Would you like any exultation with that?

Special K: I watched some DVRed TV tonight. Saw about 6 or 7 ads for fast food. Everybody has a deal. Free delivery, free Frosty at Wendys, free kid's meal, etc.

b1-66er: Whoa!

We live in the best of times. 

K: Sure.

b1-66er: THAT'S the spirit!

K: Right on.

We need a bigger boat

In the vacuum

DENT: 

We are reusing N95 masks for a week at a time. 

He is what I have devised:  it turns out you don't need high temps to inactivate the coronavirus. 70C (158 F) for 30 minutes will do it. Or, lower temps like 65 C for 1 hour. I rigged my sous vide machine inside a cooler to get those temps. 👍. We can have multiple people put the masks in ziplock bags and run them. I am still working out the details because 70C was damaging the plastic parts of the mask, but I think we are almost there!

<ed: this is what you get with a doctor whose undergraduate degree is in chemical engineering.> 

The croutons will be impressive

b1-67er (agricultural machine designer): Just sent <the CA> governor's office an email.

b1-66er: Good citizen.

What'd you say?

67: I said tens of thousands of people are moving to Salinas  in mid April from Yuma, and Yuma has lower restrictions. I suggested it was good material for a governor to governor talk.  Specifically suggested Newsome try to get higher restrictions on lettuce producing counties for the next couple weeks.

66: Good citizen.

Impressive. 

67: Sprinkled in a little about protecting the food supply from coronavirus.

66: ... as seasoning...

KbrAne only one neural jump away

A rare KTXT news item, provided to all three of you as a community service. 

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/mar/30/scientists-develop-ai-that-can-turn-brain-activity-into-text 

Being Darth Vader sounds better all the time

b1-66er:

Haven't read this. 

https://scitechdaily.com/mit-posts-free-plans-online-for-an-emergency-ventilator-that-can-be-built-for-100/

The Actore: Cool

b1-67er (P.E. in CA): That's a good idea because all the parts touching the patients air already meet FDA requirements.

TA: Interesting that they lifted liability for machines dealing with this virus. I think that's a really good idea for now

67: Absolutely. No company in their right mind should touch it otherwise.

TA: Did you see that there's a video game controller in the picture?

67: Good idea on the controller. They are pretty bulletproof.  Trouble is there will instantly be a controller shortage.

TA: Yeah, But they are literally in just about every home. And I think people will happily volunteer one if they know it will help a relative in need

Although their kids will fight them on it because they won't know what the heck to do with their time😂

67: That's not $100 worth of stuff.  Maybe $800 or so plus labor.

TA: I was thinking the same thing about the cost. Controllers alone I think are worth $60-$100. However 800 still sounds a hell of a lot better than $30,000

67: True. It's plugged into a white sheet metal box sort of hidden under the laptop. I wonder what that is.

Plus I'm sure it lacks a lot of bells and whistles and reliability testing.

Still useful. 

Great in a "I'll take any ventilator I can get" world.

TA: Yeah, you would know very well that dynamic. I'm also wondering about the sensors and feedback system because each patient has different volumes of air and requirements that they will need which will have to vary throughout their treatment.

Another thing I have to worry about is can those ambo bags last for up to four weeks? I think they were meant to only last for a short time until they can hook a person up to a ventilator according to the article. There's a huge difference between an hour's worth of use <and?> four weeks which could literally be 4 million cycles if their million cycle per week number is accurate

67: Likely you would wear them out. But even if you get a week, you could swap them out.  Sensors may well be the bottleneck to quick production.  The controller on the left end of the plywood is probably doing that decision making.  

The red/green/yellow object on the end of the bag  is some kind of visual pressure sensor. It looks like a bypass sensor from a hydraulic filter.

You may adjust the pressure manually.

TA: Agreed.

Very cool. Although if it <has>  to be adjusted manually... does that require a person to be there 24 seven?

Get me a gun and a lime, I'll bring the Corona

b1-67er: NRA and state of California aligning for lawsuit. California says gun shops non essential and must close due to Corona virus. NRA says second amendment violation and that they are essential.

I think NRA will win this one.

b1-66er: Pandemics: 

Your real life lesson in Civics

D4rw1n: Remember it is only since 2009 that the USSC has held that the 2nd even articulated a personal right to bear arms. Heller v. DC

So now we can have a jurisprudence on it like we have on the first amendment 

Balancing the state interest vs. the individual liberty interest 

66: So, in that balance, which way does it tip?

D4: The framework under Heller is almost identical to that under first amendment law:

 1. Is the firearm itself protected (cannons no; hunting rifles yes; fights ongoing in between).

 Here yes because presumably the shops are all selling lawful firearms 

2. What level of scrutiny to judge the law by? 

A. Strict scrutiny if it touches a "core" 2Am right, like self defense in the home. 

B. "Rational basis" balancing of interests if not touching a core right. This may be a close call but I think the right to buy a gun in a store right now, in a pandemic, is not as "core" as the right to have one in the home to defend the self. But reasonable minds will differ. But let's say this law gets rational basis scrutiny. 

The state interest here is to have the authority to enforce social distancing by closing nonessential businesses. It's going to be a very strong argument in the courts because it dramatically saves lives 

The liberty interest is to go out in the pandemic and buy a gun. This is personally critical to a portion of the population. A woman who designed our bathroom remodel recently went batshit crazy trying to buy a bunch of guns to protect herself from the mobs or coronazombies she imagines will be roaming the streets soon 

But it's a relatively weak liberty argument in the end, I think. The state will say you can still do the transaction online from a Federal Firearm License holder seller, and have the seller deliver to you. They'll also say the ban is temporary, just until it's safe to allow people to gather in shops 

Could be super interesting

66: +2 for first known use of Coronazombies.*

Thank you. 

* and KTXT establishment don't like the "zombie" concept... it's the filmatic equivalent of sarcasm: easy, dumb and ultimately uninteresting. 

THAT'S how good D4rw!n's use was, still warrants 2*.