms of dementia without having to use antipsychotic drugs, which come with side effects including stiffness, a higher tendency of falling, abnormal movements and confusion. Could VR improve quality of life for seniors? Butrum said the possibility is there. “We’re not sure where it’s (VR) going to lead, and that’s why we’re excited to be moving forward with this. “Even to someone living on hospice, what if when they’re in bed and maybe too frail to get up and participate in the life of the community, but that they could see somewhere they went with their loved one and a trip to Paris again. What would that do in terms of improving their quality of life? We do think we’re going to see impact.”Eileen Higa liked her virtual reality experience because it allowed her to do an activity she otherwise would not be able to do. Through the magic of VR, Higa can continue to experience new things and travel to exotic places in this next chapter of her life.
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Athletes Run Marathons Despite Quarantine – Only Now They Do It Online
The cancellation of marathons and major races because of coronavirus lockdown measures doesn’t mean sports lovers can’t compete. Racing and breaking records is still possible – it’s just a bit more complicated. Maxim Moskalkov reports.
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Seniors Use Virtual Reality to Fight Dementia, Social Isolation
Elderly people are believed to be especially susceptible to the coronavirus. As a result, many senior living facilities have been on lockdown mode, not allowing visitors in order to protect the residents. But experts say this social isolation could lead to feelings of loneliness for many seniors. One virtual reality company, MyndVR, is donating VR headsets to all 50 U.S. states to keep seniors engaged. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee reports on the potential benefits of a virtual reality experience.
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COVID-19 Frightens Malaria Patients in Cameroon
A song urging Cameroonians not to relent in the fight against malaria blasted through speakers Saturday — World Malaria Day — at road junctions and popular neighborhoods, as well as from publicity vans driving through Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde.Dr. Daniel Etoundi of Cameroon’s public health ministry said health teams were being taken to every neighborhood to try to discourage patients from buying roadside drugs or resorting to African traditional healers for malaria treatment, because those can lead to severe health complications.”If the product is toxic, the liver will be spoiled [destroyed]. Same with the kidney,” he said. “Most of the products that we consume are eliminated through the kidney by urine. Now, if the drug is toxic, it will spoil the kidney function.”The Cameroon Ministry of Public Health reported that since March 5, when the first case of the coronavirus was reported in the central African state, many people with suspected cases of malaria or other diseases have refused to go to hospitals for fear they will catch COVID-19. As of Saturday, more than 1,500 cases had been confirmed in the country, according to Johns Hopkins University statistics.But medical doctors say 90 percent of Cameroon’s 25 million people are at risk of malaria, while 41 percent have an episode each year.Dr. Dorothy Achu, coordinator of Cameroon’s National Malaria Control Program, said people should understand that although there is much government emphasis on the dangers of COVID-19, malaria remains the nation’s major killer, especially of children.”We are trying to sensitize health workers to protect themselves well but to continue to provide services,” as well as reassure the population “that it is not in all hospitals that we take care of COVID patients. So we just require them to protect themselves when they go to hospitals,” she said.Education effortsInnocent Kuisseu, sensitization team member for the prevention of malaria, said members also were educating Cameroonians about how to protect themselves from malaria by systematically using insecticide-treated mosquito bed nets and visiting hospitals when they suspect they might have malaria. He said people should not think that anyone who has malaria also has COVID-19.”Efforts are being put in to make sure that the population is more and more aware of what should be the right treatment, to make sure that in suspicion of malaria there should be a rapid diagnostic test, to make sure that they sleep under insecticide-treated nets,” he said.The International group Severe Malaria Observatory reports that malaria causes 22% of deaths occurring in health care facilities in Cameroon, and that 10% of deaths in children under 5 years old are linked to malaria.Health officials in Cameroon blame the surge of malaria and COVID-19 cases on the fact that many people do not respect basic hygiene standards and don’t visit health facilities when they have early signs of either disease. They also say there are too many people who refuse to use treated mosquito bed nets.
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The Doctor Will See You Now, But by Phone or Video Chat
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck the United States in mid-March, visits to doctors’ offices dropped precipitously as people stayed home to protect themselves from the virus.But the stay-at-home order has spurred people to seek medical help in another way – talking to a doctor over the phone, email or video, according to a new study.Now, 30% of all outpatient visits are televisits, up from less than 1% in early March, FILE – A patient sits in the living room of her apartment in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Jan. 14, 2019, during a telemedicine video conference with her doctor.Waiting for the telemedicine revolutionCommunicating electronically with a doctor isn’t new. With some specialties such as dermatology and mental health, phone or video appointments are common.In many U.S. rural communities, which have seen a decline in the number of hospitals and doctors, telemedicine has been a lifeline.But when it comes to primary care, doctors, patients and regulators alike have mostly stuck with how medical care has been delivered forever: in-person meetings.Some doctors say a lot can be accomplished over video.“Looking at a rash, looking at a spot on an arm, that’s perfect for telehealth, because we have the video capabilities,” said Dr. Edward Lee, an internal medicine physician and chief information officer at the Permanente Federation, a consortium of eight medical groups that deliver care to Kaiser Permanente’s 12.2 million patients and members.FILE – A telemedicine hub, run by Avera Health, is seen in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, June 22, 2015.“If I needed to do an injection, if I need to do a minor procedure, I’m not going to be able to do that over video or a phone,” he said. “And so, in those situations where there are urgent needs, we would bring the patient in to see us.”
Mehrotra, the Harvard professor, says doctors and patients are embracing telemedicine now, out of necessity, but are also realizing its limits.“Given what I’ve heard from clinicians who’ve tried it, I have to think this will accelerate growth in the post-pandemic period,” he said. “But I’m also hearing from a lot of doctors, ‘It’s cool, but I like in-person visits. I can’t do the tests, I can’t do the full exam.’”Paying the same for video and in-person visits
Policy decisions are also driving the adoption of telemedicine. Until the pandemic, government agencies and insurers paid less than half their normal amount for telemedicine visits. Now they have increased the pay for a televisit so it is on par with an in-person one, according to Kaiser Health News.Federal regulators have also paused enforcing patient privacy rules, so that doctors can use popular applications like Skype, FaceTime and Whatsapp, according to Consumer Reports. The alternative for hospitals and doctors is finding a telemedicine firm that provides secure video calls, a process that can be time consuming.Mehrotra questions whether widespread adoption of telemedicine, post-pandemic, is the right course for U.S. health care.But one place where telemedicine might make huge strides, he said, is in rural parts of developing countries, places where access to health care can be difficult.“Telemedicine has great potential in that context,” he said. “It can be life-saving.”
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Unmanned Cargo Spacecraft Docks at the International Space Station
An unmanned cargo spacecraft with food, fuel and supplies docked at the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday.Russian Progress 75 cargo ship left the Baikonur Cosmodrom in Kazakhstan, a few minutes before 1 a.m. GMT and transported almost 3 tons of food and other supplies to the ISS.Scientists and staff, both in Baikonur and at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, monitored the three-hour journey and the docking.The cargo ship is set to remain at the station until December, when it will leave and burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.
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Steve Dalkowski, Inspiration for ‘Bull Durham’ Character, Dies at 80
Steve Dalkowski, a hard-throwing, wild left-hander whose minor league career inspired the creation of Nuke LaLoosh in the movie “Bull Durham,” has died. He was 80.He died Sunday at the Hospital of Central Connecticut in New Britain. His sister, Patricia Cain, said Friday that he had several pre-existing conditions that were complicated when he became infected with the new coronavirus. Dalkowski had been in assisted living for 26 years because of alcoholic dementia.Dalkowski never reached the major leagues but was said to have pitched much faster than 100 mph. Long before velocity was tracked with precision, he spawned legends that estimated he approached 110 mph or 115 mph — some said even 125 mph.”Fastest I ever saw,” then-retired Ted Williams said after facing Dalkowski during batting practice at spring training in 1963, according to a first-person story by director and writer Ron Shelton.Clyde King, the future big league manager and executive who worked with Dalkowski in the Orioles system, wrote in his 1999 autobiography “A King’s Legacy” that Dalkowski had the best fastball among the thousands of pitchers he saw.But Dalkowski’s location was lacking.Lots of walksHe averaged 17.6 strikeouts and 18.7 walks per nine innings at Class D Kingsport in 1957, throwing 39 wild pitches in 62 innings as he went 1-8. That August 31, he struck out 24 and walked 17 or 18 — records differ — in an 8-4 loss to Bluefield, hitting four and throwing six wild pitches.At Class C Stockton in 1960, he struck out 262 and walked 262 in 170 innings. No matter what he tried or the Orioles suggested, Dalkowski never mastered control. “What if? But it wasn’t in the cards,” his sister said. “Stevie was wild. That was part of his thing.”Shelton was a minor league infielder with the Orioles from 1967 to 1971 and used the stories he heard about Dalkowski when he wrote and directed the 1988 movie “Bull Durham.”Dalkowski signed with the Orioles in 1957 and remained in their minor league system until 1964. He finished with farm teams of the Pittsburgh Pirates and California Angels in 1965.”They called him ‘Dalko’ and guys liked to hang with him and women wanted to take care of him, and if he walked into a room in those days he was probably drunk,” Shelton wrote in his 2009 story, which appeared in the Los Angeles Times and The Sun in Baltimore.”He had a record 14 feet long inside the Bakersfield, California, police station, all barroom brawls, nothing serious, the cops said. He rode the trucks out at dawn to pick grapes with the migrant farm workers of Kern County — and finally couldn’t even hold that job.”Dalkowski pitched and played quarterback at New Britain High School, setting a Connecticut high school record with 24 strikeouts in a game.Injury diminished velocityHe was with the Orioles for big league spring training in 1963 when he injured his pitching arm. He never regained his former velocity.”He was measured for a uniform in the morning and he was pitching against those damn Yankees in the afternoon and hurt his elbow,” his sister said.Dalkowski’s minor league record was 46-80 with 1,324 strikeouts, 1,236 walks and 145 wild pitches over 956 innings in nine seasons, according to Baseball Reference.Plagued by dementia, Dalkowski had lived since 1994 at New Britain’s Grandview Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center, previously known as Walnut Hill Care Center.”He was a piece of work, my brother. Even in the last few years when things are not so great, he still was fun to be around,” Cain said. “He’s going to be sorely missed, by not only myself, but by a lot of other people.”Dalkowski married Virginia Billingsley in 1975, and his wife died in 1994. In addition to his sister, he is survived by nephews Daniel and David Lee, great niece Amanda Lee and great nephew Nicholas Lee.His funeral will be private.
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My Synagogue is Closed
In Israel, all synagogues have been closed for more than a month because of the coronavirus. Linda Gradstein reports for VOA on her synagogue in Jerusalem.
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Report: Apple Plans to Sell Macs With Own Chips
Apple Inc. plans to sell Mac computers with its own main processors by next year based on the chip designs currently used in its iPhones and iPads, Bloomberg reported Thursday.The iPhone maker is working on three Mac processors based on the A14 processor in its next iPhone, suggesting the company will transition more of its Mac lineup away from current supplier Intel Corp., the report added, citing people familiar with the matter.Apple started using Intel’s processors in 2006 and a year later all Mac computers featured its chips. Since then, Intel has made chips for other Apple products such as modem chips for its iPhones.Apple has always relied on outside suppliers for its modem chips, a crucial part that connects devices like the iPhone to wireless data networks.In a bid to make its own chips, Apple bought a majority of Intel’s modem business last July for $1 billion and settled a long legal battle with supplier Qualcomm Inc. over the chipmaker’s patent licensing practices.Apple’s Mac computers generated $7.16 billion in revenue in the last reported quarter while Intel’s PC unit that includes modem chip sales recorded $10 billion in sales in the last quarter.Apple was planning to use its own chips in Mac computers beginning as early as 2020, Bloomberg reported in April 2018.Apple and Intel did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comments.
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Google to Verify All Advertisers, and Their Location
Google said Thursday it would expand its program of verification of advertisers on its platform as part of an effort to weed out fraud and “bad actors.” The internet giant and global leader in digital advertising said it would start by verifying advertisers in phases in the United States and expand the program globally. The move builds on Google’s efforts launched in 2018 to verify political advertisers with a requirement to indicate where they are located. Google’s action comes amid growing concerns over ads promoting fraud or fake treatment for coronavirus, among other things. “As part of this initiative, advertisers will be required to complete a verification program in order to buy ads on our network,” Google’s ads integrity chief John Canfield said in a blog post. “Advertisers will need to submit personal identification, business incorporation documents or other information that proves who they are and the country in which they operate.” With the change, which will take “a few years” to complete, according to Canfield, users will be able to click on a link to get information about specific advertisers. “This change will make it easier for people to understand who the advertiser is behind the ads they see from Google and help them make more informed decisions when using our advertising controls,” he said. “It will also help support the health of the digital advertising ecosystem by detecting bad actors and limiting their attempts to misrepresent themselves.”
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Zoom Boosts Encryption to Quell Safety Concerns as Users Top 300 Million
Zoom Video Communications Inc. said Wednesday it was upgrading the encryption features on its video conferencing app to quell safety concerns as its users surged by 50 percent in the past three weeks.Zoom now has over 300 million daily users after adding 100 million in the last 22 days, the company said, even as it faces a barrage of criticism from cyber security experts and users alike over bugs in its codes and the lack of end-to-end encryption of its chat sessions.The use of Zoom has soared with corporate offices, political parties, school districts, organizations and millions across the world working from home after lockdowns were enforced to slow the spread of the coronavirus.The app’s issues, including “Zoombombing” incidents where uninvited guests crash meetings, led to several companies, schools and governments to stop using the platform.In response, the company said it would be rolling out a new version of the app, Zoom 5.0 within the week.The company, which competes with Microsoft Teams and Cisco’s Webex has also launched a 90-day plan to improve the app and appointed former Facebook security chief Alex Stamos as an adviser.Zoom said it had made several changes to its user interface, including offering password protection and giving more controls to meeting hosts to check unruly participants.To account for criticism that the company had routed some data through Chinese servers, Zoom said an account admin can now choose data center regions for their meetings.Zoom shares closed up nearly 5 percent at $150.25 on Wednesday.
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Far-Right Hackers Publish 25,000 Email Addresses Allegedly Tied to COVID Fight
Far-right computer hackers have published nearly 25,000 email addresses allegedly belonging to several major organizations fighting the coronavirus pandemic, including the World Health Organization, the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the World Bank.The SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist activities, has yet to confirm the addresses are genuine but said that the hackers posted the email addresses across far-right messaging and chat sites, as well as Twitter, this week.“Using the data, far-right extremists were calling for a harassment campaign while sharing conspiracy theories about the coronavirus pandemic,” SITE Executive Director Rita Katz said. “The distribution of these alleged email credentials was just another part of a monthslong initiative across the far right to weaponize the COVID-19 pandemic.”It is unclear where the hackers got the email addresses. Other victims of the hacks include the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the Gates Foundation; and the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a research center in the Chinese city where the COVID-19 outbreak began in December.While those affected by the security breach did not comment on the specifics of the case, NIH and the Gates Foundation both said they consistently monitor data security and take appropriate action.A Twitter spokeswoman said the company is taking action to remove in bulk any links that send users to far-right websites where the alleged email addresses can be found.An Australian cybersecurity expert, Robert Potter, told The Washington Post that the WHO’s password security is appalling and that he was able to get into its computer system simply by using email addresses the WHO posted on the internet.“Forty-eight people have ‘password’ as their password,” Potter said, adding that others used their own first name or the word “changeme.”He said the right-wingers may have been able to buy the WHO passwords on what is called the dark web, a part of the internet that is not seen by search engines.Megan Squire, a computer science professor at Elon College in North Carolina who monitors right-wing extremism online, said neo-Nazis and white supremacists are looking to exploit the coronavirus pandemic to stir up violence, chaos and anti-Semitism, hoping it will all lead to a collapse of society and a white power takeover.“The fantasizing about it is not limited. They are really doing that to a great extent — openly fantasizing about how this is the event they’ve been waiting for, this is going to bring about the societal collapse they all hope for … bringing down infrastructure and so on. That’s all fantasy/hopefulness on their part.”Squire said the password hack may be part of an effort to get people to read the WHO or Gates Foundation emails to look for what the extremists believe are conspiracies surrounding the pandemic, including far-right theories that the coronavirus was created and deliberately released from the Chinese or that COVID-19 is part of a Jewish plot.Masood Farivar contributed to this report.
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France, Europe Mull Controversial Coronavirus Tracing Apps
France’s parliament votes next week on plans to use a controversial tracing app to help fight the coronavirus, as the country eyes easing its lockdown next month.French Digital Affairs Minister Cedric O says the downloadable app would notify smartphone users when they cross people with COVID-19, helping authorities track and reduce the spread of the pandemic.In a video on the ruling party’s Facebook page, O said the so-called “Stop COVID” app will fully respect people’s liberties, and will be completely voluntary and anonymous. It also will be temporary — lasting only as long as the pandemic, he added.A man rides his bike in an empty street during a nationwide confinement to counter the COVID-19 in Paris, April 21, 2020.The government wants to launch the app on May 11, the date it has set to begin easing a two-month lockdown in the country. It initially announced a parliamentary debate on the technology, but that’s been changed to a vote, after major pushback from lawmakers.The app’s critics include ruling party member Guillaume Chiche, who told French TV the app would reveal people’s health status and lead to discrimination and exclusion.He’s not the only one worried.”We think that it is very dangerous for the government to say to French people that the solution will be this kind of application,” said Benoit Piedallu, a member of La Quadrature du Net, an advocacy group defending digital rights and freedoms.The potential problems he sees range from chances the app could infringe on individual liberties, to whether it would actually work effectively.”We think that the digital application is not the correct answer to this problem,” Piedallu said. “The government should buy masks, the government should open new hospitals. … There are a lot of other solutions than an application.”A recent poll showed eight in 10 French respondents said they would be willing to download the app. But Piedallu believes the numbers of those actually using it will likely be much smaller, and many seniors —who are among the most vulnerable to the coronavirus — don’t have smartphones.France isn’t the only European country working on tracing apps and sparking similar rights debates, including in neighboring Germany. Reports say the French government is also pushing Apple to allow the app to work on its iPhones without built-in privacy measures.
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Conspiracy Theorists Burn 5G Towers Claiming Link to Virus
The CCTV footage from a Dutch business park shows a man in a black cap pouring the contents of a white container at the base of a cellular radio tower. Flames burst out as the man jogs back to his Toyota to flee into the evening.
It’s a scene that’s been repeated dozens of times in recent weeks in Europe, where conspiracy theories linking new 5G mobile networks and the coronavirus pandemic are fueling arson attacks on cell towers.
Popular beliefs and conspiracy theories that wireless communications pose a threat have long been around, but the global spread of the virus at the same time that countries were rolling out fifth generation wireless technology has seen some of those false narratives amplified.
Officials in Europe and the U.S. are watching the situation closely and pushing back, concerned that attacks will undermine vital telecommunications links at a time they’re most needed to deal with the pandemic.
“I’m absolutely outraged, absolutely disgusted, that people would be taking action against the very infrastructure that we need to respond to this health emergency,” Stephen Powis, medical director of the National Health Service in England, said in early April.
Some 50 fires targeting cell towers and other equipment have been reported in Britain this month, leading to three arrests. Telecom engineers have been abused on the job 80 times, according to trade group Mobile UK, making the U.K. the nucleus of the attacks. Photos and videos documenting the attacks are often overlaid with false commentary about COVID-19. Some 16 have been torched in the Netherlands, with attacks also reported in Ireland, Cyprus, and Belgium.
Posts threatening to attack phone masts were receiving likes on Facebook. One post in an anti-vaccine group on April 12 shared a photo of a burned phone mast with the quote, “Nobody wants cancer & covid19. Stop trying to make it happen or every pole and mobile store will end up like this one.”
The trend received extra attention in Britain when a tower supplying voice and data traffic to a Birmingham field hospital treating coronavirus patients was among those targeted.
“It’s heart-rending enough that families cannot be there at the bedside of loved ones who are critically ill,” Nick Jeffery, CEO of wireless carrier Vodafone UK, said on LinkedIn. “It’s even more upsetting that even the small solace of a phone or video call may now be denied them because of the selfish actions of a few deluded conspiracy theorists.”
False narratives around 5G and the coronavirus have been shared hundreds of thousands of times on social media. They vary widely from claims that the coronavirus is a coverup for 5G deployment to those that say new 5G installations have created the virus.
“To be concerned that 5G is somehow driving the COVID-19 epidemic is just wrong,” Dr. Jonathan Samet, dean of the Colorado School of Public Health who chaired a World Health Organization committee that researched cell phone radiation and cancer. “I just don’t find any plausible way to link them.”
Anti-5G activists are undeterred.
Susan Brinchman, director of the Center for Electrosmog Prevention, a nonprofit campaigning against “environmental electromagnetic pollution,” says that people have a right to be concerned about 5G and links to COVID-19. “The entire 5G infrastructure should be dismantled and turned off,” she said by email.
But there’s no evidence that wireless communications – whether 5G or earlier versions – harm the immune system, said Myrtill Simko, scientific director of SciProof International in Sweden, who has spent decades researching the matter.
The current wave of 5G theories dates back to January, when a Belgian doctor suggested a link to COVID-19. Older variations were circulating before that, mostly revolving around cellphone radiation causing cancer, spreading on Reddit forums, Facebook pages and YouTube channels. Even with daily wireless use among vast majority of adults, the National Cancer Institute has not seen an increase in brain tumors.
The theories gained momentum in 2019 from Russian state media outlets, which helped push them into U.S. domestic conversation, disinformation experts say.
Ryan Fox, who tracks disinformation as chief innovation officer at AI company Yonder, said he noticed an abnormal spike last year in mentions around 5G across Russian state media, with most of the narratives playing off people’s fears around 5G and whether it could cause cancer.
“Were they the loudest voice at that time and did they amplify this conspiracy enough that it helped fuel its long-term success? Yes,” he said.
The conspiracy theories have also been elevated by celebrities including actor Woody Harrelson who shared a video claiming people in China were taking down a 5G tower. It was actually a Hong Kong “smart lamppost” cut down by pro-democracy protesters in August over China surveillance fears. British TV host Eamonn Holmes gave credence to the theories on a talk show, drawing a rebuke from regulators.
“I want to be very clear here,” European Commission spokesman Johannes Bahrke said Friday, as the arson toll rose daily. “There is no geographic or any other correlation between the deployment of 5G and the outbreak of the virus.”
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