September 22 2020, 21:31

An interesting hypothesis in the article linked: wearing masks increases the level of immunization from coronavirus because the mask actually reduces the infection dose and, consequently, the viral load, leading to asymptomatic or mild cases.

This method is also known as variolation. Generally, variolation is the practice of deliberately infecting people with low doses of a pathogen to elicit a protective immune response. This was once a treatment for smallpox before the invention of vaccination. In this case, masks are considered like a sieve, through which the virus passes in enough quantity for the variolation effect.

For now, this is only a theory. We shall see.

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2026913

September 21 2020, 00:09

Published the second part of the article about working with the database directly from Hybris. Thanks to @[100001772111225:2048:Timofey Klyubin] for almost everything that eventually came out.

The article discusses L1 cache, features of multitenance, and mass updates – in the context of when it’s really necessary to work with the database directly, and not through ORM as “supposed”. The article is very “geeky”, aimed at experienced developers on SAP Commerce, or those who want to become one 🙂

https://hybrismart.com/2020/09/20/how-to-make-native-sql-coexist-with-sap-commerce-orm-part-2/

September 20 2020, 23:45

This is what the Seal of the Commonwealth of Virginia looks like, along with our state flag (with a blue background). We have grown accustomed to it (since 1776), but it may be a novelty for you.

The woman is on top, Amazon-style, the king is defeated, tyrant-style. This signifies liberation from the oppression of monarchical Britain and the birth of a new free republic. In the tyrant’s hands is a chain, symbolically representing the shattered shackles of English colonial trade and Western expansion, and in his right hand is a useless whip, symbolizing the so-called “Intolerable Acts” of the metropolis.

The Latin inscription, “Sic Semper Tyrannis”, translates as “Thus always [happens] to tyrants”. It is attributed to Brutus during the assassination of Julius Caesar.

It somewhat reminds of Saint George the Victorious, except the figure is a lady in revealing attire, and instead of a dragon, there’s a king.

September 19 2020, 18:40

It’s interesting how marketing on Amazon works. Bought a manual coffee grinder and found a little note inside: “leave a review and we’ll send you another one.” They did send it. Bought a Bluetooth headset a couple of weeks ago, and it was the same deal. Now I have two Bluetooth headsets. Each can be connected to two devices, so now I can listen to four devices at the same time! Two with my left ear and two with my right.

September 17 2020, 15:42

In Istanbul, an interesting trick is widely used: “sorry, your card didn’t go through. Maybe cash?”

Checking into the hotel. Will you pay right away? Okay, let’s. Oh, the card didn’t go through. Alright, I say, then I’ll pay later. I go into the city. Starbucks Reserve. It’s like the coolest Starbucks “in the neighborhood”. Oh, sorry, it didn’t go through. I give another one. “That one didn’t go through either”. I say, I’m patient, I have five more, and now I’ll call my wife, she has.. Hooray, finally, it didn’t go through, they say. We enter a restaurant to eat. We ate. They bring the bill. I hand over the card. It didn’t go through! I give another one. It didn’t go through! I say, no problem, I have five.. A girl comes by: “we have another terminal, maybe this one will work?”. It worked. I return to the hotel. I want, I say, to pay today so I don’t have to worry tomorrow. We tried the same cards, six declines in a row. I say, no problem, now we’ll contact booking, I’ll argue with them, and they will allow me to pay through the personal account. I say, theoretically it might affect the hotel rating, so maybe you can find some terminal that, by chance, will work? They looked – one worked.

The hotel receipt said “Error 14. The number does not belong to a credit card / The card number is incorrect.” (translated from Turkish).

In the cafe — “Error 12. Rejection. Invalid Transaction. Undefined transaction authorization”.

Obviously why. In this country, with the pandemic, small businesses survive however they can, and cash is a classic way to avoid taxes and bank commissions. It has always been like this, I just didn’t notice this particular tactic in my previous three visits.

P.S. By the way, in Istanbul nearly 100% of people on the street — in masks. Here the police fine you for not wearing a mask, the fine — about 9,000 rubles (900 lira).