What's wrong with...
Things that fall short of the mark (in our opinion). Where they do, why, and how... What could make them better?
2020-10-02 More COVID Alert news coverage. Sometimes it's bad to be right.
First, if you are coming here directly there was an earlier article. It's linked here: https://www.bitblock.com/blog/whats-wrong-with/94-bc-in-adopting-the-covid-alert-app
Tonight, I found another article. https://globalnews.ca/news/7369875/canadians-access-covid-alert-app/
Finally. People are starting to pay attention to the issue. The article mentions some key details I'd forgotten - worth a read. One of them is that the federal government can't force the provinces to adopt the app. I'm sure given time they could find a way to coerce them. But that's a problem due to the delay.
One thing most people (excluding those who may actually wear tinfoil hats) can acknowledge is the existence of a pandemic. It has far reaching effects on people including both health and mental health, and the world economy.
Understanding that, there are certainly strategies people are using to balance their need to keep business working (we can't pay for the beneifts we are using if we suffer a complete collapse), with the health and safety.
So WHY is the BC government so slow in adopting the new COVID app?
What is the app?
To address an unprecidented need to enable contact tracing in a safe way, Apple and Google cooperated in creating the API which is the basis of the gold standard for all these apps (see https://www.apple.com/ca/newsroom/2020/04/apple-and-google-partner-on-covid-19-contact-tracing-technology/). The app basically listens for your "neighbours" when you are walking around with Bluetooth enabled. The information is not logged by the government, your location is not tracked, your privacy is not violated. When someone receives a positive test, they would receive a code. When you enter that code, the code is available to other app users when they check their exposure - no one can know who you are, or where you were. That information is never stored anywhere.
IKEA has increased the availability of their new "Smart Blinds" and they are pretty cool! But depending on your network they may not be that easy to set up... This article covers the process to work around an issue with gateway setup and review some of the problems with the system.
This post gets a little techy - but I swear most of it actually is in English. It's intended to be readable / accessible to anyone with a basic understanding of networks. If there are any particularly tricky bits, please let us know?
But before we know for sure we have to start looking through the smoke and past the mirrors - there's a lot of marketing but most people don't understand the reality behind the advertisements. T-Mobile recently enlisted the help of Bill Nye to explain 5G. I don’t know whether to congratulate them or be disappointed in Bill (Sorry Bill! We still love you, and do want you to save the world!). So let's dig into the details a bit.