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Coronavirus transmission prevention device.

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hevans1944

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Jun 21, 2012
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Thanks, @Martaine2005, but drinking beer is NOT a vice! You go ahead an enjoy those Coronas (in moderation) with or without a slice of lime. I like to drink the Pauli Girl brand of non-alcoholic beer, since I quit consuming adult beverages in 1989. Quitting alcohol did wonders for my liver, although that may have been mostly negated by my consumption of Coca-Cola Classic, "sweetened" with high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) which is only metabolized (to fat) in the liver. Wife says switching to Coca-Cola Zero was not an improvement. Coca-Cola bottled in Mexico is still sweetened with cane sugar, but it is expensive. If only I could give up "junk food" like Little Debby snack cakes and Milky Way Dark candy bars, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and yada, yada, yada... I could get my weight below 136 pounds... maybe even down to 120 pounds, which is what I weighed in 1963 when I enlisted in the Air Force. I would set that as a target weight except all my nice wool "dress blues" were eaten by moths. At my age I cannot afford a new wardrobe.

upload_2020-2-28_16-37-36.png

@Tha fios agaibh: perhaps you are right in your observations regarding new ideas. I am sure that @TDAKS was sincere in their desire to propose an idea that might help prevent the spread of viral outbreaks. This is evident in the last sentence of the original post:
We need to be conditioned away from touching our faces with unclean hands during viral outbreaks.
My concern was this was a "drive by" post by someone self-admittedly totally ignorant of electronics, and that it would not lead to a serious discussion among the participants here, because the premise of detecting proximity between hand and face is impractical and faulty as a means of behavior conditioning to prevent viral outbreaks. @TDAKS is correct in their observation that an RF-ID worn on the wrist, plus an RF-ID receiver worn on the neck as an amulet or neckband, could indeed warn the wearer that their hand was approaching their face. Unfortunately, there are other factors not considered in proposing this as a solution to avoid the spread of virus, especially air-borne virus not generally spread by skin contact.

A few years ago my step-daughter, who is a licensed cosmetologist in Virginia Beach, Virginia, complained that someone in the shop where she worked was "borrowing" her hand-held hair dryer. She uses this dryer while styling the hair of a customer, so she expects it always to be available and in good working order when she needs it. I suggested that she "lock it up" but apparently there is no practical way to do that, i.e., the workers do not have personal lockers. So I then proposed an electronic solution, wherein the hair dryer electrical input was passed through a normally open solid-state switch that could only be closed by a coded signal transmitted from a wristband she was to wear. The solid-state switch turned out to be the big pole in the tent that I could not figure out how to erect, as described below.

Until this thread was started by @TDAKS, I had not thought of having the wristband contain an RF-ID tag, with the reader to be located in the hair dryer. The hair dryer project languished for years, although from time to time I would think about it. From an implementation point of view, an RF-ID tag worn on the wrist would be a much better "solution" because all the power necessary to operate the reader would be available in the hair dryer. Plus, virtually everything needed to build it is available "off the shelf," so my "design time" would be minimal. However, even with this simpler and better solution, the long pole in the tent still needs to be erected: how do you fit a solid-state switch in series with the power cord of the dryer?

Because of warranty issues, she did not want me to take her expensive dryer apart to install a solid-state switch and other necessary electronics. The dryer she uses is a very expensive "professional" model, allegedly sold only to licensed hair stylists. Regardless of whether that is true or not, I cannot add anything to the hair dryer. The only solution to the power interruption problem I can think of is to plug the dryer into a lockable receptacle contained within a "black box" outside the dryer. This "black box" has the solid-state switch and the RF-ID reader inside. A power cord permanently attached to the "black box" replaces the functionality of the hair dryer power cord. Voila! Problem apparently solved, tent pole erected. Thank you @TDAKS for the inspiration, and I apologize for any snarky comments I made about your idea.

Only problem with this "solution" is her co-workers. Frustrated by not being able to use my daughter's hair dryer, they are just as likely to cut the cord off and steal it. Anybody can then fit a new plug to the cord and the dryer will be operational again, sans "black box" to prevent it. I suppose I could install a loud alarm powered by a battery, but who knows how effective that would be if someone were to just "cut and run" with the hair dryer?

A side note about Thomas Alva Edison and his light bulb: Growing up, I read biographies of Edison, encouraged by my grandfather who was an electrician, retired from working underground in West Virginia coal mines. Grandfather practically worshiped Edison, probably because both men worked almost exclusively with DC. Edison was not very scientific in his pursuit of the invention of the incandescent light bulb. He was probably aware of other incandescent lamps invented by his contemporaries, but none of these had any significant commercial success. Edison lamps were commercially successful because Edison developed a lighting system which included DC electrical power generation, parallel distribution wiring, lamp sockets and switches, and (of course) light bulbs.

Edison, if anything, was very practical. If he lacked talent himself, he was not afraid to hire what he thought he needed. His first incandescent lamp required a long time and a team effort to "perfect," finally using (after thousands of attempts with other substances) carbonized filaments stripped from bamboo. Although successful, the lamp was fragile and after a time the inside of the globe (initially evacuated to prevent rapid and destructive oxidation of the filament) became blackened as carbon sublimated from the hot filament and deposited on the inside of the glass bulb. Edison tried several "trial and error" experiments to prevent the blackening from occurring. During one of these experiments he installed a metal plate inside the glass envelope and connected it to a wire that ran out through the glass. The filament was, of course, powered with a DC power source, typically a battery for convenience.

Edison noted in his laboratory notebook (every serious experimenter keeps one of those handy, right?) that a small current could be measured with a galvanometer if the plate was connected to the positive terminal of the battery, but no current flowed if the plate was connected to the negative terminal of the battery. In either case, there was no change in the rate at which carbon was deposited on the inside of the globe. Edison duly noted this fact and went on to invent other things, such as the phonograph and motion pictures. If he had a bit more theoretical understanding of what was going on he would have realized that he had invented the vacuum diode rectifier, an important component to early detection of radio frequency waves from spark-gap transmitters. Instead, Sir John Ambrose Fleming, an English electrical engineer and physicist is credited with the invention of the Fleming Valve, an early vacuum diode. Edison later did get credit for "discovering" the Edison Effect, but who remembers or cares about that today?

Later on in life Edison was forced to sell his company, and it became what is now General Electric. The Edison light bulb was eventually "improved" by the replacement of carbon filaments with tungsten filaments and low-pressure nitrogen gas instead of vacuum. If you examine closely a modern incandescent lamp that operates from 120 VAC or 240 VAC line voltage, you will find it consists of a tiny coil of tungsten wire that is itself coiled into a larger coil before being attached to electrical terminals inside the glass .envelope. Edison could not have invented such a tungsten filament because because he simply didn't have the required techology. Tungsten is very hard, very brittle, and not very malleable. It wasn't until metallurgy had progressed sufficiently to allow the creation of malleable tungsten wire that "coil within a coil" incandescent lamp filaments could be manufactured.
 

Audioguru

Sep 24, 2016
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The news says that most people get the corona virus at religious gatherings like church, temple, mosque or travelling to Mecca.
I will survive because I am not religious and I also stopped drinking alcohol and soda pop.
 

hevans1944

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Jun 21, 2012
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I have often complained, sometimes loudly while boarding, that commercial air travel is akin to transportation by cattle car. Moooooo! Said loudly after boarding. I observe now it is also a flying incubator of disease. I will NEVER voluntarily fly in a commercial airliner again.

My wife and I seldom attend church, except perhaps for weddings and funerals, and neither of those recently. So I guess we aren't religious either. Still, we have to go out in public once in awhile and expose ourselves to a witch's brew of germs, some of them lethal. I don't know how to avoid that other than to limit our public exposure to the minimum necessary to conduct business.

We have two grandchildren who will be visiting us here in Florida in April, flying in via commercial air from Virginia Beach, Virginia to Sarasota, Florida, probably with a stopover in Atlanta. Wife and I will pick them up at the airport and drive back to Venice, leaving plenty of time for whatever viruses they have acquired to infect us. If I want to be "protected" with a mask, I will have to shave off my beard to ensure an adequate air-tight seal between my face and the mask. Might be worth it just to see what I look like after all these many years.:p

@Audioguru, giving up drinking alcohol was difficult for me. Denial isn't just a river in Egypt for alcoholics. However, I am amazed you were able to give up soda pop. I am still trying to do that by substituting iced tea sweetened with cane sugar. We also just purchased a Fizzy carbonation machine made by Sodastream, which is not a cure but at least may temper the cost somewhat... depending on how often we have to exchange the CO2 bottle and purchase syrup. We'll see. Target said we would have ninety days to decide whether or not we wanted to keep it. If not, bring it back for a full refund except for the CO2 bottle, which is leased not sold.
 
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Alec_t

Jul 7, 2015
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I was struggling to see any connection between the corona virus and soda pop, but then I recalled childhood days when Corona brand pop was delivered weekly by a lorry touring the neighbourhood :).
 

Audioguru

Sep 24, 2016
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An airplane landed in my city with two women who went to their Mecca in Iran. They were scanned OK at the airport but the next day they had the corona virus and the government asks for anybody who were on their airplane and bus.

Lots of people who were crammed into cruise ships and shipping containers also got the virus.

In some countries they greet by kissing not by shaking hands. The president of Italy was shown kissing a guy.

Remember drive-in movies? How many people today cross the border crammed into a car's trunk?
 

hevans1944

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Jun 21, 2012
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I remember drive-in movies from the '50s. Dad and mom would ask me and my brother to lie down on the floor and they would cover us with blankets to avoid having to pay for our admittance. After the movie started, both of us usually fell asleep before the movie ended, especially if it was a double-feature. Later in the century, many drive-ins adopted a "one price per car load" to lure customers. For an single inflated admission price, you could load your car up with as many passengers as you wanted. A lot of families used the trunk to hold folding chairs, blankets, and picnic baskets. A lot of fun was had by all. At least until the mosquitoes arrived, around dusk.

I haven't been to a drive-in during this century, and there are only seven remaining here in Florida, none very near me unless you consider Tampa to be "near" Venice.

The last time I visited Canada, we crossed the border at Niagara Falls, New York. IIRC, the Canadian border guards may have asked us to open our trunk, but they were not interested in our roof-top carrier loaded with camping equipment. After a short but pleasant camping vacation at nearby lakes in Algonquin Provincial Park, we motored West and returned to the USA via Sault Saint Marie, Michigan, of Soo Locks fame. This trip occurred shortly after Labor Day, so the park we visited was virtually deserted except for a few nocturnal racoon visitors.
 

shrtrnd

Jan 15, 2010
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But ...but .... I still don't know if I should wear a regular plastic bag over my head, or if the non-conductive bag would prevent the contagious transmission through 'non-conduction'.
Maybe one of those high voltage bug zapper cages?
'Harsh'? 'Harsh'? People are DYING from this terrible scourge upon mankind. hevans1944 probably isn't grouchy, he's just wringing his hands in terror like I am. The media hype over this terrible coronavirus disease with it's 1 to 2% lethality rate keeps me awake at night.
Thank goodness most of my relatives are dead and missing this, only having been exposed to the influenza epidemic after WWI, pneumonia that claimed my grandparents before penicillin, the polio problem that claimed 2 of my friends in the 1950's, or all the other recent scare de jure diseases of late. Somehow, I think the lingering flu virus going around is more prevalent, and lethal, than this corona virus strain. But the media isn't frightening us about THAT right now. Apparently it isn't scary enough because it's a known.
TDAKS post isn't 'new', it's an attempt to apply modern electronics to something that's been asked thousands of times before to protect people from airborne contagions that cause respiratory impairment/failure, and a check of the US patent office with the outbreak of the WWI influenza epidemic will offer potential 'solutions' from that era. I have little doubt more of those patents are being applied for right now.
Somehow, though I'm old and gray, and spent most of my working life in electronics, I'm not seeing an electronic 'fix' to personal protection from very easily transmitted respiratory contagious diseases. I think this is a medical community issue.
My plastic bag, regular or non-conductive, would work to prevent exposure to what's going around right now, ... it would just cause respiratory failure of another sort.
I don't think I'm a fatalist, I'm just a realist. Some diseases are especially dangerous, and will always be with us because biological entities (human beings) harbor them as hosts. My bet is corona virus is now going to be a annual issue, like the flu.
I don't think I mock questions or concepts that are practical, and I would really like to see the magic of modern electronics come up with a solution here. Like heavans1944 however, I'm leery of anything somebody comes-up with that will be mandated by some 'higher authority'.
 

BobK

Jan 5, 2010
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I thought I would get a comparative fatality rate for riding in cars for a lifetime. There are about 1.25 deaths per 100,000,000 vehicle miles. As a rough estimate, a person might ride about 1,000,000 miles in a lifetime. So, the probability of death would be about 1% for the average person, very comparable to the estimate for the corona virus.

So, washing your hands a lot would be comparable in saving lives to stopping riding in cars for life.

Bob
 

hevans1944

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Jun 21, 2012
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Perhaps the most effective preventive measure an individual can take is simply avoidance: avoid people, places, and things where the virus hangs out. Limit physical contact with the public as much as possible. Avoid public transportation. Don't mingle in crowds. Watch games on television or listen to play-by-play descriptions on the radio instead of attending them in person. Avoid visiting hospitals and urgent care facilities. Practice good personal hygiene: wash your hands often and avoid touching your face. Live long and prosper.
 

(*steve*)

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I work for the organisation setting up our state for coronavirus. Even though we've only had 2 known cases (both from the Diamond Princess) our top health officials are preparing for it's "inevitable" spread through the population.

Key information:
  1. Don't shake hands (figure something else to do)
  2. Wash hands frequently with soap and water for as long as it takes to sing happy birthday twice.
  3. Try not to touch your face.
  4. Cover up when coughing
  5. Start at home if you have flu symptoms.
  6. Don't bother with masks unless you're contagious.
  7. Avoid large gatherings where possible.
Also remember that the number of diagnosed cases is likely far higher than reported because some cases are asymptomatic or mild. This means that the estimated fatality rate is probably lower than currently estimated.

Also, the rate of increase in diagnosed cases outside China is increasing exponentially. At the current rate there could be 100,000 cases outside China in the next 2 or so weeks. If this prediction holds... It's clearly not being contained.
 

Audioguru

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The minister of health in my country said that certain gatherings (he didn't say religious gatherings but news reports did) of people in China, people in Iran and a few other countries at the same time, and people in South Korea spread the virus amongst themselves and all the people that they associated with when they returned home from their religious journey. The TV news showed many religious people kissing a statue of one of their gods. Cough, kiss, cough, kiss over and over. A great way to spread a virus.

In my city the university has mostly very wealthy Chinese students who drive noisy Lamborghini and Ferrari cars and I keep away from there. I am also safe because I have not been to a religious gathering for years.
 

hevans1944

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Here in the States we are probably "saved" because President Donald Trump has anointed... er, appointed... Vice President Mike Pence to head up our national effort to find, contain, and eradicate the virus, using science and the best available scientific minds... or whatever else works. Possibly a prayer breakfast, or two or three, might also be in order. Donations gratefully accepted.
 

(*steve*)

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Confirmed COVID-19 cases outside China from 20 Jan to 3 Mar

upload_2020-3-4_8-3-18.png

Do we hit 100,000 outside China on 14 Mar?

If it's good enough for the White House, it's... Well, it's good anyway. See HERE.
 

TDAKS

Feb 26, 2020
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Well...I for one would be the worst candidate for the device I proposed. I smoke cigarettes.
I would have the device more off than on. The crazy thing is that we touch our faces without memory of it.
When was the last time you touched your face ?

An RF feedback loop ?

Don't take this the wrong way but I wish I had as much time to kill as
hevans1944
 

Audioguru

Sep 24, 2016
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I smoke cigarettes. I wish I had as much time to kill.
Hevans and I are old because we don't smoke. Every day is a Saturday for us to do whatever we want whenever we want.
Oh, I quit smoking so long ago that I can't remember when. I also don't drink no more no more.
 

HarryA

Jan 22, 2017
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In regard to face mask.

Say you are walking 10 feet (3 meters) behind someone and they sneeze filling the air with an aerosol.
In 2 seconds you will occupy that same space breathing in the aerosol. I believe that a face mask,
regardless of what they tell us, would filter the droplets out.

Also a few years ago a woman designed a bra that could be used as a pair of face masks. Not the black
lace ones I bet.
 

davenn

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The news says that most people get the corona virus at religious gatherings like church, temple, mosque or travelling to Mecca.


Maybe in Canada ??
But not in the rest of the western world where it's on planes, cruise ships, hospitals and schools etc
 

Audioguru

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Canada has many religions and people of all races. They went to their religious gatherings (China, North Korea, Iran and Italy) and came back with the Corona Virus.
A few of them were stupid enough to spread the virus around before seeking medical help. Luckily, not many sick people.
 
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