Fake news about the novel coronavirus disease is a rampant problem across our social timelines. Think misinformation about treatments, symptoms and anecdotes tainted with racism and xenophobia.
As scientists and health professionals are still scrambling to find a cure, and even contain the outbreak, falsehoods can resonate more than they might during a time of confidence and stability.
New Jersey, which has roughly 2,000 confirmed cases of COVID19, has partnered with New York-based Yext to get accurate and up to date information out to residents. Yext partners with businesses to send verified answers to consumers, and, in this case, verified information about the outbreak to residents.
The New Jersey Office of Innovation and Yext created an online portal tacking live state updates and orders, testing information and assistance information for businesses and employees. It also has a hub that presents the most researched questions, like “how can I prevent myself from getting the virus” and gives answers from scientists.
If you scroll to the bottom of the portal, there’s an interactive map detailing COVID-19 cases by county. Beyond the portal, residents can find information through Yext integrations with Google, Bing, Alexa, Siri, Apple Maps, Uber, Lyft, Facebook and more.
Yext is working with other state agencies and businesses right now and offering its services pro bono, after seeing an uptick of users searching for COVID-19 answers on its platform. The New Jersey online portal was initiated and launched in five days, per a blog post.
This isn’t the first example of fighting misinformation that we’ve seen. WhatsApp, a Facebook-owned messenger system, has become a hub for misinformation spread through viral texts. This weekend, to help people “prepare, not panic,” India launched at chatbot on the popular platform to create awareness about COVID-19 (and my mom, who is in New Jersey but lives on WhatsApp, says she received messaging about it).
Twitter responded to fake news threats by prioritizing its blue checks, its verification badge, for experts and professionals around COVID-19 so users can know when facts are coming from a trustworthy source.
We’re also seeing efforts from the CDC and WHO to make sure everyone is informed on best practices during this scary time. The flurry of efforts of different organizations, both private and public, comes to show that while washing hands is an important tip to remember, our education, when accurate, most definitely shouldn’t stop there.
Over the last five-plus years of my podcast, I’ve turned down a number of interview offers with artists who weren’t able to meet face to face. I know a lot of folks who do great podcasts remotely, and I’ve even done a few (relatively okay) ones myself. But there’s really no replacement for being able to do an interview face to face. So much nuance is lost amongst the cloud compression algorithms.
Over the last few weeks, however, it has become increasingly clear that the option won’t be available for while, as we adjust to this new normal. I’ve spent some of the downtime assessing the options, and the best way forward, both for my own (again, relative) sanity and, hopefully, to provide some comfort for folks who are similarly stuck at home for the foreseeable future.
Couple of caveats here. First, this one. This event is going to fundamentally alter a number of aspects of our lives for a while. Things like the way we work, socialize and consume will be different for a while. We’re also going to have so, so many podcasts. Like a stupid number of podcasts from bored people attempting to be bored together. I’ve always felt that more podcasts is generally a net positive, but this event is certainly going to test that hypothesis.
Second is the usual caveat of this series: This is what works best for my current situation. Your mileage may vary.
One of the things I’ve realized in all of this is that people are pretty forgiving. Expectations shift a bit when you can flip on CNN and see conversations with pundits on bad webcams through spotty Skype connections. Suddenly a low-fidelity video podcast doesn’t seem so bad. Even so, you still want to present the best product you can, even in far less than ideal circumstances.
One of the nice things about this gig is all of the hardware that comes through for testing. For those who don’t have the means to pay for pricier studio options, there are now a number of solid USB microphone options on the market. Blue’s stuff is generally decent quality for most of your podcasting and remote meeting needs, but a number of different companies have entered the market as well, as podcasting has exploded.
Currently I’m using the AKG Lyra. I’m pretty satisfied with the sound quality here. It’s priced about the same as the Blue Yeti and $100 cheaper than the Yeti Pro. The design is pretty eye-catching, though for my set up, it’s entirely out of frame. The controls on the mic are simple, a definite plus for those looking to plug and play. Lights on the front clearly indicate which of the four patterns (front, front and back, tight stereo, wide stereo) you’re using. I’m sure tens of thousands of podcasts have suffered sound issues from people with decent USB mics who simply have the thing in the wrong mode.
I also highly recommend buying a clip on windscreen. The one pictured above is the EJT Upgraded Microphone Pop Filter. It has a small adjustable vise grip on the side that connects to a wide range of models. It seems like something minor, but those popped Ps make a bigger difference that you’d think while editing podcasts.
Honorable mention goes out to the powerful little Rode NT-USB Mini. It’s got surprisingly great sound for its size — though less surprising coming from a company like Rode. At $99, this has replaced the Blue Raspberry as my favorite low-cost, ultra-portable mic. I fully plan to make it a fixture in my suitcase when traveling is an option again. Also worth pointing out is the clever magnetic stand that pops up to reveal threads for mounting atop a mic stand.
I am still using one important piece of Blue gear, however. I really prefer a pair of over-ear headphones for this purpose, and the Mo-Fi are big, solid and comfortable, with large earbuds that block ambient sound (I live in a New York apartment building, mind). For most intents and purposes, whatever headphones you have lying around should work, but if you plan to do this for a while, I recommend investing in a solid pair of headphones.
I’ve been using the webcam built into my Mac for video podcasts. Again, people are pretty forgiving. I do, however, highly recommend doing some video tests before going live. For starters, figure out what’s in-frame. If you have the ability to move your computer around, find an aesthetically pleasing background. But what’s just as — or perhaps even more — import is lighting.
Frankly, I’m still trying to figure out what to do with my setup. The current is… well, “jury-rigged” is probably the nicest way to say it:
Yes, it’s a small bedside lamp hung from a wall stud above my computer. Yes, you can see it in my glasses’ reflection when you watch the videos.
I’ve been using a handful of different options on the software side of things. Zencastr continues to be an excellent option for audio only. The software is custom built for podcasts and includes some excellent touches like simultaneously uploading individual tracks to the cloud. The company also greatly reduced the restrictions on their free tier to encourage amateur podcasting during this pandemic.
For another (unreleased) podcast I’m currently working on, we’re all using Skype and recording locally on Audacity. One of my co-hosts had too many connectivity issues with Zencaster, so we’re doing it more old-school.
This situation has found me playing around with video podcasts in earnest for the first time ever. I’ve been messing around with a number of different formats. My favorite so far is a combination of Zoom and YouTube Live. You’ll have to pay for a premium account to stream directly to YouTube or Facebook. It’s $14 a month for the lowest tier. I plan to keep subscribing at least through the end of the pandemic.
Zoom is great in that it lets you schedule a time and everyone else just has to log in. If you have a premium subscription, attendees can also dial in, in addition to the full webcam treatment. I recommend doing a couple of unlisted trial videos to make sure everything is up and running before you go live for the world. Also, have attendees call in a few minutes before the listed start time to make sure everything is working for everyone.
You’ll need to give yourself at least 24 hours for Zoom to connect to your Google/YouTube account, so I recommend doing that a couple of days in advance so you have time to troubleshoot.
Once you’re live, YouTube’s studio makes it easy to monitor the stream, comments and the like. I generally just set it to gallery mode to keep everyone on screen the entire time, save for musical performances, when I switch over to the single camera. Unfortunately, the watermark is present, unless you upgrade to a higher tier, but otherwise it does the trick. When you’re done, there’s a basic editor on board to trim the beginning and end of the broadcast.
These are, perhaps, not the most elegant solutions, but, again, people tend to be pretty forgiving about this stuff in the current climate. Sometimes they’re just happy to have someone keep them company — even if it’s only virtually.
Tech companies are donating supplies and adjusting priorities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, an activist investor takes three seats on the Box board and aircraft taxi company Lilium raises $240 million. Here’s your Daily Crunch for March 23, 2020.
Over the weekend, the CEOs of Amazon, Apple and Microsoft all shared updates regarding some aspects of their companies’ ongoing COVID-19 efforts, which range from donations of medical supplies and personal protective equipment for frontline healthcare workers to software projects that help track and analyze the global spread.
For example, Apple CEO Tim Cook shared on Twitter that the company has been attempting to source necessary supplies that are needed for healthcare workers both in the U.S. and Europe, and that the company is providing “millions of masks” for this purpose. Meanwhile, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said the company’s warehouse and logistics operations will now focus on essential items, including daily household staples, baby and medical supplies.
At the same time, two long-time Box investors and allies, Rory O’Driscoll from Scale Venture Partners and Josh Stein from DFJ, will be retiring from the board and not seeking re-election at the annual stockholder’s meeting in June.
Lilium, a Munich-based startup that is designing and building vertical take-off and landing aircraft with speeds of up to 100 km/h, eventually plans to run in its own taxi fleet. It is deploying its latest round of funding to continue developing its aircraft and to start building manufacturing facilities for an expected launch date in 2025.
The companies have suspended all ride operations in Delhi until March 31. They said the move was in compliance with the local state government’s lockdown order in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Bill Taranto, president at Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, lays out four business strategies that he says have ensured the firm’s scale and staying power. (Extra Crunch membership required.)
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention introduced a bot over the weekend to help people make decisions about what to do if they have potential symptoms of COVID-19. Called Clara, the “coronavirus self-checker” was created in partnership with CDC Foundation and — speaking of Microsoft — the Azure Healthcare Bot service.
The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.
Amazon is making a selection of family-friendly and kids programming available for free streaming on Prime Video, as a result of the COVID-19 health crisis which has people trapped at home. The content is available to all Amazon customers, and includes a mix of Amazon Original kids and family shows as well as select third-party family movies and TV series licensed from studio partners.
Amazon says it’s continuing to work with content partners to widen the selection over time.
At launch, the U.S. version of the free service includes the following Amazon Originals: “Click, Clack, Moo: Christmas at the Farm,” “Big Diaries,” “Costume Quest,” “Creative Galaxy,” “Danger and Eggs,” “Dangerous Book for Boys,” “Gortimer Gibbons Life on Normal Street,” “If you Give a Mouse a Cookie,” “Jessy and Nessy,” “Just Add Magic,” “Just Add Magic: Mystery City,” “Little Big Awesome,” “Lost in Oz,” “Niko and the Sword of Light,” “Pete the Cat,” “Sigmund and the Sea Monster,” “The Snowy Day,” “The Stinky and Dirty Snow,” “The Kicks,” “Tumble Leaf,” and “Wisenpoof.”
Among the licensed content in the U.S., you’ll find: “Arthur,” “Bali,” “Caillou,” “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,” “Design Squad,” “Dinosaur Train,” “FETCH! With Ruff Ruffman,” “Kraft’s Creatures,” “Martha Speaks,” “Nature Cat,” “Odd Quad,” “Peep and the Big Wide World,” “Peg + Cat,” “Postcards from Buster,” “Reading Rainbow,” “Ready Jet Go!,” “Wild Kratts,” “WordGirl,” “WorldWorld,” “Zoboomafoo,” “Rugrats All Grown Up,” and “Knight Squad.”
Amazon confirmed to TechCrunch that Amazon Original kids and family TV series will be available for free worldwide, but licensed content will vary by country.
The majority of the content, at present, is aimed at the preschool crowd up to younger school-agers. The selection doesn’t include recently released movies or other popular G-rated or PG-rated box office hits that parents will also enjoy. But the offering will help parents who are struggling to work from home and using the TV as a babysitter of sorts to keep little ones occupied.
Typically, Amazon makes free TV and movies available only to Prime subscribers, as one of the many perks of Amazon’s Prime membership program. But in this case, consumers will only need to create a free Amazon.com account, if they don’t already have one, in order to watch the free programs.
Amazon isn’t the first streamer to add free content to help families staying in quarantine and self-isolating during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Last week, Sling TV launched free streaming that included news and entertainment, as well as kids TV. Hulu added free live TV news to its on-demand service on Friday. Elsewhere, studios are breaking the theatrical window to deal with ticket sale losses as theaters close down. NBCU recently said it was bringing “The Hunt,” “The Invisible Man,” and “Emma,” to home viewers.
Disney, meanwhile, is making its own movies available early as well, including through its streaming service, Disney+, where both “Frozen II” and “Onward” are arriving ahead of schedule. (“Frozen II” is live now. “Onward” arrives on April 3).
Amazon says the new free programs will be available on the Prime Video app, which is a free download on compatible smart TVs, mobile devices, Fire TV, Fire TV stick, Fire tablets, Apple TV, game consoles, Chromecast or via Prime Video on the web.
Google Cloud today announced the beta launch of Game Servers, a managed service that provides game developers with the usual backend services for running their games, including multi-player games, in the company’s cloud. It’s worth stressing that these are not game streaming servers but solely meant to make it easier for game developers to build, scale and manage the backend services for their games.
The service sits on top of the Agones open-source game server, a project Google and Ubisoft first announced in 2018, and the Kubernetes container orchestration platform. As Google Cloud product manager Scott Van Woudenberg also told me, the team is also reusing some parts of Anthos, Google’s service for managing multi-cloud Kubernetes clusters. And while Game Servers can currently only run on the Google Kubernetes Engine, the plan is to allow for hybrid and multi-cloud support later this year.
Quite a few gaming companies have already built their own on-premises server fleets, so just like in the enterprise, having hybrid-cloud capabilities is a must-have for a tool like this. Google will also make it easy for developers who already use Agones outside of Game Servers today to bring those servers into the same managed Game Servers ecosystem by registering them with the Game Servers API.
As Van Woudenberg noted, virtually every game now needs some kind of cloud backend, be that for multi-player features, match-making or keeping persistent game stats, for example. That’s true for indie developers and major game studios. Game Servers, ideally, will make it easier for these companies to scale their clusters up and down as needed. Game Servers also provides for A/B testing and canary tests, and in future updates, it will include integrations with the Open Match matchmaking framework.
To get started, developers still have to containerize their game servers. For those companies that already use Agones, that’s a pretty straightforward exercise, Van Woudenberg said. Others, though, need a bit more help with that and Google is working with partners to walk them through this.
Zillow said Monday it will temporarily stop buying homes in all 24 markets where it operates in response to public health orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the latest real estate startup to shift how it operates as the disease caused by coronavirus continues to spread.
Zillow said it decided to pause making offers to sellers after several counties and states, including California, Illinois, Louisiana, Ohio, New York and Nevada, implemented emergency orders requiring people to stay home and all non-essential business activities, including some real-estate related activities, to stop.
Zillow follows action from other real estate startups such as Opendoor and Redfin to temporarily pause making offers on homes.
“We plan to restore Zillow Offers full operations once health concerns pass and local health orders are lifted,” Zillow Group CEO and co-founder Rich Barton said in a statement. “In the meantime, we are working to support our customers and partners in these uncertain times when home has never been more important.”
The company started to slow its pace of buying homes last month, while accelerating sales in the quarter, Barton said. Zillow’s inventory is now 1,860 homes, a 31% decline from 2,707 homes at the end of 2019.
The company said it will continue to market and sell homes through “Zillow Offers,” and will temporarily suspend plans to open additional Zillow Offers markets. Zillow also halted open houses in all markets, beginning last week.
We have a strong balance sheet and cash position, and are taking proactive steps to reduce spending to offset the important financial support we’re giving our industry partners so we may continue to best serve our mutual customers,” added Barton.
Planet 13 is located blocks of the Las Vegas Strip and holds the title as the world’s largest cannabis dispensary. But it’s much more than just a storefront. There’s a lot to the 115,000 square foot facility including entertainment, restaurants, and cannabis processing equipment where the company makes edibles and drinks. This is a destination Vegas-style.
In this video we take a backstage tour into this cannabis superstore.
Over the weekend, Apple introduced the first two episodes of its new Apple TV+ show, “Oprah Talks COVID-19,” for free viewing. In the first episode, Oprah Winfrey interviews actor Idris Elba, who recently tested positive for coronavirus, as well as his wife, Sabrina Dhowre, who is also positive. In the second episode, Oprah talks to longtime friend and supporter, Reverand Wintly Phipps about the pandemic.
The interviews are conducted over FaceTime video calls with guests and are meant to offer hope and thought leadership, Oprah explained on Twitter.
“Like millions of people all over the world, I’ve been staying safer at home for over a week now. I know a lot of people are feeling stressed, overwhelmed, & uncertain,” Oprah wrote in a tweet. “[Because] of that, I want to offer some hope & gather thought leaders & people going through it to add some perspective,” she said.
Like millions of people all over the world, I've been staying safer at home for over a week now. I know a lot of people are feeling stressed, overwhelmed, & uncertain. Bc of that, I want to offer some hope & gather thought leaders & people going through it to add some perspective
In her interview with Elba, they talk about his decision to go public and his wife’s decision to quarantine with him, plus the result of her test. The shows have a more inspirational tone, compared with traditional news interviews.
“I think we all lose as human beings if we just think of this as a physical virus. I think it’s here to teach us, show us something about ourselves, as a world. This is a moment for our humanity to either rise or not,” Oprah says, in one episode.
Yesterday @Oprah discussed COVID-19 with @IdrisElba on the first episode of Oprah Talks. Catch up on the Apple TV app.
Though the majority of Apple TV+ programming is only available on a subscription basis, this COVID-19 show is available for free.
It can be watched across platforms, including via the Apple TV app for Mac, iPad, iPhone, tv.apple.com, and Apple TV, as well as through the Apple TV+ app for streaming platforms, or via AirPlay-enabled TVs.
The program is one of several Oprah is involved with for Apple TV+.
In 2018, Oprah and Apple announced a multi-year partnership on original content for the Apple TV+ streaming service. That has already resulted in an Apple TV+ show that brings back Oprah’s Book Club as a series of author interviews. Another show, produced in partnership with Prince Harry and focused on mental health, has yet to arrive. A third, a documentary about sexual assault in the music industry, was canceled.
This new show, put together quickly in reaction to the COVID-19 crisis and using lower-production values, is the first show of its kind on Apple TV+, where the content is typically highly produced and made available in 4K. Apple hasn’t said how many episodes will arrive in total, but this is a unique situation.
There are a lot of global efforts underway to develop vaccines and treatments for COVID-19, including repurposing of existing drugs approved for use in treating other forms of coronavirus and respiratory diseases. Many of these efforts are just entering into the formal clinical study phase, which will be required before any treatment is certified for widespread use in patients diagnosed with the illness. Vaccines are still likely at least a year out from approvals, though some have already entered into clinical human trials at unprecedented speed owing to the unprecedented nature of the pandemic.
It’s definitely a challenge to keep up with all the existing efforts to pursue effective treatments and develop vaccines, but public health non-profit the Milken Institute has a new resource that aims to keep track of at least the efforts from leading research institutions and drug makers. Their COVID-19 treatment and vaccine tracker currently offers a list of nearly 60 treatments, as well as 43 vaccines in development.
This list details the type of treatment or vaccine being studied or developed, as well as their FDA-approved status (for other conditions – none have been approved specifically for treating COVID-19 to date). They also indicate who is doing the drug development or research, and what stage the research project is at (either pre-clinical or clinical). The table lists the source of funding, if available, as well as the anticipated timetable for the phases of the project if known. It provides sourcing for each, as well, including credible media sources, journals and the World Health Organization.
This kind of tracker is a good resource for anyone looking to keep tabs on the ongoing work that people are doing to take on COVID-19, though it’s a high-level view that is probably of most interest to other ongoing projects, as well as health and research professionals who might be able to assist in the development of these solutions, or to collaborate with partners. The Milken Institute says that it’s going to be updating the tracker daily at noon eastern with any additional fresh info from reliable sources.
As mentioned, even vaccines that are already in development, like the mRNA-based immune therapy that began human trials last week in the U.S., will take many months to come to market, and they still have to demonstrate their effectiveness, too. In the meantime, people should do everything they can to isolate and remain indoors in order to help buy time for the healthcare system to develop treatments that can mitigate the impact of the disease, and eventually, ways to introduce immunity in order to block its transmission.
When designers need to collaborate with other teams, they can currently turn to products like InVision and Zeplin. But Ceros creative director Jack Dixon said there’s a “pretty interesting gap in the market” — once you move beyond prototypes and start working with websites that are either live or in staging, the process starts to become fragmented, relying on screenshots and email/phone/Google Docs.
That’s why the company (which focuses on powering interactive content “experiences”) is launching a new product called MarkUp. The product was created by a team led by Greg DiNardo and Alex Bullington, who joined Ceros last August through the acquisition of their polling and market research startup Arbit.
Dixon, DiNardo and Bullington gave me a quick demo, showing off how users can mark areas of interest on a website, leave comments and tasks, then mark revisions as completed.
It all looked pretty simple and straightforward, but DiNardo suggested that it’s a real technical challenge — even more than he and Bullington had expected — to provide those kinds of features on top of a live site.
He added that the product’s simplicity was very much by design: “I don’t think we’re going to add a million features … The goal is honestly simplicity, something that graphic designers can kind of live in.”
Eventually, MarkUp could be used not just to solicit design feedback across teams, but also from the public at-large.
Ceros says MarkUp will function separately from the core Ceros Studio platform, but it will be available for free to Studio customers. In fact, it’s already being used by designers at the Huffington Post, Cushman & Wakefield and Informa.
“As of today we want to remove any friction or barrier to entry, so it’s 100 percent free to Ceros customers,” Dixon said. “Getting the involvement of the broadest community and user bas is going to be critical for this. What we’re learning is that some of the enterprise clients might pay for bigger, more grown-up features [like white labeling]. We can figure out how to monetize later.”