It has been a few days since my last post. Busy with work and family items. The weather in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul has been quite pleasant. The temperature has been at or slightly above average. On the other hand precipitation seems to be below average. Hopefully this pattern will not disrupt farmer’s production.
I had selected a couple articles for brief discussion in this post. I did not bookmark one of them and I am having a hard time finding it. In a nutshell the articled had to do with Pfizer, their COVID-19 vaccine and India being able to mass-produce it. In the USA we have the concept of a patent. It is a great idea that helps the rightful owner of an idea to freely market and sell their invention for a period of time. If not mistaken the period is seven years. I fully agree with such concept. It is fair and invention needs to be rewarded to motivate progress.
Like any other subject, there are always two sides to the same coin. Biden has proposed to ban all COVID-19 patents to help the world win the battle against it. Good for public relations, but would such approach work? My opinion is no. In the USA alone there are about 30% of the people that have and will refuse a COVID-19 vaccine. That said, we will not achieve herd immunity. I have relatives and friends in different countries. Some are very interested in getting a vaccine. Some have traveled to the USA at a high expense, spent a month here, and received the two doses of the Pfizer vaccine. Some have no desire in getting vaccinated at all. The main reasons are the lack of effectiveness (most vaccines provide 100% protection) and side effects (you can possibly get ill after receiving the vaccine). Not sure how effective is the Pfizer vaccine, but it is not 100%. Regarding the side effects, the COVID-19 vaccines administered in the USA seem to not cause side effects. You cannot say the same for the two Chinese vaccines with are about 70% effective and have shown a large number of people getting very ill with side effects. Hopefully the numbers are rapidly improving with time.
I received a link to the post “18 Reasons I Won’t Be Getting a COVID Vaccine” by Christian Elliot. Some of the points are hard to ignore and our government should act on them. On the other side big Pharma lawyers and lobbyist will make change hard to achieve.
BTW, my wife and I have received the two Pfizer doses. The same holds true for the family of one of our sons. The other is still thinking about it.
The other news that called my interest comes from Yale University. The article “DODD: Sit down, be humble” by Ethan Dodd. Perhaps the article is too political, but politics seem to be something we are all familiar with.
What called my attention was the acceptance that no one has all the answers. That is especially true at work. People have different backgrounds and experiences. That is what diversity means to me. Color of skin, religious believes, and gender as examples, is not what makes people diverse. We are diverse because of our unique experiences. Of course, as the article states, pretending you have all the answers is not beneficial in any company, relationship or society. Keep that in mind the next time you are working on a project. Continue reading “Wildcard Matching”