Ian Kenway @iankenway@social.cleverlibre.org

Wow!
New Welsh currency to be launched to boost businesses - Nation.Cymru https://nation.cymru/news/new-welsh-currency-to-be-launched-to-boost-businesses/
#Cymru

I often say that the @Publichealthw data are suspect. Today I will go a step further, and say the figures are plain wrong. Cases are out beyond any sensible statistical probability. Deaths are wrong mathematically.
780 new cases were recorded today, down from 2021 yesterday.

Last Tuesday was also wrong (667), in fact Tuesdays seems to have been an off day for many (but not all) recent weeks.
1/3

... there's no comment I can make.

7-day average (deaths): 23.14 - DOWN 1.29.

#Ceredigion sees 4 new cases, which would be great news if true. The only light here is that it is the 3rd lowest county (behind Môn - 1, and Gwynedd - 2) so at least there is progress down the rankings, and it is slightly lower than last Tuesday,
7-day average: 17.43 (DOWN 0.71)
3/3

Decline in #science attainment among #England's year 9 pupils | Science | The Guardian

This is not a good sign.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/dec/08/decline-in-science-attainment-among-england-year-9-pupils

#Education

We’ve had a few days of settled weather and some nice #sunsets. Here are a couple of #photographs from this evening.

1: #Clouds beyond a house. I think they have a nice shape and the #orange #colour contrasts nicely with the pale #blue of the #sky and round clouds. The #trees in the foreground also create nice #silhouettes.

2: #Bird and clouds. I managed to catch a solitary flyer on its way for the evening.

#MyWork #MyPhoto #CCBYSA #DSLR #Nikon #D7000 #Photography #Dusk

What a piece of work is a man, How noble in
Reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving
how express and admirable, In action how like an Angel!
in apprehension how like a god, the beauty of the
world, the paragon of animals. and yet to me, what is
this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me; no,
nor Woman neither; though by your smiling you seeme
to say so
-- Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet (Act II, Scene II)

#Shakespear #Literature #English #Quote #Quotes #Poetry #Poem

#1971: Tomorrow’s World: #CassetteNavigation - YouTube

I wonder if it ever caught on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KliWHCzE16c

#TomorrowsWorld

Apple announces AirPods Max headphones. Here's my quick review without having ever seen a pair:

- Digital Crown: sweet, I hate touch controls on headphones

- Case enabling low-power state: cool, almost as good as, you know, an actual switch

- Case looking like a glorified designer purse: yikes

- 20h of battery time: meh

- Price: priceless

- Lightning connector: fuck off already 😂

@realcaseyrollins

Not even close. We used to have wonderful personal freedoms and rights, 20 years ago.. These days I seem to be far safer and better protected in europe than the USA, at least in the ways that matter the most.

Here in america all someone has to do is accuse me of rape with no evidence and I will loose my job and my whole life. Or someone could wrongly assume I am a trump supporter and be labeled a fascist and a racist (doesnt even matter if i explain to them I dont support trump).

Hell even my right to privacy is better in europe these days than in the USA. Here it is a virtual garuntee the government is reading any message of mine they have any desire to read without any legal protection, nor do I have ownership over data websites or companies collect on me. Hell I am not even entitled privacy with regard to my medical history (used to be a sacred right) where there is now an open database any medical doctor can query to see anyones controlled substance prescriptions, no checks of any kind....

In europe most of everything i mentioned is not an issue, or at least much less of one. America jumped off a bridge, we are farther behind on freedoms than europe, not the other way around... not anymore.. not unless you have a time machine.

@iankenway

@iankenway Typical politician... "I want to take away your rights to protect children from sexual abuse"...

you: "Cant we just agree to protect children from sexual abuse without violating my rights or privacy"

politician: "You mean to tell me you support pedophilia!!!"

@freemo I agree. I think there is an element of complacency and fatigue from restrictionscreeping in, but also increased time indoors in less well ventilated rooms (it's gone considerably colder this past week).

I've had to change the scale for today's #Covid19Cymru cases graph. It's a new record: 1916 is the highest number of cases reported in a single day. That's very bad news; the 7-day average goes UP 131 to 1351.
Worse, R (estimate) goes up 0.03 to 1.22.

How could this be? Well, if R is up it means one (or more) of a few things:
1. Bad data. I doubt this, because the last few days have been around what would be expected, statistically
1/3

2. Colder weather. This forces people indoors more, and there's likely to be less ventilation, to save energy. The virus likes those conditions.
3. Complacency and restriction fatigue. It's been a long time now, and news of the vaccine might have encouraged people to think it's nearly over
4. Students getting tested before going home. This has been happening across Wales' universities, and will have found cases that might not have been found otherwise.

2/3

I favour 2 and 4, with possibly an element of 3. If it's mostly 4, then it is of less concern.

There were 14 deaths recorded. That's slightly lower than last Sunday (though Sunday usually sees under-reporting), so brings the 7-day average DOWN 0.29 to 24.29.

There's also some good news for #Ceredigion, where 11 new cases sees the 7-day average drop 1.71 to 16.
3/3

The four issues on which the 2021 Senedd election will be won and lost. https://nation.cymru/opinion/the-four-issues-on-which-the-2021-senedd-election-will-be-won-and-lost/