America is self-immolating. Reality is the kindling. Trumpism
and Fox News provide the spark. Social media is the gasoline. It may seem like
2020 is beset by an endless wildfire of disparate bad news stories, but beneath
all of them is a familiar bed of lies. And somehow we sleep while our beds are
burning. In Oregon, fake news trumps real flames. From NPR: Oregon Officials
Warn False Antifa Rumors Waste Precious Resources For Fires. The firehose of
misinformation about the burn zones is similar to the one being used to keep
Covid-19 burning brightly in America, but in the case of West coast fires, the
lies are not beating an invisible threat, they are beating back an inferno that
people can see, smell, and feel. Anne Applebaum in The Atlantic: In Trump's
Virtual World, Real Catastrophes Do Not Compute. "Mythical looters and
mythical anarchists are now more frightening to some people than an actual
forest fire."
+ Everywhere you look, reality is on the ropes. Here's how
it's affecting health. A new poll "finds that the public's trust in the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S.'s top doctors, like
Anthony Fauci, is rapidly dropping, particularly among Republicans. It also
finds that a sizable percentage of Americans still hold a number of incorrect
beliefs about the pandemic, and that less than half of Americans surveyed would
want to get vaccinated against Covid-19 if a vaccine was available before
November."
+ Here's how it's affecting the perception of weather.
"Likely Trump-voting Florida residents were 10 to 11 percentage points
less likely to evacuate Hurricane Irma than Clinton voters (34% versus 45%), a
gap not present in prior hurricanes."
+ Here's how it's affecting the voting. 'This is f---ing
crazy': Florida Latinos swamped by wild conspiracy theories. "George Soros
directs a "deep state" global conspiracy network. A Joe Biden win
would put America in control of "Jews and Blacks." The Democratic
nominee has a pedophilia problem. Wild disinformation like this is inundating
Spanish-speaking residents of South Florida ahead of Election Day, clogging
their WhatsApp chats, Facebook feeds and even radio airwaves at a saturation
level that threatens to shape the outcome in the nation's biggest and most
closely contested swing state."
+ NYT: In Visiting a Charred California, Trump Confronts a
Scientific Reality He Denies. "A president who has mocked climate change
and pushed policies that accelerate it is set to be briefed on the scorched
earth and ash-filled skies that experts say are the predictable result."
+ "The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
recently hired David Legates, a climate change denier who's previously maintained
that the sun is to blame for global warming and that the ocean's rising CO2
levels are fine because it means we get bigger crabs." While the West
Coast Burns.
Web of Lies.
ZOOM v. WEBEX v. GOOGLE MEETS v. SKYPE v. TEAMS - Multiple
apps for collaboration and video calls have appeared extensively in the media
lately, but what is a bit snowy is what the actual functionality is. Often the
news is only about privacy or exploding user numbers. We compared five
frequently used video conferencing apps and see which app is a good choice for
which business or education situation. These apps all have the standard
features for video conferencing, online meetings and are therefore in the
spotlight these days. There are some differences in terms of interface, ease of
use, functionality and price.
Zoom: This reporter’s app of choice. Participating
in a call takes a few seconds if you have already installed the app and two
extra clicks if you choose the web app instead. Participants can connect and
chat with each other before the host arrives. The administrator can also turn
off a participant’s microphone or camera at any time. The sound can be turned
off and on using buttons on the screen, or from account preferences.
+ Zoom can be used via a web app or a desktop version as well.
Users receive a Personal Meeting ID with which a call can start at any time.
This way you can start a meeting without a lot of planning, but when it comes
to security, a unique meeting ID is a better option (especially now, because
that personal ID is no longer displayed in the app, so people can’t take
screenshots). Calls can also be password protected.
Zoom calls can link to calendars, including Google Calendar,
iCal and Microsoft Outlook. Scheduled calls automatically end up in your
schedule. Furthermore, participants can participate by phone, for which
administrators can choose which dial-in numbers should be displayed for which
countries. With a Pro account, there is the possibility to require participants
to register for a call. A short survey is completed before they take part,
which is very useful for webinars or online events.
Zoom has a free version, a Pro version for $14.99 per host per
month and a Business version for $19.99 for at least 10 users, with more
features than the Pro version. There is also an Enterprise version, for the
same price as Business. This version requires a minimum of 100 users, and it
has, in turn, more features than the Business version.
Hosts also have security buttons on their toolbar during
active calls. This button gives hosts quick access to several functions such as
locking the meeting, creating a waiting room for new additional participants,
allowing participants to share their screens, the chat, and so on.
Another useful aspect of the interface is that the
administrator can see information about the connectivity of everyone in the
call. In this way, a host can easily recognize where a possible problem with
the connection is. As a participant, you can configure your screen to see
relevant information and a chatbox. There is also the option to set Zoom to
full-screen mode automatically.
Cisco WebEx: Cisco’s Webex was designed
in the form of two apps as well. These are Webex Meetings and Webex Teams.
Webex Teams does have a video conferencing option, but mainly focuses on
collaboration functionality, similar to Microsoft Teams. Webex Meetings is
specifically designed for videoconferencing and online events. We will focus on
that functionality in this review.
+ It’s also worth mentioning that Webex is usable with a
desktop app or a web app. The web app has the same functionality as the desktop
version, except for two important features: the web version does not support
end-to-end encryption, and no legacy Voice-over-IP (VoiP). As for the rest, the
two versions are virtually the same.
Using of Webex Meetings is pretty intuitive. The interface is
similar to other services during a call, but before you start a call, you can
see a clear dashboard. You can choose Start Meeting, Plan Meeting or Join
Meeting on that dashboard; those buttons speak for themselves. On the right side,
you can see scheduled meetings, if any, and recently viewed files. When
planning a meeting, standard functions such as time, date and duration of the
meeting can be set, and the necessary persons can be invited. Furthermore,
agenda items can be added, as well as a password for the meeting. Also, as with
other services, the desired audio devices can be selected, but these settings
are a bit easier to find in Webex than in e.g. Microsoft Teams.
Administrators can record the meeting, both audio and video.
Participants in the meeting can then download that recording with a link.
Furthermore, participants can be muted. All participants can use a chat during
the meeting, and hosts can share their desktop, a specific app, or files from
their computer, including video files, with the other people in the call.
What’s very useful is that there is a notification for administrators to see if
sharing is enabled or not. This makes it much less likely that he/she will
leave the feature on after the call has ended. It is also possible to use a
virtual whiteboard for sharing notes.
Webex is available in a free version, a Starter version for $13.50
per host per month, a Plus version for $17.95 per host per month, and a
Business version for $26.95 per host per month.
Google Meets: If you have a Google
Account, you have access to Google Chat and Google Meet. These names have only
recently been given; until recently, the service was called Hangouts. Meet and
Chat are both a standard part of G Suite, Google’s office suite. This brings
integrations with it, just like Microsoft Teams with Office. With an available
subscription to G Suite, it is therefore advisable to choose Google Meet (and
Chat).
+ Meet’s interface is clear and simple. You can plan, start
and join meetings on the right side of the screen, and there is an unmissable
button to adjust general, video and audio settings. That’s actually all you see
on the start screen of Meet itself. All other Meet functions are in different
places in G Suite, like planning calls, which is in Google Calendar. The simple
interface makes Meet a bit easier to use than Microsoft Teams, but the choice
between Teams or Meet (and Chat) really depends on which office suite you use
within your company.
In video calls themselves, the functions are quite basic;
turning the camera and microphone on and off is done via the standard buttons.
There is also the option to share your screen, or just one window of e.g. a
certain application. At the bottom right is a menu with more options, such as
displaying in full screen and customizing the layout to your liking. Very
interesting is turning on captions, where a direct transcription appears of the
speaker who is speaking at that moment. In principle, you could follow what is
said without sound, but the transcription is not flawless. The addition is
still in transition from gimmick to real feature.
Users can participate in calls via an e-mail, a shared link or
a calendar invitation, and there is the possibility to dial in. Furthermore,
there is the possibility to stream video to up to 100,000 viewers within one
domain. It is also possible to record calls and save them directly to Google
Drive.
G Suite is currently available for free for Basic if you have
a Google account, $12.00 per user for 50 people at once for Business and $25.00
per user for 100 people at once for Enterprise. The first two amounts have been
lowered temporarily due to the corona crisis, so there is a good chance that
they will be raised when the situation returns to normal.
Microsoft Teams/Skype: Skype for
Business is still a popular app for videoconferencing. However, Skype is
rapidly being phased out for the benefit of Microsoft Teams, the collaboration
app that is included in Microsoft 365 subscriptions. Teams could be a good
choice for larger businesses.
+ The interface of Teams is quite clear, once you know where
everything is. As is the case with more products from the Office/Microsoft 365
family, it takes some time to get familiar with where all buttons and options
are. Sometimes it takes a few clicks to get to a particular option. For
example, the settings menu is located below the drop-down of the user’s
profile. No problem once you know it, but we could imagine that some users only
find out after they have been searching for a settings icon for a while. That’s
often the case with Teams, but in our opinion, that’s just a minor drawback,
which gets less annoying over time. Moreover, this lack of clarity is no
problem during an actual video meeting.
Teams is not only a video conferencing tool but also a chat
tool, with complete collaboration functionality. Here, however, we focus on the
video conferencing side of the story, which is similar to many other apps –
think e.g. of the standard buttons for microphone and camera. However, a number
of features stand out: for example, users can choose, during the call, which
video feed is displayed, and that feed can then be fixed on the screen. This
can be done for multiple feeds, so in a video meeting, for example, both the
administrator and a speaker can be displayed. Furthermore, there is a function
that ensures that you are in the picture when you raise your arm, which can be
useful for drawing attention if there is a problem with the connection that
needs to be resolved.
What further distinguishes Teams are the integrations for
Office 365 (soon to be Microsoft 365). This means that appointments in the
calendar of Outlook, for example, are synchronized so that a user is displayed
as “busy” during an appointment. As far as we are concerned, these integrations
are one of the biggest advantages of Teams for Microsoft users. It can be a
decisive factor when making a choice.
The prices of Microsoft (Office) 365 is free for owners of
365, $5.00 per user per month for Essentials, $12.50 per user per month for
Premium and $20.00 per user per month for Business.
Conclusion: For companies using G
Suite or Office 365, Google Meet/Chat and Microsoft Teams, respectively, are
clearly the best choice. The functionality is not limited to video conferencing
only, and there are no additional costs. On the other side of the playing
field, you will find Zoom, where Zoom is currently not recommended for privacy
reasons. If these problems are addressed, then Zoom really does have the most
extensive functions. Approximately in the middle of the spectrum, we find
Webex, which is not part of an office suite. It is, however, a good choice if
your business is already using Cisco solutions. Moreover, expansion to Webex
Teams is possible when more collaboration functions are needed.
In other words, personal preference or corporate saving a buck
prevails.
COVID-19 NOTES - Things are looking up.
If you look up. Canada reported zero COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours for
the first time since March 15, according to public health agency data released
late on Friday September 11.
+ "The commentary, published in the New England Journal
of Medicine, advances the unproven but promising theory that universal face
mask wearing might be helping to reduce the severity of the virus and ensuring
that a greater proportion of new infections are asymptomatic."
+ CDC: Kids can spread coronavirus to their households.
+ Against the orders of Nevada's governor, Trump resumed
indoor rallies over the weekend in Henderson. The POTUS reflected on the health
risks: "I'm on a stage and it's very far away. And so I'm not at all
concerned." (He didn't comment on the health risks for the others...)
+ At least 42,534 meatpacking workers have tested positive for
the novel coronavirus in 494 meat plants, and at least 203 meatpacking workers
have died since March ... The financial penalties for a Smithfield Foods plant
in South Dakota and a JBS plant in Colorado issued last week total about
$29,000. More than 200 meat plant workers in the U.S. have died of covid-19.
Federal regulators just issued two modest fines.
VOTE – Fifty days.
SCIENCE, VENUS ENVY - If you
ever found yourself on Venus, you would be destroyed in moments. The pressure
at the surface is thought to be up to 100 times greater than what is found on
Earth, temperatures are around 464 °C, and the air is more than 96% carbon
dioxide. And yet, life on Venus suddenly isn't the most unimaginable
possibility." And compared to 2020 Earth, anyone visit California lately????
BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK – Birthday wishes
and thoughts this week to Jacqueline Bisset (76), Tommy Lee Jones (74), Deb
Olson …famous Professor of Management, Dan Pugliese …famous Pittsburgh Steelers
fan, Ronaldo (44), Scott Winterburn ….famous baseball coach and athletic
administrator.
ON THIS DATE – September 14, 1968 – Denny
McLain gets win #30 when the Detroit Tigers score two runs in the bottom of
the 9th to beat the Oakland A’s 5-4. I can hear Ernie Harwell now.
MARKET WEEK - WHY ARE STOCKS SO HIGH? — How have
stocks remained so resilient in the face of such a severe shock? In part, it’s
because of inequality. Stocks are overwhelmingly owned by the top 1 percent,
which means speculation has been able to continue even as more people have lost
their jobs than at any time since the Great Depression.
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· The U.S.,
England, and Japan will all announce interest rate decisions this
week. Investors aren’t expecting any major changes in their outlooks. |
As the economy tries to claw back from the pandemic, consumers
have shown a surprisingly strong appetite for cassette players. Used cars are
giving a big lift to consumer prices.
The core Consumer Price Index, which tracks price trends sans
volatile food and fuel costs, rose 0.4% last month after a 0.6% bump in July
that was the biggest increase in nearly 30 years.
The huge bump in the price of used cars and trucks accounted
for a whopping 40% of last month's gain.
New car sales, especially in China, have rebounded since March
lows, but used cars have been the star of the roadshow. What's driving the
trend? With tens of millions of Americans unemployed, people are opting for
used cars over new.
And Covid-related supply chain disruptions have made it tough
for dealers to get new cars on the lot.
Considering the Fed just switched up its policy to accommodate
more inflation, this bump in consumer prices isn’t going to do anything to
budge chair Jerome Powell's decision to keep interest rates near-zero for a
long time.
DRIVING THE WEEK — Congress is fully back
but stimulus talks remain absolutely nowhere. The only real hope now is for a
deal to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the month. White House
officials feel confident this will get done. But then they also felt confident
early on about a stimulus deal … FOMC releases latest statement on Wednesday at
2:00 p.m. with Powell presser at 2:30 …
House Financial Services has a hearing at noon on Wednesday on
Fannie and Freddie loan pricing … House Financial Services has a hearing at
noon Thursday on Covid-19 and allegations of insider trading … Jobless claims
on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. expected to come in down slightly at a still massive
850K.
TOP THREE – Most valuable NFL franchises:
- Dallas
Cowboys: $5.7 B
- New
England Patriots: $4.4 B
- New
York Giants: $4.3 B
NFL DYSFUNCTIONAL MEDIOCRITY - Enough of the
Detroit Lion losing fourth quarter games. Can we win a game for once in the
fourth quarter? Good Lord, it is now time for the Coach (Matt Patricia) and the
GM (Bob Quinn) to put up or get out.
Philadelphia Eagles blow a seventeen-point lead to Washington,
atrocious.
Finally, again Philip Rivers blows another one, this time in
Indianapolis. Time to retire Philip.
It is going to be a long season in Motown, Philly Cheese, and
Indy.
NFL NIELSEN RATINGS - All things considered;
NFL Kickoff Game ratings held up as well as NBC could reasonably hope.
Thursday’s Texans-Chiefs NFL Kickoff Game averaged an 11.2 rating
and 20.54 million viewers on NBC, down 13% in ratings and 7% in viewership from
Packers-Bears last year (12.8, 22.03M) but flat and up 8% respectively from
Falcons-Eagles in 2018 (11.2, 18.98M).
The final viewership total increased 6% over the Nielsen fast
nationals released Friday (19.3M). The rise can be attributed to out-of-home
viewing, which Nielsen began including in its final nationals August 31.
The Chiefs’ comfortable win, which peaked with 22.0 million
viewers in the fast-nationals, ranks as easily the most-watched television
program since the Academy Awards in February (23.57M) and the top sports
program since the Super Bowl (100.45M). There are typically any number of
marquee sporting events between the Super Bowl and the Kickoff Game, but this
year has been a noted exception.
SWAMI’S
WEEK TOP PICKS –
NFL Football Pick of the Week – Sunday
9/20, 1:05 PM (PT), Fox: Washington Snyders (1-0) at Arizona Cardinals (1-0).
Who would of thought two undefeated teams in the NFC, not for long, Cardinals
win, 30 - 20. (Season to Date 1-0)
College Football Pick of the Week –
Saturday 9/19, 7:30 PM (ET), ABC: #17 Miami Hurricanes (1-0) at #18 Louisville
Cardinals (1-0), an early season ACC match-up. The running power of Miami versus
the passing power of Louisville. We like Louisville, 42 - 35. (Season
to Date 1-0)
Golf Pick of the Week – Thursday - Sunday 9/17 – 9/20, NBC:
120th United States Open Championship at Winged Foot Country Club,
New York. Top Three: 1). John Rahm, 2). Dustin Johnson, 3). Rory McIlroy.
MLB Pick of the Week – Saturday 9/19, 4:15 PM (PT) Fox: Atlanta Braves
(28-20) at New York Mets (21-26), Mets have been playing decent baseball of
late, a but too late to make the top eight for the playoffs, Mets win 4 – 3. (Season to Date 1-1)
English Premier League Pick of the
Week – Saturday 9/19, 9:30 AM (PT) NBCSN; Manchester
United Red Devils at Crystal Palace Eagles in an opening league game for Man U.
It will be very quiet in Selhurst Park in North London, Man U wins 3 - 2. (Season to
Date 1-0)
2020
Season to Date (16 - 8)
Next Blog: The sky is
falling.
Until
Monday September 21, 2020 Adios.
Claremont,
California
September
14, 2020
#XI-10-416
3,692 words, ten minute read
CARTOON OF THE WEEK – Campus
Times
RINK RATS POLL – If the 2020
Presidential election were to be today, I would vote for President?
___ Joseph Biden
___ Donald Trump
___ Other
QUOTE OF THE MONTH – "The future is real; the
past is made up." – Logan Roy
Rink Rats is a blog
of weekly observations, predictions and commentary. We welcome your comments
and questions. Also participate in our monthly poll. Rink Rats is now viewed in
Europe, Canada, South America and the United States.
Posted at Rink Rats The Blog: First Published – May 3, 2010
Our Eleventh Year.
www.rhasserinkrats.blogspot.com
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