TallGuyJohninBKK

Ya, I had and used Bluestacks before, and the experience was a bit buggy on my PC where I had installed it. I uninstalled Bluestacks after the MS Win 11 Android store became available... But from now on, I'll probably just rely more on my Android TV streaming boxes or a large Android tablet I have when I want/need Android apps.

Tracking AI-enabled Misinformation: 802 ‘Unreliable AI-Generated News’ Websites (and Counting), Plus the Top False Narratives Generated by Artificial Intelligence Tools NewsGuard has so far identified 802 AI-generated news and information sites operating with little to no human oversight, and is tracking false narratives produced by artificial intelligence tools Last Updated April 15, 2024 "These websites typically have generic names, such as iBusiness Day, Ireland Top News, and Daily Time Update, which to a consumer appear to be established news sites. This obscures that the sites operate with little to no human oversight and publish articles written largely or entirely by bots — rather than presenting traditionally created and edited journalism, with human oversight. The sites have churned out dozens and in some cases hundreds of generic articles, about a range of subjects including politics, technology, entertainment, and travel. The articles have sometimes included false claims, including about political leaders (see example below relating to the Israeli Prime Minister). Other false claims relate to celebrity death hoaxes, fabricated events, and articles presenting old events as if they just occurred." https://www.newsguardtech.com/special-reports/ai-tracking-center/

Upshot - their new vaccine method has been tested successfully thus far in mice, but not yet humans. The article says a vaccine candidate could be ready to start human trials in about a year.

At the beginning of the pandemic, many people hoped that infections with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 — or vaccines against the virus — would provide durable lifetime immunity, as is the case with diseases like measles or mumps. Instead, the COVID virus is more akin to the influenza virus, which mutates constantly and confers only short-term immunity. Both COVID and the flu require new and different vaccine formulas aimed at defeating newly circulating variants of the viruses. The inevitable result of this has been, for most of us, increasing vaccine fatigue. But what if it were possible to protect against COVID and the flu, and other unknown viruses that haven't yet emerged, with just one shot? If that became reality, seasonal or annual boosters would be part of the past. And what if such vaccinations didn't even require a needle? While those possibilities may sound far in the future, scientists at the University of California, Riverside, believe they could become reality relatively soon — perhaps within the next five to 10 years. As illustrated in a paper just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a new, RNA-based vaccine strategy could be effective against any viral strain to emerge in the future. This next generation of vaccines would theoretically offer protection against viruses we aren’t even aware of yet, and could be used safely on infants and people with compromised immune systems, who today must often opt out of vaccination to protect their health. (more) https://www.salon.com/2024/04/18/a-one-shot-vaccine-for-covid-flu-and-future-viruses-researchers-say-its-coming/ https://news.ucr.edu/articles/2024/04/15/vaccine-breakthrough-means-no-more-chasing-strains

When looking at the drop-off in British tourism to Thailand, another unmentioned factor could be.... ...the dubious Go Fund Me appeals for British tourists who travel here and get injured without having any medical travel insurance may not be paying off as much as they used to.... 🙂

I'm pretty sure Thai Immigration still keeps track of that kind of data, and could produce it if A] they wanted to, or B] someone in authority directed them to. But then, of course, there's the added question of actually making it public. For all we know, the Immigration commander may get a report on his desk every month recapping those kinds of stats.... But for whatever reason, Immigration at some point decided they no longer needed or wanted to share that data with the public on a regular basis.

It's all about the Kazakhs, baby! They're the future for Thailand, not the Brits.... 🙂 Thailand scraps visa requirements for Kazakhstan tourists This move aims to increase the influx of tourists from Kazakhstan, one of the rapidly evolving markets for Thailand’s tourism sector and a significant contributor to the nation’s economic development. https://aseannow.com/topic/1325321-thailand-scraps-visa-requirements-for-kazakhstan-tourists/#comment-18853174 🙈 🙉 🙊

Remember??? I see ones just like the one in your photo driving down the streets every day in Bangkok...

We're now almost 3-1/2 years and nearly 13 BILLION doses into the worldwide COVID vaccines campaign. So I'd say it's a pretty safe bet that whatever there is to be known has become known at this point. Because: 5 Reasons We Know The COVID-19 Vaccines Don't Have Long-Term Health Effects ... " a perpetual worry that’s fueling vaccine hesitancy is the question of long-term health effects. “The only long-term effect of the COVID-19 vaccines is survival,” says Dr. Cunningham, [medical director of infection control and prevention with Henry Ford Health]. ... 1. History has showed us that with vaccines, adverse effects occur within eight weeks of vaccination—not years later. “These COVID-19 vaccines have been given to hundreds of millions of people for more than a year, so we know they are extremely safe,” says Dr. Cunningham. “You are much, much more likely to be hospitalized from COVID-19 than you are to have an adverse reaction from the vaccines.” ... The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were created using messenger RNA (or mRNA) technology, which has been used for about 10 years in cancer treatment, with no long-term effects detected. And even before that, scientists had been working with mRNA technology for years." (more) https://www.henryford.com/blog/2022/02/5-reasons-we-know-the-covid-vaccines-dont-have-longterm-effects

A Covid-19 patient with a weakened immune system incubated a highly mutated novel strain over 613 days before succumbing to an underlying illness, researchers in the Netherlands found. The patient, a 72-year-old man with a blood disorder, failed to mount a strong immune response to multiple Covid shots before catching the omicron variant in February 2022. Detailed analysis of specimens collected from more than two dozen nose and throat swabs found the coronavirus developed resistance to sotrovimab, a Covid antibody treatment, within a few weeks, scientists at the University of Amsterdam’s Centre for Experimental and Molecular Medicine said. It later acquired over 50 mutations, including some that suggested an enhanced ability to evade immune defenses, they said. The 20-month-long SARS-CoV-2 infection is the longest known, according to the researchers, who are presenting the case at a medical meeting in Barcelona next week. While his mutant virus wasn’t known to have infected other people, it highlights how prolonged infections enable the pandemic virus to accumulate genetic changes, potentially spawning new variants of concern. (more) https://time.com/6968880/long-covid-record-infection-mutations-netherlands/

Health experts issue Covid warning as cases rise with virus still causing severe illness A Covid warning has been issued with health experts urging people who may have the virus to stay at home. The warning comes following a rise in Covid cases. In its latest update, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed the percentage of people who tested positive among those with Covid symptoms increased to 4.2%, compared to 3.9% in the previous week. Officials are reminding the public that despite the pandemic being long over, the virus is still causing hospitalisations and severe illness - especially among people in at-risk groups. Those who fall ill with symptoms of Covid are asked to stay home until they feel better, and to use a face mask if it's necessary for them to go out, reports the Mirror. (more) https://uk.news.yahoo.com/health-experts-issue-covid-warning-071325022.html

The government disbanded the central authority dedicated to Covid-19 management on Friday, marking the end of a four-year-long pandemic response. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) has decided to lower the crisis level to the lowest level, “interest,” from the second highest level, “alert,“ of its four-tier system starting May 1. ... Korea has shown a flattened curve for the Covid-19 epidemic. The country had a total of 2,283 patients in the second week of April. In March, the country saw over 4,000 patients weekly. ... The free of charge Covid-19 vaccination service to all Korean nationals will end this year. Only people at high risk — those who suffer autoimmune disorders or older adults aged over 65 — will be eligible to receive free vaccination once their seasonal shots for the year 2023-2024 are completed. (more) https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2024-04-19/national/socialAffairs/Korea-ends-Covid19-response-disbands-disaster-management-headquarters/2029489

TOKYO -- The health ministry on April 16 revealed that approximately 244.15 million doses of unused COVID-19 vaccines -- with a calculated purchase price of around 665.3 billion yen (roughly $4.3 billion) -- were being discarded in Japan. ... According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, it contracted the purchase of approximately 928.4 million coronavirus vaccine doses. Of these, 436.19 million shots were given out in Japan by the end of March. Some of the remaining doses were provided to other countries and regions, but the government decided to discard the rest. ... As Japan lacked a research base for developing messenger RNA vaccines, [Health minister Keizo Takemi] pointed out, "We were in a rather dismal state of affairs where we couldn't produce them no matter how much money we might have spent." He added, "That was the biggest lesson we learned this time." (more) https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240417/p2a/00m/0na/006000c COVID vaccine copay in Japan to cost almost $50 from April with gov't subsidies TOKYO -- The Japanese health ministry announced on March 15 that from April it will subsidize municipalities for the routine coronavirus inoculation for over 65s and those aged between 60 and 64 with preexisting conditions so that the copayment will be around 7,000 yen each (about $47). ... The COVID-19 vaccine is available free of charge until the end of March, and from April it will become a routine inoculation, scheduled to be given once a year from fall to winter. On the other hand, vaccinations for healthy people under the age of 65 will be treated as "voluntary" from April onward, with the full cost to be borne by the individual. The central government subsidy will not be applied, and the cost is expected to vary depending on the medical institution. The national government will provide subsidies to municipalities so that people with low incomes, such as welfare recipients, can receive vaccinations for free. https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240319/p2a/00m/0li/001000c

They're not what you claim above, but rather: "As of September 2023, the updated COVID-19 vaccine formulations produced by Moderna and Pfizer are fully approved for use as a single dose for people ages 12 and up, and have emergency use authorization for use in children 6 months through 11 years old." https://www.heart.org/en/coronavirus/coronavirus-questions/questions-about-covid-19-vaccination AND FDA Takes Action on Updated mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines to Better Protect Against Currently Circulating Variants September 11, 2023 "Specifically, today’s actions include: Approval of Comirnaty (COVID-19 Vaccine, mRNA) to include the 2023-2024 formula, and a change to a single dose for individuals 12 years of age and older.... Approval of Spikevax (COVID-19 Vaccine, mRNA) to include the 2023-2024 formula, a change to a single dose for individuals 18 years of age and older, and approval of a single dose for individuals 12 through 17 years of age.... Authorization of Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine for emergency use in individuals 6 months through 11 years of age to include the 2023-2024 formula... Authorization of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for emergency use in individuals 6 months through 11 years of age to include the 2023-2024 formula... https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-takes-action-updated-mrna-covid-19-vaccines-better-protect-against-currently-circulating

So you managed to dig up a right-wing anti-vax, anti-face masks academic from Stanford. You can see what other scientists think of his opinions: "In January 2022, the conservative periodical City Journal published an opinion piece by Prasad in which he attempted to demonstrate that the American public health organizations were not being honest in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[27] Writing for Science-Based Medicine, epidemiologist Lynn Shaffer criticized Prasad's article for the various "mistruths" it contained about face masks as a COVID-19 mitigation measure, for example the unevidenced claim that mask wearing was stunting children's language development. In Shaffer's view Prasad's writing "lean[s] heavily on pushing people's emotional hot buttons" and amounted to a form of fearmongering.[28] Prasad was an early member of the Urgency of Normal, a group that in 2022 campaigned against quarantines and mask mandates in schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.[29] He spoke in support of repealing such mandates in a March 2022 interview.[30] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinay_Prasad#Covid_response And further: "If anyone wonders why I haven’t taken Dr. Prasad seriously for a very long time, the quote above should tell you why. He knows his audience and now completely caters to it. Whether he himself believes his antivax pandering anymore, only he can say, but for all practical purposes whether he believes it or not is irrelevant. His messaging is antivax even to the point where he credulously bought into one of RFK Jr.’s favorite old antivax tropes, undermined the childhood vaccination schedule. with EBM methodolatry, and echoed old antivax “do not comply” messaging, and that, unfortunately, is more than enough." https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/dr-vinay-prasad-vs-a-vaers-study-finding-more-reports-of-vaccine-injury-in-red-states/

I know there have been some reports of a connection there... There also have been reports disputing a clear connection. "Iran’s role in the October 7th attacks is not entirely clear. Although it certainly armed and trained members of Hamas, the evidence that it helped plan the attack is scant." https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/israels-momentous-decision-after-iran-attack

I'm fine with Windows 10 or 11 as my home / consumer PC platform OS... And anytime someone is buying new hardware at this point, unless they buy it bare, it's going to come with the W11 install. Time is eventually going to make the transition happen for most folks. A few months back, for other reasons (not the Win 10-11 issue), I bought my first ever Chromebook laptop... I wanted something lighter to carry when traveling vs my heavier and larger Win 10 laptop at home... Have taken the Chromebook on a few recent domestic trips here in Thailand, and it's served the purpose as a traveling stopgap... But I could never see it as a replacement for my full-time home computing needs.

You can also translate that as... Israel blew up a bunch of Iranian military commanders who were staying in Damascus, Syria, supposedly at an Iranian consulate building there. Israel ‘badly miscalculated’ Iranian response to Damascus strike – New York Times Outlet cites US, Israeli, and other officials as saying Jerusalem greatly underestimated possible retaliation, didn’t inform Washington of attack until last minute Israeli officials miscalculated the severity of Iran’s response to the April 1 strike on a building in Damascus in which several Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders were killed, for which Iran fired a barrage of hundreds of missiles and drones in response, The New York Times reported Wednesday. “The Israelis had badly miscalculated, thinking that Iran would not react strongly, according to multiple American officials who were involved in high-level discussions after the attack, a view shared by a senior Israeli official,” the outlet said. Two generals were among those killed in the alleged Israeli strike on what Iran said was a consulate building in the Syrian capital. https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-badly-miscalculated-iranian-response-to-damascus-strike-new-york-times/

Thanks for posting that...Yes, there have been many such "how to upgrade" hacks published for Win 10 users who have perfectly functional PCs that don't meet Microsoft's hardware requirements for Win 11... The Win 10 laptop I'm typing on right now is one of those... Thus far, I've held off on doing the Win 11 hacks, because I was hoping to see/hear a bit more about people's experience with having Win 11 on a technically unsupported Win 10 machine. I also was wondering whether, as time passed, Microsoft might relent and relax its hardware requirements for Win 11... But I don't believe they've done that thus far.... However, I did read the other day about how MS now will be offering businesses and academic users the option to PAY for continued Win 10 support and security updates after when the expiration deadline arrives in 2025. The listed price for students was gonna be dirt cheap. The business price was pretty expensive. And as of the report I read the other day, MS had not yet made public what its intended pricing for extended support for Win 10 consumer users was going to be. In the end, I'll probably wait until 2025 and see if my current Win 10 laptop is still functional then, or if I've decided in the meantime to get a new Win 11 compatible machine.... And if I haven't done that, at that point, I'll probably try the Win 11 hack. FWIW, I had to replace my even older Win 10 desktop a few months back because of hardware failures, and ended up getting a new Win 11 micro PC made by Dell... Thus far, despite various differences, the Win 11 experience for me hasn't been much different than it was on the prior Win 10 machine. PS - Originally, I was excited that MS had teamed with Amazon to make Android apps available to run within Windows 11, which I thought was a great thing. But now lately, MS has announced they're killing that functionality and existing installed Android apps within Win 11 will cease functioning by March 2025... YEESH! https://www.uctoday.com/unified-communications/microsoft-removes-support-for-android-apps-on-windows-11/

How many annual flu shots do at-risk people / senior citizens get? I don't really hear people complaining about those each year when flu season is approaching. "According to World Health Organization data, 400,000 lives in England are estimated to have been saved up to March 2023 due to the COVID-19 vaccine programme." https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2024/04/16/whos-eligible-for-the-2024-covid-19-vaccine-or-spring-booster/ "The COVID jab protects against serious cases of the disease. Even one dose of the vaccine may reduce the risk of long COVID symptoms. Long COVID reportedly costs the NHS £23.4m in primary care consultations each year, so there would be clear benefits in making sure the vaccine is accessible to the broadest number of people possible. So why, then, is access being restricted to high-risk groups and those able to pay? While all the reasons behind this decision aren’t entirely clear, the cost of COVID booster campaigns may have been an influence in revising eligibility criteria." https://theconversation.com/private-covid-jabs-lead-to-concerns-about-creeping-privatisation-in-the-nhs-227471

The updated COVID vaccines now are also available in the UK via private pharmacies to people who do NOT meet the NHS criteria listed above. But the difference is, those shots have to be purchased instead of being provided free by the NHS. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/02/pharmacies-in-england-and-scotland-to-offer-private-covid-jabs-for-45 https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/mar/26/boots-to-offer-covid-vaccines-in-england-for-nearly-100-pounds-a-jab https://theconversation.com/private-covid-jabs-lead-to-concerns-about-creeping-privatisation-in-the-nhs-227471

NHS rolls out new variant Covid vaccine as virus kills 100 a week The new vaccination project started this week with jabs between now and June The NHS has started giving booster jabs of the Covid vaccine as the virus is still killing 100 people a week in England. People aged 75 years and older, residents in care homes for older people, and those aged six months and over with a weakened immune system will be offered a dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Those who are eligible will be offered an appointment between now and June, with those at highest risk being called in first. If you are turning 75 years of age between April and June, you do not have to wait until your birthday, you can attend when you are called for vaccination. ... Those getting the jab will be given a booster dose of a vaccine made by Pfizer or Moderna and approved in the UK. These vaccines have been updated since the original vaccines and target a different COVID-19 variant. These updated vaccines give slightly higher levels of antibody against the more recent strains of COVID-19 (Omicron). (more) https://www.mylondon.news/news/health/nhs-rolls-out-new-variant-29011931

As we move into spring, protection from any earlier COVID-19 vaccination you may have had will be starting to wane. For those who are more likely to become seriously ill from COVID-19, the NHS offers a free vaccine in the spring to top up their protection, previously known as the ‘Spring Booster’. Current vaccines provide good protection against severe disease and hospitalisation. UKHSA surveillance data relating to last spring’s programme shows that those who received a vaccine were around 50% less likely to be admitted to hospital with COVID-19 from 2 weeks following vaccination, compared to those who remained unvaccinated. According to World Health Organization data, 400,000 lives in England are estimated to have been saved up to March 2023 due to the COVID-19 vaccine programme. (more) https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2024/04/16/whos-eligible-for-the-2024-covid-19-vaccine-or-spring-booster/

'One of the greatest achievements of medical science' Australia's COVID-19 vaccination program saved the lives of almost 20,000 people in NSW alone between August 2021 and July 2022, according to new research released today. According to the computer simulations done by Victoria's RMIT and Monash universities, vaccines prevented 17,760 deaths in NSW's over-50 population during those 12 months. ... The study said that, without vaccines, 21,250 people aged over 50 would have died from the virus in the state over those 12 months — almost six times the actual 3495 deaths in that age group.  "The rapid development of safe and effective vaccines for COVID-19 is perhaps one of the greatest achievements of medical science," Paul Griffin, director of infectious diseases at Mater Health Services, who wasn't involved in the study, said. (more) https://www.9news.com.au/health/covid-19-vaccination-australia-saved-18000-lives-early-omicron-wave-nsw/1b788d3c-e17c-4ef5-927d-2ec5261ccd8e

Yep, and about three-fourths of the U.S. adult population at present are not up-to-date / current with the recommended COVID vaccinations, including less than half of the highest risk senior citizen population. So hardly a surprise that people there are continuing to get sick and die from COVID. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink (as the saying goes), even if it's for their own good: "The percent of the population reporting receipt of the updated 2023-24 COVID-19 vaccine is 14.1% (95% confidence interval: 13.4-14.8) for children and 22.8% (22.1-23.4) for adults 18+, including 42.1% (40.7-43.6) among adults age 65+." https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/data-research/dashboard/vaccination-trends-children.html When people actually take the COVID vaccines as recommended, they significantly reduce the risks of serious illness, as shown below: Latest COVID-19 vaccines reduce hospitalization risk by around half March 01, 2024 https://www.healio.com/news/infectious-disease/20240301/latest-covid19-vaccines-reduce-hospitalization-risk-by-around-half ------------------------------- PS - part of the reason the U.S. has such a high share of the global COVID deaths (besides its relatively large population) being tallied by the WHO is many countries have simply stopped publicly reporting them. The U.S., meanwhile, has continued reporting them and has one of the more organized systems for tracking the causes of deaths among its population. Just 39 countries (out of about 200 in the world) reported COVID deaths to the WHO in their most recent report, which noted: "Globally, during the 28-day period from 4 to 31 March 2024, 98 countries reported COVID-19 cases and 39 countries reported COVID-19 deaths. Note that this does not reflect the actual number of countries where cases or deaths occur, as many countries have stopped or changed the frequency of reporting" [emphasis added] ... "The highest numbers of new 28-day deaths were reported from United States of America (3189 new deaths; -41%), the Russian Federation (288 new deaths; +20%), Chile (112 new deaths; -12%), Australia (95 new deaths; -56%), China (91 new deaths; +8%), and New Zealand (79 new deaths; +14%)" https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/covid-19-epidemiological-update-edition-166