CDC article about a new virus spread by camels

Posted on by

When I see that the CDC has expedited an article for publication and it goes out “ahead of print”, I get the feeling they found something they’re not ready to yell “run for your lives” yet, but they’re filing it under the ominous “you might want to stand back a little” category.

The CDC just posted they are watching a new Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) that first popped up back in 2012.

This virus is pretty nasty. It spreads from camels to humans and results in a serious respiratory tract illness which leads to pneumonia.

In the article, it says that in “187 laboratory-confirmed human cases… 97 were fatal.”

Um… that’s a 52% mortality rate. A better than 50/50 chance if you get this virus, you’re gonna die.

The CDC article is full of solid medical terminology that goes into how they’re trying to nail down this bug, but the short version of what they know so far is that young camels are infected more often than older ones, and since the first half of each year is when most young camels are born due to local breeding patterns, that’s when they expect an upturn in this disease.

Unfortunately, they’re still not 100% on if it completely comes from camels and there’s still a big unknown on what causes the young camels to become sick in the first place. (“Phylogenetic analyses supported the conclusion that transmission occurred between camel and patient, but no direction was implied (e.g, camel to human vs. human to camel)”).

It is still limited to the countries in the Arabian Peninsula, but like every educational disaster movie has shown, it only takes one sick person on a plane to New York to bring civilization to its’ knees.

OK, that’s not really going to happen, but this is still not good.

Link to the CDC article is here.

NASA’s official response to that “we’re all gonna dieeee” study

Posted on by

NASA had a quick but pointed response today to the “Sustainability Study” that’s making the rounds on the internet.

Apparently some university poozers slid a report under the door of NASA’s main office that says the world is gonna end and we’re all gonna die if we use plastic bags, keep the lights on when we’re not in the room, and all kinds of evil-bastard stuff like that.

NASA came down on Professor Chicken Little and his band of merry mother cluckers by saying “we didn’t touch that report, didn’t ask for that report, and we don’t even know who the University of Maryland’s mascot is. So nyaaa.”

Ok, maybe not literally, but I still don’t think it’s wise to tick off scientists who make giant explodey cylinders for a living.

Full press release follows…

——-

NASA Statement on Sustainability Study

The following is a statement from NASA regarding erroneous media reports crediting the agency with an academic paper on population and societal impacts.

“A soon-to-be published research paper ‘Human and Nature Dynamics (HANDY): Modeling Inequality and Use of Resources in the Collapse or Sustainability of Societies’ by University of Maryland researchers Safa Motesharrei and Eugenia Kalnay, and University of Minnesota’s Jorge Rivas was not solicited, directed or reviewed by NASA. It is an independent study by the university researchers utilizing research tools developed for a separate NASA activity.

“As is the case with all independent research, the views and conclusions in the paper are those of the authors alone. NASA does not endorse the paper or its conclusions.”

-end-

Allard Beutel
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
allard.beutel@nasa.gov

Ed Campion
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-286-0697
edward.s.campion@nasa.gov

Last call for the Sony Reader store

Posted on by

It’s last call for the Sony Reader store.  Tomorrow (March 20th) at 6 PM eastern time, they’re pulling the plug for good.

In their press releases and in their reader FAQ, Sony says they will be sending out instructions on how to link all book and periodical purchases made in the Sony Reader store to a Kobo account, but only after the Sony Reader Store has completely shut down.

Why wait until a few days after the store has shut down to send these directions? Because they’re SONY, DAMMIT. They made Walkmans these young’uns with their newfangled iKindlePad thingamajigs don’t appreciate none!

You can read the “we’re outta here” post here, the Sony Ereader Store closure FAQ here, and the directions on how to download your previous purchases here (but no directions on how to move everything you might have bought to Kobo yet).

Four Hundred and Fourty Four Days Later…

Image

444 DAYS Later

STAX6 (AKA: Texas Sales Tax Filing App) missing file upload fix

Posted on by

If your company is using the brand new state of Texas STAX6 application to upload monthly sales tax reports, the new default path for the pre-upload file is going to be in the C:\ProgramData\TexasCPA\Stax6 directory.

The problem is, C:\ProgramData\ is a hidden directory by system default.

Great location for a default save path, STAX!

Your accounting team isn’t going to find a C:\ProgramData\ directory when they fire up a browser and launch the state’s upload tool, and they’re not going to see it when they open the C: drive from Windows Explorer either. Panic isn’t a strong enough word for what will ensue.

To keep everyone’s blood pressure down, right click on the STAX6 uploader(s) desktop and create a NEW>SHORTCUT to C:\ProgramData\TexasCPA\Stax6 and save it right on their desktop. Instead of searching their C:\ drive for a hidden directory, have the STAX6 uploader(s) point the state’s upload directory tool to that Stax6 shortcut on their desktop, and from there the monthly tax files will appear in a list.

If they have already closed the STAX6 application, or don’t remember which .txt file to upload, you can search for the filename in the format ST(MONTH)(DAY)n(VERSION).txt (example: ST1217n1), or just search for .txt files modified in the last couple of hours (including protected and invisible files and folders).

One more thing – the new STAX6 is 64 bit only, so if you’re running on a old(er) operating system, you don’t have a choice on updating anymore.

Disney is closing down their Movies Online service on Dec. 31st

Posted on by

Disney just announced in a press release they are closing their entire stream-and-watch digital service on December 31st.

If you made any purchases directly with the online streaming store you can get a refund (according to the FAQ) by sending an email “by February 28, 2013 to support@disneymoviesonline.com with “Refund Needed” in the subject line. Be sure to include your name, mailing address, and phone number … and we will mail you a check. No additional action is necessary on your part.”

This doesn’t have anything to do with the Disney Combo packs with a “Digital Copy” sticker that are still in stores. You can still download those from either iTunes or Windows Media Player on your computer (according to the FAQ) like this…

  • Transfer to Mac:
    • Insert the Disney Digital Copy disc into your Mac’s DVD drive, launch the application, click on the “Activate” button from the main menu and follow the on-screen instructions.
    • The iTunes application will open and guide you through the transfer.
    • When prompted by iTunes, enter the unique code found on the insert located in your DVD or Blu-ray package to activate your Disney Digital Copy.
    • After the transfer completes, the movie can be watched on your Mac and transferred to your iTunes compatible device.
  • Transfer to PC:
    • Insert the Disney Digital Copy disc into your PC’s DVD drive, launch the application, click on the “Activate” button from the main menu and follow the on-screen instructions.
    • Choose either iTunes or Windows Media for your Disney Digital Copy.
    • If you choose iTunes, the iTunes window will automatically open and guide you through the transfer:
      • Input the unique code found on the insert located in your DVD or Blu-ray package to activate the Disney Digital Copy
      • After the transfer completes, the movie can be watched on your PC or transferred to your iTunes compatible device.
    • If you choose Windows Media, follow the steps below:
      • When prompted, input the unique code found on the insert located in your DVD or Blu-ray package to activate the Disney Digital Copy and follow the on-screen instructions.
      • After the transfer completes, the movie can be watched on your PC and transferred to your PlaysForSure compatible portable device.

 

The Disney-streaming-movies was brilliant while it lasted. After logging in to the service and keying in a unique code for every Disney movie,  you could watch that movie anytime from any web browser! That was a stroke of genius! Why not watch the movie when you want where you want if you own the original copy!?  Unfortunately, some dopey-grumpy-greedy dwarf must have found out about this brilliant idea, and that was that. I bet there will probably be a “monetized” version of this service in mid-2013.

Dailybooth is shutting down. Download your photos before December 31st.

Posted on by

If you haven’t heard by now, Dailybooth is shutting down.

If you are a Dailybooth user, you can still download your photos by going to http://dailybooth.com/export and signing up for an archived download of all your photos.

Here’s a copy of the email sent to all users…

“Dear *|USERNAME|*,

A picture a day, every day. DailyBooth was launched based on that simple idea. We never could have imagined what it would become more than three years later.

The community each one of you helped create is truly one of a kind. There have been many unforgettable memories created amongst us and none of this would have been possible without you. For that, we’re truly grateful for what you’ve helped DailyBooth become.

Regrettably, this email comes with unfortunate news. DailyBooth is shutting down. Keeping the website running is no longer feasible.

On Wednesday, November 14th, the website will no longer allow you to add new content. Shortly thereafter, the website will be changed allowing you to only be able to download your photos. You’ll be able to download your photos until December 31st, 2012. After this date all content will be permanently deleted.

We can’t thank you enough for everything.”

Recall on NESQUIK Chocolate Powder

Posted on by

Nestlé is recalling their NESQUIK Chocolate Powder drink mix (that magically delicious powder that changes regular chankla-flavored milk to chocolate milk) because they might be infected with Salmonella.

According to the press release from the FDA…

“To ensure the safety of consumers, Nestlé is recalling selected NESQUIK Chocolate Powder. The recall is limited to the following sizes, UPC and production codes of NESQUIK Chocolate Powder:

Size UPC Code Production Codes
40.7 oz. Chocolate (72 servings) 0 28000 68230 9 2282574810
2282574820
21.8 oz. Chocolate (38 servings) 0 28000 68090 9 2278574810
2278574820
2279574810
2279574820
2284574820
2284574830
2285574810
2285574820
2287574820
2289574810
2289574820
10.9 oz. Chocolate (19 servings) 0 28000 67990 3 2278574810

The affected NESQUIK Chocolate Powder was produced during early October, 2012. To locate the production code, consumers should look on the bottom of the canister, adjacent to the consumer expiration date. All affected products have an expiration date of BEST BEFORE Oct 2014.

Consumers who may have purchased the affected NESQUIK Chocolate Powder should not consume it, but instead should return it to the place of purchase for a full refund or contact Nestlé Consumer Services at (800) 628-7679.”

Syncing nightmare with Bento (AKA: Erasing a database in one step)

Posted on by

Here’s something I found out the hard way.

If you use Bento for Mac and iPhone, deleting a database on the iPhone will also delete the master database on the Mac on the next sync.

Let me type that again, because I still can’t believe it.

If you delete a Bento database on the iPhone, on the next sync, the master database on the Mac, the one with all the critical information you’ve been building up, will be completely erased.

No warning. No confirmation. No temp file hiding in the library. Nothing in the trash to recover. The database is gone. Wiped out. Nuked from orbit. Buh-bye.

Deleting a master database from a field device should take confirmation, a second password confirmation, re-re-confirmation, and the last two addresses you’ve lived at. For a database program to allow an immediate nuke without any prompt? That’s beyond unacceptable.

Filemaker knows about this issue (here and here), but their response has always been “ah, just restore from weekly backup”.

Ah, no. Hell no. This is a crippling “should have never got out of beta” design flaw.

Zero-star rating for Bento. Don’t ever use this app.

Best. Baby. Pacifier. Ever. [PHOTO]

Posted on by

Best. Baby. Pacifier. Ever.

Best. Baby. Pacifier. Ever.



And the dad in this photo is enojying it as much as the baby.

If *anyone* knows where to get one, please email me. This was originally on reddit, but nobody there knows where the original is from, either.