The Daily Valet. - 4/13/20, Monday
✔️ No Emoji, but Big Collaborations
Monday, April 13th Edition
It’s Monday ... but it doesn’t feel all that different right?
Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf
Today’s Big Story
Failure to Act
Dr. Fauci says lives could have been saved if U.S. had acted earlier
The U.S. has now surpassed all other countries with the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases and fatalities—over half a million Americans infected with 22,000 deaths, respectively. Why are our numbers so much higher? All evidence points to a lack of decisive action by the White House.
When Trump first spoke about the virus in late January, weeks’ worth of warning signs had already been raised both inside and outside the U.S. government, according to the Associated Press. In the ensuing month, before the president formally addressed the nation about the crisis from the White House, key steps to prepare the American people for the coming pandemic were not taken.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, said Sunday that earlier efforts to stop the spread of the coronavirus in the U.S. “obviously” could have saved lives, but that top health officials faced “a lot of pushback about shutting things down,” reports Fox News.
An examination by the New York Times reveals the president was warned both early and repeatedly by top public health officials and the intelligence community about the potential for a serious pandemic. Internal divisions in the Trump administration, a lack of planning and faith in his own instincts led to a halting response.
The White House “focused instead on messaging and crucial additional weeks went by before their views were reluctantly accepted by the president—time when the virus spread largely unimpeded.”
As the numbers continue climbing at such an alarming speed, many Americans feel like this came out of nowhere and got really serious, but it’s clear now that the red light had long been flashing in the highest offices of the American government.
↦ Dig Deeper: Five takeaways from the Times' examination of what the president knew as the virus began to spread.
Former Staffer Accuses Joe Biden of Assault
Biden’s campaign says the incident “absolutely did not happen”
A former aide to Joe Biden is accusing the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee (who won the Alaska primary on Saturday) of sexually assaulting her during the early '90s when he was a senator, reports the Associated Press.
Tara Reade, who last year said Biden touched her neck and shoulders when she worked in his office in 1993, is now accusing him of pinning her against a wall and assaulting her. Biden's campaign has said the alleged assault “absolutely did not happen.”
According to the Washington Post, Reade filed a police report in Washington on Thursday saying she was the victim of a sexual assault by an unnamed person. The allegation comes at a pivotal time for Biden, as he attempts to unify the Democratic Party behind his campaign.
And while the former vice president has been accused of unwanted hugging and other physical contact, no other allegation as serious as sexual assault has surfaced. Nor have any former Biden staff members corroborated any details of Reade’s allegations.
Apple and Google Work Together to Track the Coronavirus
The tech giants will try to balance infection tracking and privacy
On Friday, Google and Apple joined together for an ambitious emergency project, laying out a new protocol for tracking the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. It's an urgent, complex project, with huge implications for privacy and public health, according to Ars Technica.
The technology giants detailed their plans in two announcements (one from Apple, another from Google). In May, the two will introduce APIs for developers to create their own “contact tracing platforms” on smartphone apps. If you download such an app and cross paths with someone who later uploads a positive test result, you would receive a notification about potential exposure with information about what to do next.
Of course, to work, it requires widespread adoption, as well as broad testing of potentially infected people, and it isn't yet clear whether government and public-health officials will get behind the idea.
Privacy advocates mostly gave the system a qualified approval. Why? Because unlike traditional contact tracing, this won't collect names, locations or other identifying information. Instead, when two or more users come into physical contact, their phones use Bluetooth to swap anonymous identifier beacons.
No One’s Getting New Emoji in 2021
The pandemic is even affecting these little guys
The Unicode Consortium, the group behind emoji releases, announced that it's delaying its version planned for 2021, meaning that devices won't receive new emoji next year and instead will get a release in 2022, reports The Verge.
The good news is that the emoji that were announced earlier this year, like the olive, beaver and chef's kiss, will still be available this fall.
According to Vulture, Unicode finalizes new additions of the emoji collection in March, and then technology companies would incorporate them into products released later in the year, like the new version of iOS released every September. For 2021, however, the timeline has been bumped six months, meaning that Unicode 14.0 won't be locked in until September of next year.
On the plus side, anyone thinking about submitting a proposal for a new emoji now has until this September to do so. What emoji would come in handy in social isolation?
↦ FYI: Emoticons, facial expressions made out of punctuation, made their first appearance in a satirical magazine back in 1881.
In Other News
Other Things We’re Talking About Today
+
I Tried an Online Support Group
Finding support, strength and a new kind of friendship in self-isolation
When it comes to conversations, I'd say I'm more of a listener than a talker. Perhaps that's why I never considered therapy before ... I wouldn't have enough to say. But when a friend invited me to a new online men's group, I was curious and decided to give it a try.
Then the strangest thing happened. Moments after logging in and saying hello to about 20 strangers all sequestered in various parts of the country, we were led through a light meditation to engage our bodies and work out the stress and tension that had built up throughout the day (and past week). And just like that ... I felt more at ease and open.
Turns out, you don't always have to talk. Just listening can help you work through stuff. While we might feel alone at this time, this was proving that many of us are going through the same thing and facing the same fears and frustrations—universally uncomfortable with the uncertainty of the situation.
I wrote an essay about my experience in that intimate Zoom room and why, in one two-hour session, I became a believer. And if it seems like something you want to try, you can get all the info about joining too.
↦ Read: How an online group can help you work through your thoughts, fears and anxiety.
What We’re Buying
I couldn't tell you why it hasn't been more widely accepted in the States, but the bidet is your answer to not being able to find any toilet paper in the store. As a result, you've likely been hearing more and more about these washlets as of late. The classic Tushy version easily attaches to your standard toilet in a mere 10 minutes, requiring no electricity and promising a "perfect wash" that is more hygienic than wiping. Plus, it's on sale right now so you can save $20. If it means we won't be needing to worry about finding toilet paper, then we're all in on being worldly and converting.
↦ Get It $99 / $79 at Tushy
Today’s Deals
Expires 4/13
Expires 4/13
Expires 4/18
↦ Want More? See all 64 sales
Morning Motto
We’re gonna get through this ...
↦ Follow: @billy_reid
That’s all for today...
...but we could use your help.
The more people who know about The Daily Valet., the stronger it can become. So grab your unique referral code below and start sharing with your friends, family and coworkers to earn some exclusive discounts to our favorite brands and cool stuff you'll actually want (not just throw-away “swag”).
Your Unique Referral Code:
↦ Want to Learn More? Check out your personal Valet. Ambassor page for program details and get a closer look at the available rewards (and how many referrals are needed to score them).
Valet Media LLC1111 Lincoln Road, 5th FloorMiami Beach, FL 33139[email protected]