I didn't have to fill in any forms, just got a message telling me I had a refund as I over paid this year.

This is the short story "Your Corporate Network and the Forces of Darkness" by Lucy A. Snyder. Also available at http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/articles/your-corpora... if you don't like audio books.

An entertaining story for SysAdmins and the like.

Having had 1504 confirmed and probable cases across the country New Zealand now has no active cases at all. There have been 294,848 tests completed, with testing still being active both in the community and at borders. New Zealand's first case was on February 28th.

> Having had 1504 confirmed and probable cases across the country

There's more than that in my SF neighborhood.

Which is why I tell Americans that it's too late for general testing and tracing, and come up with a realistic plan.

An example would be:

- PSA to go home if you're sick

- gatekeeping at nursing homes and hospitals

I'm curious what the next step for NZ is though. Keep the borders closed for a year until a corona vaccine?

Reopen borders (with appropriate controls) with other countries that have no cases. NZ is in talks with Australia to figure out what the right border controls will be. There are some obvious Pacific Island candidates too. And then Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, and so on.

I think the world's bifurcating into two blocs and there's a Viral Curtain between them. Within each bloc it makes sense that there can be free movement -- if you've given up hopes of eradicating it, then you have nothing to lose by visiting another country.

Infected people coming into a virus-free zone are a clear and present danger and will require tests and quarantine. This is what happened for the cast and crew of the Avatar sequels, who recently re-entered New Zealand to finish filming. They were tested at the border and are in hotels for a period of managed isolation.

The end-game is a vaccine, which lets us intermingle without unchecked exponential growth.

If the disease can be treated with drugs, it may become no longer dangerous to the population. This could be another solution.

Note that I don't mind a vaccine, but it's not the only solution.

There’s medication that will reliably prevent you from getting infected by HIV which is almost functionally identical to a vaccine.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-exposure_prophylaxis

Well, it's good to know about, but Truvada is a pill you have to continue to take, and has a long list of side effects.

The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe - https://www.theskepticsguide.org/podcasts - Fun science and critical thinking podcast. Has been around for over 10 years. Worth it just for the Science or Fiction game each week.

Escape Pod - http://escapepod.org/category/podcasts/ - Weekly science fiction podcast magazine. The quality and variety of the stories is amazing. I have found lots of new authors via the stories from this podcast. (Also has Pseudopod for horror fiction, PodCastle for fantasy, and Cast of Wonders for YA fiction)

The Infinite Monkey Cage - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00snr0w/episodes/downloads - Witty, irreverent look at the world through scientists' eyes. From the BBC with Brian Cox and Robin Ince.

Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe - https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-daniel-and-jorge-explain-... - A fun-filled discussion of the big, mind-blowing, unanswered questions about the Universe. By a CERN Physicist (Daniel) and the author of PhD Comics (Jorge).

LRC Presents: All the President's Lawyers - https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/lrc-presents-all-the-preside... - An in-depth and often humorous look at President Trump's Legal issues. I know, not quite the normal HN sort of content, but worth it.

FiveThirtyEight Politics - https://fivethirtyeight.com/tag/politics-podcast/ - A geeky look at (mostly US) politics and polling.

Talk Nerdy with Cara Santa Maria - https://www.carasantamaria.com/podcast - "conversations with interesting people about interesting topics". Cara is an great science communicator and is well worth listening to on this and the The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe podcast.

While I don't agree with everything it recommends, the "Little Black Book of Scams" is a good starting point for having a talk with someone who you think is at risk. https://www.interest.co.nz/sites/default/files/embedded_imag... (NZ Version) https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/Little%20Black%20Book%2... (AUS version)

Is this what it's going to be like for elections everywhere in the future? How could it be protected against? Can it?

"At launch, Disney+ will include 7,500 episodes, including from 25 original series; 400 library movie titles; and 100 recent theatrical films releases, according to Agnes Chu, senior VP of content, Disney+. That includes exclusive rights to all 30 seasons of "The Simpsons," which Disney obtained through the acquisition of 21st Century Fox. In year five of Disney+, the company expects to have an annual production slate of some 50 originals, Chu said. Disney+ will be an ad-free service, supported solely by subscription fees. It's going to have a wide platform footprint, spanning game consoles, smart TVs and connected streaming devices, including Roku and PlayStation 4, said Michael Paull, president of Disney Streaming Services (formerly BAMTech)."

For those asking if there is demand for small rockets that can be sent up often.

"Australian start-up Fleet Space Technologies sent up two satellites ... Fleet has spent all year waiting to hitch rides on rockets from SpaceX and the Indian government ... About six weeks ago, it found out there was room on the Rocket Lab rocket. Typically, it takes months or years to get satellites ready, installed and certified for launch, but in this new era of cheap, fast space, Fleet got its hardware on board in record time."

Good to see Fleet Space launching. They are Adelaide based.

We used to have one of the biggest missile/rocket ranges in the world once. Kistler were thinking of bringing the range back in the 00s but didn't survive. As NZ picks up the baton and charges forward it is good to see we still have a role to play with payloads.