Storage temperature may be a challenge for some COVID-19 Vaccines

The vaccines developed by Moderna Inc. and BioNTech & Pfizer have this storage temperatures.

1. *Moderna's             mRNA-1273                               requires -4 deg F
2. BioNTech's             BN1162b2 and BNT162b2         requires -94 deg F

This could be a problem in some scenarios although successful in one-day vaccination event site.

Read more here:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/moderna-and-pfizers-covid-19-vaccine-candidates-require-ultra-low-temperatures-raising-questions-about-storage-distribution-2020-08-27

Find easily details about your Windows 10 Apps

PowerShell is a good tool to use.

Let us say you want the details about your Microsoft Store app.
Then open the PowerShell ISE and type-in the following(the two lines in the script pane).

When you run this program, you will get to see all the details:

Feel free to browse all my PowerShell related articles in my blogs:

https://hodentekhelp.blogspot.com/search?q=PowerShell

Amazon Prime Now grocery delivery does not work

We have tried couple of times in Honolulu. It accepted our orders all the time but always failed to deliver. You get a message that it failed and a charge may temporarily appear which will be zeroed later.

However, amazon.com continues to show these pages and the ordering app is working great. Don't expect any delivery.

You may get the delivery if you are lucky. However, you cannot plan on it.

8/28/2020

One of our neighbors got some grocery delivered. However, the order was not delivered in its entirety as the inventory does not adjust automatically. 

Convalescent Plasma Therapy is getting new traction

"Plasma therapy is not new. German physiologist Emil von Behring won the Nobel Prize in 1901 for using it to treat diphtheria. It was also used during the Spanish Flu in 1918." -  Quoted from an Indian news link.

 It was tried early on in Wuhan. As it was not a clear test for the use of plasma therapy, it did not draw attention. But many countries are experimenting as the process of getting the plasma appears easy. Unfortunately, there is no definitive proof it will work. However, desperation has lead people to go for it and demand.

It was today announced that it has emergency authorization in the USA.

Read more here:

June 3, 2020
https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200603/plasma-therapy-helps-critically-ill-covid-patients#1

July 13, 2020
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-53387607

August 21, 2020
https://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-2020/fda-halts-plasma-use-for-covid.html

August 23, 2020
https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/08/23/905277083/fda-authorizes-convalescent-plasma-as-emergency-treatment-for-covid-19

Passion-fruit fragrance is subtle but very pleasing

The Passion-fruit (passiflora ligularis) flower stays for just one day. It will wilt at the end of the day.
This time we have 7 or 8 flowers blooming at the same time and the fragrance in our balcony is unbelievable.

It grows well in a pot. It appears Hawaii has the right climate. It is late August now and it is in full bloom.

Some pictures are here and more to come.

Masks getting exposed to the sun on a passion fruit creeper

This the bud of the flower and it will bloom today or tomorrow

This flower is butting against the ceiling.

The creeper is a habitat for many insects and geckos. Birds often visit to munch on them. The next video shows a bird trying the pry out forcibly the strands in an artificial rope used to tie the support for the passion fruit creeper. Probably they use in building the nest.

Microsoft wants TikTok and Oracle wants it too

Oracle is the latest onboard to buy TikTok.

https://tinyurl.com/y6bd67hk

They don't have all the money, but they will team up with General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital, it appears. Sequoia already has a piece in ByteDance. Oracle is a supporter of President Trump. Will it help to buy it faster?

Read here:
https://tinyurl.com/y2m57wsg

Is the rush to buy TikTok, the same as the desire for the forbidden fruit?

Truck mounted drone package delivery is a cool idea

Delivering packages to buildings and helipads is no brainer. However, to deliver to locations little offset from the truck route may take too much effort for simple packages.

Drone(s) mounted on trucks picks up the package from inside the truck (perhaps mediated by a database, a robot, and managed by AI) and delivers to the location informing ahead of the arrival of the package. The truck moves to another location, the driver will go, have his lunch while the drone will be busy delivering. 

With good logistics support, this a doable.

Read the full story here:
https://tinyurl.com/y434vwjj

The picture is from the above source.

COVID-19 vaccine testing status in India

According to WHO 26 vaccine candidates are being developed. Decades of development have been squeezed into less than a year. The infection has been rampant in India with over 2.2 million and the fatality of 44,000 in India.

Three vaccines are in different phases of testing:

1. Bharath Biotech vaccine
2. Zydus Cadila's DNA vaccine
3. The Oxford vaccine manufactured by Serum Institue of India (SII) has been approved for Phase II and Phase III trials at 17 sites within a week.

[1. and 2. have completed Phase I and will be beginning Phase 2 clinical trials]

Other news:

• Immunology and vaccine research in Bengaluru will start in collaboration with Emory Vaccine Center in Atlanta
• Serum Institue of India will be partnering with GAVI and Bill Gates & Melinda foundation to deliver 100 million doses and manufacturing starting in August 2020.
• Moderna started testing Phase III with 30,000 study subjects on July 27

-------------------------------------------
Summarized from Hindustan Time of Aug 11,2020
https://tinyurl.com/y6qjsu9q
-------------------------------------------
or

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/covid-19-latest-updates-3-indian-vaccines-under-trial-russia-to-allow-civilian-use-this-week/story-eUNncepriH354QPlOjXflK.html

Trick of the vaccine is in the pricing

No vaccine has proved to be the most effective so far, but the battle has begun.

Vaccine, at what price?

Her is something I saw on Bloomberg tv recently:

Indian Serum Institute, the world's largest bulk producer of the vaccine (Oxford Vaccine) will be producing it and distributing it at a very reasonable price. Thank Bill Gates and Melinda Foundation!

It is about $3/dose. Moderna appears too expensive for developing countries. 

My name made it to the NY Times Square bill-boards

Quite a lot of Hindu names given to the newborn are usually the names of the family Gods. There are plenty of Gods in India, perhaps more than iPV6 addresses.

Well, my name is Jayaram Krishnaswamy. It is actually a combo of two very famous Indian Gods, God Rama and God Krishna. Like all parents, my parents wanted the best name. Their aspiration was that I would live up to the name(s). Actually, it is not easy with a combo like this. Rama had only one wife and Krishna is known for having multiples.

Having names of Gods does not work most of the time. We depart from the originals and become so different, it is no more a meaningful concept.

Why I am telling all this, is because my name (God whose name I take) has made it to the NYTimes square bill-boards. Is it something I should be proud of? I do not know. Surely, a huge amount of advertising fee was spent. Five years ago why?, even a year ago, I could not have imagined in my wildest dreams (normal for me) to relate our God Rama with anything to do with NY Times Square billboard. This makes me feel that I am out of touch with reality. India has progressed so much, from the time I left its shores, it is truly amazing.

Source of picture: https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2020-08-05/times-square-advertisers-asked-not-to-run-hindu-temple-ad

Even so, it tickles me.

Read the complete article in the link and it has irked many because of its controversial nature. If Muslims do not like it, they are free to protest as they have done. After all, we live in a free country. Previously, in antiquity the Muslims invaders used to destroy what did not agree with their religion, fortunately, in modern times they can only protest.

It has also irked people who are against religion and Gods. God is just a construct and with the instruction set in your arsenal, you give a name to your God.

Where is Microsoft going with TikTok?

I am not sure of where this TikTok dealing is going. It looks like 50/50.

Mostly, American teens like TikTok. Americans have an inexhaustible desire for short time results, and 15 sec-videos are a perfect fit. Are 15 seconds long enough to make an impression about an Ad? Unless Microsoft has other ideas to integrate TikTok with its enterprise and cloud empires, it may be a flop for ad revenue. Twitter is trying for a long time to monetize, but the path has not been easy.

Microsoft trying to buy a media company is a no brainer. However, does it have to be TikTok?  Microsoft will be in the next congressional hearings list for sure. If Microsoft is buying TikTok for creating jobs, you need to take a deep breath. How many jobs can it create, realistically?

Can Microsoft succeed in monetizing TikTok? Or is Microsoft trying to buy TikTok to remain in the good books of China? I wonder.
Is Microsoft buying trouble in its TikTok purchase? Probably it is. Satya earned great respect after the demise of Windows Phone and the ascendency of Azure. Probably, Satya will be putting his career on the block, by purchasing TikTok.

There has been some talk of Microsoft buying a portion of TikTok, and another of Microsoft allowing others with some minor interest in Tiktok. This is not going to convince people about security. A clean cord-cutting is necessary. I think President Trump will be happy if the whole thing comes to the USA.

I saw this on the BBC site(https://www.bbc.com/news/business-53628108).

I quote, "Microsoft emphasized that it would ensure that 'all private data of TikTok's American users' was transferred to and remained in the US.
Further, it would ensure that any data currently stored or backed up outside the country would be deleted from servers after it was transferred to US datacenters. It also said that Microsoft 'appreciates the US Government's and President Trump's involvement as it continues to develop strong security protections for the country.
"
Well,
A. These assurances may not have any intrinsic value. What prevents TikTok from retaining copies of the files?

B. All Chinese companies need to provide the communist party any data it requests. How can you ensure 'that any data stored or backed up will be deleted from servers after it was transferred? The lack of transparency is what lead the US to distrust China in the first place. Does Microsoft expect TikTok to delete the information they already have? Not by a long shot.

C. I am sure President Trump knows China better than Satya.

I watch and watch as the story unfolds in the coming days and weeks.

Read more about trending info on TikTok:

Ireland data center:
https://bbc.in/31rsxEv

Instagram fights back:
https://bit.ly/3fugo6N

Aug 13 News after Indian ban of TikTok

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/13/tech/tiktok-ban-trump-india/index.html

September 1, 2020 (added)

Now China hates Zuckerberg

Source:
https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1198862.shtml

COVID-19 vaccines in Phase III trial

The following are the vaccines in Phase III testing phase

Moderna with National Institutes of Health USA

Launched Phase III on July 27,2020
US Government support `1 billion US$

BioNTech with Pfizer (NY) and Fosun Pharma(China)
Launched July 27 Phase III with 30,000 volunteers from 4 countries

US government offered $1.9 billion for 100 million doses


AstraZeneca with Oxford University

In Phase III trials in the UK, Brazil and South Africa

Wuhan Institute of Biological Products C0., LTD

Sinopharm launched Phase II trials in July in UAE
15,000 people participating

Sinovac, China
Phase III in Brazil in July

Murdoch Children's Research Institute
Testing the Tuberculosis vaccine in Phase III

Source of this post:  https://tinyurl.com/y9qjt4re