Space-based cell towers coming soon to a phone near you

Lynk scores big win in global space race
Mike Dano, Light Reading, 3/18/2020

Startup Lynk said it successfully transmitted a message from a satellite in space to a standard, Android-powered GSM phone on the ground.

The company said the test shows its technology works – an important milestone along the company's path toward commercializing its offering.

Lynk posted a video of the test, conducted February 24 in a remote location in the Falkland Islands where it would not interfere with other operations. It also linked to a longer version of the video that features some salty language from the company's engineers celebrating the successful test.

Lynk CEO Charles Miller told The Verge the company delivered the transmission from equipment it sent to the International Space Station in December aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Astronauts on the ISS attached the transmitter to a Cygnus cargo spacecraft that remains in orbit.

This is a great milestone. With luck, the tech will scale and become affordable. Once fully deployed, this tech should provide cellular coverage anywhere in the world, connecting to a satellite whenever there is no compatible land-based tower in range.

I would assume that satellite links will have lower bandwidth and higher latency than terrestrial towers, but if it's good enough for voice calls and text messages, then it will allow access to emergency services no matter where in the world you are.

Gateway Pundit: Evidence Shows Director General of World Health Organization Severely Overstated the Fatality Rate of the Coronavirus Leading to the Greatest Global Panic in History

Evidence Shows Director General of World Health Organization Severely Overstated the Fatality Rate of the Coronavirus Leading to the Greatest Global Panic in History
by Joe Hoft. March 17, 2020

The Director General of the WHO spoke on March 3, 2020 and shared this related to the coronavirus:

While many people globally have built up immunity to seasonal flu strains, COVID-19 is a new virus to which no one has immunity. That means more people are susceptible to infection, and some will suffer severe disease.

Globally, about 3.4% of reported COVID-19 cases have died. By comparison, seasonal flu generally kills far fewer than 1% of those infected.

This statement led to the greatest panic in world history as the media all over the world shared and repeated that the coronavirus was many, many times more deadly than the common flu.

The problem is his statement is false. It was not accurate!

The Gateway Pundit reported yesterday, that the coronavirus fatality rate reported by the media was completely inaccurate and the actual rate is less than the current seasonal flu – the media was lying again. The false reporting of the coronavirus fatality rate of 3.4% in the media started with the statements made by the WHO in early March.

Here’s a summary of the analysis from yesterday proving the Director General’s statement was very misleading and materially false:

N/A – not available

h/t Pamela Geller

Read the original article for a point-by-point detailed explanation of the headline's point.

Of course, we know that this virus outbreak is serious, but the WHO and the press are exaggerating the facts, resulting in a world-wide panic. I don't want to start a discussion about why they are doing this, but it is wrong and needs to stop.

COVID-19 is not 34x as deadly as this year's flu, but is in fact 1/3 as deadly. Because people are acting as if it is 100x more deadly than reality, we are deliberately shutting down the global economy when it is not necessary. Our panicked reaction is going to cause far far more damage than the virus itself.

Johns Hopkins: Coronavirus Disease 2019 vs. the Flu

Coronavirus Disease 2019 vs. the Flu
Lisa Lockerd Maragakis, M.D., M.P.H.

Influenza “the flu” and COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, are both infectious respiratory illnesses. Although the symptoms of COVID-19 and the flu can look similar, the two illnesses are caused by different viruses.

As of Mar. 8, 2020, the flu is showing much more of an impact on Americans than COVID-19. You can find up-to-date information on COVID-19 at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Lisa Maragakis, M.D., M.P.H., senior director of infection prevention at Johns Hopkins, explains how the flu and COVID-19 are similar and how they are different.

To all those who are panicking over COVID-19 (no thanks to media coverage that seems to want a global panic), scroll down to the end, where mortality is compared:

COVID-19: Approximately 3,653 deaths reported worldwide; 17 deaths in the U.S., as of Mar. 8, 2020.

Flu: 291,000 to 646,000 deaths worldwide; 12,000 to 61,000 deaths in the U.S. per year.

The COVID-19 situation is changing rapidly. Since this disease is caused by a new virus, people do not have immunity to it, and a vaccine may be many months away. Doctors and scientists are working on estimating the mortality rate of COVID-19, but at present, it is thought to be higher than that of most strains of the flu.

Even given the final cautionary paragraph, it's important to point out that the flu claims orders of magnitude more lives every year than COVID-19.

Of course, you should take reasonable precautions. But they are the same precautions you should be taking every year because of the flu. Shutting down all of civilization out of fear of what might happen in the future is just ridiculous.

Light Reading: Infinera, Corning deliver 800G single wavelength

Infinera, Corning deliver 800G single wavelength
3/6/2020

SUNNYVALE, Calif. – Infinera (NASDAQ: INFN) and Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW) announced today the industry-leading achievement of delivering an 800 gigabits per second (800G) single wavelength with Infinera’s sixth-generation Infinite Capacity Engine (ICE6) technology across 800 kilometers (km) on Corning’s TXF® optical fiber.

Very impressive. And, of course, after the major telecom providers adopt this tech (whether from Ifinera or others), it will translate into more bandwidth and lower price-per-bit for subscribers.

Tips to help guard against coronavirus

On yesterday's Mark Levin Show (March 3, 2020), a caller provides good advice, based on medical facts, about how to protect against the coronavirus.

Naked Security: Tech support scammers hacked back by vigilante

Tech support scammers hacked back by vigilante
04 Mar 2020. By John E Dunn

A UK cybercrime vigilante was so incensed by tech support scammers he reverse-hacked the call centre in India to reveal CCTV footage of perpetrators as they ripped off their victims in real-life calls.

Publicised by a BBC documentary, the hack was the work of ‘Jim Browning’ (not his real name), who has acquired a following on his YouTube channel for his campaigns to expose how these crimes work and the individuals behind them.

I can't ever endorse doing this. It's dangerous and possibly illegal. But I hope law enforcement plays nice and uses this evidence to nail these scammers to the wall.

What's on your bookmark list?

Occasionally, I'm asked where I get my news, or what sites I visit for fun. So, just for kicks, here are some of the sites I visit most frequently.

Just The News: Michael Flynn seeks total exoneration, not pardon, says his attorney

Michael Flynn seeks total exoneration, not pardon, says his attorney
By Sophie Mann. Last Updated: February 27, 2020 - 9:50pm

Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn’s lawyer, Sidney Powell, told Just the News this week that she is seeking total exoneration of her client from the Department of Justice in a case that has dragged on for years.

“We don't want a pardon," she told the site's CEO John Solomon for his podcast John Solomon Reports. "We want an exoneration."

While emphasizing that her client wouldn’t dismiss the idea of accepting a pardon, Powell made clear that she and Flynn have set their sights higher.

“We want this case dismissed in the interest of justice,” she said.

And while you're at it, counter-sue for legal fees and court costs.

Mother of all movie spoilers

If you're hyper-sensitive about movie spoilers (in general, not for any specific film), stop reading now.

Another example of why you shouldn't believe the news

Anyone who regularly listens to Dan Bongino's podcast (or the corresponding YouTube channel) probably already knows about "the Bongino Rule". Whenever you run across "breaking" news that is damaging to President Trump, wait 24-48 hours before repeating it because it is almost always debunked within a day.

This week provided us with yet another example of this. (h/t to RedState.com via the Bongino Report)

Shocker: That ‘Bombshell’ About Trump Offering Julian Assange a Pardon to Cover-Up for Russia Was Total Garbage
Posted at 1:30 pm on February 21, 2020 by Bonchie

Apparently, that “bombshell” report that Donald Trump had nefariously offered Julian Assange a pardon to cover up for Russian hacking of the DNC was absolute garbage. I know, I know, it’s shocking and totally unexpected that our news media could make such a “mistake.”